Last Straw

I'm a visual person. I also like to rearrange the furniture. That includes on my blog. If I want to change the wallpaper or decorate for the holidays, I don't want to have to spend an hour (or more) trying to figure out how to make the old stuff go away. I have deleted html, reverted to a classic template, I have tried everything. I was going to keep posting here until I get my new blog looking "just right" but now that this one looks completely stupid, I'm just moving on over to Recipe for a Wild Thyme. Do come visit, not that I've encouraged much visiting here. I made a go of it. I'm outa here.

I May Never Pass This Way Again

I haven't been blogging because I told myself that Quickbooks and Taxes are a priority and must be done first. BUT…I'm cheating by blogging that I'm not blogging for said reasons. I hope to have my part done by the weekend then dump it all in the accountant's lap. Pray for the woman.

(In my best Arnold accent) I'll be back….

Farewell Aunt Corky

My Aunt Coralie died yesterday. Due to the fact that she hadn't been to church in years and didn't have friends, it was decided there will be no funeral. I have mixed feelings about my aunt and her passing away. She babysat me, came to the hospital when I had my first baby and brought a large, pink bunny due to Easter being the following week…I think she may have visited with at least one other birth. She was tickled each time I had a baby and just thought it wonderful we had so many. Somewhere along the line, she was introduced to alcohol and started drinking herself to death. When her health started to decline and she became near blind and housebound, unable to go out to get her booze, she replaced that addiction with food. She was already overweight but her drinking and dietary habits sent her body to the point of no return. I think she was 55. That's pretty young, IMO. I was angry with her for awhile as her health became a burden on my mom. My mom took care of my bedridden Grandma and Grandpa for years and she found herself trying to take care of a bitter, miserable, sick alcoholic who was ungrateful and witchy to my mom all of the time. Yes, she had been sweet and still could be but alcohol ruins people. Though I would get angry at her I kept finding myself just feeling sorry for her and praying for her. I prayed she would remember the seeds planted when she had sought after God, was baptized and attended a church. I am heartbroken that a person can go through life only to come to the end friendless and feeling so miserable you're willing to drown your sorrows in booze until it takes your life. I pray I live in such a way that friends and family will want a service of some kind to say goodbye not because I want to be popular, but because I want to be a blessing to others.

1 Peter 2:12
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

2 Weeks until Third Day!!!

Moi with Jillian, Natalie & Lenae at a Third Day concert in 2006

So I posted on Facebook and Twitter that I observed on my calendar that I will be at the Indianapolis Third Day Concert and meeting the band in two weeks! I am SO jazzed. A friend asked how we are able to meet the band. This is the answer we concocted: "My brother's girlfriend's sister-in-law's aunt went to school with Tai Anderson's brother's barber's sister." The truth is, I am Wired. The whole family is. Meaning Craig bought me a membership to the coolest fan club ever and threw the family in to boot. SO, we get to sign up for any and all Meet and Greets we want to, we get to take advantage of pre-sale tickets, discounts in the Third Day store, etc. The sad thing is I've been waiting for years to join and even longer for my own Gomer shirt. Every holiday and birthday: "Mom, what would you like for Christmas?" Answer: "The newest Third Day CD and a Gomer shirt." "Michelle, what would you like for your birthday?" "The newest Third Day CD and a Gomer shirt." The wait made me appreciate my lovely orange shirt ever so much, but this is the last year for Wired! I could have been hanging with the band but, NO, we had to be frugal. Okay, I'm being pathetic. Libya is in the midst of mayhem, New Zealand has had an earthquake. I'm whining about Wired ending after this year. Attitude check: check. Grateful for wonderful gift from DH: check. Contentment reinstated: check. Totally ecstatic to be seeing Third Day after going through concert withdrawal the past 2 ½ years: check, check, check!

It's all good,

Michelle

Mom Sells Toys on Ebay for punishment! Love it!

And this is being a bad mom why? Very creative!

NEWS OF THE WEIRD: EGYPTIAN FATHER NAMES BABY BOY "FACEBOOK"

I found this endlessly amusing:

"According to TechCrunch, Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper reported the following:

A young man in his twenties wanted to express his gratitude about the victories the youth of 25th of January have achieved and chose to express it in the form of naming his firstborn boy "Facebook" Jamal Ibrahim (his name.) The boy's family, friends, and neighbors in the Ibrahimya region gathered around the new born to express their continuing support for the revolution that started on Facebook. "Facebook" received many gifts from the youth who were overjoyed by his arrival and the new name. A name [Facebook] that shocked the entire world.

Personally, I'm just glad the boy wasn't born in 2003, because then his name would have been "Myspace," and that would have been ridiculous."

When Birds of a Feather Have too Far to Fly

Everybody showed up for church today. It was a packed house and it was so nice that the weather allowed us to open windows to welcome the breeze and rain cooled the air. When that many peeps pack a house, it can get mighty warm mighty fast. But today was pleasant and folks hung out later than usual. The small fries were able to run amuck outside and the older set played Ultimate Frisbee and some basketball. The dessert table included Pumpkin Rolls, Pumpkin Pie with Homemade Whipped Cream, and we made Pumpkin Crunch. The singing is always great and, though I'm dead tired and kept trying to fall asleep, there was a teaching time that was anointed. I was also blessed simply by the conversation shared among sisters. Very convicting. I was reminded of how a wife has the power to turn a perfectly decent husband into a monster. That's another blog post.

Today's biggest focus, besides Christ, of course, was the imminent departure of our friends, the Claassens. Walter, Elaine, Janna, Nadia, and little François. They have spent the past year with us as dear friends and members of our church. For most of the past year, Lenae took Autumn and Isabelle to the Claassens' each Monday to give a ballet lesson to help them learn English, have friends their own age and, of course, learn ballet basics. Lenae used what she has learned from working at Dance Techniques and it was fun to watch her put together lesson plans for them and talk about how each lesson went. There were days they stayed longer so the girls could play. The friendships made between the girls and the bond that Lenae developed with Elaine were precious to watch. We're already talking about sending Lenae to visit in South Africa after we can save up enough money.

It's been fun learning about the differences as well as similarities in our cultures. What's been especially enjoyable has been sharing the love of cooking with Elaine. She's a fabulous cook and always goes over the top. We're likeminded in the importance of presentation and experimenting. When we asked her what her likes and dislikes of American cuisine are, she said she likes it all. If she weren't moving back, we would put her to work at our shop. She said if she were staying, she would love to. Man, I wish we had opened earlier!

Elaine and I also like to laugh. We enjoy good humor and good jokes. Her joy is contagious and I'm going to miss having that around. If laughter is good medicine, I'm a healthier person because of Elaine. As it usually goes, I regret I didn't take the time to get to know her better earlier in the year.

So, this week, our friends will be heading back home on an 18 hour flight with little kids (pray for them!) and they have so many mixed emotions. They've missed their family and friends and country but will miss being here. My emotions aren't mixed at all. I've already had the tears fall a few times the past week (and tonight) and I would love it if all of their family just moved here. But, since that can't happen, we're already having serious discussions about saving for a trip to South Africa, preferably around New Year's because they have this way-awesome international fireworks competition at Cape Town! Who knew? Until then, thank God for internet. I'm gonna have to learn to use Skype.