Life Is Beautiful

I was doing an abs workout this morning when I looked down to notice that someone else's legs had been stuck on my body. These legs look less like my Play-dough "snakes" and more like appendages with actual muscle. Amazing. I spend considerable time being disappointed with various body parts - today I'm going to be proud of my legs! Time for the confession: I'm scared to death of being old and sick. Moreover, I'm really scared of the "C" word. Confidentially, I've been researching the use of Baking Soda to increase the alkalinity of the body in order to combat our acidic environment. There is some thought out there as to that being a major cause of cancer. And so, don't laugh...but I've been taking 1/4tsp of baking soda mixed with water each morning to increase my body's alkalinity . I guess I figured that it couldn't hurt. And anyway, laugh if you want. I've seen what cancer does to a body and I am willing to do an...

If you pay attention, you can learn a little something each day. Normally, I operate in the mundane. Slow down while eating so you don't choke, hold the baby's feet so he doesn't Riverdance in his own poopy diaper, use electrical tape, not duct tape, to keep the school agers quiet. You know, common sense. But lately I have had my eyes opened to something pretty important. Pride, stupid pride (insert child gasping at the use of the "s" word). The most difficult lessons I have been taught in recent years all have to do with pride. The word is like a nasty taste in my mouth. I just want to spit it out. Such has been the lesson of late. Nursing Cameron came to a point around about a month or so ago, where I was continuing on just for pride. He's had four front teeth for months now, and the kid could probably - quite successfully - drink a triple thick milk shake with a coffee stir stick. About the same time, I realized that he didn't like pureed f...

This last week has been even fuller than the last one! There has been much in the way of revelation. I figure nobody really wants to read a 4 page account of my life this week, so I'll hit the highlights in a few separate installments. --Your welcome-- I'll start at the beginning of the week. My house tried to kill me. I'm happy to still be alive and kicking despite it's attempt. Maybe we should have chose a different color when we painted. Hmm. On Tuesday we had freezing fog in the morning. Our older children were up and ready early and had a field trip with some fellow home schoolers to attend. Our neighbor also home schools her kids and is a tremendous help and resource for me. Our 11yo son went out the front door and came back in, telling me that he'd slipped and things were icy out there. Trying to prevent a serious fall, I went out on the front porch and grabbed the rock salt. Each foot stepped successfully down our concrete front steps, but on the s...

It is now 3 degrees here in the lovely state of Nebraska. No, no, I thank you for the suggestion, but I really didn't forget a number when I typed that first sentence - really, 3 - just 3. They say that there's some wind chill factor in there making the "real feel" a chilly 19 below due to some fantastic wintry winds, but I don't buy it. Can my face "really feel" the difference between 3 and minus 19? Fortunate for me I don't have to stay out there long enough to find out! We had another fantastic Sunday today. The kids sang at church, I got to be in the Nursery and chat with a new acquaintance, Sunday school was a blast, I was able to get some groceries and we got to go to a fantastic Christmas party. All said, a great day - Oh yeah AND I didn't have to cook or wash dishes today, so woohoo! But back to the cold... Even the coat I was wearing was crackling and acting frozen by the time we got in the car after the party tonight. My family and I a...

I used to envy stay at home moms. I guess I figured that the only way they could stay home was if thier husband had some fabulous paying job that allowed them to live as if they had two incomes. I would see Mom's at Wal-Mart over my lunch break and think "gee, must be nice". Never seeing them check out with a fistfull of coupons and load it up in to their barely-still-running minivan. All I could think of was myself and my desires. Somehow I couldn't see all of thier sacrifice. When I returned home from taking the kids to school yesterday, one of the neighbors was outside smoking a grit and waved from his front porch. I automatically decided that he was probably judging me and mentaly started to defend myself. Then the walls came down. I finally realized the error I had been making all this time. While I'm sure that some single income families are quite comfortable on one income, there are likely more like us. It's definitely a sacrifice financially - ...

I love a good hero story. My favorite show is choc full of them. Every episode, they save the world and humbly return home to have another medal pinned on their uniforms. Plenty of heroes in my own life. My husband qualifies on a daily basis by putting up with me. I'm a bit opinionated and stubborn and... He is a very patient man. God gave him the gift of making peace. He can take any situation and moderate the opposing parties so that they are hugging and singing Kumbiyah at the end of it. One thing I don't want to be anymore is my own personal hero. I used to try my hardest to do everything better than everyone else. I didn't see any merit in second place and wouldn't even attempt something that I knew I wouldn't be just fantastic at. I stressed and strained and pushed and pulled and climbed and scrambled so that everyone would see that Andrea is The Best at _________. I decided this summer that I needed to try to be Just Me and made a conscious effort to stop pus...

I hate to say this about myself, but I like to fight. Nothing satisfies that sinful urge to bicker like a good debate over something really volitile like abortion or the election, or spanking children, or home schooling or vegetarianism, or Christmas. Christmas? I have been showing my claws a little lately. And much like a cat that can't decide if they are being stroked the right or wrong way, those talons have been out and retracted so much I just want to let loose. In the last 5 years I have done a complete and total 180. I accepted Chirst as my Lord in 2005 and then my whole world got blasted into a million pieces and slung out into the stratosphere where I am now using The Guidebook to find each piece and put it where God intended it to be. This is a process that has caused much a raised eyebrow to the people that have known me all this time - and before. My Mom isn't real sure what to say to me sometimes and sometimes she is sure that she needs to intervene. So tha...

I spend alot of time planning. I plan meals a whole week in advance, I plan our finances for years in advance (still chipping away at that debt), a plan birthday parties, get togethers, and Sunday School lessons. I try to plan my day so I can get in a little exercise, some Bible study and maybe even some recreational reading or blogging. And most of the time I ask God what he thinks about my plans. I care about what He thinks, really I do. In the morning while I am brushing my teeth and deciding what I am going to do with my day I tell God all about it. I have it all laid out and just slide the paperwork accross his desk for notary. Huh? All this time I have been a Christian (3 whole years!) I have known the benefit of seeking God's will for my life. I know that to understand what He's trying to tell me I need to stay rooted in His word, surround myself with Biblical teaching and friends that can help point me in the right direction and PRAY. But recently I learned a new...

Okay, I'm convinced. I am under attack. I hate to complain...however. Today I have the kind of migraine that makes you think you are going insane. I am light and sound sesitive and nearly went into a siezure from the stupid ad banner flashing at the top of this page. I had my "review" today. For those of you in professional positions or positions with real bosses you might think of different things when you think of your review. For me - it's a little sit down session where my boss thanks me for putting up with him for another year, tells me I am excellent accept for my attendance and gives me a nice little pay increase. Only this year there was no increase. I understand. I am okay with that. They have to give the the guys in the field the money so that they don't quit. They have worked with me on my scheduling and let me work 7-3 instead of 8-5 so that we can save on daycare. So that's like a raise in itself. I only wish that it hadn't been prec...

I just wish my body was as strong as my will. Ask my husband and he will testify that NO person ever was that strong or ever will be. I am a combo of the worst kind. Prideful, willful, stubborn, strong and smart. When I was in my teens and twenties I did terrible things to my body with cigarettes, drugs and booze. I did that like I do everything...with a vengance. I could go into some boring diatribe about what a badass I used to be, but that would serve no purpose here. Suffice it to say that since I turned the energy around, I feel like I can pretty much do anything (in God's will) that I put my mind to. I have found that fitness is an awesome, time consuming, diversionary, extracarricular activity. When I finally figured out that not everything that I found enjoyable had to be bad for me I was thrilled! I also have figured out one thing along with it. I can't be the best. I do not have the word "can't" in my vocabulary. I do not operate well within limi...