Concerts....

I love them. Ok I am definately going to see Switchfoot again, cause Connie is now an official fan like myself so we are gonna do it. Although.......David Crowder Band is going to be at BOGARTS......I've been wanting to see David Crowder in concert for years. Problem is I know NO ONE who would appreciate him the way he should be appreciated. There are a few friends a I could persuade to go with me out of pitty, but I want to enjoy it with someone who'd actually like it. And at Bogarts, man that's perfection, my old stomping grounds. So if you are reading this and wanna go, and would be willing to absorb all that is David Crowder before then (unless you are all ready into him), and could help me convince my husband to let me go to a concert 2 weekends in a row. E-mail me....or leave me some love here. If you do this you would rank as a BFF for sure! Oh the date of the concert is Nov. 7th. I tried to put a picture of him up, thinking it'd help my cause, but Bloggers not cooperating.

Is it Autumn??

Nothing says fall like red heads and pumpkins. Seriously, it's as though their hair was meant to go with pumpkins....Oh and I didn't plan Perry's shirt but it totally works. Hit the Barn and Bunk today to snag us some pumpkins, run through a corn maze and get lost in the hay barn. Did I mention it was like 95 degrees. Yeah funny thing someone said once if you don't like the weather in Cincinnati, wait about 10 min. and it'll change. I'd say 10 min is a bit of an exageration, how about a week. Since next weekend we'll have fall like tempuratures. Just in time for us to freeze our tails off while camping. Nice!

Funny thing Joe said while speaking at church (the new teaching pastor at my church)....funny and very true. Not sure you'll get it unless you hear his talk....he said "Get out of your Heaven Huddle and Go to Hell....!" Nice, but oh how flippin true. If I might get on my soapbox for one moment. Christians (I am one of those if you didn't know) like to surround themselves with other christians, and many rarely leave that circle. Cause it's safe. And then will talk trash about those who are not yet Christians as though that's going to help christians not look like hypocrits. What better way to share the love of God than to leave your "Heaven Huddle" and join folks in Hell. Reach out to people. Even if it's just to smile at someone at the grocery store. Or let them get in front of you even if they have $200 dollars worth of groceries in their cart. Or how about not walking around all self absorbed for a day, and notice those who may just need someone to listen. It's hard living in this "me" world and not be self absorbed, but if just a few folks did, well it'd be a step in the right direction. Check out Joe's talk (I know I know....I am always saying that and no one ever does, but I'm still gonna say it.) It was good stuff they even had the gates of hell as a visual and everything.

Here's all 3 of them looking cute. It's hard to get a good picture of the 3 of them in a corn maze standing still.

Heres the same three 2 years ago. My how they've changed.

Popcorn Anyone?

Ok it's Cub Scout Popcorn time. And oddly enough we got our tin of chocolate popcorn on Tuesday and it's almost already gone, IT WASN'T ME.....just saying. Perry won't eat it either. Hummmm.....it's weight watcher friendly if you only eat a handful a day. Ok so hook yourself up. If you go online to http://www.orderpopcorn.com/ yeah I know catchy.....once you go there the code you need to put in for Perry to get credit is TEEBYMQ (you'll want to highlight that and right click and click copy, then go to orderpopcorn.com), and order away. If I could give you some advice, get the 30 pack if you like microwave popcorn, it's deal online not to mention free shipping. If you want Chocolatey Carmel Crunch e-mail me, if you are local, I know someone. If you not local may I suggest ordering a case. You won't be sorry!

Nothing to See Here.....

Oddly it was kind of hard to hunt down a decent picture of my dad. Decent is the operative word there, he's usually making a goofy face. And this one was him at the Pinewood Derby last year and I had to Zoom in to crop out other people looking crazy. Notice no socks....it's January, this is a common trait for him. He's been known to mow the grass in flip flops, heck he's shoveled snow in flip flops before. I think he has issues with footwear.

Anyways I know more about the prostate than I'd care to have inside my head. I do not have one, guess that's good news since it's prone to the "C" word. Doesn't seem to have much use really why not get rid of it? Although I think it controls peeing or something and that's a good thing to be able to control when you are a grown man. They examine it through......I can't even say it....it starts with an "R"......UGH......ouch, glad I don't have one.

My dad has a catscan, and a bonescan on Monday. It'd be a good idea for my peace of mind that they find nothing there. That'd be great. Other than my brother dying of Leukemia 37 years ago, I've not had to deal with cancer this close. I was only 11 months old back then so I obviously don't remember. I'm dealing with it the best I know how I suppose researching. Dad is fine, he's a bit of a minimalist, any sort of ailment is nothing really, his philosophy is suck it up and move on. This one seems like a little more than that, considering radiation may be involved. Praying for God to help him deal properly and for him to not worry about other people and worry about taking care of himself. It'd be great if those of you in blogland would do the same. Nothing amusing to see here really I'd say go check out Layni's blog she's talking about Boobs and Poo.....2 of my most favorite topics........

I got Nothing....

Well except my dad has prostate cancer. Had a moment of freakoutedness and then remembered who I was. So rather than assume my father has just recieved a death sentence cause anytime you hear the word CANCER....you assume that person will be dead in a week. And I knew there was some form of cancer that you could pretty much just have for the rest of your life and not die from it. I was desperately hoping that sort of cancer would be the one in the prostate. So my brother tells me, and I'm like ahhh dag that's kind of crappy, wasn't exactly trying to hear that. So got off the phone with him before he did some sort of freak out, he tends to get very serious and dramatic about pretty much anything. We are polar opposites about life that's for sure. He gets all serious and dramatic and I use humor and make a joke so it doesn't seem as bad as it could be. So then I jumped on Webmd....dang that is your best friend for all things health related. And come to find out I was right....go me. No reason to freak the heck out, eat some brocolli, drink some pomogranite juice and you have a 80-90% chance you won't even know you got the cancer. He has to hear from the doctor before he knows what the next steps are, gotta check out to see if it spread to any other area, that's where the concern comes in. We'll freak out then, for now the old geezer has a good 20 years or more so relax people. Oh and my laidbackedness.....from my dad.....he called and was happy I wasn't freaking the heck out because he sure wasn't. Although I hear he'll be having a healthy diet of brocolli, pom juice, grapes and red wine. STAY AWAY FROM THE RED MEAT, that shit will kill ya! According to Webmd anyways.

Time to Gimme Some Love

You know there are tons of you who read everyday. I've respected your annonymity for long enough. You've got 2 days to come up with some love and leave me a comment. Or say quiet, and I'll continue to respect you privacy, but secretly think you are a little wierd!

Just Cook This....

I'm using his Bruschetta Pasta recipe tonight. I love this guy, he's more amazing than Rachel Ray......did I just say that? Yes I did. He did in pretty much 1 min. not including the cooking time, what takes her 30 min. Ha! Love him....and he's cool!

Weight Watchers...and FPU??

Ok so I'm suppose to keep a log and count points. Not to mention put money in envelopes and anytime I want to pay for something I'm suppose to use the money in those envelopes. Which means losing weight and living on a budget. Seriously does anyone honestly live like this all at once?? Today is the first day attempting to live like this. We went shopping and I couldn't get the kid sweatpants at Old Navy because they were half my clothing budget. We ate out and the money came out of the grocery money so there goes milk for the week. I've gotta calculate the points for the Panera I consumed. Thankfully Panera is usually all organic, at least I got that part right. Is anyone else completely exhausted just thinking about being organized??? Off to make a point/budget/organic friendly dinner, and hope that theres enough for leftovers.

4th Grade Fun

So now that Perry is in a regular 4th Grade class for Language and Reading, theres all sorts of fun going on. He read Annie Sullivan, and I had just watched The Miracle Worker last week. So now tomorrow he's doing a fun "How to" project. He gets to stand in front of the class and explain how to do something. He chose how to make Kool-aid, which quite a few probably picked, except how many do you think chose the Kool-aid singles way? Hopefully none. We went with a visual, incase Mr. Chatty (not so much) decides to clam up, he's got a little something to point to. Not to mention he's Mr. Creative for sure, and I got fancy equiptment so we got super creative with the visual. It was all him, I just provided the supplies. He even typed his own letters on the Cricut! Wish you could see the "Shake it!" picture, he's got shadow's drawn to present the illusions of shaking....."he saw it in a book once..." He's brilliant!

Go to Girl.....

A few things are not my thing. We have established that. Hugs for one, although admittedly I am doing better. Teenagers, scare me. I tried the youthleader thing years ago (10) and well they're too moody for me.

So Layni had to break the news to Ashton when she picked her up from KY yesterday. I thought about how it would go down all day, and prayed for her, and cried for her during the worship service at church. Not even knowing that I would be part of her grieving process. She was suppose to go to youth group, but was way too sad for that to happen, so she ended up at my house. I was laying on the bed with Perry reading "Pigeon finds a Hot Dog" (fun voices we love fun voice books), when all the sudden theres a 14 year old girl at my bedroom door sobbing.....so the 10 year old boy was replaced by a 14 year old girl. Layni left her with me so she could take Maddie to church, and Ashton could decompress before going to a house who no longer has the "best dog in the world"......so she cried for about 10 min. and then we made BLT's......bacon is always good for the grieving process. I took her home, and she sat in the car for a minute just looking at the house. I said "just run upstairs and put your face in a pillow and scream...." These kind of moments of "being there" are priceless, hard but priceless. Teenagers may not be my thing but loving on one I can handle. God knows my limits.

Rest in Peace Sweet Poochie

This is Kalabou. She is my BFF Layni's dog. She passed away last night. I can't even remember when they obtained Kalabou, aka Ewjew....not sure how one would spell that but that's how it sounds when we say it. I'm pretty sure they had Ewjew before they had Harold in a Hurry (again another nickname, I get it from my dad). Ok I am disguising my grief with humor. Ewjew is primarily the reason I allowed my husband to get the big doofus of a dog we call Kipper. He's an Austrailian Shepherd, Ewjew was a Austrailian Shepherd mix. She was an amazingly great dog. Kipper will be someday when he's like 10 or something.

Why is it we sometimes feel sadder about the death of a pet than we do a human being? Cause they are so dang loyal. Humans are notorious at letting you down, a dog never will. You could be falling the heck appart about some stupid crisis in your life and your dog just wants to lick your face and snuggle. Humans aren't always in the mood. Give your poochie and extra squeeze tonight. Send up some words for Ashton, Layni's teenage daughter who doesn't know yet, but will find out tomorrow.

The Sexton's will miss you Ewjew.............

Coney Island

 

This picture cracks me up! That's Matthew my friend Weezer's little boy he's 4. They are in the barn in the little town at Coney Island. Perry loves small buildings, he could stay there all day.

Celebrate with Me!

I feel like I've just finished a super hard class on being assertive. I certainly passed with flying colors. If it wasn't for God having my back and about a bajillion people praying, I feel that it's very possible the whole situation would have consumed me. Now lets just hope my child won't need counseling when it's all said and done. And here is my song of celebration. I think Rob might be hotter than John......shhhhhhhhh......



When I was in the midst of the hardest part of the crisis...man the lyrics of this song are perfect.

Street Cred.....

Ok so I have this super important meeting at P's school on Friday with the Principle, Assistant Principle, and a women from special services (person from the district offices who is in charge of all things special education). So we have this super important meeting that requires us to do things that haven't ever been done, or if they are done it's quite rare. I'm all about stirring up some trouble....NOT......anyways it's all fine, at least it will be by the end of next week. But we went over it, and it's all good now. So after we are done doing official school business and we are just chatting. The special services women says, "I've been slightly distracted because your hair...is the same color as his shirt." She's now pointing to the principles LIME GREEN shirt. I slowly glace over take note of said shirt, and smile, thinking to myself....how does one get out of this one. I could run out of the room to check myself in a mirror and scream...."what the heck happened." Ignore her as though I do not speak her language. Look at her puzzled and not say a word., Possibly say " did you say GREEN HAIR, cause that's crazy talk I do not have green hair." Pretend I am color blind and mention that saying...."I see a brown shirt, not sure what color you see, can you tell me cause I don't see color." Nope not me none of those were possibilities, cause clearly I do indeed still have green hair. So I owned up to it and tell the story of me having my BFF do that to my hair on purpose. And they too could obtain green hair for approximately $2 for the packs of Kool-Aid, and a bottle of cheap conditioner. I also suggested coloring any grey hair cause if they did so it'd stay green for a very long time, even through a hair cut. I totally gained street cred right there in that super important meeting with official school administration.

FPU, GOD HELP ME!

Ok for the record. Dave Ramsey's principles are very very good, and he will help us I have no doubt. I just hate admitting my husband is right, and I hate agreeing with him because well he gloats, and that's annoying. So we all know I think Dave Ramsey knows what the heck he's talking about, I'm just going to be real sarcastic about it. Seems fair really, school stuff, IEP's, meetings, homework, and making sure the kids education is on track, that's my gig, I'll take it cause I've done well so far. Finances, and all things number related is his gig. Don't mess with my stuff and I won't mess with his stuff.....at least I'll try not to. We just have to encourage each other from time to time, letting each other know we're heading in the right direction.

So FPU.....Financial Peace University. Seems we signed 13 Wednesdays of our life away this evening, just like that gone. And at the end of those 13 weeks just in time for Christmas, we should be millionaires. SWEET.....I'll let you know how that goes....oh trust me you'll be hearing about it. Don't ask me to go out to lunch or dinner for the next 13 weeks unless you are buying. Just saying!

And so It Goes

Being able to see God work, in obvious ways this week is nothing short of amazing. So many folks have seen Gods work in my life this week I feel amazingly honored and unworthy to be called his servant. My prayer is always God you have to be obvious, cause I'm kind of dense then it comes to hearing you, and he always is!! I heard Gods voice often this week, which may seem weird to some folks but when you know that you know that you know....well you just know. One time it sounded a little something like this.

"There is much that the artist must trust. He must trust himself. He must trust his work. He must open himself to revelation, and that is an act of trust. The artist must never lose the trust of the child for the parent, not that of the father who knew only the "heights of disillusionment," but the trustworthiness of most of us flawed and fallen parents who nevertheless try to do the best we can for our children.

Jesus told us to call the Lord and Creator of us all Abba. Not only father or Sir or Lord, but Abba-Daddy- the small child's name for Father. Not Dad, the way Daddy becomes Dad when the children reach adolescence, but Daddy, the name of trust.

But how can we trust Abba who has let the world come to all the grief of the past centuries? Who has given us the terrible gift of free will with which we seem to be determined to destroy ourselves? We trust the one we call Abba as a child does, knowing what seems unreasonable now will be seen to have reason later."

~Madeleine L'Engle- Walking on Water

Sorry if that was really long or you didn't get it, but it spoke volumes to me.

I leave you with a picture of the P-man, it's actually for the lovely Mrs. Copeland...he's wearing her favorite shirt.

Stress.....Stress....Stress....

I'm stressed. I'm more stressed than I've ever been in my entire life. I don't think I was this stressed when I got married. Too much to do and not enough hours in the day to do everything that needs to be done doesn't help the stress level. If I might give a word of advice do not try to numb your stress with alcohol, it doesn't work. Well it does but you only forget about your problems for temporary. Maybe I didn't do it right, I didn't drink much, but I rarely drink so what I did drink was enough to make me loopy for a few hours and able to forget I had problems for a few hours but they didn't go away. God's a little better at helping with the stress. I was reminded I am doing the right thing in church today over and over and over again. The new teaching pastor is really great, his message was amazing this morning. Thanks God! To see said message go here, click on the message that says Joe Boyd, I think I may go view it again, it was that good.

So the oblivious child who is unaware that there is a problem with anything. Heck according to him there are "no bullies in his school, and no burgerlers in this town, everyones nice...." .....right....nice everyone, I'll get back to you on that one after another week of Grand Jury duty. So back to the kid antics during me freaking out cause I'm so damn stressed, he is playing the Sponge Bob theme song off the DVD so damn loud the entire house is shaking. Why me? I hate Sponge Bob (sorry Stacie)!!! Well it's bedtime so that's the end of that party. So then he's jumping on his bed while trying to straighten a SPONGE BOB poster on his magnetic strips behind his bed....JUMPING....again Why me? So I yell "for God sake lay down before I lose my dang mind!!!" To which he swiftly lays down gets under the covers, and yells...."Mommy don't lose your mind, I don't want to see you lose your mind!!" I seriously think it's too late!

Does he Even Know???

Does my child have any clue whatsoever, how much he is loved? How many lives he's touched in his short 10 years, so much so they'll go for bat for him no matter what? How much his educational future has occupied my every thought this week so much so that I was unable to concentrate to get my work done at work. I am sure they understand. This is why I am not in a position of any significant responsibility because um....my kid is more important. And kid responsibility is more fun than life insurance. Heck a trip to the gynecologist is more exciting than life insurance. Just saying....sorry I'm sure none of you needed that visual.
It would be very wrong of me to not mention a famous authors death today. Madeline L'Engle today at the age of 88. A Wrinkle in Time was a book that molded my childhood and made me an adventurous reader. And as an adult Walk on Water more rescently gave me an entirely new perspective on my creative life and how so closely related it is to my spiritual life. Heck I now think of them as one in the same. What an amazing author!
So I guess I owe my husband big time. 2 weekends in a row where he was forced to mingle among strangers, and put on a happy face and act like he was into the social scene. The reunion wasn't so bad since he could drink several beers to loosen up, and was able to socialize with strangers, and laugh at the folks from Mt. Healthy attempt to dance like they still got it. I honestly don't think I ever lost it, I just look way funny attempting to get my dance on like I did back in the day. Much fatter and older.....
Then there was the alumni picnic, where less booze was consumed....actually none by the respectable law abiding classmates. Of which I am one....hello park ranger.....things started getting a little tense at that point for Mr. Anti-social. He did know a few people who have been my friends before I knew him so he tolerated that with little to know complaining. Well then we hit the big time uncomfortable in you face social situation. Dinner at the senior pastors house. Hello Nigeria team. Now keep in mind I attend a church of several thousand, Ron knows maybe 2 people well enough to carry on a conversation of which he'd probably not start. I now have thrown him into a house full of people whom I barely know but have been praying for since the beginning of the Nigeria project. Not just that but they are church folks who are trained in the art of getting to know strangers. He was ready to go the minute he walked in the door and had to put on a nametag. Once he had some food and got to sit in his own space for a while without speaking to anyone he relaxed. And then when he saw what an intricate part of the team I was, and the thanks from many on the team for the praying I do......I think secretly he was impressed and proud of me.
For those of you praying in regards to the IEP meeting from HELL.....and I mean HELL......keep praying it ain't over yet, I'm afraid it'll be worse before it gets better. Most importantly I am doing this for what I feel is best for the P-man. And someday when he's an Artist/Missionary/hair dresser/president, he'll thank me!

I created....

And it felt so good, after the enormous amounts of stress I had today. And I didn't even go to work. Don't even ask.....not exactly the outcome I desired....will require for me to do a whole lot of grown up crap. So in order to get my mind off being a grown up, I played with Cloisonne.....that's right.....that ain't your mama's embossing enamel....do not be jealous that I have some, considering I don't think they make it anymore. I covered some chipboard with it and it was way way cool. If I get enough requests I'll post a picture. Continued prayers are much needed....they are working keep it up!

I might Barf....

Or cry. IEP meeting tomorrow. They never get any easier. They always seem to get harder. Doesn't matter I know what to expect. It's crazy. A whole new set of teacher I have to instruct on how to treat my child. Lets hope they are as accomidating as last year bunch or I might have to bust some ass!!!!! JUST SAYING!

Send up some words I don't barf, or cry, and I maintain my damn dignity! God uses Perry in special ways to touch people all the time let this school year be no different. Thanks God for a great kid!

She's having a Baby

Amy and I, originally uploaded by Yoda0419.

In California, and I'm sad, she's so far away! Oh this is Amy one of my very best friends from High School. We relived our college years this weekend, and danced like we were in our 20's. I suppose I could board a plane and go see her but that's like going to another planet. Plus the man and his budget. Class reunion was off the hook. Still recovering. Heres a link to the slide show of pictures. (click the word slide show.) If you click the "i" in the center of the picture on the slideshow it'll tell you who those people are. Enjoy.

4th Grader

Much, much, to share. I'll try to maintain my focus and appear to be fairly organized. I am finally feeling less stressed about the beginning of the school year, but man until this evening I thought I was going to be completely consumed with stress, and busyness! Which I am still crazy busy. Honestly it's almost like I thrive on being busy, not sure what I'd do if wasn't busy. Probably get more sleep for 1. Ok so school started, and *I am not embarrassed at all to point out my pillowcases do not match my bed sheets. Heck they don't even match each other. This is a little something I like to call....."They're clean who gives a crap?" Ok so now you know a little too much about me... The blogs all about honesty!
Prince Perry had a good first day. Why Prince Perry you say? Well in an effort to make the first day fun and to hide the fact that I was freaking the heck out, I offered breakfast in bed. And in an effort to provide a healthy breakfast you see there an organic scrambled egg, a banana, and some organic milk (not pictured). Maybe the organic milk will fight off him maturing too quickly and it'll postpone the teenage years to happen when he's actually a teenager and not when he's 11.....just saying. So after breakfast in bed while watching Curious George (anyone else love this show besides me?) we head outside for first day of school pics.


I am sure my anxiety has everything to do with change, the unknown, and PMS. Truely the real routine doesn't start until Monday, which means I'll just have to be stressed all over again. I just hope the new teachers will utilize all the stuff they did last year since it worked and they made progress. The IEP meeting is next Wednesday, slightly nervous, again change, the unknown new teachers who have to learn to deal with me and what I want for Perry. Thankfully I won't be dealing the PMS then and I won't end up crying in front of a bunch of grown women. (Lord please don't let that happen, I'd like to maintain some dignity...thanks that'd be great!) This is the part where I do a little whining about not wanting to be a grown up anymore, and I didn't sign up for this....you've heard it all before. It makes me stronger, and someday when Perry's a grown man and an animator for Disney and he's hooked me up with a nice nursing home he'll thank me!
Ok no pictures for this story, but I may be able to take some tomorrow. Except Prince Perry's Palacial Pad is barely up for any sort of public viewing. So in his room he has one whole wall that's framed from floor to ceiling. Within that frame is half corkboard, and half chalk board. The corkboard is full of artwork. The chalkbaord gets little use but occasionally he'll draw on it. Last night after he'd been in bed for 30 min. I heard him rummaging around. I was like Perry what are you doing go to bed. "He said I'm looking for my remote......" He doesn't have a TV in his room. Never has.....I asked remote for what? He said for my TV, and pointed to his chalkboard.....where he had drawn an old fashion TV set complete with antennas.....the remote, was made out of cardstock with button drawn in the right spot and everything. He found his remote and quickly got back in bed. So I went with it....and said "you can watch TV all night if you want as long as the lights are off." Shocked he asked....."Really??" I said "yep, and if you close your eyes, you'll get better channels." Puzzled he asked again....completely serious..."Really??" I said yep, and with that he said cool, closed his eyes and "watched TV". Tonight he climbed into bed with his Tigger and Fred (the frog Webkinz) grabbed his "remote", clicked on the TV, and I said are you gonna watch TV he said "yep" closed his eyes, and "watched TV".......Ahhhhh may it never ever get old! Have I mentioned lately how much I love my kid? Few parents get to experience this unique kind of joy, I am truly blessed more than I deserve.

Consumed...

Pretty much way overwhelmed. P doesn't have a care in the world, he's not the least bit nervous about school starting. Even knew his room number without me even telling him. I was shocked. Me however, I am falling apart. I'll tell you how life is in a week or so. P even prayed on his own for a good day tomorrow.....my kids awesome.

Drowning.....

I feel like I'm drowning in the business of life. There are little things that give me air to breath. Like hearing a friend from church just had a beautiful baby girl. She's having major surgery as I type this so send up some words for her and her family, she was just born on Thursday, she's strong and should be fine. Her name is Caroline Grace Baker....such a great name!

Another little thing was Perry was so pleased with how I decorated his 3 ring binder for school he hugged it. I was afraid he'd hate it and think it was dorky. Might as well take full advantage of fun alterable school supplies while I can, someday he will think it's dorky. I'll post a picture of it later.

The anticipation of my class reunion helps me to breathe. Getting a nice e-mail from one of my peeps who can't make it because of surgery. Letting me and a few of my other friends know how encouraging we've been these past couple months while planning gave him the strength to do life a little more responsibly. Happy Tuesday!

CHEESE!!!

Cheese defines how I feel after a LOOOOOOONG day of dealing with STUPID PEOPLE. Do not hate me for loving cheese. Seriously if I could act like that and get away with it, I WOULD. Seriously do you people have any idea how many STUPID people you can come in contact on any given day? It's flippin amazing.....and often stupid people are disguised as smart people, and then they start talking.....OMG....


WATCH IT PEOPLE...OVER...AND OVER...AND OVER AGAIN! You'll feel so much better!

GOOD GOD IT'S HOT!!!!

We're talking full on face melting HOT. I was feeling ok about being in the Parade today because it was suppose to be "cooler" in the morning today and only get up to like 89 degrees. Well apparently the asphalt was still hot from yesterday when it was like 102 degrees. 2 weekends in a row walking 3 miles, yet it felt like 100, since it's so flipping HOT. Ron crashed when we got home and napped for like 2 hours.

Um Wheres Perry?
What did I do for 2 hours? I watched The 2 Coreys. It's very possible I'm dummer now. Seriously is the shit scripted or is Corey Haim that jacked? OMG....dude your carreer is over. Except the fact that you were a cute child actor, and now you should probably go get a job in construction or something cause you can't act. Heck you are having trouble doing life in general. Can you believe he's 35? I didn't realize he was so close to my age. I don't think he's ever had to be a resposible adult. He makes the other Corey look very good. I can't help it, if it's someones reality I need to watch it, cause I'm nosey like that.

Shout Out to Mt. Healthy Class of 1987!!

Ok I have 1 week to lose 100 pounds. You heard me. It probably would have been more reasonable to think about this say in December. Or maybe a year ago. But now it's crunch time and my 20 year reunion is a week away. Or maybe some of my alumni can just post a comment here and say "I'm fat too", and I'll feel better. Besides even if I lost 100 lbs, I'd still be all flabby, and wouldn't even look like my former self. I couldn't find a picture of myself when I was in high school on my computer and I'm too lazy to hunt one down and scan it in. Trust me when I say I was a dork. At least I'm a hip fat person, at least fairly hip anyways. So heres a picture of me when I was 4, with my dog Tippy. For the most part all the people I know from High School, have gained weight so I'm good. Maybe not quite as much as me but some. So if you are Class of 87 and you'll be at the reunion be sure to show me some love in the comments. Even if you won't be at the reunion leave me some love.

In other news....BUDGET.....damn it sucks. I am happy to report I went to the grocery and spent only 58 dollars and got everything I needed except chicken since I couldn't bring myself to buy a small package for $5 when I can get a huge bag at Costco for 10 and it'd last me longer. So I think the mans going to allow me to purchase chicken at the Costco. I even bought organic Milk. I've decided Milk is one thing I will buy organic from now on. Crazy hormones in Milk is what I've decided has made giant children....girls develope sooner, and become sexually active sooner, and boys "want some" sooner because of the hormones in the milk. At least that's what I've decided. Oh and Jasmine rice, it's organic also, and amazingly way more yummy than Minute Rice.....a million times better. Oh and organic frozen fruit for smoothies.....I've yet to make one I like, but Ron slurps them right up. So if you have any smoothie pointers gimme a shout.

God Show'd up Today.....

I love it when that happens. God shows up pretty much everyday, but I love it when he's loud about it. He first show'd up with Dave Ramsey, on his podcast. He's good about dropping all kinds of pearls of wisdom. Today he said "Don't let the good things rob you of the best things." in reference to premarital sex. Could be in reference to a lot of things but I liked that quote.

Then I wrote down another quote last week while listening to This American Life.

"To the ambitious for him neither the bounty of life nor the beauty of the world suffice to content , it comes as penance that life for them is squandered, that they pocess neither the benefit nor the beauty of the world. And if they are unable to percieve what is divine in nature which is all arund them how will they be able to see their own divinity which is sometimes hidden." Leonardo Divinci

That my friends is an amazing quote. Which leads me to Erwin, as if I wasn't feeling profound and deep enough at this point. He was talking about as Christians we work hard and intense to discover what is true. That can come easy, reading the bible, and spiritual maturity. I think I am past discovering what is true, I get that. Now I am beginning to discover what is REAL. Erwin has a profound way of putting it. Basically said look into your soul, is Jesus there? Is he real to you? Seems to me so many people are just going through the motions.
Whoa sorry folks got super deep, just keeping it REAL!

Teenagers??

Ok so take a moment and remember 14 would ya? Heres what I was doing at 14. Crushing on boys at school. Nothing ever went any further than that with me. Heck I was lucky to score a date my senior year. We're talking about 14 here.....For excitement my mom drove me and a bunch of my friends to Showbiz pizza place on friday night for Teen night hosted by Pat Barry a Q-102 DJ at the time. While there folks would enter contests lip syncing to Madonna and Morris Day. Steve Barnett won week after week doing the "Bird" a song by Morris Day and the Time. People would wear their parachute pants and break dance.

What do 14 year olds want to do now? Desire to go see a band at a bar in Clifton (scary college town). It's Bogarts people. I didn't go to Bogarts until I was in charge of my own life and lived down the street from the place. I was of legal drinking age, and the band I saw the first time was They Might be Giants, which isn't scary but many scary bands play there. It's across the street from a place called Sudsy Malones....a bar/laudramat, (yes I did laundry there ONCE). Poor kid calls me thinking I'm going to be on her side and help her get there. UM NOT! "Um Aunt Jodi, if mommy doesn't take me will you take me....." LOL......What? Good Lord is it at all possible to freeze a kid at age 10? Why are there not any teen-nights anywhere?

Dang and I was having Fun!

Ok so the man took some time yesterday to take a look at the budget. I was really hoping that wasn't going to come up again. It's rather stressful. So Dave Ramsey has moved back in. Damn it. I had him convinced we didn't need Dave and we could just spend money like we had some. Then there appeared to be a lot less money in our bank account than there should be, and well that was the end to the fun. Time to act like a grown up. So between Dave Ramsey and Weight Watchers, it's quite possible I'm going to be a raving lunatic. But I'll be skinny and debt free this time next year. Plus our food budget should be less since we are eating less.....right.....Pray for me!

August Camping Trip

*This is Ben and Perry. Perry is 7 months older than Ben, yet Ben is a whole foot taller than Perry. Granted Ben is abnormally tall for his age, and Perry is abnormally small. It's just funny when they stand together. It'll be fun to watch them grow.
Finally Scored a campsite at Winton Woods. Was wondering what all the hype was about Winton Woods, it's in the suburbs of Cincinnati, at a park I've been going to my whole life. And theres always a 2 week waiting list to get a campsite. Well due to a cancelation we scored a campsite at Winton Woods this weekend and now I know what all the hype is. It's beautiful, inexpensive, quiet, tons to do, and seriously the cleanest bathrooms I have ever seen at a campground. All this meant an enjoyable end of the summer camping trip for everyone involved.

Now to get ready for School to start. God help me! This includes Cub Scout madness as well. Fasten your seatbelts people....it's going to be a non-stop crazy fall. Thank God Perry does not play a fall sport, or I'd have to quit my job!

Top Secret Mission round 2

Completed. And let me tell you, there is ALOT of stupid criminals in Butler County. I shouldn't call them stupid they go to great lengths to get into the trouble they get into, they just make really bad choices. Heres to making good choices and staying out of jail. Visited the jail last week and lemme tell ya, it's cleaner than a hospital, but incredibly sad.....as in depressing. Which I suppose it's not suppose to be loads of fun. Heres what they feed those in isolation. I was offered a taste, and thank God I declined now that I see the ingredients. BARF!

Warden Burger Recipe
1 large can tomato paste
13 pounds of flour
3 pounds dry milk
13 pounds oatmeal (or oats)
19 pounds beans
30 pounds ground turkey a pinch of salt
Mix with the following items that need to be shredded or ground semi-fine:
13 pounds cabbage
13 pounds carrots
13 pounds potatoes
5 pounds onions
Cook (bake) for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.Serve with two slices of bread. Makes about 144, 8-9 ounce servings. (Enough to feed to 48 inmates, 3 times a day.)

Off camping this weekend. Stay out of trouble people, jail is no picnic!

So Amazing......

God that is. On about a bajillion different levels. I am so amazingly blessed to be a part of an awesome team at my church. On more than one occasion I feel so unworthy to be a part of such gifted people. I felt the same way when I was on the Alpha team. The Vineyard staff does such an awesome job equipting people to do just what God has called them to do for whatever season they are in, in their life. Being part of the Nigeria team is so flippin cool. The team I was praying for returned and we got the report of what went on during that trip this evening. It's just so very cool to be a part of God's work. It makes everyday life completely doable.

Smell the Rubber....

loot, originally uploaded by Yoda0419.

Man I seriously love the rush that is Stampaway, call me a nerd all you want, but I hope theres never a time when I can't go. I want to be like the older lady who has been there 14 years. It's like crazy women high on the smell of rubber, spending lots and lots of money (not me) on all things arty and rubbery. I didn't get the memo to wear a black shirt, khaki shorts, black mary jane crocs, and carry a black bag......I always miss those memo's for some reason!

Behold my partners in attempting not to spend too much money, however getting as much rubber as possible. They do look cute, don't they? If you just glance at the photo, it looks like Julie (tan one on the left) has a face growing out of the back of her head. She doesn't have that in person.

Signs of End of Summer

It's that time again...time for Stampaway!

Is anyone going??? Leave me a comment and let me know you'll be there and we'll hook up. Man I love Rubber!

Did someone say WW?

Ok I generally try not to mention when I am infact doing the WW. Because then if I fail miserably no ones the wiser. Or if I stick to it and suddenly drop some weightage then everyone will be shocked. So lets just say the Sexton's are eating healthier.
0 point tip for the night Tomato's.....big fat juicy from someones garden tomato's.....MMMMM....a tomato fairy or maybe a Garden Gnome dropped some off on my porch....thank you, whoever you might be. We had a super low point dinner, these yummy sausages made out of chicken and apples....sounds odd, but oh so yummy....and organic (they were nice to the chickens before they turned them into sausages). They were 4 points each, we (the grown ups) each had one and a half to make for 6 points. Some red skin potatoes sprayed only with pam (who knew that was possible) ok I lied a lot of pam, but not enough to create pointage. Cut up some onions up in there....yummy.....3 points for a cup....and then some 0 point tomatoes. By snack time I had 14 points left (dude I'm still fat I still have enough points to sustain me) So PB&J it was with skim milk....MMMMMM....
Onto my guilty pleasure. I've been listening to the local pop station lately off and on, because they are the only station who plays John Mayer....so in the process I am catching up with some off the hook dance music, cause lets be honest that's where my roots are, and I must prepare myself to get my groove on at the 20 year class reunion that is a few weeks away. So I present to you my guilty pleasures. OH and my boy John was singing the chocolate rain to the tune of my girl Nelly's song Say it right......she's beautiful! Timbaland ain't a bad looking black boy either.....



And then theres this which I've been driving my husband CRAZY with. It's what I do, I get part of a song stuck in my head thank God it's not the song that shall remain nameless...chocolate rain.....
and I'll sing those lyrics over and over and over again....hummmm, wonder where Perry gets it. To the point where I am chased from the house and locked out. Well this song by Mr. Timbaland....talks about "if you strip, you could get a tip..." Needless to say the mans yelling at me DO NOT SING IT UNLESS YOU MEAN IT......

Avoid it....

Seriously don't even go to Youtube and do a search for Chocolate Rain....it will take over your mind, and you'll forget your name and where you live. I do believe it's part of a terrorist plot. It took several hours of John Mayer to get it out of my head. Which is not bad therapy by the way. But as soon as I was done with that therapy a co-worker just said Chocolate Rain, and the therapy was in vain. All things pop-culture has a way of taking over my life for brief but meaningful periods of time.

I'm happy to report I've lost 2 lbs since the last time I weighed myself which I can't even remember when that was, I just know I was so shocked at the number I suddenly had a fear of being on a fat reality show, and praying to God it wasn't Big Medicine. That show....man, theres a fairly low percentage of those surgeries that go bad, and all the ones that do go bad are on that show. Theres the Biggest Loser, and the new Fat March. My goal is to not be on those show's and become famous after I'm skinny, for a crazy video I put on Youtube singing something I wrote similar to CHOCOLATE RAIN.....seriously don't do it, you will be tortured for days!

Flavorice......

MMMMM, I sure do love me some Flavorice! More importantly it's 0 Points, gotta love that. However, could someone inform my husband that anything that is 0 points eaten in excess=points. Plus we have a whole case of flavorice, and it'd be embarrassing if it lasted us less than a week.....

Cool Video....

Our World is full of the most amazingly talented and creative people.

I'M FAT....

I could have shared that pack of pens....there are so many. But I'm not cause I love them too much to share. Ron was lucky to get the black one.

Ok so I'm fat, whatever....I excersized, I should be skinny tomorrow.

That is all!

Think about It....

Been thinking about some things lately. It started with purchasing one of the very large packs of pens at the Costco...pretty colorful gel clicky pens. Most of the colors Ron would never use so that means mine all mine! They are the pilot G2-07 pens....and they are glorious. Ok so all this waxing poetic about pens because I was thinking, I wish I had a reason to use the damn things other than work related and list making. Heck I don't even write in a journal anymore because well I blog. So I was remembering....letter writing. Man I loved to write letters back in the day, before I could type 60+ WPM, and text message, and IM. I'd write a letter. One of my BFF's Abby and I would send at least one letter a week talking about all sorts of nonsense. And when PC's came about we'd fill our letters with crazy fonts and fun clipart....this was before they perfected e-mail. I had two close friends move away when I was in elementary school, we kept in touch via letter writing well over 20 years. Now it's just an occasional christmas card...this past year may have been the first year I didn't get a card.

We have so many ways of being connected these days. Yet it seems so impersonal, and less creative. I can be in touch with a friend in a matter of seconds and a few keystrokes, yet I feel like I know my friends less intimately. An e-mail seems so impersonal I guess....probably because we are all so afraid it's another stupid forward we're going to have to check snopes for. Not sure where I am going with this, maybe I'll write a letter this week, on a piece of notebook paper with a funky pen.....Abby (I doubt she reads this....see what I mean about not connected) be watching your mailbox. YOU BETTER WRITE BACK!
Just told the kid to "count sheep", he'd never heard that expression and has scampered off excited of the idea of counting sheep as they jump over a fence......

Catching my Breathe

This song was the theme song for Cincykids this year. Matt Redman could sing the phonebook and God would show up. I'm convinced of this. He wasn't there but they played his song with words much like this, and the kids worshipped....it was good stuff. This could very well be my very first post with 2 videos....
I know that's more excitement than you non-comment leaving lurkers can handle. That excludes Heather she always leaves me some love. The rest of you are just as wierd....errr...I mean as busy as I am and read blogs but don't comment. Every once in a while it's fun to see who gives a crap about my busy life. Anyways that's the other song they sang at Cincykids, and it's beautiful. Salvador isn't bad to look at either.
OK heres my PSA for the month: If you'd like to go camping near your home at a place you don't think anyone will be camping at, well because it's raining and it's close to your home...call ahead. Apparently this place is happening, and booked for the next 3 weekends.....WHO KNEW? So because I ain't camping this weekend I'll use that time to catch my breathe, maybe clean my house cause it's rather funky. Or just throw some water in the camelback and go hiking at the park I'm suppose to be camping at....they can't keep me out! Crazy campers!

Sometimes.....

God just shows up. Even if it's from a far away country. 3 weeks ago, I met up with a friend very briefly while walking into church. She was my apprentice leader for a small group years ago. One of those friends you can go without seeing or talking to for months and when we see each other it's like we talk to each other everyday. We completely understand each other....I love that kind of connection. This particular morning she was a bit frazzled. She has 3 boys under the age of 5, the youngest being just a year old, so she was at the end of her rope, and responded with my typical Sunday morning greeting "Hey, how's it going?" As she's holding her youngest she responds with......"I'm not sure I'm fit to be a parent....I should have moved to New York and became a ballerina!" You have to understand she makes being a mom look amazingly easy. She's always so organized and keeps her boys on a strict schedule. She has her moments like we all do, this being one of those moment I believe. Not only is she a great mom, she's is an amazing servant of God, it comes so natural to her, it's just who she is and it's part of how she lives her life. So I said something positive, and we parted ways off to our perspective seats in the Sunday worship service. Fast forward just one week later, I get an e-mail that they are the host family for Asubuhi, so not only was that saying to her she's a fit mother, but she's so fit he's giving her another kid for a short period of time, one with a health problem and one who doesn't speak English. It was such a blessing to hear this story, caused a whole lot of cube crying. Shout out to Cyndi for hooking up Asubuhi with a blanket with his name on it to treasure all the way back to Tanzania in October. And thanks for the article link too.

*I purposely didn't share my friends name since it's not in the article and I don't want the paparazzi showing up at her house. It's hard knowing celebrities, you have to be careful.

Big, Big God!

Haven't been feeling great past few days. Blech......2 words, ORGANIC CORN, try it at your own risk. I'm just saying.
Cincykids is this week. And wow what a difference in Perry from last year to this year as far as comprehension of what's going on. He LOVES it. Again the interactive prayer rooms are so special and touching to him, as he places his little feet on Madagascar and promises to pray for that country each day. As he places his little hand on Jos, Nigeria and prays for the people who live there, who don't have clean water, and for the team from our very church who will go there to help them get clean water. As he traces his foot on a banner that will hang in an orphanage in Nigeria, and writes I will pray for Jos, and Mommy writes "I will pray for you each time I brush my teeth."
As he sings "Lord let me shine, shine like the moonA reflection of you in all that I doLord let me be a light for your truthLight of the world, I wanna be used to shine for you." I truly believe he means every word.
For the next week I am going to be praying through this scripture because Kande asked us to...and also because it's a really good thing to do, maybe the 4 people who read my blog can do the same. Cut and paste and print it off and put it somewhere, to remind you of what a big God we get to serve!
"For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. "Ephesians 1:15-23 (NIV)
I am praying this scripture for the folks in Nigeria we will be serving and for the folks in my life who don't yet know how big this God is or who just need to draw closer to him. Or desire to grow stronger in their faith, whatever that looks like.

Pardon my Absense....

I've been eaten alive by by all things cubscouts. You think I'm kidding? From what I've been told, it's how boys become men. We'll see what happens.



In other news I had a fabulous weekend. Had one last to-do with Alpha peeps at a leader retreat at Camp Kern. We had a ton of fun, and we did the Amazing Race Which was way more fun than grown ups should be allowed to have. It was a nice way to end my involvement with Alpha as I transition into Cub Scouts....which was not by any means a gradual process. Needless to say I will miss Alpha, but I am sure I'll be back in a few years after P bridges to Boy Scouts....but I'm sure they will need my help too. We shall see what the future holds, God's always got something crazy up his sleeve. By the way if you have been part of an Alpha table in the past 7 years, you should go to this.

Cub.....What?

By the time cub scouts starts for the year, it's a good possibility I am going to be sick of anything blue and yellow.....or tan and navy blue for that matter. Agenda done, uniform bought, standby for family portrait. I'm outa here for the weekend, last event with my Alpha peeps, an overnight it'll be bittersweet.

I'm in Over my Head!

Well kind of. Heck when I start out on a new adventure it just wouldn't be any fun unless I complained about. For years my BFF (I feel so young when I do that...) and I planned scrapbooking retreats. We planned really fun scrapbooking retreats, that many people looked forward to twice a year. We did the bulk of our planning at the very last minute. I'm talking the weekend before. Complete with packed goodie bags, schedule of events, games, prizes....good Lord a bajillion prizes donated by various local scrapbook stores. Anyways my point is, I've given up one of my church volunteer things for Cub Scouts. I gave up Alpha for Committee Chair......WHAT THE? I've been doing Alpha for 4 years, I know what I am doing, it takes very little preparation. It's 10 straight weeks out of my life twice a year. Oh but now, I am committee chair, I have really no knowledge what that means exactly. I know I gotta coordinate a WHOLE LOT OF CRAZY STUFF, not to mention encourage, finagle, beg, force people to do stuff, um they are suppose to volunteer. I am sure it's not going to be hard......right....they told me I'd be good at it, they being people who have only known me for a brief period of time. My husband....the Assistant Cub Master (which means dude does nothing but look official in his Cub Scout Leader uniform) of the same Pack is quite excited at the prospect of the whole damn family in a uniform. I see a family portrait in my future. GOD HELP ME!

Ok Ok rant over. It's the right thing to do, my kids only a kid for so long and then those years are gone. I still got my things I do, theres just less time to myself. Note to self: Schedule some me time.

Keen Sense of Direction.....

That is not me.....nor is it my BFF Layni. My husband however with a GPS in hand, we should listen to him. It was a proud day for the letterboxing adventures. We sent team Perry (their last name not my kid) into the woods to find the series of letterboxes we found on the 4Th of July. Pumped them up with all sorts of confidence since we knew they existed, and with specific instructions to bushwhack and not to give up. We also sent Perry (my actual kid) with them for help....(right as if he paid attention to where he was 10 days ago) While they searched for those we had big plans to replace a damaged letterbox in a different part of the same park. Except I left my fancy letterbox I made AT HOME....what the? My only responsibility....good heavens. So after scarfing down a 6" Turkey Sub, Ron and I headed home to retrieve the letterbox. By the time we returned, Team Perry was on letterbox 3 of 5......woohoo the race was on. We dashed into the woods retrieved the damaged goods, placing our newer fancier letterbox in the same spot. Then hightailed it back out of the woods just in time for Team Perry's arrival....ready and willing to search for our newly planted letterbox. It took them all of 10 min. to find it....our mission was complete, but not entirely. There was one more Letterbox to be found, why leave a perfectly good park full of treasures.

(my face is red because it's sun burnt, and from scaling a mountain, I am much more attractive and thinner in person.)

So off we went. We didn't really notice the directions said "steep" hill....holy hell, they should have mentioned you'd be scaling the side of a mountain for God sake! I am way to old and fat to be mountain climbing....but this didn't stop us....lots of heavy breathing. We made it the top, only to find we'd be scaling back down halfway to retrieve the actual treasure. We opted to send someone younger and more in shape after the actual goods, So Ashton retrieved the goods and brought it to the old folks at the top of the mountain. The directions instructed we were welcome to "take a card" if we liked....it was Mormon cards.....with the teenager Jesus on the cover, we opted to leave them for folks who weren't yet acquainted with the teenager Jesus. So now we were left with a dilemma....we were at the top of a mountain after all, which meant we'd have to get down from that mountain to get home. We decided to take a new different route back, one that looked less mountain like, more of a gradual down slope......which was more than twice as long....LOL.....not to mention no idea really how to get out of the woods from that direction. Layni mentioning her keen sense of direction so we "trusted" her....sort of...Ron in the back of the pack with the GPS saying without much authority I might add...."um guys the coordinates say go this way...." Yeah we've attempted to follow those GPS things before only to find ourselves miles from where we needed to be (except we aren't good with numbers either of us, this includes longitude and latitude.) After hiking what seemed miles......it was a much better plan because we came upon some yummy blackberry's. Not to mention a tree with giant thorns, and a killer dog (behind a fence thank God) We finally decided to listen to Ron, and headed left, which took us to the trail that Perry and I got lost on just a year ago....SCORE! I never doubted.....after all I'd been lost in those same woods before. Besides the new route brought us right to our cars!!!

Civic Duty

Thanks to everyone who offered me a Latte or Milkshake....you people suck! I was serving on the Grand Jury. Lots of criminals in these parts see, and they need my opinion! Mega sized migrain going on right now so.....that is all. I'd probably have less of a migrain had someone...anyone offered to buy me a latte.....

Top Secret Mission

I can't tell you what I am doing this week. But it's way more exciting than what I normally do on any given day, and I get to enjoy my top secret mission for a whole week. That is all you are allowed to know. If you'd like details you'll have to arrange a meeting at an undisclosed location, say Sonic, and you'll have to buy me a Banana Pudding Milk Shake. Or a Grande Cinamon Dulce Latte, either of those two things and you might get something out of me. You offer me nothing and you'll get nothing. I'm just saying.

Few folks seem to be concerned about my depression....however brief it was....it is gone now, sort of. Felt a little disconnected I suppose. It's a given, we all have busy lives and I don't get to connect with folks near as often as I used to....whatever I'm over it, it's life deal with it however you need to. I spent money, got a few lattes, and then got my debt card taken away.....so there you go.....it's no wonder I'm depressed. I need shoes, then I'll feel all better.....donations gladly takens seeing as I got no debt card.....I do however have a checkbook! Shhhhh....don't tell!

The Mayer...on TV today...

jmcincy036, originally uploaded by ms. andrea.

It's a good day to be sick. Fancy to-do going on all over the world, called Live Earth or is it Earth Live...no it's Live Earth....I'm sickly so I've been watching it all day....somehow I missed Jack Johnson....who was in Sydney...but I did not miss The Mayer! To create mass awareness for a greener planet, thank God they found some folks other than Al Gore, that dude creeps me out! GO GREEN!

Letterboxing, Webkinz, Outdoor Movie, and 4th of July....Oh my!

How do I fit it all in? Probably why I feel sick now, all stuffy....yuck. So I had been feeling depressed sort of for a few days, tired and just no energy at all. I hate even saying depressed cause it can mean a lot of things for a lot of people, but it is what it is, nuff said. Figured out why, I needed to move. I was much, much happier after a long hike yesterday, when we scored a total of 5 letterboxes! It's great fun to get excersize and have a sense of accomplishment finding all the letterboxes you went into the woods for.

So the P-man got a Webkinz, much like Toontown only cheaper, however just as addicted for me mostly. He takes too long to get money to buy stuff. The problem is I'll go in play a bunch of games build up his money, and he'll get on and spend it on food.....when I want to get a backyard to build a garden.....we're having a problem working together here. LOL.....yeah we got problems.

I am so out of order .....but it's my blog and I can if I want to, no rules here. Last weekend we had a to-do, "Splashfest 2007" if you will. Invited over cub scout fams, with instructions to BYOWG.....Bring your own watergun.....LOL, so they did and had a blast chasing each other with their waterguns. We then watched a movie outside, thanks to my brothers projector DVD player....good times. We watched Nacho Libre.....which the fam and I watched at least 3 more times in the past week....cause it's just that funny!

You've Got Mail....um Everyday!

You've Got Mail....um Everyday!, originally uploaded by Yoda0419.

Holy crazy packages Batman, friends, family, teachers, co-workers and random scrapbooking peeps, went above and beyond the call of duty. The P-man was the hit of Cub World, much to his fathers embarrassment. He got so much loot, I'll be eating candy for the next several weeks at work, and theres still enough for Perry to have at home. He shared quite a bit and still came home with a tote full of candy and small trinkets.

Other than the crazy fan mail. P and Ron had a great time at Summer Camp. I'd choose this adventure over the usual send your kid away without you for a week kind of summer camp over anything. The previous 2 years I got the joy of climbing a hill that nearly killed me on a daily basis, only to be greeted by a sewage plant before getting to the pool. Eating kid size portions of prison food.....this year it was even worse since there was no salad bar....(whats up with that?), sing crazy songs, sweat large buckets, drink large buckets, only to sweat it all off, learn to shoot a BB gun, while laying on a mattress, shoot a bow and arrow, hike to a dried up creek and learn about trees.

Oh but this year it got better....which is why I let Ron go! They got to stay in canvas tents, that smell like an old mans armpit. Sleep on beds made for a 4 year old child upon a paper thin mattress. This would be a spider infested canvas, no zipper kind of tent....no electricity either. Which means no window to close to keep out critters, no electricity to run a fan. Which I had the first 2 years. They did get to go up to Bear Hollow Ridge (I think that's what it's called) apparently it's just for Webelo 1's, it was their special place they hiked to when Webelo 2's were at outpost. Outpost is what will happen next year so you'll have to learn about that then. This year they did less crafty stuff and more scout stuff, like hiking and nature type stuff. Seems once they become Webelo's they've figured this scouting gig out, as in when you put "signs up" (2 figures thrusted in the air is suppose to make all scout shut up) they just stop talking cause that's what you do. Previous years you got crazed grown ups yelling "signs up" so kids will be quiet.....which defeats the purpose, and kind of gets on my nerves. Just sayin.... If you click on the photo it'll take you to the rest of the pictures in a set labeled Cub World Adventure Camp 2007....enjoy and leave comments it'll make Ron happy you care! It's always fun when you leave notes on the actual picture too.

Heres what a 10 year old little boy looks like after 4 days of Cub World Adventure Camp Madness!

I still Got it!

And this photo didn't make it go away. Both Layni and I were intrigued by Johns fancy footwork that he does when he sings. He'd roll out on the side of his foot, or he'd roll it inward, it was totally due to the shear passion he has in his music, thus the reason why he makes crazy faces.


I have this thing for musician who have a lot of passion the dude who played drums for many years at my church Josh, makes crazy faces when he's playing....and he's the most amazing precussionist I've ever seen. So I guess if you are that talented you don't care how you look when you are doing what you love. Man I wish I had those kind of skills!

Until it goes Away

jmcincy049, originally uploaded by ms. andrea.

Maybe I'll post John pictures until the excitement of seeing him live goes away, I still got that "man that was just really cool" feeling so lets continue the John love fest shall we. Calm down I still got mad love for Switchfoot. This is just a new kind of sweet sweet grown up love.....did I just say "grown up"? Wierd.....

The boys are back from camp....complete run down this weekend. In the meantime continue to drool!

Have Mercy!

jmcincy038, originally uploaded by ms. andrea.

Still am unable to verbalize how HOT this man is. Mad skills, and dude can play. I mean clearly this photo...thanks Andrea...displays some amazing passion. Tickets said no cameras. Layni attempted to smuggle in one for J-Tim and had to take it back to the car. So we didn't even try this time. Well clearly the security isn't quite as tight for JM, considering they didn't check. Heck we could have smuggled in a firearm and no one would have known. So folks took awesome pics, and videos....sweetness!

I'd see him again, and again...he was that good...and oh so sexy....

Performance Art

So cool. Play this video. Don't just look at it and be like....another video....play it, you won't be sorry. This dude performed this same thing at SOS this year....AMAZING gift!

Recap of the Recap

So I was so exhausted yesterday after the chaos I call my life. I had told myself I'll skip out on SOS on the friday.....right......until I had a HORRIBLE.....I mean full on crappy day at work. It was like 2 crappy days in a row. The one before was worse, but to have a crappy day on a friday just doesn't seem right. It was so bad that the enemy I had pray'd for the night before, satan used them to get at me and I basically non-verbally cussed them out. Like not to their face or anything but had they been in my head.....oh man....not at all righteous or loving. So I decided since I was getting off early I had time to go home scarf down some pizza say "hi" to my family tell them I love them, and go to SOS. I needed to be blessed by the the chaos and worship. SOS worship is like no other. They baptized 50 kids tonight....that's a whole lot of worship. I got to pray for a group that had been (all the groups were) together all week, and had bonded, and had changed lives, so much so it was their team leader that got baptized tonight....so cool. Because of the 800 teenagers that took over our church this week I swear to you when I walked in on Wednesday night the place smelled like an oldmans armpit.....blech!
Ron's like you love that madness don't you. I mearly stepped into the forrier of the south Lobby on Thursday and was instantly afraid of the madness. I told him you wait another 2 years, you and I both will be taking a week off and "embracing the Chaos" all day everyday for the whole week. I can't wait. God is Awesome like that. I seriously have a Holy Spirit Hangover and I'm leaving for C-bus (columbus) in the morning. Not to mention I need to pack Perry for camp....God help me my life is crazy!


Teenagers will fall into hysterics just at the mention of the word Poop...it's crazy and I saw it happen a few times....wierd.

SOS Recap....

I'll need a day to process....I've lost the ability to form a coherant sentence at this point and I am getting up early for work. Couple points I'll need to remember when I do a recap.

• Mosh pit?
• crowd surfing
• Holy Spirit Hangover
• Prayer Team
• Jeremy Riddle
• Poop
• Old mans armpit
• 800 Teenagers
• I'm 3rd
• Screwed up evil world
• Healing
• crying
• more crying

Ok more on that tomorrow. In the meantime go HERE!

SOS 2007

I'll be here all week if you need me. Promptly passing out Friday night only long enough to run off to C-bus for the weekend. Fueled by Caffeine and the HG! PRAY FOR ME!