Two miracles in one day!

About a year ago, there was a tiny article in our newspaper saying that a new grocery store was coming to town. I don't even know why I bothered to read it. I never shop at local groceries—I go to the commissary at Quantico, which saves me tons of money. It's kind of a drag driving all the way up there every two weeks (it's about 30 miles from home), but it's what I do and I'm used to it. So I don't much care about stores closer to the house.

Then around April and May the marketing started. It would be bigger, better, have fresher produce, more selection of the things you buy every day, a huge organic department, meats cut to order, and on and on it went. By the time Wegman's opened on June 21, I was sick of the hype.

They say opening day was a madhouse with thousands of people showing up for the bargains like some Foodie Black Friday. My neighbor went just for the sport of it. I continued to ignore its existence.

But then Melanie had to ruin it all.

She had to go talking about yogurt and granola and about how this one particular granola is the best in the world, and there is no substitute, and just the right blend of crunch and sweet strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

And I had to have it.

Thus began my quest for Bear Naked Triple Berry Crunch. I started with the commissary, hoping above all hope that they would have something other than Cap'n Crunch and Cinnamon Life. No go. I tried Ukrops and Bloom, both known for having out-of-the-ordinary stuff of the healthy variety. Nada. I went to Walmart, Giant, and Bottom Dollar, even Aldi. No luck.

I realized I would have to swallow my pride and go to Wegman's.

I scoffed as I drove in the pristine parking lot at all the Cadillacs, Hummers, BMWs, and Lexuses (or is it Lexi?). "No wonder I never come here,"I thought, pulling my commonplace Honda into a space. I made my way across the cobblestone walkway leading into the store thinking, "Yeah, and I'm sure I'll pay dearly for that lovely sidewalk in the price of the food here."

I found the organic section and wandered through the aisles looking for my granola. And wouldn't you know it? There it was!



I felt repentance wash over me right there in front of the Kashi. Wegman's had succeeded where all other grocery stores in my area had failed. I pledged undying love to my newfound friend and promised to come back often, or at least whenever I needed more Triple Berry Crunch.

I made my way to the checkout feeling that all was right with the world. And then I saw it.

I wanted to shout! I wanted to kiss someone! I wanted to sing the praises of whomever was responsible for FINALLY getting one of these signs grammatically correct!

It's 15 items or FEWER!

I may not be able to sleep tonight for all the excitement.

Be thankful ~

Karen

PS. The triple berry crunch is every bit as incredible as Melanie said it was. I put it in Stonyfield Farms organic fat-free French vanilla yogurt. Seriously, this is not your ordinary granola. Find it at a Wegman's near you.

Yes, it's lame.

Maybe it's because I spend my days deleting extra spaces after end punctuation (only one space, in case you wondered) and unsplicing comma splices. Or maybe it's because my hormones can't decide whether they want to be 25 or 65. Whatever the reason, this made me laugh. I hate cats, so why are these things so funny?

Other random thoughts:

12 days until Man-boy comes home.

The hotter it gets, the more hair Pete produces. In fact, he grows it as fast as I can brush it out of him. Why can't science clone his hair follicles? No one would ever be bald again. (PS. Dog hair sticks to unfinished wood flooring.)

Mike and I are tea purists. Other people in our family like iced tea made from a mix. Mike refers to it as "vile powdered swill."

Be thankful ~

Karen

Two weeks from today the man-boy comes home. I have really missed him and his constant eating, mostly because he takes care of the beast that lives with us. Ben misses him cutting the grass. Mike misses him taking the trash out. Leah misses stealing his salsa. I don't think Abbie has any ulterior motives--she just misses him.

Of course, you know I'm kidding. We all really do miss him and can't wait to have him back.

For the benefit of those who know us and the house we live in, here are pictures of the new flooring. It is as yet unfinished, but it's actually on the floor, and that's a huge step in the right direction. Ben likes to joke that we buy perfectly nice houses and then start "improving" them.

Here's the kitchen. We were especially happy to get rid of the lovely white-with-blue-flowers-'80s-style vinyl in here. Now that I'm looking at this picture, I realize we need some color.

And from the kitchen looking out into the porch. There used to be a set of sliding glass doors. They are now happily in the landfill. The porch also has sliding glass doors on three sides. One set will go bye-bye very soon, and the other two will join it ASAP. You know how when you try to fix something, you find other things that are wrong? Well, we've found other things, so we'll continue our "improvements." Ignore the shirts drying on the back of the couch.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Things my grandmother didn't have.

I've been thinking lately about the things I have that my grandmothers could only imagine, and how I'm thankful for them. In honor of that thought, here's a list:

1. My breadmaker. And you thought I was going to say my computer or my cell phone, didn't you? Ha.

2. Computer and cell phone. Ok, now I did.

3. Facebook. Yeah, that falls under computer, but seriously, what was the computer before we had facebook? I was contacted this week by a guy I thought I'd never heard of, until he posted our eight-grade yearbook class picture and reminded me that we called our teacher "Stoneface." I bet that never happened to my grandmother! One thing led to another, and half my 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classes are tagging people in those photos, trying to remember names and whatnot. Then I heard from my very first childhood friend, and my daughter Leah asked, "The one with the long-haired doll and the band-aid box full of plastic animals?" (Remember Long-haired Chrissy? You pulled her pony tail and it got long, then pressed a button on her stomach and it got short again. Yeah, Cathy had one. She also had this beautiful Irish-looking doll named Bernadette. And a dog named Kimmy and a cat named Pepper. How come I can remember all this and I can't get my kids names right?)

Back to my list.

4. Central air conditioning in my house and my car.

5. Fast postal service. We've gotten two letters from Elijah in Switzerland. In my grandmother's day, it would have taken months to get one. Halfway around the world for 98 cents? That's a bargain.

I'm sure there are others, but I'm going to go admire my new wood floor, installed with the help of an electric chop saw and hydraulic flooring stapler.

Be thankful ~

Karen

We've had a WORD from GOD.

Just a quick note to say that we got affirmation from God Himself today that Liberty U. is, indeed, the right college choice for Abbie.

They sell Ben & Jerry's ice cream in the bookstore.

We'll rest well tonight.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Top Ten Tuesday, a day late.

My top ten favorite things about back-to-school shopping, in no particular order:

1. Post-it notes.

2. Pencils with new erasers.

3. 10¢ notebooks.

4. Tax-free weekend.

5. Fine-point pens.

6. Funky new flash drives.

7. A lecture recorder that looks like a pen. No kidding, this thing is the coolest. She puts it on her desk, it records the lecture, then she goes home and transfers it to her computer. Awesome.

8. Only two kids. Seriously, back-to-school shopping for five children? Not fun.

9. Homeschooling. I make my own list.

10. New shoes.

And just because I can, here's Wordless Wednesday:

He's giving himself a chiropractic adjustment. And snoring.

There, Leah. Are you satisfied?

Be thankful ~

Karen

If you have to work, at least you can enjoy the scenery.

Remember when I told you Elijah was going on a mission trip to Switzerland? And remember how I said it wasn't going to be easy? And they were going to live in tents and wash their laundry in buckets and work like rented mules all summer? Well that's all true. They are at the YWAM base in Einigen, Switzerland, where they have several work projects lined up for their 6-week stay. The first one involves painting a house. When we first heard that, we were excited, because if there's one thing my kids know how to do, it's sling some paint.

Nothing—but nothing—could have prepared him for this:



Welcome to Schlossli Le Rudli on the scenic shores of Lake Thun in Einigen. That's what they're painting.





But first the whole house has to be scraped. With scrapers. Why they're not sand-blasting it is beyond me. According to the lastest report from their leaders, the house is covered with little tile-like shingles, each of which has to be individually scraped. When I read that, I thought, "Oh, big deal. Scrape a few shingles." Then we read the second, more in-depth report.

Each square foot contains 96 shingles.

Do the math. Each shingle is one inch wide and one-and-a-half inches tall. My cell phone covers four shingles.

Dang. That's a lot of scraping.

They expect this to take them a week and a half. Then they paint it.

I have no idea what their other work projects are. I'm not sure I want to know.

I'm thankful that Teen Missions doesn't sell teenagers short. I'm glad they know just how much kids are capable of, and that they're not afraid to push the them—sometimes hard. The team will come out of this with the knowledge that they can attempt huge things for God, and that God will go with them.

Be thankful ~

Karen

PS. Photos courtesy of YWAM.