Our dear sister, Annette, lost her father earlier this week. Please lift her and her family up in your prayers as they both mourn and rejoice over his homecoming.

I don't think I'll miss winter...

It looks like a tornado came through...

Currently, 100,000 homes are without power. They are estimating 7 to 10 days before everything is back on line. 54 schools are also without power so classes have been cancelled for the rest of the week. We currently have 5800 downed power lines and expect more in the days ahead. This is the second largest power outage in Kentucky's history. The number one outage was four months ago with Hurricane Ike.


Evening driving can be treacherous because you come upon things like this. A tree that is no longer where it is supposed to be. With street lights and traffic lights out, it makes it harder to see stuff like this. (and some silly people who stop the car to take pictures might happen to find their tires spinning when they try to drive off because that part of the street has not been treated. Silly people. Who probably won't do that again.) Josh and I will be venturing out this evening to pick Jessi up from work. They are keeping the libraries open regular hours to allow people without power a place to go til nine. Which is a great, compassionate idea. Unless you are a mom of a library employee. Who worries about her daughter driving in these conditions after dark.

For some reason, this photo fascinates me. I think it's because this little weed thing is determined to survive, no matter what nature throws it's way. Either that or there's a tiny alien trapped under the snow with only his dealy-bobbers sticking out.

(or perhaps the weather is beginning to affect my brain.)

We are surviving the "white blanket of death."

Unfortunately, quite a bit of Louisville is out of power with more expected to lose power throughout the day.

At this point, it appears that we are trapped in our subdivision because of the number of trees that are down. (Josh says that it looks worse than Hurricane Ike.) Every time I walk outside, the silence is broken by the sound of trees crashing to the ground. It's very eerie.

I will be trying to go to work later today assuming I can tunnel my way out of here so any and all prayers would be appreciated.

This just in...

You have to appreciate the glistening effect the ice gives the snow. The sparkling "white blanket of death" looks so inviting.

I'm wondering how long icicles can get before they break off. I guess I'll check again in the morning. Assuming my door doesn't ice shut.

These magnolia leaves are not normally here. They are supposed to be up there. Not so low to the ground. Sadly, not long after I took this picture, they snapped off the top of the tree and are now dog toys in the backyard. Interestingly enough, this particular magnolia is very resilient. Fifteen years ago we had a huge ice/snow storm (22 inches of snow plus ice on top of that) that shut down our city for a week. At the time we had a different basset hound that felt his mission in life was to eat every tree we had in our backyard. He had stripped this poor little magnolia of all it's leaves except the very top couple of feet which he could not reach.

Until it snowed 22 inches and then put a hard layer of ice on top.

A hard layer of ice that enabled him to use the snow as a step ladder and snatch the remaining leaves off the tree.

When spring came, Josh planted the magnolia "stick" on the side of the house and it has grown into a towering two story tall work of art.

Until tonight.

However, I'll be reminding it of it's amazing powers of recovery. (that storm was also responsible for me breaking my elbow. I'm hoping we don't have a repeat performance. I don't think I'm as resilient as I used to be.)

a breath of spring air...

Well, it snowed. And sleeted. And freezing rained. And now, after a brief interlude, we will get to do it all over again. At least the freezing rain and sleet part. The weathermen are threatening us with a major ice storm. Assuming of course that the moon lines up with Venus, we all lean to the left while sticking our tongues in our right cheek, and Don Ho sings "Tiny Bubbles" on the radio. In other words, we'll see. Actually, this is one of the few times where we can actually say that something is coming. We're not quite sure what that something is going to be when it gets here, but something is coming for dinner.

School is out today. On any other school day, Jonathan could sleep til two and still be tired. Today, he was up at 6:40 a.m. As in, the morning. Without complaining, grumping or being disagreeable. (He was actually quite perky. Which was a tad bit disconcerting.) I also did not have to go into work. However, Josh and Jessi both had to go to work today. Josh made it to work without much trouble and I braved the elements to drive her to work. I will say that the roads are mostly icky. With a factor of yuck thrown in. The city has done it's best to plow and salt and so forth, but when it is sleeting nonstop, it's kind of hard to keep up. Fortunately, we made it back and forth safely. Now we just have to go back out and pick her up and then we will be staying home for the rest of the day.

The biggest concern we have right now is the upcoming "ice-capades". Unfortunately, ice usually means downed trees and power lines. Which means cold houses. So, we are hopeful that we get just enough ice to be beautiful, but not enough to cause any issues. Because we don't like issues.

There is, however, under all the snow, sleet and ice, a touch of spring. Josh brought me a potted hyacinth a couple of days ago and it is blooming all over itself. Every time I walk in the kitchen, I am treated to a reminder that spring will come. Someday. Until then, I'll be layered up and hunkered down. Waiting.

the british are coming, the british are coming!

Oh my goodness, great Aunt Betsy! It's going to snow! Batten down the hatches! No, wait, dash to the grocery for milk and bread, then batten down the hatches!

The all knowing, all seeing weather man has declared a snow emergency. We MIGHT get upwards of six to ten inches of snow BEFORE we get some ice. (sort of like "icing" on the cake?)

Of course, anyone who is familiar with Louisville knows that all weather is subject to the rules of the Ohio Valley bubble. In other words, the entire world might get snow but as soon as it approaches our side of the river, the magical bubble automatically shields the city from any precipitation. Which is really kind of disappointing for any child hoping for a snow day. (Or any adult that is hoping for a snow day from work for that matter.)

Anyway, the great snowfest of January 2009 isn't supposed to start until tomorrow evening, leaving the paranoid with plenty of time to fret and obsess about our impending snow-doom. However, I hereby pledge to keep you all informed about the progress of the approaching snow-venture. (and those of you who live in real snow areas, please don't laugh. We really are snow wimps.)

My baby...

She makes me proud....

(It still seems weird to me that she has grown into an adult with like opinions of her own and everything.)

True Confessions...

I could only stand about seven minutes of AI last night. Then I had to switch channels. Bless their hearts. I think it's because I have overactive empathy/sympathy genes. I can't stand to see anyone make a fool of themselves (first contestant) and I teared up when the second contestant got her golden ticket. Because doggone it, she's tried so hard. (except, do I really know this? I don't even know her. All I know is what the TV said about her.) Then they showed the previews of the upcoming contestants and when the previews made me cringe, I decided I could find something less traumatic to do with my time. (you notice I didn't say "more productive." Because why would I want to do that?)

And by the way, for some strange, unknown reason, it really IS Lou-a-vuhl.

Ack!

I forgot to add that if you are an American Idol fan, they are doing the Louisville auditions tonight! While you won't see me (thank goodness!), you should see some interesting stuff.

And even though I do not normally watch AI, I'll be watching tonight. (I feel guilty for admitting that I'm not a fan. Which is why this print is so small.)

Enjoy!

what I wouldn't give for a bowl of oatmeal...

I feel I have been most neglectful of my blog lately. It's not that there hasn't been anything going on in my life. It's not even that there has been too much going on. There's been the normal amount of ridiculousness, stress, excitement, drama and trauma. I guess it's more a matter of not being a very good steward of my time. (It's certainly not that I have been too busy to write because I have cleaned my house from top to bottom, organized everything I own into little plastic drawers, lost fifty pounds, found a cure for the common cold and knitted an entire wardrobe out of recycled plastic bags. Although I did wear a dress out of a garbage bag once. But that's another story.)

Anyway, I decided to have a totally random post, filled with totally random things...if I can think of anything.

1. It is COLD! It has been COLD. I think it plans on being COLD until Derby day. Which, for the record, I find totally unacceptable.

2. Basset hounds have very COLD noses when it's COLD. And they like to stick them in very inconvenient places.

3. We are being visited by a "lesser poobah" at work today. (my bosses boss as opposed to my bosses bosses bosses boss.)

4. If you don't fill a Yorkie's food bowl when HE wants you too, he will shoot the bowl across the hardwood floor with his paw like a professional hockey player hitting a hockey puck. (They seem like such small dogs. Don't let the size fool you. They are very demanding creatures.)

5. Life rule number 6,782: Never leave parrotlet food on a table where larger dogs can see it. Because the larger dog will snatch it off the table and run upstairs with it. He will then proceed to shred the bag and eat as much of the seed as he can get into his big stupid mouth, leaving behind little bitty pieces of plastic as evidence of his crime.

6. The aforementioned rule is somewhat similar to rule number 5,496 which says not to leave bowls filled with Christmas candy on anything lower than the fourth shelf of a book case. Because everything else is just about chin level for the same stupid dog.

7. Yorkies can also flip their dog food bowls upside down so that they look like they are playing the shell game on the Price is Right. I'm fairly certain that I wouldn't want any of the prizes that they might choose to leave, though.

8. Dirty dishes seem to be multiplying like bunnies in my kitchen sink. It's somewhat reminiscent of Christmas time except there are no cookies or pies or cake or any other goodies to compensate for their presence.

9. This has not kept me from developing my winter layer of fat though. You'll be happy to know that once again I am storing up enough blubber to keep myself (and a small village in Outer Mongolia) warm.

10. Which is a darn good thing, because it's COLD outside!

Believe it or not, this is a picture of a real dog. (I know it looks like a fuzzy slipper.) This is Ivan the grumpy Yorkie.

There will be a day

I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings...

Success!

The good news is that I have successfully memorized my first verse for the LPM scripture memorization Siesta-thon. If I were in any way technical, I would record me saying it for you as proof. Since I am not, those of you who know the physical me (as opposed to the internet me) will have to put up with me quoting it to you from time to time.



There are so many wonderful scriptures that speak to me that I had a difficult time narrowing down my choice for the second round of memorization. After spending 45 minutes hunting through several translations, checking out past favorites, this is the one that I came up with...

I need to remember all the time that my HOPE is in HIM. Not the economy, not in politics, not the state of the nation, not in my family, not in my church, not in my friends, not in my computer, not in my job...but in HIM. Enough said.

Happy Memorizing!

I'm never saying that again...

If you'll remember, yesterday I lamented about how unexciting my life was. I felt it necessary to prove my point by posting a picture of my desk at work as a part of my Project 365 thingy.

Silly, silly me.

I should have known better.

The day started out normal enough. Until I got to work. That's when Jessi began having trouble with the insurance agent over her car repair. ( I will repent later but let me just say that I feel that someone might have been trying to take advantage of an inexperienced young woman in order to save their company some money.) So I did what any mother would do. I called her father. So that he could call the big mean man that made my baby cry. Unfortunately, her father was on the road, driving to Lexington at the time. And he was not happy with the big mean man that made his baby cry. (He did, however, do the responsible thing and pull over to the side of the road while chastising said big mean man for making his baby cry.)

After the chastising was over, it was decided that I would be the one getting the rental car and Jessi would drive one of our cars. Sounds simple, right? Snort. You should know better.

The rental car company was very agreeable to picking me up from work and taking me to get my rental car. Great. My father-in-law picked up Jessi's car while she was at work and took it to the body shop where it will spend the next few days getting a new body. (oh, if it were only that easy.) He then picked her up from work and brought her to the house. At this point, I was home for lunch so I left the car for her...after giving her a set of keys...and he took me back to work. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? Except for one small, itty bitty detail. My driver's license...um...expired in November. And I forgot to have it renewed. Rental car people don't rent cars to people with expired licenses. Of course, I remember this after I am back at work and my father-in-law is gone. With no cell phone. I called Josh...who is an hour and a half away...(and let me tell you that I am on his happy list today) and he gently suggests that I call Jessi and have her take me to get my license renewed. And I'd better be praying that they don't make me retake the test because it's been like seven weeks since it expired. Oh, and have I mentioned that I CANNOT parallel park? Which is required if you want to pass the test.

Once again, we have a solution. Except...(aren't you starting to hate that word?)...the keys that I left Jessi with are to her car. You know, the one that's at the body shop getting a new body. So, she has a car with no keys and keys with no car. The clock is ticking, the rental car people will be here in an hour and a half and I have no license. I called Josh...who is still in Lexington and is still not quite ready to see the humor in all of this. He suggests I call his dad. Who doesn't have a cell phone...and isn't back home from running errands yet. Tick tock, tick tock goes the clock.

Finally, Mary Jane comes into the office (because I am supposed to be working while all this mass hysteria is taking place) and offers me her car. Which I did not take. Because I have no valid license and this would be the one moment in time when I would do something extremely foolish and plow through a herd of sea cows on the way to the licensing bureau. But... I am blessed. Because we were not terribly busy. So Mary Jane was able to drive me to the little brick building that specializes in totally horrible pictures that you are forced to carry with you at all times. (I'm certain that it was a secret wish of mine to have my new license picture taken wearing my work uniform, winter coat and reading glasses on top of my head. I do look fashionably charming, let me tell you.)

Now it's the end of the day. I have a new, current driver's license that I can forget about for four more years, a spiffy little rental car that tells me that it might be icy outside, and an extremely exciting life. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed. I have used up a weeks worth of adrenaline at this point.

Do you ever wonder...

what I do all day? Probably not. However, since I am sort of trying to participate in the Project 365 thing, I feel it necessary to take random pictures of things to remind me (and you) of my year. So....

(this is the part where I feel I must confess that my life is not terribly exciting. I don't ride camels, I don't make my own soap, I don't sing opera, I don't travel to exotic locations or make homemade jam. And I'm pretty happy that I don't do most of those things. I just do my ordinary everyday thing.)

Now that my confession is out of the way...I thought I'd share another teeny tiny bit of my life with you. (because I haven't shared enough.) Without further ado...

This is my desk. At work. I am not responsible for most of the things that show up on it. (If you look closely, you will find some decapitated willow tree people and other various and assorted things that no one has any idea what to do with). And while I am confessing, I must confess that I cleaned it up a bit before I took this picture. Sometimes you can't even see the desk top. The binder has the information about the upcoming VBS workshop I am planning. (remember last year?) The red folder contains all the schedule requests for February. (something else I was supposed to finish already. sigh.) I'm sure the rest of the stuff belongs to Mary Jane. I think she put it all there when I wasn't looking so her desk would look clean instead.

I hope you are impressed with this tiny glimpse into my world. I promise we will not be visiting the litter box next. Probably.

I must confess...

Some mornings I just don't want to go to work. For whatever reason, I'd rather stay in bed. Or at least stay home. This morning was one of those mornings. Kind of grey outside with me kind of grumpy inside. When I pulled into the parking lot at work, however, this was waiting for me...

It's like God painted the sunrise just for me. Almost like He was tapping me on the shoulder, wanting me to see what a glorious day He created.

I'm glad He got my attention. I would have hated to miss it!

Here with me

reveal Yourself to me, O Lord...

because we are family...

Once a year the LifeWay girls (employees, wives, daughters) get together for an evening meal at the Melting Pot. (It used to be our Christmas celebration but we decided to move it to January this year.) We enjoy each others company outside of work (most of us have worked together so long that we are more like sisters than fellow associates)and this gives us uninterrupted time to hang out and eat. because eating is good.

We go to the Melting Pot because they serve us cheese and chocolate. And that makes us happy!

Here are Dusti, Diana and Amanda enjoying a moment of calm before the food arrives. (We can be a rather rowdy bunch.) Diana just returned from Israel. For some reason, she (and her seminary class) thought this would be a good time to visit. We are grateful and thankful that she made it back safely.

Then we have Judy, Helen, Mary Jane and Karrie. I don't get to work with Karrie very often because she has a real job outside of LifeWay. (She only works a few hours a week.) Judy is my manager's wife. Helen and I will be doing the Esther bible study with her starting on Tuesday. For some reason I missed taking a picture of Katie B and Laura. But trust me, they were there.

What's fondue without "flambe"? Our every handy fondue maker, Amir, made such lovely, tall colorful flames for us. This was a bananas foster fondue. I hear it was delicious. (I skipped it for some reason.) I know it smelled like cinnamon. We also had the chocolate and peanut butter fondue. Yum! (next year we are going to bring our own bananas so that we will have extra dippers. Or we'll bring a tupperware container so we can take home the leftovers. Anyhow, a lovely time was had by all. (and how could it not have been a lovely time? There was cheese...there was chocolate...there was cheesecake for the chocolate...)

For the past few years, the men have been mumbling about equal time but we have held firm and stuck to just the girls. So this year they requested time off for Man Night. That will take place this Thursday. They are having pizza and showing Willow. I love Willow and am somewhat envious. But not enough to give up cheese and chocolate. Besides, we have our own copy of Willow. So maybe I'll watch it tonight.

I hope your Saturday was fantastic!

when life gives you lemons...

Rejoice!

We have a Meyer's lemon tree. Just one. And I absolutely adore it. There is nothing sweeter than the smell of lemon blossoms. (and nothing pricklier than lemon thorns.) Anyhow, each year, our little lemon tree presents us with one lemon. Just one. Perhaps it feels that if it were to gift us with multiple lemons we would not appreciate it as much. Regardless, there is much hoopla surrounding the "gathering of the lemon." Once the lemon is gathered, there is considerable discussion as to how to use the lemon. Last year, we celebrated the gathering of the lemon by making lemon cookies. Oh my, they were delightful. And inhaled within a matter of hours.

This year we made these. (and I use the term "we" very loosely.)

Lemon squares! (I suspect these will be gone soon as well.)

It's an amazing thing to take something so bitter and make a deliciously sweet delicacy out of it. Perhaps there's a life lesson in there somewhere...

seven oh two

That's what time it was this morning when I realized that I was not working the closing shift today. Instead, I was supposed to be at work at 8 a.m. Sigh. (I had planned to be lazy this morning. I guess I can be lazy another day. I'm good at lazy.)

Anyway, I hope your day isn't quite as adrenaline filled as mine has been so far!

I have tried not to be one of those parents who embarrass their kids. (although I can do a ridiculously outrageous rendition of "bread and butter" when the occasion calls for it.) I can still remember certain times when I was absolutely mortified by certain things my parents did. So I have worked hard not to follow in their footsteps in that regard. (I am certain that I have not always succeeded, but it wasn't for a lack of trying.)

That said, I have been trying to play along with the Project 365 game. You know, the one where you post a photo everyday, reflecting something that went on during that day. Well, yesterday's big event was the haircut. Yes, it is that time of the year again. Apparently prior to leaving school for Christmas break, the boy was informed that his hair was too long. And being the prompt, obedient, eager to please young man that he is, he decided to wait until the night before to fulfill his haircut destiny. Knowing what a momentous occasion this would be, I, of course, wanted to bring my camera along to record for posterity the amazing events that were set to unfold. However, this is not the boy's first haircut. He is not a toddler. He is a 6 foot manchild who probably would not appreciate his mother hovering around the haircutting chair, snapping photos right and left, squealing over the locks of hair falling to the floor.

So, in the interest of family peace and harmony, here is my photo for the day.


titled: the boy getting his hair cut. 2009

tut tut, it looks like rain...

I think somebody had the right idea on a grey, rainy day.

day two and counting...

I tried to think of a picture that would capture the joie de vivre of today. (Ang is doing the 365 thing and I thought I might occasionally play along.) I didn't think you'd really be interested in my countless wastebaskets full of billions of kleenex though. Nor did I think the number of empty cough medicine bottles and cold pill packets would delight the soul. However, both of these describe my "joy of living" for the moment. (and I am a happy sickie. really, I am. Happily spreading my germs amongst my beloved family members...I hear sneezing in the other room. I think we need more kleenex.)

Instead, I got a phone call. One that every mother of a driving aged child hopes not to get. And while all car occupants are okay (thank you, Jesus!), my eldest child is unhappy and her car is...mooshed. I'm sure she will be rather graphic in her unhappiness on her blog but suffice to say, she and Brandon had just finished enjoying a delightful lunch when a big bad vehicle picked a fight with her sporty little escort zx2. And Jessi learned life lesson #782...how to deal with the insurance company when one is involved in an auto accident.

So, now that my heart rate has returned to normal, my box of kleenex and I (Josh got me some Puffs with lotion! My nose will be eternally grateful.) are going to take a nap. Another nap. Because we have the stamina of a three week old infant at the moment. I'm blaming it on the massive quantities of cold meds buzzing happily through my veins.

So...what kind of excitement has 2009 brought to your doorstep so far?

a new beginning...

I finished yesterday (last year) with:

Amen, Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen. (Revelation 22:20-21)

and began today (this year) with:

In the beginning God created...(Genesis 1:1)

I am excited to see what this year holds. (at least as excited as I can be filled with cold medicine and cold by-product!) I am participating in LPM's year of scripture memorization and am looking forward to learning 24 verses this year. (I'm also looking forward to the miracle that will enable me to memorize these scriptures!) This is the one that I have chosen for the first half of January:

Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is . Ephesians 5:15-17

I would love to have you join us on this memorization journey. (the more the merrier!) If you're interested, you can check out the details here. Oh, I also posted a bit about Genesis here if you are going to be reading through your Bible this year.

I hope you have a wonderful "new beginning" today! And does anybody know how many times one can blow/wipe one's nose before it spontaneously combusts?