Monday, April 25

Blogging about parenting...

 
XOXO-
Charlie

Thursday, April 21

Checking on the Listings


Meanwhile, I'm stuck with trying to focus my mind on other things. Thinking about fun things I have to look forward too. Here are some of the items I stew on when my mind needs distraction.

1. The take down of Bank Of America in regards to our credit report. This issue with the pretend foreclosure is still a work in progress, but the good news is "If they can't prove it, they have to remove it." We are working hard to stay on top of this. As soon as it's gone, we are going to get our house. (So say a prayer everyone else who sees the house we want HATES it. Petty? Perhaps. Necessary? Absolutely.)

2. Fitbloggin. Is. One. Month. Away. YIKES! I still have to get my plane ticket next week, but I'm really looking forward to sharing the stage with my buddy Sue from Mrs. Fatass- Did I Just Eat That out Loud? and Jack from Jack Sh*t Gettin Fit. 2 of my favorite bloggers, and I not only get to meet them, I get to be a BRAIN TRUST about humor with them (oh the irony of that statement! Just kidding, kids. These 2 folks are crazy smart. I hope I measure up!) If that's not moving up the virtual ladder in blogger land, I don't know what is! I also get to meet a whole bunch of other great folks who I'm not going to name, because I will forget one and hurt their feelings. And I don't want to do that. Point is, it's gonna be a fun trip! (Plus, I'm meeting 2 Fit Chicks and a Mircophone! SQUEEEEEEEE!)

3. My husband thinks I'm hot. This covers a multitude of thoughts. Cause I'm like a teenage boy. 'Nuff said.

4. While my belly has been puffy, I've been able to pluck out every belly button hair with ease. I also tackled the transgender hair folicles that think I'm supposed to be growing a whisker or 2. I found a 2 inch long hair on my cheek that grew outta nowhere. Being an adult is fun, n'est pas?

5. My son told me last night that I smelled of tuna. But he told me it was the good kind of tuna. He has no idea what the "grown up" meaning of that statement is, but it floored me. I didn't know if I should laugh my head off or run to Walgreens for some Summer's Eve. Turns out, he had consumed tuna earlier in the day, so it had nothing to do with me. He just needed to brush his teeth. We both are aromatically right as rain now.

6. I went to Walgreens anyway last night because we needed charcoal. I purchased (and paid for) a long lighter for starting the grill, 2 toffee Symphony bars, and charcoal.  I left Walgreens with only my charcoal. My brain is getting older than the rest of me. I still need to go get my stuff today!

7. I am addicted to Extreme Couponing on TLC. And my friend Theresa has agreed to help me get crazy with coupons. Our goal is to be featured on the show sometime in 2012 cause we have done so well. It could happen!

8. My husband thinks I'm hot. (Yep, every 6 thoughts come back to that!)

9. My daughters need to stop getting so pretty. Also, Matt and I need to start stocking up on ammo to threaten boys with. They are no longer "little" girls.

10. My personalized bobble head makes me laugh every time I see it. Best. Gift. EVER. See?
My husband is the best gift giver in the world.



So there you have it. Straight from Charlie's Brain to your eyes. I can't wait to see what the next week brings in the way of excitement!

What do you think about when you need distractions?

Tuesday, April 19

When you wanna play the Shame Game...

Monday, April 18

No Rain

How did Noah feel when he was sitting inside the boat with his family and a zoo?
 
He knew he was supposed to be there- he had spent so many years making the boat, dealing with questions of people who thought he was losing his mind...  


And there he was, sitting on the boat of enormous and unusual size. The door was closed, his family was inside with him.

Only one thing was missing.

RAIN.

How did Noah feel when there wasn't rain?
How does a person feel when the rain isn’t falling yet but they know it's supposed to?

That’s where I am at this moment.

I’m waiting for rain.

Last night, at my big brother and Tricky Nikki's insistance, I went to the emergency room to figure out the cause of the Orb of Mystery.

After blood draws, tests, xrays and a cat scan- here’s what we discovered.

I am a remarkably healthy person- but a person in the most singular of forms. No ducks, no babies. My white blood count is fine, I have no mysterious masses lurking anywhere in my chest or abdomen, no unusual sources of concern on my lady bits or ovaries, nor pockets of poo or gas that would cause my tummy to look like it does.

There was not a single thing wrong with me.

At this point, I honestly don’t have any particular feelings about it. After a very long night, I woke up this morning and just felt- tired. I’m not bawling with disappointment, I’m not angry. I am slightly concerned about the bill we are going to receive from the hospital, but other than that- not much is going on inside my head.

I’m just feeling emotionally exhausted.

My neck hurts from looking up to the heavens, watching for the rain to start falling. After Matt and I got home from the hospital last night- having received a diagnosis of “nothing”- we sat on the couch, where I swayed between tears of frustration and laughter. (laughing because we realized the only sure thing in our lives is we are a happy family together and that no poop had backed up in our basement for the last month. Yep, this was our high point.)

I wonder how many times a person can be brought to the point of “almost blessed beyond belief” and still be happy and joyful?

This month, we almost got a house loan. We almost got pregnant. I almost got a reality tv show. (Yeah, that’s been in the works, but it’s not panning out to be a good fit for us or the producer. And that’s totally fine.)

But when I look back over this last month, I see that if nothing else went right- our family stayed true to being the kind of people we strive to be:

Hopeful dreamers who believe anything can happen.

We showed remarkable faith. And now that things didn’t go down quite the way we thought they would, we aren’t throwing ourselves a pity party. This is how life is. How life works. We could be horrid hateful people and probably get anything we want. That’s usually how things happen to people who live lives of questionable character and deceit. But that’s not how we choose to live our lives. We are content to be the underdog- at least Matt and I can sleep peacefully at night- with our arms wrapped lovingly around each other.

I wish things were different. I wish I could have told you 2 babies were on their way and there was a miracle growing inside of me. Instead, I have to chalk this up to another lesson of trusting in God, even when everything seems to point one direction, but God tells you it’s not time for the skies to start raining.

But he saw that my heart was faithful, right down to the bitter end. My heart held onto hope without questioning.

Even when there was no rain, I was waiting expectantly in the boat, ready for the ride.

Thank you all for your prayers and comments of well wishes and concern. Part of me wishes I had been silent and let this state of “nothingness” pass without ever talking about it. But I don’t know why God put it on my heart to share- yet he did. And I obeyed. I suppose he understands so much more than I ever will. He sees the bigger picture. All I can see is the state of affairs in front of me.

So today, even as I struggle for understanding why this crazy ordeal of nothingness happened, as I look down and see my belly still huge and feeling strange things, I know without a doubt that I trusted in God that he can do anything he wants to in my life.

Even if it doesn’t make sense.

Even when there is no rain.

Wednesday, April 13

The Cry of my Heart- A letter to GOD

Tuesday, April 12

Charlie and the Orb of Mystery

Friday, April 8

Miracles for Elephants

Tuesday, April 5

A quick post during spring break...

Once again, I have to apologize that I've not been faithful at blogging, like I usually am. The kids are on week 3 of their spring break, and lots of that time has been goofing off with them. Not that my blog is being ignored, it's just by the time the kids are in bed and I have time to write, my brain is utter moosh and I can't string sentences together. So, again- sorry about that. Next week we will be back on track.

Lots of very exciting things have been happening around here! First off, we finally got a new van! It's a nice pre-owned Chevy Venture mini-van, and the exciting part is it has sliding doors on BOTH sides of the vehicle! Matt can now hop off to work without me taking him, and me and the kids can just run around and go have fun.

Second of (And this is the SUPER exciting part!) WE ARE FINALLY able to get a house loan!!! This has been such a long time in the making- 3 years of living in the crappy rental and finally we can plan our escape! They say you are supposed to buy the crappiest house on the nicest block. And that's kinda what we are trying to do! We had looked at a house in early December, but we didn't act on it because of the financing snafu. However, we are going to go back and take a second hard look at it and make sure that it's really for us! If you want to take a sneek peek at it with me, you can! Click here, and you can see it too! I'm so happy to share this with you- it needs lots of work (it's kinda ugly to 11 inside) but we can deal with ugly.

And finally, I'm maintaining my 75 pound goal within 3 pounds on a daily basis. That's good for me. Sometimes, my body likes to hit a number and shoot back up. But the ultimate goal is to live a normal life and still stay on track. Which I am doing. I want to make sure that when I finally hit 100 pounds lost, I can keep it there, and moving slow and steady gives my body a chance to adjust to the new normal of being 163 pounds.

I'm a pretty happy girl!

So what's been going on with you? Have I missed any news in your world? (My blog reading is even more behinder than my blog writing!) Comment below and give me the link of your favorite posts you have written over the past 2 weeks! I'll come check them out and make sure to leave you a comment! (If you have comments enabled on your blog, that is!) Happy spring break!!!! 
 
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