A good read and an incredible bargain. . .

Goodness, where have I been? My summers are crazy hectic with everyone working different jobs, some two jobs, teaching both girls to drive, back and forth to the U. for various reasons. Yesterday I took Leah's computer to the helpdesk to be fixed - her hard drive died, but thankfully it is still under warranty. Thursday we go back for her to have another mid-summer violin lesson. Today I have Ashton and will have Bailor a little later. I'm looking forward to the start of the school year so I can relax a little.

I just finished reading Fighting for Dear Life by David Gibbs. It's the story of Terri Schiavo's fight for life. If you've never read it, you really should - it was spellbinding. Hard to believe this happened in America, but her story is not the first, just the most publicized. So go to your library today and get it!

We have finally had some rain the last few days. Unfortunately, it comes in these horrific downpours and most of it runs off. The rivers are high, but the ground is still pretty hard. Yesterday Leah was driving when one of them hit. You know the kind - windshield wipers flying and cars crawling. She was pretty nervous but she did fine.

And last but not least, my bargain of the year: I went shoe shopping last week, something I loathe. See, I have bunions, which make it almost impossible to buy my shoes from a regular shoe store. I need wide widths, and no heels, so buying anything "cute" is out of the question. I've resigned myself to boring shoes. So I head out to the biggest shoe store in town looking for shoes to wear to an upcoming wedding. I'm back in the discount area (the back third of the store) and I spot a pair of really cute leopard-print shoes with a very low heel, little peep-toe thing - they're adorable ! And they happen to be my size! Just knowing they won't fit, I try to slip one on and, to my utter amazement, they fit! And they're COMFORTABLE!!! Now I'm amazed and thinking, "I don't care what the price is, I'm buying these." So I look at the tag to find out they are $65 shoes. On sale for $50. Marked 80% off - that makes them $10. And I have a $10 off coupon in my purse. I stand there for a few minutes running through the math in my head just to make sure I'm not making this up, and no, I'm sure I'm right. So I sprint for the register before I wake up from my incredible dream, and because you have to pay tax on something, I get charged a cent. One penny. I think I should get an award for this!

Now who wants to go shoe shopping with ME???

Be thankful ~

Karen

Today my baby and her husband left to go back to TN - how sad! She started crying and I told her, "No crying. Besides, at least you'll get to see Eli." That's her very dumb dog. And that made her cry even more, but got a laugh out of David. Eli is the dog who has chewed a huge hole in a long curtain, and crawls halfway through the hole and lies there all tangled in it. The dog who plays with spiders and moths. He's also the dog who has been shot at by several neighbors for chasing their chickens, and whose life was spared by one very kind Amishman after he (Eli) killed a goose. So now Eli spends his life tied up or in the house. And in case you're wondering, he's named after Eli Manning who is going to have a very difficult year this year.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Yesterday we had such a great day in DC. Took the metro in and stopped first at Arlington National Cemetery. I can't believe I've never gone there. It really is a huge place, but it was a lovely day so we didn't mind the walking. We saw the Tomb of the Unknowns, watched the changing of the guard there - did you know they pace 21 steps, turn, pause 21 seconds, then pace 21 steps back? And did you know the guard is there 24/7, 365 days a year? - saw the mast from the USS Maine - the one that exploded and sank in Havana Harbor and that was the beginning of the Spanish American war - and saw Audie Murphy's grave - one of the most decorated American veterans ever, fought in WWII. The whole thing was pretty cool. Then we went on into the city, had lunch in the Old Post Office, and headed over to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. This is pretty new and is the best Smithsonian museum I've been to yet. We spent hours there, and could have stayed much longer. You really should go, and if you come, call me and I'll meet you there. It was wonderful and sobering at the same time.

So now you have a great reason to come to DC and meet me!

Be thankful ~

Karen

Remember this adorable little baby I used to babysit?

Well, look what happened!

I'm keeping Bailor and Ashton (his older brother) this week and next. It's strange having a toddler in the house, and amazing the things I've stopped thinking about. Like legos all over the floor. And beanie babies the dog likes to chew. And a cup of milk going at all times. Right now he's sitting on the floor coloring. Pete really likes Bailor. I guess he tastes good, because the dog won't stop licking him. No kidding, the dog is more trouble than the kid. Bailor is in the repeat everything stage. He knows the sounds of most common animals, and while we were out walking this morning he was saying house, tree, car, stuff like that. Then we passed a neighbor's garbage and I said, "Trash." Bailor replied, "Dump!" He loves to go to the dump with his daddy. Then he kept making this funny noise and I realized he was repeating me clearing my throat. The boy is too funny, but I have a feeling I'll be exhausted by the end of the day. Is this what Sarah felt like?

Be thankful ~

Karen

I say, old chap, shall we speak English?

Yahoo! is my homepage, so every morning I am greeted with what the fine folks at Yahoo! believe to be the most important news headlines of the day. One of today's lead stories was this one about the newest words to be added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Among them are "ginormous," "sudoku," and "smackdown." I'm gagging, but the old saying is true - if you say something long enough, it becomes acceptable. But really, ginormous?? What's wrong with gigantic and enormous?

On those lines, I offer this slaughter of English which I actually heard in person:

Boo (to his friend, Jacob): Dude, dude, that dude is tall!

Did you get that? That's one word, dude, being used as an exclamation meaning "wow" or "by golly," a noun of direct address (set off by commas, of course), and a common noun meaning "fellow." So let's get back to our English roots and say it like a true Brit: "By golly, Jake, that fellow is tall!"

Be thankful ~

Karen

Whoa! I actually did it! Many thanks to CarrieLouise for talking me through this. CL, you are now my official tech support. I hope you speak English. So now I get to give the RGB award to five other bloggers. That's tough, because so many of you have already gotten it, but I'll just go ahead and give it out again and you'll be doubly (or triply) blessed. So here are my five picks for Rockin' Girl Blogger awards:

1. Definitely CarrieLouise because she is so wonderfully honest in her blog. She is just a REAL person, like you and me, and never pretends to be something she's not IRL.

2. LizardTales, because she's been my friend since way back when (before we had children), and because I hope she'll share some techno-knowledge with me. She just started her blog and already she has more features and knows how to do way more stuff than I do.

3. TC, because she makes me laugh EVERY time I go to her blog.

4. Leigh2, because she's encouraging me to work at getting in shape. Now we're not saying WHAT shape exactly, but at least we're working on it.

5. CoieIg, because I really enjoy reading her young perspective on things. She's a lot of fun and I'd love to meet her and her family IRL.

So there you have it. If you need help getting the RGB thingy on your blogs, ask CarrieLouise.

In other news, I have finally developed a foolproof way to keep Pete out of the trash. Put the cans up on something. Yes, I've successfully trained five children to walk in truth and be happy and obedient, but I can't keep one stupid bulldog out of the trash. How sad.

Be thankful ~

Karen

I am so sad. Crushed. Defeated by the world. *can't you hear the melancholy violin playing?* Deluded by my own apparent intelligence and facing my sure extinction due to the ignorance which pervades my very existence.

See, I have been awarded the Rockin' Girl Blogger award twice now, and can't figure out how to actually go GET it and bring it to my blog! Please, won't you help?? Can't someone out there have pity on my poor, defenseless pseudo-brain and tell me what to do??

Begging for my life (but being thankful, nonetheless)~

Karen

La da da da da. . .

Remember the old Beatles' song All You Need is Love? Well, I think they were on to something there. And remember the verse in Proverbs that says "A soft answer turneth away wrath?" God's on to the same thing, though I think God probably had that thought before the Beatles did. We had an occasion to experience wrath in our home yesterday, and love diffused it. The soft answer turned it away. Completely and totally. Nary a trace of it left. Sometimes I think we read our Bibles and nod in agreement with the things God says, but go our merry ways and STILL screw up our lives by not heeding the Word. So today, when you are tempted to be irritated, aggravated, or otherwise offended, remember to put on Christ, and put off the old man. You are a new creature in Christ. Old things are passed away; behold, ALL things are become new. Praise the Lord!

Be thankful ~

Karen

Last night was SUCH a fun time at our church. Every year we have what they call "Summer Sunday", which means everyone dresses more casually than normal, we have our evening service an hour earlier at 5 pm, and we have a big cookout afterwards. But the best part is the Texas Tag-Team Preaching. They get five guys and assign each one a part of the Christian life: salvation, Bible reading, prayer, witnessing, and church attendance. Each guy gets five minutes to preach on his subject, then the next one runs up there and starts on his subject. If they go over five minutes, there's a huge gong someone hits. It's very exciting, all the guys are really excited and preaching as fast as they can, and it's just a whole lot of fun. After church we cook hot dogs and everybody brings stuff to go with them, plus dessert, and we pull all the tables and chairs outside. This year was extra special because we got to take a tour of the new building we're putting up. Our current auditorium seats 500, and the new one will seat 1000. Big doings, and it was neat to see the mess from the inside.

In other news, Ben and the boys went white water rafting last weekend with some people from the church. Here are a few photos of the fun:

At the beginning -

Heading into the first set -


In the thick of it -

Mike is on the left in the front seat, Ben and Elijah are second and third on the right -

Made it! That's their guide celebrating -

Be thankful ~

Karen