Saturday Musings

Let's face it. I live a busy life. I have four kids...and recently, a husband with a broken leg, a full time job, plus all the responsibilities of a full time mom. It's exhausting on a good day...on bad days...well let's just not go there!!

I have been struggling to find a balance and maintain sanity...not to mention my spiritual connection with God amongst the "busy"ness of life. It's not an easy balance to find, less easy to maintain for any length of time. There is always the tyranny of the urgent that is abundant to pull me away from the best that life has to offer.

I'm doing a study on the Sabbath in Scripture. It is a Christian Discipline that has been largely cast aside in today's busy world. I work at my job as a teacher on Monday through Friday, and then often at night I am lesson planning or grading papers, or helping my kids with homework and projects and making lunches for the next day. It leaves very little time (and even less energy!) to do much "homemaking"...things like doing laundry or dishes or cleaning toilets! These things still need to be done, though, so often they get done on the weekends. Before I know it the weekend has been worked away and we're off to the next week of work and papers and homework. It exhausts me to write about it and that is my life day in and day out. Fortunately, for both me and my family AND my students, we get a two week break every so often. It is in the middle of one of these two week reprieves that I write this. I still spend a great deal of time doing the homemaking part of life but with the work side of life cast aside temporarily I have more time to reflect and just "be." I spent part of this time taking a five hour nap yesterday, I was physically and emotionally spent and my body gave me no choice but to recuperate. I think the biggest realization through my study this week is that my friend Heather was my Sabbath place. I realized yesterday how much I depended on her for a place to go that was peaceful and restful and I miss that. My kids asked me what was wrong yesterday and I just yelled, " I need to pack you up and go to the Nations' house for awhile!!" My heart was crying out for a Sabbath in the midst of the craziness and that was the greatest gift she always gave me...and she gave it willingly and without strings. I think that is what I miss the most.

So now I must go on to "find" a Sabbath for myself...and I suppose it had to happen, she couldn't be my Sabbath place forever (well, it would have been fine with me but I guess God had other plans!). I just don't quite know how to do that. I don't know how to stop. I don't know how to ignore the dirty socks in the middle of the living room. I find it hard to rest at home because there is always work looming in front of me.

That is the struggle I face. I don't have an answer right now, only questions.

Part of my study stated that observing the Sabbath is acknowledging that "God is caring for everyone and everything." Somewhere in my heart I know that is true, and yet my head is screaming "but God does not get my laundry done or my house picked up!!" Is that irreverent of me?? Come on, tell me you've never thought that...or something like that. Let's just be a little honest here. God has, however, sent me a mother in law who stayed for two weeks and cooked and cleaned and drove my husband to numerous doctor's appointments after his accident. I think I need a full time live in mother in law!! I've jokingly said to friends that I need a WIFE!! Until then, however, I will muddle along, with a dirty house, and dirty laundry, trying to find the balance between having clean clothes and having my sanity. I'll let you know what I discover along the way in this journey!!

An Arizona Christmas!!

We had to come up with a song for our class to sing for our annual "Winter Concert" and we were told it could be Christmas related as long as it wasn't "too religious"...sigh...don't get me on that soapbox...it's CHRISTmas for goodness sake!! But I digress...
So I sat on my bench in the 100 Acre Woods and visited my thinking spot...think, think, think....
Then I had an epiphany!! Last year at our Women's Christmas dinner some of the men who were doing the music performed this songand the seed of the idea was planted...
Now...I am not nearly computer savvy enough to put the music on my blog this late at night on a school night so you'll have to sing along...you all know it...the tune is "jingle bells." The song, however, is a little different...

Dashing through the sand, in a jeep with four wheel drive,
O'er the rocks and shrubs, Santa will arrive.
Don't worry there's no snow, Santa has a plan,
While he's in our part of town he'll work on his suntan!!

Chorus:
Jingle Bells, Lizard Tails, Hot and sunny day!
Santa's here in desert town, he's come to catch some rays!!
Jingle Bells, Lizard Tails, Hot and sunny day...
Santa's Jeep is packed with toys the Arizona way.

A day or two ago, I thought I'd take a ride,
so I gassed up the quads, with Santa by my side...
We thought we'd hit the dunes, found a cactus in our way...
ended up pulling stickers out for all of Christmas Day! OUCH!!

Chorus:
Jingle Bells, Lizard Tails, Hot and sunny day!
Santa's here in desert town, he's come to catch some rays!!
Jingle Bells, Lizard Tails, Hot and sunny day...
Santa's Jeep is packed with toys the Arizona way.

Later on that week, we traveled once again,
Grand Canyon was our hope, got stuck on I-10!
We traveled for what seemed, a million miles or more,
but we only got as far as the Anthem outlet stores! Ca-ching!

Chorus:
Jingle Bells, Lizard Tails, Hot and sunny day!
Santa's here in desert town, he's come to catch some rays!!
Jingle Bells, Lizard Tails, Hot and sunny day...
Santa's Jeep is packed with toys the Arizona way.

Snowsuits aren't for us, we wear shorts and shades,
instead of sledding down the hill, we go on rollerblades,
We don't shovel snow, we never miss a beat,
Come visit us at Christmas time and soak up the "dry heat!"

Chorus:
Jingle Bells, Lizard Tails, Hot and sunny day!
Santa's here in desert town, he's come to catch some rays!!
Jingle Bells, Lizard Tails, Hot and sunny day...
Santa's Jeep is packed with toys the Arizona way.


Have a very Merry CHRISTmas and a Blessed New Year!!

We've been a bit out of it....

I have had a horrible case of bronchitis this past week and my dh had strep throat so we've been a little out of it lately. But...I got most of my Christmas shopping done and my Christmas letters are ready to go out (but not stuffed in envelopes yet)...so we're making progress!!

I'll try to update the blog soon!!

My Fifth Child!

 

This is a picture of my kids with my neice. She looks so much like my kids you'd never know that she wasn't just another one of my kids!

Thursday Thirteen Thanksgiving Style!!

I tried to download a Thanksgiving Thursday Thirteen tag for the title and was having a hard time. I'm so VERY tired that I know if I keep trying you will simply get nothing because I'll get frustrated and give up. So here goes...The top thirteen things I'm thankful for this year:
13.I have a roof over my head and food on the table.
12.I have new tires on my van, a new range in my kitchen, a working DVD player, a working washing machine, and no water on the floor in my closet.
11.I have a job that I love (most of the time) where I get to work with some really great people.
10.Good Friends who have been so willing to help out in the last two weeks.
9.A wonderful church family who has so graciously provided meals after Tim's 9accident.
8.My husband's wonderful co-workers who donated enough PTO time to cover his recovery.
7.My best friend who called me and checked on my everyday after Tim's accident.
6.My wonderful MIL who flew in from Oregon to take care of my hubby so I could keep working during those first two critical weeks of his recovery and my FIL, who ate frozen dinners so she could.
5.My brothers and sisters. It's a special thing that in addition to my biological brother, who was always there for me growing up...I have brother and sister-in-laws and their spouses that all get along so well that we truly are brothers and sisters-in-love.
4.My parents...who raised me to be who I am today...(I'll let you decide if that is a good thing or not)
3.My wonderful kids...who drive me nuts sometimes but I love them none-the-less.
2.I'm exceptionally thankful this year that my husband is sitting beside me at the Thanksgiving table. His accident could have been so much worse.
1.My God, who provided his Son as payment for my sins, who provides for our every need, who knows the needs I have before I know I need them and never leaves me nor forsakes me.

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!! We had a great one and I made my first ever Turkey and it turned out GREAT!!! I'll post pictures tomorrow (or maybe Saturday)....

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus....

...and today he visited my house.

Only, instead of using reindeer, he delivered via FedEx.

We got a new DVD player delivered to our door and I'm pretty sure the FedEx guy didn't buy it for us.

So...whoever played Santa Claus in the middle of November...Thank You!! You ARE appreciated...even if we don't know who you are!!

One more silver lining....

I just got my first Christmas present of the season!! A new kitchen range!! Thanks to Tim's parents, who graciously offered to buy it for us as our Christmas present for say...the next three years or so!! To make a long story short...our oven died...the temperature in the oven wouldn't go over about 275 degrees. Mom decided that with four kids and Thanksgiving coming up we needed an oven. Thanks Mom & Dad, we love it!!

I've decided that my goal for the new year (starting now) is to find the silver lining to every cloud...since I've had so many opportunities to do that lately I figure I'll be really good at it. For example, I've wanted to change out the tile in my bathrooms. I just don't like it, I never have, and I've wanted to change it. The problem is, I'm not sure if I can do it so it will look okay, and I can't really afford to have someone come out and do it for me. Well, I decided that since my closet doesn't have any carpet anymore, I'm going to lay tile in there. That way I can practice...it's a small space so it shouldn't take very long...and if it looks horrible, it's the floor of a closet and nobody will ever notice! See?? Silver lining.

I also had a really bad dream last night...I know it was a bad dream because I woke up crying and drenched in sweat...but I don't remember any of it...I'm sure that is a silver lining...I also know that to be dreaming something so vividly that it made me cry I had to be really deeply asleep, something that I haven't experienced since the accident...so that, too, is a silver lining.

What Silver Linings do you have in your life this year to be thankful for??

Every cloud has it's silver lining...

Due to the washer disaster (it looks might it just be a cracked hose so maybe it won't be so bad) I didn't have enough clothes clean. Between dinner and baths and chiropractor appointments I just couldn't make it over to my friend's house tonight to get any washed. So... at 9:30 tonight I headed out to Target to see if they had one more pair of the pants I bought a couple of weeks ago that I love...well, not only did they have a pair...they were on the clearance rack at half price!! I love a bargain!! I also picked up three v-neck long-sleeved t-shirts for half price!! All for less than I would have paid for the one pair of pants not on sale!! Whoo hoo!! (hey, it's the little things these days!!)

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming....

For those of you who own the Disney movie "Finding Nemo" and have not stopped to listen to the banter at the beginning while the movie is waiting for you to press play from the start menu you must, it's hilarious!! My life right now, on the other hand, is anything but.

I'm reminded on a daily basis to "just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..." (a famous quote from Dory in "Finding Nemo" in case you didn't know) Simply getting through the day sane is a challenge right now. Tim is, for the most part, recovering well...but he still can't do many of the things he has always done...like carrying S. to her own bed when she falls asleep in ours, or pulling wet carpet out of our closet after our washer springs a leak.

Yes, you "heard" that right. Yesterday afternoon I discovered a wet spot on the carpet in my bedroom closet. I promptly swore at the cat under my breath and sprayed it with Odoban and threw a towel on it. I came back later to finish the job and the spot was bigger....and it trailed from the back wall. I know, I know...those of you who know me are amazed I could SEE that it trailed from the back wall given the normal state of my closet floor but I COULD! So, being the wonderful mother that I am I roused my kids from their slumber (they had just gone to bed...they weren't really asleep) and made them clean out the closet (okay, they dumped it all into buckets that are still strewn around my living room)...it became abundantly clear as J. jumped up and down on the carpet and proclaimed it "cool" and "squishy" that we had a slightly larger problem on our hands. So...I pulled out the box cutter, cut the carpet across the doorway (thankfully it hadn't quite made it that far yet), and started pulling up wet carpet, and even wetter padding, and mopping up the remaining inch or two of water with any towel the kids could find and throw at me.

SIGH

I finally finished up and put two fans in the closet to dry out the remaining water and soggy floorboards and sat on the couch to veg in front of a DVD.

Guess what???

The DVD player is broken. It won't read any disc. I tried several. Possibly a dozen before I gave up.

Put one foot in front of the other...."just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...." BREATHE!!!

It's just been one of those weeks. Hopefully, next week will be better.

A Welcome Relief...

My back was REALLY bothering me this week (I wonder why?? I only helped lift a Rhino off my husband...) so I went to see my buddy Marcos. Marcos is THE BEST massage therapist I have ever been to, and I've been to quite a few. His work is more than a "nice" massage, although he'll do those too if you ask him. His work gets rid of that knot that you've had in your neck for 15 years and nobody else could even move. My hip has been out of whack ever since I tore the meniscus in my knee and I can actually move it!! That's saying something!

If you live in Arizona and you deal with pain, you really need to go see him...you won't be sorry.

Here's his website:
http://www.abalancedbodyaz.com/

He has a Kudzu site with reviews and coupons!! http://arizona.kudzu.com/controller.jsp?An=0&Au=P_CompanyID&A=1387994

read and bookmark his blog: http://abalancedbody.blogspot.com/

Oh, and tell him I sent you!!!

Mr. Bojangles

Well, I have some good news finally!!



First, the techie guru from our high school came down to the elementary school and within a few seconds found my lost gradebook...now mind you, I did a search on every drive in the thing and it didn't appear for me...but I don't care!! It's found and I have my grades back!! Hallelujah!!

Next, Tim's surgery went really well...I am amazed that they missed this break the first time around...it looks pretty obvious to me but who am I?? I'll let you decide....


Can you see the triangle shaped piece just floating around in his finger??




They put two pins in it to set it. These pins will be removed, eventually, unlike the one in his leg which will set off the alarms in the airport for the rest of his life!!


And here is Mr.Stumpy McGimp himself. He looks pretty happy for a guy who just spent three days in the hospital after having his leg and hand crushed under a Rhino!!

Finally, I got to spend a good portion of my day today teaching tap dancing! I used to teach tap a LONG time ago when the kids were little. Today, our music teacher came to me and told me she had arranged for coverage of my class if I would come and teach tap to three of her classes today. I really, really enjoyed it...I miss our little dance academy and teaching in it!! I have not enjoyed my job that much in a very long time!



Wanna dance??

Like the Energizer Bunny....

It just keeps coming....
Today I went to school and found out that somehow over the weekend while they were switching over our server my gradebook was lost to cyberspace. It's gone...progress reports are due on Tuesday and I have no grades.

And the plates keep spinning............................................

Quick Update.....

Thank you for all the prayers and offers of help...it is truly amazing to me!

Tim is home from the hospital, very tired but recovering well. He is in a lot of pain if he doesn't take his meds (he tried to be a hero today and not take them) but does pretty well on them. We gave him a bath today for the first time and tomorrow he has a consult with a hand surgeon.

I am more tired than I ever thought was physically possible and still be standing. I ran innumerable errands yesterday only to get a flat tire and find out that I needed to get four new tires. I spent part of the evening at Sam's club when I would much rather have been sleeping. This morning my mil went out to find that my dh's car had a flat tire. Two more new tires. Tonight I went to switch out the laundry and my washer is leaking...there is water all over the floor. (sigh)))

In all of this I praise God because He has kept us safe. I did a google search on Rhino Rollover accidents and many of them end up with amputation of limbs or death. It could have been so much worse. My tire (which was down to 15psi) could have blown in the middle of the curvy part of I17 and I would have become part of the landscape. It could have been so much worse.

I don't understand this trial God is allowing in our lives. I only know that God is good...ALL the time...and He will work even this out for the good of them who are called according to his purpose.

In need of prayer....

My husband and daughter were in an accident this weekend on a Rhino (which is an off road vehicle kind of like a cross between a jeep and a golf cart) The vehicle flipped and my husband was pinned under the roll bars. His leg was broken and he lost part of a finger on his right hand. B was driving so while she's not physically hurt other than being very sore, mentally she's in anguish. Read on if you want details, but they are not for the squimish. If you decide to skip it just read the last paragraph. Thank you for your prayers for our family.

Tim came through surgery well. He had a pin put in his leg and they had to build the bone up some because he lost some bone when it was crushed under the roll bar. They had to amputate his right ring finger from the first joint up and the bone between the first and second joint is broken. They are optimistic that he will be able to adjust to the new length of his finger and even be able to relearn to touch type. The top 1/2 cm of his pinkie was also crushed but there was no skin loss and they feel that the bone will regrow on it's own. He also had an open skin wound on his leg (I thought from the compound fracture but the edge of the bone was intact so it must have been from something else) so the biggest concern right now and the reason he is still in the hospital is the risk of infection. They have him on IV antibiotics and will keep him either until late this evening or tomorrow morning.

B was driving the Rhino (it really wasn't her fault, Tim told her abruptly to turn left so she did it but too quickly and the thing rolled...she's an inexperienced driver and didn't know any better. He instinctively put out his arm and leg to break the fall and they ended up outside the vehicle. Thank God for the roll bars, even though they caused Tim's injury, without them I think all of them would have been killed) so she is pretty messed up in her head but she is doing better now that she is past the shock. She actually lifted the vehicle up far enough off her dad's leg that he could get a rock jammed under it to relieve the pressure. She's very sore and I'm going to try to get her into see my chiropractor today. She also lost her glasses in the crash and she is blind without them...We did have a pair at home but they are three years old and the prescription is slightly different than her current prescription. I am taking her to get glasses ordered today. After that I am dropping her off at my school to spend the day with my friend Lisa, who was her favorite teacher because I'm giving her the pain pills that we got and never used from HER ER visit two weeks ago and letting her have a day to hopefully recuperate and not have to lift too much.

The other kids were not in the vehicle, nor was I, so physically we are all okay but mentally the kids are pretty messed up. They had to watch me put their very bloody dad into the van and drive away, not knowing what would happen. We were about 20 miles off the freeway in a remote meadow off a dirt road. There was no cell phone reception until we got to the freeway. The nearest ER was an hour away so I called 911 from my cell phone in the car and we met the EMT's at a rest stop about a mile down the freeway. The stabilized him and took him the rest of the way to the hospital in Cottonwood. That is where he still is, which is about a two hour drive from my house. I stayed with him Saturday night and came home about 5am to get some sleep. I took the kids up yesterday so they could see he was okay. He was able to get up and walk with a walker (he can't use his right hand for crutches)...and we took him out in a wheelchair to sit on the patio for awhile.

Tim's mom is flying in tonight. She is a retired nurse so I will feel much more comfortable going back to work on Wednesday knowing she is here to take care of him. I just have to get through today. I should be able to bring him home tonight or tomorrow.

If you have read all the way to the end of my novel here, thank you, thank you for your prayers and all the support you have been to me always. You are a precious group of ladies. Life is a fragile thing. We were lucky. Make sure you always take time to kiss your babies and tell your husband you love him because you never know when the last time might be. We were very blessed that this wasn't his time because this could have been so much worse.

Love,
Sally

The Great Goldfish Drama!!

(or why you shouldn't let your kids play the games that give out penny goldfish as prizes!!)

Soooo...Friday night was our school's Harvest Festival. Each of the teachers had to create booth with a game or food or something. I was no exception. I was face painting and feeding chocolate to the many attendees of this great gathering. While I was so occupied my children were generally running amuck with their tickets.

One of the booths was a fishing booth.

They were giving out goldfish as prizes.

My son came to my booth proudly displaying his catch...to which I exclaimed rather loudly..."no, no more pets, no more!!" (We have a dog, two cats, and a mouse already...all of which came to us as hand me downs or orphans...)

Well, as a teacher I had to stay to the bitter end to clean up. So did my kids. Before I knew it my kids were the proud owners of not one...not two...but ELEVEN goldfish!!!!

SIGH!!!

We brought them home and put them in a large vase. I went to Wal-mart and bought goldfish food. I warned my kids that fish like this don't usually live very long.

The next morning we had our first porcelain funeral. We were down to ten.

Last night we lost seven more. Down to three.

Today, after school, two more had bit the dust. Down to one.

Tonight we had our final flushing...and I get my vase back.

My kids swear they loved them while they were with us...and they can't wait until next year so they can get some more fish....

I think next year I'll give away drumsets as prizes!!!

Be Part of the Solution!!!

My friend, Niki, and I were talking the other night and we were wondering when we became old enough that everyone around us seems to be diagnosed with cancer...

Is it our age or is it THIS age...an age of chemicals and hormones and who-knows-what in our food, water and the air around us?? Maybe it's just the fact that a diagnosis can be made sooner and more people are FIGHTING cancer instead of just dying before they even know they have it.

My grandfather had lung cancer.

My dad has battled prostrate & skin cancer.

A good friend of mine and my old boss, Lynne, battled skin cancer.

My MIL battled skin cancer.

I had a scare a month ago, where it was a possibility that I might have thyroid cancer.(It wasn't)

My aunt just underwent a masectomy for breast cancer. (She's doing well and recovering nicely!)

A good friend of mine just had to undergo a biopsy for possible breast cancer (it wasn't, thank God!!)

My best friend, Heather, just endured the most hellish year of her life, undergoing chemo to ward off sarcoma of her kidney. She almost died from the treatment three times. But without the treatment her chances of surviving were, well, slim.

I used to be able to sit by, donate a few dollars, and hope that "those" doctors and researchers would find a cure for cancer...you know, in a benevolent wishing for World Peace kind of way.

This past year it's gotten really personal. This isn't just about finding a cure for cancer...this is about finding a cure for my best friend, and my family, and my other friends, and the millions of mothers, fathers, children, and friends that not only hope for a cure but desperately need one if they are going to live to see another birthday...this is about being part of the solution.

My best friend is participating in the Relay for Life this year and I hope you will go support her...for me, for her, and for yourself. Because if you haven't been personally touched by cancer, it won't be long. Be part of the solution...go to this link,Heather's Relay for Life Page and help Heather exceed her goal in a way she could never imagine!!

Happy Birthday!!

 

Today was my baby's birthday. She's twelve. That's officially a tween. Almost a teenager. I have twelve months. It has made me incapable of sentences longer than four words! Oh that was more.

I remember when she was a tiny little thing that I could hold in my hands. It seems like yesterday. One more blink and she's going to be all grown up.

This year she didn't want a traditional party...she wanted to take her friends to a movie and Red Lobster!! (P.S. It would have been cheaper to have a huge party!!LOL!!) What a grownupish thing to want to do. We went to see The Seeker. It was a pretty good movie...sort of a thriller made for tweens. A little scary but not too horrible...Decent storyline. Most importantly, the tweens with me had a great time!!

I know she's going to grow up to be a wonderful young woman. She's already well on her way there. She's grounded, she loves the Lord, and she's comfortable in her own skin.

I love you, honey, Happy Birthday!!

 

The girls!!

 

And then there are the boys....

 

Oh Look!! It's cake!! For me!!

Look Out Moms...Disney's got it out for you!!!

SPOILER WARNING - If you haven't seen Disney's new movie The Gameplan don't read this...I might ruin it for you!!

Tonight we treated our kids to a movie and took the kids to Disney's "The Gameplan." It was a GREAT movie!! We laughed louder than I have at a movie in a long time, and we cried...for awhile I had Sarah in my lap telling her, "it'll be okay, honey, it's a Disney movie, they always have a happy ending" and it was true...it had a happy ending and all was well, everybody wins, and we all wiped away our tears.

On the way home, however, we got into an interesting conversation which caused me to pause. You see...in this movie the little girl's mother dies and that's why she ends up with dad, not that he knows that for most of the movie. Isn't that what happened to Bambi?? And Nemo?? Who's the writer in the Disney movie house that's got a thing against mothers?? Who starts the conversation?? "Hey, we need a new Disney movie...let's off a mom, send the kid to live with dad, and all will end up happily ever after...works every time, right??"

EXCEPT for MOM!! She's still DEAD!!

And let's think about this...Did Ariel have a mom?? Cinderella was an orphan but not before Dad made a really bad decision and remarried. Snow White was another victim of an evil stepmother after her mother dies in childbirth...obviously, these dads have bad taste. Aladdin? Dad took off, mom died. Jasmine? She doesn't have dear old mom around either. Belle? No mom. Hunchback? Orphan. Mowgli? Orphan.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention, as my kids pointed out to me as I was bemoaning the demise of all the Disney Princesses moms that not ALL the Disney character's moms die. In 101 Dalmations, for example, or The Incredibles, mom managed to stay alive.

Still...to all you Moms out there...if your child dreams of someday being a Disney Princess (or Bambi) watch out...your days are numbered!!

I have to brag just a little!!!

Okay...so the brag is really for the program because I'm the loser kindergarten mom that totally put off this project that I did for my daughter instead of with her...

Do I get Brownie points because it will be something she will treasure for YEARS to come??

I have SO been wanting to make her an ABC book for the last, oh, year and a half, and just never had time...

Well, with the motivation of her needing a "family project" to share with her kindergarten class and my FABULOUS new scrapbooking software I made a 24 page brag book (8x8) in about an hour and a half...printed it off on my computer...trimmed, loaded into the album I had bought to do this project a YEAR ago...and I have the totally cutest project ever!!

I used a preloaded book that you can finagle and play with a little and I dragged and dropped pictures into it and LOOK WHAT I DID!! I'm so excited about it I couldn't wait to share it even though it took longer to load it than it did to make it in the first place!!

It's missing some letters of the alphabet and some obviously important people like the Nations because I didn't have pictures of them on my laptop and didn't have time to fight the dinosaur to pull them off the old PC but I can update that over our two week break, take some posed pictures to fill in the odd letters (q for quilt maybe?? Maybe a picture with the queen?? Maybe a picture dressed up AS a queen...that might work) and whallaaaah!!

What I couldn't get done in a year is now done in a couple of hours and some photo paper. I LOVE DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING!!!!!

Another favorite!!

 

Here is one of my favorite pages...

 

It's been a long time....

since I've posted! I guess I'm speechless!! That's hard to believe, I know...me? speechless?? The truth is I've been up to my eyeballs learning about Arizona history so I can finish up the credential...almost there, I took my last final on Saturday...whew!! I just have one more hurdle to go...the big state test...which scares me to death!! Meanwhile I've taken up a new hobby!! Digital scrapbooking!! I've already scrapped 20 pages in the last 7 days!! I will see if I can figure out if I can upload pages here to share!! I've always loved scrapbooking but doing it digitally has SO MANY advantages!! Way less stuff to log around (just my laptop!!)...No wasted stuff or pictures, everything is fixed with the undo button!!...really cute stuff you can download for free if you know where to look!! Last but not least, I can share my scrapbooks with friends and family all over the world with a single email!! I love it!!

Wow! Somebody thinks I'm NICE!!!

I've sure got them snowed!! Seriously though, my friend Amy gave me this award and I'm very grateful!! It's always nice to get an attagirl and especially right now when chaos abounds at work (another story for another day!!)

Here's the award!


Now I'm supposed to pass it along to 7 other people. I have loads of people I would love to encourage but not many of them blog...my friends, Lisa and Tracy, at work have been great to keep me plugging along on our stress filled campus. My fellow fourth grade teacher, Angela, has been a GEM!! AND she bought me lunch yesterday!! My friend, Kathleen, who brings me Starbucks and helps my kids with her homework is an absolute dear and a LIVESAVER to this very tired mom...All the people, there are way too many to name, who prayed for me during my thyroid ordeal...Thank you!!

There are a few who do blog...my best friend Heather whom I MISS terribly now that she is living in Florida but calls me regularly and never stops loving me despite the miles that now seperate us.

My friend,Amy, who gave me this award. She is an awesome prayer, mommy, and writer and she encourages me with her Love for the Lord and her persistance in the midst of life circumstances.

My friends, Dave & Lori who have loved me since my college days! They are the kind of friends you can get together with after years of being apart and it seems like we were never apart!

My brother in law, Mike, who has an unfailing love for the Lord and an unwavering desire to serve him.

My friend, Laurie, who is one of the most FUN moms I know!

My friend, Niki, who is a great mom and friend and is one of those people that would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it!

Last but not least is my friend, Amy R. who is apparently my southern lost twin sister. We have a scary amount of things in common even though we've only met once in real life!

Wow! Look at that, I came up with 7!! I didn't think I had that many friends...now I REALLY feel loved!!!

God is bigger than my confusion....

I'm not sure I've ever read the book of Habbakuk before.

I've joked about the name. I've argued the pronounciation. But I'm not sure I've ever read it before...I must have, I had to read the whole bible through when I was in College at Biola, but I sure don't remember it.

I love this book because Habakkuk, a prophet from God, is not afraid to ask the hard questions. In Habakkuk 1:2-4 Habakkuk cries out, "How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you 'Violence!' but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice nver prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted."

How often have you or I watched the news and thought, "How long, O LORD, must a call for help, but you do not listen?"

When we watched the Twin Towers fall, watched the war in Iraq escalate, attended the funerals of fallen soldiers, seen a news story about a baby shaken to death by his mother's boyfriend, been involved in a lock-down because some crazy guy is driving around the local Wal-mart parking lot shooting people...

When we see these things, the temptation is great to cry out "ARE YOU THERE GOD?? Why aren't you DOING something about this??"

The answers aren't always the one's we want. The answer Habakkuk received surely took him by surprise. In verses 8-11 God goes on to tell Habakkuk that He is going to raise up the evil and allow them to be stronger. WHAT?!?

The very hard truth is sometimes God allows evil to bring people to God. I can tell you from my own experience of going through this process of figuring out what was going on with my thyroid, facing the very real fear that it might be cancer, caused me to draw closer to God than I have in a very long time. God chose to spare me, for now...no one knows the day or the hour that we will be called home.

God's ways are not our ways...but we like to try to put God in a box.
God's purposes, His plans, never fail...but we try to tell Him how it should be done.
God is God...but we try to be God ourselves.

It's hard to be faithful in the midst of confusion. Habakkuk was faithful. He brought his questions to God, and he allowed God to be God. It is my prayer that I will be able to do the same. How about you?

WHEW!!!

Well, now that the news is good I will share with you the stress of the last few days. Some of you know, and many of you don't, that a few weeks ago I had an ultrasound of my thyroid that showed that I have, at minimum, six nodules in my thyroid...the smallest of which is 3cm, the largest of which is 2.3 CM!! There was some concern, obviously, that one or more of these might be cancerous. I had to have a nuclear thyroid uptake scan which takes TWO DAYS and is rather disconcerting (they take the pill out of a metal box with a big radioactive warning on it, the pill is in a tube, and they tell you not to touch it just throw it back out of the tube into your mouth...now if it's going to hurt my hands, won't it...never mind we won't go there!!!). Then today I went to my endocrinologist for a biopsy. I DIDN'T, however, have to have the biopsy because my scan came back CLEAR!! Praise GOD!!! There was a small section of my thyroid that showed up "cold" which was of some concern but after doing an ultrasound of that area, my endocrinologist, determined it was normal thyroid tissue that wasn't functioning, but not a tumor. As long as my bloodwork continues to come back normal, and future ultrasounds don't show growth of the nodules then we are good to go. I have to go back for another ultrasound in six months to follow up...and then every year after that...you know what?? I'm totally okay with that!!

The Hissies!!

This is HILARIOUS!! Thanks to Jennifer for finding this!!

God is Greater...

Today's sermon at church was titled God is Greater than my Hurt.

Very appropriate for me right now. I don't know if you would call what I am experiencing hurt, exactly. I'm not in pain. I haven't been betrayed.

At least not by a person.

I have been betrayed by my body. It's a long story, and it may turn out to be nothing...I'll find out in a week...and I'm praying it is exactly nothing...but in the meantime I have been wrestling with God. I want the answer to the eternal question of "why?" Why me, why now, why so much?

All He wants is trust.

In Psalm 55 David cries out to God. He has been betrayed by a dear friend, a fellow believer, and he wants God to avenge his hurts. In the end, however, David comes to his senses and tells God, "But as for me, I trust in you."

I've learned some important things from David.

It's okay to go to God and dump on Him...don't be afraid to tell God all that you are feeling, thinking, hiding. Don't worry that He will think you unspiritual, or unfaithful. Remember, even Christ, as he hung on the cross, cried out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The key comes when, at the end, after you have given Him all your questions, all of your fears, all of the unbidden emotion, will you make the choice to TRUST that God won't waste your pain?

I heard this song a few weeks ago, right after I received the results of my first medical tests, and it has haunted me. It has played it's chords into the recesses of my mind, begging me to listen. It's a song I don't want to settle into my heart because it calls me to a higher standard, a place that is difficult to visit. A place that is even more difficult to own. It is a place of allowing God to use my pain for His glory.

It is a place of telling God that if He can use it then bring it on!

I'm not quite there yet.

I don't think any of us enjoy difficulties...but I pray that I can find a place where my love for God is so deep that I am willing to set aside my own selfish desires and replace it with a desire to completely sold out to Him, no matter the consequences.

To glorify Him, no matter the pain.

To praise His name, no matter the suffering.

Jesus, bring the rain.


"Bring The Rain"
by MercyMe

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray

Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty

Thursday Fifteen?

I can't claim to be the inventor of this idea. My friend Heatherdid this for her anniversary this year. But in honor of my dh and my 15th Anniversary...here is my Thursday 15!!

1992: We get married and spend the first night of our Honeymoon in La Jolla, CA. The next day we open presents, pack our car, and drive away to Philadelphia so dh can finish his Seminary degree.

1993: We move back to California, and begin working with the youth group at First Baptist Church of Santa Ana. We got offered the job there by a long time family friend.

1994:Tim gets a job working for Campus Crusade for Christ in San Clemente. We move to San Juan Capistrano about a mile from the beach.

1995:Our first little bundle of job arrives. We LOVE being parents, even if she's a little on the needy side and has to be walked for HOURS at a time to get her to sleep!!

1996: Tim continues to work for the Jesus Film Project, Sally goes back to her old job at the Bible House...splitting a shift with her Mom who spends have the day working and the other half being Grandma to the little one.

1997: Tim gets a call to be the youth pastor at Hope Baptist Church in Phoenix, AZ. We pack up the U-haul and head out of state.

1998: We start our year off with the birth of our son. He is a calm and quiet baby who LOVES to sleep. We meet and become fast friends with the Nations...our first born children are only one day apart!

1999: We are blessed with our second daughter, who came as a surprise...with a seven month old son Mommy didn't know why she was SO TIRED all the time...dd2 was the reason!!

2000 Life rolls along pretty normally. Tim is working for a swimming pool company and I'm at home, raising and schooling the kids full time. I have the priviledge of attending the home birth of my best friend's dd2, and I'm hooked...maybe I should become a L&D nurse?

2001: We begin to apprentice under the Nations teaching Parenting Classes at church and find that our true love and calling is training parents to raise their children in the Love and admonition of the Lord.

2002: After a devestating miscarriage, we are blessed with our third daughter. She is joy embodied. There is little wonder that Joy is her middle name.

2003: This year is pretty much a blur of family life and homeschooling.

2004: Tim becomes a computer teacher at Skyline West H.S., the kids experience "real school" for the first time and Sally goes back to college to finish her teaching credential. Full time school was put on hold when she was offered a long term sub position at Pinnacle Pointe Academy. She continues school on a part time basis.

2005: Sally was offered a permanent contract at PPA and the kids joined her there for school. We buy a new minivan to get us to and from school/work.

2006: Sally continues to teach at PPA, dd1 becomes a sixth grader, and dd3 starts preschool. Tim's sister,her husband, baby daughter and Tim's parents move to Oregon. Our dear friends, the Nations, take a job and move to Florida.

2007: We have a child entering Jr. High and a child entering Kindergarten in the same year! Sally is almost done with her credentialing process and is teaching fourth grade for the third year in a row still at PPA. We celebrate 15 years of marriage and despite some health issues are looking forward to a fantastic year ahead!

Happy Anniversary honey, you are a treasure to me!! I couldn't do any of it without you.

Wanna Play??

Wanna play?

My friend Amy sent this game and I had a ball trying to find the answers.
If you play, let me know in the comments!


SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks!

Rules:

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following questions...

They MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up!

You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Have FUN!

Your Name: Sally

1. Famous singer/band: Selah
2. 4-letter word: SKIP
3. Street name: Saint John Rd.
4. Color: silver
5. Song Title: Shout to the Lord
6. Vehicle: Sienna
7. Items on a menu: Soda
8. Girl Name: Sarah
9. Boy Name: Steven
10. Movie Title: Sweet Home Alabama
11. Drink: Sierra Mist
12. Occupation: Salesman
13. Flower: Sunflower
14. Celebrity: Sting
15. Magazine: Sports Illustrated
16. US City: Santa Ana
17. Pro Sports Teams: Seattle Seahawks
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Snoring!
19. Something You Throw Away: Shavings
20. Things You Shout: Shucks!!
21. Cartoon Character: Scooby Doo

When the going gets tough...

The weak run and hide.

Or they want to.

I wanted to hide this morning.

It was youth Sunday and my dd1, as a newbie in the youth group, had to be at church at 8:50. The morning started off with the realization that I had overslept. This in and of itself wasn't huge until I tried to move a box of candles, and tripped over a shoe left on the floor. Unable to catch myself because of my bad knee, I fell and so did the box of candles (in glass jars) and one of them broke. It was for a customer. >>sigh<< I'm going to have to buy a new one, and I don't even like the scent so I don't know what I'll do with the broken one. >>sigh, sigh<< After cleaning up the broken glass off the floor, I hurried to grab my keys and get out the door...we could still get there in time...we jumped in my van (you know, the one that's less than two years old?) the battery wouldn't start!! >>sigh, sigh, sigh<< I shuffle my dd1 off into her dad's car, which doesn't have air conditioning, and it's at least 110 degrees out at this point even though it's only 8:45 in the morning!! I dropped my dd off at church and turned around to go back home and get the rest of the tribe and bring them to church. Now at this point my make-up has completely run off my face and my dh has assured me he got the van to start so I went into the bathroom to fix my face. On the way out of the bathroom I tripped over a fan and fell AGAIN!! >>sigh, sigh, sigh, sigh<< I picked myself up (not an easy task when you can't put much weight on one leg) and shuffle off to the van...really not even WANTING to go to church at this point AND feeling a bit like a jinx...and, yes, you guessed it...the van wouldn't start. I helped my husband jump start the van and we roll off to church, which at this point has started 10 minutes ago. We get to church and drop off the three youngest at SS and walk down to the sanctuary only to have my dd run out bawling her head off. She didn't get a "job" because she was late and she was sure we weren't even coming. >>sigh, sigh, sigh, sigh, sigh<< In the end the day turned out okay. I talked my dd out of her hormonal hysterics. The service was nice, lunch at Rubio's was uneventful, and I talked my dh into going to Berean's to find a new novel to read while I'm sitting in doctor's offices in the next couple of weeks. I even got to take a short nap.

I had a friend email me some verses the other day:

Prov. 3:5,6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct
your paths.

Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

and this one found me later today...
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Do you think God's trying to tell me something? Despite my morning it is still true that God is good, all the time...And with the help of HIS strength I've survived to say it one more time.

How was your Sunday?

AWESOME Video!!!

My friend Amy posted a video to her blog that is really AWESOME!! It's hard to see at times, but it is well worth viewing...it had me in tears...just be sure to watch it all the way to the end.



I hope this worked...I just figured out where to get the code to embed it in this blog. If not click over to Amy's blog (link above) and watch it there!!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen EXTREMELY random thoughts:
1. Everytime you put together a group of 20 kids you will get a very different community.
2. One student can drastically change that community.
3. The longer you teach the shorter the amount of time you need to recognize who that kid is going to be.
4. Patience is a great virtue, both in teaching and in medical office visits.
5. Timeliness is not a virtue most doctors possess.
6. Doctors don't seem to have many answers either.
7. Patience is a great virtue, both in working and parenting.
8. I am capable of getting from my house to my school in 10 minutes without getting a ticket.
9. My ds seems to have an amazing ability to forget his lunch.
10. Feeding him Taco Bell probably isn't the best way to encourage him to remember his lunch tomorrow.
11. Buying school supplies is one of the highlights of my life. There's just SOMETHING special about a brand new box of crayons. They're even better when you can buy them for 20 cents a box!!
12. Ticonderoga really are the best pencils. No, your local teacher is not getting a kickback from them.
13. I can take a lot more than I ever thought I could and still survive.


Here's to one more day!!!

It has begun....

Well, another school year has officially begun...we've made it through the introductory week full of rules, procedures, and getting to know each other. Now we're in full swing.

I'm so blessed to have a school full of students who run up to give me hugs (younger sibling of past students of mine give me the most hugs...I think that's funny), parents who support me (even my parents from last year still come by and bring me Starbucks!), and a great new principal!

The craziness of grading and planning and all that is here as well so you might not see me blogging as much but I will try!!

This year we are beginning our school year by reading a great book called "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau. If you haven't read it, you should check it out. If you like it let me know!

And the verdict is....

surgery. I saw an orthopedic surgeon on Wednesday and his words of wisdom were..."it won't get any better, but probably won't get any worse either, but I don't think your pain will go away unless you have the surgery." So here I stand...on one good leg and one wobbly one. I have some other medical issues I have to deal with first, so I'll let you know what I decide...but it looks like we'll be dealing with surgery in the near future.

Thanks for all your prayers...keep them coming!!

Sometimes it's just unbearable....

The chronic pain of my "prepatellar bursitis" is just unbearable at times...I get so frustrated with my inability to do things...or the fact that it takes SO LONG to do something that used to only take me a few minutes...or the fact that when I do NORMAL things like washing dishes or doing laundry I am most certainly going to pay for it in my pain level later if not immediately. For those of you who have been in chronic pain for years...I feel for you...I have had chronic back problems that have limited my activities and caused pain on and off for years but it's nothing like what I'm dealing with right now. I have this constant chronic pain in my knee. It NEVER goes away, even with pain meds. It is constant. It definitely adds meaning to the "thorn in the flesh" that Paul dealt with. I can definitely understand his prayers to God to take it away. It complicates every area of my life. A split second of my life, one decision (to get on the quad), one false move that wasn't even my move, and my life has been altered so completely. Isn't life always like that. It's that one split second, that one seemingly insignificant decision, that can change our lives, sometimes forever.

Here's another one....

You Are 30% Left Brained, 70% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

This is so true!! I would draw, paint, take pictures and read for my whole life if I could and would be deliriously happy the whole time!!!

When there's nothing else to blog about....

Take a wierd online quiz. Anyone would have guessed this one about me....

You Are A Chocolate Ice Cream Girl

Dramatic. Powerful. Flirty.

What Flavor Ice Cream Girl Are You?

Quick update on the bum knee...I went to the knee specialist today, turns out he used to be an olympic diver and got to carry the torch part of the way to the Atlanta Olympics a few (?) years ago...pretty cool...but I digress, he sent me for an immediate MRI and I will know more in about 4 days. I start PT on Thursday.