Change, while at times frightening, can be exhilarating! I look at change as an adventure that can only bring something better in it’s wake than there was before. How can anything really be worth having if there wasn’t some kind of ‘risk’ involved? In the middle of a free-fall, I doubt that an avid sky-diver says “God, just let me live through this and my feet will never leave the earth again. I will NEVER try this again. EVER.” At least one that loves his sport wouldn’t be overheard saying those things.

So here’s me, mid free-fall, feeling every bit vulnerable, but exhilarated to the core at what God’s got up His sleeve!  This freedom is only available to those relying on Him for everything. Even if the earth and I make unexpected contact,  God always has a plan. . . . and His are inevitably better than mine, and certainly more dependable than the best parachute manufactured. I’m learning to leave the map as well as the strategy to Him, cause I KNOW I’ll screw it up.

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” –Helen Keller

So, enjoy the spectacle if there is one. . . . .

. . . . and amidst all this chaos. . . God loves me. . .

1. Put both lids of the toilet up and add 1/8 cup of pet shampoo to the water in the bowl.2. Pick up the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.3. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids. You may need to stand on the lid.4. The cat will self agitate and make ample suds. Never mind the noises that come from the toilet, the cat is actually enjoying this.5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a “power-wash” and rinse”.6. Have someone open the front door of your home. Be sure that there are no people between the bathroom and the front door.7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids.8. The cat will rocket out of the toilet, streak through the bathroom, and run outside where he will dry himself off.9. Both the commode and the cat will be sparkling clean.!Sincerely,The Dogs

Our January TV dinner tradition began(!) this year with tonight’s premiere of American Idol, season 7. We always record, then watch it together (whole family) in the den with our dinner (TV trays) fast forwarding through commercials. As we sat watching, laughing and enjoying our meal, every once in a while I’d get a whiff of something ‘bad’, just a really odd smell. I didn’t say anything out loud but at one point I wondered if the beef I had cooked was ‘bad’ and I hadn’t realized it. Didn’t taste bad, the smell went away, so I dismissed it. Later, as I got up to get something from the kitchen, THERE. . . there it was again, but I was just walking through the room. I remembered that the kids had played out in the yard earlier, so . . . a-ha! Check your shoes everyone and see if you stepped in something . . . nothing. The smell went away, again I dismissed it.

Tonight as I was tucking my littlest fella ( he’ll turn 7 in two weeks) in bed, there was that same odor! This time I was determined, since it seems I was right over it. . . . I was. I mean right over it. Turns out that this morning when he had taken a shower before school, he couldn’t find any clean underwear. Being the forward thinker that he is, he decided that it was just as well if he turned yesterdays inside out and wear them all day. He still had the same pair on with his pajamas. . . . “Don’t worry Mom! See? When I turned them inside out that big brown stripe was on the outside. Not on the inside next to my skin” . . . . Of course. Silly me. Thank goodness he was using his head on that one. . .

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Last night I saw an ad on television that stopped me cold. I saw the thing twice, but the first time, I chuckled at how I must have ‘misunderstood’ the words since I wasn’t paying close attention. The second time I heard it my ears perked up like a cat at a sound in the wall. I looked into it quite carefully after finding out that I hadn’t misheard it the first OR second time.

Now, if you suffer from Parkinson’s and are on this drug, I pray that it helps you. Thank God the medical community has made such great strides there. However, it is also prescribed for a newer disorder called “Restless Leg Syndrome”, or RLS. Being totally ignorant of that one, please forgive me if I sound callous & you happen to suffer from it. I am sure it MUST be real, but for cynicism sake, I’m going to take a few liberties. . .

To me, it’s not unlike for instance: Medical science (drug manufacturers) ‘discovers’ and names a new disorder calling it ‘Grumpy Dump’ syndrome. That’s when you unexplainably dislike housework and decide not to clean your home, but only on occasion. Thus, there must be a pill for those occasions. But when you dissect this expensive pill, you find out it has the same ingredients as alcohol and caffeine. The alcohol makes you happier, and the caffeine makes you get up and clean your house. Let’s just say, I could be the poster child for such a drug if it existed.

This drug is called “Requip”. Aptly named, because apparently one of the side effects is that it can ‘re-equip’ your personal character choices. Very distinctly, I heard (paraphrased but only slightly!) ‘Tell your Dr. if you experience a sudden urge to gamble or have sexual urges unusual for you . . .’

Heaven help me if the husband ever pays such close attention to a drug commercial. That’s all I need, is for society to start prescribing a drug that makes you want to gamble and have sex. He’d hog tie me, toss me in the trunk and race to the ER & shout “I don’t know, Dr! Sometimes she just says she has to move her legs! Is there a pill you can suggest? H-m-m? Pretty please?”

And amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Last night, our youngest son (6 years old) came downstairs frantic.

“Mom! There’s something caught in my tooth and I can’t get it out!” Only, since this sinister foreign object had made him fearful of using his lips or tongue to speak, it took a few minutes for me to decipher his message, while I dashed around looking for my glasses. At first, I thought he was choking (quickly dismissed that since he was shrieking) or had something in his mouth that never should have gone in there in the first place. You know how six year olds can be with marbles, paper clips, buttons, just about anything smaller than their fist. They just have to taste it, just in case it has been overlooked as part of the food pyramid.

Finally, after finding my glasses and careful inspection with a flashlight, I found it. His front bottom tooth is now loose because of the new tooth pushing against it from behind. My baby! You know, once those baby teeth are gone, their whole facial appearance is just different. Not bad, just different. I am so accustomed to that cherubic little apple cheeked child staring back at me! That aside, when I explained to him what it was that felt so different about his teeth, you’d have thought I’d just told him we were moving to Disney World. His surprise took his breath away . . . then he said “Mom! I’m not just a little kid anymore! That means I’m a real kid!” . . . I felt like Gepetto.

I guess that means I’m real old. Oh well . . . I like where I’ve been and where I’m going. . . change means adventure! I hope this is the best gig the Tooth Fairy has ever had! I know it’s the best one I’ve ever had!

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Alright, on the count of three everyone raise your hand if you think ‘re-gifting’ is an acceptable option. . . one, . . . two,

. . . just kidding. I take back the question.

I’m just going to wave my wand (some may think it more a broomstick) and give you all the permission you need. . . . (here’s me waving) . . . As of this moment, I grant you (the lucky reader) ultimate discretion to give away all of the peculiar, puzzling, even grotesque  gift’s you received this year, to some other lucky sap. Not only do I grant permission to give away, but to do so as though you had gone out and bought that ‘facial hair bleaching kit’ on purpose. And if your ‘friend’ wants to know where you were able to find that adorable ‘Santa’s been impaled by a candle, holder’, just wink and say it’s the last one they had.

Sometimes, putting two gifts together to the same person will clean out your closet of those untouched gems all the sooner, AND make you appear even more thoughtful. Like that fruitcake and the tiny food scale! You see, they can weigh how much they’re not going to eat! Or, that electric pig refrigerator magnet that oinks when you come near it, will go quite nicely with the ‘Be-Gone’ lice comb! That way your co-worker will know exactly how you really feel.

Mum’s the word! Uncle Clovis or cousin Flossy will never know you didn’t really keep that Ed Koch Chia-pet! And if the original ‘giver’ wants to know where the salt and pepper shakers cleverly carved into a billy and a nanny goat are . . . just tell them that you put them in safe keeping and change the subject by asking if they’ve lost weight . . . works every time.

And amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Well, I guess it was inevitable. In ALL the years that we’ve done the thing I’ve told you about before (earlier post entitled ‘Ripples’), never have we been ‘found out’ . . . . until today.

I was with one of our children,  pulled up to our favorite (as yet un-named) fast food drive through, ordered something simple, and at the window paid for ourselves, and the car behind us. I asked the window person to tell the car behind us that God loves them & for them to pass the surprise blessing along someday to someone else, got our order & did a U-turn to make our escape. I was sure we’d made a clean get away.

Alas, two traffic lights later, a little red car pulled up beside us honking & waving. I rolled down the window and said “You aren’t supposed to know who we are!” She responded “Thank you! You are an angel!” To which I quickly said “No! I am definitely NOT an angel! Just pass it along sometime.” She said she would, smiling. Then we sped away. So, in case she is reading this (I have NO IDEA who ‘she’ is), . . . you’re welcome.  

We learned that, while it’s very nice to receive a thank you from someone we’ve ‘gifted’ (tiny as it was), it was not nearly as fun as being completely anonymous. . .

I HIGHLY recommend incognito!

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Yes, I’m a conservative. Yes, I live in a ‘Red State’. Yes, I will probably still vote Republican.

I say probably because I have voted outside my preferred party many times, and intend to at least try and vote for the job at hand, not the party. I wish I felt confident that the Iowa Caucuses were a good ‘read’ on the rest of the primaries. Frankly, the new kids in class (Huckabee, Obama) are both very bright, and I wouldn’t lose sleep if either won, despite the fact that they are polar opposites.

While Obama’s political ideas aren’t to my liking, he seems to be a good person. Not sure about Huck either, but seems to be one of the ‘good’ guys. When Slick Willy was running I got that ‘smarmy’. . .  ’oily’. . .  generally bad vibe from him. I don’t think he was a disastrous president, just a disastrous person. Besides White Water-Gate, we had Travel-Gate, File-Gate, and Zipper-Gate. . . but other than that, I guess he was OK, as far as scalawag presidents go . . .  sort of a  ‘He’s a great guy . . .  just ah, well . . . keep ‘im away from the kids’ . . . kind of a feel.

So here’s me, reserving judgment until the last millisecond as per (political) usual.  I wonder what choices we’ll have come November. Not sure Huck has enough gas for the long haul & Obama hasn’t really been fired at with big ammo. H-m-m-m. . .

And amidst all this chaos. . . God loves me. . .

This girl is in her second year of law school at the University of Arizona. . . . Interesting.

I fully expect she will claim to have been ‘forced’ by others to commit this crime. Poor pitiful female victim that she is . . .

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319925,00.html

I’ll also bet that she indeed becomes an attorney specializing in criminal justice, no less. Just like some of the most unstable in our society become psychiatrists/psychologists. Maybe people want to ‘assume the identity’, of persons whom they need the most. . .

Yes, I am aware that this is a pretty strong, broad scoped opinion. But it’s my opinion. It doesn’t have to be yours. If you don’t like it, take it up with your attorney or psychiatrist. I’m rather certain they will help you map out appropriate recourse. 

And amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .