Pure Bliss??!!

I have just officially completed 22 loads of laundry in 2 days!!!!  Thankfully that breaks down to 11 regular loads seeing as my washer holds double the capacity, but still 11 nonetheless.  And it has all been done with a smile on my face ... in the comforts of my own home.  Oh the absolute pleasure to fold clothes that have come straight out of the dryer in my own Master Suite as I watch a favorite "oldie" movie on the TV!!  And the other awesome thing is that I didn't realize that clothes could smell so good!!!!!!!  No more burnt smelling-way too hot-smelling like someone else's laundry detergent clothes!!!!  That is what I call a little bit of pure bliss!!

NOT ME Monday

Hello friends and family!  I am dying to share some of the amazing before and after pics, or as I say the before and transitional pictures.  The final touches won't arrive until mid-March!!  Until we unpack the computer and I can access my picture files again, this simple entry on the laptop will have to do.  It's that time and although I have a million other things to be doing and writing about, here goes some things about the last hectic and exciting week, and as you will see still very interesting...

NOT ME!!!!!!

---I am not sitting here in the Living Room staring at my professional grade, 6-burner stove and dreaming of the day when I can actually cook in and on it!!  It's literally in the middle of my floor, awaiting installation on Wednesday.

---I am not complaining about the fact that after 2 weeks, I am soooooo over eating out!!

---I am not tired of going out into my garage every time I need something out of the fridge.  Do you realize how much you go into that crazy thing in one day, especially when you are trying to drink more water??

---I didn't really have to go the laundry-mat AGAIN this past week even though I received the best Valentine's gift ever (a commercial size, front loading, way too technical washer and dryer!!)

---I am not complaining about being short until I stand in my new kitchen and realize that to access almost all of the cabinets I need a step stool!  (Boy is it gorgeous though!)

---I am not tired of only having a love seat in our living room (although I should be grateful as it forces Trevor and I closer together!!)

---I did not go out to eat at nicer restaurants this past week in a ballcap, no make-up, and "leisure" clothes!!

---I did not tell Grayson to have "quiet" feet this past week because I was going through a little withdrawl having to let that phrase go out of my vocabulary!!  (JK-I started to tell him only to realize he can be as loud as he wants, there's no one downstairs who'll be banging back at him!!)

---I did not enjoy Valentine's dinner with my 2 boys at Buffalo Wild Wings!!!!  (Yes, I'm serious.  Grayson's fever broke and he was starving and requested this!!)

Thank you Lord for an amazing week, and although we missed many of the big events of the week and weekend, we are all 3 enjoying life, sort of.  Grayson has had a little of the flu funk and Trevor caught something today.  I have been totally fine as are my mom and sister who were here to help last week.  Grayson's fever came and went and returned, so he'll miss another day of school tomorrow!  Keeps me home from "the Office", but getting the house in order quicker!!  Can't wait to hug ya'll and catch up a little Wednesday morning or later on this week!!

YES ME !!!!!

As opposed to my usual NOT ME Monday post, I will make one final posting from my old home. Tomorrow morning is the big day. It has finally arrived, and when I say finally, I say that with pure elation. Our original moving date was December 15, so needless to say it has been a very long almost 2 months!! At 8:30 tomorrow morning, our lives that have been packed up will be transferred to our new home, and this time tomorrow night, I'll be putting sheets and towels into our new bedrooms and bathrooms (notice the plural endings on both those words!!) Oh the work ahead!! I am so glad that my Mom was here this past week to help me pack up the last tidbits as well as keep Grayson company whilst I slaved away. The packing process seems to be a never-ending one, as Trevor and I will not get much sleep tonight just putting the "last-minute" stuff into boxes. At last count I had close to 100 boxes, not to mention the suitcases full of our clothes. I am so glad that we are being moved by a company.

Oh I could go on and on, but will save some of my "grateful" teary moments and my before and after photos for another post another day. My Mom is coming back with my sister to help unpack later this week, so I won't be checking back in for a while. Besides that, I haven't set up internet service at the new address yet!! So good-bye Cedar Road, and welcome to the "Sweet" life!! WAHOO!!!!!!!!!

NOT ME!!

Another Monday is here again, so here are some things from the week:

1. I did not run to Target in my jammies because I was way too comfortable and on top of that wore them tucked nicely into my rainboots!! NOT ME!!

2. I was not dressing Grayson the other day only to see him turn around too late and blast me with a "pooter-tooter". Oh the smell! NOT ME!!

3. I was not in the middle of Target with my almost-5-year old when he announced he had to go "poo-poo" in a loud voice, but more than that, did not wait until we got to the bathroom to go! The undies went in the garbage and he got dunked in the tub when we got home. Where's the baby Desitin when you need it for your 5-year old?! NOT ME!!

4. I was not unabashedly singing at the top of my lungs and doing the motions to one of my praise songs only to look beside me at the stop light and see the dear lady laughing hysterically!! NOT ME!! (Please tell me she saw that Grayson was in the backseat in his carseat screaming away with me!!!)

5. I did not threaten bodily harm or nasty words to someone today upon hearing that our moving date has been changed AGAIN! NOT ME!!! (Yeah, there comes that "mean girl"!!)

6. I did not move the time on Grayson's clock back an hour praying that he would see that he was up way too early and go back to sleep and give us all additional rest! NOT ME!! (And yes, it backfired when at 6:30 his time he came into our room saying that he just couldn't wait to get up and looked over to see my clock reading 7:30!!)

"MEAN GIRL"????

Off with the self-pity of yesterday and on with the new after a good spanking! I don't want to make light of my "emotional" posting yesterday, those feelings are/were real, but after a good day in the Word and at Bible Study, I have been spanked and am picking up. Self-anything is never good and I fear that I went too far in expressing my feelings looking for a reaction when all I needed was to take it to God and leave it there. He knows best how to help me, to guide me, to comfort me, to wrap loving arms of "I am all-sufficient" around me.


Don't you hate when those "demons" from the past come licking at your heels? What am I, 15 again?! As Katy would say, "Good Grief!" Haven't I gone through this exact same thing many times over in my life. When is enough going to be enough?! AAAHHHH!!


So in the form of an apology for making any feel as if they needed to respond at all to my earlier posting with an "awww", there it is. If that is a sign or symptom or a small character triat of one of those "MEAN GIRLS" I am truly sorry that it reared it's ugly head! After Bible Study for those of you who are in Esther Study, please give me a look or a call that says I'm on the brink of becoming one of "THE GIRLS". Some of you have absolutely no idea what I am talking about, but Beth Moore gave some great insights and near spankings to some of us with natural inclinations or tendencies to being a "Mean Girl". I hate to say even the best of us exhibit some of those nasty qualities sometimes.

I have control of myself and those lovely things called "emotions" today, and am trying to look for ways to focus on others rather than self. What better cure for the "woe-is-me's" than turn attention on the "who's-around-me". God, help me to leave at your feet all feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, loneliness, self-worth, self-judgment. Help me to constantly be aware of those around me and focus rather on how to be a help-meet, encourager, mommy-friend, co-worker, and girl friend. Thank you for quickly mending fences and for accepting us just as we are where we are!!

A Little Funk

(please know that one of the great ways to sort through things is in writing...)
Do you ever begin feeling down and can't pinpoint where it has come from? I all of a sudden began to feel very lonely this past week. A little insecure maybe, a little paranoid maybe, hormonal maybe that too! But as I look back over the past month, I have been really busy getting ready to move, trying to get caught back up and maybe a little ahead at work, and just doing the daily "living" stuff. I think my problem is that I have isolated myself from everyone, at times even Trevor and Grayson, and it's sending me into this little funk. Thankfully God and I have reconnected very quickly with the help of this semester's awesome Bible Study on Esther!!

I feel a little out-of-touch with everything around me and that is never good. I have isolated myself to the point that it feels uncomfortable making the phone calls to restore relationships that you have neglected and try to get back in the groove again. Trevor and I definitely need some time with just each other and hopefully will get a date night when my Mom comes next week! I can't wait to unpack toys with Grayson and find "long lost" treasures to play with. As for my friends, some of you reading, please don't think that I don't think of you and pray for you often. I have seemed to be in the background in my own world, but I do want to know what's going on in your world too! I can't wait to invite ya'll over for coffee on a Friday morning when the "big" boys are in school.

So, I'm saying good-bye to whatever is involved in the January funk and it's time to press on. The last couple of weeks went by in a blur, and February is upon us. It's the time to celebrate those we love and hold dear. So to all of you who are dear to me, here's to getting over the funk and reconnecting!!

Stolen!!

I love popping over to read Erica's blog. We met a couple years ago through a mutual friend. I always get a laugh at her candor as she shares glimpses of her life. She adopted a special segment called "Not ME!". Every Monday she puts out a list of "Not Me's!". It is a list that is "supposed to make light of all the things we did not accomplish, or accomplished but probably shouldn't have, during the week. It is to keep us humble and realize that all of us are in a constant pattern of not living up to our own expectations. It is to remind us that we all need patience and grace with ourselves and others."

I don't know if I'll adopt this every week on Monday, but it will keep Trevor from having to listen to some of my random rantings and personal reflections/thoughts!! Sometimes we just need to get things off our chest, right?!

1. I did not take Grayson to McDonalds for lunch today because I was craving one bite of a McD's hamburger and a fry, all the while saying it was because he did so well in school last week! NOT ME!

2. I did not try watching a movie for the fourth time this past week, only to fall asleep before I could get to the ending. NOT ME! (Keep in mind that every time I started watching it again, I would go to the part I remembered seeing last!)

3. I did not sit at the computer and blog while Grayson was in the other room watching a cartoon, the same cartoon, for the third time! NOT ME!

4. I did not empty the floor of my closet this week only to find a sport coat of Trevor's so covered with dustbunnies that I couldn't tell what color the jacket was supposed to be! NOT ME!

5. I did not NOT clean my house for the 3rd week in a row thinking that this was moving week! NOT ME!