Jan 21, 2011

Adult Truths

On occasion I will post something totally random and off-kilter from my normal daily ramblings of a housewife & mom.  Someone recently sent me an email with these rather truthful and comical adult truths.  I hope you get as much of a kick out of reading them as I did.  Enjoy!

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font. (My personal favorite)

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -- but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

Jan 18, 2011

My Cleaning Prayer

With the new year well under way I thought I would take a look back on some of my older posts.  I came across my cleaning prayer and loved reading it so much I thought I would share it again.  Day in and day out the daily duties of a part-time or full-time stay-at-home mom become quite mundane and very mechanical.  I share this in hopes it can give you a breath of fresh air or a new perspective on the importance of being the woman of your home.  Enjoy!


Dear Lord Jesus




As I go about my housework
Let me see each job I do,
As a service for my King
And a way of loving You.




Let me wash away my judgments
Of others right or wrong,
As I wash up the dishes
Place within my heart a song.




As I clean up little fingerprints
And lots of muddy shoes,
May I remember how you cleaned the feet
Of the loved ones you did choose.




As I mend up torn pajamas
And sew a button on,
Show me where I need to mend a breech
That's gone on far too long.




Let me tidy up my thoughts
As I tidy up the toys,
Let me sweep away my fears
Like the dirt from little boys.




May I be just as quick with my forgiveness
As I am with mop and broom,
Sweeping up the clutter
In my heart and living room.




May I rinse out pride and ego
As I rinse the bathtub out,
And while we are at it Lord
Let's take care of anger, hate and doubt.




Please remind me often Lord
That the way I'm called to serve,
Is an honor given me
And not below what I deserve.




You know Lord, as I look
At all the work we need to do,
I think we'd better house clean
At least each day or two.




-- Author Unknown



Jan 17, 2011

Reader Reader... Bookmark Eater

Those that follow my blog know that I love love love to read!  At present I read mostly Christian fiction as well as secular fiction.  A while back, our book club selection was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  This book is in a trilogy and by far one of the most terrific & suspenseful novels I have read... BAR NONE!  The book is chock full of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages, eagerly anticipating the next twist or surprise.  This novel was a mix of "Survivor" meets "The Gladiator".  Here is a brief description from amazon.com -  In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Collins's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing.  - I absolutely -hands down - LOVED reading this book.  A DEFINITE recommended read for those action & suspense seekers out there!

Since I loved The Hunger Games so very much I decided to jump right in to the second book in series.  Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.  This book basically jumped right in to where the first book left off.  Boy was this novel INSANE (in a good way, of course)!  Once again, the writer left me enthralled in the never ending suspense as the twists and turn of events left me eagerly anticipating what would happen next.  Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark outsmarted the Gamemakers & won the annual competition described in Hunger Games, but the aftermath leaves these victors with no sense of triumph. Instead, they have become the poster boys for a rebellion that they never planned to lead. That new, unwanted status puts them in the bull's-eye for merciless revenge by The Capitol. Catching Fire maintains the adrenaline rush of Suzanne Collins's series launch.

I am currently reading the last & final book in the series called Mockingjay.  Reviews coming soon! 

The next selection for our book club was Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon. This book was very suspenseful but a little raunchy for my taste.  Containing sexual content, violence and bits of vulgarity.  Introduction taken from goodreads.com - Henry, Tess, Winnie, and Suz banded together in college to form a group they called the Compassionate Dismantlers. Following the first rule of their manifesto—"To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart"—these daring misfits spend the summer after graduation in a remote cabin in the Vermont woods committing acts of meaningful vandalism and plotting elaborate, often dangerous, pranks. But everything changes when one particularly twisted experiment ends in Suz's death and the others decide to cover it up.
Nearly a decade later, Henry and Tess are living just an hour's drive from the old cabin. Each is desperate to move on from the summer of the Dismantlers, but their guilt isn't ready to let them go. When a victim of their past pranks commits suicide—apparently triggered by a mysterious Dismantler-style postcard—it sets off a chain of eerie events that threatens to engulf Henry, Tess, and their inquisitive nine-year-old daughter, Emma.
Is there someone who wants to reveal their secrets? Is it possible that Suz did not really die—or has she somehow found a way back to seek revenge?  Full of white-knuckle tension with deeply human characters caught in circumstances beyond their control, Jennifer McMahon's gripping story and spine-tingling plot prove that she is a master at weaving the fear of the supernatural with the stark realities of life.


Following Dismantled, our book club selection was The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender.  Description taken from goodreads.com - On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents’ attention, bites into her mother’s homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the cake. She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother—her cheerful, good-with-crafts, can-do mother—tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose.
The curse her gift has bestowed is the secret knowledge all families keep hidden—her mother’s life outside the home, her father’s detachment, her brother’s clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up she learns to harness her gift and becomes aware that there are secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.

The book overall was okay.  It was a little boring and left me a little bewildered.  Needless to say, not one of my favorites.

Our December book club selection was Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum.  Overall I thought this book was very good.  Set during the days of WW II and the Holocaust, the plot is written through the eyes of a German.  It gives a glimpse into the life of those that weren't persecuted rather those that were of the same race of those that did the persecuting.  The book left me sad, astonished and longing for understanding.  My one word for this book - PROFOUND.  Description taken from readinggroupguides.com - For fifty years, Anna Schlemmer has refused to talk about her life in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldier and went to live with him in Minnesota. Trudy's sole evidence of the past is an old photograph: a family portrait showing Anna, Trudy, and a Nazi officer, the Obersturmführer of Buchenwald.

Driven by the guilt of her heritage, Trudy, now a professor of German history, begins investigating the past and finally unearths the heartbreaking truth of her mother's life.

Combining a passionate, doomed love story, a vivid evocation of life during the war, and a poignant mother-daughter drama, Those Who Save Us is a profound exploration of what we endure to survive and the legacy of shame

Hello, anybody there?

The past few months have been a whirlwind to say the least.  I, once again, and without plan decided to take another break from blogging.  Bible studies, soccer, school activities (and everything in between) were once again coming to a break and with that I decided my computer break needed a little break as well.


Our December was spent, in part, celebrating life.  We celebrated the birth of our savior Jesus Christ as well as the birth of our children.  I often wonder and ask God why he gave me my children in the same month and same week as my birthday and Christmas.  It can be a really scary thought!  Three birthdays in the same month... in the same week...on top of Christmas.  YIKES!  Normally I am consumed with planning the perfect party for my children.  I am enveloped in my thoughts ... gotta get the right present, gotta get the right invitation, gotta get the perfect cake.. gotta find the perfect party venue.  But this time I wanted everything to be different.  I decided I would not focus solely on having the perfect party... rather having the right frame of mind.  This time I decided to thank God and give Him all the praise for my children.  So many try so very hard to have children and cannot.  So many pray fervently to get pregnant and are unable to conceive.  So many spend countless hours consumed with getting pregnant only to lose their baby.  Then there are those that spend thousands of dollars on in vitro fertilization or adoption.  I look as those and my heart breaks.  It makes me realize how much I take take for granted when it comes to my children.  The bible tells us Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:17.  How so very true!  I look at my children and think... WOW!  I carried them in my womb and God created them for me to mother.  Before you were formed in the body of your mother I had knowledge of you, and before your birth I made you holy; I have given you the work of being a prophet to the nations.  Jeremiah 1:5.  He gave me those precious gifts and I need not worry about the timing of when God gave them to me.  I need not worry with the "how" or "why".  I just need to let go and let God handle everything.  God's timing may not be my timing nor His purpose be my purpose but He did have the perfect plan for me.  God knew I would have my children and when I would have my children.  This is the perfect gift.  My children are GOOD and PERFECT!  They are beautiful and precious.  Thank you Heavenly Father for allowing me the honor of raising two of your finest creations.