At This Moment...

... It's almost 7:30pm on a Thursday.

Seth and Grace are tucked in their rooms, both awaiting the opening theme song for Adventures in Odyssey before they fall asleep. Caleb and Ian have enjoyed a bedtime story and are also tucked away, headed to dreamland. Phil is out working to finish up his last week of class before Christmas break.

And here I sit...

I am eating a bowl of Extreme Moose Tracks ice cream and thinking about the 3 discussion boards, 1 assignment, midterm exam, and paper that I really need to complete in the next 4 1/2 hours. But mostly I am pondering about people...

And overall... tonight... I am sort of sick of people...

Now, to be fair, I have never been a real "people person"... certainly never a "people pleaser"... but tonight I just have that weary to the bones kind of tired that comes from dealing with people...

I feel a little bit lost... and I feel a little bit frustrated...

I think this mostly happens to me when: #1 I am overloaded (which I am right now) and #2 I feel the need to hit the "fake it button" in which I go into PR mode for the sake of survival (which I do right now). And let me tell ya... I can do a pretty good snow job and if people knew what I was really thinking... well... people do read this, you know, so I'd better not go on about it...

I will say this, however... If there is one thing that bothers me more than anything else about people it is the tendency to be selfish. I am sick of selfish. Selfish comes in many forms... and although it is easy for a lot of people to claim that they aren't selfish because they don't hoard possessions and they sometimes give gifts, that's not what I'm talking about. Shirking responsibility... breaking commitments... not following through... that's selfish.

And I might add that I am sometimes selfish, too. I am, after all, a person, although there are many others out there who don't treat me as if I am.

Tonight a song came to mind. There is probably only one other person in the world who will understand why it is relevant to this post. It has nothing to do with physical possessions, so please don't anybody panic that someone is threatening to throw our stuff out on the street... again... Those days seem to be long gone (and it's funny how you always want what you don't have)...

Lisa

You Did Not Have A Home lyrics

Rich Mullins
Oh, You did not have a home
There were places You visited frequently
You took off Your shoes and scratched Your feet
'Cause you knew that the whole world belongs to the meek
But You did not have a home
No, You did not have a home

And You did not take a wife
There were pretty maids all in a row
Who lined up to touch the hem of Your robe
But You had no place to take them, so
You did not take a wife
No, You did not take a wife

Birds have nests, foxes have dens
But the hope of the whole world rests
On the shoulders of a homeless man
You had the shoulders of a homeless man
No, You did not have a home

Well you had no stones to throw
You came without an ax to grind
You did not tow the party line
No wonder sight came to the blind
You had no stones to throw
You had no stones to throw

And You rode an ass' foal
They spread their coats and cut down palms
For You and Your donkey to walk upon
But the world won't find what it thinks it wants
On the back of an ass' foal
So I guess You had to get sold

'Cause the world can't stand what it can't own
And it can't own You
'Cause You did not have a home

Birds have nests, foxes have dens
But the hope of the whole world rests
On the shoulders of a homeless man
You had the shoulders of a homeless man
No, You did not have a

Birds have nests, foxes have dens
But the hope of the whole world rests
On the shoulders of a homeless man
You had the shoulders of a homeless man

And the world can't stand what it can't own
And it can't own You
'Cause You did not have a home

An Assessment...

... Of Black Friday...

So, I am kind of tired of hearing people talk about how evil it is to go shopping on Black Friday. I mean... really... shame on all of us who hit the stores yesterday at 3am. Clearly, all we were thinking about was our need for more and more stuff and how the best way to pursue the American Dream is by diving in... head first... to consumerism and greed! Yeah... that's definitely what I was concerned about when the alarm went off after my luxurious THREE hours of sleep!

Ya know what I was really thinking about? A couple of things...

First, I was excited to have a whole day to spend with my family. It doesn't happen nearly as often as we might like. When my 8 year old daughter greeted me... fully awake... when I came to her door at 2am, I knew she was excited, too. When my 9 year old son (who usually takes hours to get dressed in the morning) followed us down the stairs, fully clothed and ready to go, it hit me that he was looking forward to the day. And when my sleepy 5 year old son finally opened his eyes and processed what was going on, he shouted, "Yeah! it's Black Friday". They were all, of course, thinking about the hundreds upon hundreds of dollars that they had in their little pockets to spend on themselves, right?

Also... I love giving gifts. I am well aware of the true meaning of Christmas. I'm not in it to get everything I can out of it. But come on... let's not be so pious that we forget that Christmas is about God's gift to us and that we can celebrate that gift by sharing with others. We can celebrate it in a whole lot of other ways too... and our family does... but we like to give gifts! We, however, are not made of money. Black Friday sales are most often very, very good. I have actually read different things that people have written this week about how you can get the same deals for weeks on end. Although some stores offer the same deals, most do not. Further the deals that these people are talking about usually involve the high ticket items, and we don't exactly have the cash flow to buy big screen TVs and laptops for everyone on our list. The $5.00 kind of deals... those you basically only get on Black Friday (with a couple of notable exceptions). So if you have a lot of family who you want to send gifts to, Black Friday is just economically smart.

We stood in line at Meijer for two hours (basically without complaint) to purchase Wii systems. I would like to mention that as far as our children know, we just purchased a Wii for the firehouse. They were willing to stand there (or sit in shopping carts as the case may be) for the right to purchase something for someone else. In the end, Phil got his Wii, and I picked mine up behind him (for our family), but the kids had no idea that this happened. I would say that's pretty selfless on their part. However, their extreme cuteness, and Seth's ingenuity (he found a way to sit kinda underneath the cart) did earn Seth and Caleb a photo spot on the front page of our local paper! I think the experience taught them something about the virtue of patience, the willingness to do something that doesn't benefit us directly, and the reward that is often a nice surprise at the end.

Were there nasty people out yesterday morning, pushing and shoving and taking things out of other people's hands and carts? Uh-huh... Were there irritable store team members and rude customers? Uh-huh... But come on... These people are everywhere, all the time! Mostly I observed friendly people looking to catch a break at the holidays and capable staff, taking pride in their jobs!

So are Black Friday... or it's participants... worthy of reprimand? I guess you can be the judge on that one to your heart's content. As for me... shopping till you drop isn't all that bad. Especially when everyone in the house is asleep for the night by 5:30!

Lisa

It's A...

... Baby Princess!

I am late in getting this up, so I have backdated it...

Baby #5 will be another little princess, for which we are very excited (except for Caleb, who really wanted another little brother, but the idea of a baby sister has grown on him since we first found out, and he talks to her and tells her how cute she is, already, on most days)... Grace jumped up and down for probably a full three minutes and has told everyone she can think of about our baby girl! Here's her first pic:

Can't wait to meet her...

Lisa

I Feel Disturbed Tonight...

This week I have heard several variations on the thought that people cannot be your friends if they do not support all of the decisions you make, and if people disagree with things you hold to be true, they should keep quiet, because that is common courtesy...

I am finding this to be almost frightening, to tell you the truth. What is the world coming to if it is inappropriate to express our opinions? And should we allow our friends to travel down a road to destruction in order to be deemed supportive?

For some time now it has been apparent to me that a new generation has sprung up. As irritated as I was with my own generation at times... and with our push for tolerance in everything except religious freedom... and with our seeming inability to find reason as an acceptable filter for truth... I think this is more dangerous...

It is like mass groupthink...

I haven't completely wrapped my mind around it just yet, but I believe that when we come to a point where it is deemed unacceptable to intelligently debate ideas, we are going to see some catastrophic results. I don't have to win all the time (although I do like to)... and I realize that my opinion may not always be the most popular... or the most productive... or even the most right! But I do not think that my opinion should be stripped from me if it is expressed in a respectful way that creates thoughtful interaction with others...

In fact, I was involved, just this week, in a pretty good, sometimes heated discussion about health care reform. I'm sure that no one walked away with a new view on the health care bill, but it was still valuable time spent discussing options and preferences with friends. We do not have to agree in the end to be friends. We do have to interact in a way that is respectful and allows for differences in worldview. If we lose that ability, what's left to talk about?

Lisa

Pumpkin Patch Fun...

... At it's best!

The kids and I finally made it to the pumpkin patch today! It has been a long time coming... and we already canceled twice due to being sick... but I figured today was really our last shot if we wanted pumpkins before Halloween!

I hate driving in Indy! I got pretty severely lost, per normal, as every road in Indy has at least 17 different names, and the name on the map might not be the name on the directions, and even if it is, it might not be the name on the street sign! But I digress... I am thankful for my GPS (AKA Phil, who talked me through the whole reroute over the phone)...

We picked Spencer Farm, because we wanted a pumpkin patch experience in which the kids could actually go to the pumpkin patch and pick their pumpkins (novel idea, I know). They also offer free hay rides on Saturdays in October, and even though I am severely allergic to hay, I took the kids anyway... perhaps not smart, but fun!


The pumpkins were very reasonably priced (I told the kids if they could carry it, Mommy could buy it), and we also picked up some cinnamon coffee cake mix, cherry jelly, fudge, taffy, and a caramel apple (for the baby, of course). This is likely going to become a yearly tradition!

Since the kids love Old Country Buffet, we ate there afterward. I got mashed potatoes in my hair... a fact that I am only willing to share with you, my faithful readers, and anyone who googled, "mashed potatoes in my hair", because if you googled that, you deserve to know!

Of course, it was very difficult for me to deal with the fact that Chick-Fil-A shares a parking lot with Old Country Buffet. So... I bought my lunch for tomorrow...

When we got back to town, we took some Fall pictures in the beautiful fallen leaves! Actually, we tried to do this in the morning... in the wind and rain... but really, I should know better than that. Take two was much more productive!


Great day... Great kids... I love fall!

Lisa

Happy 8th Birthday Grace!

Somehow, it just amazes me that my only (well, maybe not... we'll see) princess is eight! Of course, she's eight goin' on eighteen and even had a few moments in which she informed us that she is not a little kid anymore, today, but it's still just crazy when I think about how quickly the time goes!

Grace has grown up so much, but she is still not too big to choose the Rat Infested Cardboard Pizza Palace for her birthday dinner! In combination with a "flower cake" and chocolate AND vanilla ice cream, it made for a pretty good birthday celebration!

Present time remains an absolute favorite for Grace... but a picture is worth more than any words I can come up with here. This was the reaction to the Lego Agents set that she has had on her "list" for over a year:
And so here she is... My baby doll... Age 8!



Lisa

Too Funny...

Quote of the day (already) by Caleb, who was frustrated... struggling to bring me a full half gallon of skim milk (which is not typical for "Bam Bam"... I think he's wiped out):

"Since it's called skim milk, it's not supposed to be heavy!"

Cracked me up!

Lisa

One More Collage...

... Thought this was worth posting! Seth in the leaves... on his birthdays... through the years...

Lisa

Happy Birthday Seth!!!

Wow... 9 years ago today I gave birth to my first child. Nine... Gosh it goes fast...

Seth had a great birthday! It was sort of unconventional in that we had to do a lot of the every day kind of stuff that just makes up life, but he still had fun!

Of course, he chose to celebrate at "The Rat Place". I used to have high hopes that he would outgrow this, but I am adjusting to the fact that Chuck-E-Cheese is just a staple birthday "item" around here! This was actually preceded by funfetti cake topped with chocolate frosting and Super Mario Bros. characters with mint chocolate chip ice cream!

This is the first time that I noticed that Seth's enthusiasm was sort of subdued at present time... not that he didn't love what he got... and not that he didn't rake it in... because he did... on both accounts. But he was thankful in a more mature, nine year old sort of way!

Here are the b-day pics. of my growing up way too fast kid, who will always be my baby:





Lisa

Being Sick Just Sucks...

... I have had a "stomach virus"... apparently... for goin' on a week now.

After 3 days of vomiting and diarrhea, I decided a trip to Redi-Med was probably a good plan. This is saying something, because I do not go to the doctor unless I am really, really sick. Well... after sitting in the Redi-Med waiting room for 45 minutes, a nurse pops out and says, "Just go to the ER. If you're dehydrated, they'll give you an IV." Oh... lovely... but I can't say I was surprised. I mean, after all, that's pretty much why I came in the first place.

So I wait in the ER waiting room for another hour + (minus the few minutes in which the way too fresh, potty mouthed, EMT took me back to take my temperature and blood pressure while he acted like an idiot). Seriously, if the guy called me "sweetheart" one more time, I was gonna deck him, and he was gonna need an empty bed in the ER. (This says nothing of what Phil might have done...)

Finally, they take me back to the ER, where I wait... again... A nurse from our church sees us and takes me to a different room and apparently lights a fire under the rear of the ER doctor, because he shows up! Thank you, Lynn!

After giving plenty of blood and enduring two bags of some sort of IV fluid, I am told that I have slightly low potassium, given four nasty potassium pills to swallow (which I thankfully do not throw up), informed that I must be getting better since I haven't thrown up in a couple of hours (uh... hadn't eaten anything, either, but I guess that's beside the point), and sent home...

Where I continue to vomit and have diarrhea for the next 2 days...

As of this morning (although I am going to "back date" this post for yesterday to make room for Seth's b-day post later), I am living on Saltines and water, with a few bites of soup here and there. Ugh... This has to give...

Lisa