Mall Crawl

Saturday night, we decided to go to dinner and then hop over to the mall to kill some time before taking Tessa home for bed. She had been at a park for a large chunk of the day, so we opted for a change of scenery. Anyway, it was almost like a date for Anthony and I. Mostly because the mall's floor projector babysat Tessa for about 25 minutes. We were able to sit on a bench and watch her while we had a real adult conversation with no interruptions! She fell promptly asleep when we got home, and slept 11 hours waking up still sleepy for church.

She would lie flat on the floor when someone walked by--I guess she thought they couldn't see her or something.

Local Gang of Raccoons Outsmart Engineer

I am so tired right now. For the last two nights, I have not been able to sleep for more than two hours at a time. And it's not even due to a newborn yet! Our problem is...

And I guess the other two problems are the dogs and Anthony. See, our neighbors have this grape vine that gets fruit this time of year. Then the raccoons come to eat off of it at night. The dogs go berserk barking at the raccoons. Anthony runs down to make the dogs stop barking before the neighbors can't sleep either. I have been letting Anthony get out of bed and deal with this problem because, well, it's hard to get up and down in your third trimester. But I am about to take matters into my own hands. Anthony thinks he can run off the raccoons. He comes into the bedroom after being out in the yard and running around the house panting and giving me a play by play at 2:30 in the morning. "And there was this one big one.....And I got a rock.....Just hung there looking at me!!" I keep telling him that raccoons will not be run off by suburban men carrying rocks when food is involved. I pleaded with him to just bring the dogs in the house. But no. He has to outsmart the raccoons. He actually mentioned something about a man defending his territory. Here is what the raccoon said:

So we'll see how it goes tonight. Anthony might just be sleeping in the basement where he can better "defend" his territory.

Communication is Key

I feel that the best way to communicate what I am feeling today is with a picture that portrays the exact opposite of where I'm at:




Having done that, I have nothing further to add.

Me, Me, Me, Me, Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been tagged to write 6 random things about myself on my blog. This will take a little bit of thinking, but since I like talking about myself, it should be fun!

1. I can't sleep unless the covers are just right. I am not one of those people who flings their body into the bed and doesn't care whether their feet stick out or the comforter is half on the floor. In fact, one of my favorite ways to relax is to take a nice hot bath or shower, slip into some cozy pj's and then slide between perfectly clean 1,000 thread count, wrinkle free, perfectly placed sheets on a perfectly made bed. This is always followed by a few moments to myself to read a book before my husband flings his body into bed and maneuvers half the comforter onto the floor with his careless tossing and turning in the night. Oh well.

2. I have amazingly vivid dreams that are more like movies with entire plots and a slew of characters. Anthony has always enjoyed our lazy Saturday mornings where we wake up together and I can relate the latest blockbuster in my head. And he should, since most all of his dreams (that he remembers) involve violence and peril. Which gets boring after a while. And might account for his careless tossing and turning in bed at night.

3. I like to take my sandwiches apart to eat them. I have been this way since I was a kid, and I'm not sure how it got started, but I will make a sandwich and then sit down and take it apart eating each ingredient one at a time. This doesn't work with PB&J, but most everything else. Anthony will pause in eating his own sandwich to watch me eat mine. He thinks it's funny and will tease me to no end about it. Tessa also likes to take apart her sandwiches. She even manages to make it work with PB&J. Anthony swears she inherited that from me.

4. I have a degree in Mathematics and I am married to a Mathematician. Anthony was three years ahead of me in college, so I would sometimes pick his brain for help in my more difficult classes. That was not so good for our relationship. It's one of those things I don't tell people about, and it usually surprises them to know.

5. I think Sophie Kinsella was channeling me when she wrote the Shopaholic series. Mostly. I know the Becky Bloomwood character is a little bit more ditsy than me (please let me have this one). Plus, she is in no way a Christian, but otherwise we are the same person. That probably revealed more about me than I wanted.

6. This is hard! Ummmmm.....My favorite smell in the whole world is Home Depot. Seriously, when I walk into one, my nostrils automatically flare while I breathe deeply the aroma of wood, dust, and potting soil. It almost gets me high I love it so much. I'm craving the smell just sitting here writing about it.

OK. That does it for me. It wasn't as easy as I thought! I tag Melanie H, Christina M, and Nicole P. Have fun!!!!

Breakin' Out

Today was the first day of MOPS! It started off with a prison break! I dropped Tessa off at her classroom (at the end of the hall) and went back to the first of the hall to chat with a friend. Then I heard someone yell, "We have an escapee!". I turned to look, and here comes Tessa running so fast that her hair is a straight line behind her head. And she has that look on her face that one could only call desperate hope. Her eyes were wide and she was leaning back slightly at the waist while her upper half tried to keep up with her lower half. She got halfway before she was grabbed from behind. As they teacher turned her back to her room, all hell broke loose. Here, I saw a little of me in her when I usually see so much Anthony. Where Anthony would have been resigned to his fate, Tessa was the complete opposite. That 2.5 seconds of freedom just tasted too sweet.

I'm sure Tessa did many other things to charm the pants off her teachers in the following two hours. They just didn't mention anything. Probably because there were too many cute stories to choose from.

Another Thursday!

Wednesday was Tessa's first day of preschool. She was so excited about it. I think she had a whole lot of fun. Her teachers said she didn't nap, but sat quietly on her palate and read a book. She was so tired, she almost slept until 8:00 this morning! I guess it was just a long day for her. She sure is growing up fast!

The Tuesday morning Women's Bible Study has also started at our church. It is off to a great start. Plus they give us free baby-sitting. I mean, you really can't beat that! I am very excited about my group--it's small and intimate. And I think everyone in there is ready for a closer walk with the Lord. It's so much better to step out of ones comfort zone with others beside you.

Well, that's all for now. I hope y'all have a blessed weekend!

Today is Thursday, And...

This morning, the whole house woke up feeling better. I feel a little better because I actually slept last night (and could breathe). Tessa slept really well, too. We had breakfast together and then went to the grocery store. Tessa behaved herself like I've never seen. She even held onto the cart as we walked to the car and "helped" me get it there OK. I had to stop and tell her how proud I was of her good behavior. She shrugged her left shoulder up to her ear and smiled. She was so thrilled with herself. If only that were enough incentive to keep things like this from now on.

Our Life Group has started a short study of the book, The Shack. It is going to be a challenge to many people in that group--including me. I think it will get people thinking about blurring some of their harsh black and white lines into grey. Which is always a good thing, but a little scary at first. Like, for instance, the book asserts that Jesus comes to get us off whatever path we are on to save us. In other words, our response is only that--a response to the work He already did. That will be a change from the "Be baptized for the remission of your sins" thinking. It might lean us towards the "Be baptized because Jesus' blood has washed away your sins". The only real difference is that the power and glory is shifted from us to God (where I think it should be anyway). Still, like I said, this is grey matter and hard to know the exact dimensions of. Salvation is a great mystery of eternal workings and power. I can't wait to get to heaven and see salvation from God's point of view.

Pray for me. Anthony might be catching my cold. I would say pray for Anthony, but I will be the one wanting to kill him. I must resist the urge....

My Women's Bible Study starts up Tuesday. I am leading Blackaby's Experiencing God. I've never done the study before, but everyone who has raves about it. So it should be a great avenue to gaining a more personal relationship with the Lord and other women in my church as well.

Tessa met her pre-school teachers yesterday. Her class age-group spends a lot of time on potty training. They try to get everyone potty trained before the class ends. I think it's wonderful to have other people helping me potty train her. Like teammates.

Well, today and tomorrow mark the last two days of summer vacation for me and Tessa. Our time together will drop from EVERY day, to Thursdays and every other Friday. She is going to love the change, and SO AM I!!!!!!!!!!! I just know I will be a different person with some "me" time. I might even have nice fingernails, eyebrows and hair just as a result of more time for "me". ;)