I think I’m kinda packed.  It’s tough.  I have to take work clothes and play clothes.  And I have to pack our things for this weekend in an overnight bag so I don’t have to lug the suitcase in and out of the hotel.  And since I’m meeting Soliloquy on Saturday, I have to have something nice to wear.  And I don’t wear shorts, so I guess I’ll need to pull out my best capris.. she’s stylish ya know…

It’s almost as bad as when I met Jo-Lynne for the first time.  I learned alot of lessons from Jo-Lynne that I will take with me through future bloggy meetups for a long time.

As it stands right now, I get to meet 3 bloggers on my little trip… isn’t that cool?

So anywho, I’ve got the clothes packed.  I just need a few clean outfits for the kids.  I started a list, but I lost it.  And I have all these errands to run tomorrow.

Do you think 9 pairs of shoes is too many to take for a 13 day trip?

You’ll pleased to know all of the laundry is done and put away (in the laundry basket in my room).

Ok, so maybe you’re not pleased to know, but I’m pleased that it at least got that far.

My itinerary?  We’ll make it to Duncan, SC tomorrow night… and to Birmingham by Saturday night after having fun in Atlanta… and Jackson by lunch time on Sunday.  I’m excited.

But tonight?  I had dinner at my friend’s house (second time this week because she cooks well) and our other friend was there and they were trying all this makeup on me.  I found a new lip color.  I wanted to show the BFF and took a funny picture.  She has my login for the blog.  I’m willing to bet that picture will circulate before too long.

And then I came home and I was packing and folding and folding and packing and searching the house for the match to my favorite brown wedges and I sat down to see if there were any blog posts in my must read’s folder and guess what?

NKOTB is coming to Charlotte.  So I called up the friend who feeds me and she wants to go.  So guess who’s going to see them again?  I say this now… the tickets go on sale on July 18th at 10am, but I’ll be at BlogHer… but, that’s 7am San Fran time so uh, it’s quite possible that I could still get tickets before heading to the confernece.  (Sally will think I’m crazy.)

Ok, so… I feel like I’m going to the abyss and won’t have internet access, but I will.  But am looking forward to a little break… and I’ve already posted something for Saturday and it’s really cool… that’s why I had to post it.  And I might check in from time to time, but I feel confident in the hands that I’ve left you in while I’m gone…

Here’s who will be filling in for me…

Karen @ Simply A Musing

Susanna @ The Wardrobe Miser

Heather @ Age 30 - A Year of Books

Kelsey @ My Sweet Life

Cathy @ Mommy Motivation

Soliloquy @ She Just Had To Say It

Heather @ Not a DIY Life

Becki @ Introverts.net

Lisa B @ simply His

Marsha @ Family Adventures

Lizz @ Yes, and So Is My Heart

that Chick @ Jason. For the Love of God.

Jaime @ Chase N Kids

Kim @ Rainy Day Diamonds

AND….

Remember how I told you about More Than It Hurts You by Darin Strauss?  Well, he left a comment here thanking me for my kind words and somehow we engaged in a conversation of sorts through email, and I might have mentioned that I didn’t want to give away my copy but I wanted to have a giveaway and so he, being AWESOME, is sending me another one so that I can have a giveaway… and in typical Heather fashion, instead of just saying thank you, I had to gush and try to be funny because I’m talking to a real live author… sometimes I wonder about me…

anywho, my point.

I’m giving away a copy of Darin’s book.  A brand new one, not one that I read.  So…. to enter, guess what you have to do?  Leave a comment on ANY of the posts by one of my guest bloggers.  Leave a comment every day?  You’re entered to win, every day.  Seriously.  Because I want my guest bloggers to know that you love them too!  And make sure that you visit all of them. And say hi.  Because we play nice here.

Ok, I’m off like a cheap prom dress… love you, miss you, see you soon…

Until next time…

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No, it’s not the getting there or coming home.

It’s not layovers at the airport (even though we’re driving now)…

it’s the freaking LAUNDRY.

Now…

It’s my fault.  I’ll take the blame.

I did all the kids’ laundry before they left.  All washed, folded, put away.

But mine?

I didn’t need it last Saturday… so I just pushed that to the side.  Clothing my kids was important and a priority.

And I’ve had FOUR days to do my laundry.  FOUR.  Four days that I could easily pop the clothes in the washer while I work, fold clothes while I’m on conference calls, or while I was watching TV.  (Yes, there are distinct benefits to working from home.)

But I didn’t.

And now I’m doing laundry.  So that I don’t have to go into the office naked next week.  (Well, I do have some new clothes, but… that’s besides the point…)

And what’s worse?  I have to do laundry while I’m in Mississippi, twice.  Once to wash the clothes they are bringing home from camp and then once again before we leave so they have clean clothes to take to Nana’s and Papaw’s.

I hate laundry.

Until next time…

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It seems to me that I’ve used that title before, but who really knows…

I don’t… there have been over 600 titles in the past 18 months and for me to be original and unique every single time is… well… i just don’t think that it’s possible…

So…

First, let’s talk about the bachelorette.  Are you watching?  What do you think?  I’ve been a Jason fan since day 1.  I have a thing for single dads.  Deanna was right… you don’t have to worry about what kind of father they would be or if they like kids, because you already know.

But… I liked Jesse because he’s different.  And I’ve started to like him more and more.

Jeremy?  I do not like at all.  I don’t like his personality.  I don’t like him.  Period.  He’s too “perfect”… however, he seems to be, as Deanna stated, the type of guy that she goes for.

I don’t feel for Graham… I’m glad he’s gone.  The hometown date was awkward for me to watch, so I know it had to be weird for her and I’m sure the only reason that Deanna continued to fall for him is because she can’t have him, all of him.  Because that’s what we women do.  We want what we can’t have.

So next week, I want Jeremy to go home, but I fear that he will win the whole thing and I will be pissed because someone else picked the wrong person.  I do it to myself with every single reality show that I watch.

And after watching the Bachelorette yesterday, I took one of my youth group gals to get her nails done.  And then we went shopping.  Because guess what?

I have to be in an office for two weeks and because I work from home, my “work” clothes are limited.  And I’m pretty sure that showing up in my PJs or jeans and a tee-shirt is not an option.  So we met up with her mother and we flew through Cato because it was late.  Bless the women who were working.  I got there 15 minutes before closing and they told me to take my time.  We were out 30 minutes later (after I locked myself out of the dressing room twice) with 4 new tops and a pair of pants.

It was a riot I tell you.  I laughed so hard.  And I hate to try on clothes.. but when you’re with your friend… who will put things back on the hanger for you and go and get you a different size and tell you whether you look amazing or like a fat cow in something, it’s so much more enjoyable.

So, now I’m set to go to work… and BlogHer.. because that is in 24 days… TWENTY FOUR… and I’m so excited.  I just need a purse.  To hold my stuff.  Oh and business cards.  Because I don’t have any.

And there was something else that I wanted to talk about that fit in with the random theme, but I can’t remember what it was because I’ve been interrupted no less than a gazillion times since I started this post…

so, I guess I’ll end here… but not before mentioning that there are new posts up at Desperately Seeking WordPress and I’ll have a list of guest bloggers up tomorrow so you can see who will be hijacking the blog while I’m gone… be prepared, I think a few will be poking fun at me, which honestly?  Is the best way to show your love for me.

Until next time…

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I have an alter ego. Her name is Professor Wilma. Tonight she was captured on video, so that I could share her with you.

Ironically, when I got home from VBS tonight, I had an email from Jaime. I met Jaime when I helped redid her blog with the help of Jo-Lynn and she’s a blessing. For that reason, she’s also my Blog Pick of the Week. She’s got a huge heart, and a Godly woman. Not to mention, she’s FUH-NEY.

Really, she is…

Anyway, she emailed me and said that she had a contest going on and she had me on the brain. The contest is a bundle of stress relieving stuff and it’s funny. I’ve been so stressed that I hadn’t made it around to blogs in awhile, or responded, or commented.. and so I would’ve missed this.

But Jaime wanted to know how we handle stress.

For me?

It’s what I did tonight. Gather in my safe haven, with my fellow Christians and just be goofy. Put the world behind me and not even think about it. And just have fun.

Head on over to ChaseNKids and enter…

Until next time…

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October 2, 2008

Verizon Center

Washington, DC

8pm

Wanna know who with?

Anyone else gonna be there? Wanna double?

We can hang tough, and show who’s got the right stuff, and OMGosh I’M GOING TO SEE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!!!!!!!!!!!

AND MUCHAS GRACIAS to the BFF even if the only reason we’re going is because you want to see me act like a dork and make a DORK-U-MENTARY…

Now… what am I going to wear?

Until next time…

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I’m off today and tomorrow.  Like, I took two days of vacation.  Which is fine.  I don’t mind taking vacation.  I don’t have to do it often because I work from home, so unless I’m actually GOING somewhere, I don’t take it.

But I’m not going anywhere today and tomorrow.

I’m cleaning.

Did you get that?  CLEANING.

On my vacation.

Because my children are going to waltz through that door tomorrow at 12:30 and life as I know it will cease to exist… at least for the next 2.5 months.  Meaning, there will be no time to clean, declutter, and chuck without them underfoot.

So I have to do it today.  And tomorrow.

I guess the more positive way to look at this is that I’m getting paid to clean.  However, if that were an excitement for me, I would be a maid…

Oh wait.  I am a maid.  I just don’t normally get any credit for it.

I’m going to shut up now.  I’m going to crank my music.  And I’m going to go clean.

And I’m going to not think about how much I’m going to cry tonight.  Because it’s just graduation from elementary school… it’s not like he’s graduating from high school and leaving for college.

Oh I need to stop.  I need to go clean.

But I sooooooooooooooooo don’t want to.

Until next time…

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I have a new appreciation for any one who has to do manual labor all day in the heat.  Seriously.  I feel like I am spoiled.

I worked hard today… and my competitive nature showed.  But I like being competitive when it doesn’t get out of hand.  It makes me fee so alive….

Today, I headed over to the kids’ school for Field Day.  When I arrived I felt ambushed.  All of the 5th graders had their HVMS Eagles shirts on to which I said to the teacher, “That’s not fair.  I had until Monday to prepare myself for this…”  He thought I was funny, and while I can be funny, I was serious.  I’m not ready for this.  Matthew on the other hand has never been more ready.

I was going just to take pictures.  But I’m sure, if you don’t know me in real life, you can probably assume that I can’t sit still and watch.  I just can’t.

Apparently Matthew’s teacher could see that, too, because he asked me if I wanted to join in on the tug of war.  I did. We won.

Then we moved to the egg toss section.  I couldn’t just watch, so I roped in one of the few fun moms and we participated too.  We lost, but we got pretty far.  I guess I’m just on this quest to prove that getting older doesn’t mean that we aren’t fun anymore.

Then came the annual 5th graders vs the adults softball game.  I wasn’t planning on staying that long or participating because I had a conference call at 2.  Somehow I ended up coaching the 5th graders.  While they didn’t win, it was the closest game in the history of this particular tradition.  I was having a blast.  In the zone.  In my element, but HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT.

Oh my lawsy, I though I was going to pass out.

I headed home with 10 minutes to spare and take a quick, cold shower, drank the last of my daughter’s gatorade, knowing that she would be upset with me, but I HAD to compose myself before I got on the phone with the powers that be.

When that was over, I worked a little and then left to go pick up my daughter, another player and my babysitter and head to our softball game.

Can I mention that it was high 90s today and I heard some parts hit 100?  It was HOT.  I was in jeans because I don’t do shorts.

And then there was the game… and you know what happened?  We won.  Now, we’ve won before, so this probably doesn’t seem like it’s such a big deal because it is.  Reason being, the only games we’ve EVER won are those in which my assistant coach is there.  And he wasn’t there tonight.  It totally made a good day even better…

So game finishes, I dash home, make the kids dinner, shower for the third time today, get dressed, kinda do my makeup and head out the door to go bowling with someone I may have mentioned before.  Let’s just say that we’re both pretty competitive.  And funny.

And now I’m home, and itching to compete with Matthew on Guitar Hero, however, I’m hot, still, and I’m tired, because I think I exerted more of myself in one day than I have in the last two weeks combined.  And I need my rest.  We have another ball game tomorrow and it’s our last one.

So here ends my ramble.  I just wanted to document this so that one day I can look back and say, “hey… i did exert myself at least once…” because I’m REALLY hoping that I don’t have to be out in this heat, that long, doing that much physical activity in a long time.

Spoiled.

That’s what I am.

Until next time….

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One of my bloggy BFF’s Soliloquy is having a little contest and she wants to know an embarrassing moment or one in which you sunk low… this just after dropping her sister off at the Greyhound station… and since I have a Greyhound story, and because she won’t stop bugging me to blog about it since I want to win the prize, I’m going to share it with you.

I’m somewhat hesitant to share this story with you having just come out of a most spiritual week and asking people to share where God met you…

So, I need to preface this post with “Before I came to know the Lord….”

Consider it prefaced.

Four score and seven years ago In 1995, I left home, Beantown bound for college. The short of the story is that I met a man, fell in love with him and the only REAL problem with him (at that time) was that he lived in Philly and I was, of course, in Boston.

I would move heaven and earth for the opportunity to see this man every.chance.I.had.

And I mean every.

Let me mention that I was also poor.

Boston was approximately 6 hours from Philly. I didn’t have a car. Neither did he.

But you know who DID have wheels?

Greyhound.

And they were in my budget. Oh who am I kidding? I had no budget. I had no job. Working was beneath me because it seemed as if every kid I knew on that campus was there on Daddy’s dime except me, and I had to keep up my appearance. Ha.

What I did have were credit cards. Lots and lots of credit cards, because I hated doing laundry. And when you signed up for a credit card they would give you a free t-shirt, prolonging my having to do laundry. A few weeks later, a credit card would come in the mail and I would have money.

Can I just tell you now that I was NOT SO SMART back then?

I digress.

Those credit cards and Greyhound were my ticket to see my man… the man that I was so madly in love with… the man that I knew I would one day marry and bear children with… the man that I eventually did marry and procreate with, but not necessarily in that order.

Yes, Greyhound was my ticket out of the hellish roommate situation that I was in and into my man’s arms. For a day or four.

I was invincible then, you know. Nothing scared me. I feared nothing. I would take a cab to the Greyhound terminal (and at that time they didn’t take plastic, so I had to scrape up cash) and I would purchase my ticket and then ride to Philly, always stopping to change buses in New York City.

NEW FREAKING YORK.

19 years old. Alone. Late at night. On a bus. In New York City.

(Thank you Lord for being there; for watching over me; for protecting me. It’s amazing that I am still alive to tell this story.)

I did this often. Too often, but at the time, it didn’t seem often enough.

Now before I go any further, I need to mention that sometimes, I live in a movie. I have life scripted so wonderfully and when I see an opportunity that would make for a good movie, I’m all over it, because, well, quite frankly, I want people to LOVE my happy endings. And while I’m not so bad about it now, because there have been more than one reality checks along the way, in 1995 I was BAD about it.

On one particular trip back from Philly when we changed buses in New York, I boarded and sat down. I was smart enough not to make eye contact with many of the other passengers because I knew that I needed to be careful and so when I sat down, I promptly pulled a book from my bag and started reading.

A few minutes later, dude behind me starts making small talk. I was careful not to look at him. I said a few words back, but I don’t like small talk with weirdos.

But somehow, he engaged me in a conversation and we talked the entire four hour bus ride back to Boston. We talked about life, our childhoods, our likes, dislikes, fears, plans for the future… you name it and we talked about it. By the time that we got back to the terminal just a few miles from campus, I felt like I had known him my whole life.

To quote 5,000 contestants on the Bachelor and the Bachelorette across the years, I felt a connection.

And that man that I was so madly in love with? Never even crossed my mind.

Sad, isn’t it?

I’m so ashamed.

But it gets better… or worse, however you want to look at it.

When we debussed… ha ha… get it… deplaned? debussed? I slay me.

When we got off the bus in Boston, he had some time to kill to wait for his bus to Connecticut. Since it was 1:30am and I had nothing better to do, I offered to wait with him.

Can you see how freakin’ smart I was?

Moving on… we talked more and I never once mentioned why I was in Philly other than to say that I was visiting friends… that wasn’t a total lie, right?

And then?

He leaned over and kissed me and boy could KISS!

There was a lot of kissing. And then? He was kissing my neck… apparently enjoying himself because when I got home, my neck looked like I was attacked by the vacuum cleaner.

I can assure you that it didn’t go any further… I was a “good girl” after all, or played one in my mind but I was rather ashamed of myself THAT night when I looked at my neck and couldn’t figure out how I was going to cover them to go to class or be in the presence of my few friends.

Despite that, I floated home. How awesome was it going to be to tell the story of how we met at our wedding? Two strangers. Chance meeting. Fate. Destiny.

Yadda. Yadda. Yadda.

He put me in a cab and sent me home and before I closed that door, gazing at him longingly, wondering if I would ever see him again (picturing a perfect movie scene unfolding) I gave him my number.

One last kiss and we drove off. And yes, I watched him out of the back cab window as he got smaller and smaller until he eventually disappeared.

Every time the phone would ring, I would hope that it would be him. It never was. I was excited to talk to my man and see my man again, but I would be lying if I said that I stopped waiting for him to call. For no other reason than to carry on with the movie script that I had a starring role in.

But he never did.

Over time, the color of my neck evened out again and his memory faded away… so much in fact that I don’t even remember his name. But Soliloquy’s tale of her sister’s experience jogged my memory about this time. The time that I had my first and only hickey (I hate that word) and the time that I was lower than low.

However, many lessons came from this one experience and ones that I carry with me to this day, so at least some good came of it.

Now go play along and don’t forget… You’ve got until Friday to share your “Where God Met Me” story… I’m sure He WAS there with me as these events unfolded, but I can assure you that I was unaware.

Until next time…

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I totally stole that from Melissa… except her letters were G O D… and you should go read that post… really…

but AFTER you read what I have to tell you… or now if the letters N K O T B mean absolutely nothing to you.

Good, you’re all still here.

(Forgive me Father for putting NKOTB before people reading about how you’re working in Melissa’s life….)

Ok, go read Melissa’s post and THEN come back here for the latest on NKOTB…

waiting…

it’s okay… go ahead…

ok, good.  Amazing work, no?

So anyway, Saturday night I was partaking in grown-up time at my friend’s house. Because the other alternative was working or cleaning or something like that and I needed some me time… so I went over there and we watched a movie. It was dumb, but hysterical… and the phrase “flipper on Prozac sucking on an artichoke” probably means nothing to you, nor will it ever, but for she and I, we now have an inside joke… (incidentally, you should not share this joke during morning service, or you will erupt with laughter causing the Pastor and half the congregation to wonder exactly what’s wrong with you…)

After the movie, I told her that I just couldn’t watch another one, that I would fall asleep… and it was late.

Ok, so it was only 9, but I was tired, and I’m old, and I can’t handle late nights outside of my own home anymore.

We decided just to chat for a little and we flipped the radio on and she walked out of the kitchen… and I was getting something to drink and that’s when I heard it.

Summertime.

NKOTB’s latest song.

ON.THE.RADIO.

I about fell over and screamed at her while I was dashing across the kitchen to crank the radio up even louder as I danced around her living room.

She of course, laughed.

That really has no significance other than that happened and then today I read on the NKOTB blog about this…

Stay tuned for the ‘SUMMERTIME’ VIDEO WORLD PREMIERE this weekend, ONLY on VH1 and VH1.com! Check local listings for information.

Saturday, June 7 - SNEAK PEAK @ VH1 TOP 20 COUNTDOWN
Sunday, June 8 - VIDEO WORLD PREMIERE @ 2 PM on VH1 and online @ VH1.com

Just so you know, I am making no plans for Saturday afternoon and I’m ever so grateful that our last ball game is at 5. If it’s a 4 minute video, I’ll can watch it 37 times before I have to leave.

I have to go set the DVR.

************************************

Don’t forget that I want to know Where God Met You… read all the details here and enter to win… yes, I’m bribing you.  But Go.  Read. Post. Be Blessed.  You have until Friday!

Until next time…

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I have to interrupt this spiritual movement. I have to. I don’t want to, but I have to.

What you probably don’t know is that I took another blog break this week while my testimony has been running, and oh I can’t wait to tell you how I have been blessed already just by sharing, but I have to wait… for a little.

I wanted this to be a reverent week and not post anything BUT my testimony, but something happened tonight that warrants an interruption.

I’d love to tell you that it is a God thing… actually, depending on how you look at it, it IS a God thing. Because I PRAYED HARD that this would turn out ok.

You see, several weeks ago, Matthew came home and announced the he was entering the talent show in the comedy category. I cringed. Yes, I think my son is HYSTERICAL, but he’s my son. I have to think that. I have to laugh at his jokes.

He did not share what he was going to do, just that it was about me and he did ask permission if he could use me as part of his act. What do I care? I make fun of myself every day on my blog.

He auditioned and he got a spot. And that’s when I feared going to this talent show. I didn’t want to invite anyone because I feared that I would be embarrased for him… (and for Samara… she entered too!)

Yesterday, I picked him up from dress rehersal and I was told that he was funny. But I was still fearful.

And just like I didn’t know my child could sing? I didn’t know how funny he was…

Of course, he didn’t know that I am a heckler.

And so he made this little video (a MyPie Production… yes, there’s a story there) and I’m pretty impressed. And flattered that he asked me to be in it.

So please watch.

Watch him make fun of me.

Watch the audience ROAR with laughter. (And that’s not a laugh track after his jokes… because I WAS prepared to add that later.)

Watch me heckle him… and his comebacks.

And then remember, when he’s on Last Comic Standing and then on Comedy Central with his own show? Remember…you saw him here first!

Thank you Jesus!

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