Technical Difficulties... Sorta.

Sitting here with my laptop... earbuds plugged in so I can listen to The O'Neill Brothers instead of the annoying sounds of Mario Kart on the Wii.  So many things on my mind and heart lately that I want to blog about.  I've been physically writing about them in my journal, and that alone has worn my emotions very thin.  I wanted to write them there first and sort through my thoughts, then decide what I wanted to add here, that might be beneficial to others.  I will get to it, eventually, as time permits.

Another thing that has held me back lately has been these constant headaches.  It seems that each day I am plagued with a headache by early afternoon that gets worse as the day progresses.  Headaches are nothing new to me.  I remember my mother taking me to the doctor when I was in the 3rd grade because I was constantly complaining of a headache, and in the past 10 years, especially, they have been ever present.  But it's just been in the past few weeks that they have become so regular and difficult to get rid of.  Makes it kinda hard to concentrate and think clearly.  

So if you think of it during your prayer time, please say a simple prayer for me and my aching head.  Thank you. :)

God bless you and yours,

Stuck In The Garage

If you have read my blog before, you probably know that I have a cat named George. He is, for the most part, an indoor cat. But, we put him in the garage at night because, we don’t particularly enjoy being pounced on in our sleep. 

And George is perfectly content to stay in the garage at night.  He has his food and water and a little bed, and he has the whole garage to himself for all the exploring and mischief that a kitty can get into.

However, by the time morning rolls around, George is more than ready to be let back inside. As soon as he hears his humans up and about, he starts meowing at the door. 

If we don’t come right away, he meows more loudly and more dramatically. 

If that doesn’t work, he tries to dig his way in by scratching frantically at the bottom of the door. 

And if we still don’t come, he climbs the door facing and peeks through the window! 

Sooner or later, one of us will hear him (or see him!) and open the door. And whoever does so is then greeted by a very thankful kitty who wants nothing more than to purr and rub against your legs in complete adoration.

This morning, George was even more adamant than usual in his pleas to be invited back inside, probably because it has gotten so hot outside these past few days. 

As I opened the door for him and received my good morning leg rubbing, it occurred to me that if George hadn’t stayed by the door asking to come in, I probably would have let him stay outside a lot longer. 

In fact, I didn’t really want him to come inside when he did because the children were still asleep, and George enjoys waking them up (by pouncing on them and demanding to be petted). 

Yet, because he was so persistent in his request to be let in and because, quite honestly, he was getting on my nerves with all the meowing and climbing up the door (and sliding back down with those sharp kitty claws on the metal door), I relented and let him inside. 

I thought about how George had displayed the perfect example of how we, as Christians, really should be in our prayers and petitions to our Father. 

Luke 11:5-10 says: 

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;  a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’  And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’  I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.    “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

I wonder just how often I get "left in the garage" because I just neglect to ASK  for God's help in opening the door?  

Of course, I am speaking figuratively here because I am capable of turning a door knob.  But in what areas of my life am I falling short, or what have I completely missed out on altogether due to my lack of persistence? 

I truly believe that God answers prayers, but how can He answer the prayer that never gets prayed?  Yes, He can read my mind and He knows what I want and what I need before I even ask, but if I never bother to ask and make my requests known, will He see fit to grant them?  Just like I know that George wants to come inside every morning, but if he is not persistent in letting me know that he's ready to come in, I surely will not get in a hurry to open the door for him.  

Just some food for thought.... 

Would love to hear your thoughts on the subject, as well.  

Blessings to you,

P.S. You can follow me on Twitter, and hear more than you really want to know about my kitty cat, George.  ;)

Randomocity

Because I know that enquiring minds want to know, here are some oh-so-random facts about yours truly.

1. I've never really liked my name.  (No offense, Mom.)
2. I've lived in the same town my whole life, so far.  
3. I now live just 2 streets away from the place I called home all my growing up years.  
4. My mom still lives there.  I can see her driveway from my front door.
5. My older sister lives on the one street that comes between my mom's house and mine.  
6. I can see her front yard from my front door, too.
7. My kids get to walk over to see their aunt and their Grammy frequently.  I love that.
8. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters.  All are older than me, except one sister.
9. My siblings are each as different from each other as daylight and dark.
10. Out of the 5 kids, I am the only *normal* one.  

Ah.... I am so boring.  :op

Have any random fun-facts to share?  If you blog about them, leave me a comment so I can come and see!

Blessings,

P.S. About that #10... I really just put that there to see if my sisters are paying attention.  ;)

Teach 'Em to Fish

There's an old saying that goes, "If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day.  If you teach a man to fish, he'll never go hungry."  Or something along those lines, anyway!  

I like the alternate version of that saying: "If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, you can get rid of him all weekend."  LOL.

Not that I want to "get rid of" my guys.

Ahem.

But in the past year, my husband and sons have become quite the fishermen.  My husband has always loved to fish, but it's just been in the past several months that the two boys have really gotten into it, as well.  I love how excited they get in anticipation of a fishing trip.

Yesterday, my husband called home from work and said for the boys to get ready and they would go fishing when he got home.  The older boy couldn't go because he had already committed to doing yard work for an elderly friend that evening.  But the younger was immediately set and ready to go.  He took a big bucket out in the back yard and started digging for worms.  And since he loves his mom so~o much, he brought them inside the house to show me.  One of them was as long as his arm.  Maybe that worm was the one responsible for the big catch of the evening, as you can see in the photo above.  

I'm glad they have so much fun together fishing, but more than that, I'm so thankful for the Father/Son relationship that goes along with it.  I am so blessed with a good husband and wonderful children.

Have a blessed day!

Mornings With Georgie

Today is Tuesday, and I am determined to have a good day.  Monday was not so great.  Sunday was really not so great.  So today - it's going to be a good day.  It's just gotta be.  

The sun is shining.  It is warm outside, but not too warm.  There's a cool breeze blowing through the trees.  The flowers are starting to bloom and the birds are singing their songs.  One little bird was sitting on the ledge outside my window this morning, chirping away.  What a surprise he got when I opened the blinds!  And again when the cat jumped up on the inside of the windowsill!  Needless to say, our little friend didn't stick around.  

Speaking of the cat, he is feeling his oats this morning.  Since I was up early, tinkering around in the kitchen, he thought he needed to be up, too.  He is an inside cat, but since he likes to romp and play during the night, we put him out in the garage when we go to bed.  Otherwise we'd be waking up to a kitty jumping on our heads during the night, wanting us to play.  So as soon as he hears one of us "hoo-mans" up and about, he starts mewing at the door to be let in.  If we don't get to him quickly enough, he climbs up the door frame and peeks in the window to see what is taking us so long.  

Once inside, his first order of business is demanding his breakfast.  I can almost envision him as the cartoon cat "Garfield" when it comes to wanting his breakfast - the sooner the better, if-you-please.  Whoever gets the kitty's breakfast is also the recipient of lots of lower-leg *kitty hugs* until the bowl hits the linoleum.  He's such a funny cat.  

But this morning, I was up earlier than usual, so Georgie was up, too.  After he scarfed down his breakfast, he went to make his morning rounds through the house, checking on all of his kids.  I had to close their bedroom doors to keep him from waking them up so early, and Georgie didn't like that one bit.  He sat in front of the boys' bedroom door and fruitlessly tried to dig his way under the door.  He really likes their room because of the bunk beds, and the top bunk is his favorite place to hang out.  Unfortunately, the only one in the house who is a little bit allergic to him is also the one who sleeps on the top bunk, so we always have to shoo the cat down when we find him there.  

Once he figured out he really couldn't get in the kids' rooms, he resorted to playing with his teddy bear.  It is so funny to watch that cat sneak up on his unsuspecting, fluffy friend and then pounce on him like a leopard attacking its prey.  He bites it and kicks it and gnaws on it's little stuffed head.  It's a wonder that the little bear is still intact!  

It wasn't long before two of the kids woke up on their own and Georgie was so happy to see them.  He almost stepped in my coffee, on the end table beside me, while trying to get over to greet my daughter.  That would not have ended well!  And now, he is out of my sight, so I am assuming that he has found his way in to the boys' room, where he is likely trying to rouse the last sleeping body.  Once the sleeping teenager arises, Georgie's job will be complete, and the catnaps will commence.  

A cat's life is so demanding.  

And now back to my day.  It's gonna be a great one.  Here's hoping yours is, too!

God bless,

Hello. My Name Is: Miss Not-Perfect

So I've decided that I way over-think this blogging thing.  I think that I am such a perfectionist that I don't want to just throw something out there without first going through my 5 point checklist and making sure everything is perfectly perfect.  

Truth is - that's not me.  I'm not perfect.  *Shock*  I KNOW!  Can you believe it?  

It reminds me of that Laurie Berkner song that they used to play on Nick Jr. when my kids were little that went like this:

"I'm not perfect, no I'm not. 

I'm not perfect, but I've got what I've got. 

I do my very best, I do my very best, 

I do my very best each day. 

But I'm not perfect,

And I hope you like me that way" 

Yes, it's simple, but it runs through my head frequently.  

So does the Scott Krippayne song called, "I'm Not Cool".   Because I'm not perfect, and I am definitely NOT cool.  But, as the song says, I'm not cool and that's okay!  

So yeah, I'm not perfect and I'm not cool and I'm just accepting that and vowing to just go ahead and blog anyway.  Besides, if I don't tell my story - who will?

If I leave it up to my kids to do sometime later, after I'm gone, then all you lovely folks would miss out on the fun! 

So.... let's give it a go.... A-G-A-I-N.... Shall we?

Okie-dokie then.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember Me?

Even though I've been awfully quiet here on the home/blog-front... I do have a post up today at The Homeschool Post.  Would love for you to pop in and visit!

You can find me HERE.

Toodles,