Part 2

And now, part 2. The second part. : )
 
    Katherine O'Hara watched as the hammocks were lowered into the sea. Her ma was in one of them. During that last storm, when seasickness had raged through the steerage, her mother, who had contracted pneumonia even before the ship had left the harbor, had taken her last breath. Pneumonia and the sea was a fatal mix to be sure. Not that her ma had shown much will to live anyways. After Da died, Ma was just never the same. She had no fight left in her. Death was so cruel. And to be orphaned, an only child, on the way to a new country, at 10 years old. No mother, no father, no brothers, no sisters, no nothing except ocean, and a frightening new country. Life was so cruel.

    "Katie, dearie! You must wake up! You don't want to miss your train, now do you?" Jerked out of her dream by the open curtains and kind, motherly voice, Katie sleepily wiped the tears off her face.     "Ah, dear. When will the dreams stop? It's been fifteen years!"

    "They donna come so often now. Only when life gets ta scarin' me. An' when I wake up, I remember that Jesus saved me soul, an' 'e's in charge of it all." Both women's accent fit her background well. While Katie's every fiber screamed 'Irish', her counterpart and fill-in mother since that dreadful day at sea, was a common Englishwoman to the core. Fifteen years in America should have lessened Katie's brogue, even Mary had begun to speak like their American neighbors, but Katie purposely held on to her accent as her last link to her parents.

    Ach, how Aye'm agonna miss 'er when she's gone! Not that Aye don't 'ave plenty others ta look after. And Aye thank Thee, Lord, for every last one o' them, but, Lord, she's the 'ole reason Aye began this orphanage! Aye don't guess that's true, is it? You gave me this idea long before she ever came along. An' it took me losin' me own babies, an' 'er losin' 'er Mother an' Father ta make me listen.

    "Miss Mary?" Katie paused, then sniffled. "Aye'm really gonna be missin' ya. Aye'll write ever' day. And pray fer ya and the babies ever' minute!"

    "Missy, Aye don't want ya thinkin' about your family here too much. You're gonna go be a bride, and you'll need to think about your husband. Startin' a life with someone is hard enough when you know him and know how much he loves ya; startin' a life with a stranger…it will take everything ye've got to make it work. Thinkin' too much about us will only make you homesick and miserable."

    "I'm already homesick. How can a girl like me be going across the country? All I've seen of America in fifteen years was this city! I don't even think I've seen all of New York! What was I thinking signing up to go to Texas?!"

    "You were thinking that you were wanting a husband, and God wasn't giving you one here. You were thinking that, after much prayer, this is the answer that came. You were thinking that this was the best way to break from us and marry a man who will be able to take care of you, and not some man that will work in a God-awful factory his whole life and never make a cent! You were thinking good when you decided all this, and I don't want to hear another negative word out of you! You can't change your mind now, love, so get up, get dressed, and finish your packing. I think I can manage breakfast without you today; I suppose I'll need the practice!"

    Mary's harsh and loving words were what Katie needed to hear. Katie knew Mary was hiding her own pain in anger and the words spurred Katie into action.

To be continued... At some point in the hopefully not too distant future...

Part 1

This is, as it is titled, Part 1. The first half of the prologue. I certainly don't want false encouragement, but if you do have something nice to say, please say it! It's really scary to me to have this out here, floating around cyber space! To separate the story from the rambling, I put it in the typewritery font. It's been a really long time since I actually used a typewriter. I used to use one all the time at Carmen's desk. (The Elementary principal, aka my grandmother, had a secretary named Carment Who had a typewriter. Which I enjoyed playing with.)

    Daniel Abraham Brown. A good, strong name for a good, strong man, mother always said. It was true, too. Until the tragedy, at least. Honorable discharge from the Rangers. What could be worse? Why couldn't that Comanche arrow have just killed me? Instead, it destroyed my elbow. They took my arm! Daniel thought these thoughts as he lay in a bed in San Antonio, Texas, unable to leave. His lost arm troubled him, for reasons he couldn't explain. He didn't realize that his dreams, his every want had depended on him being a whole man. Not a cripple. Now he thought he was useless. But of course, none of this ever occurred to him. That preacher, who has two arms, said this's a blessing in disguise. Blessing!? Blessing was not the word Daniel would've used, disguised or not.

    "Captain, as soon as you can travel, we've arranged for your passage home."

Dr. Houston began speaking as soon as he saw Daniel's open eyes.

    "How? On a horse?" Daniel snorted.

    "Well, nothing goes south of here. San Antonio's the end of the line. No one's even heard of Paloma Solitaria."

    "Of course no one's heard of it! I ain't made it into a real place yet! Gimme a horse and a pack horse, I can ride." I got to be able to ride! There's gotta be a way!

    "Your arm's not strong enough to ride, you can take a wagon. 'Sides, we're keeping you longer. Infection could set in, then what would you do?"

    "A wagon wouldn't make it into Paloma Solitaria! The brush is too thick; it'd take weeks longer to take the wagon trail!"

    "Alright, then you can wait until we've made arrangements for you to leave that way." The doctor thought he'd won; he could keep this cranky patient at least a little longer. He'd never let Daniel know, but he was extremely worried about infection. Daniel had been near death when he arrived.

    "I'd make my own arrangements if you'd let me out of this God-forsaken bed!" The bitterness was so apparent in Daniel's voice that Dr. Houston cringed.

    "Ah, yes, well, speakin' of God, that preacher's here to see you again." The preacher's arrival gave the doctor a welcome excuse to leave the room.

    As the preacher entered, he could hear Daniel shouting his refusal to see the preacher.

    "Good luck Parson, he's really bitter today!" the doctor said as he left the room.

    "Doc, you oughta know I don't need luck! I've got God on my side!"

    "Preacher, if I gotta hear that kinda stuff, ya might as well leave now!" Dan said loudly.

    "Captain, I have something I really think you'll wanna hear."

    "Yeah, well, what is it? Then you can leave."

    "Well, Captain, we've received word, and I was asked to share it with ya, and it's important. Well, uh, we got word that your mother is extremely ill, and her doctor said she's…"

    "Doctor? If they called the doctor, she's as good as dead! Since you seem to be the messenger boy 'round here, you can go tell everyone that I'm leavin' tomorrow."

    "Tomorrow?"

    "Yeah, tomorrow! Now leave me alone, I gotta think!"

    "You need more'n thinkin', you need to rely on God ta get ya through this. You got nothin' ta go home to. Do ya want your dyin' mother ta see ya like this? She's better off rememb'rin' you as ya rode off ta join the Rangers!" By the time the preacher was finished, Daniel was sobbing; he knew what the preacher meant. He wasn't talking about his arm at all, but his attitude.

    "Preacher, I made Jesus my Savior a long, long time ago, but I never did make Him Lord. I never got that peace my momma has. If she saw me now…you're right. I shouldn't go home…Not like this."

    "You can get that peace. Boy, all ya gotta do is make Him Lord, too!"

    "I've made such a mess of things! I just don't think I can just let go now!"

    "Yore right. Ya can't. Not in your own strength, ya cain't. But you've already made him Savior; it's not hard to do the rest now!"

To be continued... : )

Scary, Scary, Scary

I want to do something kinda scary. Somewhere there about high school, I got an idea for a story. It's not an incredibly origional idea, but it's something I'd read (if it were well written). I've actually had quite a few ideas, but that's such a digression right now.

Senior year, we had to write a story story, not an essay I mean, and I chose to kinda revise/rewrite/begin a prolouge to this story floating around in my head. My teacher said she liked it and certainly wanted to read the rest of it, which was, you know, just floating in my head, and I'm fairly certain I got a 100 on it even though just now when I was editing it, I found a grammatical error. Just one, though.

Anyways, I was thinking about "publishing" it on here in two parts and then more as I write it. You know, because I have lots of time to write a story right now with a dirty, un-Christmas decorated (except the outside) house with less than half my Christmas presents actually made and throw some travel in, and, oh yeah, I have a job.

(Can you see what a miracle it is that there was only one grammatical error?)

So, I'm going to schedule the story in 2 parts across the next 2 days because hopefully I'll spend the next 2 days doing important Christmasy (and maybe some not Christmasy) things. Like clean house. And finish Christmas presents. Cuz, did you know, it's already December?! (BTW, sorry I forgot, but Happy Birthday, Rita! I actually knew, but didn't wanna mention it yesterday.) And like, almost Christmas already?! Time flies, ya'll, time flies.

My Healing Nose

Rita, I know you are a faithful reader, but I just want to warn you, this post might be cathartic or you might just not want to read it. Fair warning. Love you.

So last Thursday, in my haste to get up and ready to go see my Aunt Sandy, I scratched my nose. Not the top part, either. Underneath, where my nostril is. With my engagement ring. (It sounds funny to say engagement ring now that I'm married, but I'm pretty sure you still call it that...) It hurt, but I kinda just ignored it. Until later when I was bawling uncontrollably and wiped my nose.

I was able to ignore it most of the time, unless I was crying and wiping my nose, which has been happening, but not constantly or anything.

And then today.

When I spent a good part of the day crying again. And my nose hurt all over again.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

It's a metaphor. I like metaphors.

I can be going through my day and be OK and then, suddenly, something will trigger the tears. And then I wipe my nose. And the pain in my nose reflects my heart.

My nose is already starting to heal and I'm sure will be pain-free soon. And I know that right now Sandy is healed and pain-free. So I'm waiting for my heart to heal, too. Today was a good step in that direction.

Thanks for your prayers. Please continue to pray.

Tomorrow

It's about 10:00 pm as I begin this and I'm not really sure where to start. I guess what I really want to say is Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, my Aunt Sandy went to be with her parents and the Lord. The funeral is tomorrow at 10:00 am, which means the goal is for Momma, Daddy, and Corb to be here at 5:00 so we can all get in my car and go. I still need to pack for the car ride, decide what to wear (has to be something that goes with my red coat because it's supposed to be freezing) at the funeral, pack it and my makeup, decide what to wear for the ride and set it out (unless I decide to just wear what I'm wearing tonight as PJs, which is a serious possibility). Anyways, my family, especially Kip and Rita, could really use some prayer tomorrow.

And, I got this in an e-mail today and thought I'd share it because it looked cool.

Shocking, Isn’t It?

I'm not really sure if you could understand this between all the freak out yesterday, but we went to see my Aunt Sandy yesterday. She and her husband live on a ranch in South Texas. Among other things, he breaks horses. At one point, I needed to take a walk and Robert went with me. We ended up down by the horse barn. Robert wanted to pet the corralled horse, so he tried to call it over. It was acting a little leery so Robert leaned up against the fence with his arms crossed on the top trying to coax it closer. All of a sudden, I noticed that the top wire wasn't like the other wires and there was a battery pack sitting on the ground. I said, "Hey, baby, be careful. I think that top wire is…" and right then, the five-second delay was up and he was electrocuted.

Luckily, he was wearing his (p)leather jacket and the wire was only touching his hand in one little spot. He really wasn't shocked that badly. And, thank goodness, it wasn't me because I have a heart murmur and am not supposed to get shocked. Not that anyone is really supposed to, but… Anyways, that is the one story from yesterday I am ready to share. The rest will probably come eventually.

Word

It occurred to me a long time ago that it would be so much easier to type my blog posts, particularly the ones that because of length or topic I don't want to have to edit, in Word. And, also, because I never actually have to hit "shift" when I want to use the letter "I" in Word. It's just smart like that. I've tried to do a little copy and paste number, but it never quite works out and it ends up that instead of not having to really edit it so much I have to just go ahead and retype it all. Great fun. So, through a little trial and error and exploration, The Age-Old Metaphor and this post were both typed with Word's blog post program thingy. Official name, you know. We'll see how it works out!

The Age-Old Metaphor

We went to see my Aunt Sandy today. (The link has not been updated in a long time.) She's not doing well at all. And it made me very sad. So sad, that I really can't talk (or type? I can never decide…) about it right now because I've just gotten some semblance of control over myself. Instead, I'm going to talk about something funny that lead to a rather deep (OK, deep might be an exaggeration) thought because that way I can actually sleep tonight. And not use our entire supply of toilet paper as tissues. (Is it just me or do I exaggerate more when I'm trying not to be upset?)

This morning we were leaving our house to go pick up my parents. (Which isn't really true considering my daddy drove after we got there but the point is we went from our house to their house in our car so we could all go to South Texas in our car.) (Which is a whole 'nother story about acquiring 2 new tires for my car. It has 17" rims. Apparently, that's an odd size. And they are the ones that came on the car! On a Sunday, no less, when most tire places are closed. But 5 miles a gallon better than Momma's, we all fit, and it really, REALLY needed new tires anyways so we got it done.) And, in my head, I just had this picture of what would happen if my life were a movie. The scene would suddenly shift from us riding in the car, go back to our house, and dramatically picture, well, something in particular, but it would be way too complicated to explain.

I was already working myself into an upset but desperately trying not to and the whole imagining my life as a movie thing made me laugh. On the inside at least. But later on, I started really thinking about the age-old metaphor of "what if life was really just like making a movie?" And not just because of how sad I am about my Aunt Sandy. That is part of it. But my use of the age-old metaphor wasn't just talking about that. And I suppose it isn't really the age-old metaphor because movies haven't been around that long, but it is a little overused. Trust me; I won't be offended if you stop here. In fact, I won't even know. Big Brother hasn't quite leaked that technology yet.

The main thing I was thinking was that it would be awesome if at certain points in life, you could just yell, "CUT! That was great in theory, but didn't work out in actual execution. REWRITE!" Or "CUT! People just didn't take that the way it was intended. Do it over." Or, my word, just "CUT! 5 minute recess!" (I've been watching JAG, can you tell?) Really, I'd be happy with just the last one. OK, not really, but do you ever feel like you'd like a little 5 minute break where you can step back and not just not think about issues/problems/etc. but for them to actually not exist for 5 minutes just to get your equilibrium back? Maybe it's just me.

And I know I should carry this metaphor all the way through and then God becomes the director and the screenwriter and then there is no "CUT! REWRITE!" because God doesn't make mistakes and really the problem is in free will when we actors start adlibbing and screw it all up without the possibility of a retake.

I'm being a little petulant now and I know it, so I'm going to stop. I don't have to worry about taking care of Aunt Sandy on a daily basis. Kip and Rita do that. I can come back home and get busy and push it away for a while and they can't. And my other little daily problems aren't nearly as taxing as theirs are right now so I know I need to stop and I promise I'm almost done now.

Maybe I'll make it my (non-existant) New Year's Resolution to work on concluding my posts better. I don't have anything profound or that really wraps it up, but I think this will suffice.

END SCENE!

Opinions?

So I LOVE my blog's design. I spent many an hour fixing it up at first. It even involved downloading a free Photoshop like program to use that little dropper tool and match exact colors and get my name on the header just so and using an html color code to get the words the perfect colors. Serious stuff. And all that hard work makes me just love it. It makes me happy to post and see my words appear on such a lovely background.

BUT...

I saw a new backgroud today and really like it.  And I could do something very similar but get a new color scheme going on. And maybe use one of these cute headers!

Or not.

Feel free to chime in.





By the way, I got pretty much all of my pre-party to do things done. I need to fix the office curtains and re-cover a recliner and then I will have done everything I can do without going to buy more stuff or getting my Daddy or husband involved. Consider yourselves warned, guys!

Stuff...

So I lied. I did not in fact chronicle the making of the second stool. It's all screwed together and mostly painted, though. My momma had her gall bladder removed yesterday. She went home last night and is doing really good. Taking the painkillers consistently, but took a shower and made a few "laps" around the inside of the house and even is eating.

I'm very tired and considering I'm having a party this weekend, I should really go clean something.

I'll probably just go watch Bones.

Transformers 2

Uh, yeah, AWESOME! Not sure it was as good as number 1, but didn't bomb miserably like many sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean's sequel for instance. Here's my "review" lol. I'm not giving anything away, so don't be afraid to read it!

1. How, how, did that girl keep those white pants so clean. SERIOUSLY. I can't even keep a white shirt clean for 5 minutes in surburban America. Much less a desert in Eygpt.
2. It's always a little confusing who is who during an Autobot/Decepticon battle, but at the very end it was really hard. I mean Autobots are good guys and have color. Decepticons are bad guys and are pointy and only metal colored. But the last battle of this movie: confusing.
3. What happened to the little guy after they got to Petra? Which is totally in The Last Crusade. I thought about the big door thing when I saw it in that movie.
   
4. I really like the implication that Bush was concerned enough with national and world wide safety to have the Autobots on our side and trust the military to handle them and Obama sent the bureaucracy that had no clue what was going on to deal with them and send them away. And what happened to him? TOO FUNNY. Take care of the VIP. LOL

Completely unrelated to the movie, I am writing this post sitting on my new bar stool! I took them from my Momma. And did a lot of work to this one and need to do a lot of work on the other one! However, I think I'm coming down with painter's finger. It's like (OK I couldn't think of anything. It's kinda like a blister or something that makes things feel really weird) only paintier. ("And I think I'm coming down with swipe wrist. It's like carpel tunnel only swipier.") I really want to to document the process on the next one but I already covered both seats so you won't get to see the creepy bunnies with the veggies or, what I found underneath it, a pink shiny fabric with stripes. Trust me, whatever you're imagining, it's worse.


I'm off to admire my new barstools some more. And watch the Girls.




"Pedro's friends talked in code?" "Well, Spanish, technically, but same difference."


"Yeah, well, live and learn. Like now I know not to drink the water in Mexico, which, by the way, somebody should really tell you. And I learned I'm not morally against murder, I just wish I had the guts to do it."

Bones

OK so I just found out someone who doesn't know me is reading my blog. It puts a weird different pressure on this whole blog thing. Maybe not pressure. That's too strong of a word. But always before I've just written and known those who know me love me anyways if what I write stinks and makes no sense and, besides, if they know me, they can probably make sense of what I wrote. Now I have to stop myself from over-explaining. (I know. It's totally shocking that up till now I haven't felt I was over explaining.)

The point is, (sorta) thank you, Brenda.


(Pretend there's a segue here.) : )

I'm so into the show Bones right now. I'm almost done with season 3. I'm not really sure what about it reels me in, but I can't seem to get enough of it! I have begun quoting the show. That's when I know it's a good one. I really, really, REALLY enjoyed the whole Sith Lord thing. "There's always two. A master and an apprentice."(look, I figured out how to spell it! lol) And then "Dude, did you just Star Wars us?" SO FUNNY!!!

I think my favorite quote just might be when Bones said to Booth "Can't you just be satisfied that if I'm wrong about God I'll burn in hell?" If you're not a fan, here's where I make that make sense. Temperance Brennan is a forensic anthropologist which basically means she looks at people's bones (hence the nickname) and can figure out how they lived and died. She uses her skills as a liason to the FBI, helping them solve cases where a normal autopsy wouldn't answer questions. Bones is also an atheist. She believes only in what she can empiracally prove with science. Her FBI partner, Special Agent Sealy Booth, is a Catholic. He seems to be a practicing Catholic, he's shown praying and once said he goes to mass every Sunday, but he also is a little promiscious. Here's where I'm going. Bones and Booth constantly argue about the validity of Christianity (or any religion, but they mostly talk about Christianity because Booth is Catholic) and at one point Bones says, "Can't you just be satisfied that if I'm wrong about God I'll burn in hell?"


I laughed.

I thought, and still think, it's hilarious.

But it got me thinking, too.

Yes, it's important to tell others about Christ, to share His love. (And, you know, save them from burning in hell...) It just doesn't work, though, to badger someone into Christianity.

It doesn't totally translate from their situation, but I think the point works.


And, as I'm somewhere between tired and punchy right now, I'm leaving you to figure out your own conclusion. : )


  

Apparently...

I'm not the only Branalyn out there. There's also someone named Branalyn Williams who's done a lot of scientific stuff with the CDC (and I don't think they mean Child Development Center) and a few other random Branalyns out there. One, on myspace, goes by Brandie. It might be easier, but it's weird to me someone would shorten Branalyn to Brandie. I'm kinda sad I'm not the only one out there... But at the same time it could be cool to know someone else named my name. I do, however, like knowing that when someone says my name (talking to me or about me lol) it pretty much means me. There's not confusion or need to use last names.OK, I've moved on into the rambling now...

 

Remember When I Said I Was the Village Idiot?

I locked myself out on my balcony and no one was home.

Oh yeah.

I'm serious.

No phone, no keys.

Dressed in a pair of shorts and cami.

Armed with a coffee filter and Windex.

Can't McGyver much out of that.

So, it's the first cold night this fall. I decide to wash the inside and out of my sliding glass doors. I'm dressed like white trash on a stick in cleaning clothes-shorts from high school that are really short and barely fit and a cami. Not exactly fall clothing. On a night we actually have fall weather. I wash the sliding part of the door and close it to wash the other side. AND THE BAR SLAMS DOWN!!! Don't ask me how it happened. Don't ask me how any of the stupid stuff happens to me. I'm just the village idiot. There's no other explanation.

Let me tell you, those anti-burglary bar thingies really work. Now I'm stuck outside with no phone or keys, upstairs on a balcony where the only option of getting down is jumping or breaking the door. I figured breaking the door was stupid because it's really late Friday night and wouldn't be fixed all weekend, not to mention being really expensive. And jumping would be even more expensive because I would so just happen to land on a tree stump or something that would break my leg or impale me. I have a reputation, ya'll.

I'm now left with the final option of waiting. Several scenarios would've worked out: 1. My brother or friend, both of which have keys, happen to let themselves in and see me out there. 2. My husband comes home from work early and sees me out there (which just occurred to me now, he didn't have a key. He gave it to my brother this morning. I was supposed to make him a key on the way home from work but the traffic sucked because of Obama and I didn't.) 3. Some random person walks by and sees me out there and lets me use their phone.

What happened was a modified version of number 3. Some old man was walking outside and I got his attention. I figured maybe he was a nice old man that would be gentlemanly and help me. And if he wasn't nice and was a bad guy, he probably couldn't get to me and I could totally take him if he could. I told him I was locked out and needed to call someone. He said he wasn't sure who I could call. I said I had family who had a key I just needed to make the call. He can't understand me and won't come closer but he went and knocked on his neighbor's door. After what seemed like forever, the neighbor, a young guy, comes out. He comes up to me and asks what happened because the old man was apparently very confused. I tell him and he runs back to get his phone. He climbs halfway up and gives me his phone, yelling instructions on how to use it as I call what I think is my brother's number and get a very confused, old, Latino lady. Then I call my momma's number praying she's awake and answers.

She does and I tell her I'm locked out and my brother and friend have keys and ask her to please send one to the rescue. She sends my brother and I throw (yes, throw, he insisted it would be alright and he did actually catch it) the phone back to the guy. He asks if I need anything else and I consider asking him to help me get down because he had gotten halfway up and I thought maybe he could get me down. But then I decided he was obviously athletic and there was no way I could take him if he turned out to be some sort of rapist.

Now my parents live at least15 minutes away, so I continued my wait. Of course about this time I had to pee but could do nothing but wait. I contemplate that either 1. the guy really is a rapist because he has no friends or 2. the guy is a really nice guy because he didn't call his friends to come laugh at me. I also realize that my brother's gonna get here and not know where I am because I'm on the balcony and not waiting out front and I really wasn't sure if I'd communicated that. But, he decides to come in just in case I had gotten in, thank God. So, he walks in calling my name and I knock on the sliding glass door. From the outside. We both bust up laughing and he lets me in.

Finally inside, I peed, put on a hoodie, got a drink of water, and made my brother go with me to thank the I-hope-he's-not-a-rapist guy, who had periodically checked on me and I wanted to know it was all resolved and he wasn't devising a scheme to rape me, or, you know, was worried about me and calling the cops or something.

As I picked up my own phone, I had two missed calls and a text message, which proved I'd been out there for a little over an hour.

So, the village idiot's lessons for the day: 1. It's wonderful to live near family. And 2. Thank God. He orchastrated the events to let my brother have a key today of all days and to let me get access to a phone. And I did not freeze to death out there!

: )

By the way, getting locked out totally cut into my cleaning time. Plus, you know, blogging about it. But my deadline is approaching and my house is getting better and better!

 

Day Trip

8 hours in the car is too much. Even when it's 4 and 4.

It was a short trip.  We saw my aunt Sandy, who is doing better than she has been recently, but is not doing well.  Please pray for her.

We saw some other family and then we headed back.

6 inches difference in the width of a vehicle matters.

I'm exausted and have to get up early again tomorrow. It's to go wedding dress shopping with my former roommate and wonderful friend. I know from prior experience that those days can be tiring. And, let's not forget, I seem to be havin a sleep deprivation problem this week. I'm a fan of at least 8 hours of sleep. I don't really want to admit this because I feel lazy admitting it, but I actually function much better with 9 hours.

I'm not even going to take the small amount of energy it takes to find my cute signature.

Good night.

It Is Finished

It's been a long time. I know. Really it has. And really it's because all my free time has been spent unpacking. Or at least most of it. Which brings me to the title of this post.

I AM DONE UNPACKING!!!!!!!

Really, ya'll. Done. There's a little bit of rearranging I want to do with some stuff. There's a WHOLE lot of decorating that needs to happen. There's certainly a ton of cleaning that needs to happen. But I am DONE unpacking!!!

And, just in case you couldn't tell, I'm super excited about that!

Especially since I invited a whole buncha people over on the 31st for a Reformation Day party. It was to give myself a deadline, and people let me tell you that it worked! At least for the unpacking part. The cleaning, decorating and baking/cooking part not so much yet.

So, now I'm off to the store to get a few things, including windsheild wiper fluid cuz I'm all out and there is probably very little I hate more than little spots of sap on my windsheild and I have been out of wiper fluid for days, and hopefully a curtain rod for the dining room and tassels for the lamp. After said tassels and curtain rod are bought, I am done with my "need" list. I know that tassels and curtain rods aren't truely needs, but what I mean is I'll have all my basic wants taken care of. The other things (mainly shelves for the dining room, like upright almost bookshelves, and shelves for the bedroom, like screw them to the wall shelves) I want will be expensive and require building and will have to wait. Oh and something to go on the wall above the toilet in the bathroom that is only a potty and shower to put things like extra toilet paper on. And a baby rose and 3 or 4 other plants. And possibly another roll or 2 of shelf liner. Oh, and... just kidding... because I can't think of any more...

 

Day 10

So, September 10, 2009.
Day 10.
Job 24-28.
The Message.

I just realized that I obligated myself to post EVERY SINGLE DAY for a YEAR when I really don't have something to say everyday.

In light of this realization, I'll do my best to read everyday and post about it once a week. In the meantime, if I have a good thing to post about, I'll do it!!!

 

Day 9

So, September 9, 2009.
Day 9.
Job 20-24.
The Message.

A lot like yesterday. Wish I could say more...

 

Day 8

So, September 8, 2009.
Day 8.
Job 17-20.
The Message.

A lot like yesterday.

I'm so exaughsted I forgot the password to my computer. The one I type every single day. Multiple times a day.

 

Days 5-7

1. I can't believe I didn't factor how much I HATE when the Aggies come back into my decision to move....
2. Little man in the jacked up white Chevy, my Ford is obviously superior at stopping. Your ploy to get me to rear end you was foiled. Because there was no real reason for you to slam on your brakes at the bypass on ramp. Therefore, I am lead to believe you were trying to get me to rear end you.
3. However, because of the amazing stopping power and great seatbeltage, while keeping me safe and from greater harm, my car inflicted an injury on me. 
4. And I wish it would bruise because my husband doesn't believe it really hurts.
5. Milk was $2 a gallon and I bought 4 gallons. You people have no idea how fast Robert drinks milk and, you know, milk is expensive. Plus, you can freeze milk and it keeps longer.
6. I was hoping to post, with pictorial evidence, my brilliant idea of a less than $10 curtain rod my husband and I spend the weekend crafting. But I have yet to put the final curtain on and there's stuff piled on the floor near there and it just wouldn't have the same effect. 
7. Plus, getting a picture onto my computer is complicated. We don't have a camera. So,either I use the web cam on my computer, which is difficult to get a good shot with, or I use one of our phones. And I'm just not gonna do that right now.
8. I'm not so good with making sure I read when it's the weekend... Here's today and the last 2, also.

So, September 5, 2009.
Day 5.
Job 6-9.
The Message.

Oh, wait, I did read that when I was supposed to. Just never posted.

So, September 6, 2009.
Day 6.
Job 10-13.
The Message.

Job is really whiny. I mean, the man's got a reason to be, but it's getting old quick. Maybe God would've answered him if he'd just shut up for a minute. Wait. Ouch...now my toes hurt...

Also, his friends are highly insensitive. I really like when he tells them "Do you think the elderly have a corner on wisdom, that you have to grow old before you understand life?" Next time someone is spouting nonsense and claiming they should know because they've lived longer than me, I'm sending them to Job 12:12. Except only in the Message. Because the other translations say the opposite... Maybe I should stick to my Timothy reference...

And I like this just because it's funny "Your wise saying are knickknack wisdom, good for nothing but gathering dust."

So, September 7, 2009.
Day 7.
Job 14-16.
The Message.

 More whining and insensitivity. Lord, when my friends are going through troubles, please let me be careful what I say! Amen.

Day 4

 So, September 4, 2009.
Day 4.
Job 1-5.
The Message.

Food for thought...

"His wife said, 'Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it!'
He told her, 'You're talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God--why not also the bad days?'"

Wow... Just wow...

Day 3

So, September 3, 2009.
Day 3.
Gen. 8-11.
The Message.

I really have nothing to say. But apparently I started this and feel compelled to keep posting it.

The little girl, E, remembered the turtle says "dude." My life is now complete.

Had a girl's night. It was fun.

Goodnight, all!

Day 2

I'm teaching a little girl in my class who's obsessed with Nemo this: Me: "What does a turtle say?" E: "Duuuude."

It's hilarious. I know.

My momma and I have already corrupted her enough that she says a puppy says "Woof" and then pants. She knows a kitty cat says "Meow" and hisses. A lizard sticks it's tongue out. A horse makes that sound they/we make with blowing air through our lips.

Also, for really no reason at all, today was the longest day in the world and I'm ridiculously tired.

And Even Now, by the amazing Karen Kingsbury,  is such a wonderful book. But then, everything she does is awesome.

So, September 2, 2009.
Day 2.
Gen. 4-7.
The Message.

Genealogies that didn't make me want to already give up my commitment to read all the way through the Bible.

Noah's story. With ark measurements in units I ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND and can kinda picture in my head except it's huger than my mind really thinks about.

Day 1

So BigMama decided on her blog that she was gonna read the Bible, chronologically, in a year with the Message translation. It's a new, fresh approach because reading the same old verses you can quote by heart doesn't always get you to think about what you are reading. She had gone out to buy a Message Bible and linked us to a website that she was following to know what to read each day. I was intrigued by the idea because I once read the Bible in a year but Leviticus boggs you down and the geneologies get tedious and so many of the verses you just know by heart you don't really stop to think about, so reading chornologically was something I've always wanted to do and using the Message just sounded like a good idea.
I knew Robert had a Message/NIV parallel so I didn't go buy anything. I just went in to get it and saw we also have a just plain Message so I decided to read that one. In fact, I decided to count and, if you include just New Testaments and a Children'ts Bible, we have 19 Bibles. I think. I mighta missed one or two. Ridiculous, isn't it? I guess that's what happens when your husband is a Christian Ministry major...

So, September 1, 2009.
Day 1.
Gen. 1-3.
The Message
Yeah, I totally laughed out loud and then felt a little blasphemy when it said “God spoke: Earth! Green up!”
Made me think of like Cowboy Up or something. I'm not exactly sure why, but it hit my funny bone.

On a completely unrelated note, I totally have a flip-flop tan from the playground. It makes me laugh big time.

Mas de George Lopez

And really, this is a better version of the Jack in the Box, but it doesn't have the "cars in front and behind" line. Plus it's way longer.

Link

Just Call Me the Village Idiot...

****EDITED TO SAY: WOW! I totally am an idiot. I forgot the "call" and misspelled "village."
Or Cilena. Or Billie.

So, once, my grandmother backed into a house. She wasn't even in the car. And, also there's this story about her somehow parallel parking a tractor in a gate gap. It wasn't on purpose.

My mother is known for her backing ineptness. There's even a song "She goes backing and smashing and crashing cars." And trucks, and garage doors, and poles...

And these ladies have lovely qualities that I am happy to share with them. The backing issue is not one of them. And I didn't think I shared it till today. I can parallel park (on purpose). I can back into parking spaces with one try. I've never hit anything backing (except once I forgot I had my hitch in and kinda tapped a tree, but neither truck nor tree was injured so I'm not so sure that counts) and really like to make fun of those ladies for their backing issues.

I can't so much do that anymore.

So, I don't know how to explain this to someone who hasn't seen it, but, I guess so the driveway could be level, one side of the driveway is built up with a little curb around the edges. I've been parking in the same spot since we moved here, cuz it's in the shade.

There was this combination of events (kid in my car yesterday so the review mirror was turned funny, somebody parked next to me and parked extra close to the curb, and there's something wrong with the seat where it keeps moving till you push the button and I was trying to fix it) that led me to back up a little far so that when I let off the brake, my car rocked back and fell off the driveway. Yup. Fell right off.

I got out and looked. The rear passenger wheel was off the driveway and just hangin' there in mid air. It was resting on the arm for the independent rear suspension. Which holds the weight for the car anyways, so it wasn't like it was terribly bad for the car, but I couldn't get it to move.

I kinda thought, man, this must be a really bad dream.

There's no way this actually just happened.

But oh no.

It certainly had.

So, I, in my normal calm, cool, collected manner, began calling. I called Robert. I called my Momma. I called my brother. I called Robert again. I called Momma again. I called my brother again. None of them had to work today. Robert had gone to pick up his check from work, but wasn't actually working.

Called them all again. None picked up. So, I called my Daddy. Was he, by any chance, near CS? No, no he wasn't.

Called the round again. Tried my friend that I knew wouldn't be able to help other than to calm my panic. Didn't answer.

Called work to say I'd be late. Racked my brain to think of people in CS that could help and weren't at work ( : ) or asleep) and came up with no one.

Called the round again. My brother answered!!! He'd talked to my Daddy and was on his way over. Talked to my Momma. Calmed down. FINALLY got a hold of my husband. He was at the bank. With cars in front and behind (like George Lopez's "Jack in the Box" there's some language). But was on his way as soon as possible.

Robert beat my brother by a few minutes. We started with his jack and jacked it up as far as it would go. Brother showed up and we used a big, fat rope to tie his truck to my truck. He took the slack out of the rope and then we used his jack to try to get that wheel close to level with the rest of the Explorer.

As we are jacking it up, I kid you not, it began raining. SERIOUSLY. Which did cool it off. But, really. REALLY?! Yup.

Then my brother pulled with his truck and at the same time I floored it and we got me back on solid land. In the rain.

Robert didn't want me to drive it till my Daddy looked it over. So, Brother takes me to work and hangs out around town (buys a tow cable lol) and then takes me home. Daddy checks Explorer out. I drive around the neighborhood. Seems fine.

I need to go pick up antibiotics for my ear infection. I stay on the feeder to be safe, but it seemed completely fine!

On my way home, I saw an Escape Limited blocking traffic on the feeder at my exit. There was a guy walking across the street with a gas can. I'm pretty sure that they, like I, have a miles-to-empty meter. So, at least I'm not that stupid...

But I do feel like a humongous idiot. Really.

I can finally laugh about it, but please, supportive comments about your backing issues, only, please. : )

Bloggy Activities

Just feel like I should add an update.

1. Still love my job.
2. The morning lead is from Denmark. She's fluent in English. Sometimes I forget she's not a native. Like when she didn't know what a Dixie cup was. She also speaks Norwegian, Swedish, German, French, and 2 more languages I forget right now. So these books I'm reading are about Norwegian immigrants and, though it's in English, there are Norwegian names and phrases. So I totally took it up to her and she taught me how to say the words. I knew what all of them meant from context clues, etc. but it was fun to know exact meanings and how to say them. Like this name "Hjelmer Bjorklund" is said "Yelma Biyorklund" and the phrase "mange takk" means thank you very much and is said "mang (short ending) ta(like a schwa, almost an o sound)k" so so so much fun!!!
3. I have already gotten back to driving like a College-Station-ian. So not to get smashed by stupid Aggies. Who are coming back.

Now I am going to unpack/decorate/cook something.

Lists

7 Things I miss about Belton:

1. Being 2 seconds and walking distance of HEB
2. The traffic....or lack there of
3. The allergy nurses
4. Rachael, the girls, their house
5. The fact that there's lots of trees everywhere and it's pretty to drive around most places
6. KKM and all my friends there
7. Dr. Skaggs : (
   

7 Things I missed about CS and can now enjoy:

1. Being close to my Momma and Daddy and able just to go on over when I want
2. Having a place I can go out (Momma and Daddy's) where it's out of the city and relaxing
3. The fellowship of wonderful, Christian friends at a wonderful church
4. A worship service where people actually worship
5. No smoking in any restaurant anywhere, all the time and quite a few other public places
6. More people than just me going at least the speed limit on roads
7. Having a "full time" job I really enjoy

And something else-we've never paid for TV since we were married. In Belton, we could actually pick up CBS (and CW), ABC (and Telemundo and the weather), Fox, PBS (and the Pentagon Channel), and sometimes NBC (and weather). Now all we get is PBS (a weird weather channel and something stupid that I think is called the Research channel), Fox, and CBS (and CW). However, we can probably get TV you pay for if we get it through Dish because Robert gets a discount through work. Though there's other things we have to take care of first. I just wasn't sure how to put that in my list. Plus a list of 7 is better than 8.

Also, please pray for my friend OTT. It's a funny nickname and I'd say more about why she needs prayer if I thought I should, but really just please pray for her and her husband.

There's a lot I should be doing but I am exhausted today. Taking the children outside in the heat today, for only 15 minutes-FIFTEEN MINUTES-sucked the life right out of me. It's crazy hot.

And now I have moved right into the complete rambling stage where I am only avoiding the work I know I need to do...

New Town, New Job, New House!

Alright ya'll. I finally feel like posting. Nothing too blog-worthy has actually happened but I feel I've neglected ya'll long enough. (I love that I actually believe that people are waiting on pins and needles for me to post : ) ) We have internet! Yea! It's the good stuff, too, cuz it's a promotional offer. So I'm writing this post with 7 YouTube videos downloading. And it's not even all laggy. Amazing.

I love, love, l-o-v-e, my job!!! My class is SUCH a fun age! I work with amazing grown-ups, too. I really need this to get my feet back under me. I've had the bad experiences that I just need to have this great job to help me remember what it's really like! My kids are 14-19 months. One of them is obsessed with "a pish" known to the rest of the world as Nemo. Yesterday she started saying "a hoo wa hoo wa ho ho ho." Well, not exactly, but that's the part she was trying to quote. You know, the part where they make Nemo "Sharkbait" (ooo ha ha). : ) She is too funny. We have a new girl who just started and she is too cute. Speaks very clear, potty training, and cute, cute, cute! We have one boy with curly, curly cute blond hair. A little blonde haired girl who is so preciously sweet. And another little girl that we finally coaxed a laugh out of yesterday. I love working with these babies!

Our new house is pretty cute. It's another 2 bedroom but it has a bathroom and a half. It's actually a pretty crazy set up but it totally works. From the hallway, you walk into a half bath-sink and potty, which also has the washer/dryer. From there you can go through another door, which leads to the shower room that also has a potty. This room also has 2 doors. One leads back to the half bath and the other leads to the bedroom via a little vanity sink type area. Then from the bedroom, you can get back to the hallway! Maybe I'll post a picture of a floor plan soon. Anyways, it's overall slightly bigger and not so much run-down like our last place. And brighter. We like it. It's still a maze to get through with all the boxes not yet unpacked and half decorated, but it'll get there! All my stuff is in my kitchen and I actually have space left over. No joke. Which means I can get some of the stuff that mom's been storing for me in my own house! And, when I find the perfect shelves, I can display some of my antique dishes. Or maybe get my husband or Daddy to build for me... Christmas present? : ) Seriously, when I get everything all pretty, I'll post some pics. Which might be next year. You know, right before we move again. Oh, well. I enjoy decorating. Just not packing/unpacking.

Robert started his job this Monday. He's in training which means he works 4-midnight. He thinks he'll like the job, and we'll get a major discount for Dish network, which we might take advantage of at some point. After 4 weeks, he'll actually start and then I guess we'll know what he really thinks!

I am so happy about all the friends I've come back to and those I've quickly become friends with. We have an awesome Sunday School class and I didn't realize how much I missed Bob leading worship music until we came back. It's less him or his style and more that he actually loves what he's doing and is worshiping, too. It's difficult to explain. But I like it and have missed it.

Well, I've got about 2 hours before Robert will be home. I have some food to put away, dishes to do, laundry to fold, and should probably unpack at least 1 box.

Oooo, a tip from me to you? One I'm so excited I came up with? I had one of those drawer organizers that's supposed to be for an office desk drawer that can no longer serve it's intended purpose. I used it to organize my "baking stuff" drawer. I'm so impressed with my ingenuity! And the dishwasher didn't even warp it or anything!
I had to take 2 pictures to really show it. Because I took them with my computer's web cam. It was handy. And didn't have to search for any cords or anything!

And now, I must go accomplish something...

Hello Internet!

We just got internet yesterday! I'm excited that it's possible for me to blog again, but not quite ready to be as posty as I was before the move! I'm still in unpacking mode and have started working. Robert's first day working was yesterday. So it's gonna be awhile before we are totally settled and I get back to my postyness!

Stil Alive!

Still alive. My toe still hurts. Story to come later when I have internet which will be pretty soon!

Branalyn

I know he does, but people like marijana too, and that doesn't mean it's good for them!

No, I will not tell you what that means, but suffice it to say it was a fun quote from a night of fun and laughter and tears that I will miss dearly.

I don't know if you've caught on yet, but we're moving. Soon. Like really soon. This Saturday soon. And while packing wise I'm pretty close to ready, I only realized tonight how much emotionally I'd been kinda ignoring and therefore not ready for moving.

I have friends. Good friends. That live here. And only one of them really has an excuse to come to CS. Beyond that, we're getting to the point of everyone graduating and moving on, so does it really matter that I can come back here and see them? Will they even be here very long?

I'm going to miss them. This was probably my last girl's night like this. I know I have friends in CS and I know I will have girl's nights with them. Most of them are married and will understand this phase in my life a little better than my friends here.

But that doesn't mean I won't miss these girls. So much.

I'm sorry for my melancholy post. I'm sure ya'll didn't wanna hear this (though the beauty of blogging is that I can get it out but if people don't want to hear they don't have to read!) but I needed to vent a little. Tears are good for the soul, but venting is quite necessary also.

Robert and I went to the lake today. We realized we'd only been once and that was before he even lived here. It was sad to know we'd never be able to just decide to go to the lake and do it the next day with no more planning than that. There are things we will miss about living here. Awesome parks where you can just go and hike and then come straight home. And, most of you will think this is silly, but I love the nurses at my allergist's office. I will miss their smiling faces. We are gonna miss this place.

Don't get me wrong, we are excited about this new phase in our lives. Living in CS will open up so many more possibilities for us. It is what we need to do at this point in our lives. But moving sucks. And change sucks. And I'm not good with dealing with either of those.

I am a person who is able to be flexible in one area of my life as long as the other parts are constant. I don't deal well without having some normalcy to fall back on. And the normalcy is being taken away.

As I write that, I feel so insensitive and wrong. I just watched a movie about a girl dying of cancer (My Sister's Keeper the book was better, but made me angrier.) and while I don't know anybody going through that same situation, my Aunt Sandy is doing chemo because she had a brain tumor. My chiropractor, her house was struck by lightening two nights ago and burned to the ground. All the people and animals are OK but all their stuff is gone. And I'm complaining about my stuff being in boxes. Which, beyond that, is just stuff. And I could be living in some third world country where, if I wasn't blessed enough to receive help from someone like Compassion, I wouldn't be able to have the medicine that helps me breathe. And I complain about it costing so much.

I don't know where I'm going with this beyond I'm sad. And I feel disoriented because all my stuff is boxed up and my house feels chaotic. And after putting it down on figurative paper, I feel guilty for feeling that way because it could be so much worse.

I need to be excited that, even though the boat is sinking, at least I get to swim! (Thank you, Rachael for that quote of a quote!) And there is so much to be excited about. And I am excited. I just needed to feel sad for a little while. And that's OK too. (I learned that at the Texas Baptist Church Weekday Education Association's annual statewide training. Well, OK, I knew that before, but I just like to say Texas Baptist Church Weekday Education Association. : ) )

But I think I am done being sad for now. I only have tomorrow and Thursday's morning and afternoon to finish getting ready to move, so don't expect much of a post anytime soon. I even am in a classroom at work Wednesday, so you won't get one of those posts. It could be a while before ya'll get a real post out of me again, which is why I don't want this one to end on a sad note. Because I can be sad for a little while, but joy comes in the morning. : )

Haven't Fallen off the Face of the Earth...

Just been resting and doing pretty much a lot of nothing.

Have a whole lot of nothing plus a little packing/laundry on today's agenda.

However, after today, I have to really get down to work!

Slave Labor Day 5

Well, ya'll, I am done! I actually didn't do much today either. And I have to say I slept better in this hotel than I can ever remember sleeping in a hotel, but there wasn't just enough hours in it! The conference was wonderful. It really was. I love Stephanie Chase, Ann Parnell, Willa Ruth Garlow, Karen Fowler, and all the women on Karen's team. Karen and her team made this weekend happen. Momma is one of those ladies. Stephanie Chase, Ann Parnell, and Willa Ruth Garlow are fairly famous ladies in our circuit. I met them I think about 3 years ago. They remembered me. That I was Cilena's daughter and my name was Branalyn. Ann even asked about didn't I just get married last year? (No, it was 2 years, but still!) Dr. Jean was also there. I did not get to meet her and I really had wanted to use my "in" to get to do that but I'll get over it and her presentation was amazing. She was really excited that she could say "Jesus" on the stage!

So I am writing this on the drive home on my Daddy's computer. To complete our crazy trip, he's gonna drop me at my car in Waco so I can drive it home and he's gonna drive him and Momma home.

Other awesome ladies that made this weekend happen: the ladies on preschool staff and the custodial staff at the awesome church that let us be there! THANK YOU First Baptist Richardson! (Because they will actually read this, you know, LOL.)

I know this is another rambly one and I know I am going to be in and out for awhile and I apologize. I want to try to write consistently and often, and I want to get this down before it's not fresh anymore, but I apologize that it's not so much coherent.

Tomorrow I have church and rest and work; Monday I have TONS of laundry, dishes and resting; Tuesday I have all day to pack; Wednesday I will pack and go to work that evening; Thursday I will get as close to finished packing as possible and then drive to CS; Friday I will attend orientation for my new job, drive with the trailer back to Belton, work my last evening at my current job (I will MISS Kingdom Kids!!!), try again to make sure everything that can possibly be done is done; Saturday we will get up, make sure everything is in a box or a bag, people will show up to help, we will load everything, Momma and I will clean rooms as they are cleared, the boys with the loaded trailers will leave, we will finish all the cleaning and anything else last minute like that, we will leave, the boys will be putting things into the storage and then at Momma and Daddy's house, we will arrive and help, and then we will sleep, I hope.

The next week, I have training. It's gonna be INSANE. That Saturday, Robert graduates. The next week, school starts. I don't know when we are gonna find a place to really live and move again. I dread unpacking. I dread it more because I will be doing it after school has already started. Oh, well.



PS I just want you to know, I did not edit this after I was done. Sorry. : )

Slave Labor Day 4

Well, it really wasn't much of slave labor today as she will be in trouble with the state if I don't get all my hours. But it was long and fun!

Thank you, Melissa and everyone else who is praying for us!!! I feel funny asking for prayer on here, not because I'm afraid to ask or that I would offend somebody, but that I know that no one who doesn't know me reads this and it's silly to ask. But if you are not already praying for us and you would like to, tomorrow is our last day. We need to get all we can get out of the sessions and we need to get home safe! Momma and Daddy and I also need to undo all that we did to get ready so the church cannot even tell we were here when they get to Sunday service. I think the "slave labor" term will fit again tomorrow!!!

I am exhausted (Robert asked, "Why are you talking like such a redneck?" and I said, "Cuz I'm too tired to make myself not!") and have to be up early enough to pack (I'm mostly done), load the car, and get there with the early (in charge) crowd.

My leg still hurts ya'll. I'll have to get a pic up so you can commiserate. It doesn't sound like it would be so bad, but I kept forgetting and crossing my legs and nearly crying right there in front of God and everybody!

Well, I'm going to shower and go to bed now. I'm so so sure I will not post tomorrow!

Slave Labor Day 3

So I was too tired last night to even post, but let me say this. All that stuff we got at Sams? It had to be moved again. Not kidding.

Plus the signs. Oh the signs. The signage was stressful. It was like putting together a puzzle but there were pieces that belonged to a different puzzle, missing pieces, and no picture on top of the box. We finally resorted to tearing the arrows off and turning them to point in the correct direction and writing the missing words and creatively folding things. Did I mention it was stressful? Cuz it was. It really, really was.

Then, the two speakers I actually got to hear talked about change. Accepting it. Liking it. Doing it. And they used the book James. Maybe God is telling me I should read James and be okay with the whole moving thing and the fact that it's a temporary thing and we have this year to plan for the real change. Did that even make sense? It's so so late. And I'm so so tired but felt the need to get this up so maybe I'll remember to make it make sense on another post. And ya'll can ask me to. And then I can process.

So I am here for two more days. And they will begin VERY VERY early in the mornings. VERY.

So I am going to bed now. Because I don't do early even if I've had enough sleep.

Slave Labor Day 1

Well, I drove to CS yesterday. Today, Momma and I drove to Waco and got in the car with a lady Momma knows and is on the Texas Baptist Church Weekday Education Association committee of something. (You saw the Baptist part, right? : ) ) And then we drove to Dallas. And went to Sams. And then the torture began. 2 flat carty thingys that are the flat bed trucks of the cart world of cases of water (close to 1,000 bottles), 1 flat bed cart of Coke products (32 Cokes to a case-6 Cokes, 4 Sprites, 4 Diet Cokes, 4 Coke Zeros, what is the difference? Why is there a need for a difference?), 1 flat bed cart of Dr. Pepper and Diet Dr. Pepper (24 to a case-16 each), and 2 Sams size carts of snack items. It took 2 trips in her minivan. So then we had to unload it all. My back hurts. And so does my leg.

Here is where I would insert the picture proof of my leg injury, but I just don't feel like taking the effort to connect my phone to the computer, download it to the computer, then upload it here. Suffice it to say, my car's 5 star crash rating (I'm making that up. I'm not sure of the actual crash test rating of a 2003 Ford Explorer but I remember my husband making a point of it being good...) isn't true if you climb from the front seat to the very back and do this kinda trippy type fall with a hung foot and all of your weight landing on your leg on the place where you plug in the seat belt. I am absolutely sure that my klutziness has NOTHING to do with it. At all.

And I better not get any Little Boy that Cried Wolf stories because if you could see the picture, you would see how bad it really is. Or about getting to go to Waco twice in one week. Because, well, I did go to Waco once this week and will be going again Saturday.

BUT I got free food all day. Shipley's, the trashiest Schlotzsky's (totally spelled that first try. There's not even a cup that I'm looking at!) I've ever been to (we were glad we didn't pick the Wendy's because you know that would've been worse!), and Texas Land and Cattle Company for supper. They have really good fries.

So this started out with the intention of being funny, but I'm just too tired... The slave labor continues tomorrow, so I should get some sleep...

Sick of Packing

Quite literally. I do believe I became physically ill from packing too much. Or at least, trying to do too much. Wednesday I was supposed to nanny and then work, and I woke up with eyes so swollen I didn't feel it'd be safe for me to drive. Friday, I did this weird thing at work and was really thinking I was going to be sick, but it passed. I slept really bad that night, went to work Saturday, got to leave and take about an hour and half long nap, went back, then went home and didn't do much of anything. Slept better that night, slept off and on most of the day today and finally feel better. Though I haven't had much to eat. I hope it won't be a problem at this point.

So, now that my body has made me rest, I pack tonight, nanny and drive to CS tomorrow, Tuesday drive to Waco and then Dallas, and spend until Saturday at the Texas Baptist Church Weekday Education Association's annual training that used to be in Waco but isn't anymore. It's in Dallas now. : ) Anyways, this training is fun and exciting and I'm happy to be going. I'm sure I will be slave labor for part of the time, but the training part will be fun! Then I'm sure to have marathon laundry, dishes, and packing. Then we move!

My Aunt Sandy got a clean bill of health, praise God!

MY COMPUTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you cannot tell, I GOT MY COMPUTER BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm listening to my Girls, doing stuff online. It's the best EVER. And in a minute, I can listen to them while I pack. And cook. And anything else I have to do. : ) : ) : ) : ) Did I mention, I'm SUPER EXCITED!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

And, yesterday, I drove Robert's truck. It's a standard. It was hard. But fun. I'm super excited I did that, too!

I feel the need to post...

I had a great weekend! Made it home safe! Babysat the kids today. Only gonna do that 3 more times. : (

The time just keeps getting smaller and smaller and the things to get done doesn't seem to get smaller at all! My lovely friend is coming to help me pack on Thursday. I pretty much have to get the bulk of packing done Thursday and Friday. I work Friday evening and all day Saturday. Sunday I have church, company, and work. Monday I have the kids for the last time : ( and am driving to CS. Tuesday through Saturday I'll be at the TBCWEA training. Sunday I'll be exhausted. Monday, I'll catch up on sleep and do tons of laundry. Tuesday through Thursday I can pack amid other small obligations. Thursday I have to go back to CS for another training on Friday. Then I get back to B in time to work my last night at my job here. Then Saturday we move. My word. I think I must be crazy!!! Rachael, those talks we wanna have will have to be at my house done while packing!!!

Seriously, all of it is necessary and most of it I'm looking forward to, but I keep erasing tasks and days on my calendar. And moving the tasks that didn't get done. And it's beginning to look a little scary...

Keep my Aunt Sandy in your prayers! She's went in for an MRI tonight and is getting results on Tuesday...

Happy 4th of July!!!

First, I still hope I can vote Palin in 2012! I like her a lot.

Second, I would like to show my version of part of Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American."

And I'm proud to be an American
Where at least [for now] I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I gladly stand up
next to you and defend her still today
Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God bless the U.S.A!
It's sad, but that's how I feel.

Third, the fireworks tonight better be good!!! I love fireworks... We are going at 9 tonight.

Fourth, I drove Robert's old truck today. It's a standard. I'm super excited that I could still do it!!! I hope he can get it back so I can get good! I do have to sit super super close to be able to push the clutch all the way it...

Happy 4th, ya'll!!!



PS At best, they were mediocre. I had to pee really bad. We left early. We are going to Washington-on-the-Brazos next year.

Fourth Weekend

Well, we are at my in-laws to celebrate the 4th. We've seen one set of grandparents, one sister-in-law and family, and of course parents-in-law. We're hoping to see the other sister-in-law and family and set of grandparents tomorrow. Then taking the trailer to my parent's for safe keeping until moving day.

I got an e-mail today from the Geed Squad and was SUPER excited till I opened it and all it said was they had it and were working on it and I shouldn't worry. How rude! Get my hopes up and then just reassure me that it's all ok?! Um save the e-mail effort till it's actually fixed!

In other news, my allergy shots itched so bad today, I wanted to take my skin off to make it stop. I opted for two Benadryl and a nap.

I hope to report about fireworks soon! I'm more excited than most little kids about fireworks!!!

Another Wednesday at work...

The good news-I still don't have lice.

Not so good news-I also still don't have my computer. And still haven't finished the mountain of laundry or packed the big closet.

I however have done about 7 loads for other people and have folded one of those. Why can't that count towards my own quota?!?!

And you should totally, when you have loads of time to waste and aren't trying to move, read Pioneer Woman's blog.

I'm home now and the mounds of laundry have not magically disappeared... So I guess I should go work on that...

Hijacked!

So, I mentioned the sharing of the computer, right? I didn't sign out of Blogger and my blog was hijacked! That's where the last post came from. Though most of it is true, I'm not sure I would have worded it quite that way...

I have the greatest husband in the world

He is so great, and awesome, and sexy. He puts up with all my wierdness, like my obsession with quoting GG in conversation, and my paronia concerning lice. He is such an amazing preacher, and his ESV Study Bible is indeed awesome, the strength he has aquired from carrying it, makes me all the more in love with him.

Oh the memories...

So apparently, God doesn't want me to share the funny biscuit recipe story. Or maybe just the recipe. Because every time I think it's a good day to do it, something exciting happens that overrides it.

First of all, let me say to those of you that just got super excited (MH, CN...) I am not pregnant. That I know of. (GG reference. "You're my only daughter. That I know of.)

And really, exciting isn't exactly the word I should use. Terrible, tragic, and awful might be better.

I was exposed to lice at work today. And I might have panicked a little. Not like I ran out screaming or whatever. I was very calm around the children. Just that I went slightly overkill in my zeal to NEVER experience those months (yes, I said months. Back me up on this Momma. It took months to get rid of the lice. Apparently my hair is tailor made for lice.) of 4th grade EVER AGAIN.

I pulled out all the stops. Everything I knew or had heard or thought might work. I stopped on the way home to get cheap aerosol hair spray (the ozone can deal. I am not getting lice.) and a Rit kit. I called my husband on the way home and he met me when I drove up. He was wearing a black shirt with a white piece of paper stuck in the collar and holding the olive oil. He said something to the effect of "I'm here to annoint you, my child." Sometimes, you just gotta laugh. Today was one of those days. Thanks, baby.

And here is where I went a little crazy in my anti-lice zeal. I'm just going to number the things I intentionally did to avoid getting lice in the midst of the narration.

So, I 1) drench my hair with olive oil and leave it in for nearly 2 hours while I had a nice bath. Then, I wash it with regular shampoo and 2) blow dry it.

Next was to do the actual scientific or whatever process. I read the instructions. It says to ask a doctor before you use it if you are allergic to ragweed. Yeah, when they tested me for 68 allergens, the only ones I wasn't allergic to were Mexican Tea and March Elder. So, I ignored that warning. If you call telling your husband to come running if you call and leaving the door open just in case and having your inhaler handy ignoring the warning.

So, I wash it with the 3) Rid shampoo and go through the process of 4) combing it out. I'm not sure if it was the olive oil or the gel stuff they put in the kits these days, but combing it out was not nearly as bad as I remember. I remember great, great pain. The smell, however, was exactly the same. Awful. The last instruction on the kit is that you can shampoo with regular shampoo if you want.

Do I want? No. I'd rather smell like this strong enough for the next county to know there's been a lice outbreak near.

So, I wash it and then I kinda blew it dry a little and 5) braided it as tight as I could and shellacked it with hairspray. The braids and hairspray is what finally got rid of my lice in the 4th grade. I have to go back to work tomorrow and I am wearing braids reminiscent of Anne of Green Gables shellacked with hairspray and let me tell you, if it keeps the lice away I'm totally good with that.

And then, 6) I used the spray to spray most of the contents of my purse, my purse, and my car. I boiled the combs and clips and bobby pins I used. And my inhaler, just for good measure. And because I'm not sure the last time I cleaned it. And I washed everything I wore or possibly could have touched today in the hottest water I could.

Really, ya'll. I am winning this battle. I will not get lice. For the record, there were no nits or anything on the comb. So, I'll continue my braids and shellacking and possibly olive oil, but I'm done with the ragweed stuff!