The Arkansas Six-Toed Steak

So…the Arkansas Six-Toed Steak. This is what the steak looked like when my friend pulled it out of the package and put it on the grill.
There was a collective gasp by all the men standing guard at the grill. My friend called his wife over to witness this disturbing spectacle. Her comment?

“That’s creepy. It has no arch.”



Umm, yeah. The creepy thing about this, is that the human foot shaped steak sizzling on the hot grill has no arch.

Any yes, we ate it. And it was tasty…in a creepy, Ted Bundy sort of way.

Happy Halloween!

Little Cabin in the Woods, Part 2

I thought I’d use my celebrity, I mean blog to tell you about the place we stayed. I really loved it. You never know when you find a place online, if it will really be as nice as they tell you it is. I was wary, but Tanyard Springs was right next to Petit Jean State Park, and all our family and friends were camping at Petit Jean State park, so I just found the closest cabin. The cabins that were actually in the park were all booked, so this was next best, and closest thing. These cabins were close enough to the camping spots at Petit Jean that we could ride our bikes there (about 1 mile, and by we I mean the kids and not me).

I can’t remember if I posted about it or not, but we sold our camper to retire some debt. We are sooooo close to being out of debt. In about 6 to 9 more months we could be debt free except for our house, and then we can start paying that down!!!!! WHOO HOO! (But first we will save to buy another camper, because we love camping, and by camping I mean RVing with electricity and a bathroom and kitchen and nothing that resembles a tent and sleeping on the ground.)

But back to camping, or the lack thereof…we have no camper, so we stayed in at this cabin. I highly recommend this place, it was nice and clean, and as beautiful as I stated in yesterday’s post. I really wanted to pack up that wood burning stove and take it home.

Here are a few photos of the inside of the cabin. If you get the opportunity to go to Arkansas in the fall, this is the place you want to go. And if you don’t have a camper and need to stay in a cabin, Tanyard Springs is for you! (I should totally get a job in advertising!)








If you have noticed a shocking lack of teen boys in my photos of this trip it is becaue everytime I picked up my camera and aimed it at them they flead. Unless of course there was food to be eaten, then they just flashed me the Looser sign and got in big trouble.


And then there's this...The Arkansas six-toed steak. This totally needs its own post, but I'll leave you with this photo as a teaser.

Little Cabin in the Woods...

I am sitting in a cabin in the woods. It is the most glorious thing I have done in months. It is not glamorous, it is not neat and pristine clean, it is not silent, but it is beautiful. As I sit here I can hear the sound of a bird twirping, several actually. I can hear the wind blow through the trees and I can hear the crackling of the fire.



You will not get to read this until I am home and back to the grind; but for now, imagine me in this little cabin in the woods. And when I say in the woods, I am not exaggerating. It is in the middle of the woods. I know there are other cabins around here, in fact I can see them if I look, but they are not very close, and they are hidden by the trees. They blend. Houses don’t blend anymore, ever notice that?



Nature is not the focal point anymore, brick and stone is. Instead of fields of flowers, we have houses coming up out of the ground in rows like planted tulips. I never thought about how unnatural that is until I noticed how these cabins are so nicely situated in their surroundings, facing the most beautiful thing to look at, and designed to blend in and not stand out.

Even the inside of this cabin fits in with its surroundings. There is so much wood, so many logs on the walls and making up the staircase and the banister and the mantle. The fabrics are earth tones; even the fridge has been hidden behind a wood cabinet. I’m not talking about one of those wood paneled refrigerators that you find in those hoity-toity houses. (I am not trashing them, I’d totally have one if we had the money, and the huge kitchen to put it in) This is a giant wood box that the fridge sits it. You have to open two doors to get into the fridge. I need this at home. You have to work twice as hard to get into it!



I noticed something when I sat outside yesterday in the hammock. You can hear the wind coming sometimes a good 30 seconds before you feel in when you’re in the woods.



To some of you this might not be a big revelation, but to me it was. I grew up in Kansas, not a place known for its trees, then I moved to DFW, again, not a place known for its treed acreage; tulip houses-yes, forests-no. Not to mention, very rarely am I surrounded by silence. In fact I think I can probably count on one hand the times in my adult life (with kids) when I have been surrounded by complete silence. D had taken all the kids on a hike, and I stayed back at the cabin. There I was, lying in the hammock, doing my bible study, when I heard something. What was it? Rain coming? Should I get up and head for the cabin. I didn’t want to get the bible study book and my bible all wet. But it didn’t really look like rain. Was it a car coming down the dirt road? It didn’t sound like that either. Then I felt it and saw the tops of the trees moving over my head. Wind. It made me laugh that a 30ish, woman had never noticed that you can hear the wind coming.



Here is something else I have learned about myself this weekend. I so want a wood burning stove in my house! I know I live in TX, and probably only twice a year would it be cold enough to use, but I am in love! You can shut the doors and still see the pretty fire; you can open the doors and feel the heat. And the best part? You can hear the wood popping. I love to hear the wood popping and see the wood actually burning. We used to have a gas fireplace in our old house, and it was so disappointingly anti-climactic. You turn a key, flip a switch, and wham, instant fire. But no crackle, no wood moving around as it burns, only a fake looking fire and the hiss of the gas. Even though I love a good fire, I rarely lit it because it was just such a sad little attempt at fire. It only treated the eye; a fire should be a treat for all the senses. Well, except taste, you wouldn’t want to taste a fire, but you get the point.



Tomorrow, we go home. Tomorrow, we drive 6 hours back to our little house that is lined up on a street with other little houses just like it; surrounded by very little beauty. I must go back to my house that is too dirty, too convenient, and too full of stuff we don’t really need. And I have to leave the trees, and the wood burning stove. It’s sad really. But I’ll tell you something. Beauty is important. Sometimes in making our lives more convenient, we destroy the beauty. Wood burning stoves are messy, you have to clean them out, and they create ash and mess. But sometimes it is worth a little more hassle for a lot more beauty. Sometimes you appreciate your things more when you have less of them. When you only have 3 pots and 6 glasses and plates, you take better care of them.

In order to make my life easier, I’ve cluttered it up with junk. I want to live more simply and enjoy more beauty. While I have enjoyed every moment of this vacation, I am realizing that I need to create more simplicity and look for more beauty in my every day life. I know this is vacation talking and when I go home all the things that I don’t need here will suddenly seem so important again. But I hope I can take something from this weakened. I pray God will show me ways to see the beauty in my home, and my family, and the one big oak tree in my yard. Maybe I just need to stop and smell the roses in my own backyard a little more. And throw out stuff, lots and lots of stuff.

We're Getting the Heck Out of Dodge! (Or DFW, as it Were)

We will be leaving right after co op tomorrow for the changing leaves of Arkansas!

It will take us approximately 6 hours to get there and we won’t be leaving until 2:30pm at best, so it will definitely be a long day.

I am so ready for a vacation. I want to be where no one can find me, where no one can call me, and where no one needs me for anything, except of course my immediate family. They are coming with me after all.

It has been a long hard week. One of those weeks where, after looking at the fruits of your labor, you wonder why you work so hard; why you don’t just sit in front of soap opera’s and eat bon bon’s all day.

I’m praying God will use the cool crisp ‘fallness’ of Arkansas to reinvigorate my spirit. I need it.

See you all on Monday!

Grief

My last several posts have been somewhat light and silly, what with the shoe abundance, necking, stick shifts and fluffy pink hats; so prepare yourselves, this one is serious.

I have to admit to some less than stellar behavior. Several months ago D and I felt the Lord leading us to something, to give of ourselves, to do.

We decided to be obedient and make an offer to do/give, (sorry for the ambiguity, but it is necessary) but we made some caveats. We will do this, but not that, we will give this much and no more, we will go this far and no farther. We had to set up boundaries and protect ourselves, don’tyaknow?

Well, yesterday I was felling overwhelmed. Everything I said I would not do, I am doing. I am giving more than I wanted, I am being pulled farther than I intended to go, and I am getting bitter and angry. This is not what I signed up for. This has extended the limit of my intentions.

After I vomited all my bitterness and anger to my best friend and D, I felt a little better. Vindicated. I am right, it is too much!

Then I did my bible study for the week…Grieving the Spirit. I knew I was in for it as soon as I read the title.

Galations 5:25-26 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Oh, dear.

Ephesians 4:29-32 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Oh, my friends, it convicts.

Then there was this quote by C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity

“The devil laughs. He is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided all the time he is setting up in you the Dictatorship of Pride…For pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.”

It is an ugly, albeit not new, revelation.

As I began to pray about this situation, I felt the Lord speak to me. I don’t say that lightly or very often. It was certainly not audible. I sorta felt it more than I heard it.

“I have not asked you to get up on the cross. In fact, I did that for you.”

I just sat for a minute and let that sink in.

Who am I to create exceptions to what I am willing to do for the Lord? How dare I say I will do this and not that, I will go this far and no farther…that this, I will not do.

In the Ephesians verse God (through Paul) tells us to ‘get rid of bitterness, rage and anger’ among other things. He does not tell us to examine it. He does not tell us to revel in it if it is justified. He does not tell us to get to the roots of it and deal with it. He simply says…Get. Rid. Of. It.

So that is what I am doing. Daily, hourly, sometimes minutely, I have to give my bitterness, rage and anger to Him, and ask Him to take it from me.

Then I read the account in John 19 and 20 of Jesus getting up on the cross for me. So I wouldn’t have to. So I can remember that what He is asking me to do is really not more than I can handle after-all.

Neck or Stick?

D and I did something very interesting on Saturday. It gave me a huge dose of Déjà Vu. We went out to the high school parking lot and necked…no just kidding. D taught me how to drive a standard. Or I guess I should say re taught me. I remember learning on my older sisters Volkswagen Jetta. My sister and I lived with our aunt and uncle back then, and my aunt was teaching me.

All I can remember is her exasperation. It was not a lesson that lasted a long time. I think she gave up on me. I don’t remember ever really getting the hang of it. I have not driven a standard since. Oh, if there was an emergency, I could probably get someone to the ER, but they might have to treat you for whiplash, and it would take a long time as I would have to re start the car every time I was required to come to a complete stop.

Interestingly enough, D also seemed to get exasperated with me. The whole clutch, gas, break, shift thing is just too much. To take your foot off the gas when you put in the clutch? It’s just counter intuitive, taking your foot off the gas when the idea is to go faster. My one functioning brain cell can just not handle it. My automatic tendencies are just too ingrained.

I’m afraid I’m going to be one of those ladies who has to rely on the men in her life to get her around when there is a standard to be driven.

I am feeling a shifting in the time space continuum. (Too much Star Trek) First Algebra now driving; there are way too many things that my 16 year old son can do that I cannot.

Seriously folks, I am incapable of driving my 16 year old son’s truck. I feel old.

Perhaps D and I should have just driven to the high school parking lot and necked. I’m pretty sure I can still do that.

Forget all the shoes, look at the pretty hat!

I thought I'd show you a few of the projects that I have been working on. So as to distract you from the last Imelda-ish post.



This is the hat I just finished for A. I am going to make one for E & T as well. I think it is just adorable.


I know it will be hard, but try to pry your eyes away from the face of my adorable A, and look at the hat. Pretty cool huh? It is quite soft as well. I am proud of myself because, while I have known how to make a hat for quite some time, I just now figured out how to do the little foof on the top. (yes, foof is a technical crocheting term)

Here is another one I made because I was given ton's of this yarn and I have to do something with it. I think I'll make a scarf to go with it, and keep it around for the next kid birthday party we go to...or something.



And here is the thing I'm still working on. It is an afghan for my dad. I have been working on it off and on for almost a year. I think I could have had it done sooner, but it is really hot to sit with this thing on your lap while you crochet, when it is stinking hot and humid outside. And in TX it is often stinking hot and humid. But now that Fall has finally decided to grace us with it's presence, I can work on it again.



This is what I have been doing while I have been stuck here at home recovering from the shingles.

BTW, I am doing much better, still have some pain, but it's really so much better.

Itchy and Scratchy are doing better although they still have some spots and are still contagious. They feel fine which makes them grumpy that they have to be confined. I have given them till Monday. Then I'm letting them free weather they are better or not, because if I don't, someone might get hurt!

Shoes, Glorious Shoes

I can’t believe I’m going to admit this to everyone stuck in this World Wide Web. But I’m going to. I don’t know why. I think it’ll be somewhat cathartic, like when you have to get up at an AA meeting and say, Hi my name is Tricia and I’m an alcoholic.

So here goes. Hi, my name is Tricia and I’m a shoeaholic. I cleaned out my shoes yesterday, and I am ashamed. See that photo? That is 64 pairs of shoes. 64. I am a stay at home, homeschooling mother with 64 pairs of shoes. How did things go so wrong? I thought I could quit buying shoes at any time I wanted. I thought I could at least get rid of old ones, but I was wrong. I have an illness. I am sick.



But yesterday with the help of my three girls, we went through all the shoes. I felt it was imperative for them to see the wrongness of someone owning 64 pairs of shoes and the carnage that ensues, and the suffering of the husband who has to share a closet with a wife with 64 pairs of shoes; they say it’s hereditary, you know.

So the girls matched up and lined up all my shoes. And yes, they had to try them all on first, several times. (Their poor husbands to be.)

Then I pointed and said, “Trash” or “give away” and the girls put them in the appropriate pile.

I was brutal ladies. I have excised myself of my shoe addiction. I got rid of all the shoes that don’t fit quite right, of all the ones that pinch or slide or are to high (I am incapable of handling heals, I will kill myself and possibly others If
I’m more than one inch off the ground) all of the ones that are old or have been replaced by a trendier version.



Ladies and gentleman…I’m down to a mere 34 pairs of shoes! My husband has been singing the hallelujah chorus all day.

Now If I can just stay away from the shoe department at Target for the rest of my life, I’ll be okay.

I’m gleeful!

We (and by we I mean D and the boys and definitely not me) built a deck onto the back of our house in June.



June in Tx is right at the beginning of the summer season, or the season we refer to as Hell with Humidity. We have not really used our beautiful deck for anything other than cooking the meat on the grill and watching it from the window, only to venture out into Hell with Humidity, when the meat is ready to be brought in.

But right now, at 8ish am in TX…it is COLD!!! It is 51 degrees right now. 51; glorious 51!!! With no horrid humidity!!!



I am sitting out on my beautiful new deck with its quaint white iron patio furniture and little wicker rocker, and enjoying Gods creation. I’m in my favorite fleece robe and slippers for the first time this season. And my feet are a little cold.

Fall, bless you, you are really are coming aren’t you. You haven’t forgotten us down here in TX.

Itchy and Scratchy

A pox da*n you, you muddy rascal, is that all the comfort you give me?
William Shakespeare’s Henry IV

Well, just when you think you’re covered, turns out you’re not!

All the kids have had the chicken pox vaccine so I was not very concerned about giving anyone in my family chicken pox while I have had the shingles.

It seems that the vaccine needs a booster shot, like around 12 years old according to my pediatricians nurse. Hummm, this would have been good to know, say 4 years ago when B was 12.

So now the boys have a light case of the Chicken pox because their uninformed mother did not get the booster shot for them.

B & G…heretofore known as, Itchy and Scratchy.

Our First State Folder

We finally finished our first State folder. I posted in the summer about what I was planning and I thought you all might like to see a finished product.

We did lots of fun atlas activities, real lots of stories that took place in our state, and put some Colorado facts in their own state notebooks. I am using the Simply Stated curriculum for this study. (FYI All the links are in the other post).

It took us three weeks to do Colorado because we did not do it every day; in fact we only did it maybe twice a week. But that is okay, I knew we would be doing this for at least two school years.

G, E, A, & T are all doing this study together.

If you knew me and how NOT creative I am, you’d get why this is such a big deal. I am not a scrapbooker. I made one once for my MIL for a gift and decided that this would be the first and LAST scrapbook I ever did. My SIL, who also homeschooler makes these amazing lapbooks with her twin boys, they are really something. Just looking at them gives me hives and great guilt at the same time.

So you see why this folder is such a big deal for me! The plan is to have one folder for every state, and have an entire binder full of State information. (Of course it may take till highschool to finish, but that is okay!)

Some Things to Ponder

The Prayer of Sir Francis Drake






"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst for the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back the horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21

Dental Tips

Here are a few tips for you.

If you are going to the Dentist and will be in the chair for 3 and 1/2 hours. DON'T drink 2 cups of coffee on the way.

The instillation of a crown requires two dental visits, AKA twice the torture.

Fillings from the early 70's do not last a lifetime, and must eventually be replaced, preferably before a great chasm of decay has begun hiding underneath.


When the Dentist says things like "WOW! That is deeper than I thought", brace yourself.

Hearing words like 'Grand Canyon' out of your Dentist's mouth while he is using a mini jack hammer in your mouth is also not good.

In a strange natural phenomenon, you mouth and lips can be numb for hours after a dental visit, and yet the pain appears as soon as you walk out of the dentists office.

If you have dental work to be done, I recommend a Monday morning, preferabally a dreary rainy one. It gives you an excuse to ignore your children, and the mess they are making and crawl in bed for the rest of the day.

On a completely unrelated side note.
If you are a homeschooler. Watching a documentary of Christopher Columbus and taking notes IS a full days schoolwork!

A little business…

First an award, because I love awards.

Cheryl over at Homeschooling Journey bestowed upon me this lovely honor. And now I’d like to thank Cheryl, the academy, my mom and of course God. Hehe, I jest because I love!

Schmoozing as defined by Dictionary.com is the ability “to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.” When it comes to blogging, schmoozing is your ticket to making new friends, getting yourself noticed and building a reputation. Some bloggers are gifted with the ability to effectively schmooze and others not so much…”

Seriously, thank you Cheryl.

And now for the Shingles update. A few of you have asked how I am doing and I’d love to report that I am healed!!! But sadly, that is not entirely accurate.

My spots have healed over and I am not getting any new ones so I’m not contagious anymore. However, the pain and fatigue are still here, although not to the same degree, so I am slowly getting better.

This morning I took E out to Target and Payless (two of my favorite places) to buy her some new shoes. We found two pair, and went into Target anyway, because it was right next door, and I haven’t left my house for close to two weeks…and I am weak.

We bought a few more important things for her because she is growing like the preverbal weed and none of the winter clothes from last year are going to fit her when fall decides to honor us with it’s presence. It seemed a bit silly to buy a sweater and jacket and long sleeve shirts with it’s almost 90, but hey, what are you going to do; Target is not selling short sleeve shirts anymore, because they go by the calendar. Not real handy in TX when Fall often does not really start until mid November. But I do have my nice new fall picture on my blog to look at, so If I turn the AC way down, I can pretend…

And the great ramble comes to abrupt and unceremonious halt…

Have a great weekend!

I did it!

I cannot even tell you how proud I am of my new design! I totally did it myself!!!

It took FOREVER to get the photo sized just right and the 'Homeschooling on the Hilltop' just the way I want it.

But I did it!!

WOW!!

AMAZING!!

So what do you think of my new fall design?

TGIF, I think.

I looked around my house at 10 am this morning and tried not to panic. I seem to do this every Friday morning.

See, I have decided that Friday’s will be relaxing days here Hilltop Academy. We work hard doing all our academic work and trying to get as much done as possible with A before she goes off to Scottish Rite for her dyslexia remediation, M – W.

Then Thursday is co op day. My kids all are taking a fun class or two, and some academic classes (like science! Whoo hoo that science projects are no longer being done in my kitchen!!) so Thursday is a busy academic day even though it is out of the house.

So I have decided that Friday’s I’ll leave as open as I can for independent study. A does not have SR on Friday so she is with us all day.

Here is the scene. Classical music playing on the radio (okay it’s actually coming from the TV, because we have satellite radio on the TV, but it sounds weird to say music is coming from the TV.)The pumpkin candle is lit, so is smells like fall, and the blinds are all open so the sunshine is splashing into the room.

B is doing his academic work, he has several classes at the co op this year and he needs most ever day to get it done. G is tinkering with his remote control car on his desk in his room. He is studying the many pieces of the now taken-apart car with an intensity that I wish he would reserve for math. E is lying on the living room floor, writing in her journal and adding illustrations from a how-to art book she found.A and T are in their bedroom poring over all the Amazing Animal books that I recently checked out from the Library. The air is occasionally punctuated with one of them yelling something like, “MOM, what is O-C-E-L-O-T?

So why am I panicking you are wondering, right? Well, with the exception of B, this does not look like school! Has anyone done their math? Written anything? Read any facts?

See, I am torn. I think I have a little unschooler in me, fighting tooth and nail with the OCD School-at-home mom who is also in me. I love what I see; I love to see my kids engaged in learning apart from school. I love to see them want to learn things, like what an Ocelot’s habitat is, and how to draw, and what makes a remote control car go, but the OCD mom in me feels like this should happen after all the academic work has been done, and all the lines filled in, and all the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed.

So my compromise is this. Friday they must do their math (if we don’t do it at least 4 days a week, it’ll never get done and there is no time on co op day) and at least look at what is required of them as far as co op homework, then they can pursue their own interests. (No TV or video games though, I’m not completely nuts!)

I think it is all the years spent in tidy classrooms with handy scope and sequences to guide my education, that has me panicky on Fridays. But I can’t help feeling a little nervous.

I pray I’m not scarring them for life! I sure do hope these kids will be functioning members of society and good disciples of the Lord one day despite their somewhat quirky education!!!

Mad Skills

It takes a special kind of talent to ruin something that comes, pre prepared, in a box. But fear not. It is a skill I apparently possess in spades.

Oh, my lucky family!

I give you…Blackened Garlic Bread!











Want to hear the really sad part? They ate it anyway.

Fish Talk

There is an empty 2 gallon fish tank in the boys’ room and the girls’ room because, well, we stink at pet ownership.

When I overheard my boys staying the following, I decided maybe I am scarring them for life.

G ~ “I wonder if Mom will take us out soon to get some more fish for our empty fish tanks?”

B~ “Why don’t we just save ourselves the time and get dead ones?”

Not good, not good at all.

It Hurts, No It Itches, No It Hurts...

Things you can do to keep your hands busy so as not to scratch Shingles spots clean off your body…

1. Crochet

2. Rip out crochet stitches that are wrong due to not paying attention to what you are doing because you want to scratch so much.

3. Type

4. Erase typing because no one wants to know how many ways you can say ‘it hurts’ and ‘it itches’.

5. Read out loud to the kids (This might actually work if it’s a really good book.)

6. Read Job, that’ll put it in perspective.

7. Stuff chocolate into mouth.

8. Talk on phone with friends, (this only works if you hold the phone with both hands)

9. Ride in 16 year old son’s bouncy truck because he needs to go to the bank and the library and he only has a permit. (This works rather well as you are too busy holding on for dear life to scratch.

10. Pray…with hands neatly folded, for healing...or the Rapture; whichever is faster.

A Boy's Best Friend

I think perhaps I am a bad mom, I think my kids may be missing out on a right of passage for all American children. I developed this impression because of the response my children exhibited when they were the recipients of no less than 7 boxes of sugary cereal. There was weeping, there were cries of joy, there was dancing…from my 13 year old boy, dancing people.

You see, I put a moratorium on sugary cereals sometime last year. I do by cereal, but I buy the healthy kind. I also get lots of eggs & sausage, bagels & cream cheese, English muffins with low sugar jam, stuff like that. What I don’t buy anymore is sugary cereal.

My kids have been known to buy, with their own money, sugary cereal, but even then I won’t let them eat it for breakfast. They can have it for a snack after school is done.

Whichever scientist decided that high doses of sugar do not affect a Childs behavior has not met my children. If I want them to focus on anything before 11 am, I must make sure they get a healthy breakfast with very little sugar.

Well, my sister in law, the mom of T who is living with us, brought us 7 boxes of sugary cereal. 7 boxes. 7!


G dropped to his knees weeping, and while holding the box of cereal close to his heart he began to whisper, “chocolate crispy puffs, chocolate crispy puffs”, over and over again, while rocking back and forth.

I think tomorrow morning at the start of school, I will be weeping due to the cereal, but for an entirely different reason

I Think They Call it Shingles Because the Skin on My Back and Side look Like Roof Tiles...

1 Peter 6-11

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

I am holding on tight to those verses right now. I feel as if I’m being devoured. I have Shingles. I got this pain that just kept getting worse and worse, like no pain I’ve felt before with my Fibromyalgia, and that’s saying something!

I finally developed a funny rash, then the rash started to HURT! Like when my shirt would rub against in it would take my breath away.

So D said “Please, please, please go to the DR.”

See here’s the thing with me and DR’s; I spent 10 years of my life going to various DR’s about the pain in my hips, and they tested me for everything under the sun and then decided I was nutty.

Finally I was diagnosed with FMS (Fibromyalgia Syndrome). At least now I’m not nuts (well only a little).

So I am hesitant to go to the DR for fear of hearing the “well, we can’t find anything wrong with you…” given with a condescending, you’re nuts look on their faces.

But I went to a nice, new, lady DR here in town. She took one look at my rash and said, “You most definitely have Shingles, and aren’t you in A LOT of pain???? And why have you not come in sooner???”

So I’m on the ‘you must rest and drink lots of fluids, and Oh yeah, you’ll be contagious for the next month’ program now. I can hear all the spinning plates crashing to the ground.

This is really, really, really, really not a good time to be sick! And did I mention it is not a good time to be sick?

‘And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast’

I’m holding on tight to this one God.

Could I get any more boring?

I went to Target today. I shouldn’t have because that store is a giant cash eating black hole for me, but I did it.

I bought my winter wardrobe. I am hoping that if I spend money on warmer clothes, I’ll actually have a chance to wear them.

So here is what I bought. I am so boring. This is just the long sleeve version of my summer wardrobe. And instead of jeans, in the summer, I’m in jean shorts. WHOO HOO! Such a fashionista I am!

I did buy a multicolored striped purse and some flats that had some pattern in them (I can’t tell you how happy I am that flats are back!!!) but for the most part, everything I own is a solid color.

Here are a few of the things I bought.

They had this shirt on sale so I bought a few more in various colors; one can never have too many solid colored T’s in TX.

Then I bought several colors of this, just like above, but note the longer sleeves.

I did go a little crazy and get this version with a peter pan color, but I bought it in black so I can wear it to church.


And let's not forget the must-have hoodie. (AKA a sweatshirt if you're over 18.) I do own a nice coat to wear to church on the 3 Sunday's a year that it is necessary, but mostly I just wear this. I also have a nice crocheted sweater, but well, that is harder to wash, so I stick with the old standby. Could I get any duller? Hello grey, my old friend!

I think if my sister in laws knew I was buying more solid colored shirts they‘d have a fit. Someone has to be the plane jane in the family, and I take that position very seriously!

Weather you like it or not.

I have lived in TX long enough to know that September is not fall here. It is just an extension of summer. I expect hot humid days in September. I have gotten used to it. Now and then we'll get a cooler day in September to remind us that it won't be 100 degrees with 87% humidity forever, but most days in September it's just downright hot.

But in October I expect more, I expect cool days. I expect some 70's with a crisp feel to the air.

I am unwilling to except this...

Hi 91
Lo 73
Partly Cloudy
80% Humidity


It's just not right! It's October, I want to wear a sweater, or at least 3/4 length sleeves with out sweating buckets, dadgummit!