This Week's Random Thoughts

• I think my opinions are worth more than 2 cents (and don't get me started on the phrase penny for your thoughts)
• When I come home to a house that my hubby has cleaned before he went to work, I fall in love all over again with him (and I forget about his humongous junk pile on the side of the house)
• I'm thankful for my friend Barb who keeps me stocked in free e-books (although I would like her even if she didn't do that)
• When I watch Advent Conspiracy videos where kids get clean water, I cry (see for yourself: http://vimeo.com/30565831)
• I wish The SnowCone Lady was still open
• I wonder why my dog thinks he needs to bark when he sees us coming with his food
• I'm glad we get new bodies in heaven--I just hope I don't get laundry duty there, too--I'm sure getting hot chocolate out of robes is harder than a kid's t-shirt
• Why does Honey Boo-Boo's mom think that butter mixed with ketchup is spaghetti sauce?
• I'm really proud to be a part of Lovepacs (shameless plug: www.lovepacs.org)
• As much as the political opinions on facebook drive me crazy, this makes me laugh: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://d22zlbw5ff7yk5.cloudfront.net/images/cm-26704-0507ed75147702.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://pandawhale.com/convo/7695/binders-full-of-women-romney-gaffe-gets-tumblr-and-200k-likes-on-facebook-techcrunch?comment%3D26699&h=453&w=680&sz=286&tbnid=0b03Gm2WGmeQVM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=135&zoom=1&usg=__6Wtr6Qk94UBb2jDhBw6F4v7xxjw=&docid=92CuH1W-wXvMuM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qDx_UKOdH4fc2QW434HoCw&ved=0CCcQ9QEwAg&dur=1296
• I heart Duck Dynasty (yep--I know I've said it before, but it's Wednesday night and it comes on and every time I think about that, I smile)
• I'm probably the only 40 year old whose favorite song is "We are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift (and my 2nd is "Some Day, I'll be Livin in the big ol City and all you're ever gonna be is mean")

Mrs. Green Jeans

Last weekend, I took my oldest bra shopping.  Yep, you heard me--we are at that stage of life.  There are many posts I'd like to do here on it, but I really don't want to embarrass her, so I'll drop it...for now, at least. 

Anyway, we found her stuff pretty quickly and I wandered over into my section for jeans.  Have I mentioned how much I hate shopping?  I absolutely dread it--no matter what kind it is.  I used  to like shopping for other people, but even that is a beat-down for me these days.  And yes, shoe shopping is included in the hate column--I know that calls into question my femaleness, but one pair of black shoes is really enough for me-as long as they are comfortable.

So, back to the jeans.  I couldn't find any regular jeans, but Hope found the colored rack.  She begged me--seriously--to try on the green ones.  After realizing I was actually dodging a bullet by not being coerced into taking the purple ones as well, I grabbed the green pair and headed to the dressing room.

They are a little too much.  And I only have 2 shirts that I know I can wear with them (I'm a mix and match queen when it comes to clothes--I like any new item to match 4-5 things).  I think I'm too old and big to wear something trendy--I've never been a "cool" person in my life--I'm a "classic" kind of girl. 

But, I walked out of the store with them anyway.  And Hope was so ecstatic--you'd have thought I won the lottery. And I got several compliments on them when I wore them (to which she smirked and said "I told you so!").

It sounds silly.  A post about green jeans.  But here's what I learned from it:

• Saying "Yes" to your kids can benefit you as much as them.
• Taking a risk every now and then reaps benefits
• I don't have to dread shopping--my daughter's love language--I can celebrate the fact that I now have a personal shopper

And the thing that is slapping me in the face the most:

My 10 year old already has more fashion sense than I do. 

Making Excuses

The other day, I found myself trying to one-up someone.  I'm sure this never happens to anyone else, but I find myself in this position at least weekly (probably daily if I were really honest here).

Instead of being happy and celebrating with the person talking about this great thing that had happened, I smiled and immediately launched into how great that was for her, but that doesn't work for my family.  In a few sentences, I belittled her joy and explained why we do it a different way and it really has a bigger impact this way.

When I realized what I had done, I was completely embarrassed.  In fact, I still have never gone back to apologize.  As I started my over-analyzation process, I tried to figure out why I felt the need to do that.  Here's what I came up with:

Insecurity. 

Fear.

Pride.

All ugly things.  I worry that because the traditional way doesn't typically work for me and my girls, it means that we don't know Jesus as well as we think we do.  I'm scared that others see and think that.  I'm also scared that others feel the same way as me, but aren't brave enough to speak up (which fuels my need to speak up more than I should). 

And, honestly, there are few things I hate worse than feeling like someone is better than me.  I know I should hate the fact that people die every day without knowing Jesus, and there is so much abuse in the world and there are hungry kids in every city/town.  And I do hate those things, but sometimes, not as much as I hate feeling small. 

Reminds me of something a friend of mine said in college--all sin is rooted in pride.  Sounds like it fits for me.

There's no bow on the end of this post--I have nothing to tie it up prettily with.  Just ponderings.  And prayers that God will grip my heart and close my mouth the next time I try to make excuses.    Feel free to pray that for me, too--Lord knows there can't ever be enough people praying for me.

No Room for Regret

I came across this "post" I had written on notebook paper while I was on vacation this summer that I had forgotten about. Better late than never to get it on the blog.

I woke up early this morning.  So early that it was still dark outside. I laid in bed and thought about walking down to the beach to see the sunrise, but by the time I finally convinced myself to get up and do it, the sun was already up.  Knowing I'd probably missed the best part, I headed  down to the beach anyway.  And I got a couple of good pics--including this one (which, yes, I did doctor in instagram to make it more dramatic, but isn't it worth it???)    

The moment my feet touched sand, rain started falling. I waited for a moment--hoping it would pass--but the sprinkles turned into big raindrops--complete with lightning--so I left and headed back to our home for the week.

Walking back, I started to think about how quickly our perspective changes.   Before I went to bed the night before, I noticed that I had a slight sunburn--as did both of my girls.  I wondered if we should stay inside today and take it easy--after all, we still had 3 more beach days. Wouldn't it be good to hang out at the house for a day?  The rain confirmed my plans for the day, but I was sad.

The rain reminded me that life is not always filled with sunny beach days, so we should grab them when they come and wring every bit of fun out of them that we can.  We should take our naps in a chair by the ocean rather than in a bed. We should bring snacks so we don't have to go back for lunch. We should enjoy every bit of the sand--no matter where it winds up.

And I learned: To live fully on the sunny days leaves no room for regret on the rainy ones.

If Ya Read it and You Know it Clap Your Hands (or just give a like)

Like many writers, I doubt my abilities. Some days, I think I'm amazing and others, I feel like I have nothing to say that anyone wants to hear. This is where you come in--I need your help. If you read my posts and you find them somewhat amusing or entertaining, will you "like" this?  Better yet, if you follow somewhat consistently, a comment on this post would just send me over the moon. 

I'm not asking so that I can get a bunch of pats on the back. Seriously. I'm asking because I'm debating about whether to become more serious about my writing. The fact is, many people out there think they are writers. And just a few of them have blogs (Ha!!!).  So I often wonder, "What makes me think I have anything to say that's not already being said/been said/will be said more eloquently?"

I've wanted to write a book since I was a kid--back when I dreamed about being a librarian (I thought being a librarian would allow me to read all the books in the library all day long).  I'm still not sure what I even want to write about--it will definitely be something I have first-hand experience with.  

I'm not saying I'm gonna stop blogging if I get no likes here, but knowing who is reading will help me define my target audience. It will also help me figure out whether to separate my "Royal Family" stories or to keep them because that's what's enjoyable about my writing.

So, what do ya think?  Will you help a sister out?

A Blog Post A Day Keeps __________ Away

So, I've been way remiss in my writing the last few months.  It's not that I don't have anything to say and you obviously know that I don't subscribe to the "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" way of thinking.  I just haven't had margin.

Actually, I haven't made margin.

A lot of that is work.  A lot of that is just being tired.  A lot of it is a lack of creativity (going back to the lack of margin and tired-ness).  And the other lot of that is jut plain laziness.

So, I'm changing that.  Starting today, my plan is to write something every day until Thanksgiving.  I'll warn you now, it may all be crap.  But if I know I gotta do it, I'm hoping the creativity will open back up.  I won't do a 40 days of thankfulness kind of thing.  I won't do a picture a day--although, I DO want to do that one--maybe in December.  I'm not sure what kind of randomness will come out.  It could get exciting...or not.

So, if you are a friend who reads this because you love me, stay tuned and feel free to encourage me along the way.  If you read this to make fun of me, you can stay tuned as well--you may have lots to keep you laughing over the next month. 

Duck dynasty makes me happy happy happy

I've posted before about how much I love the show Duck Dynasty. It makes me laugh out loud and that's a good thing.  In one hours worth tonight there were several one liners that I just had to share:

• Hitting a deer isn't a wreck--that's food on the table. 
• Better a good days catch of fish than a lifetime of crabs
• It's on like donkey kong
• I think there's a weight limit for ninjas
• When you're 21 and still in high school, yeah, you're pretty good at stuff
• If you combine the time you waste cutting grass with the time you spend shaving your face...
• Hey!  You never insult a mans beard
• Ladies and gentlemen: one more yuppie girl moved a little bit closer to being a redneck...there's still hope for America out there 

Going to bed with a smile on my face :)