Really? Can't we do better!

Yesterday, I had my annual physical.


Yea, fun right?


I'd like to say it was pretty uneventful and in some ways it really was, but in one way it was hysterical.


I have to say, is there no one out there who can design a better paper gown?


Honestly, I think I could come up with something better than they have now, and I know nothing about designing.

source

This is the lovely gown we get now.  It is about as thin as toilet paper. 

No kidding, the top half is like a shirt with a slit down the front and it barely covers your belly. 

Couldn't they at least make it a little longer?  Then they give you a blanket to wrap around your bottom half made of the same toilet paper.

I tried to adjust it and I ended up with about 4 rips before the Dr. actually came in.  I couldn't help but laugh at myself at how I was trying to "cover myself" with this flimsy little thing.

Thank heaven's he was running behind.  It gave me a few minutes to compose myself.

While I was laying there I was thinking someone should come up with a better design for these things, they could probably make a million dollars.

While searching for the kind I was given I found one kind of like I was thinking.

source

But I did have one little change that needed to be made so that it was more appropriate for the Doctor.


Can you guess what it is?

Traditions

I love Christmas!  


For the most part I love the traditions that go along with the holidays.


Some of which we have been doing for as long as I can remember, and some our family started on our own.


Like getting our Christmas tree, we have been doing it since our kids were small, and even though they think they are grown up, we still do it and I think I love it more than they do sometimes.


I remember when we were little our Christmas was going to my Grandmother Phillips on Christmas eve, where we always ate, read the Christmas story from Luke, then we got to open our presents.  Believe it or not it was a sort of right of passage to get to read the Christmas story and my Grandma's.  


Then we would leave there and go to a few other places, my aunt had a barn (more like a garage really with a live in suite on top), and she always had people over on Christmas eve, and us little kids got presents. Hee Hee!!!!


One year all of us cousins got plastic ski's and it snowed!  You wouldn't believe the fun we had with those plastic ski's!


Oh, to be young again!


Christmas Day was spent at home until the early afternoon, then we went to my Grandma Lamb's house.  More of the same, good food, good fun, and lots and lots of special memories.


Those are the things you remember, the people, the places you gather, all the things that make up special memories!

Are you done?

Today I heard on the radio that there are only 13 days till Christmas.

Really?

I feel like this year everything has just kind of snuck up on me, but even though I didn't realize how close it really was to being here, I have gotten most of my shopping done.

I actually love to do as much of it as I can online.  I would rather be able to sit around in my PJ's and order something than have to go out and fight the crowds, or get to the store only to find that they don't have what I'm looking for.  So, for that reason I did probably 75% of my shopping online.

The other 25% I went into the store and actually had face to face contact with the store personnel.  And it wasn't so bad. 

I took my mom to get her stuff, and she had none by the way, but she managed to get absolutely everything that she needed.

It was awesome!  She was exhausted, but extremely relieved to be done.

Now, we have to get her tree put up.

We'll do that tomorrow.


:)

Tree Trip

This past weekend, we set out to get our Christmas tree, and this year we decided to go somewhere different.


We headed to Lake Lure.


It was amazing, we had perfect weather, and we hiked, and we just had a ball!!


And while the whole purpose of the trip was to get our Christmas tree, we got that on the way home.  We picked out a really nice tree, it was about 8 feet tall and it cost us all of $36.


Yes, I said $36.


That's one of the reasons we get our trees from a choose and cut farm.  


It is fresher, and it is usually cheaper.   Now, I do remember buying a tree for $25, but it was bought sight unseen, and it ended up being about 4 foot tall.


No kidding!


So we don't do that any more.

Here are some pics!

 

And finally, the tree.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Top Ten

With Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow, I thought I would put together my own list of the Top ten things I am Thankful for.


For the record, most of them aren't things at all.


10.  I am thankful for my family, as dysfunctional as we may be sometimes, I am so, so thankful!


9.  My church family.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, from the oldest to the youngest, has        touched me in some way.


8.  My health, and more importantly my family's health.  (We aren't perfect, but we manage.)


7.  I am so thankful that my mom is at home, last year was horrible for us while she was sick, but this year has been much better.


6.  I am thankful that I have learned to say No when I need to and yes when I want to.


5.  I am thankful that I have learned what is really important.  And still learning more everyday.


4.  I am thankful for my friends.  I know that if I needed them I could count on them.


3.  My job, and my coworkers.  I am so fortunate to work with good people and for that I am truly grateful.


2.  Hope.  With life throwing us curve balls, I am so, so, so thankful for hope.


1.  Jesus!


Believe it or not I could probably think of ten more things, but I thought I better limit myself.  I hope that your Thanksgiving is Wonderful and full of family, food, and fellowship.

Number 2

Sunday Scripture

The Lord says:  Let not the wise man bask in his wisdom, nor the mighty man in his might, nor the rich man in his riches.

Let them boast in this alone:  That they truly know me, and understand that i am the Lord of justice and of righteousness whose love is steadfast; and that I love to be this way.

Jeremiah 9:23,24

Is this really part of the plan?

Last night in bible study, we are still tackling Genesis, which is just fascinating by the way.  Anyway, as life would have it we were all presenting our prayer requests and we received some bad news about one of our members.


Just one question, why does it seem like bad stuff just keeps on happening.  Doesn't the devil take a break for heaven's sake?


So after we pray, we get started on our studying part and also as life would have it, we were at the section where Jacob is getting blessed by his father, but his father thinks he is Esau.


Confusing isn't it.


But let's not put all of the blame on Jacob, while he is sneaky, his mother pretty much tells him what to do and he does it!


So Esau is pretty upset, because since Isaac was tricked into giving his blessing to Jacob there is no blessing for him.  Back in the day, the blessing meant everything.  


This is the part where we could start talking about how "the spoken word" has so much power, but I want to save that for another day.


So since Rebekah knows how angry Esau is, she comes up with yet another plan to get Jacob to safety.  While he is on his journey he has a dream.  In it he see's a stairway to heaven with Angels going up and down the stairway.  God tells him that he is the Lord, God of Abraham and Isaac, and he tells him how he is going to bless him and be with him always.


When Jacob wakes up he is afraid, as he should be, God did just talk to him.  


Jacob anoints a rock and prays, and his prayer is somewhat of a bargaining prayer that if God will be with him on his journey, and deliver him safely back home, then he will let him be his God.


Did you get the key points there, the if and then.


The whole point of me telling the long story was to get to the prayer by the way, but I just thought it was a really good story.


I have said before that I know I pray for the wrong things, and apparently thanks to Jacob, I am not alone.  But what I was thinking about was how hard it is to really pray for the right things.  


When someone is sick, we naturally want for them to be healed, so that is what we ask for, are we wrong in asking?  


We want our kids and families to be happy and content, is it wrong to ask for those things?


I don't really think it's wrong to ask, I think God wants us to come to him with everything, but I guess where it gets hard is where we have to just completely let him be in control.  And when we say, your will be done, we need to be accepting of what his will really is.  We like to try to guide God with what we think should happen, or what we think is best, but we have to face the fact that we don't really know what is best for us.  


He does.


And when I read about how Rebekah and Jacob didn't do what was right at the time, look at how that plan came together.


He does have a plan for us all, we just don't see the big picture, we only see bits and pieces.  So  when it seems like you are trying to do the right things and pray for all the right things, but we aren't getting anywhere, we have to remember, we aren't seeing the whole story.  Maybe we are at the part where Esau feels betrayed and angry.  Or Isaac is disappointed that he has been deceived.  But when it starts coming together, and it will, we will see the big picture.

1st Deer of the Year

Sunday Scripture

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27: 1

Game On!

Tonight is Game night.


All of the women in the family get together to play some kind of game, sometimes it's Phase 10, sometime it's Bunco, sometimes it is just a card game.


But no matter what we play, it is always, always


FUN!!

Wise words

Happy Halloween!

From the whole Hee Haw Gang!!!

Anniversary Trip

For the last three years, Mr. Wonderful and I have made it a point to get away by ourselves to celebrate our anniversary.

We originally started it because we hadn't really taken a vacation without the kids and we thought why not do it for our anniversary. 

As it turns out, we still like each other enough to keep doing it, so we are.

Here are some pictures from this years trip.

I have to say the weather was perfect!

Just like the company!

The house was right on a creek.

Absolutely wonderful way to spend an anniversary!!!

Party on the Patio

Last weekend we had some friends over to help us celebrate the final completion of the patio!

So of course I took pictures.

Chairs are all set up.  Baby Boy made my adirondack chairs and we loooovvvve them!  I have told him I want a loveseat made like that. 

I am sure he will get right on it.

My goofy husband made faces in every picture we took of him, so just becuase here is one of them.

Chasin a chicken

This weekend we lost one of our chickens, and since we only had one more laying hen left, we decided to move her to the barn.

Here's where the fun comes in.

BB couldn't catch the chicken, but my little runner, she caught it in no time!

Believe it or not, she has already asked when she can get more chicks?

Toby  was a little bit scared of the old red hen.

Sunday Scripture

Sing O childless woman!

Break out into loud and joyful song, Jerusalem, for she

who was abandoned has more blessings now than she whose husband stayed.

Isaiah 54:1

Yes, you can!

Today is Make a Difference day!

Our youth group is striving to make a difference in some small way.  And if we can do it, trust me, so can you.


Imagine how we could change the world if we could all come together.

Are we being obedient?

I think I have mentioned before that in our Bible study we are doing Genesis.


Now, I have to admit when I first heard that was what we were doing, I wasn't really impressed.  I imagine that's why I am just a simple layperson.  


But once we started going through it, I have been amazed at how much I have gotten out of it.  I really am impressed with how simple things are sometimes, yet we sometimes over analyze or maybe we just look right over it.  Or maybe it's just me.  


We are currently reading all about Abraham. Now, Abraham's character has some flaws, but one thing he does without wavering is he listens to what God tells him to do and he does it, no questions asked.


WOW!!!


We were discussing how when God told Abraham to take Isaac to the mountain and sacrifice him, he goes.  That simple, he just goes!  While I can't imagine what must have been going through his head while he was going.  He never questioned the reasoning of why God asked him to do what he was doing, he only did as he was told.


What obedience.  I have said that there were times when I wish that God spoke to us in audible voices so that we would know that it was truly him.  But I have to wonder, would I be as obedient as Abraham?  Have you ever felt like God was trying to get your attention but we dismissed it to our imagination, or just tell ourselves that we are reading too much into it.  Maybe we or I should be more aware of when those feelings come over me.  Maybe, just maybe, I don't "hear" because I don't want to.  


What seems like blind obedience to me, is just natural for Abraham.  While he wasn't perfect, he was completely and totally committed to the purpose God gave him.  What is amazing also is that he didn't even know what God had planned for him, he only knew to go where he said and to just trust him.


Sounds simple doesn't it?


But is it?  Do we trust God completely?


With every aspect of our lives?
Our finances?
Our jobs?  Or lack of jobs?
Our health?


What seems so simple can be so hard for us can't it.  


What is harder about asking ourselves if we are being obedient, the question or the answer.

Conversation with teenage drivers

This week our daughter is  taking a friend's children to school so we were having a conversation in the car with her about how she really needed to be careful with other kids in the car.


I personally think she is a pretty darn good teenage driver, but then I am biased I suppose.
I have to say, the man tends to get uptight while riding with baby girl and he doesn't know when to let something just go.  If you know what I mean.


Anyway, we were riding in the car and here was the conversation.


Man:  "You need to stop playing with the radio and pay attention to the cars in front of you."


Baby Girl:  "I am paying attention, you do it all the time, you even talk on your phone."


Man:  "Did you ever hear that most accidents happen because you aren't paying attention."


BG:  "No, but I think I did hear something about cell phones causing accidents."


Please know that at this point I had to interject and tell the kids to stop arguing.  Really, sometimes they argue like a bunch of  babies.  I had to give her credit for the comeback though, that was a pretty good one.  But the man didn't really see the humor in it.


Imagine that?

Just an ordinary day

Yesterday, Baby girl had a cross country meet about 45 minutes away.


And just so you know, it rained most of the day yesterday.


So, they all got pretty wet, and muddy!


Running will do that to you in the rain.

Oh My Gracious!!!!

I wasn't sure it would ever be finished when we first started, but finally,

finally, it is complete.

Every thing starts with a plan, and of course it was adjusted several times before it all started to come together.

We did a lot of shoveling!!

A LOT!!

We were getting closer and closer,

until finally, after 3 loads of rock dust and too many trips to Lowe's to count, we are finally finished.

Look at those hard working fella's.

This is what the stones look like.

Nice, right.

Just one more picture because it just looks so great! 

Of course it ended up being bigger than we first planned, but I am so glad we did it.


Linking up  HERE!!!