Still in denial

Well, in just few weeks I will be embarking on a new season of life. After being a stay at home mom for 10 years I am going back to teaching. I am sure that I will have much more to blog about that in the future, but for now I get to remain in denial that summer is coming to a close because Friday we leave for our 3rd and final trip of the summer. The four of us are heading to Horn Creek (www.horncreek.org) for a week of family fun in the mountains. We have never been before but have heard so many great things about it from several friends. We have been truly spoiled this summer with all the fun things to do, that I am anticipating a huge case of PVD to set in when we return. PVD, well that stands for Post Vacation Depression. I usually have a strong case of it after our S. Padre trip but this year I have been able to keep it at bay since I know we have one more trip. There is no known cure for PVD (except more trips of course).

For those that are wondering how the training for the half marathon is going (see post below)here is the update:

Well, I pressed "print" on my computer and printed out the training schedule and walked down the stairs, circled the final "Half" and wrote Dec. 9th on the paper, stuck it up on the fridge. I was tired after that and had to go lay down. Whew!

WHAT have I done???

With just a few clicks of my mouse and a few strokes on my keyboard I just agreed to do one of the most insane things I have EVER done. Completing this task is going to take every ounce of energy and "stick to itness" that I can muster. I just signed up for the white rock HALF marathon. YIKES. I will be the first to admit that I am no where near able to actually run 13.1 miles. In fact the thought of going that far makes me laugh out loud and my feet hurt!! I have alot of ground to cover (literally) in the next 4 months to accomplish this task and guess what my blogging friends, you get to go on this journey with me. See, sometimes I can be a quitter at stuff. I know that's not good, but it's true. When I am running sometimes I keep going JUST because I think "ok if you finish this run today then you can email/call (insert sister or sister in law or hubby's name) and they will be so proud of you. Isn't that silly that it takes that extrinsic motivation to make me keep going. Once I start training, which probably should have been yesterday, I will keep you posted on my progress. I am gonna need some good cheerleaders! I am going to follow this training plan if you want to see the insanity of it all.

Oh boy! What have I done???

Until next year...

Tonight is our last night in S. Padre. I am sitting in our condo and I just got my two tired beach bums to bed and thought I might blog tonight instead of tomorrow since I know I will be up to my eyeballs in laundry tomorrow night after our long drive home. I am pretty sure we are transporting a few pounds of sand back with us. It's been such a fun week for us down here. There were about 30 of us down here, 12 of which were kids, so you can imagine the fun Joshua and Jessica had. We had a few spots of rain here and there but nothing to stop the fun and it certainly helped keep the normally stifling heat to a minimum. I always feel a little sad on this night, while I am ready to go home, sleep in my bed, etc, I still love being down here. I love the beach, watching the waves and just playing with my kids, but I think it's also something more. I love watching my children build strong memories with members of their extended family young and old. I love being able to lay on the beach with my sister and laugh and chat. I love being able to see my grandmother every day. I love watching a sea of eight great grandchildren running up from the beach each night to show their great grandmother all the sand crabs they caught. I love watching Jessica and her cousin hang together like sisters and Joshua boogie board in the waves for hours on end. I love being able to be with my parents each day and having them spoil my kids rotten. If I could get all this, I could care less where I was, the beach part is just the icing on the cake. So it's back to reality tomorrow (sorta it IS still summer, you know) but I sure gotta full love tank after this week!

Busy, Busy, Busy and loving it!!!

Hope all is well in blogger world. I am signing off for just a little while. We are headed to S. Padre Island tomorrow and probably won't be blogging, but you never know.
I feel busy these days, but this is the kind of busy I like. Friends visiting this last week (see below) and then Jessica and I took off on Friday for our church's "mini camp" it's just for kids that have finished 1st and 2nd grade. We had a great time. It was her first taste of church camp and she loved it. It's right up her alley, swim, play, eat, set up your bunk (she loved that!!) and all the other great things that go with church camp. It was so much fun to watch her having fun, making new friends, doing the cha cha song. She has no idea how many more years of camp fun she has ahead of her. I love that, as we walked back to our car after getting off the bus, she grabbed my hand and said, "Thanks mom for going to mini camp with me." I told her there was no where else I would have rather been.

Now I am off to get things washed and packed up again for the beach. I can't wait to dig my lime green piggies in that sand!! (again see post below)

Today was so much FUN!!!

When we lived in Atlanta we were really close friends with The Holmes family. Chris and Russ were on staff together and Cathy and I hit it off right away. Their daughter Sarah is the same age as Joshua and their son Tyler is the same age as Jessica. Perfect! We played, hung out, swapped kids for date nights, met at McDonalds, went camping, ate dinner every Wednesday night together for 3 years! As you can imagine of all the things in Georgia I miss, the Holmes are BIG on that list.

Well we are now in Texas and the Holmes are now in Alabama, but thankfully they make the trip to Dallas every summer to see family. They are always sweet enough to work us in. Today was the day! It's been on every calendar in our house for months. It had been a year since we had seen them. I LOVE how these four kids pick up like they had never been apart. I got choked up watching all four sitting along the poolside today. I can almost see them 3 years younger. They are all taller, a bit more mature but still have a blast together. Cathy and I just spent the last 6 hours talking like two high school girls. FUN!!! They just left and nobody wanted them to go. I will hear a few "I miss Sarah and Tyler" comments for a little while. These types of friendships, that stand the test of time and miles, are rare and I am grateful to have this one.

Oh and I love that my friend likes to paint her toes crazy colors too! Look at the picture! On a side note, Joshua has nicknamed me "throw up toes" when he saw this color. He says that is my name until I change back to a normal color of polish. Well little does he know that tomorrow when he wakes up his little piggies will have been painted the same shade as mine!! Ha Ha (input sinister mommy laugh)

Potpourri

Well after asking you sweet, kind commenters what I should write about I figured I better respond before you get irritated with me. So this will be a sorta "potpourri" of an entry. It may take a little while for me to get it all down because I am about to enjoy the home run derby on TV with my boy.

Simri's comment:
Sim felt like I should comment on how to keep a "balance" in your life. Honestly I don't think I do this nearly as well as she thinks I do. You need to come over more often!! Bottom line, I think it's about perspective and deciding what's a big deal or a little deal! I probably come across as you say "irreverent" because legalistic, uptight people hack me off and make me uncomfortable. I would rather have a big ole scoop of grace any day of the week. (I guess I need more grace for the legalistic, uptight people huh?)
That's a hard one to blog about, it would be better as a conversation.

Natalie's comment:
Natalie felt like I should comment on funny parent moments or embarrassing moments. I have been trying to remember specific ones to comment on. Both my kids keep me laughing on a regular basis so it's hard to pinpoint. I gotta keep thinking on this. Sorry!!

For your request for a favorite dessert: I love ANY dessert, but with summer I sure like strawberry shortcake. The recipe on the back of the Bisquick box is always a big hit when I make it.

Karen's comment:
Karen suggested I write about life, summer, vacation, or ministry. Well summer feels like it is finally kicking in high gear this week. The sun is shining and we have stuff to do. Next week we leave for our next vacation in S. Padre Island. I can't wait!! I am working hard at laying around doing nothing this week so I will be in top form for it next week. Practice makes perfect. (Simri, please make sure Shawn is aware of that sentence.) Ministry: hhhhmmmmm so much to say. I will just say I love that my husband is in ministry at The Heights. It's such a great and healthy place. I love that my husband and those he works with understand that I am NOT on staff, that ministry takes on all sorts of forms and doesn't have to occur within the walls of the church to count. I am grateful that I learned early on that no church is perfect because it's made up of people and people aren't perfect. My faith in God does not ebb and flow with the highs and lows that sometimes happen inside the walls.

Angie's comment:
Marriage. How do I comment on that one? I have a sweet marriage because I have a sweet unselfish man and that goes a LONG way!! I think we often fool ourselves and think it should come naturally or easy. It doesn't, bottom line: it's work but work worth doing. If you haven't read "Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas I highly recommend it. I have a good upcoming "quote of the week" that deals with marriage, so be on the look out. How's that for a teaser!!

Thanks for the comments friends! Much appreciated!!

Quote of the Week

Yes, it's time for the that very interesting, exciting, edge of your seat "Quote of the Week"

"Love is the sacrifice of self"

I really like this definition of love because it's so simple straightforward and SOOOO true.

I think about this quote often:

• like when I hear new moms-to-be talk about what is happening to their bodies, I think yes, that's love, giving up your body, they have no idea what's about to happen to their hearts.
• like when I hear Chris say "yes" to Joshua to go throw the baseball, even though he just got home from work and I know he's tired, I think, yes that's love, giving up your time.
• like when I see Jessica or Joshua give into what the other is asking, I smile and think, yes that's love and they don't even realize it.
• like when I watched both sets of my grandparents take care of their ill spouses with patience and tenderness, I think yes that's love
• like when I read about what Jesus did for us or see a picture of the cross, I think yes, that's love, amazing love, the sacrifice of self.