Got Milk?

After 2 weeks of being off the organic milk Perry emerged from the basement with this??? Gasp. We knew something would happen but we had no idea of the severity. Thankfully he's still pretty young and shouldn't have any problem learning to walk with one alien foot and one regular foot. The problems going to be find shoes. He may be able to get by with one larger croc. Thanksgiving

The turkey turned our nice. Tasted yummy, was afraid with it only being 12 lbs we wouldn't have much left over. We has just the right about that we won't waste any. We have enough for one more sandwich and it's gone. Which I'm glad cause I've had my fill! 2 things that are very important to my thanksgiving. Cool whip for the pumpkin pie, (or in this case pumpkin crunch), and the Thanksgiving Enquirer so I can check out all the sales ads, and see the Turkeys. So Ron had to go to the grocery for some chicken broth, so I made sure newspaper was on his list, written very large so he wouldn't forget.......he forgot and I forgot to put cool whip on his list. So I called my dad and asked him to pick one up on his way over. Poor old man stopped at 8 different places, no paper....it's a conspiracy. So called my mom, made sure she was aware her exhusband stopped at 8 places in search of. She stopped at 4, all no papers. CRAZY! So reluctantly I enjoyed my meal, only to continue to comment how empty I felt without the paper and no cool whip. No one else seemed to mind....except me.

THE AFTER PARTY

After all the guests left. And I was feeling a bit bloated Layni called to see how things went. She decided to experiment on her turkey to see if she could make the white meat juicier. She cooked it breast side down. Didn't make a difference still somewhat dry. I complained to her about no paper, and no cool whip. And feeling we still had a little bit of life left in us, she says....."wanna go find a paper. " Not sure she was serious....I replay what she said in my head. It was 10 pm, I had been on my feet all day slaving over a hot stove, so had she. But I didn't get to see the turkeys. Or the colorful ads that make me happy. So I said sure come and get me. And she did. So begins the adventure. She asked me where we should head first? I said Lindenwald (no offense) because not many read there. As we are heading toward Lindenwald (part of Hamilton that's somewhat a low income sort of area...best way to describe it.) Layni calls her mom to see if she got the paper. She said she had, and it was "out there in the garbage"....to which we assumed out there would mean out in the kitchen??? Nope, out there in the garbage can at the curb!!!! What the??? That didn't stop us from picking through her trash, she informed us it was in the heavier bag that contained only paper. Layni dug out a grocery bag of paper, but that wasn't it, she then informed us today's paper was loose in there. Great....my turn. As I am going elbow deep into the trash bag, I ask...."there is only newspaper in here right?" she says in a wee wee small voice, "well that and my dirty tissues...." but it was too late I had already touched one and it was not dry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to which I quickly picked up the bag and through it back in the can...and said, "seriously, we'll find one thanks anyways!!!" Sadly I had no anti-bacteria on hand, so it had to wait until the end of the adventure. We headed to the Circle K. Where we were greeted to men in a pimped out hoopty painted with a nice shade of primer, who hollered sweet nothings to Layni as she emerged from her car. We are too damn old for this.....but it is what we do best! She exited circle K victoriously with paper in hand. We headed to her house for some wine and time to peruse the ads and come up with a game plan for the next day.

BLACK FRIDAY

It's not every year we part-take in this strange American tradition, but this year we were up for the challenge. Even though we went to bed well after 1 am. We vowed to each other we'd get up at the crack of dawn. To go shopping and score some deals. Not to mention check out the lunatics who do this nonsense year after year. This year....we had kids in tow. With the promise of breakfast out, Maddie and Perry were both game and didn't mind we snagged them from their slumber at 5am. We made it to K-mart a little after 6am, scored some much much much needed LEGO.....for a low low price. Layni was in charge of distracting children. It was shopping madness. Our last stop was Target. We were shocked that it didn't appear to be as crowded or busy. Except after we were in there about 30 min it was as though the running of the bulls had been released. We were in the DVD area and you literally couldn't go anywhere, there was so many people. Maddie and Perry just sat down in the isle and read books. As we were checking out and leaving there were people waiting around for carts. We were home and back to bed by 10am......I'm thinking next year we're taking black Friday off....it's exhausting. Be sure to check back tomorrow or later this week. Saw lots of movies this weekend. All on DVD so I'll give a review. I'm sure you all can't wait!

Pretty Dang Funny......

So I had to wait till the last minute to do my turkey day shopping because of circumstances sort of within my control but not really. Ron and I both get paid on the same week now. We were used to having money going into our account every week. Big or small there was cash flow....then SURPRISE.....right.....Ok so did my shopping this evening stricken with fear all turkeys would be frozen, didn't want to risk it so I prayed for a Fresh one. Layni suggested the free, range organic her sister in law scored but that would mean, some sort of ordering nonsense, a trip to the big city and a signature on the birth certificate. Dude I just want a damn turkey that isn't frozen, and ain't gonna cost me a damn fortune. Considering the Turkeys of the organic nature at the Costco were $99 for 15 lbs....yeah that ain't in the budget. Heck for $99 they better have the shell the turkey was hatched from and a genealogy report! Plus you know about me and the Costco and organic stuff, don't even get me started! I researched the eggs.....yes I did.....probably not all bad, but not as good as one would like when buying organic. So funny I first went and rocked Aldi's (it's a new thing I'm doing when I go somewhere and have a good time I'm gonna say I rocked that) considered purchasing the turkey there, but don't normally like to buy meat products there....couldn't anyways because they were all rock solid. Oh Aldi's is a new experiment I'm trying. Went with my super organized and able to stick to a budget friend the other night so she could show me how to properly save money while grocery shopping, buying healthy, going to Aldi's and Biggs (or Krogers) and coming in under budget. She's the bomb! Anyways so what I'm getting at.......I ended up getting my turkey at Biggs, and it's Amish, of the free range verity, and I think his name was Thadeus.....poor thing was young and not fat, and only 12 lbs. So all you greenies can now begin rejoicing....although me and organic ain't getting along right now. Nuff said.

Mysterious and Unexpected...

Exactly how I like the Holy Spirit to show up. Which he did on Saturday night right here in my computer room. WARNING: This could potentially freak some folks the heck out. There you've been officially warned, oh and you may cry. Don't say I didn't pre-warn you.
It's no secret that I am a christian, and I love Jesus. I kind of keep it real like that so many folks will get this, and I'm ok that some folks won't "get" this. Ok Ok Ok on with it already.........:::breathe::::

So I was on my computer Saturday night after making some Christmas cards. I was scanning and editing stuff, while listening to a CD I had just ripped into itunes. The CD is Pocket Full of Rocks- Manifesto it's a worship CD I had heard really good things about, I had sampled a few songs on itunes but hadn't ever heard a full song......until Saturday. I'm minding my own business, scanning, editing and listening. This song caught my attention...like....hummm...what is that, it's got a good worshipful sound to it, then all the sudden it was so much more. I got all tingly, and warm.....and my head was full (like seriously I could thinking of nothing else) of a friend of mine. Whose mother in law was just diagnosed with advanced stages of Ovarian cancer. So first it was thoughts of her, and then my head was full of every detail I knew about her mother in law....again could think of nothing else. Like at the time I didn't even know her name really, I new small details about her like what her grandchildren called her, that she's German, the kind of wine she likes, the traditions she keeps, that she likes gardening. These are things I had learned just during small talk with my friend, but I could think of nothing else. It was so overwhelming I began to get very weepie. I was like "what the heck...." I mean I knew it was God but WHOA....why me, why now? I had prayed for her like I do anytime someone asks me to pray, usually in my car on the way to work, or in the shower....(sorry but it's true, it's quiet there) or when I'm going to sleep. So I was like WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON GOD??? So I was like maybe it's the song.....so I opened the itunes window....to see what the name of the song was.......The name of the song was HEAL.....and yes I did cry my face clean off. And then I had to go lay down because I was then exhausted. The song is based on

Psalms 107:20

"He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction."

A Piece of My Childhood

Joe Nuxhall died last night. I had heard he was in the hospital but he's had some health issues the past couple years and he's always bounced back. This time not so lucky. They put a wreath and a tent around his statue at the stadium. They turned off all the lights at the stadium except the broadcasters booth. And the sign says "Heading for Home........" I spent the younger years of my childhood laying in bed with my grandma listening to the reds games. Marty and Joe were the voice of the Reds to me. When he stopped announcing, I knew his voice anywhere when he'd do commercials or be on the radio for some reason or another. He's a local icon for all his charity work....and he will be missed!

Annoyed and Frustrated?

Why you might ask? I am not green by any means. But I feel good because I provide organic milk to my family, and figure because the government regulates such things well it's safe to assume when they say USDA organic , they ain't lying to you. Bastards! I enjoy going to the Costco and getting the 3 1/2 gallons for 7.50, yes it does cost a bit more but if it cuts down on the growth hormones entering my body and delays my son going into puberty at age 10 well then it's better for you. Except now I find out those bastards are big fat liars. I've investigated in all possible angles and if anyone can see otherwise let me know. Check this out....prepare yourself if you are green cause you ain't gonna be happy. Oh and go here and you'll find what milk truely is organic. You might have to travel to Vermont to get it. This world is a twisted screwed up place. It could be a million times worse I know this, but when they have procedures in place to check up on these things you just trust that folks ain't lying and they're doing your job. Geez....guess I need to buy me a cow and some chickens.....damn....haven't even checked on the eggs yet.....

Cute Kid Alert.....

So I got together with my old small group. We used to meet every week, and talk about life and God and how that all fit together. We haven't met formally in 4 years, but we still get together maybe once a year. We did this past weekend to shower one of our peeps with gifts cause she had a baby. This one here is baby #8. She added baby #9 to the growing population of children brought forth by my old small group. When we were first started meeting Perry was the only one. By the end of the small group there was 3 more. I jokingly referred to it as the lactating small group because during the 2 hours or so we'd meet one, if not all of those babies would need to eat. So now theres 9, with 2 more on the way. I love these people and their crazy offspring. I hope we continue to catch up once a year forever!

Cold Ass Camping

Just a word of advice it's too damn cold to camp in November. I mean it wasn't too horrible, since we were in the castle at cub world we weren't in a tent so that cut down on some of the fridged cold. The camping trip was fairly disorganized which WAS NOT my fault....just annoyed the crap out of me. Things could be better organized if people would communicate. I often desire to fix things but have enough on my plate and feel if someone says they are going to plan something and commit to it, if they need help they'd ask. Not always the case....but what can you do except complain about it and whatever you are in charge of commit to being organized. Nuff said.

4th Grade is hard work. Projects start in the 4th grade the teachers are awesome about telling you ahead of time so you can pace yourself which is what we've done so far thank goodness, because when you got a kid who is ADD procrastinating is not a good idea, although normally it is in my nature. I am benefitting from stretching the project out over several nights. Last night we completed the Cereal Box book report, even though daddy did not finish the Honeycombs. Now we are working on a poster about Colonial Soldiers Uniforms. Does anyone know how difficult it is to find info about the stupid uniforms, it's not as easy as a google search. I gave up and instructed the husband to help. Odd he had a military history book he was holding out on us with. He hunted down the definitions of each piece. Geez....gone are the days of Worldbook Encyclopedias. I am thinking baking a loaf of colonial bread would have been easier.

Under Pressure....

Not really but it's what came to mind when I began to write. And now the David Bowie song is in my head....just like that. It's how it happens all the time. Couple things that are causing me to not be able to focus at my job. Stacie over there on her Faith and Art Blog stirring up a whole lot of something......haven't been given the complete vision, which is why I can't stop thinking about it, and what it might be. Then went to Julies today and she's having a whole lot of fun with paper while I waste away in my cube prison.

Quite honestly it wouldn't take much for me to lose focus, but those two things are doing a bang up job, along with all things Cub Scouty, anything church related, what someone might be wearing as they walk past my desk, Ira Glass talking on the This American Life podcast, seriously doesn't take much at all.

Gimme Some Candy!!!!

How long would this loot last at your house? Me thinks 2 days......
At our house, not a typical candy eating house we'll have this crap well into the new year. Not to mention Ron and I both are on a quest to live healthier, some call that a diet....no sir not us. I'm not measuring nothing. Mentally counting points (today I actually wrote stuff down) cause that point counting nonsense actually works and makes sense. No artificial sugars, cause frankly folks that stuff will kill ya, and I'm convinced causes cancer. Mix in a little organic where it's doable, excersize when we aren't being lazy and limit ourselves to 2....maybe 3 pieces of candy a day, and we are well on our way to being healthy. That does not entitle you to ask how much I've lost, unless it appears I am significantly thinner. You can ask Ron though cause dude's dropped some poundage and he's looking sexy. So I'm involved in 2 weightloss challenges which one pays money and one pays a gift card, and if it has a giant cup of "C" on it.....which translated in normal folks talk, STARBUCKS....I'm bout to lose some weight people. I got till Christmas Day to get-r-done. So send up some words and pass the Kashi!

Queen of all things Pumpkin

Yeah do not underestimate the power of a women who wants a pumpkin carved no matter what time it is. Perry will love it since he's OBSESSED right now with Nightmare before Christmas. I present to you Jack the Pumpkin King. One of my best. And that mouth is no joke people it was tough to carve. No template used here.....slackers!

Crazy Over-Halloweened

I do believe this is the first year I've had extra Halloween activities before the actual Trick or Treat event. There may have been the occasional Halloween party back in the day, but this has been a first since I've had a kid. Which has been 10 years now......can you believe it's been 10 years? We had the Halloween camping at Hueston Woods, which was a total blast, I'd recommend to anyone who doesn't mind camping when it's slightly cold out....not freezing like the next time we camp....don't remind me......do remind me to smack whoever planned that event. Halloween camping was fairly comfortable with our tent heater we used the first night, it worked quite well. Then we had Spookeree last weekend at Cub World. We took Maddie who'd like to be a "Cub" but she's girl so she only gets to pretend occasionally. There was games, a hayride, and a Haunted Castle. Maddie is down with scary stuff, Perry is not, but since Maddie's a girl I think Perry felt the need to be the protector and he braved the Haunted Castle and not advertised scary hayride.....he was a trooper, and wasn't scared at all. Then they were suppose to dress up for the den meeting tonight but P decided to go as a cub scout, besides I could imagine putting on the costume he wore at the other 2 functions, will wear tomorrow night and not to mention he wore last year. Peter from Narnia is now TIRED......he'll fit in the dang thing till he's 16, but I promise you he won't wear it again. Is it wrong that I have uncarved Pumpkins on my porch, it's 11:30 pm, I could totally carve them now. Perry would only draw the face anyways......do I want to mess with the goo right now? It'll give Ron something to be amused about.....pumpkin carving happening.....right now....bet!

Tagged...10/20/30...

This will be a good one. I suppose. So lets start with the 10. 10 years ago I was a new mom, with a 5 month old baby. Here he is at 4 weeks old. His binky was almost as big as his head. I am pretty sure that shirt still fits him. My entire world changed....and I somehow knew then it would be an exciting ride. I prayed God would give me and extraordinary child and my prayers were answered. He was wonderful then and he's wonderful now I wouldn't change a thing. I worked as a 411 operator, which meant wierd hours and weekends. Often 6 days a week. How I survived that nonsense I'll never know. But I survived and I am stronger person for it and will never in this lifetime work weekends again.

20 years ago. Well that's easy since I just had my 20 year high school reunion. I was a big dork in High School. But I didn't care I had fun. Desperate and dateless if you will it all didn't seem to matter or effect me in any sort of negative way. I have no regrets from my high school years. 20 years ago I was at the beginning of my senior year. We were voting for class titles, class song, ect.....I almost won biggest airhead....lost by a few votes. Darn. I was into making my own clothes. I made these super cool yellow cargo pants before cargo pants were a thing. I led a prayer group every morning in the library without fail. Here is me right before my senior prom, which I went stag to. I was fixed up for my junior prom with some scary dude who drove a muscle car and drank beer while driving me to my my junior prom. For the junior prom I wore heels that I thought was going to kill me if the drunk driver didn't. So I swore my senior prom was going to be everything the junior prom wasn't. I had a blast. Even if my dress was an ugly shade of PEACH. Although it was a rockin dress that quite a few of my friends borrowed for formals after that. Ok so now 30 years ago. Geez I'm suppose to remember that? Lemme see I was 8 years old. I was in 2nd grade and Mrs. Schneider was my teacher. I always got 100% on my spelling tests I missed one word the whole year and that word was where. I was a girl scout and I walked to my girl scout meetings that were at Mt. Healthy Christian Church. My troop leader was Dottie Engelkey who is good friends with my mom to this day. We moved from a small ranch house to a big 2 story house that year. I got to have a slumber party for my birthday and I invited the entire girl scout troop. 15 girls. And they all came. That's me in the picture sitting in the lazyboy with the 3D glass's....even then I had a great sense of style. I was also sporting my carters PJ's. Carters was the place to get your clothes back then. There was a Carters outlet in Monroe, Ohio.

That was a fun trip down memory lane. And for the record the dress Leah's wearing in her 30 year picture.....was mine....she got all my hand-me-downs. My hand-me-downs came from New York from my cousin Michelle. That's when my coolness factor started.....LOL....more like dork factor started. Although the mushroom bellbottom jeans were off the chain back in the day!

I'm going to tag......Heather, Stacie, Jud, Cyndi and any other lurker who has a blog....leave me a comment and tell me you did it. Have fun!

Overblogging....

I think not, but theres a potential there might be 3 in one day. Could be an alltime record. I can't claim to have found this gem on my own. I got it from Stacie's friend's blog.


But I get all those same feelings she speaks of. To me Bono is amazingly spiritual. And to be that girl.....HOLY SHIT....not just because he's Bono, but because of the feeling you get when that song is sung. Sometimes I like to take lyrics out of context, such as "And you give your self away.....and you give and you give, and you give yourself away...." there are times I am so passionate about stuff, or doing what's right, or researching stuff so you know every angle, I often feel like I give myself away. Or I've sacraficed other things in my life to make sure this one aspect is right. Make sense at all. There are other times I feel like I want to feel passionate about too much and then I'm just passionate about nothing and want to go to sleep for a week, in hopes that when I wake up life won't be so damn complicated. Ok that was nice and deep....stay tuned for that crazy Tag I gotta hook up.

16 Years of Marital Bliss

For the record when I was a teenager, I didn't want to get married till I was 35. Which means had I stuck to my plan I'd be married 3 years now. Heck when I was a teenager I was lucky to score a date much less a husband. So when I found one at the ripe old age of 21 I decided I better marry this one cause if I don't no tellin when I'll find me a husband. I mean there was a lot more that went into the "should I marry this one" criteria. The fact that we perfectly compliment each other helps tremendously, and that we were friends first, another bonus. And he's got kissable lips.....hee hee....didn't think I'd go there did ya. Shhhhh who cares that I have nothing to compare them to whatever people!

He's definately gotten better with age, so has our relationship. We basically became grown ups together. We both only spent about 1 year on our own as grown ups and we've been doing it together ever since. Kinda nice to have someone you like to do life with, it'd be lonely not to have someone. I mean I'm sure my friends could fill in those kind of gaps but they are reluctant to spoon me whenever we sleep together. Guess they think it's kind of wierd. LOL............
Happy Anniversary.....to my Home Squeeze!

I am aware I've been tagged hold on to your britches I'll get to it sometime in the next week or so!

Weekend Update

Yes I am aware it is 1am. What the heck, where'd the weekend go? I'll tell you where it went it went to the Cub Scouts. Oh and Nickel Creek. Went and saw Nickel Creek's farewell {for now} concert in covington on Friday night. I don't know what it is but I've been to 4 concerts in the past year and only one of them I was able to sit down if I wanted to the other 3 were in smaller venues and you had to stand the whole time. Aren't you suppose to sit at these things when you get older? Guess I dig the wrong groups. Nickel Creek was amazing. They did a cover of the Jackson 5's I want you Back, it was awesome. The YouTube video of Nickel creek doing the cover is crap, but here is a good one of KT doing it. It's a great song!







This song could very well be my theme song. Although no recent contact with any teenagers so I'm good lately. They're still freakin' Scary though for real!



Almost forgot to mention Ron and I did BALOO training this weekend. BALOO= Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation. It was combine with some other advanced outdoor training that was done by some other folks who stayed the whole weekend. Part of the advanced training was some Orienteering, (good Lord, too many numbers, and maps, they lost me quickly). It's no wonder why I get lost whenever I attempt to find a Geocache on my own. Ron was in heaven loves compass's, maps and all thing that a meant to help you find your way. The couple who did this part of the training were great at it, and they were cute, and very knowledgable of all things compass and mappy. The husband kept losing his compass when he was training, and every few minutes he's say "now where'd a put my compass?" LOL.....imagine a guy training on finding your way in the woods losing his compass, not safe. LOL.....They were fun and I enjoyed all of the training. Who knows Ron and I may someday grow up and be just like them......although it'd need to be something that didn't use numbers.

More Music Love

Ok so over on Stacie's blog she's doing a litte Michael and Amy dissing. Not to mention she had to go down the road of Petra. Heres a little Russ love. I loved him, I even had a green winter coat much like what he's wearing and I even had a medal on my coat. I had a life size poster of Russ Taff in my room. Both these songs were awesome back in the day.



Ok this might be a little bit scary but I tell you what their concert was INTENSE!



It was hard to top Amy Grant from 1985 but I think this might beat that!

You are Loved

Following Stacie's example of music she loved from back in the day I present to you the Altar Boys. Man I love this music my senior year in High School.

Ahhhhhh....Run for your Life!

*If you click on the photo you can enjoy more pictures of the same freaky monster as well as other scary creatures we came in contact with this weekend.

From Halloween Cam...

Too flippin tired to discuss. I love Halloween, this would be one of many reasons!

Silent Cancer

That's what one would call prostate cancer. Not to be confused with Silent Killer, as my dad would refer to it as. The man rarely gets names right. I've never been Jodi to him always Sugar. My niece, whose name is Kylie, has always been Karly. Perry's name is Old man, and my brother he's Charlie Brown. So I was eager to correct him when he called Prostate Cancer the "silent Killer....", Um that's "Silent CANCER" not killer cause you ain't gonna die from it. Bone scan and CAT scan came back clean no cancer has spread it's confined to the prostate. It will be treated with hormone therapy, which is a shot every 4 months. Ahhhhh....the advancement of modern medicine. Just a few years ago it would have been radiation treatment, which brings on a world of other crazy side effects, which you could potentially die from or be super uncomfortable. With hormone therapy, only side effect is hot flashes.....and impotence, which apparently shouldn't be a problem....(: Oh quit, you guys it's my dad.....geez! My parents have been divorced over 20 years ain't nothing going on for either of them. So theres the health update thanks for the kind words and prayers. Life back to normal, for now!

Cute Little Houses

Poptab collecting is way more fun when you have a cute little house to put them into. Except he calls it his soda can tab collection. Like he's from New York or something. Picked up little houses for Cub Scouts to collect their poptabs in so we can then donate them to the Ronald McDonald House. I got a few really big ones too. The child is enamored with anything house like. Something tells me when it comes time to turn in the poptabs he won't be turning in the house.
*Notice the bracelet on his right arm. Yeah that's from Summer Camp, it was once blue, but the blue peeled off. He won't take it off. Someone told me to cut it off while he's sleeping. Why? He wants to keep it on, and what's it hurting anyways? Reminds me of when I was in college I'd make a hemp bracelet every summer and wear it until I had to dress up and be fancy. There were some summers I'd make it the whole summer and not have to take it off. As I got older there were more and more fancy occasions, it was always a dramatic ritual. He must be just like his mama, and luckily he doesn't have any fancy occasions.

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......