Thank you note, past due...

If you were at church with me today you saw me very teary eyed. This always bothers my kids but when will they learn that it really doesn't take much. We had our annual high school senior recognition day and each year I think I will be fine, but as soon as they introduce all the seniors and mention where they will go to school, they then have the families come up and Gary (our Pastor) leads them all in a sweet prayer. That's when I cry. That's when I grab my little girl's hand and pray for time to slow down some, or when I do the math and realize my boy is only 7 years away from doing this, and I cry. I am not the only one though so I don't feel too silly.

Then the service begins and I think I am gonna pull it back together. The service we attend is considered "contemporary" meaning we have a band, not a choir. We sing a lot of contemporary worship songs over the traditional hymns. Not today. Today they put an old hymn in and well, it got me. We sang, "Victory in Jesus" today. I will put the words at the end for you. Well, there are two songs that I just love and that's Victory in Jesus and Blessed Assurance. The reason I love them is because when I hear them, I can hear my sweet grandfather singing them in church and humming them at home. WAY off tune, but still a sweet sound. So the tears just fell today as I thought of him and missed him.


I wish I could thank him for living his life in such a way that just screamed out love and grace.

I wish I could thank him for serving his God faithfully to the end.

I wish I could thank him for praying for me.

I wish I could thank him for sharing God with me.

I wish I could thank him for showing God to me.

One day I will be able to...


Yes that's me with my sad attempt at a Dorethy Hammel haircut. I thought looked super cute in that outfit. Hey! Maybe Joshua did get his skinny legs from me. What the heck happened!

http://my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis2/victry.html

Here are the words to the song, complete with music in the background. Sounds just like it did in that South Texas church!

Sounds

This is kinda silly, but what are some of your favorite sounds? They say the sense of smell is most attached to memory and I believe that. I brought two dressers with us when we moved to Atlanta, they were from my grandparents' house that I had spent many summers with, then they were in storage for awhile. I remember moving into our home and was ready unpack the kids clothes and opened the first drawer and was just undone because it smelled just like my grandparents house. A sweet fragrance and trip down memory lane.

but I digress, I was thinking about what my favorite sounds are. I think I was prompted by the sound of the rain starting when I was standing outside this morning.

Here are some others I thought of:

• Joshua and Jessica's true belly laugh
• the sound of the garage door going up: Chris is home!
• the sound of the waves crashing to shore
• that sound that ski's make going down the mountain
• the coffee pot
• rain
• my ring tone when Chris calls "I've always love you" by Third Day. sometimes I don't answer right away to let it play a little longer
• Chris snoring. really I do like that sound it's kinda comforting
• "Mom" "Mommy"
• the sound of feet hitting the pavement in a rhythm when i run. A slllloooowwwww rhythm
• "hey hon" only from Chris though...
• the sound of kids playing outside in the yard
• a horse galloping (not with me on it though)
• fernando ortega's voice
• Dave South's voice (He's the commentator for every Aggie sport)
• the crack of the bat
• the sound the ball makes hitting Caleb's glove when Joshua makes a strong solid pitch
• the little music that plays when you turn on Wii sports. I know I am gonna kick some computer tennis butt. (pathetic I know)
• school sounds. kids, teachers, cafeteria, playgrounds, lockers closing, etc.
• an acoustic guitar

Well I know there are more. I will add when I come across them, but I have been lazy enough this Saturday morning so I must go do something productive...

Dental Disaster

I deserve an award for the self-control I exhibited yesterday at the dentist office. Really I do!! I was so mad I had to just keep repeating in my mind "just leave, don't cuss, just leave don't cuss" over and over and over in my mind! It worked, I managed to get out of there and the police didn't have to be called!!

Here's what went down...this is from the letter that I sent the dentist office today:

After my appointment at your office yesterday I felt that you should be made aware of the lasting impression that was made by your staff. I think that it would be helpful if you could experience your practice from a patient’s point of view, since without patients you will not have a practice at all. So here is my experience with your office:

I arrived at 3:50 for my 4:00 appointment. I was not greeted when I entered the office because the person at the front desk was trying to figure out how to complete the payment for another patient. I even heard the patient have to ask for her $50 discount and then things had to be voided and re-entered. She was clearly unsure how to do this.

I was taken back around 4:05ish by your hygienist, and given a “tour” of your facilities. Honestly, I really didn’t care and looking back this was a time waster. The hygienist then proceeded to take my x-rays. This was long and painful process. I have had many dental x-rays in the past and this experience was by far the worst. She was EXTREMELY slow. It took half an hour to complete the x-rays. Then she and the assistant spent the next 20 plus minutes checking the pockets in my gums and attempting to enter it in the computer, which they did not know how to do.

Then she says she is going to get you to check me “so I wouldn’t have to wait for you” after the cleaning. She leaves and then has to come back and deal with the computer again in order for you to read my x-rays in another room. Seems to me this should have been done before she left. It’s now past 5:00 and I have been in the chair for over an hour and had nothing more done than x-rays and a gum check. Unacceptable if you ask me. After 5:00 you come in and spend approx 10 minutes talking to me about names, your house you are thinking of buying and flossing. Much like the tour, I really didn’t care about these things, and as I look back it was extremely self-centered of you not realize how long I had been there and not working to speed up the process for your patient. So you inform me that I need gum treatment on one area and that you will get your office manager to find out the cost etc.

So now it’s about 5:20ish. I wait longer and the office manager makes an attempt to come give me some pamphlet about an antibiotic so I would have “something to look at” while I waited. Then at approx 5:30 she comes in and attempts to have me reschedule for the gum treatment and a polish. I was incredulous to say the least. I was told that I could not have my teeth cleaned, because there wasn’t “time”. What did this mean? Did your staff need to go home? Was there another patient that had an appt and he/she was worth more money? Did they have a date they needed to get to? Dinner in the oven? Really? You can have me totally waste MY time, but THEIR precious schedule can’t be interrupted? Bottom line, I was punished for your incompetence.

It’s a proven fact that a happy customer tells approximately 3 people about their experience and an unhappy customer tells 10. I had no less than 5 people ask me to “tell them how it goes” because they too were looking for a dentist. I will definitely be telling them about my very poor experience.

Ugh! I don't think I have been that mad in a long time. Truly shocked. I hate going to the dentist and boy did this add fuel to that fire!!

Pudge and Nolan

The pics a little blurry, but all we had was an IPhone to capture the moment. Here is our version of Pudge Rodriguez and Nolan Ryan aka Caleb and Joshua. They have played ball together since 2006 and have become the best of buddies. I can't tell you how grateful I am for their friendship. They are both great kids! They bring out the best in each other. Caleb refers to Joshua as "his Nolan Ryan" which I think is too funny. They both had GREAT games the other night, Joshua on the mound and at shortstop, and Caleb behind the plate. Therefore, it was a double gameball giveaway. I don't think either one of them minded sharing the spotlight. It's so much fun to watch these boys work together, to see Caleb walk out to mound to "his" pitcher to calm him down or encourage him, or when Joshua is at shortstop and the two of them connect for a throw out at second base. It's a beautiful sight! As you can tell from my recent posts we are knee-deep in our baseball/softball season. I think I am beginning to have "bleacher butt" from all the practices and games. Love it though!!

30 minutes...

Today I just want 30 minutes to go for a run, it would end up being a walk because it's been so long since I ran, but I will not get 30 minutes today before the sun goes down. I will not get 30 minutes tomorrow morning either since bad guys are on loose in my area and my 4:45 am running has been put on "restriction" for a little while. I will not get 30 minutes tomorrow afternoon as I have to get dinner done early and then off to a baseball game. Don't hear me wrong I WANT to go the ball game. I am just wanting 30 minutes NOW! I always want what I can't have, then when I have the 30 minutes I will have lost all motivation. It's not alone time I want, I have that right now, kids are playing outside, hubs is at a meeting at work, it's 30 minutes of running I want...

I think my feet are itching...
Oh well my ipod isn't charged anyway

Maybe another day the stars will align and I will be motivated to run AND have a free 30 minutes. It doesn't seem like alot to ask does it?

We got ourselves a ball player!

Jessica had her first softball game last night. It was great. I thought I would share some pictures of her. Her cute factor was off the charts, I must admit. Even more importantly her skill factor was dang high too!!! Here are her game stats:
Offensively
Lead off hitter
1 single
1 double
2 runs scored

Defensively
starting first baseman
2 unassisted put outs

She had so much fun. I must admit I saw "the look" that I watch for anytime my kids are doing something. You gotta watch for it. It's the look that tells you they like what they are doing, they are "into" it. Joshua has it when he plays baseball and basketball, more baseball but I see it in basketball too, or shooting a gun or doing a math problem or finishing a good novel. It's not just a "I am so happy" face because believe me there is lots of frustration in all those things, and he will tell you he doesn't like school, but it's more a "willingness to concentrate" type face. With Jessica I have seen it on the basketball court, at the art easel, finishing a novel, and riding a horse and now I have seen it on the baseball field. I think it's important to watch your kids, see what they love and are willing to work for in the different areas of their life. If you watch for it you can help guide them to make decision about these things, and hopefully one day find passions, and pursue them! If you don't watch for it, you end up pushing your own agenda and they are doing things because you want them to, not because they do. Just look around at your kiddos next sporting event, you can spot that poor miserable kid out there because his parents made him. I just try to make sure it's not my kid!
The video clip is of her first score. She was walked in so thus the lack of "urgency" on her part!