An inconsequential list in which a girl uses the word laudation.

The brain, it is occupied. And so, a list of inconseqential things that have happened; I just am too lazy to put it into coherent paragraph form.

--This week at school, Sweet Pickle had the year's first Show 'n Tell. He was set on bringing his stuffed Larry Boy until a rubber chicken caught his eye. A rubber chicken. Apparently it was her lucky day, as she was the recipient of some serious 5 yr old laudation! The grossest greatest feature of this thing is that it "lays" an egg. You squeeze the belly, it lets out a strange squawk and then voila, disgusting looking egg sac + egg drop out of the chickens bottom. (When you release, the egg is magically sucked back in.) And now you see why she was so well received.

--Nine days ago we had to take Puddin' to the emergency room to be treated for an allergic reaction. While there, one of the nurses said I didn't look old enough to have 3 kids. (Well, thank you ma'am.) She thought I was 21! So I gave her my number so we could be BFFs. When I was leaving I looked back over my shoulder and yelled, holla!!

Not really, but that would've been funny.

--Sweet Pickle thinks I'm skinny "like him". The boy is a Slim Jim. A string bean. Me, on the other hand... I'm roughly 25 lbs. overweight. I love that boy.

--I like to check my referrals on sitemeter to see how people find me. Like I have nothing else to do. Anyway, one person that turned up my site had googled the word pulchtritudinousness. I swear, I didn't know anybody even knew that word. I didn't know it. I stumbled onto it completely by accident.

The other one that has turned up on more than one occasion has been a search for Mop 'n Glo. I don't think what they found was quite what they were looking for. Oh well. You can't please everybody.

Discuss.

Ain't this a fine howdy doo!

I think I'm just gonna start working that into everyday conversations because I just love it. As Southern as we are, we just don't hear stuff like that all the time. Boy I wish we did though.
My husband, who seems to always be on the up and up as far as funny videos are concerned, introduced to me, Bill Dance.
Bloopers.
Dude, I had no idea fishing could be so funny.
I love the expressions in this one. And that accent! The quality is a little fuzzy, but just listen. It's worth it, I promise.


And my personal favorite, Bill Dance Fights a Trolling Motor. I'm laughing (out loud) just thinking about it!


**Also, can I just say how much I love, absolutely love his schpill on the differences in various types of blades on spinner baits, and why the Colorado blade is superior to the Willow and Oklahoma blades (puts out more vibration). I find that outrageously funny. I'm sure men across the globe can shake their heads in affirmative agreement (yes, that is redundant. I'm ok with that.) of every word, but I don't get that anymore than Bill Dance would understand a discussion on the different types of mascara. And I don't know why, but I find it hysterical.

...until Christ is formed in me.

Parenting is undoubtedly a sacrifice. The sacrifice I loathe to offer the most is my time. Time that used to be used to browse and peruse my favorite stores without any concern for time or what to cook for supper or if I needed to buy more pull-ups. What is required of me as a mom is taxing. It is somewhat reminiscent of being pecked to death by small chickens.

That's not even the hardest part. Really, it is nothing compared to being formed into the kind of parent that models grace and teaches spiritual truth to my kids, more by my actions, and less my mouth. I read once that change starts with the parent, then goes to the child.

Ouch.

If there was anything I'd have liked to have settled before I had kids it'd be this issue. I'd have liked to have mastered long-suffering, and how to not yell when I'm frustrated and over-stressed. Also, how to be both firm and gentle at the same time. How to discipline and give grace instead of punish and exasperate. How to answer my kids' hard questions about what God's voice sounds like and why they never hear it. I'd have liked to reach a certain spiritual level where I don't hurt my children because of my ignorance or lack of victory in many areas. I would have liked to have been more free. So that I could love them better. Instead of working it out in front of them. Instead of failing them so much.

I'm finding out though, that God's way of victory is through my failing. Death to my flesh. So that I reach the end of self-reliance and I come face to face with what I am. I am painfully flawed. A real mess that regularly hurts the people I love, and I am completely incapable of doing anything to fix it. But I am also His daughter, "accepted in the Beloved". And I praise Him for that.

In myself, I absolutely lack any power to change, which has been evidenced over and over by my striving and trying and purposing to be different, better, nicer, more hospitable, (fill in the blank)...

I want lasting change. If I could, I would go ahead and get it done instantly instead of with all of this failing along the way and death to my flesh stuff, which makes my life messy and untidy. It is a difficult thing for me to watch myself make a mess of things as a way of preparation for victory over bondage. But I will say this. If failing and death in my flesh is the answer, I want to be the Phelps of failure, until Christ is formed in me.

Lasting change comes by Christ alone. Christ alone. Not Christ assisted. "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty." Zech 4:6

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you,
will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

Phil 1:6

[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire] both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.
Phil 2:13 (Amplified)

God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him.
Phil 2:13 (Contemporary English Version)

How to be a fountain of sage wisdom and finesse. Like me.

Because I don't yet have the brain capacity to post about our week yet.
See what I mean? I said yet twice.
I am ashamed. (spoken like Jacques from Finding Nemo - if you haven't seen it, he's French and he talks a lil' fast)
And also because my fingernails are too long, so they're slipping all over the keys making me have to re-type most of my words.

I give you instead, this.


That's what I always do.

Blundering Idiots

One of the benefits (ha) of living in the South must be all the nature. Or as we call it, Road Kill. It's like a natural wild-live preserve out there, but without all the preservation. It is truly one of the most disgusting things to me to have to drive over it. I take great aim to make sure that my tires don't touch it. And I am also very careful not to breathe (especially with my mouth open)(GROSS!) when driving over the carcasses.

Dear Mr. Opposum(s) and Armadillo(s) of the night,
Can you not cross the road in a more speedy fashion? Oh sure, your family will probably miss you if you don't return from your overnight huntin' trip, but think of the people! Looking at your body plastered all over the road like a biology project is just nasty.
Also, please tell your friends.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely and Amen.

Add that to my extensive list of skillz.

Every time I get one of these I am both surprised and totally flattered! Thank you Chel for this! I met Chel online like 5 weeks or 4 months ago... I really have no concept of time. Somehow, I found her right when she first started to blog, and I'm glad I did. She's a DOLL. Here is one of her posts that won my heart; she had me at Sir Marks-a-Lot! With a clever title like that, I knew that this girl was a diamond in the rust. This is a fun post, too. I'm glad it was her. Which is really just a fancy way of saying I'm glad it was not me.

Look what she said about me:

Jodie was one of my very first bloggy friends! This girl is a hoot, to say the least. She calls herself "Wordgirl," which is the second thing that attracted me to her...the first was the title of her blog. I absolutely LOVE the full title...you need to check her out! She's even Cajun...you just can't miss fun with that!

Sweet, huh? I love that she says I'm "even" Cajun. Like being Cajun is part of my skill set.

Meet Jodie. She's the:
Six-time Tetherball MVP
Swan Dive Champion of the World Universe
Word Whiz
Prima Ballerina
Homemaker Deluxe
And, get this folks! She's even Cajun!

(Thank you Chel, for all of that! Really. I mean it. You made my heart happy.)

Y'all have a super day now, ya hear?

The things that we love tell us what we are.

I'm a little weak in the brain today, which makes it difficult to come up with my own interesting post. So, while catching up on some reading I found a great post idea over at Confessions of a Tired Supergirl. (I love Sue's blawg. She's a published author, ya know?)
For the whole story, click right chere.

The things that we love tell us what we are. - Thomas Aquinas

So, here's what this tired supergirl is made of:
my 3 little people
1 nerdy, stabilizing husband-man
estate sales (sales of any kind really - yard, clearance...I don't discriminate.)
velvet
gift wrap and stamps
fall clothes, especially as it concerns sweater coats and cardigans
family of all kinds: parent's, twin sister, 2 brothers, etc...
laughs
chocolate
coffee with turbinado & half 'n half
shopping (alone or with another adult)
wasabi green
ballet
bunnies, birds, hearts and stars
Pride & Prejudice
best friends
fabric-cover buttons and other crafting notions
real silver, esp. the kind typically found in kitchens
cottage/european/french design
screen doors
pretty hair barrettes
make-up
mary-jane style shoes and wedge heels
words
Springtime
holding hands
tiny kisses

What are you made of?

Come look Mom. You gotta see this! We caught the Queen o' the ants!

An ariel shot of the Queen's Castle.
Complete with crab adornment. She's accessorized.
That crab is her tiara. Sort of.


A little closer.
Notice the sticks. No fortress is complete without a little reinforcement. Sticks are to this fortress what a wide expanse of ocean is to The Rock.
The message is clear: You're never gettin' outta here so just fo'get abo't it.
See? Sticks. Ocean. Same thing. Strikes fear in the heart. No?



The dungeon.
She's trapped under the blue.
Twice stacked. You're not gettin' out.
Dually noted.

Here we go again.

Sweet Pickle started Kindergarten on Monday.
He informed me yesterday afternoon that he doesn't really like school too much (even though he's been asking me and asking me and A S K I N G me, When does school start Mom? What's taking it so long?) He said he doesn't really like it except for recess and lunch in the cafeteria.
Especially when there's lasagna because he likes to "put it inside his bread and eat it together".
.
.
.
Bring it on Cafeteria Ladies. Round Two. Let's do this!

Ding! Ding!

(This may get ugly.)

Hair has always been important.

I chopped all my hair off.  It's to my chin.  I figured with all the gray
hairs I've been pulling lately I needed to do something to prove to my
hair that I am still youthful and it can back up off me with the
midnight  "Operation Gray Hair Ambush". 

(Sometimes you just gotta show 'em who's boss.)

And just for the record, taking pictures of myself feels
unbelievably silly. This is what I did to entertain
myself after taking innumerable pictures of myself
that I hated.

(PS- I cannot believe how much I look like my Mama.)


Here's one from Orientation yesterday.


And one so y'all can see what to do whenever you need to give
somebody the crazy eye.  Because you never know.


And clearly there is no limit to which I will go to entertain you.
You're welcome.

Seriously good summer refreshment.

I know I'm not the only one to notice this, but the heat? It is on. It is so. so. hot outside, and I have discovered (stumbled upon quite by accident) a most delicious recipe for one of my favorite summertime drinks.
Vanilla Lemonade
I like vanilla. I like lemonade. They must be yummy together. Sounds like a good marriage to me.
Mmmmm. So good.
I love this stuff.
I followed the recipe but I used LARGE lemons, so I used only 4, but then put slices of an unsqueezed lemon into my pitcher.
'Cause I like it like dat.
Do not delay.
Locate thy trusty steed, and get thyself to the grocery store with haste!
You will not be disappointed.
How could you be? It's Vanilla Lemonade.

Volcanizing, but not really.

In which Sweet Pickle gets very excited about volcanic explosions:


Diet Pepsi & Mentos, work your magic: (note what Sweet Pickle says, and my nice tinkling laugh)


A man and his volcano:


Still shots of dinosaurs in volcano land.
Peaceful Before:


An unfortunate demise:

The Best Night

Last night was one that will go down in the History books. And maybe even the Best Friends 4 Life Chronicles.

Stretch & I, along with our awesome friends, Doug & Holly, were invited to celebrate our friend Tara's birthday, which was a real treat and an honor for us. We had the BEST time (but then again, we always do). My cheeks hurt from laughing at the end of the night. We had a 7:00 reservation and were on our way home at midnight. I think that's a good indication of how much we like each other.

So, we went to this way fancy place to eat. Let's talk first about the food, and then we'll talk about everything else. Because the food? Fantastic. It was easily the best meal I've had in my life. Easily. The best. I swear, one more course and my stomach would've exploded.

I'm tempted to write a short description of each of these, describing them as SO SO good, but that's pretty redundant, aka boring, and I want y'all to still like me. So suffice it to say, the food was ah-mazing!

Here are some of the menu offerings of which we partook:

• Crab & Mango Cakes
• Papaya Stuffed Lobster & Tomato Risotto
• Curried Pumpkin, Crawfish and Corn Bisque
• Swordfish which involved saffron gastrique
• Tender loin of Beef served with potatoes and white truffle oil
• And there was a cold soup trio: watermelon, white asparagus vichyssoise and avocado. Interesting. (The word vichyssoise (and also the word segway) brought us particular delight throughout the evening.)
  

See? I told you it was fancy. I had the risotto. (I'd already decided before-hand that if I ever found myself at a place that served risotto, that's what I was ordering.) It did not disappoint. No indeed. There was nary a grain left on my plate.

Despite the elaborate menu, the atmosphere was very casual and easy. Even if the silverware count at each place setting was more than I have in my silverware drawer. We had six forks, y'all. Six. Cocktail, appetizer, salad, entreé, cheese and dessert. We even had a sorbet spoon. Because there was a sorbet course between the soup and the entreé. That just makes me happy.

So far as I'm concerned, there is no better night than that. Best friends. Hysterical fun. Incredible food. Happy marriages. We are very blessed people indeed.