slow and steady wins the race...

Rumor has it that we might close our inventory today. This is the longest amount of time that I can ever remember "working" one. But we are special. And special people get special treatment. I know Jan and I both will be ready to see the last of this thing. (perhaps a picture of a monkey on my back would be more appropriate!)

In other random bits of my life, it appears that spring is here to stay. The Bradford pear trees that were not lost in the ice storm are beginning to bloom, along with what might be cherry trees. (I am not very good at determining what plant is what. I mostly identify them by "it's green with pink blooms" or some such technical term as that.) We also have daffodils blooming and 30 out of 50 new tulips coming up. I'm hoping to take some pictures this weekend.

The city is beginning to spruce up for the Derby as well. May will be here before we know it. Rumor has it that they want to have all the ice storm debris up by then. (I'm thinking that it's a great idea since it will have been three plus months! It looks like Louisville has been invaded by herds of beavers. Flocks of beavers? How do beavers travel? Packs? Gaggles?)

Speaking of animals, Bakari is finally up and running around. Apparently he just needed a bit of equine surgery. Even though he's not an equine.

And, just in case you might be fascinated by all things Derby, my nephew-in-law is working on a horse for Louisville's Gallopalooza. You can check out what he's doing here.

Other than that, I hope everyone has a wonderful "springy" weekend!

an update...

I honestly feel like I'm going to be dragging Spring to my house, kicking and screaming all the way. Although it is supposed to be eighty today. However, don't let that fool you. It's dropping back to the upper forties and lower fifties the rest of the week. (and we won't even mention the rumors of a snowstorm for next week. sigh.)

In other random bits and pieces of my life, we are going here this evening. (and just for fun, if you poke around on this site, you can see a time lapsed video of them building the set. It's amazing what all you can get done in two minutes. :) )

And just to make things more challenging, here's a random question: I know there's a difference between a tornado and straight line winds, but if the damage looks the same, does it really matter what you call it?

Oops, I just realized I forgot to make someone breakfast. And they might be a bit grumpy about it. So I'd better get back to my life. Sorry about the quality of this morning's post. Blame it on pollen...

serving up a cup of random...

1. I might have anticipated the arrival of spring just a bit since it's been like SIXTEEN degrees the last two days.

2. The weatherman (who is always right) assures me that temperatures will be in the 50s and 60s for the next two weeks.

3. the amount of desperation in which the dogs must either go outside or come inside is directly proportionate to how busy you are or how many things you have in your hands at any given time.

4. It appears that Josh's foray into the world of being a giant bumblebee has paid off since we have at least three baby lemons on our lemon tree.

5. Past history has shown that only one lemon will grow to adulthood.

6. Perhaps we need to hold a telethon and raise funds to help extend the infant mortality rate of our lemons.

7. My dogs seem to think that slapping or pushing their food bowls around will make me fill them faster. They might be right. Or I might be entertained by dog bowl hockey.

8. While I don't mind the taste of Pillsbury Apple Turnovers, I don't like sticking my fingers in the dough.

9. I can never find a pair of scissors when I am looking for them. Of course, I can never find a pair of scissors when I am not looking for them either. Do we even have scissors?

10. If you are looking for a great book to read, try this. Or this.

11. We are going wedding dress shopping again on Friday. I think I'm excited. We'll see when Friday gets here.

12. It's almost inventory time again at work. I am not anticipating it happily. I'm hoping that will change. (I never feel "good" about inventory until it starts. It has something to do with worrying about whether or not we have prepared enough.) Although inventory will come whether I am happy about it or not. So I might as well be happy.

13. Does it make me a bad person if I am trying to decide if I want to be productive or not today?

14. Esther is a fantastic Bible study! Beth can really bring it!

15. Do you have any moments of peripety in your life? (I can think of three.)

So what do you do when you live in a non-tropical zone, it's winter, and your lemon tree starts to bloom.

Indoors.

Where (thankfully) there are no bees.

Why you whip out your trusty toothpick and try to pollinate the little suckers yourself, of course.

(We do weird things for entertainment when the winter days get long. Oh spring, we long for your bright colorful sunny days!)

reality bites...

or maybe a better subtitle might be that I've joined the I Love Lucy show and nobody told me.

I'm just gonna lay it all out right here. My frustration meter is FULL. (which is silly because honestly, there's nothing catastrophically wrong. Just a little dose of reality.)

We'll start the program with a look back at last Saturday. Valentine's Day. Anniversary Day. All was going well. We went to lunch instead of dinner because I don't like crowds and I don't like to wait. I want my food and I want it now. (in the most godly, Christlike way possible, of course.) We had a lovely lunch, with lovely conversation, and lovely gifts and we were all lovely. Then we went home. And all was well. Til I decided to walk down the steps. Which is something that I do with some regularity since it is a two story house.

However, this particular day, I decided to be graceful.

Or ungraceful.

boom.

splat.

Down I went. (when up on the rooftop I heard such a clatter, I sprang to my window to see what was the matter.) Except at our house it was five dogs coming to see what thundering herd might have flung itself down the steps.

Much pandemonium ensued.

After the dust had cleared (and Josh had picked my not so petite self up from the floor...remind me to tell you about that sometime), I found myself on the couch with a sprained ankle on the right side and an extremely sore (yet lovely) left side. Thus ended all weekend plans.

On Monday, after hobbling around work all day, I returned home to find a boy with a 102 degree temp.

Much rejoicing ensued.

Not.

Much Lysoling ensued. Tuesday morning found us doing acrobatic schedule juggling to get the boy to the doctor. Josh was due in Lexington and I was due at work. Fortunately, we have grandparents living nearby and the boy's grandmother was quite delighted to be able to spend some quality time with him. After much Lysoling, of course.

The diagnosis...strep. with an ear infection thrown in for some variety.

I must say that I was somewhat relieved with the strep diagnosis. I was concerned that he might have the flu and I figure that it's easier to catch the flu than strep. If this is incorrect, please leave me to wallow in my ignorance.

Here's the deal. Bible study night is Tuesday. Last Tuesday we were finishing up the "I'm not contagious, I don't know how you got the stomach flu" so I missed bible study. The week before was national "You must have a migraine and not be able to take your medicine til you turn green" day so I missed bible study. So, I really didn't want to miss bible study. But, my child is sick. "Running a fever, miserable, I want someone to sit with me and I pick you" sick. I am his mother. (and buddy let me tell you, nothing is bigger than mother guilt. ask Jonathan about the Porsche we promised him when he was three months old. On second thought, don't ask him. I don't think he remembers.) So...I stayed home. And sat with him in his room for several hours, rubbing his back, fixing the heating pad, bringing him koolaid and talking with him. Doing whatever it is that mothers do. (and hopefully not getting strep.) Because it was the right thing to do.

But I was frustrated.

Not just because I wanted to go to bible study.

But because I knew that some others would say that I made the wrong choice. That I should have gone. That I'd made a commitment.

And it aggravates me that I'm letting them frustrate me.

Because soon (sooner than I think), my babies will be gone. And I don't want them to think that activities were more important than they are.

And sometimes...a boy just needs his mom.


*Josh and I've been married 22 years. 21 years ago, I asked him to carry me up a hill. He turned to me and said, "you're not exactly petite." Of course, he tried to tell me that the definition of petite is short and at 5'10" I was too tall to be carried up the hill. Right. In 21 years, I have not forgotten. Nor will I forget for another 21 years.

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.

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.