Here are some more treasures that have been found in the garage.
Grandma D’s bowling ball:
My first piggy bank:
An upright piano music box that plays “As Time Goes By”:
A music box Grandma M brought back from Germany that used to play “Brahms Lullaby”:
A silly little plaque I got for Todd years ago:
And a few miscellaneous treasures:
Today was Pajamas and Pancake Day at the preschool. My absolute most favoritist day of the entire school year. Seriously. Who doesn’t like to come to work in comfy jammies? And who doesn’t like pancakes?
Sadly, so very sadly for me I had to miss it. I kind of had my very own Pajamas and Pancake Day without the pancakes, though. And they were actually yoga pants and a t-shirt instead of jammies.
Last night I went for another sleep study. This time instead of getting released at 5:30 in the morning like I did HERE*, I had to stay for what they call a latent sleep study to test for narcolepsy. A latent sleep study takes place after the night time sleep study and is when you’re awake for about 2 hours and then you take a 20 minute nap. Then they wake you and you’re up for another 2 hours and then you take another 20 minute nap. They do this four or five times, which sounds great and all, except I think it’s pretty much the same thing as a torture technique better known as sleep deprivation. You just get into a deep sleep and they’re waking you up. Torture.
I had to pack food to eat because there’s no walking over to the hospital cafeteria in your jammies while hooked to all these leads. As I ate my 100 calorie whole wheat bagel tops with Weight Watcher’s light cream cheese that I washed down with not cold/not warm water I couldn’t help but think I could be eating a pancake and a slice of bacon and sipping a hot cup of coffee right now. Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that. No coffee for me, though I could smell Rob the technician’s coffee in the room next to mine. Like I said – Torture.
Rob released me after my fourth nap around 2:30 or so. I asked about my results and he said I fell asleep with each nap. I wanted to tell him I knew that because I was there. But that would have been rude. So I guess I failed the test. Or maybe I passed it. I’m not really sure.
Lucky for me, since it wasn’t 0-dark-thirty, it was rainy so I just kept the hood to my sweatshirt on until I got home so no one could see my spiky, sticky-outy hair.
Never one to be a whiner (just go with it, people), it wasn’t all bad. I did get to read a lot. Still, I’m thinking we’ll be having pancakes for breakfast on Saturday morning. And coffee. And maybe even a nap. A real nap.
*I wrote this post the day I was to go back for my follow up sleep study. Contrary to what I wrote in today’s post, I whined about having to go back all day long and kept hoping the sleep lab would lose power or something and my study would be cancelled. As I was packing my stuff up, grumbling the whole time, the phone rang. Todd answered it and it was Rob saying the lab had lost power and the sleep study was cancelled. NO LIE!! Then he told Todd he didn’t think I’d need a follow up because the CPAP machine has all the information he needs. I thought I’d gotten off super lucky until my doctor decided I should be tested for narcolepsy.
In an effort to kill two birds with one shot (photo shot, that is) here is a picture of Katie’s new old car AND the first snow of the season.
I wish she would settle on a name for her car. I’m voting for Scarlet, but the jury’s still out. It’s just that it’s so much easier to throw out a name whilst talking about her car than saying “her car”. Which sounds better to you?
1. Katie’s car wears the snow as if it’s a mink coat; or
2. Scarlet wears the snow as if it’s a mink coat.
(Killing birds, mink coat – I hope PETA doesn’t read Jenster’s Musings.)
Anyway, Todd’s been a very busy boy. In recent months he has gotten into wood working and has been slowly amassing equipment. All those power tools need a place to live and not in the middle of the garage willy nilly. We have a double garage with two windows on one wall so he’s decided to make that side his workshop. Which is a great plan, except for the fact that we have several boxes neatly tucked along that wall. Boxes that were put there by the moving guys when we moved into the house nearly 6 years ago. So now he’s going through the boxes and making a throw away pile, a yard sale pile, a put away pile and an I have no idea so I’ll have to ask Jen pile. It’s turning into quite a treasure hunt!
One of the first treasures he came across was a bag with our Christmas stockings in it. Yes, folks. We’ve celebrated Christmas six times in this house and never once with stockings. Christmas 2012 is going to be awesome!
Look at what other treasures he found:
I used to collect music boxes and bought this one at the San Francisco Music Company on Pier 39 in San Francisco about 25 years ago. You pull the little cable car down to the bottom of the hill and it slowly goes up the street to “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”.
My two favorite stuffed animals ever. My grandparents gave me Winnie the Pooh when I was really little and I can’t even count how many times he had to be sewn up here or there. When I was in elementary school and we would be learning about fire safety I would lay in my bed at night and go over how I would get out of the house if there was a fire. My plan would always include grabbing Winnie. When I would start to imagine the fire and NOT getting Winnie out I would end up crying in my bed. I loved Winnie.
The other is the first stuffed animal Todd gave me. I called him LT – short for Little Todd. Cheesy, I know. What can I say? I was young and silly.
I have no idea where I got this. Really? A size 5?
My Grandmother’s jewelry box.
Because of my love for music boxes I was given this one when my grandfather passed away. It had been given to him and my grandmother for their 50th wedding anniversary by my other grandmother so it’s doubly special to me.
There were other goodies (and a ton of junk) that was found, but there are still a few more boxes to go through. I can’t wait to see what’s to be found next!
As I mentioned HERE, Katie’s car (affectionately known as Ruby) has been in the shop. Actually, it’s been in the parking lot of the shop. They have been so kind to let us keep her car there until we could figure out our next move. Not only that, but they didn’t charge us a dime to look at the car in the first place. They will definitely be keeping our business for a long time.
We exhausted all of our options and finally determined today we just need to scrap it. I feel bad for her because she worked hard to save the money to buy Ruby and she only lasted three months. I feel just as bad for Nick, the kid she bought the car from. He feels responsible, but he had no way of knowing there was only so much left in Ruby. Buying an 18-year-old car is always a risk.
So tonight we worked a deal to get Katie a newer car. Funnily enough it’s another red Camry, but a ’97 instead of a ’93. The three of us piled into the car (which may or may not be named Ruby Deux) and took a test drive to the parking lot where Ruby’s been hanging out for the past few weeks. Katie and I cleaned her out while Todd went in to tell the guys a flat bed truck would be collecting the old car in the next day or two. Then we drove away and it was kind of sad.
Back to the dealer where we signed papers and wrote a check and then we came home where we figured out a payment plan for Katie. She’s a little bummed about not owning the car outright (that would be me who owns the car outright) but she’s thrilled to have a ride again.
And me? I’m thrilled to be able to comfortably climb into my car in the morning without having to try and squeeze in and then slide the seat back.
Here we are, heading into the third week of January, and I’m happy to say I am. Starting Well, that is. And what I mean by that is I’m following a new blog series called Starting Well, written by Teri Lynn Underwood, and it’s just too good not to share. You can click on the Starting Well banner for an overview of the series.
This first week has been Quiet Time – discipline in my spiritual life. Teri Lynne shares sensible ideas, doable suggestions and helpful resources. But the best part, in my estimation, is that she gives permission to be practical. There are no unreasonable reading plans or directives to spend one hour three times a day in quiet contemplation and I love that. It gives me permission to be human and not feel like a failure when I don’t “stick to the plan”. Heck, I don’t even have to rationalize!!
I’ve listed and linked to each of Week One’s posts below. Check out the main points of the first two, would you?
“God is not interested in your quiet time or devotions or personal Bible study… His interest is YOU.”
“Spending time in the Word is important… but how that happens and for how long on any given day? I’m just not sure that is quite as big a deal to God as it seems to be to us sometimes.”
How freeing is that? Sometimes I think we (translated=I) get so wrapped around the axel of doing it right, like if we don’t spend time with God or in his word this particular way (whatever this is) then we’re doing it all wrong and we may as well not do it at all. Let’s abandon that type of thinking and Start over Well.
• Devotions, Quiet Times, Personal Bible Study. Is it really necessary? “God is not interested in your quiet time or devotions or personal Bible study … His interest is YOU.”
• 10 Tips for a Great Quiet Time “Spending time in the Word is important … but how that happens and for how long on any given day? I’m just not sure that is quite as big a deal to God as it seems to be to us sometimes.”
• Memorize, Meditate, and Meander: Storing Up God’s Word 3 ways to spend time treasuring Scripture
• Tools of the Trade: Resource Recommendations Suggestions for Bibles, study aids, devotionals, and books on spiritual disciplines
• Chocolate, Paradise, and Every Spiritual Blessing Guest post by Kathy Howard inviting us to join her online study, “Growing Up Together: A Study of Ephesians”
My suggestion is that you subscribe to her blog so you don’t miss any of her posts, but in case you can’t for some reason, I’ll link the week’s posts on Sunday for the next seven weeks. And be sure to come back and let me know what you think!
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a MOPS Mentor Mom. I don’t really know for sure why I’m a “mentor” and tell my young moms I suppose it’s possible they could maybe learn something from my mistakes. Such as…
When my children were little I thought this or that would be a great mommy thing to do, but instead it caused them to stutter/burp/hit their head against the wall for no apparent reason/hate glitter – you fill in the blank – so don’t do it to your kids.
You see why I might not be best suited for the position.
But every once in a very long while I do have great words of parenting wisdom. A wisdom so profound it garners such looks of awe and appreciation that for a moment I’m embarrassed. Embarrassed that my genius has burned so bright. It’s hard to be humble when you’re a beacon of such enlightenment. But, you know, when you’re that brilliant it just is what it is.
This morning was one of those days. You know what I’m talking about. The kind of day when you’re on fire and everything that comes out of your mouth sounds like something you’d read in an inspirational book or see on Oprah.
Yesterday two of my friends with young children were discussing how they feel bad that they don’t play games for hours with their children like other moms. So this morning I offered them this priceless wisdom:
Don’t worry about it. As they begin to get a little older just start feeding them false memories about how you spent hours upon hours playing their favorite games when they were little. Eventually they will start to believe you and actually think they remember. Bam. You’re the best mother ever.
I KNOW! Brilliant, right?? Sometimes I amaze even myself.
I am a horrible judge of pita chip to hummus/chip to dip ratio. I underestimated how many pita chips I was going to need to finish the amount of hummus I have, so I just got the bag. It seems to be working out well. Now if I can only make my one little glass of wine last. Tiny sips, Jenster. Tiny baby sips.
******
Katie’s car is in the shop. Last Wednesday as she was driving two other girls to school there was a pop and then smoke coming from the hood. Todd was, of course, out of town. Taylor was with him. I was in the shower as she tried to call me three times, back to back. One of her friend’s mother stopped by the house to tell me what had happened. Missy picked the girls up to take them to school and I was left to get the car picked up by a tow truck and to the shop.
It was 11 degrees when she left for school that morning. The mechanic told me later that day the radiator hoses were frozen and the “pop” was when one of them came off the radiator. The “smoke” was the fluid hitting the hot engine. He wasn’t going to be able to investigate further until the hoses had thawed out. We were hoping and praying with everything that it was only the radiator. New hoses and a radiator flush – while not cheap – is doable. Turns out there is actually something wrong with the engine. Poor Ruby.
The kid we bought the car from – a good friend of Taylor’s – is a mechanic and he’s going to price out parts and we’ll go from there. Hopefully having Nick do the repairs will still make it doable. Otherwise we’ll be scrapping Ruby for parts. Poor Ruby.
******
Taylor left to go back to college today. Well, not actually college. He’s driving to Pittsburg first to hang out with some friends who moved out there a while back. As luck would have it, his girlfriend just so happens to live in the Pittsburg area as well. Wednesday, I think, he and Shelby will then drive from the Pitt (no derogatory meaning intended) down to Lynchburg.
As much as I love having him home – and I do – I’m okay with him going back to school. He does have 1.5 years of higher education under his belt which means he’s super smart. Much smarter than his father or me. We seem to be getting dumber in direct proportion with his amount of time in college. Funny. I don’t feel dumber. Still, I can’t wait until the next time we get to see him.
(Mom and Dad – please picture me groveling as I beg for your forgiveness. Again.)
******
Todd has picked up a new hobby. He’s been making these really cool paracord bracelets for just about everybody. It gives him something to do during the evening. Kind of like Grandma and her knitting.
The bracelets are also called survivor bracelets because let’s just say you’re out hiking in the woods with your buddy and he/she goes over a cliff, barely landing on a narrow ledge 12 feet below. How will you ever pull him/her up? You have no cell service and it’s much too far to hike out – you’ll never make it back before dark, leaving your friend to suffer through the elements. If only you had a rope. But that’s much too heavy. Who would ever hike with 20 feet of rope? But wait! No need to fear! You just happen to be wearing a fashionable paracord bracelet engineered by Todd. You whip it off your wrist, clip the end with your handy Swiss Army knife (because you should never hike without a Swiss Army knife) and SHAPOW! Twenty feet of military grade paracord, able to hold 550 pounds! Crisis averted.
*****
And that’s what’s been happening in my neck of the woods. How about yours?
I am NOT making a New Year’s resolution. I have found they don’t work for me and, in fact, cause more problems than good.
Yesterday in church Dan, our associate pastor, talked about taking off the old self and putting on the new self (Colossians 3: 5-11), which is a great scripture for this time of year. He mentioned three things that will help you reach your goal – whether a spiritual goal or a New Year’s resolution:
1. Pick only one thing
2. Tell someone your goal – someone who will hold you accountable
3. Don’t wait to start over if you mess up
I like this simple little list. It speaks volumes to me.
1. Pick only one thing
One of my biggest problems is becoming overwhelmed with everything I need/want to do. That desk I mentioned above? It’s a part of my sitting room/office which is an unholy wreck. I go in with the intention of cleaning it up but then I don’t know where to start. So I just leave. Maybe I should go in thinking I’m only going to pick up one thing. Or one category of things such as all the bobble heads, as an example. To my knowledge I don’t actually own any bobble heads. Then again, my office is so chaotic I might have a whole collection in there.
Now this concept isn’t new to me. Todd is forever saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” (Icky analogy if you ask me.) Yeah, yeah. I know. But I forget it a lot.
2. Tell someone your goal
This one is not a problem. I tell everybody everything whether they want to know or not. The issue is my lack of pride. So I tell you I’m going to clean up my office and then I don’t do it. Big woo. If you think less of me because I didn’t meet a personal goal I’d set for myself then so be it. No skin off my nose.
This attitude is a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because I never struggled with the whole, “if I only do this or that, then they will like me.” I’ve pretty much always felt like, “this is me. I’m a good person and if they don’t like me because I’m not rich/pretty/smart/skinny/popular/spiritual/fill-in-the-blank enough then I that’s fine. I’d prefer not to be wrapped up with somebody that shallow.” I can’t honestly say why I’ve always had this attitude and I wish with everything in me that I could transfer that to young girls. Of course, this isn’t to say I’ve never felt inadequate or self conscious or any of those negative emotions because believe you me, I have and still do at times. It’s just not the usual way of how I think.
How is this mindset a curse? Easy! The whole accountability part doesn’t work so well with me. Maybe if I was to ask someone mean to hold me accountable it would be better. I suppose I need a scary drill sergeant who will cause me physical pain if I don’t do it.
3. Don’t wait to start over if you mess up.
Hello! This is where my rationalization hurts me every.single.time. I start a diet on Monday and when I blow it on Wednesday I just go hog wild until the following Monday. Is it any wonder I can’t manage to lose weight?
Perfect case in point. I started Weight Watchers about 10 weeks ago. I was doing great! I was only averaging about a pound a week but that was okay. I’m in this for the long haul so I was pleased with my very slow success. Then I went to Akron for a week. I managed to get a good hour or so of exercise nearly every day I was there, but I didn’t keep track of my food or activities and I didn’t make it to my weekly meeting. Then the following week I was so busy with work and other stuff (like parties three nights in a row) that I dropped the ball again. And let’s not even talk about the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Besides, we had company and we had to entertain them. And entertainment always includes good food you know.
So this year isn’t any different than any other year. I’m not actually making resolutions. Except I think I really am. I’m just not calling it a resolution. I’m planning on being more intentional. Not just this year, but from now on.
There are two quotes that describe me perfectly.
Ignorance is bliss
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
The first quote I will cling to until I breathe my last breath. It makes my life, well, blissful. I’m not a fan of the second quote because I always have the best of intentions. I just have no follow through and I hate that about me. So I am removing it from my repertoire.
Instead of having good intentions I’m going to be intentional about my actions. Instead of saying “it’s my intention to write so and so a note,” I’m going to be intentional about sending a note to someone every Monday. (I just came up with that one and I kind of like it.) Or instead of thinking it’s my intention to lose X amount of pounds this year, I’m going to be intentional about following the Weight Watchers plan. Or instead of it’s my intention to read my bible more, I’m going to be intentional about how I spend my time.
I don’t know that there’s really any difference, but for some reason it makes sense to me. And in the grand scheme of things here, that’s what counts.
So here’s how it’s going to play out:
1. Pick one thing
I’m going to be more intentional. That’s all. I have a lot of goals and I’m going to be more intentional about how to meet them. I might not meet them in 2012 and that’s okay. Except for my office. I really hope I realize the goal of having my sitting room clean and organized and conducive to being creative and productive before the end of the month!
2. Tell someone your goal
Um, I think this one is pretty clear. But for those of you who are a little slow on the uptake, I’m telling you right now. I’m going to be more intentional.
3. Don’t wait to start over if you mess up
So when I blow it tomorrow morning I’ll just start back up tomorrow afternoon, take off my old self again and put on the shiny new self.
since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Colossians 3:9b-10
Todd’s folks are visiting from California so we took them to Longwood Gardens yesterday. I had very carefully chosen the day based on the weather and the kids’ busy schedules and bought our tickets ahead of time. While Tuesday was cool and rainy, yesterday was clear. And cold. And windy.
We drove an hour south through some very pretty landscapes, found the gardens and followed the instructions to the parking lot. Remember that rainy Tuesday I mentioned? Well it turned the grassy areas of the lot into a gooey, muddy mess. We had to cross that muddy mess to get to the busses that would take us to the gardens. They had put straw down and I heard Todd say, “Be careful. It’s muddy.” So I was walking and pulling on gloves and stuffing jacket pockets with stuff and holding onto my camera and being careful – all at the same time. Suffice it to say the straw was useless in my case. I started to slide and down I went, but not quickly. It seemed to take forever before I was lying down in the mud like a pig in slop. As my left foot started to slip I kind of left my body and watched it happen to someone else in slow motion. And when I finally landed I let an unladylike expletive escape. Because 1) I looked anything but ladylike, all sprawled out in the mud; and 2) what I was wallowing in looked like what I said.
So back to the car I went to clean up as best I could. One of the parking attendants got some paper towels out of his truck for me and Todd gave me his treasured microfiber cloth. Precious got a little muddy, but thankfully nothing serious.
As I mentioned, it was cold and very windy. Thankfully a good portion of what we saw was inside a huge conservatory. When we left the protection of the structure we thought it may have actually warmed up a bit. Turns out there was just a lull in the wind. The best part about Longwood Gardens at Christmastime happens when the sun goes down and the gardens and trees are lit up. It was still light outside so we decided to go eat inside where it was warm. Once warmed and fortified, we perused the gardens and ended our evening with a viewing of the fountain show.
I didn’t want to bog down the blog by posting a ton of pictures, so if you click on the picture it will take you to a Photobucket slideshow.
Longwood Gardens Slideshow
When we got home from our fun adventure we all changed into comfy, cozy jammies. And the perfect end to a perfect day? (Except Katie filled hers so high there was no room for marshmallows or whipped cream.)
As I was perusing the internet for devotional ideas last week, I found Teri Lynne Underwood’s blog with the tag line of “Encouraging lives where the sacred and the secular collide.” I was intrigued. Her current series called “Have Yourself a {Mary} Little Christmas intrigued me further so I decided to hang out for a bit. Lucky for you I did because I found the posts in her series worthy of sharing.
So without further ado, be intrigued and enjoy…
Have Yourself A {Mary} Little Christmas, Introduction
Have Yourself A {Mary} Little Christmas, Part 1
Have Yourself A {Mary} Little Christmas, Part 2
Have Yourself A {Mary} Little Christmas, Part 3
