Thoughts from me - a preacher's wife, farmer's daughter, mom, and nurse. Posts are mainly intended to help me journal the events of my life - topics will include kids, church, work, marriage, life in general,
and of course my dogs . . . and whatever else I feel compelled to write about.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Happy 16th Birthday Joel!

My baby turns 16 today! I think he is shocked too!
Happy Birthday, Joel! Love Mom

To see a little of what Joel has been up to the last several weeks,
check out his dad's blog here.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Days 3, 4, and 5 Week 2

Day 3 - No time to exercise before work - busy day at work then church. But being the good girl that I am, I came home and exercised before bed!

Day 4 - Up at 4:30 am to travel with Joel and the rest of the Bible Quiz Team 4 hours away to their Fine Arts Competition. Great day! The drive was nice, the company and conversation was great, and the competition went better than expected. Although our quiz team did not place, they made it farther than we had expected!

I was the designated chaperon for the group. Six kids, including Joel, were left with me at the hotel that afternoon. Thankfully, they are all great kids and I could trust them to be good while I retired to my room.

Again, being the good girl that I am, I brought my portable DVD player and Slim in Six DVD. It wasn't pretty, but Day 4 got done.

Brian, Megan, and Levi drove up to the hotel and got there around 10:00 pm - just in time to turn in for the night.

Day 5 - I did not manage to fit exercising in on Friday. But surely the amount of walking I did in chunky heels counts as exercise!

It was a great day of competition! I am so proud of Joel - he was involved in a lot and performed very well!

I am especially proud of him for competing in the string solo. He played Canon in D on the guitar. And while he was maybe a little under prepared and a little over nervous, he did a fine job. This will be one competition under his belt and it definitely prepared him for next year.

In addition to the string solo, Joel competed in a small vocal ensemble, large vocal ensemble, choir, choral group, and large instrumental ensemble. He also took two art projects - print making and color photography.

All performances went well, and our large instrumental ensemble gets to make the trip to National Competition at Bob Jones University! I wish I could say they get to go because they placed first, but they placed second to a school that chooses not to go to Nationals.

But now our instrumental ensemble has three weeks to work hard and become first place worthy!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Day 2 Week 2

It is getting easier!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Day 1 Week 2

I am off and running on my second week of exercising. I was supposed to exercise last week for six days straight (and lose 10 pounds). But day six fell on Sunday and being the literalist that I am, Sunday is a day of rest.

So by starting exercising this week on Monday, my six days will be done on Saturday. Maybe I will lose ten pounds this week!

Levi is car shopping this week. It is a little sad to see him be so practical. For years all he has talked about was either a big four-wheel drive truck or a Jeep with a 3-inch lift. But practicality has won out and he is looking for a fuel efficient car.

Parenting newly emerging adult children - maybe that will be a future post.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Day 5

Did it. That is all I have to say. . .

. . . about exercising that is.

We went to a wedding last night. I had never been to a Friday night wedding but I decided that Friday night weddings are great.

It was a beautiful Baptist wedding - simple and quick. Cover all the bases and then get out of Dodge!

Seriously, the wedding started at 7:30 pm and at 9:50 pm we were throwing rose petals at the bride and groom as they left for their honeymoon! Neat and tidy.

We went to Wendys after the reception and Brian mentioned to Megan to keep in mind when picking out a wedding dress how little time she will actually spend in it. Continuing on to say if you break the cost of the gown down per hour - that is one ridiculously overpriced expense.

To which Megan responded by fluttering her long eyelashes and saying, "Oh, Daddy."

I think Brian could feel the money drain from his wallet.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Just a little bragging . . . .

Sarah, Andrew, Kathryn
Mary, Lauren

I have to brag on my sister's kids a little. They went to their fine arts competition in Kentucky last night and cleaned house!

My 10 year old violin prodigy of a niece, Kathryn, won elementary string solo and was picked "best of show" and performed in the closing program - which was streamed live on the internet! Joel and I huddled around the computer at home, Megan watched on Adam's lap top at Adam's apartment, and Grandma and Grandpa watched from their house. How cool is that!

She had nerves of steel as she played her VERY impressive piece while her older sister, Lauren, accompanied her on the piano. I was busting with pride! Not that I have anything to do with their talent. LOL

Kathryn - Elementary string solo - 1st, Elementary Large Vocal Ensemble - 1st
Sarah - Jr. High pencil drawing - 1st, Jr. High sacred piano duet - 1st, Sr. High large vocal ensemble - 1st
Lauren - Sr. High small instrumental ensemble - 1st, Sr. High sacred piano solo - 3rd, Sr. High Large vocal ensemble (she was the accompanist) 1st

Way to go girls!

Day 4

Well I managed to get in another day of exercising. But if I am going to lose ten pounds in six days it is going to have to all fall off in the next two days!

Here's hoping!

My plan so far has been to exercise first thing every morning before I can talk myself out of it. A little bit like how I used to eat lima beans when I was little - eat them first and get them over with!

There is a slight chance of severe weather today. Yippee! I love storms - not tornadoes - just storms.

I think my love of storms and weather, in general, stems from being a farmer's daughter. When I was at home, it was my job to watch the weather and report it to Daddy. Not that Daddy didn't end up watching it himself - but farmer's tend to obsess over the weather. Farmer's daughters tend to obsess over the weather.

This is a habit that I have found impossible to break.

When Brian and I were first married, I would proudly announce the five-day forcast to him when he came home from work. To which he would usually sarcastically answer, "I was wondering if I would be able to get in the field today," or "Daggone it, I just cut hay!" Smarty pants.

I remember the first bad storm that came through when we were newlyweds. Before Brian got home from work I hurried around and filled every pitcher, bowl, and basin we owned with water. I filled the tub with water and had a bucket of water sitting beside the toilet.

I could hardly wait for Brian to walk in the door so I could show him what a good, industrious, and capable wife I was. When he finally got home, I proudly showed off my 100 gallon collection of fresh water. His puzzled look prompted my explanation of wanting to be prepared for when the power went out because of the storm.

After he stopped laughing, he proceeded to explain to me that we lived in town now (albeit a small town) and had city water - not well water. There was no need to hoard water because we didn't have to worry about the electricity to the pump being off.

Talk about feeling silly. But being the good husband that he was (and still is) he commended my preparedness and thanked me for the water because he was feeling a little thirsty anyway.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Day 3

Another day of exercising. I can't say I am enjoying it - but I am glad I did it when I am done!

I didn't weigh today but I have my attorney on speed dial!

Yesterday was SOOO beautiful!

I rushed home from seeing the doctor and getting Joel and washed three loads of clothes and hung them all out. I LOVE to hang clothes out on the line.

not my clothes line -
my was FULL of FedEx sweatshirts and T-shirts

I know, that is weird. But this is something that I always have loved. I think it is because I used to help mother hang out clothes when I was little. Sometimes after she had spent all day helping Daddy in the field, she would come home and do laundry and we would hang out clothes in the dark!

I thought hanging clothes out in the dark was just too cool - staying up past my bedtime and being outside in the dark to boot!

When we lived in Morgantown I had the BEST clothesline. Brian built it for me out of landscaping timbers and it was PERFECT!

I remember hanging clothes out there about this time of the year hoping I would go into labor with Joel. It didn't work.

Now I use Scooby's trot line as a make-shift clothes line. My dream is to have an umbrella type clothesline.

Some girls dream of diamonds - I dream of circular clotheslines.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Day 2

I exercised this morning BEFORE work even though I still feel like
. . . well let's just say I still feel REALLY bad.

It was MUCH harder today. But I am determined to keep with it.

Just a note - I have not lost one pound yet. Ten pounds in six days was the claim. I may have to consult my attorney!

I did finally go to the doctor where I got an antibiotic and a lecture on diabetes because I am a little (well maybe more than a little) past due for my A1C blood test. And the doctor wants to know why I wait so long to come see them. Ha!

I am formulating a post on what is wrong with health care today - from a nurse and patient perspective.

Believe me - a lot is wrong.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

No, really I am . . .

I am FINALLY (maybe) starting to get over this wicked bug. It helps that the sun has been shining the last two days.

It probably would have helped if I had gone to the doctor. But no good nurse goes to the doctor - we just treat ourselves. Right?

Anyway I feel well enough to say that I am actually going to start exercising TODAY!

No, really I am . . .
I know I have made those claims before, and I know I asked Brian for this DVD series over a year ago and I have yet to even watch it. But when I was home sick from church on Sunday, I saw the infomercial again and was yet again reminded why I asked for it. It really looks like it will work.

The infomercial said you can lose 10 pounds in your first 6 days! Surely they can't lie on TV. Right?

Here goes Day 1. Hopefully I will survive.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

State Basketball Tournament - Updated

Last night's game was amazing! I will post pictures as soon as possible.

Joel was on fire!

We had been praying all week for Joel to have a stellar game on Friday, and the Lord was kind. Joel scored 10 points and had a ton of rebounds and assists. Along with pictures I will try to post his official stats.

The final game is at 2:00 pm today. Prayers are appreciated!

*Update: Saturday's game was well fought and went into overtime - but was not ours to win. Joel played another great game as did all of the team. The last few minutes of overtime were played with three of our starters fouled out and on the bench. We'll get them next year!

I will post pictures and stats as soon as I can!