Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Alert!

Please read Todd's blog on Prayer!

www.receptors.blogspot.com

Christmas Break

Well, Christmas frenzy is in full swing and we've been having a fun time. The kids got out of school for the holidays last Friday and the first of our family "Christmases" was Saturday in Ennis. The gang was all there and it was good to hang with the family. We're too far to really spend a lot of time with Todd's family so every chance we get is extra nice. All the kids were good and the food was extra delicious. Hooray for Mexican Christmas food!



Sunday Lori Morris was in town and she and her Michael and his sister came to church with us at Axxess and then to lunch. It was really fun to see her again. She was part of our youth group in Montgomery and graduated a while back. She's been in West Africa the last few months working at a children's home. Her hair is all done in braids and none of our kids recognized her. How fun is that?

Today Todd started his job!!!! He's working temp for Verizon and I think he'll really enjoy it. I hope he does anyway. It's an 8-5 job and it's the first one he's ever had. I guess we'll see how the rest of the world lives, eh?

Tomorrow is our 14th anniversary and Todd's mom is coming up from Ennis to keep the kids for us. She'll probably spend the night but we won't be out too late since Todd has to work the next day....YAY for work! I'll take the inconveniences any time over the alternative.

We'll have Christmas next weekend with my folks and then the next weekend in Snyder. Meanwhile I'm assembling Legos by the thousands. That's only a slight exageration. The Milenium Falcon Josiah got was 985 pieces and the Grievous Wheel Bike was....I don't know, around 60 or so. I've finally learned my lesson and started super glueing all non-moving pieces together. It cuts down on interchangeability but it also cuts down on broken pieces, temper tantrums over dropped parts and sore feet from stepping on tiny pieces. The Falcon took me longer than I anticipated. I started Sunday night, worked almost all day Monday and finished up this morning. Josiah could be a real slave driver if I let him. Every time I walked away from the pieces he hunted me down, "You're still working Mom. It's not finished yet. Get back there, Mom. You have to finish." etc., etc. I learned to ignore him to do things like cook meals and bathe. I think we'll stick with smaller sets from now on.


The fighting has finally started. The boys are at each other non-stop today. I may have to get creative....darn it. It's cold and rainy so anything out of doors is out of the question. Blek. I guess curling up with a good book and ignoring them isn't going to work either. Listen to me. Whining already. And this is only the 2nd day of the first week! This may get rough folks. I may have to put a whine ban on the blog site to spare you all. O.K. I promise not to whine about my kids being home this Christmas break from now on. Really.

A Family Christmas Photo Posted by Picasa

Christmas Smiles. Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Psyche.

We thought Todd was going to start a job today. He was going to Verizon on a temp' assignment for their corporate office, helping with their phone book somehow. We got a call yesterday from the lady at the temp office (a.k.a Todd's sister-in-law) letting him know that Verizon was unprepared for him to start yet, the job won't start now until the 20th or so, which doesn't help with Christmas at all. He already told the folks he substitute teaches for that he'd be unavailable so he'll have to go back and start with them again. sigh. I'm sure it could get more frustrating somehow, but I'm hoping it doesn't.

Meanwhile, you should read Todd's blog on robbing banks. It is hilarious! I think it is worth noting that I once had a youth minister who turned to robbing banks....for real! The main difference being that he had left the church in disgrace and (obviously) was not of the same moral character as Todd. Anyway. Read Todd's blog, and then read his blog about Christmas. Todd Rocks!!!

Sunday, December 11, 2005

My Bad.

It's totally and completely 100% my fault. They are baby dwarf hamsters and they were free. They were at Petco when we went to get mice for the snake. They were with the animals up for adoption. They are the teeniest, tiniest, cutest little rodents I've ever seen, shorter than my thumb and not much wider and I couldn't resist. We already have cage, food and some bedding so they really cost nothing. I held them both for 15 minutes or more and neither one even tried to nip me. I am mortified at myself but.... Posted by Picasa

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Ice Jumping

Yes, that white stuff on the tramp is ice. They are jumping in it, sliding through it, rolling on it and bouncing it. They won't play outside when it's 50 degrees but 29 degrees and I can't keep 'em inside. They snuck out without coats this last time. All I want for Christmas is pneumonia. Posted by Picasa

Snow!

Man oh man is it cold here! We had a fun bit of winter hit us yesterday. The boys had school all day, though. When my driveway iced over I assumed schools would shut down early but they hung in all day long. We got mostly frozen rain/sleet but it still left white on the ground. My sweet little one, who's never seen snow, said, "Momma! There's sand everywhere! Can I go feel it?" He had fun. They all did, way after dark and long after I told them not to stay out any longer. It was just way too fun.
The sunny pictures are from this morning. The normal course of events around here is a freak storm followed by a quick thaw. Today, however, nothings going to be thawing. It's 18 degrees with a wind chill of 4. YIKES!
My little house is so warm! Despite the ice on the metal frames of our windows, there are no cold spots inside. Under my kitchen cabinets are warm! Near the windows it's warm! My floor's not even especially cold. I love this house! Posted by Picasa

Josiah in Concert.

Josiah was in his very first school program Monday night. He's been in church programs but never without somone sitting right beside him the whole time. He did this one all on his own! He knew every word and all the actions for all the songs. He was the loudest and most animated of all the kids and spent most of the concert staring up at the lights and swinging back and forth.....but he sang all the notes and did all the motions. I was so proud!!! Grandma and Grandpa and Granny all got to see it with us. Wish you could've been there. Posted by Picasa

Ike's been watching Speed Racer.

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Monday, December 05, 2005

George Washington

Hunter had a book report to do today. It had to be a biography and he got extra credit for Social Studies if it was a figure from the Revolutionary War. With the combined efforts of his two loving parents Hunter has a snappy outfit to go with the report. The clothes are marker on foam core and the hair is fusible batting and leftover fabric scraps. He "otta" be in pictures! I, personally, like the unsmiling look....just like George! Posted by Picasa

Isaac Tries on the Costume

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Friday, December 02, 2005

3rd Grade!

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5th Grade!

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Thursday, December 01, 2005

Yerbil

Well, our little friend Yerbil passed away today. He was a cute and sweet little gerbil and we will miss him....a little. We buried him in the back yard before dinner. Todd wants to replace him with a rat. Josiah wants to replace him with a mouse. Hunter wants a parakeet and I don't think Isaac has made up his mind. But the one who cleans all such cages and feeds all such rodentia does not want anything at all. I just want to clean out the cage and put it away for a while. Geraldine says I should get rid of the cage as quickly as possible so no one will be tempted to refill it. She is a wise woman, but Todd would just buy another cage. So far I've managed to lay down a firm "No." We'll see how long I can hold out. We still have a snake, a Beta fish and a cat. I think we're fairly well covered on the pet front.

Josiah was inexplicably sick in the night last night. He was fine this morning but I couldn't send him to school since he had so recently been sick. He has been strangely "off" all day today. He's much more like his old self, which is frustrating. He kept getting really upset about normal things, like the movie in the player, but didn't seem all that upset about Yerbil. That may have been because we knew it was coming and had tried to prepare him for it. Either way, I'm glad he's asleep now and hope he's feeling more like his "new self" tomorrow.

Todd has spent several days now aggressively looking for work...any work. He's applied at Target, Michael's, Dillard's, Starbuck's and a temp agency that hires fork lift drivers. For now he's looking for something that will be an after school job for supplementing his substitute teaching. I'm signed up to substitute at Heritage's preschool but they've yet to call me. Todd won't let me work nights, I've tried several times to convince him that it makes perfect sense. He just doesn't want me out after dark, which I suppose I'm grateful for. I do feel mightily useless at times.

But I baked some yummy cookies.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Just Because

Because I feel like I should post as much as possible, not because I have anything to post about.

We got to have dinner with the Herzogs last night. We hung out at my parents' for a while and then drove to Coppell to eat Mexican. Somewhere along the line I missed the part about their WHOLE family being here. It was fun to see Ms. Clara and Mike and Rachel too besides John and Linda and Stuart and Melissa. Isaac asked if we could spend the night at Mrs. Linda's house but we just couldn't swing it.....it being 13 hours away and all. It's bitter-sweet to spend time with old friends.

After dinner we went back to my folks' to drop Josiah off for the night but he had a melt-down and we couldn't leave him. We were surprised but it was ok. We were hoping he'd stay because we had a yard sale this morning and were pretty sure he would not like seeing our stuff walk away with other people. He did surprisingly well however and since it started raining around 9 or so we didn't have long to torture him. This morning was eery. I have never seen so little traffic on our street. We set up at 6am and didn't have a single customer by 8. After that we had a rush and then it started raining. During that first two hours as we stood and watched our totally deserted street Todd said, "Wow. This feels just like trying to get a job."

We did eventually make a little money and we took the kids to Toys R Us as promised. Toys R Us did not have any cool Star Wars toys so we moved on to the real toy store....Wal Mart and everybody got what they wanted (under $15) and we went back to Grandma's. Hunter stayed tonight so it's just the 4 of us. We played a few rounds of Dora's Candy Land and I'm trying to convince Ike and 'Siah that they are as tired as me right now. They're not buying it. Maybe I should try harder.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

T-day.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I pray God blessed you with many happy memories and things to be thankful for. We had a great time here. Todd's family all came and everything went smoothly. The house was almost really clean, the food all got cooked (except that pie Todd wanted me to make for Josiah. I didn't even know where to start on that one) and I even got a few hours of sleep last night.

We did a nice job of combining thankfulness to God with one of the cardinal sins (glutany) for a whole day. There were 9 adults and 7 kids and only one incident involving blood...and it wasn't even my kid. I don't think that one would have even happened if Alicia hadn't told Colby not to hurt his face because they had already had to postpone family pictures once. Of course, he laid a rasberry all the way across one side of his face. Go Colby!

Everyone got along nicely and the food was fabulous. The kids were happy and we got to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Go Mike!). In short, I'd do it all again...but not until I've rested for a day or two.

The Herzogs are here in town to see their kids and we're going to try to see them tomorrow. I am seriously excited about that. Part of me wants to gather all sorts of things to send back to Montgomery but the rest of me just wants to enjoy John and Linda and not worry about it....that part will probably win out. I know you're not surprised about that.

One thing I learned today: cookies without the baking soda equal flavored silly putty. Don't do it!

And I'm thankful for you!!!

Monday, November 21, 2005

A little news

Todd finally submitted his resume and letter to the Legacy Church of Christ in North Richland Hills. He sent it with return receipt turned on so he knows that it has been opened by 6 people. We're assuming it had an auto-forward to all the elders or something.
Just something specific to pray about.

www.legacychurchofchrist.org if you want to check them out. We haven't even visited.

Remember what I said about the lottery?

Quote

The Kingdom of God is not what you do,

It is who you are.

And when you understand who you are,

What you do will be the Kingdom of God.

-Brad Cecil (in the sermon yesterday at Axxess)

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Feeling Deep?

I just finished reading Greg Newton's blog. I know I've mentioned before that I read his blogs but never comment and, sure enough, I didn't comment this time either. However, I really think you should read it, especially his blog from yesterday, November 15....at least I'm pretty sure that's the date on it. It's an epistle to the saints in Dothan. The whole thing really embodies what "emergent" church is striving to be. I know it's a term we use alot and I can never really explain what the movement is about but Greg does a good job of it on a really regular basis in his blog.
Don't try it if your brain's not turned on, however. It's not light weight skimming material.
www.travelersjournal.blogspot.com

Just for a little background, Greg and Marsha and their kids were in Mwanza for 8 years or so. They were there when we arrived and we overlapped for one month. He was also overseen by the Homewood Church and they were in Birmingham when we came home. They are now ministering at the Disciple's Fellowship in Birmingham. He's been a good friend and mentor to Todd.

P.S. Josiah is doing great but has a dentist appointment in the morning. PRAY!

Finally!

Now this is what autumn is supposed to look like. I was growing weary of waiting for it. It's quite nippy here, just like it is in Montgomery. I was so pleased this morning when I woke up and it was warm in my house. I knew it was really cold outside and we had not turned on our heater. Our little house holds its temp and I am glad, considering gas prices right now.

It's supposed to be in the 60's most of Thanksgiving Day next week. I think the high is supposed to reach 70. Perfect! Especially since we're hosting the Thanksgiving feast in our garage, which is the size of a small banquet hall. I'll let you in on all those plans at some later date. Just know that the boxes are going into the attic and that my muslin will finally be put to good use. Now all I need are some rugs....and candles...and maybe some Prozac.

Oh, I promised I'd be better at letting you in on the rejections....Todd did not get a call back from Verizon. For answering phones! What's the deal? Is he just overqualified?

I keep telling him that God is working something really big. Is He? I wish He'd let me know, but that's not how He works is it? Doesn't it stink? If He'd just let me know how long this is gonna take I could know how much beans and rice to stock up on. Of course, we can't live on beans and rice because Josiah can't eat rice! I also try to limit his potatoes and corn. sigh. We can't even afford to be poor. Oh well.

Todd is subbing today and I'm about to call a dentist so we can all get our teeth fixed before our insurance runs out along with our severence at the end of the month. You know what I bet? I bet this December is our best one ever. I just have this feeling....Maybe it's my hope returning. Inexplicable as that is, I think it may be back. I hope so, I've missed it. Is that odd? I'm hoping for hope.

Life is odd but...

God is good.
All the time.

All the time.
God is good.

Amen and Amen!
 Posted by Picasa

The dress!

Yes, I am a thrift queen!! This dress, which I purchased for my niece, cost $3! It is organza and has little silver buttons shaped like flowers up the back. Darling!!! Even if she never wears it for Easter or even for church, what a dress-up dress it will be!

Happy wearing, Ashley!

Love,
Aunt Teresa

P.S. should I save it for a Christmas gift? Maybe.... Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

All Better!

Josiah went to school this morning all smiles and bounces. He took a shower and is feeling great! We're so pleased, and so is he from what I gather.

Isaac is also happy. He has been wanting to watch Happy Pooh Year and had to wait for Josiah to go to school. Not because Josiah doesn't like Pooh but because Isaac really, really wanted to watch it in French and Josiah did NOT want to watch Pooh speaking in foreign tongues. I'm still not sure why Ike was so determined to watch it in French but he's sitting through the entire thing, totally glued to it, which he never does in English. Maybe he'll pick up some French. Pooh French.

When he's done and Todd gets home we're going to finish watching Monk. He borrowed the first season from the library and we're loving it! I'm enjoying it a little more than Todd. He says it's like watching What About Bob. I disagree. I couldn't sit through more than 15 minutes of that movie. Monk, on the other hand, I could (and did) watch for hours.

Todd's at breakfast with the youth minister from Heritage today. He called Todd yesterday and wanted to get together. I'm not sure what to think. I tend to suspect the motives of people I don't know. Todd said he just wanted to visit and maybe talk about him helping with the youth. We'll see.

By the way, Tigger speaking French is quite an interesting experience.

Monday, November 14, 2005

This morning

Josiah is better this morning but still not up to full speed. His fever is significantly lower, 99.9 last time I checked. I'm still having trouble getting him to eat or drink and he occasionally says, "Mom. I'm sick again," and lays down for a little bit but I'm hopeful that he'll be fine by this evening.
I'll keep you posted.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Josiah is sick

My sweet Josiah has been sick all weekend. It's what I get for bragging, I guess. I knew it was going to be rough when something finally did break through his tough immune system. He had a fever all day Saturday that just kept getting higher and higher despite the ibuprophen until about 11:30 Saturday night when it reached 103.1. At that point I thanked my Heavenly Father for a friend in another time zone and called Bob Kiser. I received good medical advice and then visited with Geraldine for an hour. After which I battled a 9 year old's fever for what felt like eternity. Eventually it slackened and he woke up all perky....for a while. Then he threw up twice and we had a yo-yo day between fevers and medicine doses.
His fever went back up to 102.3 tonight but as of now he is sleeping soundly and sweating profusely, which means the fever has broken. He still won't be able to go to school tomorrow but he should feel much better. We've already mentioned to him that he won't go to school and he's confused but not at all unhappy about getting to stay home. That may change when he sees Hunter riding off to school in the morning. We'll see.
I'll keep you posted.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Friday, November 11, 2005

About Josiah

I often sit down to blog and can not for the life of me remember what it was I intended that morning to write about. Today I seem to be remembering it all, but I don't want to just keep switching topics so radically every other paragraph (like I did this morning). I have decided, therefore, to just post a seperate blog.

We received a note from Josiah's teacher this morning (it actually came yesterday but I found it this morning). It was from his teacher's aid, Mrs. Lowhorn. It reads:

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas,

Josiah accidently hit my elbow. He bent down, kissed my elbow and said, "I love you." I almost cried! He has come so far and I could not be prouder. We are so lucky to have him in our class.

Sincerely,
Michelle

We too are proud of Josiah! They called us from school the other day to let us know that he had calmed himself down during a tantrum and was able to continue his work. I think they really called to explain the bite-shaped bruises on his arm but he had calmed down and was proud of it so they let him hear the call and couched it all as a proud moment instead of trauma.

His tantrums are becoming fewer and farther between. He rarely "loses his mind" these days and only hits his brothers when he's exceptionally annoyed or playing too rough.....like all brothers do.

Why? It's another one of those "crazy, wacko, fanatic, hippy" things we've tried over the years. It's called Mangosteen juice and Dr. Corbier mentioned it to us just before we moved as a possible way to help Josiah with dopamine regulation. It was the second of three things he mentioned. The first didn't help and we had really decided this didn't either but then I didn't give it to him one day. Wow. Right back to the screaming thing. His teacher said all his problems came in the afternoon so I upped his morning dose and he's been doing great! We're so skeptical of "complimentary medicine" that it surprises us when it works. We're still willing to try, though.

We're talking about trying Hunter on it. I've put him on the vitamins Josiah is taking and so far he's not gotten sick. It's still early in the season so I'll keep you posted on that one. We may all be popping those "wacko, hippy" pills before long. Hey, if it works....

Isn't it cute?




It's my baby gravy fairy. It's what I was trying to upload a picture of the other day but didn't know how. Todd told me and I promptly forgot to upload it for you. Her name is Lump and she is a "familiar", a pet that helps me adventure in Kingdom of Loathing.

There are also some really fun little brain games at www.eyezmaze.com . There are keypad games and puzzle games where you click and drag different items into the "box" or "world" to see how they interact. The puzzles are called "Grow" and are my fav's! There is a specific answer to each puzzle but it may take some time. Warning: if you have a life, do not attempt these, you will get sucked into playing them for long periods of time.

"For Pete's Sakes"

It's what Isaac told me yesterday when I told him I don't like McDonalds. He said, "You don't like it like Grandpa? For Pete's Sakes!!" I almost fell over. How cute!

Todd is headed to an interview at Verizon today. It's for a job answering questions over the phone. Not what we really need but..... He's applied so many times. I don't do very well about updating you all on all the rejections. No return call from the gas company on reading meters, no return call from History Maker homes for a second interview, no call back from APD (just that nasty letter), etc., etc. Today as he left he said, "Maybe God will let me win the lottery." "Are you buying tickets?" I asked. "No. If I win I want it to be truly a miracle." Goober. He's managing to keep his spirits up and I'm proud of him. After he left I thought, "Maybe God will work a lottery miracle by having a church we've never heard of call him for an interview."

He's come full circle in ministry and faith in a way I never thought I'd see and in a way that never would have happened had we not been "canned". He's applying at churches of Christ. All the men he seeks counsel from are CofC-ers and we are attending a church of Christ. He still doesn't quite fit, but he's decided to make his journey from where he is and see if anyone wants to come along. How Bob Kiser is that?

Total change of topic....we watched Big Fish the other day. I really enjoyed it but didn't see anyone I knew. Give me some hints people. Which scenes were you in? What were you wearing? I think I may have found Miss Mathew's car (she was our neighbor) but I'm not sure. Clue me in on your movie debut folks.

On that note, we also borrowed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Highly entertaining. Johnny Depp's got nothing on Gene Wilder as Willy but other than that, I really liked it.

O.K. I think I may be done rambling. On with your lives, people!

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Singing

I was going to blog this morning and then couldn't remember what it was I wanted to say.  I remembered tonight while we sat in on the Praise Team practice at Heritage. 
 
I miss our praise team from Montgomery.  They butchered a song here Sunday morning.  I can't even remember what it was, except that Terri Baker wasn't there to do the base line and I almost cried.  I'm crying now just thinking about it, isn't that silly?  That's the problem with going to a CofC here, it's too much like Grace Pointe to be blissfully unaware of how much I miss you guys.  Todd was miserable after church.  He is aching so much for his kids from GP, he just wanted to go get coffee so badly.  Sometimes it's harder than others.
 
Still no job news for Todd.  I'm signed up as a sub at the pre-school at Heritage.  We'll see how soon they call me.  Todd is enoying subsitute teaching so much that in his latest resume to a church near here he asked to be given a smaller salary and be allowed to continue subbing.   It's an interesting concept.  Maybe it'll catch their attention.  I hate to even hope any more.  Now I'm praying our landlord will let us out of our lease so we can find a two bedroom. 
 
 I know.  You don't even have to tell me.  I'm just trying to be honest.
 
I know he does amazing things with broken spirits, I'm just not used to being the broken one.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

I don't know how to tell you this....

but Todd quit his job yesterday.  I really can't explain why that is so comforting to me.  I should be upset but I am so relieved.  Is Faires Jones the only man I know who listens to his wife?  Well, he says he does anyway.  I'd have to check with Eula for verification on that.
Todd has several other jobs he's applying for right now, two of them ministry positions.  I have put several things into my mouth this morning but from this point on I am fasting and praying about the job situation.  I will fast until tomorrow, at least.  I do better if I tell someone else.  Don't let me forget.  The feeling I hate the most when I'm fasting is realizing that there's a taste in my mouth, that I've eaten a bite of something and I can't even remember what it is because I popped it in without thinking at all.  When I fast regularly, it doesn't happen as much.  Maybe that's why God is making me wait for my sense of security, so I'll learn to fast like I should. 
Todd is substitute teaching today.  He trained and went through the whole process with Keller ISD a long time ago and this is the first time they've called him when he didn't have to work.  They call all the time,  just always when he's working.  They never called on days he had off.  It was the strangest thing.  Today, however, he is working.  He can make twice what he made at Radio Shack subbing.  Go figure.
 Could you just let me know you're reading my blog?  Click on "Comments" and then type your name in the big box, click the "anonymous" option on the right (I know, it's oxymoronic) and then type in the weird-shaped word you see (it protects me from advertising comments).  Then click the "Publish your comment" button.  That's it.  It will put your name on the comments page and also send me an e-mail.  Give it a try.  It's exciting!
 

Monday, October 31, 2005

I'm hip.

The coolest thing in blogging, apparently, is to google for what you need....or want....or are.  You go to google, type in "Teresa needs" or "Teresa wants" or the like and see what it comes up with.  My friends Ellen and Karyn do it periodically so I guess it's my turn.  I'm taking some license and allowing "Theresa" in my list too.
 
Here goes:
Theresa needs to get used to the fact that she will remain the Ketchup Queen.
Theresa needs to pull up her socks and show what she's made of.
Teresa needs one more miracle to become a saint.
Teresa needs help setting up and advertising the event (she only has 2 volunteers so far).
Teresa needs to work on her math skills.
Teresa needs to stay in the board room and write the checks.
Teresa needs her fans, but she doesn't need them to be so aggressive....
Teresa needs to be "more than a woman" in order to fulfill.....( whoa!, you really don't wanna know what it says.)
Teresa needs a good lawyer.
Teresa's needs are evident.
 
How fun.  I'll google for my wants at a later date.  I think my needs are enough for today.

Happy Halloween from Our Little Monsters!

Happy Halloween! from Josiah, Hunter and Isaac. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Those swimming pics I promised.

Josiah sliding.


Hunter being cool.








Isaac on the big slide! Posted by Picasa

Calling all nerds...

I've decided that I need a guest book. Just a place people can "sign in" and let me know they're reading my blog, without having to comment. Is there such a thing? I wonder if anybody reads when I don't get comments but then I hear "I read your blog last week and...."
I also know, for example, that Greg Newton has never once received a comment from me and, yet, I read his blog all the time. I also read Karyn's and Ellen's and Mark
Connell's.
Which reminds me...anyone else got a blog I can read? Anyone wanna start one but not know how? It's so easy. It's also a good way to journal and keep people updated on your life. Or, you could start an anonymous blog and say what you REALLY think. I've thought about doing that a few times, I think it would just be too hard for me to keep things really anonymous....and I don't have that much to say that I can't just say to everybody (as I'm sure you've figured out).
So anyway, if you decide to start a blog go to www.blogger.com and just do what it says. Then let me know so I can read it!!!

Speaking of nerds.....www.kingdomofloathing.com . really. Again with the cussing though. Just cover your eyes at that part and don't let your 10 year old play. I know I don't. And I have a whole other post about having a 10 year old boy. That'll come later.

Friday, October 28, 2005

YaY!

Hooray for KoL being back up! Hooray for new site content! Hooray for temporal rifts and 200 adventures!
I want to post an image or two from my fav' game but I can't figure out how to do it. I'll have to wait for Todd to get home tonight and help me.....unless I decide to look it up online for myself. Bah. Too much thought involved. We'll see.

Todd has like 3 more interviews before he knows anything about the History Makers job. He's decided he just needs a job in ministry. duh. I've learned not to mind the lag time between what I say and his "flashes of insight". It allows him to think he thought this stuff up all by himself. It's good for him.

I love my husband! There are 15 million reaons why but getting to watch him discover himself is one of my favorites. I hope he enjoys watching me learn who I am too, especially since he's such an integral part of who I'm becoming. Isn't marriage cool? We're coming up on 14 years in about 2 months. I could wax profound about marriage here, but I'll spare you my insight. Especially since my littlest result of marriage is whining in my ear about playing on the computer. Maybe I'll bestow my wisdom upon you at some later date. You can hope my ADD kicks in and I forget all about it......huh?

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Haiku

This is my haiku. Not because Todd wrote one, but because Kingdom of Loathing is down for maintance today and I am NOT happy about it. I had to go without playing for 4 days while our internet was down and now the game is down! Poor me. Anyway. This is because I miss my Haiku Dungeon, wherein lies the ever usable fairy gravy. None of which actually has anything to do with the contents of this Haiku.


Home.

Autumn is coming.
I dreamt about Africa.
I feel so homesick.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Fun Quiz

I found this fun quiz on another Blog site today. It's not necessarily well written but it is fun to think about. I'm not sure I'd classify myself as Romans. I think I'm going to do some independent research and get back to you on that.
Meanwhile, you take the quiz and let me know what it tells you.

You Are Romans
You are Romans.

Which book of the Bible are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Instead of working....

These are some of the things I've been working on. The pears represent the ongoing saga. That pile are the pears I could reach with a chair. There are 10 times that many out of reach.
The two VanGogh's are 7x9. They both got a little cropped in the photo. I can't decide what to do for the 3rd in the series I want to make of them.
The wanna-be-quilt is an added time killer. I'm trying to arrange some of the 1/4 ton of fabric samples I've hauled around with us for years into quilts, preferably for sale. This one is made of really pretty tapestry fabric, with small metallic dots in most of the patterns. I just use the blocks as they are instead of cutting them into other patterns because each cut and subsequent seam reduces the size of the pieces. I want it to be a usable size. I'm trying to decide if I like this color arrangement and if and/or what kind of border I could use either around or between the blocks. They still have to be washed, pressed, measured, cut and sewn together, then quilted. It may be awhile.

These are the things I do instead of working at a job that would actually help support our family. I sometimes feel guilty about that, but not too much. I love being home with Isaac and being available for our other two.
Anybody wanna buy a really, really heavy quilt? It's made from fancy fabric! ;-) Posted by Picasa

Jobs

Well.  Todd received his official rejection letter from the Arlington Police Department yesterday.  We knew it was coming because we hadn't heard from them in so long.  It said he was turned down because of information found in the polygraph that had not been previously disclosed.  In other words, those 3 jobs from high school and college he remembered while he was strapped in that he hadn't listed on his application.  Since he's had about 25 jobs I think they were being silly, but we've heard from other applicants that APD is just "like that".  They work really hard to reject everybody they can.  Oh well.  He didn't want that stinky ol' job anyway.
He's looking into several others right now, one of which I'm actually excited about.  It's as a recruiter/trainer.  He called the contact this morning to ask if his experience in training,  teaching classes, retreat planning and recruiting and working with interns counted for this type of job and she said, "Definitely.  Send me your resume."  I don't think he's as hopefull as I am, but I'm practically bouncing off the walls over it.  The company is a large landscaping company (Brickman), which he knows nothing about, but the rest is so perfect! ( As long as they don't come check out our yard before they interview him.) The pay would be about the same as he was making in Montgomery and it's located in Roanoak, which is the next town north of us....5 minutes from our house. (The town, anyway.  I'm not sure where the office is within the town.)
I'm gonna be praying my brains out about this job and I'd appreciate all the help I can get with it.
 
We went back to Heritage last night for church.  I went to the ladies' class and really enjoyed it.  That's always the best place to make friends.  When Todd came out of his class he found Josiah walking the halls with the children's minister.  He had spilled some apple sauce on his pants and freaked out so he just took him for a walk.  They didn't even blink, they just handled it.  Josiah was so happy by the time I got out of class that he said, "Hi Mom!" and wrapped himself around me in a huge hug.
For years we've been telling churches that if they will really work hard to reach out to special needs kids people will be beating down their doors to get there.  We're here to testify.  We don't really like the preaching and Hunter and Isaac, while enjoying their own classes, really miss Axxess in Arlington.  But.  We'll be going to Heritage.  We may even place membership soon.  Because, and only because, they love and care for Josiah.  It was something Grace Pointe did well and something we have sorely missed.  God is good.  Don't forget it.
We can't place membership yet, though.  Todd's preaching the 30th at Axxess.  I know he misses ministry alot.  It will be nice when he gets a stable job and can work on local ministry.  Which reminds me.... KEEP PRAYING ABOUT THAT JOB!  I'll probably fast too when I have a better idea about interviews and such.  Not "if", "when."  PRAY!

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Bed Time

Just some pics I liked.
We're reading The Real Story of The Three Little Pigs, just in case you're the type who wonders those kinds of things. I'm also trying some new posting methods. I'm not sure on this one. Posted by Picasa

Even More!

 Posted by Picasa

When I say pears.....

Didn't believe I had a TON of pears? I hope you can see them here. You can click on the photo to see it larger. It's nothing compared to the pile on the ground, but you don't want to see that, trust me. There are a few rotting on the tree as well. They keep the butterflies coming back. Our cat likes to watch them out the window of our bedroom. Posted by Picasa

Monday, October 17, 2005

Life goes on.

I realized that I haven't blogged, but I think I just haven't had anything exciting happen the last few days.  I stayed up till 2am Friday night(Saturday morning) reading Jane Eyre.  I haven't read it since the 8th grade and really love it.  Jane Austen's got nothin' on Charlotte Bronte.
Saturday night we went to Ennis for a surprise birthday party for Todd's sister.  We left after Todd got off at 6 and didn't get back home until midnight. 
 We went to church here locally Sunday morning and had a great time.  The church, Heritage Church of Christ, is pretty big and fairly typical CofC but is so very ready for Josiah.  They have several kids in the group with various special needs and didn't even bat an eye when I called about it Wednesday.  In fact the quote from the children's minister was, "We're serious about earning your trust."  We went Wednesday and then again Sunday.  Aside from the preaching, we really enjoyed it.  We are so spoiled!  I don't know what it will take to impress us with preaching ever again.
We took the boys to the park tonight.  I hope they're as worn out as me.  Hunter was home today with a headache and fever.  He rode to school and then called me about an hour into it.  He slept most of the day so he may have trouble getting to sleep tonight.  I hope not.  Is that wishful thinking?  I want to paint a little more.  I've done a tiny bit more on Dad's painting but I've been working on some VanGogh's.  I've done 2 smalls and will do a third, hopefully tonight.  Maybe we can get them framed and take them by the interior decorator up the street.  Who knows?  I'll try to get some photos of them up soon.
I have a tree full of pears and I can't reach most of them.  When I say full, I mean seriously full.  Anybody want some pears?  Bring a ladder!  Maybe I should paint a picture.
Alright.  It's bed time so I'd better go start herding kids.
G'night.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

For Linda

Isaac and I were on our way to a luncheon today and he was falling asleep in the car seat. Out of nowhere in a sleepy little voice he said, "Mama, I wish Ms. Linda lived in Texas." "Yeah?" I replied. "Me too baby."

So Linda Herzog, wherever you are today, we miss you. You and Heather hug each other for us.

The desk. My $4.95 art studio. (Unless you count the chair which was an additional $3.95) Posted by Picasa

Dad's painting. So much farther to go.... Posted by Picasa