yuck-o

That's how I feel...yuck. We skipped church yesterday because Henry has such a bad cold. I also woke up with a stomach ache. Colin let me fall back asleep (this was at like 8:30) and I finally got up around noon. I went downstairs, read a little of the newspaper and then decided that I felt too sick, so I went back upstairs, read for a bit and then fell back asleep until 4:00!! Had a terrible stomach ache all night and again today. Just feel nauseous and everything. Not fun. I finally forced myself to eat a little bit tonight. Yuck.

I might just have the stomach ache because I'm sick about my laptop right now. There is some kind of virus(es) on it and I have been in tears about it. I keep that baby as clean as can be...hardly anything on it, defrag it all the time and run Clean-Up at least once a week. I'm frustrated because my McAfee software is up to date and obviously did not catch it. I'm running Norton now and hopefully can get somewhere with that. If not...I may have to bring it in and lost some stuff. Luckily 95% of my pictures and scrapbook stuff is on my EHD, but all my documents and stuff are not. Seriously, I do NOT do well when things like this happen...right on the edge of a panic attack currently.

On another note...Abigail had her last tumbling class this past Saturday. She got a blue ribbon and certificate and thought she was HOT stuff!

Abigail had school today and I was the helper. We had a fieldtrip to the pumpkin patch. It was a fun time. The kids each got to choose 3 gourds in the gourd patch, 1 pie pumpkin and 1 ear of popcorn corn. Abigail can't wait to have that dry out so she can pop it in the microwave! It was a beautiful morning for the trip and we had a blast!

We have a normal week during the day, but busy nights...no family nights this week. :( Colin works tonight, I work Tuesday and Wednesday nights, we have small group on Thursday night and Friday night I work. I'm ready for Saturday...we are headed to The Big House in Ann Arbor for the U of M game - Colin, my parents and I. We're ready to get away for the day, should be fun!

::Titleless Thursday::

I'm feeling tired today. Abigail didn't have school yesterday or today and I'm feeling it. I love having her home, but I really don't like having our routines screwed up. It's a strange thing and I'm not adapting real well! :)



This week I got my hair cut and colored on Monday and Henry got his cut today (so cute!). We both went to Jordan here. She does a great job! She was cheap to cut Henry's hair too - we'll be back! It feels good to have that out of the way!



I went to get paint for our front door tonight as well as for our three-seasons porch. The porch just needs to be painted on the outside, so it will be white. The front door will be "apple-a-day red." Whoa! I'm not 100% sold on it, but Colin is terrible at making decisions so I had to come up with something!

Not much else to report...just sitting here typing in a thunderstorm. I am admittedly an idiot for doing that. :)

A Good Read

Got this in an email today...


A lot of truth in this

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards.

Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

Blog Action Day

Today is Blog Action Day. You can check it out a little more here. This is going to be a very short post, but I just wanted to post a little about the environment. Being a mom with young children, I have lately been talking about littering with them. Just the other day at the Aquatic Center Henry decided to throw his juice box on the ground. What in the world? Where did that come from? The good thing about the moment was that it became a great teachable moment for the kids. We talked about the Earth, God's Earth, and how He wants us to keep it beautiful. Abigail had a million questions (of course) wanting to know why we had to keep it beautiful, how we keep it beautiful and what happens if we don't. Henry just kept mimicking his sister, saying "why?"

My reminder to you today...keep God's Earth beautiful...so we can all continue to enjoy it!

P.S. I've said it before, but...if you haven't watched "Brothers and Sisters" you MUST...it's so good!!

He'll wear shoes!!

Today was about shoes. I had to mentally prepare myself this morning (read: Take a xanax). Henry has only realy worn Crocs on his feet. He didn't walk until about 17+ months and wore Merrell Jungle Mocs for awhile, but since April has only worn Crocs (or what he so lovingly calls "Cocs"). I've tried putting shoes on his feet...doesn't go over well. So I decided today that we would go to the nice shoe store downtown, have his feet measured, splurge and get some good shoes. He actually did pretty well! He's an 8.5 extra wide, so it's a good thing we went there to get some Stride Rites because you just can't get cheap shoes in wide, let alone extra wide! Here's what we ended up with...Stride Rite Groov'n Shoes. Henry actually thinks he's pretty hot stuff, so I guess I had anxiety over nothing really!

I have also been in desperate need of new work shoes. I'm really picky though. They MUST be comfortable. They must have good grips on the bottom. They can't be flat without a thicker sole because my pants are a little long (shocking, huh?), but I don't want a heel either (not so practical). They must be all black per work rules. Hmm...it's actually the hardest thing for me to shop for. I've been wearing Merrells to work forever. The same pair I mean. The insides are so worn that I keep buying the Dr. Scholls pads to put in them just so I can have a flat surface for me feet instead of torn up fabric. Anyway...I we went to Outpost and I saw one of the new styles of Crocs. They were made for winter, so the sole is a little thicker and they are enclosed in the front. Yeah! They were/are everything I've been looking for. I don't have any Crocs (the kids have 7 pairs, or is it 8?) so hopefully they will be as comfortable as everyone says. I'm just glad that I got some work shoes! Yeah!

That's about it for today. I had a fun "mail day" today, getting 5 Shutterfly Photobooks that I had ordered. They were all free (with free shipping) so I saved almost $200 (I got some other little things too). Yeah! 5 Christmas gifts done, for free!

Time for a little quiet time (for me) before work. Bye!