I am afraid to blog

Having a blog is a great responsiblity. It makes me afraid. I told someone when I first started blogging, that I just knew I would end up offending someone, that I would never have anything to blog about, because I am so cynical about things and people, and even tho this is my blog, I won't ever be able to really vent on it. AND I WAS RIGHT!!! Oh, I haven't offended anyone, at least not that you or anonymous has commented to me, but man, my familia sure has! And I am sure someone has gotten mad or aggravated at the very least at me. And, let me tell you, it sorta put me off blogging, in fear of being offensive. Even to those who maybe need called to the carpet. Which is sometimes me.

But, I find I miss it. Not everyday, but enough to try it again. And also cause I can say "Hi Daddy" in the middle of my blog and he will reply. Also, "Tell mom I love her." So, even tho most times i don't have anything worthy to say, or what i want to say is mean, I will not. Say it, I mean. I will blog.

My job is great. Just in case you were wondering...I think I have the hang of most of it...and it's fun. I am learning a lot, and that is fun too. And, Friday is denim day, so that is even better! :)

Last week was great. The missions conference was wonderful. Lisa and Gary, and everyone who helped you, You all did a great job. It was great to get to see all the missionaries, the tour guide idea was perfect. It was a great length, not too short, not too long. Always interesting. And Sunday was just great all around. Great music, great message, love the candlelighting... wonderful lunch guests, and what a pie auction, Pastor, you are a really good sport.

That is all for now. Not much of a blog, but at least you know i am still alive and kicking. Usually mark, but that is a whole different blog.

Big brother is over, when does survivor start?

Boogie won, yeah!!!!Ok, now what? I am feeling that let down feeling of no new reality (said with a smile) show to watch. When does the new survivor start?

I do not like Fall. It is cold, gets dark too early, and means winter is not far away. But one thing I do love is the anticipation of a new season of TV. Yes, i know I watch way too much TV, but with DVR, you watch so much faster!. I am anxiously awaiting LOST, Everybody hates Chris, and viewing new shows, deleting the ones that don't measure up. I love it, I love, it, I love it!

So last Sunday was the first "Sunday Family Dinner" and let me be the 1st to say, it was great! We had all of our family, at least all that could be there, and everyone had at least a good time I think!We have already planned the next one, Oct 22, and i am already excited! It was crowded, but it was great to be with everyone.

Favorite new snack...pistachios...roasted, salty in the shell. YUM

The funniest story evvvvvver.

I cannot believe I have not posted this story yet. It is a true story, told to me by my friend jenny's sister, Julie, and happened to julies friend. Got that?

Julie's friend lives in Savannah Georgia, which is about 5 hours away from Atlanta. Well, there is a new aquarium in Atlanta, which is like the largest in the states, maybe even the world. So the friends church decided to take the children in the church to this aquarium on a day trip.

The friend went to pick up her little boy after the bus got back, and noticed he was not being himself, very withdrawn, would not look her in the eye, and did not want to talk. So of course being a mom, she is frightened something awful happened to him.

She sits him down, and asks what is wrong, he says nothing, she says did you have fun, he says yeah, but still does not look at her or want to talk. She asks him "Did someone hurt you, did they touch you, say something mean to you, what is wrong?" But he just tells her he is okay, and he is gonna go watch TV.

So she goes to unpack his backpack from the trip. She picks it up, unzips it and finds:

A REAL LIVE BABY PENGUIN IS IN THE BOYS BACKPACK!!!!

Yep, her son stole a baby penguin from the aquarium!!! The mom got on the phone immediatley and the aquarium people sent a truck to pick it up and told her how to care for it. I have to tell you, i want to meet this boy and shake his hand. And i would not have called the aquarium, i would have been online looking up"How to care for your very own baby penguin"!

Needless to say, because of this boy or not, the penguins which used to roam among the visitors at the aquarium now are behind glass.

This is the best story ever. That boy is my hero.

Saturday off

Well, this is the first of many Saturdays where don't have to work. At Jb, you didn't have to work every saturday, but you always knew there was one coming up. Anyway, i had been excited about sleeping in on this momentous day, since my body is still not happy with the 6am revele. But as the Lord surely has a sense of humor, mark and I were up at 6:30,(that is NOT considered sleeping in, by the way.) to go to Branson to meet the family jeweler. Davidson's Jewelers, Larry to be exact made my engagement ring for Mark 17 years ago, and 2 weeks ago we had to take it back for repairs. It had split in two on the bottom, and a couple of prongs had worn away. So he fixed it, and Mark had him add a couple stones to it!!! It is so pretty and i am so glad Larry was willing to meet us early this morning so we could pick it up. He and his wife were heading out of town for the weekend, and weren't even open today! Anyway, the ring is so pretty, and i am so excited to be able to wear it again. Mark told me to not expect jewelry every saturday tho, ha ha.

Mark and i spent most of today together, just us. Sky had to work, and barrett stayed home. Even tho we just went to the mall so he could get his hair cut and to the grocery store, we had fun being just us. We did go to oceans zen for lunch...and with the aforementioned ring, it really has been a great day so far, and it is only 5:15!

My job is going well, I don't feel as lost as I felt tuesday, wed and thurs. I am sure i will continue to have questions, but lisa told me to quite stressing so much. And Annette told me I was walking around with a "deer in the headlights" look on my face...so i am trying to calm down. I went to put up some riders on some properties, and first one out, dropped a bolt, and then couldn't find it. I am sure i looked pretty funny trying to comb the grass looking for it! Then, i went to ozark and got lost looking for the correct road, which was not far off the highway, once i found it! But it was still fun, and i am excited about the things i am learning. Mark bought me a tool kit, and i feel pretty cool driving around with that, and, he is letting me use the TomTom if i need it!:)

Well, three day weekend, picnic after church...see ya there!

ps...isn't the new profile sign cute?

that is not a picture of my choosing

okay, the longhorns logo is not my choice, it is hillenjr's. And I do not know how to change it.
And, since my head is swimming with all the things i am learning at my new job (more on that later) i am not gonna deal with it right now. :)

Later is now. I started a new job yesterday. It has been 7 years since I really had to learn anything new in relation to an employment position. And A LOT is computer. And, i know some computer, but i am feeling kinda lost about now. Knowing however, that i will feel less lost as time goes by, and some day not even have to "think" about my next step. It has been nice however, my prayer life had not been what it should be, but in the last week i have really started to talk to the Lord way more, not just about my job, but about my family, friends, church, just getting closer to Him. I need to feel like i can just share everything with Him, and we are so close he will know just what i am talking about. (I know he is all knowing, but you know what i mean)

My new job is at AR Wilson Realtors. I am still part time, but Saturdays off, and will usually be finished by 2 in the afternoon on weekdays. I am excited, but as I mentioned before, so much(everything) is new and i am feeling pretty old. Luckily, i know everyone, and everyone is very nice and they don't seem to mind my endless questions. Thanks Bryan!

I will of course miss jellybeans immensly(sp). It is a great place to work, and i don't think it has really hit me i don't anymore, since i only worked a couple days a week there. It amazes me that i spent 7 years there, and at the same time seems like only yesterday that all of us were in NYC and talking about my new job.

School started monday, and i realized sunday night, that despite all my blogging about my alone time, it will not be as available now, but i think i am okay with that. Having to learn new things has also made me appreciate my kids and their homework more, and i will still have some time alone, just not all day. So i will try not to whine.

Last thing for now: My brother-in-law, Perry, brought me a really cool tray from the Phillipines.It is so pretty, but i could not decide what to put in it. It really needs a coffee table to sit on, or breakfast served on it to someone in bed. But instead, for now, i have a giant disney coloring book and 3 packages of crayons sitting in it in our living room. Anyone wanna color?

Singing in the Brain

This is the title of a book mark saw while in a barnes&noble in KC. he suggested i use it as my blogs title, should i ever start a new one. Well, since i barely keep up with this one, i just changed its title. Likie, no likie?

Some schools started today. Please do not take this the wrong way, but i cannot wait until ours does. I love my kids and i love summer, but i am so ready for a few hours by myself. And as any mom/wife who works even part time outside her home knows, work does not count as by yourself.

I love, love, love being by myself. I am a terrible friend because of that, i know. I do not enjoy chatting on the phone, at least not for a long time. And i don't mind spending time alone. My family does not always understand that, i know. Neither do some friends. But i have at least one that does, she will remain nameless since i have not asked permission to use her as an example. But i know it is true because we were just talking about this last week. :)

On the trip to kc, of course there was no alone time. The trip was fine, between sky and b argueing, and mark and b argueing, i am sure a great time lurked somewhere. Not that i was the perfect wife and mother on the trip, so changes could have been made all around. Let's just say, i am in no hurry for any more road trips any time soon.

Mark did buy me an amazingly cool ring while we were on this trip. It is stainless steel with a perdoit(?) stone. the stone is held in place by pressure from the sides of the ring. It is so cool and the stone is green which i love. And, soon we will take my engagement ring to the davidsons jewelry in branson, so they can fix it. I cannot wait to be able to wear it again, i have really missed it.

Time for the ortho for b, so i will stop for now. Maybe more after we get back.

stealing from sky

so, i have decided to steal skywritings idea of just blogging about my week. Surely she won't mind, imitation is the best form of flattery, you know.

Sunday, end of fair, see previous blog.

Monday, worked. Jenny is back from vacation, and we were busy all day. Zutano in, not all on shelf yet, which really bothers me, but we were so, so busy. Customers come first, even when you don't want them too!:) Barrett and mark went to b's ballgame while i went grocery shopping. left home at 7:30 or so, got back after 10. And, just so you know, walmart does not sell brick chili anymore, major let down for us since it is a main ingredient in cream tacos. WHich we eat all the time.

Tuesday, as sky mentioned my sisters kids were here. They slay me every time we are with them. We all went to walmart again to buy an air mattress, because hayley was comin over, that's why! ANd that poor girl either sleeps in the chair or someone ends up on the hardwood floor, and that could not continue. So we bought an air mattress that can be two twins, a twin with two layers, or a king size. and it wraps up in to its own pouch. ANd a battery operated air pump. So so fun!

Wednesday, more work, just me and jenny. Busy again, not as much as monday. But busy enough that the Zutano is still not finished. then on to the Talburts, for hillenburg tacos. We love making them for people, just not the way the house smells the next day. So it was great to get to make them for hometeams. And Jenny talburt made that great cake she makes. It is amazingly good. Rich and refreshing at the same time. Then when we left, chris and jenny gave everyone a 24 pack of new crayons!!! I am up to three right now, and it is so exciting.

Thursday, no work, just hanging out at home with barrett and a little shopping last night as sky mentioned. By the way i had to take the shelves back, no hardware to be found in the box. But i also got the okay to purchase some this weekend if i find them, because that Zutano is not finished yet. I guess it is a good problem to have, so much business you can't get to it. But considering it sells almost as fast as we can put it out, we need it on the floor. ANyway...

Here it is , Friday. Off again today, so slept in really late. We have got to start school schedule next week, ha ha. Went and got checks from our fair jobs, took the shelves back to Target, and now i am headed to automagic to clean the van before the big trip to KC(yes sky i am excited)
Tonight is a wedding rehearsal, and then tomorrow, putting in the baseboards and singing in said wedding at 3:00, then off to the north.

We will not be in church again on sunday, but i am looking forward to getting to be in big church next week, i have heard only great things about "new" dan, and cannot wait to hear pastor. Not to mention spending time in the High Octane class for a visit.

WEll, that is my week at a glance, see ya next week.

the fair is over, hallelujah

As per my daughters orders, mom either blog or withdraw yourself.
So, here goes.
The fair is over, hallelujah.
Can't wait to do it again next year, although i would enjoy a back stage pass next time. If i like the talent coming in.
Burch and Lotz are a joy to work for.
Men don't like pink armbands, even when you tell them it really sets off their eyes.
Truck and tractor pulls are very very very loud, you should never give away your earplugs.
Also, you should not take babies to truck and tractor pulls.
Some men have an exceeding amount of hair on their arms. and really big wrists.
It is a scary thing to think you are gonna have to put two armbands together in order to fit around a womans wrist. it is scarier than man arm hair.
Corn dogs are better when they are hand dipped. and that lemonade was the best i have ever had.
Lawn mower races are not childs play. Or fun.
Three Dog Night may be old, but they still got the pipes.
"Austin" is still a great song.
It would be cooler if we had the fair in the fall.
Being a girl, i have never gotten to be an usher. it is harder than it looks.:)
I love, love love the slaw dogs. Although not as much as Blake Shelton.
Evidently it takes liquor to make a country singer an entertainer.
I saw 2 people I graduated high school with today, haven't seen one in at least 15 years, and almost that long for the other. Cool beans!
Seeing a calf being born was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Even cooler cause they had to pull it out. That is hard work, and kudos to the young men and women at the birthing center who let us all watch, even when it is aggitating the mother cow.
and the best thing about the fair, at least one of them, was getting to hang out with friends, both old and new.
And trying to spot my husband from the grandstand and smiling great big when i found him, even tho he couldn't see.

catching up

Many days have passed since my last blog. Sometimes i wish i had not started...it was much easier to just read the other blogs, and not have the pressure of writing one. But here goes...

I found a penguin calendar yesterday...of course i bought it. It goes from August until december of next year, which is great, but the august thru november calendars are all on one page, which makes for very small writing areas. But still, the penguins make it worth it. if you have not seen the movie "March of the Penguins" i would either borrow it from me, or go to the showing of it at Founders park on August 11. It is a wonderful little movie.

So, i actually wore a swim suit and played volleyball at the jeppsens house. Who knew what fun i had been missing? A very brave bat made many appearances as well, and it was one of the scariest and coolest things i have ever seen. by the way, matt, i thought i knew how to store pictures on my camera, but i actually did not, so no worries about the picture of you in the glasses. I can't tell you how disappointed i am about that.

the lake last weekend was, as we fully anticipated, wonderful fun. The stop at Walmart supercenter in branson west was great, and the tubing was so fun (I watched of course, no tubing for me) and the weather was great. The evening spent with friends and family was a great ending to the day, and Charlotte's corn is the best thing ever. And lisa, morgan and steve made some amazing smoothies, I have been thinking about them ever since.

Only one more sunday in the monkey class for me, and then i rejoin big church. I am at the same time sad and excited. I am visiting the varsity and jv classes for SS for the 1st few weeks, then i will have to decide about a class...but it will be nice to see what my kids are up to. I must say I am very thankful to the teachers in the jv and varsity areas, my kids love church, and you are a big reason why. I am looking forward to getting re-aquainted with the classes. The sad part is of course, leaving the kids in my class. I love the ages i have, they still think you are smart and usually funny. And most of them are excited to see you outside of the classroom, although some seem confused to find out that I don't live in the monkey room, and actually go other places.

the fair starts in 2 days. I am working evenings, and i hear nick burns is my boss. That is fine and dandy, but i am still a little afraid to tell someone they have to move out of the aisle, and cannot stand on the bleachers(if indeed that is true). also, because of vacation time taken by employees of jellybeans, i am working alot of days there, and will get to the fair later than most of the other workers. Mostly I am doing this so i can see my husband during the 10 days of the fair. He will be there from 8 am til midnight every night. I am hoping to not have to be there until midnight, as i am not a good night person, but perhaps hangin' with some who are night owls will rub off on me. Probably not. i will try to be in a good mood!

Skyler goes to camp next week, i will miss her sorely, but she will be having a blast. I cannot believe she is a junior.

well, that about sums it up for now. Oh, by the way, the kitchen is back to the way i changed it yesterday, we will see how it works. That is all I am gonna say about that.

baseball

tonight is the second night in a row I have been to a springfield cardinals game. And i want you all to know, i did not even take a book!! I did take a people magazine both nights ( the same issue, which happens to be my last of 4 free issues, and i have already written CANCEL on my invoice, thank you very much) but I did not even read it at all, i kept it in my purse last night, and only used it as a fan tonight. I actually watched the whole game, 1st to 9th innings, and enjoyed myself very much! Both nights, did you hear me, both nights! I know you are all as excited as I am!

then, after the game tonight, we went to acambaro, where we spent some time getting to know Lindsey, our waitress, better. She is pre med. Very nice, and we also asked her how late is too late to come in. she of course, did not want to answer, but my family will not go in later than 9:30, if they are closing at 10. Just to be nice.Cause i used to be a waitress eons ago, and it always made me mad when people came in 10 minutes before closing time. and tonight, if we took out the time that we spent visiting with lindsey and talking to some people mark used to go to church with, we were probalbly done in 20 minutes. so 9:30 would put us out at 9:50, and that is just fine. AND, we ate for $10.58 before tip. that is w/o skyler, but still, it is the cheapest place for our family to eat in this town!! I love that place!

10th inning is over, all except for the party and the swimming, for another summer. This is barretts last year, he is officially too old for it. Doesn't seem possible. of course, he has park board baseball, and football coming up really soon, so he'll keep busy!

Well, i am sleepy, and church is tomorrow, so see ya.:)

the library

we just got back from the library. by we, i mean me, sky, barrett, elijah, anna and sophie. All of us. At the same time. We went to the library station, which is my favorite location. And, the kids love it too. They play in the train, anna and eli go right on in, sophie has to be convinced that it is not really gonna leave the station first, but after that, she is fine. Sophie played for a while, and then went to find a book. she came back with Peter Rabbit. she sat and looked at the pictures, and then told me she needed to find one for anna. Very soon, she came back with a second copy for anna. Which means at the tender age of almost 4, she remembered where she had gotten the first copy. My heart was very glad, because I think she is perhaps a natural born reader. The funniest part is she said "anna will love this." and ran off to give it to her. Anna said thank you sophie, and promptly laid it on the bench inside the train,and kept on playing. However, i did notice that she had it when we went to check out, so maybe she will be a reader too.
we, really skyler, found the junie b jones section, which she then read out loud on the way home.Cause that girl is our favorite, that's why. My favorite lines so far from Junie b jones smells something fishy are: Where's the justice in that, Helen? and You did the best you could, old man. Somehow being an obnoxious, bratty, smart alec kid seems okay when its junie b.
We could read her all day.
I also finally got the brochure to join the best sellers club. I think they automatically put on the hold list for the authors you pick when a new book is available. Maybe now i will be the 700th hold on the 1st book returned instead of the 770th. Small pleasures, people, small pleasures.
So, have you been to the libray lately? What is your favorite location? Just wondering.

I'm baaaack...

Remember poltergeist? That was one scary movie...and alot of people who made that movie died in mysterious ways...oooh, scary. Also, this is not my topic just the lead in nonsense, but Pet Semetary is one of two books i could not finish because it is so scary. Couldn't finish the movie either. The other book is Bram Stoker's Dracula. It was written in the 1800's and still managed to scare me so bad i had to sleep with the lights on for days. And i still couldn't finish it.

Anyway, boys and girls, todays topic is ...NEW CRAYONS!!!

I love everything about them! The smell, the look of new wrappers around sharp, brand new colors, big ones, small ones, the 8 pack or the 120 pack in its very own school box...oh, it is so wonderous.

I loved getting new crayons for school, and i know there were times when i could have just used the box from the year before...but i always loved new crayons, and my parents always let me get new. Not always the big box i wanted, and i clearly remember cynthia ash getting the biggest box available back then, the one with the sharpner in the back. but somehow i survived with the 48 pack, and have lived to tell you all how much i still love the crayon, so i guess all is well that ends well and all that.
Any one who has been to my house knows that i do not live to do housework, and really don't like i should, so you may find it suprising how much messy crayons bother me. I may not mind having laundry in basket, or a few dishes in the sink, but i cannot stand a messy box of crayons.
I hate it when you have no choice but to peel the paper back so you can keep coloring, it totally ruins the look of the crayon, and if it breaks in two or something tragic like that, well, forget it.
Just go out and buy a new box, cause the whole effect is now ikky.
Honestly, the kids from the monkey class last year quickly learned to be nice with the crayons, cause miss cindy and miss mindy won't let you color if your not! Okay, okay, it wasn't that bad, but seriously, we both groaned out loud when one got broken, or the paper torn off! Currently, i do not have any crayons of my own, and really not so much time to color, but i think i will ask for crayons and a coloring book for my stocking for christmas this year!

Oh, and not rose brand crayons, or any off brand please...spend the extra and get the 120 count in its very own crayola school box from Crayola Brand Crayons. I promise it is worth the expense!

Something to think about...if someone were really thinking of a tattoo, and it would have to be a penguin, very simple, where should one get it? No yukky comments please. I am not saying that it is imminent or anything, just asking...

okay, long post. Was gonna say more but there's always tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day. The sun will come out tomorrow. Will you still love me tomorrow?...somebody stop me!

No reason...:)

Just one of the reasons i love bluegrass music, and am so sad about the dixie chicks yukky attitude.

You can't afford no ring
You can't afford no ring
I shouldn't be wearin white,
And you can't afford no ring

You finally took my hand
You finally took my hand
It took a nip o gin
But you finally took my hand

You can't afford no ring
You can't afford no ring
I shouldn't be wearin white
And you can't afford no ring

Mama don't approve
Mama don't approve
Daddy says he's the best in town
But Mama don't approve

You can't afford no ring
You can't afford no ring
I shouldn't be wearin white
And you can't afford no ring

Baby's on its way
Baby's on its way
Say I do and kiss me quick
Cause baby's on its way

I shouldn't be wearin white,
And you can't afford no ring

no title

So, this will be my last blog for at least 10 days, as tomorrow night I begin living at the fireworks stand. Jellybeans until 6, then over to the obviously "arresting" fireworks stand, and the rest of the days spent morning until late from then on. But at least i don't have to sleep there, and hopefully it will be so busy the time will fly.

Not much else happening in my life right now, so i really don't have much to say. Lisa, hope you are feeling better, and Gary, let us know what the dr. says tomorrow....the video was viscious.
You BOUNCED!

i need to get caught up on my dvr shows...does anyone else watch "the 4400"? I just found it and i love it...i might have mentioned that before...but i really do. Also, House reruns are on USA, and i have started watching that too. That guy is hilarious, and the med stuff is cool, too.
and Windfall, which i am an episode behind in.

I am getting caught up on my bible study this week, so i will be on track when we resume class...it is always good to be caught up!!! I really like this study, so hopefully i will keep up with it...

Well, I know this is boring, and that is sad since it is gonna be a while...maybe next week, i will have stories about scary people who buy fireworks from us...

talk at ya then...

as time goes by

Last night, my good friend lisa called...we chatted about morg's game, how jet lag had finally hit them, just normal stuff...

it made me hark back to the days when i babysat morgan and ashley, and saw lisa almost everyday. That of course led me back to the days of living in the trailer, babysitting 8 kids at one time, not including my own, with the oldest being skyler, who was 5 at the time. Yes, i was a lot younger then!!

Today, i have done 4 loads of laundry so far, and so, feeling the need to reward myself, i went with book in hand to lay in the hammock. Unbelievably, the character in the book is feeling guilty about the unfolded laundry that her cleaning lady will have to fold and put away, and since i do not have a cleaning lady, i felt guilty about the 3 loads of unfolded laundry in the living room on the couch. So i went back in and folded the laundry with skyler helping. She is such a good girl.

Why is it that i don't seem to mind sorting the yucky dirty laundry, getting it to the washer, then dryer, and into a basket, or at least to the couch, but I hate folding clean, sweet smelling, warm clothes??? This makes no sense. Is it knowing that no matter how much I fold and put away, there is always another load to do? Is it knowing that there really is no end in sight for the wife and/or mother when dealing with laundry? Or am i just lazy? Hey, that might be it!!

Barrett mowed yesterday, do you not just love the scent of a freshly mowed lawn? It looks so good, and i am sure it gives him such a sense of accomplishment, ha ha.

Well, we are off to find tennis shoes for Skyler, keds preferably, so gotta go. I would love to say i will blog more tomorrow, but don't wanna get your hopes up.:)

just stuff

So, i finished, mostly anyway, the cd that admin and i have been working on for some time now. At least i am finished with my part, now the magic begins at the hands of the producer. We are maybe still gonna do one more song, but we are having trouble being able to download it. I say that as if I have been working on it so fiercely, when in reality ryan is the one doing the hard work. I will be glad to have a cd in hand, and I won't have to feel guilty about taking up his time more and more.

Okay, so at admins house, he lives with that BEAUTIFUL missy wade, adorable millie and precious roscoe. Just let me tell you, we love that family. And tonight, millie and i actually had conversation! Not just me trying to get her to like me and talk to me, but her initiating conversation, showing me her leg and foot where she used the markers to color herself, and calling me "miss cindy" and coming downstairs to see where we were recording and telling me that AJ was trying to eat my bag. I am so excited!

today, the manager at Qdoba dropped off a couple bags of chips, some cheese sauce, salsa and guacamole. Then she said if we go next door and say we work at Jellybeans, we get 20% off of our order, and if we buy a large drink, we can get free refills anytime we want! Like if i buy a drink today, i can go back on saturday and get a free refill! Actually i already knew about the drink, and we go everyday for the refills, but the 20% off came as a delightful surprise. So, when my stomach finally growled tonight, i had some chips and stuff, folded laundry from last week, and then went and swung on the hammock for a little while, until the mesquitos drove me back inside.

Now i am blogging. Nothing exciting, just my night. I remember when i was a kid and being so bored because we had nothing to do, no plans, just at home. I would love to just have nothing to do some evening. Not that we never do, they just seem so seldome anymore. And the next 15 days will be round the clock with the fireworks stand, then before you know it, the fair, and then school will be starting again!!! Yikes!

Sorry, that sounded like complaining, and i don't mean it like that. I just miss the old days sometimes. Hey, my mom is home, she went home yesterday, and seems to be doing great, right daddy? She seems to have breezed right thru the hip replacement, and now the rehab,, which will take a while. But she has been a real trooper.

So, that is all for tonight, i am making a list of things to blog about, so that maybe it will not be so long between posts. See ya on the flip side.

the american dream....

I am at home right now with barrett, mark is at a dinner with gary k, and skyler is at work, she should be home soon. If i sit here long enough, i will begin to cry over how the LORD has blessed me and my family. We have a great friend who is in our circle of care :) who is fond of saying we are living the american dream. Well, sometimes it is not such a dream, but believe me, it is blessing after blessing, even as laura said tonight in bible study, if the blessings are running parallel to the "unanswered".

Let me get all sentimental here for a moment...you can stop right now if you don't like mushy.
17 years ago this month, mark and I found out we were expecting Skyler. Quite a surprise, that girl, although really not so much. As mary lou said..."you gotta pay the piper if you wanna dance." Anyway, we were so scared and so unsure of what the future held, but because of amazing family, friends (Thanks randy and tammi) and a pastor who told us not what we wanted to hear, but needed to, we knew that God only wanted his best for us. And we were willing to do whatever it took to give him our best too. So on July 29, we will celebrate 17 years of being not just married, but getting to live our lives with the one God chose for us.
Flash forward a few years and we have Barrett, who is so much like his daddy, it is scary and funny at the same time!! Go forward many more years, and here we are...far from perfect, but man, God has not let us down once. Skyler, who is now working, driving, a junior in high school, but still calls to tell me she is leaving to come home, and tomorrow, since we are both off, do I wanna hang out? ( My mom has hip replacement surgery tom. so i will hanging out at St. Johns tho). Barrett, who is now taller than me, a 7th grader, and could most likely deck me if he wanted, instead comes in and kisses my cheek and says he loves me as he passes thru the kitchen. And my husband, who knows all my bad habits and insecurities, and who knows better than anyone that i could stand to loose some poundage, ( he would never tell me that, tho) still wants to snuggle in the chair and 1/2, that somehow has mananged to shrink since we bought it a few years ago! That man is my dream come true, and i cannot believe most of the time he chose me. Our families have changed, some have gone on to heaven, everyone is older, our friends have been added to, some have moved away, and we still love that pastor rogers, and love our pastor eddie so much. Our church has changed too, and great changes are in store. But the one thing that hasn't is that God still is pouring out his best for us.

I started to put sorry this is so long, but i am not really. This blog will allow me to occassionally share my heart, not just my mindless pursuits and gibberish. I AM living the american dream, thanks to my friend for the needed reminder.

blog? Who has time to blog?

it is saturday night, at 10:35 pm. I am so tired i can hardly stand it. But as I am finding out, blogging waits for no one. I was told by a very experienced blogger that if i would limit myself to everyother day blogging, i would not feel as if i never left the computer. I seem to have taken that advice and added a couple days to it. I was so afraid that i would not be able to stop once i started, but it seems i am having trouble getting started at all!!

My days have been filled with working extra since Nancy is out of town, and doing laundry, laundry and more laundry. Haircuts and band-aids and neosporin rounded out the week, with work again today. So I know this one is boring, and full of needless info, but thats it. i have been too tired or busy to blog. And, I cannot tell you whether it is bothering me that i haven't blogged or not. On one hand, i love the comments, or just feeling a part of the blogging family. On the other hand, i feel pressure to be "on" with the blogs. I mean, look at the other hillens: Hillen who is a pro with the camera, hillenjr who also takes some great pictures, and the one with the definite gift of prose, Skywriting. Pressure Pressure pressure.

So friends you will have to bear with me. I am still new at this, and trying to get the hang of it.
At some point i am sure this will become second nature, and i will find mucho entertaining things to talk about. Until then, i am gonna go sleep, go to church am, and then try to finish the laundry i started on wednesday. No, i am not kidding! Wednesday!

oh, by the way, I have all new children in my monkey class at church. All my kids moved up to Miss Sharon last Sunday, and the new monkeys moved in. I must say, they are a great barrel full so far, and although i miss my other kids something awful, i am positive we have a great year ahead of us! See you all at church!

okay, i'll blog already!

So, i found out today that i am not alone. I am an admitted pen kleptomaniac, but i am not alone. At Bible study i discovered at least two others like me. We love pens...fine point, any color, no glop pens. And we sometimes borrow them permenantly. Now, I do not steal from stores, or people not related to me, but i love hillens pens, and sometimes sky or barrett will get a great pen. And sorry, but if you lay it down and forget about it, it wants to belong to me. And it should. I will love it and use it all the time.

I also like different pens for different things. Like for Bible study, i love to use a green pen.(although for this one i am using purple, it is all i had, so i need to stay consistent in color)
Maybe because green makes me think of growing, and i so hope to grow through each of these studies. Or maybe because i just love the color green. For anything!

Fine point is the best. Extra fine point is amazing, but sometimes too scratchy. The worst is medium point, it glops all over the place, and you get it all over your hands. And then if you touch your face before the ink is dry, well, you end up with ink on your face. that stinks.

At one time, and i hope to bring this time back really soon, i was the PEN LADY for the demers and jeppsen girls when our families would go out to eat together at the best restaurant in the city, Acambaro. I loved being the one who had the best pens with the most color choices...it somehow completes me. Also, just so you know, i like to be the aunt with gum, just like monica on friends. Anyway, lately, i have been sorely lacking in the pen department. I cannot figure out how i lose pens. Honestly, my family does not get into my purse for them, and the girls were always faithful to return my pens when it was time to go home. but still, i seem to have lost the best pens. So, soon, i will replenish with even better and more fine point, no glop lots o color pens.

Okay, this is getting long, and so i will stop for today. But rest assured, soon i will blog about my love of new crayons...

no title

for commenting purposes only...