Guest Post

I had the opportunity to write a guest post for my sweet friend Lindsay's blog. I love reading Lindsay's blog regularly...it challenges me and encourages me and gives me a good laugh now and then. Oh, and she sings really purty, too. So check out my blog over there, and read some of her posts while you're at it!

They Say It's My Birthday...

.....and I'm 32, yeah.

I love birthdays. I love them for other people. I love mine. I love being a December baby. When I was in college, my birthday was always during finals week, and everyone would stay up all night studying, and then do fun things like make pancakes in the lounge at 3:00 a.m. And I pretended it was a week-long celebration with my friends. I loved it.

Now I have a husband and two little girls. Sadie has no clue yet what a birthday is. Abigail totally does, and she even managed to pause the countdown to hers (in six more days) to celebrate mine a bit.

I don't know what all this day will have in store. But it will be a good one, because I am with three of my favorite people in the world.

Oh my GaGa

Last night, I was holding a feverish Sadie in my lap and Abigail and I were watching "The Sing-Off" on tv. If you have not seen this show (and this was my first time), you have got to watch this Wednesday. It showcases acapella groups from around the country performing all kinds of amazing hits. I'm in love.

One of the groups was a group of fifteen guys called On the Rocks from Oregon. They performed the tightest, sassiest version of "Bad Romance" by Lady GaGa, and it rocked. We've been humming the song since then, and had said several times that those guys did a great job singing Lady GaGa.

So today, Abigail told me that her teacher Miss Karmen asked her what her favorite song was. Her reply? "I told her Lady GaGa." Awesome. Lady GaGa is quite a performer, but I kind of lean toward the thinking that my almost-five-year-old is better off listening to Slugs and Bugs and Lullabies.

Paul and I explained (after a good laugh) to Abigail that Lady GaGa is not a song, but a singer. A singer who has fun songs, but is pretty weird. And likes to wear dresses made of raw meat.
After showing her pictures of Miss GaGa and her outlandish clothes, including the meat dress, Abigail said, "Gross. She needs to take a shower."

I told her to stick with the music she knows when her teacher asks her next time.

Again With the Thankfulness

Okay, so weekly thanks are about as good as I am mustering up these days. It isn't that I am not thankful. I am. I just prefer to store it up and then do a sort of thankful explosion all up in your face. It's fun that way.

1. I'm thankful for Abigail's sensitivity...sometimes. Twice this week, she has cried while watching a movie. Currently, it's Care Bears. I love that her heart is that sensitive. I'm also thankful that I can confidently tell her that movies like "Madeline" and "Care Bear's Rescue" have happy endings.

2. The guys from the city who vacuum up the leaves. I don't know what your city is like, but in ours, if we rake a nice, leafy border along the side of the road, the city guys come through with a monstrous vacuum and suck them up. We still have to bag what falls in our fenced area...BOO. But I am thankful for that loud, sucky vacuum.

3. Wasabi peas. They are my latest snack craving. I bought some on Saturday at WalMart, and have eaten almost the entire thing in two days. And it was no small container. I love the crunch. I love the way my sinuses feel like they will explode when I get an especially horseradish-y one. Yum.

4. God's Word. I have a friend whom I particularly love who is going through some tough stuff right now. I love reading God's Word and not only being comforted by it myself, but also able to relate it to what my friend is facing. And knowing that God can save us. Word.

5. People who like to hold my baby. I love taking Sadie to church and having people come up and just grab her out of my arms. I love knowing that she is somewhere in the church building, in the loving, cradling arms of a lady who loves to cuddle babies.

6. You. Yeah, I said it. I'm thankful for you.

Yep, that'll do it for today. Or for this week. Trust me, I'm thankful.

Monday Thanks

I have never jumped on the blogging and/or Facebook status bandwagon of a month of giving thanks. I like reading what others write, and sometimes I even go "Shoot, I wish I had written that first." But I didn't. So here we are, November, and I have a few things to be thankful for. In no particular order or reverence.

1. My husband....and his vacation. Paul took his week of vacation days last week and it. was. wonderful. I know, I know, he works about 30 yards from our house and I can take the girls over to see him any time I want. He can pick up Abigail from preschool. He comes home for lunch every day. I totally get the fact that I am ultimately blessed by my husband's job....in it's flexibility, proximity, and a bunch of great people who come along with it. But, hey, a vacation is still a vacation. Even if we were not sunning ourselves on the sands of Florida, I loved our little daytime trips last week. Our lunches out. Our free evening at the Children's Museum. Having him home in the mornings when I felt like I needed one more hour of sleep. I love him. And his job. And his vacation from that job.

2. Okay, this is kind of about my husband again, but on a different note. I love that he knows how to be the daddy to girls. Yes, I know that he longs for a boy to join our family with whom he can watch the Cardinals and WWE and toss a baseball in the backyard. I know that would be a whole different kind of daddy experience for him. But yesterday I walked into the living room, and he and Abigail were getting married. I walked in during the vow portion of the ceremony. And they had decorated the living room. And already had eaten their cake (real cake). He is SO GOOD at oooh-ing and aaaahhh-ing over sparkles and tutus and Sunday dresses. He is teaching these girls what a prince is, and I hope they remember that someday when they see some punk with a tattoo and feel a flutter in their stomach. Grrr.

3. Coffee Mate....the holiday ones. I am a flavored coffee girl. I drink it decaf, so for me, it is all about the flavor and the warmth, not about the energy. And I have had the Peppermint Stick and am now on Sugar and Spice. And yum.

4. My mama. Because she is an awesome mama and an awesome Memaw. She makes me laugh with facebook comments and helps me in times of need. She works hard. She makes the best chocolate chip cookies. And cinnamon rolls. If I go more than a week without seeing her or having a good, long talk with her, I feel it. I always think I am sad that my girls are growing up so fast, but if we can just sit someday and have long talks as friends like I do with my mama now, then I can look forward to their growing up.

5. Gift cards. I had some leftover gift card money from when Sadie was born, so the other day I bought matching Christmas dresses for Sadie and Abigail. So cute. I pretty much never ever pay full price for any kids clothes because they outgrow them so fast. We only have hand-me-downs, or clearance rack, or Once Upon a Child. However, there are two things I am willing to pay full price for (as long as it is under 20 bucks)....Easter dresses and Christmas dresses. That's kind of silly when you think about it, because they will actually wear these less times than their regular clothes. It's just the thought of something new and pretty for those holidays that I can't resist. However, I did get to use gift card money toward the dresses the other day, which took the sting out of buying two dresses a little bit. Yay, Target gift cards. I heart you.

I will stop there for now. I'm sure I will have more lists later, so I won't use them all up. I can tell you one thing I am NOT thankful for today. My cat. She ate the leaves off of some flowers we were given AND the ribbon off a helium balloon from a baby shower yesterday, and I woke up to find three places she had thrown up in the living room. Today? I hate my cat. But I'm thankful for everything else...especially good carpet cleaner.

Matterin'

When Reese Witherspoon received her Academy Award for the portrayal of June Carter Cash in the movie Walk the Line (hands down one of my favorites....one I will never pass up along with Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory and Dead Poet's Society), she said a quote that the original June was known for...."I'm just tryin' to matter."

I have to say, I remember pretty much 0.0 of any award acceptance speeches I have heard, but this one stuck, and I have thought of that quote over and over again. I love it. It probably would not rank up there as the most eloquent speech or the most self-assured, confident thought process. It could be seen as very humble or "fake humble", depending on the attitude of the person saying it.

There are days when it feels like you did nothing of great significance. Nothing that will have a movie made about your life, for sure. There are days here when I just do the usual...fold the laundry, balance the checkbook, nurse the baby, read to Abigail, make some dinner. Nothing stands out. Then there are days when I feel like, maybe if just for a moment, something important happened.....something worth marking on Sadie's calendar, typing out a blog, storing in my memory, giving Abigail high-fives over.

I know that as a follower of Christ, I am "more than a conqueror." I know that I am adopted, forgiven, redeemed. I know I have the opportunity to serve, love, forgive, encourage, teach, admonish, and edify in the name of my Savior. I know I am who God says I am. And that is enough for my heart to burst.

But I also know, in the most simple terms, that I agree with Ms. June Carter Cash. There is nothing wrong with "tryin' to matter." I pray this for my girls at night, among other blessings spoken over them, big dreams for their little lives. I pray for them to live lives of significance. Lives that matter. A life well-lived. Because it may be a simple prayer, but it is true....we all are just tryin' to matter.

Pumpkins

I think there is just about nothing quite so cute as putting little kids amidst a bunch of pumpkins or fall leaves and taking pictures. Because pumpkins? Yeah, I've got a couple of them living in my house.