My New Vehicle!

I told you yesterday that we had two new vehicles. Hubs found a "cute" '83 Mustang, which is making Hubs pretty sad right now. (Tell you about that in a minute!) Well, MY new vehicle is a very old (but free!) stationary bike for me to get some aerobic exercise on! I am very happy & excited about it. I love doing my yoga work-out but my fitness fanatic friends keep bugging me that yoga is not enough to get my heart pumping, which is what I need right now.This is my view when I use the bike in the backyard, nice huh? I just got it last night & used it this morning before it got too hot & I think I'll be able to stick with this. Hope so anyway! I would love to figure out a way to read a book while on it, that would help time go faster. I know it is pretty old fashioned & clunky compared to what are in the gyms now but it was free & I don't do gyms. If I get too bored I will repeat my mantra: swimsuit - swimsuit - swimsuit! Ha!

Regarding hubs bad news on his "new" Mustang, he took it in to be smog tested this morning & it has a "cam" or "kam", I obviously don't know what that is. But it will not meet smog requirements around here & it would take a ridiculous amount of money to get it to street legal! So sad! So he is going to have to sell it. He is now in mourning because he bought this thing 3 months ago & it has been at a friends house being worked on all this time & Hubs has been happily buying stock radio, dash covers, gear shift knob, etc. for weeks now. We just got it brought to our house 2 days ago. I really feel bad for him. We have 1 car & 1 motorcycle, so a 2nd car is needed & we thought it would be cool to have a "cool" 2nd car.

Actually, he loves the "hunt" just as much as the purchase, so he'll be ready to continue searching for the right 2nd car before the week end is over, I bet. But to say that to him at this moment would be like telling someone whose dog just died that they can easily replace it! :0 I'm just going to smile sadly at him & let him get there on his own.

Two New Vehicles!!

Now isn't that a beauty? My Hubs found this 1983 Mustang on Craigs list & got it really cheap! He is having so much fun working on it & I think it is adorable. For some reason he does not like when I say it is cute. He says that "cute" is not the look he was going for & not a good description of an amazing Mustang! Whatever! I think it's pretty cute.

My title up there says "Two New Vehicles" and tomorrow I will show you a picture of MY new vehicle, not so cute but very helpful...hopefully. No more hints, you'll have to wait till I get a good pic of it ok.

We are in our last 2 weeks of school & getting real busy with Graduation plans & parties. I am also loving the mailbox as I see new applications arrive for Fall 2009! It's like Christmas to me when I see a big envelope in my box at work, the receptionist thinks I'm crazy when she hears me let out a "woo-whoo!" each time. Ha! New lives, new issues, new wonderful relationships, new dramas. I love it all! (Most days!)

One of my students just sent me this pic of some of our students with some of the young people in the Philippines before we said "good-bye". I live a blessed life!

Toddlers/Teens

I heard a speaker today say:

"The only difference between

toddlers and teens is

body hair."

Mr. Bunnies' Sad Life

Let me send out a warning to all mother's who are about to enter the stage of life called "parents of grown children". WARNING: Do not expect your gifts to be cherished as much as you would cherish a gift from them!

For Easter I got a little mushy & gave my two sons a repeat of their favorite childhood Easter toys, go here to re-live the occasion. They totally reacted exactly how I wanted & they both thought it was a kick to see the same silly bunnies they got so much fun out of years ago!

But, as you can see, my special gift was found in this sad state the very next day in 22 year old Rocker Son's room. Of course I do not expect such a goofy joke present to be put on the dashboard of his car or anything, but c'mon! This is just painful to see! As you look at the condition of his bedroom you may wonder that I can call him "grown", because clearly there is still some major "growing" needed in the hygene & civilized living category! ( I do not enter his room often, it distresses me too much for several days afterwards!) Are girls this bad? I cannot see his floor most of the time & have no idea how he keeps track of what clothes are dirty & what is clean. He does do his own laundry & feeds himself & holds a job, so I have not failed completely. But, I could not live in this mess for 5 minutes & must keep his door closed so I don't have to see the mess as I go down the hall to my room.

ANYWAY! Poor little Mr. Bunny is still laying there face down in a pile of junk & my older Writer Son left his in my kitchen. Still, it was fun for the moment's reaction on Easter. Have I always used gifts from MY mom in the way she expected? um, no! I have things in my closet that just never quite worked for me, so I will forgive my men and be super-thankful that my Hubs knows me well enough to give me a huge Kohl's gift card for Mother's Day!! Oh yes!

Mother's Day Barbie!

I am pretty much out of the loop when it comes to the latest Barbie dolls on the market. I have two grown sons, so every Christmas I usually choose a girls’ name from a charity Christmas tree that gives me an excuse to buy a Barbie & some fun accessories for a deserving little girl in our community! That is my only link to Barbie, until I become a grandmother anyway!

But, in honor of Mother’s Day I am wondering if these ideas have been used in the last 50 years of Barbie-dom. Has there ever been an edition of Pregnant Barbie? She could waddle her way into her dream home & there would be a whole new array of maternity clothes for her. They could sell that special cream you put on your belly to prevent stretch marks & her feet could slowly swell until she had to always wear slippers every where she went. You could buy pickle flavored ice cream & Skipper & her friends could give her a baby shower! Little girls could learn how the body changes shape & hear the first heartbeat with a tiny little sonogram machine. She may have a hidden button you push that makes her water break all over her maternity jeans with the stretchy panel in the front.
The next purchase would have to be Mommy Barbie, who comes with a perfect baby & a car-seat for the pink convertible! For a little extra you could buy the super deluxe stroller that turns into a playpen or baby pool. Since the stretch mark cream never really works, she would definitely have them all over the place. Some extra accessories may be a breast pump & one of those cool baby wraps that keep the baby close to mommies’ heart all the time. A baby monitor is a must, along with baby clothes & all new transition clothes for Mommy Barbie while she slowly loses the baby weight over the next 5 years.

Oh man, this just opens up a whole new world for her! There could be Soccer Mom Barbie, Carpool Barbie, Hire- A- Nanny Barbie, Single Mom Barbie, Mommy-Blog Barbie! There is no end of great ideas & opportunities out there! Of course, maybe there already is a Mommy Barbie, like I said; I am way out of the loop on this stuff. But I will bet you there is not a……

Menopause Barbie!! I mean, she IS fifty years old now folks! She would come with an assortment of tiny fans, both manual & electric. Her face would unexpectedly turn several shades of red & pink without warning & beads of sweat would roll down her face & back in the middle of important work meetings. She would come with several pairs of light weight pajamas to change into through the night as the night sweats hit her. She would also need an ID bracelet to help her remember her name & maybe a special beeper to help her find her convertible in the parking lot! Of course she must have a treadmill & stationary bike or at least a gym membership to get rid of that new tummy fat that just won’t budge! And a dermatologist friend who can help her with the unsightly facial hair that sneaks up on her, poor thing. At least now she doesn’t have to worry about contraception….um no, I’m not gonna go there!

Prophetic Words Can be Wrong

Let me introduce you to Jubilee & her daughter Sarah Grace. They are the center of a funny story about a prophetic word gone wrong. Last year when we were in her hometown in the Philippines she came up to me during a prayer time in her church. She spoke little english so just pointed to her lower stomach & asked me to pray for her stomach pain. As I began to pray, her friend told me that Jubilee was pregnant & worried about her baby. So I gently placed my hand on her tummy & asked God to heal her & her baby. It jumped under my hand! I laughed & said that the baby likes to be prayed for. Jubilees' eyes got super big & she looked shocked & surprised. I asked why she was so surprised & her friend said that the baby had not moved for a few days & the pain she was feeling made her feel it may not be alive!

A few days later we were in her meager home as she proudly showed us her treasured belongings & talked to us about her baby girl that was on the way. After visiting for a little while, one of our fellow teachers came in & offered to pray for her & her family. He began to pray for Jubilee & then began to speak about the strong & courageous son she was going to have. My friend & I looked at each other & shrugged our shoulders, wondering what that was all about. He also said that the new son would someday go to China & be very powerful, at that point Jubilee interrupted him & said, "No China, go to America!" Ha!

After the prayer I asked Jubilee if she had seen a doctor that told her the baby was a girl. She said no, but she already had 2 boys & she wanted a girl & it is a girl! Then she pointed to the big bed in the room, obviously the bed she shared with her husband & it had a pink chenile bedspread on it! Family planning, I guess! Ha!

As you can see, she had a gorgeous baby girl the following September & she is a very happy mama! And yes, we did tease our fellow teacher about his totally "right on" prophetic word!

This pic is evidence that you are NEVER too old for a fun treehouse lunch break!

Stinky Butt

Do you want to hear a funny kid story? I don't write too many of those anymore because with full grown men as sons, the funny stories tend to be more about things like the cops coming to their apartment because of their new "Surround Sound" that works really, really well!

Anyway, this story is about Rocker Son who was a little bit older than he is in the photo above. He and Daddy were pretend wrestling on the living room floor one evening and Daddy percieved that toddler Rocker Son may not have wiped his bottom good enough after the last potty break. So Dad sent RS to the bathroom & told him to do a better job of cleaning himself up.

Toddler Rocker son was so embarrassed it made him really angry & he stomped off muttering to himself as he closed the bathroom door behind him. I could hear him in there talking away so I crept closer to the door so I could eavesdrop a bit.
This is what I heard,

"Wipe, wipe, wipe! I bet we don't have to wipe
in Heaven!!"

I Amaze Myself!

After all I saw on my trip,

I STILL got really ANNOYED the first morning home,

that I had to share my bathroom SINK

with my husband!

CRAZY HUMAN!

HA!

:)

The design up there is

just to mess with you a bit.

Is it moving?

Philippine Facebook Albums

Is it possible to create a link from here to my Photo Albums on Facebook? I will try, go here to see all my Philippines pics & the captions will tell what we were doing there a bit. My body is still kinda confused & wanting to sleep at the wrong times. Last night at 10pm I was Instant Messaged by one of the teens in the Philippines & it was 1:00 in the afternoon there, of the following day! crazy huh?

Today in school we shared our stories of the trip & all are amazed at what a difference a small handful of people can make. We all had about 8 or 10 new friend requests on our facebooks, from the Philippines! Fun!

In bullet point form, here is what we did from April 22 - May 2, 2009

• Sat. 3pm - Arrive & taken to hotel in Bacolod.



• 6:30pm - Meet & Greet Dinner with Filipino church. (Arrived in pitch dark due to a 7 hr blackout that only ended once we all sat down to eat!)



• Sunday morning - Half the students worked with kids outside while other half spoke in adult service. Very fun & casual.



• 2pm - 5pm - Students gave prophetic words to local church leaders. Very encouraging & spot on. (During this slot, the other female leader & I slipped away to get wonderful massages! Heehee!) o yes.



• Monday 8:30am - Noon - Painted local church building.



• 3pm - 6pm - Taken to first slum area. 1 team entertained & blessed the kids while another team went door to door offering to pray for people. I got brave enough to lead the prayer teams on both days & I was able to pray for 3 women with arthritis who were immediately healed right under my own hands. I saw it & felt it & was rewarded with a few thankful kisses after they finished jumping up & down & flexing their arms & fingers!!!! Ha!



• Tuesday 9am - 10:30am - All teams met together to share stories & celebrate!



• 10:30 - 11:45 -Teams went "Treasure Hunting". They pray & ask God who He wants to speak to in the surrounding area. They write down whatever comes to mind, ie: red shirt, sore arm, umbrella lady, etc.. Then they went out & found these people & believe it or not it works! They saw many healings every time they went out & the people were blessed to see themselves on the little peice of paper! Students love doing this.



• 3pm - 5:30pm - Second slum/squater area. I got to experience seeing a lethargic baby seem to "wake up" while I prayed for her! More later..



• 6pm - Amazing dinner in a great seafood place where you choose the fish yourself.



• Wednesday 9am - Noon - treasure Hunting again.



• 2pm - 4pm Attended a graduation ceremony for foundation that the Filipino church runs for the slum & other kids in area. Beautiful to see them blossom with care & educational assistance!



• 5pm - 9pm Cultural Exchange evening. The students were divided into groups of 2 or 3 & sent home with Filipino families to help prepare dinner & compare lives. Life-long bonds were made in this time. Brought back to hotel by 10pm.



• Thursday was recreation day! - So fun! went to a wonderful swim area that is a natural spring, totally beautiful & jungle surrounded. Water buffalo grazing & working along side the area. Students organized a spontaneous water baptism for those who wanted it.



• Friday - Free morning to pack & rest for evening.



• 3pm - 6pm set up for youth rally that night. Hand out fliers, bands practice, prepare food.



• 6pm - 9pm - Youth rally with several churches and invited people attending. noisy, wild, fun.



• Saturday 4AM! - check out & head to airport.



• Arrive home about 19 hours later but it is 1pm Saturday!! Very confusing!

PS. The link to Facebook did not work. Not sure how to let you see the pics.

Home from the Philippines

Hi Gang! It's good to be home from our 10 day trip to the Philippines

with our students. Here I am sailing along the crazy streets of Bacolod in one of these babies!

They call these trikes & they are a mass transit of sorts. They fit as
many people on as possible. Ours was a light load of SEVEN people
plus the driver!! We were cracking up!
I will be back to write more once my body catches up with the time difference. Taking three airplanes to get where you are going really goofs
up the inner clock!
Here are some of the beauties that this trip was really all about.
I'll write about them soon, friends!

Come Ride With Me!

Want to go for a fun motorcycle ride? And you won't have to wear a hot & itchy helmet , lucky you! We took this ride today around 6pm after a 93 degree day. It's so nice to ride in the country on a hot day because it's much cooler out there. The blossoming trees smelled so wonderful too! (You ought to turn the sound off though, it's only loud wind)
Hang on tight!

Sunday Stealing

Cheers to all us thieves!
Sunday Stealing: The 40 Meme
OK my idea of doing something wild & crazy is that I am doing this meme without even reading ALL the questions before I begin to see if I want to!! Woo-hoo! Here goes one wild lady!
To play go HERE.
1. My uncle once :Embarrassed me in front of the whole family reunion when as a young wife I wore some big red earrings, by saying, "Wow, couldn't you find anything redder?" It doesn't sound very mean but it was. He was an ultra conservative church guy who thought that make-up, etc, was evil. So sad to actually think a COLOR is evil! Sad, sad life.

2. Never in my life : Have I broken a bone. I was hit in the face by the full swing of a baseball bat once, which made me pass out & wake up with a bloody nose & two black eyes, but nothing broken.

3. When I was seventeen : I met my future husband but did not like him, in fact I disliked him a lot. Things change! :)

4. High School was : Hard, uncomfortable, boring, intimidating and a good thing to be done with.

5. I will never forget : Holding my firstborn son for the first time 26 years ago. He was 3 weeks early & we had not set up his room or bought me some nice jammies for the hospital so Hubs had to do it while I was in the hospital.

6. I once met : The High Chief of a remote island village in Fiji. We had to offer him a special gift of an animal to be allowed to be on his island! He was very kind, gentle & powerful.

7. There’s this girl I know who : I would love to have for a daughter-in-law, but I cannot say a word to my son cause that would be messing with his mind & heart & I will not ever do that! It's so hard though!!

8. Once, at a bar : Today I was at a brownie bar & I was able to say "No thanks, I'm driving!".

9. By noon, I’m usually : Ready to sit down & think about all that happened that morning at work.

10. Last night : I had chips & dip for dinner while watching TV & web surfing. Very bad girl!

11. If only I had : Realized that chips & dip do not contain anything essential to my body. Actually, I did realize it but totally ignored the realization.

12. Next time I go to gym/church : Don't have a gym membership so: Next time I go to church it will be in the Philippines & I will be up front praying for people! yikes!

13. Susan Boyle : Has surprised all of society, especially Hollywood because they all think that beauty is more important than anything. Yay for you Susan! Crazy that we all know her name, isn't it?

14. What worries me most : I seem to have pretty much forgotten how to worry. Seriously. Worry = Meditation on a a negative outcome that may never happen.

15. When I turn my head left, I see : An antique dresser that used to be chartreuse green until I stripped it & now it is beautiful & holds our music system.

16. When I turn my head right, I see : Our fireplace & the small fan that is blowing on me right now because it is a wonderful 93 degrees out today! Love it!

17. You know I’m lying when : My face turns bright red, but it does that often now since I have entered the lovely menopause season of life! So who knows when I am lying now?

18. What I miss most about the eighties : My sons were little boys & I could have had more fun with them than I did.

19. If I was a character in Shakespeare, I’d be : Someone who changes her personality late in life.

20. By this time next year : I'll be eligible or the Senior Discount at Ross stores!! yay!

21. A better name for me would be : I actually like my name now but for many years I did not like it & I went by my middle name because it sounded less powerful & I felt less powerful.

22. I have a hard time understanding : Insurance coverage.

23. If I ever go back to school, I’ll : Go after a journalism education.

24. You know I like you if : I tease you.

25. If I ever won an award, the first person I’d thank would be : My Hubs, he thinks I'm pretty great.

26. When I compare 80’s rock to 90’s rock :I would choose the 90's every time.

27. Take my advice, never : Eat the fish eyeballs in the Philippines! Even though it is considered impolite to refuse the delicacy.... or just swallow them whole. Shudder!

28. My ideal breakfast is : fruit, cheese, muffin & coffee!

29. A song I love, but do not own is : "A Kiss is Just a Kiss". It probably has another title but....

30. If you visit my hometown, I suggest : Don't plan on doing any clothes shopping unless it's for over-alls at the farm supply store. Happily, we are only 8 miles from a larger city with tons of shopping alternatives!

31. My favorite Beatle is : John, loved the glasses & humor.

32. Why won’t people : Believe how wonderful they are?

33. If you spend the night at my house : You'd need earplugs like mine because Hubs is quite noisy all night long. But I really do not complain now that I have friends who have lost their husbands & would love to hear some good old snoring in their beds.

34. I’d stop my wedding for : What? That was so long ago & so blurry. Oh, I know, I'd stop it to get some white or egg-shell colored shirts for the groom & groomsmen instead of PINK to go with the MAROON tuxes! Yikes, I'd also nix the maroon tuxes while I'm at it! Horrors, what did my mom push me into? It was the 70's people!

35. The world could do without : Maroon tuxes!!

36. I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than : Please help me erase this picture from my brain, oh man, cannot answer that one.....!

37. My favorite blonde is : I have 2 of them: Hubs & Writer Son. Yes, I can so have TWO favorites if I want to!

38: Paper clips are more useful than : Gum for holding papers together. At least if you want to appear at all professional at work!

39. If I do anything well, it’s : Encourage people. And I commend you Dear Reader, for getting this far...you are a truly amazing & wonderful person in all aspects of your life!! (Pretty good huh?)

40. And by the way : This meme was honka long! But fun!

Why Oh Why?

Oh man, I lost another
"Follower"!
I'm trying not to take it personally.........:(

Why I Love California!!

I had breakfast with the bunnies the morning after Easter! Aren't they cute? I guess I'll just have to take Writer Son's to him at work because I'm sure he could not have meant to leave it behind! Ha!

Why do I love California? OK, I'll tell you why. Because of days like today! And there are a lot of days like today! It's the middle of April & the temp today was 82 degrees with the weather man predicting 92 for the next 2 days!! Woo-hoo! Love it! Today we did what everyone does on the first gorgeous day of the season, we went to Lowes & Home Depot. It was packed with smiling Moms & Dads pushing huge carts of flowers & yard supplies out to their cars & SUVs. Here are the indestructible flowers that I always get, aren't they pretty?

As we buckled up in the car my Hubs mentions that our timing may have been a bit off in getting these flowers right before we are gone from home for 10 days. Oh yah, forgot about that!

Oops! We do things so carefully. And, no, don't suggest that Rocker Son will remember to water for us, not even going to ask him. I'll just put the flower pots in the shade & hope for the best. The last I heard, he is going to be in Las Vegas with some buddies for most of the time we are gone which is good because I have heard some really scary stories about what happens in my home on our annual trips away. I don't even tell him the exact dates of our return so that he has to assume we are coming at any moment. Smart mom!

Here are my poor neglected rose bushes & the honey-suckle or jasmine under my kitchen window, I get them mixed up. Whatever it is, it smells totally wonderful! Gardener, I am not! But I also added some colorful gardenias to our front planter & I am hoping that I put them in thick enough that the neighborhoods cats will stop using my front yard as the communal bathroom! I sprinkled pepper in the dirt, any other ideas out there?

Our not-too-friendly cat, Tony was a little annoyed that I dared to be outside without food in my hands while I was taking these pics. I will translate that look: "Get up off your butt & scoop me up some of that boring dry food you insist on buying for me!" So, I did as he demanded because his nails are longer than mine.

So, there you have a typical day off in wonderful, sunny Cali! Thinking of buying one of those plastic kiddie pools at Walmart for myself! No grandkids yet, but gotta practice somehow, right?

Next Week's Adventure!

One week from today I will be in Bacolod, Philippines. Actually I will be spending the first night in Manila on our way to Bacolod! Yay, I can add another exotic place to my "never thought it could happen to me" travel stories! It feels surreal to be able to be in these wonderfully different cultures all around the world. I did not grow up in a traveling family. We had money for camping vacations here in California & that was it. I did not go to Hawaii until the money for it was left to us in a friend's will after I was married.

So today I am gathering the things I will need: very light but modest shirts & pants, flip-flops & one pair of covered shoes for the slum areas we will be in. A bottle of bug repellent with Deet. Hand sanitizer, lots of little pacs of kleenex because most bathrooms do not provide toilet paper & if they do it is old newspapers etc. Umm no thanks! I'll buy water as soon as we get there because we cannot drink one drop of their water even for brushing teeth. Cannot order ice in restaurants for the same reason. No coats is needed just something light for the airplane which we will be in for about 16 hours! Blow-up neck pillow is good for the flight also.

The weather is EXTREMELY hot & humid. It sorta feels like a bathroom with the hot shower on, constantly! Thus, no make-up because it just melts off before you even get out to the street from your room. Lot's of headbands & barrettes for the hair. I am trying to get myself psyched up for this part of the trip. I am an over 50 woman who will be traveling with 25 young twenty-somethings who look totally adorable without make-up or hair products! Even the confession that this is an issue with me is embarrassing because, after all,I am going a trillion miles away from home to do God-stuff for people ya know? ..........Uh-oh I feel a major load of "should" headed my way!! Ha! For instance:
*I really shouldn't care what I LOOK like while in a country to help others.
*I shouldn't want to look good in the millions of pics that will be posted on
Face Book by our students!
*I should get over the fact that no product on earth is strong enough to
keep my hair from being plastered flat to my skull due to the
humidity.

OK, I am over my "shoulding" on myself for now. Oh yeah, must add head scarfs to the list, that may help. Anyway back to where I began this post. As a couple, we still cannot afford to do these trips but we are extremely blessed & fortunate to be the leaders of a school that goes on yearly mission trips & the large amount of airline tickets that are purchased come with a dividend of two free tickets, so we are always allowed to go for free! Amazing huh? Told you I was blessed! And I know, a blessed person like this certainly shouldn't be complaining about a silly thing like make-up & hair! I know!

Hubs & I & two other leaders will be overseeing all the activities on this trip, and it's a busy one. We like to keep the students pretty busy with just enough down time to relax a bit before the next adventure. On this trip to Bacolod we will be leading the local church Sunday service, then praying for the pastors of the community one by one. We will also be doing a huge Youth Night at the end of the week. Some of our other activities will be taking food & toys into the slum neighborhoods outside of town. We are bringing in art supplies to do face-painting, chalk drawing etc. to entertain the kids while others go shack to shack offering to pray for people. We always see a lot of physical healings on these trips. The locals begin to bring people to us once they see a friend get healed right before their eyes! It's pretty awesome, & I use that word in it's correct meaning!

The students will be painting a church & clearing a lot for a new building of some kind. They will also go to the local shopping centers & pray for people. We have a cultural exchange day planned where the students will be assigned to different homes to spend the day & help prepare the evening meal! Some of our technically gifted guys will be in a recording studio helping the local musicians record their original music! We try to do this every where we go because it is so frustrating to go to another country & hear them singing American worship songs instead of their own native creations. They often have been taught by well-meaning American missionaries that their own native instruments are evil & belong to the past, but we believe that all instruments can be used in a beautiful & pure way, even the drums that their ancestors used to call up the devil etc. It is a lovely thing to hear them create wonderful music in their own language & indigenous instruments for the first time! I've seen it happen in China, Fiji & the Philippines so far! Wow, I have an amazing life when I stop & describe it! Crazy!

Last year a couple of the ladies who went began to quietly take a few of the little street kids to the local McDonald's each morning for breakfast. They also bought some salve for their leg sores. By the end of the week they were feeding about 30 kids! The poverty is overwhelming. Two of our former students now live there & have created a foundation that is providing college scholarships for the young people. They also have formed a company that is teaching the slum families how to run a small business using the skills they already have, that will pull them out of their life-style. I am so proud of these students & the huge difference they are making in our world. Talk about Validation!

There is a truly gross Internet cafe right in the same building as our hotel so I will be posting stuff on our school site & may even make it over to here once or twice. Last year I sat there in my flip-flops typing away & a sweet lady came over to me with a dust pan & reached down right next to my foot & scooped up a huge cockroach, at least 4 inches long! Yah, not lying! Covered shoes in the Internet cafe, note to self! Ha! So off I go on another adventure, this safe, quiet & sheltered 54 year old is on the move again!

Missing Element?

I was reading over the Easter posts that I have written in the last few days & I am wondering if anyone noticed an important missing element in my post about being a PW on Easter? Immediately after posting it I saw the missing piece & decided that I would write about it after the holiday was over.

I talked (maybe whined) about how busy a pastors wife is on christian holidays & described all that I accomplished on a typical Easter Sunday morning in a small church. The piece you may have noticed missing was the sense of spiritual inspiration one should find on such an important Christian celebration. I will tell you now that I truly did have moments of solemn contemplation & huge exalting joy in these special seasons.........but they seldom happened in church.

I learned as a young mom raising a couple of busy boys that the church building or sanctuary was definitely NOT going to be my main place of connecting with God. If it was, then I was in some big TROUBLE! Praising God & threatening kids do not go well together even though I did try it for quite a while. I eventually accepted that my good times with God were going to happen in my own home while the boys were napping or at school. Our sanctuary times together became less stressful when I saw the time as family time to sing the fun songs, do some coloring, eat some non-messy snacks & maybe do a little cuddling while we listen to Daddy tell people how wonderful God is.

What I am realizing now is that in reality NO ONE should see their time in the actual church building as their MAIN or only source of enjoying the presence of God. In fact, I believe, that is pretty much what the Pharisees of old did, & umm it was highly frowned upon! Our times of gathering are to celebrate what we have been enjoying all week long on our own. That's how I see church anyway. Church is a place to REJOICE in how amazing God has been to us in our daily lives on the job or at school or in our families.

If we find ourselves depending on the sunday service for our strength to get through another week, somethings messed up. There is a wonderful synergy & corporate anticipation that gathering together ignites, & I think God loves to see us all together ready to enjoy Him as a group. But the one-on-one imtimate times are where the true conversations can happen that can change your life in an instant. My living room is my sanctuary & when my boys were little the bathroom sometimes became my emergency sanctuary!! "Help me God!" Ha! My blue & white chair at home is much more comfy than the church chairs anyway. And at the church my coffee cup has to have a lid on it!

I Did It!!

It is a little after 5pm on Easter Sunday, our windows are open to let in the fresh sunny air, the neighbor is mowing his lawn & I am relaxing here in my blue & white chair. The first photo you see there at the top is an intentional documentation that I have actually prepared & served a full meal in our own home on Easter. It's sort of a little Easter Miracle around here! Everyone who knows me is aware of my hatred of cooking in any form. I haven't really cooked in years. Hubs & I are on our own most of the time & we both work so we go out for a big lunch & then snack at night.

For some crazy reason this last week I suddenly had a huge desire to create our Easter dinner without going to a restaurant or our friends' houses which we usually do. My family has been in shock as I told them one by one what I wanted to do. Hubs kept asking me as he watched me pull out the "nice" dishes, etc., "Are you having fun?". He was waiting for & expecting the traditional meltdown as I freaked out about every little detail. But what do you know? It seems that I truly have changed in the last few years as I keep claiming I have. It was no big deal. I didn't worry or get stressed in any way at all, it was just fun to prepare for a special meal for my guys.

It was all yummy too! Tada! Writer Son does not live with us & Rocker Son only sleeps here (most nights!) so it was a treat for me to watch them together & listen to their own personal brotherly humor. After having cheesecake for dessert they are now at a movie & will be back for leftovers later tonight.
Last week Hubs & I were out shopping & he came across a toy that we had given our boys when they were little. It was a rubbery bunny rabbit with wire inside so you could pose them any way you wanted. Those bunnies lasted longer than just about any toy they had & we never knew where or how we would find them! Refrigerator, toilet, car, on top of the TV? They showed up unexpectedly all over the place! So last week we bought two more of them & I wrapped them around their dinner glasses. Writer Son saw his first & laughed & had kind of a nostalgic expression as he picked it up. Later, when Rocker Son came into the room & saw his, he let out a really loud whhoop, grabbed it & cracked up. "Oh man, I loved these guys!" he said. So funny. As a parent you never know if your funny idea will be deemed funny to your kids & it feels wonderful when it works! Ha! So here is one of our little rubber bunnies........
Now the dishes are done, boys are gone, Hubs is watching TV & I am very satisfied with myself this holiday. Most of you actually feed your families nice meals everyday, I know that, so this may appear pretty silly to get all misty about, but I am proud of me & my loving & gentle guys. I am a blessed woman! I even talked them into posing for a pic of us together!! What an amazing day!

Pics Don't Lie!

Happy Easter everyone! I've been hunting through my baskets of photos that really should be in albums of some kind. I was detirmined to find a nice collection of Easter pics of my sons through the years. The following pics are my favorites because they make me laugh!

This is my hubs holding Writer Son. Check out the expression on Hubs face! Not only does he personally dislike getting his pic taken but he also is not too happy about the outfit my mom bought for her first grandson to wear on Easter. ha! She loved buying him stuff to wear & I had a hard time saying no to her, which led to some interesting looks for that poor little boy. Now are you ready for the best one in my messy baskets? Keep in mind my last post about being so busy as a pastors wife on Easter morning.

As I look at Rocker Sons' face I am now thinking that maybe..... just maybe he may have picked up on my stress after all!! Ya think?

Easter As A PW

Happy Easter to you all & happy Spring to those who don't care for Easter! Tomorrow I may be able to post a few fun Easter pics of my boys through the years (so glad they don't read me!), but for today you can see me here being the calm big sister. I so loved those little white gloves!

The memories I am about to share took place many, many years after this photo was taken. Hit "Fast Forward" on your time machine with me OK? That sweet little girl up there grew up to be the very sweet wife of a pastor. Some of you who are involved in church life.....and there is really no such thing as being "a little bit involved", kinda like being a "little bit pregnant", when it comes to church life, you are either all the way in or not. If you volunteer for one thing, you will soon hear your phone ringing for about 50 million other things. Churches run on volunteer help, so if we see your timid little hand even slightly twitch during a planning meeting....ta da! YOU ARE IT! Yay you!

As I was saying, if you are involved in church life you have no doubt seen your pastors' wife standing next to her hubby after church greeting the people as they leave the service or warmly embracing several different people all over the sanctuary following a beautiful & inspiring Easter service. From a distance she looks so serene, cool & collected. You may even feel a twinge of jealousy as you recall your crazy, difficult morning getting your young family to the early sunrise service & then pulling the kids away from their Easter baskets in order to go to the special church celebration on time.

I was that calm, cool & collected pastors wife. I loved my life & chosen path, but I was jealous of you. Holidays were such crazy, hectic times that I now sometimes regret the energy & time I gave to making an event run perfectly, possibly to the slight neglect of my boys. Our years of Senior Pastoring were during the boys growth from 5 & 9 to about 15 & 19. Both Christmas & Easter were all about the church events, supplies, decorations, parties, gifts for the Board & teachers, Holiday Programs, community outreaches & on & on the list goes.

I loved Easter (still do!) & all it stood for. We decided that it should be as wonderful & full of life as Christmas, so we planned many special things for that one day each year. Our town, like many communities then, offered an Easter Sunrise Service where all the churches in town who could agree on at least one thing, got together to greet the rising sun with songs, scriptures & freezing people in the local park. So our church joined & took part in the planning of this once a year gathering. That meant dragging my two boys out of their cozy beds at crazy-dark-o'clock & bundling them up to go stand in wet, soggy grass for an hour.

Which brings me to another Easter observation! Easter is celebrated in the Spring so we all bought these silly, light-weight flimsy dresses & sandals & then found ourselves freezing most of the morning as we stood outside watching our kids hunt for Easter eggs. Well, consider the temperature at DAWN! I finally figured out that the early park function would not be at all compromised if I wore some warm pants....as long as I kept my dressy, long coat on over them! Ha! (I know....times have changed...yay!)

After the sunrise service I got my kiddos back home & packed up to return to the church for the annual pancake breakfast before the actual Easter service began. In between each of these jaunts my boys are running back to their sweet filled Easter baskets that they found at the foot of their beds when they woke up. The sugar rush is beginning to catch up with them later on when the real service is about to begin & the whole church is very quiet.

So, there I am, all dressed up & working in a tiny old-fashioned kitchen with an ugly apron over my pretty new spring dress. The boys are now sliding out of my sight whenever possible to do who knows what on the blackboards of the Sunday school classrooms. The fellowship hall of our little church was packed to over-flowing (literally) with happy, dressed-up families & many families who only came to church on this one Sunday each year. It was loud, fun & full of life, I loved it!

Towards the end of the breakfast time I would sneak into the crowd & quietly gather the teen-agers to put them to work hiding plastic-candy-filled Easter eggs all over the church lawns. A few of the ladies in the church & I had spent several hours earlier in the week stuffing these eggs with non-melting, paper wrapped candies. While the grown-ups were eating the breakfast we also somehow manged to get the little ones to decorate pastel colored paper lunch sacks to collect their eggs in.

Keep in mind that during all this activity I am also being the gracious & inviting hostess to new people who were being brought up to me for introductions all morning. Because we were a small church, I literally had my hands in on every single activity that happened. I am still working on learning to delegate! I'm sure it will not surprise you to hear that the beginning moments of the actual Easter Service were my first chance to sit down all morning & even though it was not easy to keep a couple of sugar wired boys in control, it was beautiful to sit & watch someone else, my hubs, take charge. For some reason we had decided that it was important for the kids to be in the service instead of going out to the kids service on that day! Of course it was probably ME that made that decision because I was the KIDS CHURCH director too! As I write this I have absolutely no idea how I did so much!

I don't believe my sons would say that they were cheated by this life. At least not in a huge degree, but I know that I feel like I may have robbed myself of enjoying them more rather than taking care of everyone else. We had wonderful Easter afternoons with my parents & sibs who lived an hour away. After church we changed into more comfy clothes & packed ourselves into the mini-van....hmm, I need to interrupt myself there & correct that statement. I changed into comfy clothes, but KEPT the boys in their nice outfits (such as they were by that point) so that Grandma could see how cute they looked. Ha! Sorry guys! I let them change after Grandma got her pictures taken of them! We got to watch the boys & their cousins do another egg hunt in Grandmas' yard & sit down to an amazing meal with tons of laughter & teasing. The drive home late that night would be a very quiet one as the boys snoozed with candy wrappers & plastic green grass in their hands. Actually I don't think I would change very much about those days if I had the chance.

Wordless Wednesday

My eldest holding his friends' son.

Exercise is Evil!

I really, really hate the

lizard

on my exercise video!!

A MEME ABOUT BLOGGING!

Sunday Stealing:Our Third Meme about blogging
I stole this from Coffee slut.
To Play go here.
1. How did you come up with your blog title or what does it mean?
Walking Butterfly refers to my realization that I have spent too many years dragging some huge & beautiful wings behind me, walking instead of flying. Like a gorgeous butterfly who has no clue that there are some amazing wings already on her back, stop waiting for them to grow!

2. What are your general goals for blogging?
Just expressing what I'm thinking, pondering, experiencing. Finding new friends has been an unexpected reward!

3. Do people “in your real life” know that you blog and do they comment on your blog OR is it largely anonymous?How often do you post (x per week)?
People in my "real life" may know that I do it but they do not have the address because I truly wanted it to be read by unknowns. Just more freedom that way.

4. How often do you read other blogs (x per week)?
Pretty much every evening instead of TV. Except for The Office & Amazing Race!


5. How do you select blogs to read (do you prefer blogs that focus on certain topics or do you choose by tone or…?)
By" tone" is a good way to describe my choices. I love, crave humor in all of lifes circumstances. Also...if you read me, I'll read you!!

6. Do you have any plans to copy your blog entries in any other format, 0r do you think that one day, you’ll just delete it all?
Hmm, I do save them in a file on my computer.

7. What are the things you like best about blogging?
New people & different life-styles, different parts of the world. I love getting on here & just yakking away, it feels good afterwards, and I love checking to see the comments after each post!

8. What are the things you don’t like about blogging?
Ha! I don't like being kept awake at night by blogging ideas that I may forget. I also have a problem getting to bed, just want to read one more blog before turning off the laptop!

9. How do you handle comments?
I love them! I had to set up the comment moniter thingy because it is the only way I know if I recieved any comments. (Don't want to be contacted through my email, I share it with Hubs & that would just give him too much info!)

10. Do you have any burning thoughts to share on blog etiquette?
Nope. I did recently lose a "Follower" & wish I could figure out who. (Don't know what I'd do about it though! Ha!)

11. Any desired blog features?
I don't like the change to the Followers Box on Blogger. Now I can't click on the faces & see their sites. frustrating!

12. Have you suffered blog addiction?
Oh yes! The dust in my house will attest to that!

Like?

Like my new photo up top?

It seems kind of strange to take off the Philippines

picture right when I am about to return there in about three weeks,

but I had been looking at it too long & wanted a change.

I also apologize for not providing a coffee cup for you,

so rude!!

Guess you'll have to make yourself at home &

find one for yourself in the cupboard to the left.

I love to sit here for my morning coffee.

The chair closest to you has it's back

to the kitchen so I can't see the crumbs under the stove

or the pancake fixing supplies from Rocker Son in the sink.

Can You Smell Them?

Here's what I love about nature........

I have pretty much ignored my rose bushes

for the last two years......

And still they offer up

such beautiful gifts as these to me!

Cause Linda Said To

As usual LINDA over at 2nd Cup of Coffee is always stirring (stirring? get it?) up trouble. She just can't let us blog along without a challenge or two or four!! Her latest, BESIDES THE EXERCISING ONE, is to have us post our baby pictures on April 1st, & here it is, the time as come to do such a silly, pointless thing for you all. But if Linda says it, then it MUST be done!! Ha!

BTW regarding that first pic...I'm STILL fighting the belly fat!

Thanks for keeping it exciting girl!

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ADDED 5 MINUTES AFTER POSTING: OOps, Linda did not start this, it was started at this site! That's what I get for trying to be all sassy-like!