Thursday, March 31, 2011
Something to think about....
I just read this as a status update on my friend Juliet's facebook page. I'm not sure if this is something she read or if this is a realization that God gave her but it is so real, so profound, I just had to share it. Thank you Juliet for a true "Reality Check".....
Oh, where is my HAIRBRUSH?.......
Have you heard that song? Its a classic. Circa 1997, VeggieTales, silly song classic.....Anyone?
Well, it was the first full sentence my little girl ever said all those years ago when she was just a little over a year old. We were walking through Wal-mart and she yells at the top of her lungs, "Oh where, oh where, oh wherrrrrrre, is my HAIRBRUSH!?
Anyway, I digress, this story is not about my daughter's first words but more about my hair. Has anyone out there noticed that as we get older, our hair is just not as....manageable as it was in our 20's or 30's? Well, I have definitely noticed in the last 8 months. You see, eight months ago a wonderful surgical oncologist asked a nurse or a surgical intern without a beauty school diploma to shave the right side of my head for surgery and he or she decided to not only shave the right side of my head, but to also chop a little hair outside of the surgical site. I am assuming it must have fell in the way of the clippers. I came through the surgery very well but I was JACKED up in the hair department.
Back in late December, about 3 months after my surgery, I went to the hair stylist and she tried to fix it a little. I went back last month for a trim and its getting better but there is still a three inch patch of hair that is slowly growing back and it is just as crazy as it can be. It is curly AND straight and it sticks every which way. It is a mess, but I think the Lord that it is still there and I am still here to complain. I am NOT like Larry the cucumber, I DO need a hairbrush......
Well, it was the first full sentence my little girl ever said all those years ago when she was just a little over a year old. We were walking through Wal-mart and she yells at the top of her lungs, "Oh where, oh where, oh wherrrrrrre, is my HAIRBRUSH!?
Anyway, I digress, this story is not about my daughter's first words but more about my hair. Has anyone out there noticed that as we get older, our hair is just not as....manageable as it was in our 20's or 30's? Well, I have definitely noticed in the last 8 months. You see, eight months ago a wonderful surgical oncologist asked a nurse or a surgical intern without a beauty school diploma to shave the right side of my head for surgery and he or she decided to not only shave the right side of my head, but to also chop a little hair outside of the surgical site. I am assuming it must have fell in the way of the clippers. I came through the surgery very well but I was JACKED up in the hair department.
Back in late December, about 3 months after my surgery, I went to the hair stylist and she tried to fix it a little. I went back last month for a trim and its getting better but there is still a three inch patch of hair that is slowly growing back and it is just as crazy as it can be. It is curly AND straight and it sticks every which way. It is a mess, but I think the Lord that it is still there and I am still here to complain. I am NOT like Larry the cucumber, I DO need a hairbrush......
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Reality check...
This past Sunday morning on the way to church, my kids were in the back of the van and my son says "Momma, can we go to Disney now?" and I explain that it is an expensive trip and we may try to do it this fall if we aren't in the middle of building a house. My daughter then chimes in to say, "Well Mom, you know we have to go on vacation EVERY year, so what's the big deal?"
WOW! What are we doing? You know, they are right, we normally do go somewhere each year either on a real vacation or a business trip with my husband. This is a vacation for the kids and I since we take in the sights of whatever big city it may be.
When I grew up, we were very poor and I was raised by my Grandmother, I had never left the state of Virginia my entire life except for a weekend trip to Nags Head with her cousin and his wife. I never went on any vacation as a grown single woman unless it was weekend trip with some friends. My daughter had been to Disney 5 times before the age of 6 and had been to at least 1/2 the states on the east coast AND had been on a cruise to the Bahamas. My son has traveled only slightly less than that since she has a 3 year head start on him.....That is their reality of the world.....
We have been told time and time again on the news and by different missionary Evangelists that come to our church, that even the poorest person in the US is considered wealthier than over 90% of people of the planet. I was not in the church service this past Sunday due to working in the children's dept, but my sister-in-law relayed part of Pastor Grant Ethridge's sermon as we chatted after church.
Our church is really focusing this year (every year really, but even more so this year) on reaching out to the lower income communities in our area. We are having Block Parties each weekend in different neighborhoods. They had one this past Saturday (while we were at another church event for the kids). The pastor told about this young boy that he and his wife noticed at the first Block Party. The pastor told his first name and I do not for the life of me remember it but apparently he was a young boy. Our Pastor and his wife have the sweetest, loving spirits and always reach out to people. They talked to this young boy when they noticed that he was looking at these packs of socks that our church was giving away. Pastor Grant asked if he would like a pack of socks and the boy asked if they were free. Pastor said of course, go ahead and get a pack. The young boy sat down that very moment and put on a pair of the socks and was so thrilled to have them. They later noticed the same young boy when they were passing out hotdogs and other food items. He got his hotdog and was eating it like he was starved. Not only did he eat his, but he was going around to see if anyone did not finish theirs and was finishing up whatever he found. Now if this is not enough to tug at your heart about the life that some young children in our very own country are living...The pastor and his wife left that block party and drove 7 mins. to another neighborhood for the second Block Party our church was having that day. It took them 7 mins. to drive to the next neighborhood, so I have to assume that it was at least 2-3 miles away. They said that they had been there a while and when it was time to pass out the food, they saw the same young boy walking up to the party. They went to speak to him, and asked how he got there. The young boy said that he had walked there because he was still hungry and wanted to get another hotdog....This is his reality......
My kids are not allowed to walk out of the yard without us. This child attended a Block Party alone just to get the free food, just to have a chance to have a full belly. This child acted like it was Christmas morning when he got a pack of socks. This child walked 2-3 miles alone across a part of town that my kids have never set foot in, just in the attempt to get a HOTDOG. Neither of my kids will touch a hotdog, because both say that they are NASTY. My kids throw away happy meals that are barely touched because they just asked for them to get the toy. My kids are complaining because they haven't been to Disney in two years...REALITY CHECK......
This coming weekend, our church is having another Block Party in another low income neighborhood, my family will be attending because we need it even more than the people we are trying to help. We need to see all that we have to be thankful for. We need a reality check.....
In a couple of weeks our church, on the Saturday before Easter, will be passing out boxes of food that our middle and high schoolers have packed. These boxes of food will feed a family of four for a week. If you think about it, if we ,who have plenty of food, consider this enough food for a week, those who don't, may consider this enough for for several weeks....I am determined that me and my family will be there to help pass out this food......We need a reality check.....
Do you and your family need a reality check?
WOW! What are we doing? You know, they are right, we normally do go somewhere each year either on a real vacation or a business trip with my husband. This is a vacation for the kids and I since we take in the sights of whatever big city it may be.
When I grew up, we were very poor and I was raised by my Grandmother, I had never left the state of Virginia my entire life except for a weekend trip to Nags Head with her cousin and his wife. I never went on any vacation as a grown single woman unless it was weekend trip with some friends. My daughter had been to Disney 5 times before the age of 6 and had been to at least 1/2 the states on the east coast AND had been on a cruise to the Bahamas. My son has traveled only slightly less than that since she has a 3 year head start on him.....That is their reality of the world.....
We have been told time and time again on the news and by different missionary Evangelists that come to our church, that even the poorest person in the US is considered wealthier than over 90% of people of the planet. I was not in the church service this past Sunday due to working in the children's dept, but my sister-in-law relayed part of Pastor Grant Ethridge's sermon as we chatted after church.
Our church is really focusing this year (every year really, but even more so this year) on reaching out to the lower income communities in our area. We are having Block Parties each weekend in different neighborhoods. They had one this past Saturday (while we were at another church event for the kids). The pastor told about this young boy that he and his wife noticed at the first Block Party. The pastor told his first name and I do not for the life of me remember it but apparently he was a young boy. Our Pastor and his wife have the sweetest, loving spirits and always reach out to people. They talked to this young boy when they noticed that he was looking at these packs of socks that our church was giving away. Pastor Grant asked if he would like a pack of socks and the boy asked if they were free. Pastor said of course, go ahead and get a pack. The young boy sat down that very moment and put on a pair of the socks and was so thrilled to have them. They later noticed the same young boy when they were passing out hotdogs and other food items. He got his hotdog and was eating it like he was starved. Not only did he eat his, but he was going around to see if anyone did not finish theirs and was finishing up whatever he found. Now if this is not enough to tug at your heart about the life that some young children in our very own country are living...The pastor and his wife left that block party and drove 7 mins. to another neighborhood for the second Block Party our church was having that day. It took them 7 mins. to drive to the next neighborhood, so I have to assume that it was at least 2-3 miles away. They said that they had been there a while and when it was time to pass out the food, they saw the same young boy walking up to the party. They went to speak to him, and asked how he got there. The young boy said that he had walked there because he was still hungry and wanted to get another hotdog....This is his reality......
My kids are not allowed to walk out of the yard without us. This child attended a Block Party alone just to get the free food, just to have a chance to have a full belly. This child acted like it was Christmas morning when he got a pack of socks. This child walked 2-3 miles alone across a part of town that my kids have never set foot in, just in the attempt to get a HOTDOG. Neither of my kids will touch a hotdog, because both say that they are NASTY. My kids throw away happy meals that are barely touched because they just asked for them to get the toy. My kids are complaining because they haven't been to Disney in two years...REALITY CHECK......
This coming weekend, our church is having another Block Party in another low income neighborhood, my family will be attending because we need it even more than the people we are trying to help. We need to see all that we have to be thankful for. We need a reality check.....
In a couple of weeks our church, on the Saturday before Easter, will be passing out boxes of food that our middle and high schoolers have packed. These boxes of food will feed a family of four for a week. If you think about it, if we ,who have plenty of food, consider this enough food for a week, those who don't, may consider this enough for for several weeks....I am determined that me and my family will be there to help pass out this food......We need a reality check.....
Do you and your family need a reality check?
Monday, March 28, 2011
The games we play.....
Okay, so like I said at 2:00 am this morning when I blogged for the first time in over a year, I am going to do better...well, this is me doing better...
I have a funny story to tell today that just will not possibly fit on a FB status screen, so read on, dear friends.....
OK, picture this...my 5 year old son (J) and 5 year old nephew (C) are sitting quietly on the floor playing a game. Just the two of them and this a unusual event for these two. The game is Headbands. It is a child's game (there is actually an adult edition) where you put this headband, hence the name, on your head and you draw a card from a pile without looking at it and put it on the headband so that your opponents can see it. The opponents start a timer and you have to ask as many questions to help you guess the item that is on the picture on your headband.
The boys have only ever played it before with the older siblings/cousins, an 11 year old and two 8 year olds, but this time the other three were busy doing something else. My sister in law and I are sitting on the couch talking and we start noticing the boys....J pulls out a car and says "OK, let me get this on here", while he not so subtly flips the card, looks it over, not once, but twice and C never says a word. Then C starts the timer, J says "Am I a ladder?" which of course he is....I am getting ready to bust J for cheating on his cousin and then I see C getting his card to go in his headband...C grabs his card and says "OK, let me put this hold...hold on a sec...". He, not so secretly, turns his back and studies the card, puts it in his headband and turns back for J to start timer. C immediately says "Am I a glass of milk?" (now I am going to admit to making up the actual card items because I just don't remember them all, but to give you the idea)...I nudge my sister in law and see that she has already noticed the interaction between the five year olds.
They are both obviously, blatantly cheating on each other and neither has caught on to that fact.
My sister in law and I watch this for a couple of minutes and I, being the trouble maker that I am, decided to mix it up a little. I say "J, are you cheating on C? C, J is cheating on you!"
C. gets kind of indignant, takes the card off of J's headband and says that he has to get a new card and proceeds to continue the game as usual. My sister in law and I are rolling in laughter and have included the husbands at this point and then I say "C, that was wrong of J, you wouldn't cheat on him like that would you?" and he says "No", and we all laugh harder, neither of the boys understand why all the adults are now laughing. I say again "C, you aren't cheating are you?" and he again says no. Then I say "C, what's on your headband?", he immediately answers "Am I a igloo?" which was of course, EXACTLY what was on his head.....
I just wish, I had listened to my sister in law and waited to get the video camera to see if we could have captured the moment forever on film but neither of us had one handy and it was just too much fun watching their reaction. The funny thing is, they still did not get it or completely understand what we were laughing about.
I have a funny story to tell today that just will not possibly fit on a FB status screen, so read on, dear friends.....
OK, picture this...my 5 year old son (J) and 5 year old nephew (C) are sitting quietly on the floor playing a game. Just the two of them and this a unusual event for these two. The game is Headbands. It is a child's game (there is actually an adult edition) where you put this headband, hence the name, on your head and you draw a card from a pile without looking at it and put it on the headband so that your opponents can see it. The opponents start a timer and you have to ask as many questions to help you guess the item that is on the picture on your headband.
The boys have only ever played it before with the older siblings/cousins, an 11 year old and two 8 year olds, but this time the other three were busy doing something else. My sister in law and I are sitting on the couch talking and we start noticing the boys....J pulls out a car and says "OK, let me get this on here", while he not so subtly flips the card, looks it over, not once, but twice and C never says a word. Then C starts the timer, J says "Am I a ladder?" which of course he is....I am getting ready to bust J for cheating on his cousin and then I see C getting his card to go in his headband...C grabs his card and says "OK, let me put this hold...hold on a sec...". He, not so secretly, turns his back and studies the card, puts it in his headband and turns back for J to start timer. C immediately says "Am I a glass of milk?" (now I am going to admit to making up the actual card items because I just don't remember them all, but to give you the idea)...I nudge my sister in law and see that she has already noticed the interaction between the five year olds.
They are both obviously, blatantly cheating on each other and neither has caught on to that fact.
My sister in law and I watch this for a couple of minutes and I, being the trouble maker that I am, decided to mix it up a little. I say "J, are you cheating on C? C, J is cheating on you!"
C. gets kind of indignant, takes the card off of J's headband and says that he has to get a new card and proceeds to continue the game as usual. My sister in law and I are rolling in laughter and have included the husbands at this point and then I say "C, that was wrong of J, you wouldn't cheat on him like that would you?" and he says "No", and we all laugh harder, neither of the boys understand why all the adults are now laughing. I say again "C, you aren't cheating are you?" and he again says no. Then I say "C, what's on your headband?", he immediately answers "Am I a igloo?" which was of course, EXACTLY what was on his head.....
I just wish, I had listened to my sister in law and waited to get the video camera to see if we could have captured the moment forever on film but neither of us had one handy and it was just too much fun watching their reaction. The funny thing is, they still did not get it or completely understand what we were laughing about.
Blog, what's a blog, is that something like Facebook....
Wow, has it really been over a year since I have typed a word on this blog? I am surprised Blog spot hasn't just shut me down...Well, maybe if I bookmark this page on my new laptop, I might find my way back to it once in a while, that's a thought...I'll give this some consideration.
I happened to be reading a new blog that my wonderful brother-in-law started chronicling his journey through physical adversity and God's plan for his family and thought, HEY, I have a blog and I haven't posted in a while. Little did I know, its been over a year. So, KM, you have inspired me to type, besides I may need the forum for dueling blog posts in the near future if you live up to your threats.....just saying....
Any who...so what has been going on with good old "Gottablogmom" you might be saying, if there were really any of you out there that ever read my blog to begin with.... Well, let me think....I now have a 3rd grader and a kindergartner who will soon become 4th grader and 1st grader....WOW, time flies. Within the last year I have been diagnosed and successfully treated for melanoma cancer and had my gallbladder removed, just for kicks and giggles. Both times coming through surgery with no ill effects, THANK YOU LORD! Its been an eventful 8 months in our household. My beloved baby girl (who is no longer a baby but still my baby girl) had a terrible mono-like virus that lasted over 8 weeks and that has taken up most of 2011 for us so far but again, THANK YOU LORD, she seems to be recovering. This week she is having a Upper GI with a barium swallow. I am sure...beyond sure actually...I am without a doubt CERTAIN that this will be quite the experience for us both. With her particular skill in extreme over-the-top drama and her decided distaste for being forced to consume anything against her will....we let's just say that I am not quite sure who is dreading it more, her or me.
Well, well, well....I have blogged an bit tonight....I better not overdo it or I might send my typing fingers into shock. They have been use to just typing short little status updates for the last 2 years now and a full blog post is a bit strenuous. I can only say that from here on, I will make a concerted effort to be more dedicated to by blog fan base and make at least one or two posts a week. I apologize for my social media infidelity and completely blame it Facebook for luring me away with it's instant gratification for interaction with those who bothered to read or comment on my shameless attempts at humor. If only blog readers were more vocal with their comments, maybe I would not have strayed.....
I happened to be reading a new blog that my wonderful brother-in-law started chronicling his journey through physical adversity and God's plan for his family and thought, HEY, I have a blog and I haven't posted in a while. Little did I know, its been over a year. So, KM, you have inspired me to type, besides I may need the forum for dueling blog posts in the near future if you live up to your threats.....just saying....
Any who...so what has been going on with good old "Gottablogmom" you might be saying, if there were really any of you out there that ever read my blog to begin with.... Well, let me think....I now have a 3rd grader and a kindergartner who will soon become 4th grader and 1st grader....WOW, time flies. Within the last year I have been diagnosed and successfully treated for melanoma cancer and had my gallbladder removed, just for kicks and giggles. Both times coming through surgery with no ill effects, THANK YOU LORD! Its been an eventful 8 months in our household. My beloved baby girl (who is no longer a baby but still my baby girl) had a terrible mono-like virus that lasted over 8 weeks and that has taken up most of 2011 for us so far but again, THANK YOU LORD, she seems to be recovering. This week she is having a Upper GI with a barium swallow. I am sure...beyond sure actually...I am without a doubt CERTAIN that this will be quite the experience for us both. With her particular skill in extreme over-the-top drama and her decided distaste for being forced to consume anything against her will....we let's just say that I am not quite sure who is dreading it more, her or me.
Well, well, well....I have blogged an bit tonight....I better not overdo it or I might send my typing fingers into shock. They have been use to just typing short little status updates for the last 2 years now and a full blog post is a bit strenuous. I can only say that from here on, I will make a concerted effort to be more dedicated to by blog fan base and make at least one or two posts a week. I apologize for my social media infidelity and completely blame it Facebook for luring me away with it's instant gratification for interaction with those who bothered to read or comment on my shameless attempts at humor. If only blog readers were more vocal with their comments, maybe I would not have strayed.....
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