Falling Into Place

Our company arrived about 6pmish, when Dave was at the dentist. Amazingly enough the house was sparkling when they arrived. Yay!!

We made it through our first evening of Asian Conference. 4 more to go. Not that I'm counting down, tonight was really good, as I'm sure the remaining services will be as well. Charity and I will probably not be in attendence for all of them though.

Today could have definitely been a very crazy day. Thank God Dave had the day off. He was able to do his "day off" errands (oil change, haircut, etc.), as well as the shopping for the things we'll need for over the next few days, while I stay home and cleaned. Charity hung out with Gramma.

We enjoyed a yummy banquet after conference tonight. Our bellies are now full, the house is clean, Bro. Jerry and Sis. T are settled into their cozy (hopefully) quarters. I just baked a blueberry cake and sliced up some cantaloupe for breakfast for everyone in the morning.

And now I'm going to sleep!! ;) Night, night!

Wild Wednesday!

Okay, today's a day I'd rather not relive. I think my head's about to explode! Watch out!

I was up bright and early and headed to a 10 am interview in Green Hills. Very interesting. A staffing company looking for a position with the company or with a client of theirs. A lot to think about. Not too sure about either. But very mentally draining interview and parking and finding the building. This job hunting is highly overrated!!

And things just never let up on the brain squeeze! My neighbor called me on the way home and needed to borrow our lawnmower, and then decided she could just use some of our gas. Later today she needed some jumper cables, but I missed that call because I was onto another exciting part of my day . .

Charity's 5 year check up with 4 immunization shots and blood drawn. Oh, man! The whole thing was a nightmare. She didn't want to do the hearing test. Basically failed her eye examine, due to lack of cooperation. Her blood pressure was high. Again, as last year, they heard the Still's heart murmur, which thankfully is perfectly normal.

*Sidenote: I love this description I found of this condition on the web:
An accurate description of a Still’s murmur is to say that your child has a “musical heart”.*

Back to the trauma, they drew blood and the screaming began. Charity requested us to "sneak out". Thought that was kinda' cute! And that she wanted to be anemic, which is what she said in disagreement to the doctor when she explained the reason for taking a blood sample. Should that not be enough fun for one doctor's visit, a storm began and the power went out. There we sat in the dark for an addition 20 minutes while the medical personnel decided what to do and we *thankfully I took Gramma along or no one would have believed me about all this excitement!* tried to calm Charity's nerves. Finally they moved us in a room with some more natural light and just did the shots. That quick! Whoa! The nurse really did a good job. I had to hold Charity's down from the chest up and Gramma, well, she just sat in the corner and cried too! Oh, it was fun. I was holding back tears, but I guess I'm getting tough because I had to do this same maneuver a few months back at the dentist office. And in seconds it was over, though in the middle of it, it sure felt like an eternity.

Here's a picture I snapped of Charity on my phone. It really doesn't do the drama justice by any means. But you can definitely see how miserable she was. :(
Unbelievably, by the time we exited the building she was fine. Thank you, Lord! So off we headed for an ice cream treat. I'm so glad we've got 6 years before we have to do that again. However, we do have to go back to get her blood pressure re-checked, which I'm thinking is a little silly since she was so worked up, even though they took it before all the poking, I still think she was kind of stressed out about the whole visit.

After ice cream, we brought Gramma how (I bet she went right to bed!) and Charity and I headed out to buy some more uniform skirts.

I wish someone could have told me how unproductive my attempt would be and I could have saved myself a lot of hours! First Target, found only 1, very last one, size 4, will work . . . and that was it. None at Marshall's, all navy or too big. Same with Old Navy, Sears, Macy's price not right, and even Wal*Mart, though I would hate to buy them there. I would say maybe these establishments will be getting a shipment in before the tax-free weekend? Or I'll just be doing some more online shopping. We did pick up a few things we'll be needing for our company's visit, so I guess it wasn't all a waste. Needless to say, we didn't make it to Bible Study tonight. :( But just in time to pick Dave up, since he had walked over.

Got in about 9pmish, and with our company arriving tomorrow and still so much left to be done, it wasn't possible for me to just go to bed. So I did get the kitchen and most of the master bathroom cleaned. I am dead-tired, and just know if I don't push myself there'd be no way to get everything done tomorrow.

Finally it's about 1:30am and I'm crawling in bed. Dave's been sleeping, but just woke for a potty break when I get some very interesting news via email. I had to share with him. Not sure if it's public knowledge yet, so I won't post it on my www blog. So we're up, chatting, and my brain's still going 100 mph, but my body . . . uuuugggg, tomorrow's going to be rough!!

Happy Birthday, Holly!!

Hope you have a super, special day! I know that sweet man in your life will take good care of you. And me too, if I ever see you again!! JK :P Love you lots and miss you to pieces!!

Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning!

So I can imagine, I'll be doing a lot of back blogging next week since we have company (Bro. Jerry and Sis. T) arriving on Thursday for National Asian Evangelism Conference being held here in Nashville this year. I'm sure they won't be around a lot, since the conference schedule will keep us all busy. But we've still got lots of cleaning and shopping to do before they get here.

Of course . . . this is driving Ms. Charity absolutely crazy. She'd much rather be messing things up! And what's driving me absolutely crazy is that right after I finish something, either the little tornado *charity* blows through and messes it up or the big bull in a china shop *dave* makes a spill.

At some point I need to get out and get Charity a couple more khaki skirts for school next week. This weekend is the tax-free holiday and I'd rather not wait until then. I'm really not big on self-torture.

Must return to cleaning . . . now, where was I?

Contender Ready?

Gramma so kindly taking Charity to gymnastics today since I had another phone interview with a different Edwards Jones branch. We'll see how this one goes . . .

I lost the call 3 times. Guess it was the wind. That's not good.

Charity was horrific at gymnastics today (per Gramma). There was a male instructor. 'Nuff said. I'm not sure if I'll be able to convince Gramma to ever take her again. Yikes!

Now we're watching Charity's all time favorite show: American Gladiators. She cracks us up with this! To see her get into it is too funny. This isn't even a show that we enjoy watching, just her! I like it because it gives Mommy some blog time! And then Daddy and her have "gladiator" competitions each night before bed! Let's hope it's a phase! They don't look like the best of idols!

A Chari-quote

Some people like to post interesting quotes in their blogs. And I too enjoy the bite-size portions of wisdom. However, today Ms. Charity said something that was a highlight of my day. It nearly cracked me up, except it was one of those times when I wasn't supposed to laugh!!

She had been playing "store" with Gramma in her place room. Gramma, mistakenly thinking they were done with that game, swept all the toys in the store back into the storage basket where they belong. Charity got very upset and informed Gramma that she wasn't supposed to pick up the store. As they began to set the store back up, Charity's behavior was turning sour and Gramma had to retreat back to her quarters to relieve herself of "Ms. Attitude". I remained in the playroom as Charity placed all the toy figurines on the bench where they had previously been position. I guess things weren't going too smoothly for her because she said to me, "I'm picking up these toys, throwing them all away and when I get married, I'm moving out!!"

I just had to walk away!! :p Every time we discuss her getting married, she always promises us that she's not going to move away.

I couldn't believe she put that together. The fact she was mad and frustrated with her toys and me for wanting her to pick them up! I was laughing but inside, I was bawling my eyes out! She's learned how to mean and hateful! Who taught her this? Where did it come from?

Oh, the sinful nature we're born with . . . thus the fun of being a parent!!

Transformed

Who ever thought something so sour could turn into something so sweet!! Yummy!!

But like anything in life, not without lots of work!

The Joy of Saturdays

Had a just, jolly time at Mysty's "Christmas in July" party last night. Surprisingly enough, her family is very nice!! Just kidding . . . it's actually not surprising at all! Ho-ho-ho!!

Today was the first morning I am responsible for checking on Mason. A dog of a MS Concierge client. He is my weekend responsibility for the next 3 weekends. Charity is enjoying this, I am enduring it. Well, we made it through the first day, no accidents and success getting him out. Let's hope the remaining 10 visits go as well.

After our "Mason" visit, I twisted Charity arm to let me stop at a couple of yard sales. Not sure why she always disagrees about these ventures, as she's the usually the only one who walks away with treasures. Today she found two brand-new activity books for a quarter each. Well worth my money since we spend a large part of the day running errands and these books kept her happily occupied! Yay for Yard Sales!!

While waiting for my friend, Allison, to go to Nashville Christian, to purchase school uniforms, I decided to run into Sears. Glad I did! They were having some great sales on Summer clothes. The deal on Charity's summer wardrobe I found definitely help offset the cost of her new Fall threads. Whooooo! How can people charge so much for a polo shirt, just because it has NCS on it!?! And it's required attire at Nashville Christian, no Wal*Mart polos here.

Needless to say, after I purchased all Charity's uniforms at the school and the Summer clothes at Sears, while trying to explain to Dave all the money I spent, I said, "Well, she got clothes all the way until next fall!" Yay! Maybe if we have any extra cash, Mom and Dad Cookie can get some much needed items, especially Dad with his recent weight loss. But extra cash . . . what's that?!?

When Life Hands You Lemons

For Ms. Concierge, I will be doing a little dog-sitting over the next three weekends. I know, me the dog hater dog-sitting! Weird!! I guess we're getting pretty hungry! Ha!

I met Stacey at the client's house to learn the ropes and to see what I'm in for!?! When I arrived at the mansion, Stacey was cleaning out the fridge since the client will be in Europe for the next 3 weeks. I guess she had been craving some fresh-squeezed lemonade as we found a whole lot of lemons and limes. Can't say I blame her with this hot weather! Stacey wasn't going to use them, so she let all those citrus fruits come home with me. Yums! I've never made "real" lemonade, but I'm going to try!

When I got my ingredients home, they were so pretty not to display. As I adored the beautiful lemons and limes, I thought, "Wow! This is so my life lately." I've been handed a few more lemons then usually, resulting in things being a little sour. I hope over all I can find the strength to just add some sugar in and turn life into something a little sweeter, fresh-squeezed and refreshing lemonade!

Merry Christmas in July!!

Merry Christmas in July!!!

Don't forget to celebrate somehow today!! Christmas is such a special day, it should be celebrated at least twice, right!?! My friends and I will be having a party to celebrate this evening!! I can't wait!!

Besties!

Today was Charity's last day at Brook Hollow Mother's Day Out/Preschool. So sad. Another chapter in life is behind her. In just a few short weeks, she'll be starting Kindergarten. I don't even want to think about this along with all the other mental anguish I'm going through!! Moving on . . . :)

I had to get one last picture of her and Mary Jean today. They have become the bestest of friends. Mary Jean is officially Charity's 1st friend that she made all by herself. Oh, it's been such a fun year! Racing to school to meet Mary Jean. And most days when Charity arrived at the same time as her little friend, they would walk in hand in hand. Priceless! Mary Jean and Charity met up this morning, one last time, and then they're off to their different kindergartens.

Her mom and I exchanged phone numbers so the two can remain in touch. We both agreed how each of them helped make the year go a little smoother for the other. So many mornings, it was the chance to see Mary Jean that got Charity to school!

I was thinking about it, and it's true. Life is so much about our friends. They're there for us, encourage us, give us that extra boost and support. We need them. They hold our hand, hug our neck, cry and laugh with us.

Thank you so much to all my friends reading this blog! I'm so thankful for each one of you. And am so happy that Charity got to feel the same love and warmth inside that only a true friend can bring!

It's Done!

Mentally rough day. Dropped down more for Charity's kindergarten tuition than most people pay for their first car! Yikes!! More than my two years of college!! Uuuuggg! The scariest thing is I don't even have a job or any prospect of one. This is definitely a step of faith!!

Above all, I told Dave today I'm still a little uneasy about the decision, but am 100% relieved it's behind us. Now just got to get though the year financially and find a good steady job so we can keep her there next year. I guess I've got my "work" cut out for me.

Talula Does The Hula go to your room!!

Can you imagine? I don't know what some people are thinking!!

Judge: Girl's name, Talula Does The Hula, won't do

Thu Jul 24, 5:41 AM ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.

Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.

Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said.

The new name was not made public to protect the girl's privacy.

"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name," he wrote. "It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily."

The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her "K" instead, the girl's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.

In his ruling, Murfitt cited a list of the unfortunate names.

Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.

New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Clarke said officials usually talked to parents who proposed unusual names to convince them about the potential for embarrassment.

All in One Place (for Me!)

We're finally made the decision! Pheewwwwww . . . that was sooo hard. I am slowly becoming settled with it. As the year passes, I know it will be clear that we have made the correct choice. And it's not that I don't want to send her to private/Christian school, it's just that I want both deciding parents to be on the same page about this major decision. I pray I hear, "We did the right thing." some time this year.

Now . . . to come with all the money and the long list of needed supplies. Since I continually have to keep referencing their web page, I decided to put the list here on my blog for a convenient location for me. (Not so interesting blog reading, sorry! :)

2008 - 2009
NCS Kindergarten Supply List

1 box of Magic Erasers (Mr. Clean)
2 1" hardcover white 3 ting binders
3 Clorox Wipes
2 Facial Tissue, regular size
3 rolls paper towels
1 pair Fiskars scissors
1 Crayola washable 8 count watercolors
10 0.7 All Purpose glue sticks (Elmers only)
2 Crayola Classic markers, 8 count broad tip WASHABLE
2 boxes Crayola Crayons, 24 Ct. regular size
2 boxes Ziploc "snack size" baggies
2 boxes Dixie Cups, 3 or 5 oz. size
2 waterless hand sanitizers
1 or 2 pack pink erasers
1 rest towel (no blankets, pillows, or sleep animals)
1 rain poncho (labeled with child's name)

1 complete change of clothes in case of accident (shirt, pant/shorts, socks, and underwear) does not have to be dress code. Please put in gallon Ziploc bad and label with name!

$25.00 Classroom Fee ( for paper, folders, etc. . .)

K-5 Required Attire for Girls
Navy Parker polo shirt
Uniform Khaki pants from Parker or any other uniform vendor
~ No cargo pants
Closed toe tennis shoes
~ Color optional
~ No crocs, sandals, flip flops, or hard-soled shoes
Students in grades 3-5 must wear a brown or black belt
Students in K-2 are not required to wear a belt

K-5 Optional Attire for Girls
Any previously approved Parker piece
~ Jumpers, skorts, or flat-front skirts
Khaki skirts, capris, or uniform khaki shorts
~ No cargo skirts or shorts
Orange or white polo shirt from Parker
Tights in navy or white
Leggings in navy or white
~ No lace

The 2008 Election Resolved

We've got it all figured out now. Dave and I have a friend, who we knew in Maine, he's the funniest guy and the story of how we each met him on completely different occasions is one for a another blog. Anyway, he would make a great president. And he is the former mayor of Sag Harbor, New York!

I found this and I just love it!! Obama and McCain step aside!! LOL

Are You Kidding?

I thought Dave had lost his mind tonight when he said, "Let's go out." I had already explained to him that my car had left the driveway 4 times today.

1. To take Charity to school.

2. To do a concierge task for Ms. Stacey. (Waiting for a package while someone when out. One of those ones you have to sign for.)

3. Pick up Charity from school. Then we did the library and playground.

4. And finally (or that's what I thought!), go to bank and pick up Sears pictures.

I couldn't believe he wanted to go out again. But then he reminded me that he'd been home all day. Oh, really!?!?! Well, I wouldn't know because all I've done all day is run!!

So once I got my body peeled off the sofa, we head to Bicentennial to see if the water fountains were going. Nope! Poor Charity. That's the 2nd time that's happened. I suggested the "Dragon" park (Fannie Mae Dees on Blakemore). Charity was all for that! Yipppeeee! And they even had a water sprayer!!

Above: Bad pic . . . but Charity in the spray.
Above: The sun is making for a fun photo night. That's Charity, nearly upside down swinging!

Above: Dave, trying to look inconspicuous sitting next to a lady with no shirt on! :p
Above: Pretty flowers I found, playing with my camera, while trying to keep myself awake!

So I got out for the 5th time today. Charity played at her 3rd playground of the day, counting school, library and the "Dragon" park, and Dave, well, he had a nice night out with his tired, worn out girls!

Public vs. Private

Well man! Life has been just rough. No job still and we're not sure what we're going to do as far as where Charity's going to Kindergarten. Some days I get so frustrated with the decision making process, I just want to keep her home or homeschool her. I honestly think this is one of the hardest decision I've ever made.

Do I take on a full-time career and send her to private, Christian school were it seems the education will be better? Or do I work minimum hours, be home when she gets home from school, not sacrifice time I could be spending with her and send her to free public school? I've thought several times I need to do a MySpace poll and see what my friends and family thinks, but then I think, this is something I have to work out in my head and heart.

Today I called Gower (the public school we're zoned for) and got some information. Not too helpful. 670 kids, K-4th grade. 7 Kindergartens. 1 teacher to 18-20 students. We won't meet the teacher until the first day. I did some online research and looks like in 2007 they we're below the state average on their testing scores. But I really don't know what all that means. Of course, what I know from Nashville is only word-of-mouth. But it has a completely different feel.

This has caused so much diversion in our family. I know Dave just doesn't want to "waste" the money. He has no problem sending her to Gower. And I very much have a problem sending her there, as well as sending her to Nashville Christian when he disagrees. Wow! The stress this has caused. I know at times in our marriage, I've thought it we can get through this, than we can get through anything. Well, here we are again. Completely on different sides. We've fasted and prayed. It's just pulling us apart and neither of us knows the right answer. We've asked God to show us clearly, but we've yet to see the writing on the wall.

I just can't wait until we're over this hurdle . . . out of this valley . . . onto the mountain top. I've decided I can take the valley, but I hate the valleys that effect my little Charity!

Too BIG!!

I wish Dave wouldn't keep getting Charity to sleep in our bed. Then I have to try and get the almost 40 lbs. girl into her bed. Not so easy. Poor thing, tonight I think she bumped her sleeping body on everything on the way from our bed to hers. I couldn't believe she was still sleeping when I lied her down in her bed.

I'm hoping the day comes sooner than later that she'll go to sleep by herself. But right now I think I've got enough going on with out attempting that major task!!

Good night!

The Real Party

With all yestereday's planned events we figured it would be too much for Charity to get her (few) presents on the same day. Not to mention, I couldn't let the occasion go by without her having a cake, so we decided we'd have a small family cake and presents party today. And then we figured we'd order pizza too! What's a party without pizza?!

Dave and Gramma kept Charity most of the morning while I ran out for the last few things to make the party complete. I had an amazing lucky shopping day and found everything I needed at the stores I visited! How often does that happen? Like, never!!

When I got home from my crazy errand running, Charity was a crabby mess. Dave tried to lie down with her for nap but she too interested in what Mommy was doing. So once I got her cake in the oven, I lied down with her and in 10 minutes she was napping! Yay! Now I could get everything set up!! (Believe me life isn't always this agreeable!!)

She had requested an Ariel party, but hadn't seen anything I had bought for it. Super surprise!! She also wanted an Ariel cake. Well, we didn't want a big cake . . . we don't want all those calories hanging around the house. And I hate those store bough cakes anyway (yucky!!) so I didn't have any luck finding a little cake or even one I thought would work. I ended up baking a strawberry cake and since I wanted pink frosting but wasn't sure she'd like strawberry frosting, I "colored" a container of Buttercream frosting pink! Like she even cares. Crazy mommy!! Then, as I frosted it, got this crazy idea to decorate it more than just the Ariel candle I found. I wrote "Happy Birthday Charity" on it and put blue sprinkles around area for the "water". It was by far one of the cheesiest things I've ever seen. But Charity was pretty impressed. I love her!! Maybe if the writing gel hadn't smudged it wouldn't have looked that bad!! Just maybe?!

She woke up from her little nappy just as I had finished wrapping her last present and was headed downstairs. I got her in her special Ariel birthday dress (I stayed up and made late Thursday night into early Friday morning) and we headed downstairs for the par-tey!!

Below: Charity's face upon seeing the decorated table and cake! :)

A little meltdown at some point during her party. But it's her party and she can cry if she wants to!It was a joyous time! Charity was so happy with the cake and all the Ariel deco! Gramma got her a Bratz doll that she wanted and another dress-up/do hair dolly, as well as some other trinkets. She received numerous cards from all the distant relatives with checks, cash and a $50 Wal*Mart gift card. Thank you, Nana! That's going to be so handy for all the upcoming school supplies we're going to needing. We got her a "Hannah Montana" outfit, that I had actually picked up a few weeks ago, before I knew she was so into her. I did pick up the "Hannah Montana" CD this morning while out running around. And the present she'll probably use the most is the Snow Cone Machine we got her. Ahhhh, this thing is going to save us so much money! The girl's addicted to snow cones! I think she had 3 tonight!! SUGAR, SUGAR!! But hey, what's a birthday for!?!?

Snow Cone = Happiness!

Libby Lu Du & Rain Forest Fun!!

Tonight was Charity's special birthday celebration. She opted to get her nails done and dinner at Rain Forest Cafe, rather than having all the friends over. Us parents were very cool with that!

We headed over to Opry Mills where it would all happened. I also remember today she had Build-A-Bear gift card that Aunt Karen had given her for Christmas that we haven't had a chance to use. So we took Beary with us to get a new outfit.

Charity @ Opry Mills with "Ariel" bear.

First stop was Club Libby Lu, where we got our name in and they told us to be back in 30 minutes. So next we headed over to Build-A-Bear, where Bearly got a bikini, Crocs and sunglasses! Too cute. Charity had such a hard time deciding what to get. I can't say I blame her, that stuff is so cute. Gramma picked out the bikini, complete with matching beach bag and towel, so Charity was all over that.

Then back to Libby Lu for the "makeover". Charity choose the "Hannah Montana". Instead of having her hair done, she got, yet, another wig. Her daddy was so sad and tried to convince her to have her hair done. But there was no convincing, this girl love long hair and wanted that wig!! It was such a fun experience for her. First her nails, in purple with pink sparkles, and then the wig and then the lipgloss and face sparkles. She sat there so quite and shy, but you could tell she was just lovin' it. Especially walking through the mall! One nice lady even asked for her autograph! All the little girls were pointing!

First the nails:

I like this picture of two Charitys! She's so beautiful!

The wig and the crown:Finally the lips:Daddy ~ Enduring Club Libby Lu!!

Completed!

The New "Libby Lu'd" Charity with Mommy

Shopping through the mall with her new look!

Finally dinner. I told Dave, if we ever want to go out for a nice, peaceful dinner we need to go to Rain Forest Cafe, because I never seen Charity so quite while we are eating out. There is so much to check out there, she constantly spotting something new, but in a nice quite, observant way. It was amazing. They even had a special Arctic Blast Icee for dessert. Icee's are her favorite. So that big, cold treat was the perfect ending to her night!

Daddy, Gramma & Hannah ready for dinner!! The Girls in the Rain Forest

A Big Hug for Dad!

The super big, surprise ICEE!!

"Hannah" and Gramma!

A very worn out, but happy little Charity on the way home.

I knew it was a hit birthday celebration when she asked it we could do it everyday! I suggested, "Maybe next year." That seemed to work for her!

My 5 Favorite Things

Can't believe it was 5 years ago today that you came into the world, a little after 4 in the morning. So on your special day I will list my five favorite things about you:

1. You are 100% girl! Princess dresses and all.

2. You, even at five, know when someone needs a hug.

3. Thankfully you still like cuddling your Mommy & Daddy.

4. You've got a short attention span, making you not a good TV watcher. I love that!

5. Don't know why, but God blessed me to be your Mommy!! (My Favoritist!!)

Charity, I love you! Happy 5th Birthday!!

Introducing Ethal II

In celebration of Charity's last day being four we decided we'd go get a Ed his new friend. Of course after being distracted by all the kitties, dogs, gerbils and all the other creepy, crawly things, we made our ways to the box of crabs.

Here is Charity with her new crab! I guess her name's going to Ethal, too, II!! She's huge.


Here's Ethal II exploring her new home. Her little friend is just ignoring her. But later this evening, I think he's getting pretty upset. She may be a little big for the box. She's really stirring things up in there!!

Still Awake

Yep, I'm still up and I have an interview tomorrow, well today actually. Not sure how good all this is going to go. Hope they're looking to hire a zombie!

I guess I can take a nap in the afternoon. Zippee for naps!!

So Goes the Battle

I'm such a ninny. So I had Charity all psyched about the Free Movie Wednesday and she's been wanting to watch "A Night in the Museum" scheduled for today in Bellevue. So what do I do, go and schedule my Edward Jones phone interview for 11 am today. NINNY!!!

Thank God for Gramma!! She said if she really wants to go, I'll take her. And since it starts at 10 and Charity isn't usually up at this hour, but she was today, it worked out perfect. Her and Gramma have been out all day, I'm sure they're having loads of fun!

I successfully made it through my first interview, be it a phone interview. And Mr. Financial Advisor has already called me for my actual interview at the branch tomorrow at 10. Fun. Would like to work for this company, don't think this Edmondson Pike location is going to work out for me though. We'll see.

Also, had another good phone conversation for a part-time position with a CPA in Bellevue. But that would mean public school. Hummm . . .

It's decision time and my head's going to be spinning. But I know God's going to work it all out. It just hurts in the meantime.

Don't be Mean to Ed!

I was scolded today. Charity told me don't ever talk to Ed like that again. She was referring to how I told him he should be ashamed of himself for eating Ethal last night. She said I was being mean. Since we tried to not make an any bigger deal of the whole situation than I already had, we didn't explain all the details to Charity. So this morning after she reprimanded me, I explained that I only did it because I thought Ed was eating Ethal. She turned a little green and said, "No, Mom. He was just kissing her."

Oh, so sad.

Anyway, I promised Charity I wouldn't yell at Ed like that anymore (as long as he isn't a cannibal anymore)!!!

R.I.P Ethal the Hermit Crab

Ummm, I wish we would have been warned that when one hermit crab dies the other that lives on will decide to turn the dead one into a snack.

Yuck, yuck, yucky!!!

Such was what we found upon arriving home for church this evening. Actually Charity discovered it first. "Look! Ed is sitting on top of Ethal!"

"Oh wow! How neat!" I said, before leaning in for a closer look.

That's when I yelled out, "She is dead!" Probably had I not had such a reaction Charity wouldn't have burst forth in uncontrollable sobs. But it was just nasty and I didn't even get a good look, I could just tell it was gross.

The crazy thing is, Charity told me a couple days ago something wrong with Ethal, we need to take her to the doctor. I didn't pay too much attention to her, looked at Ethel and since I don't like to look at them a whole lot, didn't notice anything too strange, and went about my business. She was in the exact same position and place as when Charity said that. She she was probably already dead that day! Note to self: pay more attention to what daughter says. Believe it or not she knows what she's talking about!!

As Dave got right into cleaning up the "Ethal remains", I consoled Charity explaining to her that everything and everyone will die someday. It didn't take her too long to calm down, because I reminded her of the rule she made when she got her crabs. She decided that when they die, she would get a puppy. And then Dad reminded us how allergic Gramma is to puppies and the rule didn't apply because Ed was still alive.

So we decided we would get Ed another friend this week. And I think Charity was over it quicker than Dave and I were! They are the only pets we've ever had and you'd be surprised how attached you can get to an ugly, little hermit crab!

A rare day . . .

I threw a batch of No-Bake Cookies together this morning. So today's accomplishments included a whole lot of vegging in front of my laptop (back blogging, applying for jobs, and building Smileboxes) and eating cookies.

Sometimes you just needs a down day. At least they're mostly oatmeal . . . right?!?!

Cheekwood & Church Camp

Today Charity and I had a super, fun day at Cheekwood Gardens with Allison, Sophie and Jaden. We got there around 9:30 am and stayed until sometime in the afternoon, right before the second round of thunder showers.

Cheekwood really is a beautiful place, with amazing views of Nashville. They have a little summer segment going on called, "Happily Ever After". We got a backpack of fun activities and headed to each exhibit to do the the suggested activity.

I know Allison probably got some awesome pictures, as the whole place is just picturesque. I took a lot, but none too good.

Here's some from each of the stories:
3 Little Pigs

The Princess and the Pea

Little Red Ridging Hood

3 Billy Goats Gruff

The Sword in the Stone

After . . . Rumpelstiltskin (didn't get any pictures at this exhibit)
"Where to next, Sophie?"

Rapunzel

Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves

Then tonight we're head to Church Camp at the World Baptist Center. Can't wait. I always look forward to Church Camp!!