God Bless America!

Today is Memorial Day and I would like to thank all the men and women who have given their lives, fought for and are continuing to fight for our freedom! Thank you for your bravery and courage!

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

Baby Steps

My quest to start eating some real food led us to the Coppell Farmers Market this morning.  We got there just as the heat started to kick up, and I realized that summer in Texas has just about arrived.  Oh, summer, my arch nemesis.  Burning hot steering wheels and car seats singeing your bare flesh, humidity that makes you feel like you're breathing through a snorkel, and that fabulous layer of sweat that springs up on my brow the second I walk outside.  I'm trying to like you summer, really I am, but you're just so dang hot.  Anyway, what were we talking about?  Oh yes, vegetables.

I have to admit, I was a little intimidated by the market, but I decided to get over myself and just ask if I didn't know what something was.  I probably asked a few dumb questions, but really?  Who cares?  I now know what turnip greens look like, and that cherry tomatoes that are different colors aren't different varieties, they're just varying levels of ripeness.  And if you store them in some sunshine, they'll keep ripening and the green ones will be just about ready by the end of the week.  My vegetable education continues.

We didn't make too many adventurous choices (it's also a pretty small market), but check out our $11 bounty:

Not a bad start right?  You can't really tell by the picture, but those were some ginormous strawberries.  I got home wishing I had bought more potatoes, and at least taste-tested the homemade lavender sorbet, but that's just more motivation to go back next week!  The fresh Wildflower Honey we bought didn't make the photo shoot, but it did make an appearance on some fresh strawberries for our breakfast.  I'm looking forward to grilled squash and zucchini with dinner tonight, and roasted herb potatoes tomorrow.  Maybe it's not so hard to incorporate veggies after all.  I think I could get used to this.

Props to my man...

So, this time last week I was checking in to the hospital to have a baby. It's hard to believe it has only been a week since then, it feels like it has been a lot longer than that...in a good way, though.

So, Monday was our first day home as a family of 4. What a precious and surreal day to see my daughter and son's face at the same time-love it!

So, this week has been what you might expect with a new baby and a 2o month old- very busy with very little down time and no sleep...we'll in the midst of all the craziness I just have to stop and say what a rockstar my husband has been to me. Randy has just stepped in to pick up the slack where I am unable to do my normal stuff at home and with Allie. He has done so many things without me even having to ask- I have been in tears many times this week just feeling the blessing of his service to our family. That is pretty much all I have for now, I am functioning on about 4 hours of sleep from last night- so I better stop writing now before things stop making sense...see you next week!

Oh yeah, Chase William was born Friday, May 21st at 1:03 pm, he was 8lbs, 21 inches long...such a sweet boy- I am totally in love with him! He's a total snuggle bug!

Love- Staci

LOST and American Idol

My random and fairly unsubstantial thoughts after a few days of processing LOST...

I didn't love the ending.  I mean, it was okay, but I wish they had done it differently.  I knew there were still way too many questions left for them to answer them in one last show, but I still held out hope.  At least it didn't end with one of them waking up from a dream or something.  At the very end, I said to Chris, "I guess it was all just about who hooked up with who."  And the relationships were a great part of the show, but why did so many of them have to die??  Well, I guess they were all really dead, so what does that matter anyhow?  I spent the last few seasons of the show pretty confused anyway.  If Chris weren't so hooked, I have to say, I probably would have given up a few seasons back.  But I'm glad to say we stuck with it.  There were some really great characters in that show.  It was a fun ride, and I'm sure we'll re-watch it all someday... except that now there's really nothing to try to figure out... but we still have no real answers...

Now on to American Idol - I enjoy this show.  I use my fast-forward butting a lot during it, but I still enjoy watching the highlights.  And I am pretty excited for the winner tonight!  Hooray for Lee DeWyze!  I really love both Lee and Crystal, and I'm sure they will both do well.  I just hope Crystal does well enough to get some good dental care going on in there.  Eek.  She has one amazing voice, though, and I can't wait to see what she comes out with.  Don't think I'm like totally AI crazy or anything.  I won't be going to see them live on tour, if that's what you're thinking!  Now on to my question for you.  Will American Idol survive without Simon?

And I leave you with this video of Lee singing "Hallelujah."  This was great, but I still think my absolute favorite Lee moment was when he sang "Hey Jude" and had the bagpipe player come in during the middle of the song.  Ellen's comment was something about how he did a great job, "even when that guy came in who got separate from his parade!"  That cracked me up.  And I love it when something just surprises me and makes me laugh that hard.  Anyway, now I'm posting both videos below.  Congrats to Lee!

Quickie

Okay, get your minds out of the gutter people; this post isn't about what you're thinking! :)

I just don't have a lot to say today, so this post will be shorter than usual.

Since baby Chase arrived on Friday (welcome, welcome!!!), ADKOS is officially pregnancy-free! Believe it or not, that hasn't been true since July of 2007. In fact, there were several months in 2008 when three of us were pregnant at the same time.

We have welcomed six precious "pumpkins" into our collective "pumpkin patch" (as Mary put it) in the last three years (in addition to the two pumpkins who were born before that!). And let's not forget the furbabies! There are nine of those, if I'm counting correctly, four of which are also new additions in the last three years.

So that brings the grand total to 17! Whoa! We're definitely outnumbered, ladies, but oh - what a joy it is!

The End is Here

Well, the end of LOST that is. In about 20 minutes the series finale of LOST will begin. I'm super-excited! I've been watching this show since it first came on and it's weird to think that at 10:30 pm there will no longer be new episodes to look forward to next week and all my questions will be answered (hopefully). I'm ready to find out what the island is really all about. I'm ready to see what happens to everyone that is left and whom I've come to love. I'M READY people. Are there any other die hard LOST fans out there who can't wait for the finale either? We've got ten minutes people. 10 MINUTES! I need to go now and get ready...gotta get my food together and my place on the couch. I'll be posting my comments about the show tomorrow as a comment to this post...I'd love to hear from the rest of you and see what you thought about the finale.

Cass

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle....Maybe

I've been listening to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver lately.  I read her book The Poisonwood Bible a few years ago, and it's one of those books that will pop up in your head for no reason later on, and you almost remember it as something that happened to someone you know.  It was a good read, and I had heard good things about this one too, though the format was completely different.  The Poisonwood Bible was fictional, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is the true story of the year that the author's family decided to eat only locally farmed food - from vegetables to grains to meat and dairy - the whole deal.  If it wasn't in season and produced locally, they just weren't going to eat it.  This obviously knocked out a huge selection of food, but surprisingly, they ate pretty well that year.   And much of what they ate was grown in their own backyard.  

The book is packed with more information than I have ever imagined knowing about vegetables, meat, and even cheese.  It has been educational to say the least.  One enlightening moment in particular came when I was listening to the audiobook in my car while eating lunch at Sonic.  As I got ready to bite into my Junior Cheeseburger, they got to the section on beef production.  Specifically the part about America having some of the lowest standards of all developed nations when it comes to protection from Mad Cow disease.  What America protects is apparently the beef industry.  Case in point -  when one American company a few years back decided they would test every batch of beef for Mad Cow disease, the government told them they could not.  It was essentially illegal for them to take that extra measure to protect consumers.  That has to make you think.  I gotta tell ya, that section of the book will kill the desire for that Junior Cheeseburger pretty quickly.  

Another eye opener for me was in the vegetable arena.  I'm embarrassed to say that I've never really thought about the fact that there are times of the year that if I'm eating a tomato, it has traveled way farther than I have lately, and it's been engineered to live longer, not necessarily to taste like a tomato should.  Seasonal eating was a foreign concept to me, and it makes a ridiculous amount of sense.  No wonder I never liked vegetables - I never paid attention to choosing fruit & veggies that were actually in season and had a shot at tasting the way they were meant to taste.  Go figure.

Now, I can't see myself ever taking things to the level that this family did, but it did get me thinking about different areas that I could change in my own life to support local farmers and buy (and eat) more quality food.  I even found myself contemplating making my own cheese.  That's probably taking it a little far, but I have to say, I was intrigued when I heard that I could make mozzarella in my own kitchen in an hour's time.  I considered planting a vegetable garden, but I'm a little weary of that proposition.  I kill plants at an alarming rate if they have needs that go further than "water when I appear to be dying".  So the next thought was the local farmers market.  I haven't made a trip yet, but it's on the agenda.  I've been looking into joining a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm.  I don't know too much about them yet, but basically you commit to support a local grower and pick up your crop share at periodic intervals.  I'm not a big vegetable eater, and I really want to change that.  I'm that lady standing in the produce aisle picking up every single avocado, trying to remember if it's supposed to be smushy or firm, dark, or really dark.  I am lost in the produce aisle.  I thought that committing ahead of time to buy produce, being given a fresh selection of things I may have never picked on my own, and then having to figure out what to do with them once I got home, would be a great way to make myself jump in feet first.  Local Harvest has a variety of options, but I haven't settled on one yet.  I also recently heard of Urban Acres, the concept is a little different, but still intriguing.  However, it's a little pricier than some of the other options I've seen.

So are any of you out there part of a CSA?  I'd love to hear your experience.  And I will definitely keep you posted if I take the plunge!  In the meantime, I highly recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  I didn't necessarily agree with all of the views of the author, but it was really educational and I think it's worth giving some extra thought to what you're putting in your mouth.

Another pumpkin for the patch!

Staci's sweet little boy Chase made his arrival at 1:03 p.m. today, weighing in at 8.0 lbs and 21 inches long.  Mom and baby are doing well.  Welcome to the world Chase, there's an awful lot of love that's been waiting just for you!

Grocery carts

I have always been a responsible shopper and returned my shopping cart back to the appropriate place- we'll that is until about 20 months ago. When I had Allie, I became one of those shoppers that leaves the basket next to my car...before you pass judgement...it just became a safety/security dillema for me to leave my small child in the car by herself so I could walk across the parking lot to return my cart.

I was mentioning this to one of my fellow bloggers, Amelia, and she said that she always tries to park near a cart corral as to avoid this dillema- and I actually try to do this as well, but most of the time find this approach unsuccessful...apparently other people have thought of this great idea too. Of course, now that I am about to have another baby(Friday, May 21st to be exact)- I definitely won't be leaving my car to put my cart away...I do plan to one day return to my responsible shopping ways when my children are older, but until then it is just a moral dillema that has a shade of gray in it...

See you next week! Staci

Hairy Business

Toe hair.  Unibrow hair.  And not to mention all of that other unsightly hair.  Have you ever wondered why God created the unibrow?  Well, I haven't.  Not until just now.  I was thinking about hair (on my head), and then that got me to thinking about other random hair and what God may have been thinking when He decided to do that.  We'll probably never know His purpose for the unibrow.

So what got me started on this whole hair topic was the fact that I've been missing my straightener for a week and a half.  That's a long time for my frizzy mess.  I hosted a wedding shower at our house a week and a half ago, and due to a massive clean-up/stashing spree (please tell me you know what that's like!), I could not remember where I had put it.  And now you're probably thinking, "Why don't you just have it in your bathroom like a normal person?" Well, good point.  But if you saw my bathroom right now, you would understand.  As usual, we have a random construction project going on in our home.  We had a mold issue in our shower, which led to removal of the tile, sheetrock, and even the insulation behind that.  It was bad.  So now our shower is in the going-back-together-VERY-SLOWLY process.  So our bathroom has become a work zone, and I avoid it as much as possible.  So anyway... the straightener had been moved all over the house.  So I've had different hair for a while now.  Chris walked in the other day and just looked at me with this funny grin.  I could tell he was trying to hold back from one of his, "The 80's called, and they want your hair back." comments.  He tried to tell me he was really just smiling at me, but I know him too well!  Anyway, I went to put some washcloths away this morning in the girls' bathroom, and what do you know?!  My straightener!  I guess I have to make time to do my hair again.

P.S.  Where was Mr. Farouk Shami and his flat iron when I was in high school?  I could have really used one back then!

Use it or lose it

I recently got an e-mail from Millsaps’ volleyball coach; she’s organizing a reunion-type thing and wanted to see if I and my fellow volleyball alumni would be interested in trying to put together a game against the current team. I’m glad I didn’t have a mouthful of food or beverage at the time because it surely would have gone spraying out of my mouth and/or nose as I laughed hysterically. I don’t even remember the last time I picked up a volleyball. So to get out on the court with a bunch of other ladies who probably haven’t picked up a volleyball in close to a decade and try to play a game against the young’uns would be interesting, to say the least. Ultimately, I guess I’d be willing to go for it…maybe I’d surprise myself.

Which got me thinking (things get me thinking a lot, it seems) about all the things I used to be pretty good at…and now I’m not.

1. Volleyball

2. Algebra. Or calculus. Or really any type of math beyond the basics. Math was never really my "thing", but I could hold my own. Those days are no longer.

3. Piano (and music theory). 12 years of lessons – 12 YEARS?!?!?!? I used to have a nice catalog of music committed to memory, along with all those musical terms and whatnot. Maybe some of it’s just hidden in some dusty file cabinet in an unused closet of my brain. I have a feeling it would take a while to find.

4. Spanish. I was a Spanish minor, for goodness sake! I even started to get decent at conversational Spanish. And then I graduated. And it’s gone. This one I really regret.

On the other hand, I guess there are some skills I’ve acquired or gotten better at, like cooking and crocheting (not at the same time, of course!). I’m better at crossword puzzles than I used to be. I’m a little more organized (always a work in progress). Sometimes it’s just hard to swallow the fact that a certain skill or understanding or cluster of knowledge is just…lost! Use it or lose it - so true!!

Are you maximizing your time

Our Children's Pastor preached yesterday and his sermon was very thought provoking! So here is what I gleaned from it.

45 hours = Average # of hours the church has influence over our kids (if regular attender)
1600 hours = Average # of hours school has influence over our kids
3000 hours = Average # of hours we have over our kids

We, as parents, have the most influence over our kids. So this poses the question. Are we maximizing the time we have with our kids?

This has made me really stop and think about my time now and future time I spend with Reagan. I need to be maximizing my time with Reagan and doing everything I can to point her to Christ!

A Newborn's Conversation with God

Sorry to say but I'm not in the mood to blog right now. However, since I didn't blog last week I felt I needed to at least do something. So here's a little something my mom sent me and I just had to share. I got all teary-eyed reading it...probably because my maternity leave is over and I go back to work tomorrow. (sigh) Anyways, here you go:

A Newborn' s Conversation with God

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the small child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."
God said, You will simply call her, "Mom."

Amazing Grace

I was just driving today and I started singing that old hymn Amazing Grace. It is one of my favorite hymns and really can bring me to tears when I really absorb the words.

Here are the words to the song...thankful for God's grace...it really overwhelms me!

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see.

T'was Grace that taught...my heart to fear.And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares...we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home.

The Lord has promised good to me...His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be...as long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil, a life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years...bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise...then when we've first begun.

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,Was blind, but now, I see.

More Than I Can Chew?

A dear friend of mine and I have been doing a Bible study of sorts.  Actually, we've been on a hiatus for the past few weeks, but we're getting back at it this week.  We first did a study on Contentment.  I won't even go into detail on which one, because it's not necessarily something I would recommend.  I may have pulled a few helpful nuggets out of it, but I'm excited to be moving on to something new.  As Emily and I discussed which direction we would like to go next, we were both desiring to do a book of the Bible, rather than a topical study.  We talked it out and decided we'd like to study something out of the norm... something we haven't come close to studying before... And what did we decide on, you ask?  REVELATION.  What were we thinking?!?!  I'm being a little silly and a little serious when I say that.  I mean, it's definitely not something we can breeze through.  There will be no room for slacking off, because even as I read the Intro in one of the study books we got, I was going HUH?  On the other hand, I'm quite excited to dive in and study something that seems so mysterious and intriguing.  I'm quite curious to see what God will teach me through this.

One thing my scholarly brother pointed out is, "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near."  Revelation 1:3  (Thankfully, it says "reads" and not "understands!")

Dipes 'n Wipes

Some of you may know that Pampers recently changed some things about their diapers, and it hasn’t been a smooth transition, to say the least. Just search for “Pampers” with Google News and you’ll find hundreds of articles about the situation. We are a Pampers family here at Casa Sweeney and, personally, we haven’t noticed anything problematic with the new diapers. I have a friend at work, though, whose two-year-old son got a very strange-looking blistery burn on his little hiney while wearing one of the new Pampers diapers, and he’s not the only one. Weird rashes and sores that resemble chemical burns are chief complaints about the new “Dry Max” technology. Coincidence? Who knows.

What I do know is that all this focus on disposable diapers was the final push I needed to act on a concept I’ve been considering since before I was even pregnant – CLOTH DIAPERS. Unlike my fellow blogger, Staci (a veteran CDer), I’m no expert and I don’t claim to be. However, I’ve done a lot of research and I’m really excited to make the switch! It’s weird for me to use the word “excited” about something related to diapers, but there you have it. I may be wrong, but I have a feeling I’ll wish we had been doing this since the beginning. We’ve settled on the Bumgenius one-size pocket diaper system, and our 24-pack supply shipped from clothdiapersnmore.com this morning! I’m somewhat glad I ordered those diapers before I stumbled on greenmountaindiapers.com because I’m afraid I would have decided to go super-retro with Indian prefolds and pins and gotten in over my head. Maybe that will be my fallback if for some reason the Bumgenius thing doesn’t work out!

Very soon, I’ll be making a trip to one of the cloth diaper resources in town to scope out additional gear we may (or may not) need to cloth diaper successfully. Call me crazy, but I’m even considering using reusable/washable wipes. (I mentioned this to Adam and he could barely contain his excitement…NOT!).

Golf For A Great Cause

My co-worker and friend, Brandon, has put together a golf tournament to benefit a family facing unthinkable circumstances.  Brandon's cousin Jason and his fiancee had a beautiful baby boy, also named Jason, in March.  Just weeks after giving birth, Jason's fiancee passed away suddenly and unexpectedly as the result of a brain aneurysm.  At 17 weeks old, their precious boy was diagnosed with 2 brain tumors and 1 tumor on his spine/brain stem, and he is currently undergoing chemotherapy.  This is one of those things in life that is just nearly impossible to wrap your head around.  

Needless to say, Jason and Baby J could use your prayers and any help you could give.  Aside from the mental and emotional toll this must be taking, the medical bills are piling up on a single father who I imagine is just trying to get through each day right now.  Info for the golf tournament is below, but if you're not interested in golf and would like to help financially, you can go to the website Brandon has set up for the family, and click the "Donate" button.  Through that link, you can make a secure donation through Paypal using a credit card or your  paypal account.   Brandon is collecting the funds for the family and I can 100% vouch that every penny you give will end up in the right place.  You can also find updates on Baby J and other fundraising opportunities that I'm sure are on the horizon at the same site.  In the few years that I've known Brandon, he's been involved in more charitable work than I have in my entire life combined, so this little family has someone on their side who I know won't stop until every need is met.  I'd love for our readers to get to be a part of that puzzle!  

Beyond prayer and financial support, Brandon has also been looking for organizations that offer support to families who have children with cancer.  If you know of anything like this, please pass the info along!  I will make sure it gets to the right person.

(Click picture to enlarge)

Rants & Raves - Facebook Version

I literally just sent an email to my co-bloggers saying that I had to write my blog tonight (writing this Tues. night, because I won't have time tomorrow) and that I really didn't like writing my blog when I was tired and cranky.  But, to my surprise when I logged in, two of my fellow bloggers had already gotten their rants out, so why not join the club?!  Now I can be cranky AND blog.  Lucky you.  :)

I'll start out with my facebook raves, just to get them out of the way - ha!  I absolutely love how you can find a dear friend whom you haven't seen in however many years and almost instantly be right where you left off.  You can catch up, see pictures, blah, blah, blah.  It's fantastic!  I also love that  you can get to know a completely different side of someone if they post status updates, pictures, and all of that fun stuff.  One last rave - you can keep up so much better with the important things in people's lives.... that is, if they or someone else updates about them.  Babies, milestones, losses, engagements, poop stories - so many things I would be missing if I weren't on facebook.

Now for my rants.  You find one of those dear friends I was just speaking about, and then you're so super excited to catch up with them.  You send them a message, and then... nothing.  For the most part, I have found people to be on par with my excitement level, but there are a few people that have never replied to messages.  First of all, I don't know why people send a friend request and then won't actually have a brief "hello, how are you, nice to see you." message trade.  I mean, do they just want to see my pictures?  Or do they just want to have another "friend" but not really be my friend?  And there are plenty of my "friends" who I've never initiated a conversation with, and neither have they.  That's totally fine.  But if someone writes me a message, I do my best to get back to them (although sometimes it takes me quite a while.  In fact, I better go return a few messages before this posts tomorrow!)  And another rant:  I feel like I'm missing out on things from half of my facebook friends.  I don't know if that's because I have too many friends and don't log on often enough to see everything??  Or do I have some setting out of whack?  I've only blocked status updates from one person.  No, I don't think it's anyone who's ever read this blog.  Anyway, I guess I just need to look into that.  I wish I had a filter to just show me the interesting posts, though.  And do you ever wonder if anyone has you blocked?  Oh, and just one more rant - I really like to avoid hot topics on facebook.  People get all crazy and stuff and nobody can ever tell your tone, etc.  Plus, the way I would approach things with one person may be totally different than the way I would with another.  Not that my message or point would vary, but I don't believe everyone receives things the same way.  And I don't believe people will listen if they are feeling attacked.  It's making me uncomfortable just thinking about it.    

I used to think I was a great multi-tasker, but I've come to realize that may not be so true.  I've been trying to write this and watch American Idol at the same time.  I have to keep pausing it to think or rewind to watch something I missed.  I saw a study a while back that said women aren't actually better at multi-tasking like we've been bragging about all these years.  Our brains are just able to switch back and forth from one thing to another much more quickly than our male counterparts.  Makes sense to me.  And that had absolutely nothing to do with my facebook rants.  But that can go in to the rave category - I love how random people can be on facebook.  Love it!

To do already

Does anybody else ever experience mental clutter? For me it’s usually caused by stuff I’ve been meaning to do, or get to, or take care of for a while. Not necessarily super-important stuff, just stuff that needs to get done. Stuff that takes time to do. Ah, my old friend time - where have you gone? :)

Anyway, I have quite a bit of mental clutter going on right now. It’s getting ridiculous. Here are some of the things I need or want to get done, and have been needing or wanting to get done for toooooo long:

1) Hang picture in guest room. Seriously. This picture has been leaning against the wall of the guest room for almost a year. It’s time.

2) Get some art framed. We were going to use part of our tax refund to get some pieces framed (sidenote: why is good framing so crazy expensive!?!?!?). This particular mental clutter has been around for YEARS. This time around I got as far as looking up framing places in town. The next steps in the process haven’t happened. And probably won’t for a while yet. I guess this one’s been around so long it doesn’t bother me quite so much. Still, it’s there.

3) Wash cars. I’m not a clean-car freak by any means, but our cars are filthy right now. And dirt is one thing, but my car apparently got pooped on by an entire flock of birds like three weeks ago. I hate bird poop on my car. For some reason it just says "I really don’t care about my car" to drive around with bird poop all over it. That’s just me.

4) Pick up charm at James Avery. 5 or 6 weeks ago I dropped off an adorable little charm to have Asher’s name and birth date engraved. They said it would take 2 weeks. So at around 2 weeks when I hadn’t heard from them I thought about calling to see what was up. I didn’t. I got a call about a week later that it was ready. I have to laugh at myself now, that I was so antsy about not hearing from them; it obviously wasn’t that big a deal if I’ve left it there for another 2 weeks! Part of the problem is that it’s at the mall, so it would take some time to park, get inside, etc. Also, the mall isn’t very close to home, but it’s very close to work. Practically every day since they called (they’ve called twice now) it has crossed my mind that I need to just go up there on my lunch break. So far, no dice. This week I will make it happen. If I were putting these in order of priority, this would probably be #1.

5) Deposit check. Considering how uptight I can be about money, it’s amazing even to me that this check is still in my wallet. The bank is like 2 blocks from where I work. I gotta get this done – it’s driving me crazy. I’m going to put this at #2 priority.

6) Get oil changed. The maintenance minder icon on the Honda popped up a while ago, reminding me that I had 15% oil life, then 10%, then 5%, and now I’m like 250 miles over the recommended change mileage. This is another task best taken care of on my lunch break (or – GASP! – before work) since weekends at the Express Change at the Honda dealership can be somewhat circus-like.

Those are the biggies right now. I will say, though, that I have recently taken care of some mental clutter items: I returned something to Babies R Us that has been sitting in Asher’s nursery since before he was born (I have something else like that to take back, too, but it’s from Wal-Mart and we NEVER go there). I also straightened up and organized my night table, Adam’s night table, and a big shelf in our bedroom! It always feels so nice to clear some things off the list. I’m looking forward to more of that in the next few days!!!

Random Rants & Raves Continued

So I decided I would also add my rants and raves:

Rant: Of all the times I have been to Target(believe me there are many), there has never been one time where the checkout line has gone past the checkout stands. The manager is always paying attention and calls other employees to open up another check out lane. But this is not the case at Walmart (I go every week since we do not have a Super Target in Illinois). Every single time I have been to Walmart the lines are backed up way past the check out stand. They have at least 30 lanes but only 3 or 4 on each entrance are open. And then you see employees just standing around talking. This really, really irks me!!

Rant: Why don't companies who produce items for children ensure their product is safe and reliable. This week lots of childrens' medications were recalled and removed from the shelves and my daughter's crib (that she has been sleeping in for 16 months) has been recalled due to the fact that the mattress frame can bend or break causing the child to fall through and possibly suffocate. I mean come on people. This is our children we are talking about.

Rant: It is very hard to find good customer service these days. If one chooses to be employed in the service industry, they should serve. What happened to the customer is always right? I understand that sometimes there can be hard to deal with customers. But the customer service employees shouldn't be hard to deal with!!!!!!

Rave: I absolutely love Borders Books! Every Friday they have a childrens' story time. Someone reads 3 books, they get to do a craft and get a snack. And its all FREE!!!

Rave: Frecklebox.com is a great website! We got a really cute personalized lunch box for our little girl for school next year (pic below). They have lots of cute items that you can get personalized. I highly recommend it!!

Rave: I too have to rave about my ADKOS friends! Even though we are far apart and have busy lives, I always know I can count on each of you to stop and pray for whatever is going on in my life! I am truly blessed to have you in my life! I love you girls!!!

Random Rants and Raves

I have several things on my mind right now that I just need to share, so here we go:

RANT: Since when did it become acceptable to wear white to a wedding and NOT be the bride? I mean seriously folks! I went to a beautiful wedding yesterday afternoon and there was a young lady there wearing a white dress (with just a tad of another color on it as well)...in fact, there was at least one other person there wearing white as well...neither of them were the bride. I realize times have been changing but there are some things that need to remain the same, and this is one of them. It's like these people have never been told that it is just not acceptable to wear an almost all white outfit to a wedding. JUST DON'T DO IT!

RANT: I had lunch with a dear friend recently and she told me an interesting story. She said that she had received a baby shower invitation for someone she used to work with and inside the envelope was an insert that not only suggested she buy something for the mom-to-be to use during changing time but they actually included a list of items and HIGHLIGHTED what she needed to bring as a gift. SERIOUSLY!?!? Who does that? I definitely would not want to be told what item I needed to buy for a baby gift. I LOVE shopping for baby gifts and that would just take the fun out of it for me. Besides, it's just rude!

RANT: I hate video games! : )

RAVE: I love, love, love going to get my hair cut. Why? Because I love when they wash my hair and give me a scalp massage. I wish I could take the girl home with me and have her wash my hair everyday! It always feels so nice...so nice in fact that I'll sometimes pay a little extra to get conditioner too. Yes, I'm slightly crazy. And really, it's just the little things right now that make me happy.

RAVE: I also love to go get a pedicure. Usually I'm cheap and will get the basic pedi, but sometimes I'll splurge and get the delux. I love to just sit in the massaging chair and have someone make my feet look all pretty (it is sandal season now, so make sure your toes are presentable). I also love that they massage your legs. However, I don't think anyone will ever compare to this one guy I used to go see to get my pedicure. There was this little nail salon in Irving that Amelia, Mary and I went to when we lived in the area and there was this guy that worked there that seriously gave the best leg and foot massage EVER! I'm not kidding. My dear husband is great and all, but he can't last 5 minutes when it comes to giving a massage. I've thought about sending him to massage school or something because this girl LOVES her massages. SO that would be another Rave: Massages!

RAVE: My friends. Love, Love, LOVE my friends. They are the most amazing and beautiful ladies, and I am blessed to know them.

Do you have any rants or raves lately? Sometimes it's good to just let it out...

You want flower? (ah, ha ha ha...I love when they ask that at the nail salon)
Cass