hello goodbye

all you beatles fans can join me with that song in your head.

I am saying goodbye to my selfish ambitions of being a professional lazy bum. I am saying hello to an online master's program.

I am saying goodbye to late nights of movie watching and twix bars. hello (hopefully) new job starting at 8 am, and twix bars, I guess they can stay.

goodbye to being a SAHM (Lord-willing) and hello to family members helping care for my little guy. yikes, that means hello to a slew of new germ hiding spots, more big bottles of hand sanitizer and hello baby vitamin c tablets (who am I kidding? I'll be giving him ADULT sized doses, thank you very much) but I guess that's also hello to more faith that the Lord will continue to keep my son healthy!

goodbye to thoughts of Virginia Home for Boys and Girls or Thornwell Home in SC, hello to reaching out to those in need in my own neighborhood (and there are MANY). goodbye unemployment, hello AMAZING career for my wonderful husband.

goodbye facebook and blogging, hello capella courseroom discussions. (ok, ok, so I'll still be on there for procrastination purposes...)

goodbye bad attitude, hello (again) to renewal through Jesus Christ. goodbye to 28, hello to 29 years of life.

"you say goodbye, and I say hello....hello, hello. i don't know why you say goodbye, I say helooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-oo-ooooo-o, helloooo"

with love, to my sis...

GOTCHA!! hehehe

Today was a great day. Here's my recap: I've been praying for patience lately and this am, I didn't even mind that we were late for church (usually I'm annoyed, irritated, or angry). The message was EXACTLY what I needed to keep my spirit up and running, and to make me think about some changes i need to make. Then we had visitors and one young man stood and gave a testimony. Having visitors at church makes me sooooo happy.

I continued to be provided with patience as it seemingly took FOREVER to get home after church, and, just as I was getting ready to visit my family, lost my glasses. It really barely phazed me. I guess by now, I should be used to it. They disappear from time to time and once I even DROVE over them with my CAR before I managed to find them... So, my PATIENT wonderful husband turned them up and I was on my way!!!

Anyhow, I arrived at my cousin's just in time for Noah to meet:
Aunt Joy, Erin, Baby Qwill, and Peyton (and I got hugs from them all!! Oh yeah, except Peyton lol). They were on their way out, but the timing of the Lord provided. I really love my cousin and aunt and I barely get to see them. It was great-ten minutes? I'll take it!!

Next we got to see Aunt Pat, U. Ed, Angie, Mom, Karla, Travis, and then Noah finally met Christine, Jeremy and Gracie. It is soooo cool to introduce my big healthy boy to so many who have prayed for him, but never actually seen him. The food was tasty, Noah loved the pool, and I delivered a special package to my precious darling sister. Yeah, karla, that's right...

Love my family and thank God that we could see them today. What a blessing!!!

PS Noah had a "gift" of his own for his auntie!!

BIG news!!!!

Well, my big toenail just fell off. I know, it might not be the news you were expecting, but blogworthy, nonetheless!! I jammed both my big toes playing basketball months ago. They both turned grotesquely blue and I found the injury online. It's called "The Black Toe."

A few people asked me why I had only painted 2 of my nails. So finally, I painted them all. And today, my husband accidentally stubbed his toe into mine. Viola, there it was. A big half pink toenail hanging by a bit of dead toenail thread. It didn't hurt, but felt VERRRRRRY weird.

It's so intriguing that I want to keep it. If I were still in college, I'd probably mail it to someone I know and wait for them to tell me about their "package." Maybe I'll put it in a cup of coke and see how long it takes to disintegrate.

Any other ideas??? Don't worry, I'll try to take and upload a pic soon. Or, if you want, I could send it YOUR way (Karla-hahahahahahahaha).

baby no more...

I always hear people say "what happened to my baby? (s)he's grown up sooo fast!" And now it's happened to me... Here's the proof:

unmotivated

that's what i am. don't wanna cook, nor clean, nor so nuthin. grammer, spelling, capitalization, none of that jazz.. just wanna sit here and sit. mmmmmmm. sit and that's it.

So, it's been awhile since I blogged about anything. I think I will talk about bullies. I was just watching out my window and this kid pushed this other kid on the ground. Then they had a little tussle, which turned into a big tussle. The bully got up and appeared to be kicking the other guy while he was still on the ground.

He spun on his heel and started to walk away like the "big shot" I'm sure he is. The "little guy" must have said something (or nothing at all...), cuz the bully turned back around and shoved him on the ground. Then he proceeded to saunter (and I mean SAUNTER) up the street toward his bully buddy and high five him like a CHEIF!!! Infuriating, to say the least.

I watched this all from my window, and thought "Why am I not saying something to this child?" I actually said aloud "Someone need to punch THAT kid. It should be me..." but I did nothing. There are two reasons I stood by:

1. The kid could be the next candidate for some weird orientation and I don't want him remembering my address.

2. His mom might come a'knockin and I have had enough in my lifetime of parents who turn the other cheek to their children's behaviors.

There is a book I used to read called "Teacher Talk." The premise being that children should be verbally nurtured (ex: instead of "DON'T RUN!!!", say "walk, please."). Additionally the author seemed to believe (as I once did) that there is no such thing as a bad child, just bad choices.

After 2 1/2 years in the public school classroom, I'll tell you something. Actually a few somethings...

1. "Please respect Darryl's space" is a poor substitute for "Get your hands off Darryl before I suspend your butt!!"

2. There IS such thing as a bad child-usually the by-product of a bad (or missing) parent.

Not that I have it all figured out, certainly NOT THAT. Just that it's upsetting to see people who do not care. Am I one of those people? I should have run out and grabbed the bully by the scruff of his neck. In the old days, that would have been expected and accepted by the community. If I'm not there, you get him for me!!! Kids these days have too many rights, in place of an ounce of respect. I guess that's all part of the plan. As the Word of God says:

"This know also, that in the last day, perilous times shall come. For men shall be...disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy...incontinent, fierce, despisers of God. Traitors, heady, highminded. Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God"
-1 Timothy 3:1-4

Yes, indeed. I can be pretty high-minded myself. If I'm gonna be honest, I have more than a few choice words and judgements for that kid AND his mom. Oh boy, the Lord still has some WORK to do on me... Thank God for another day!!!

r u serious

So, last might I made lasagna for the first time ever. It was delicious. I went to buy some ricotta cheese, but reading the label confused me. Who would want a "sweet dessert cheese" in their lasagna? Weird. Next I went to check out the Feta. Can you believe that a dinky little 4 oz container cost 6 dollars??!!! What?! It must have come from a pristine baby llama or something. So, I settled for good ole Mozzarella. Again, the outcome was "yum," so whatever.

I must say that I will be glad to leave behind the Jewel prices. A bag of Doritos was on sale for almost 4 dollars. No wonder we've been so broke...

Here's a list of things that I will not miss about Chicagoland:
-the worst and longest rush hour I have ever seen in 28 years (sunup to sundown)
-people honking at me to "DRIVE!" b4 the light even turns green
-the sun setting at 4pm in the winter
-the -20 windchill
-afforementioned prices at the Jewel/Osco

Here's a list of things that I will dearly miss about Chicagoland:
-Donna and Laura-these ladies are like kin to me, even though I never actually SEE them
-The Mt. Prospect library
-A park every mile or so
-A great job w/ a very understanding boss
-The mile long lake that is across the street from my apt. building (perfect for runs that I rarely go on.)
-The view from my balcony
-random glimpses that I catch of the Sear's Tower in the distance...
-an outstanding public trasnportation system (that I NEVER use, but it's nice to have options)

Motor City or Bust!!!

Well, excuse me (for real!!)

Manners. Somewhat over-rated, but always appreciated, right?

So, Carlton, Noah, Juan (my-brother-in-law), and I went downtown to pick up our nephew, Terrence, from the bus stop. The plan was to take them to Ed DeBevic's without telling them a thing about it. (If you don't know, Ed's is a burger joint where the waitstaff are totally rude to the customers.) We began to set the scene before leaving the house:

Carlton: "Honey, we could probably just eat downtown."

Me: "Sounds great, I really want a burger, I'm sure we can find something..."

Juan: (unsuspecting)no comment


Once we got to the bus stop, the Chicago natives helped with the set-up:

Bus Security Officer: "You all unloading? Well you're gonna have to hurry up!!!"

Cars and Taxi Drivers:(HONK!!!!HONK!!!!!HONKHONKHONKHONK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Terrence to Juan: "Dang, they honk a lot."

Carlton: "Yeah, they do that here." (additional conversation about the fast paced and self-centered life in a big city)


So, we arrived and went inside the restaurant. Carlton and I couldn't wait to sit down. We actually had to sit next to each other, or we would have DIED laughing and spoiled the whole thing.


Long story short, the waiter REALLY cut into Juan. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:









My brother-in-law is incredibly patient and sweet, but the guy was very good at his job. At one point, Juan jeered and threw a napkin toward the man in utter disgust. Here's a pic just before the throw...



"Big Chopper" the rudest dude in town (really, he was THAT good!!!)



We had EXCELLENT burgers, Noah ate a ton of sweet potato puffs, and we never did tell Juan or Terrence what was going on. They are completely convinced that Chicagoians are some of the rudest folks around!


(First time in a restaurant high chair-thoroughly sanitized by yours truly...)




If you know anyone with a short fuse or a really good sense of humor, I highly recommend Ed's- on the corner of Ontario and N. Wells. Happy eatin'!