Friday, October 30, 2009
Moving Day
Moving Day is tomorrow and I feel so unprepared. Nothing is boxed up, cleaned up, or organized. The trouble is: we're not taking much with us. We'll really only be occupying two bedrooms at my parents, and we're using furniture they already have in the house. All of our furniture will remain in the condo until such time as we sell it or rent it out. I have taken over two carloads of hang-up clothes so that our closet is "mostly" empty. The items in our drawers will likely go over tomorrow as they have nowhere to go until all the furniture is rearranged at my folks. We might take my desk, but I'm not sure, so I've hesitated to pack it up. (That really wouldn't take much, though.) I know I intend to take my books, but it's not paramount to take them to move in this weekend, and we don't know if we'll use the bookshelf here at the condo or a smaller one at my parents'. (Though my vote is for my bigger one, b/c I'm attached). And our electronics are going with us, but it's really for Nick to unhook and take care of everything, which he won't have time to do until tomorrow anyway. I'm sure we can get everything over there in the course of the day, so is it really a big deal? I just feel like I should do more beforehand to be ready. I will be doing the major cleaning when we're actually out. So what is left for me to do but look around and think, "Man, I really should do something! But what??"
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Things I look forward to
Things I'm looking forward to about Eliza's arrival:
- -Seeing her little face and what she looks like
- -Holding her
- -Watching her grow from the outside
- -Watching Nick hold her and get to know his daughter, watching him become a daddy
- -The reduction of swelling in my feet and arms
- -Hopefully, carpal tunnel syndrome going away
- -Lying on my stomach
- -Snuggling up to my husband without something coming in between (though if she's anything like me, she'll still be what my parents called a "butt-in-sky" b/c I was always snuggling up between them)
- -Hopefully a return to close-to-normal brain function, for I'm sure this list is longer, but I can't remember all the items...
Monday, October 26, 2009
Halloween!
Hard to believe Halloween is almost here! We have no special plans for the holiday, except to make the move to my folks in preparation to make room for Eliza. It's too bad, too, as I actually have an idea for costumes this year: since I'm about 8.5 months pregnant, I always thought it would be funny if Nick and I dressed up as Abraham and Sarah from the Bible! But, I guess we don't have much to raid in our closets in the way of making costumes or too much extra cash to go out and buy stuff, so it works out in the end. My sister and her family are coming over to help us shift around furniture, and I'm sure I will get the duty of making sure the boys are out of the way and directing where to place furniture in our bedroom, as I won't be allowed to lift or carry very much around. Perhaps Miss will bring the boys' costumes with them and we can take them to the Halloween Alternative at the church.
Every year Central Park puts on a Halloween Carnival at the community center. We're hoping for big numbers this year as it's a Saturday! There are games and prizes and lots and lots and LOTS of candy. Which, if it doesn't get eaten, the youth group always seems to end up helping polish off... It would be fun to take Jim and Mike in their Iron Man and Optimus Prime outfits, respectively, and watch them play. They put on their costumes for us at Mikey's birthday party, and Jim couldn't hold still in his!
Anyway, since I don't get much chance to celebrate the costume holiday, I've decided to show a little holiday spirit on the blog here. :)
Every year Central Park puts on a Halloween Carnival at the community center. We're hoping for big numbers this year as it's a Saturday! There are games and prizes and lots and lots and LOTS of candy. Which, if it doesn't get eaten, the youth group always seems to end up helping polish off... It would be fun to take Jim and Mike in their Iron Man and Optimus Prime outfits, respectively, and watch them play. They put on their costumes for us at Mikey's birthday party, and Jim couldn't hold still in his!
Anyway, since I don't get much chance to celebrate the costume holiday, I've decided to show a little holiday spirit on the blog here. :)
Friday, October 23, 2009
A work in progress
Wednesday night we began setting up Eliza's room! On Halloween we will begin making the move to my parents' house. My parents were generous enough to offer for us to live with them for awhile so that we have enough room for Eliza and can hopefully wait to purchase a house from a couple we know when it's ready to come on the market. We're not sure how long we will be living with them, but we hope it won't be so long that we wear out our welcome! The pictures show how we've rearranged the littlest bedroom at their house to become a nursery for Eliza. You can see her crib, the vanity that we will make into a changing table, her chest of drawers and my rocker. We're leaving a twin bed in the room and will create a trundle with Nick's old mattress for her cousins to stay in there with her when they come to visit!
There's still some work to be done, hanging things on the walls and getting miscellaneous items put away, but we are just that much closer to being ready for her arrival!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Doers, not Merely Hearers
I'm working on my d-group lesson for tonight. We'll see how this goes. Because I'm thinking of scrapping the what I intended to do and camping out on a much smaller passage.
I've got about three weeks until "D-Day" (Due Date). So, I had thought I would just take our small group chapter by chapter through James. We haven't done James yet, and it was thrown out there by one of the girls. Seemed reasonable. Last week, however, I didn't get all through James 1 because it seemed they were really somewhere else (I could have been totally wrong, though). Maybe I was somewhere else: all I know is the lesson didn't go according to plan and I felt like I was trying too hard. I probably was. So, this week, I was going to finish James 1 and head onto 2. Now, I think I may give up on hitting all of James before Eliza is delivered (unless she's really late...).
The reason is this: the passage I have left in James is on being doers of the Word, not merely hearers. James 1:22-25 (ESV) says this:
But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in the mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
A discussion in my ladies' Bible study today got me to thinking. We talked about how ALL Scripture is God-breathed, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). ALL of it, not just the parts that we like. And that we should be obedient to it. Through the course of study and conversation, the topic came around to forgiveness. And listening to some of the women share on how they don't want to forgive someone who has hurt them and hurt their families, I realized that one of the hardest Scriptures Christians seem to have trouble doing is forgiving. It was even said by one lady that she wasn't sure you had to in every situation, or that it should really be pushed. I have a great deal of respect for this woman, but her comment gave me pause. Hadn't we earlier said that ALL Scripture is God-breathed and that we should be obedient to it? Even if we didn't like it? Then what about the Scriptures that command us to forgive one another? (Matt. 6:14-15, 18:21-25; Mark 11:25; Luke 6:37, 17:1-4; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13) Then, shouldn't we forgive, even if we don't want to?
I am not saying in the least that it is easy to forgive. I know what it is to struggle with forgiveness. I have been betrayed by friends. I have had my confidence and worth utterly destroyed by others, even other believers. I am haunted sometimes by the things people have said to me, and sometimes I wish that God would punish them and make them see how deeply they have wounded me. I have had to watch as others have hurt my family members. There is one woman in particular that I still wish I could tell her off for believing she had the freedom to rebuke a member of my family based off a piece of gossip shared by another woman who really (viewing her position) should have known better than to repeat, let alone repeat as authority (and which piece of gossip was skewed, unfounded, and unfair). I know what it is to want to cream someone on behalf of someone I love rather than forgive. I'm not saying at all I've got this down pat. I do not at all judge the comments that were made or those that made them because I fully understand, but it has made me think.
Why? Why is it so hard for believers to forgive? Why do we sometime think we don't have to, though it's clearly commanded in Scripture? Especially in the light of the enormity of the forgiveness we ourselves have experienced from the Father? Why do we find this area so difficult and think that because it is difficult and so wrapped up in our emotions, we aren't called to be obedient in it? Because this is not the first discussion I've had with other believers on this topic: it's come up in Sunday School, Bible studies, among friends... It's definitely something that's out there and a struggle for more than just the ladies in my study or myself. But didn't Jesus say, "The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me" (John 14:21). So... doesn't that include the command to forgive? Even if it's hard? Even if we don't want to? Even if we don't feel like it? I think I may agree more and more with what one very wise woman said in our study today: that forgiveness is not a feeling but an action, not dependent on our feeling. I've believed for a long time that the idea that love is a feeling is a fallacy: it's a conscious decision, a choice, an action. I may need to add forgiveness to that list.
So, what does this have to do with d-group? No, I won't be teaching on forgiveness. At least not an entire lesson, though I might bring it up for discussion to see what the girls have to say. But today's discussion in Bible study did make me camp out on James 1:22-25. I want above all for d-group to be both a time of learning but also to be applicable and practical. Wild and crazy Bible stories are definitely fun. And ALL Scripture is good for equipping. :) But I think it would be a missed opportunity if we didn't look more closely at this passage and look at what that really encompasses. Because I think it encompasses more than we really think sometimes. So, tonight, if I can pull myself together enough, I think I might gather together Scriptures that represent what we should be doing and discuss what's easy and what's hard and what that really means for us as believers. Because I think it's an on-going battle for us, isn't it? After all, even Paul said, "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate... For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." (Romans 7:15, 19) Sigh. You and me both, Paul.
I've got about three weeks until "D-Day" (Due Date). So, I had thought I would just take our small group chapter by chapter through James. We haven't done James yet, and it was thrown out there by one of the girls. Seemed reasonable. Last week, however, I didn't get all through James 1 because it seemed they were really somewhere else (I could have been totally wrong, though). Maybe I was somewhere else: all I know is the lesson didn't go according to plan and I felt like I was trying too hard. I probably was. So, this week, I was going to finish James 1 and head onto 2. Now, I think I may give up on hitting all of James before Eliza is delivered (unless she's really late...).
The reason is this: the passage I have left in James is on being doers of the Word, not merely hearers. James 1:22-25 (ESV) says this:
But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in the mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
A discussion in my ladies' Bible study today got me to thinking. We talked about how ALL Scripture is God-breathed, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). ALL of it, not just the parts that we like. And that we should be obedient to it. Through the course of study and conversation, the topic came around to forgiveness. And listening to some of the women share on how they don't want to forgive someone who has hurt them and hurt their families, I realized that one of the hardest Scriptures Christians seem to have trouble doing is forgiving. It was even said by one lady that she wasn't sure you had to in every situation, or that it should really be pushed. I have a great deal of respect for this woman, but her comment gave me pause. Hadn't we earlier said that ALL Scripture is God-breathed and that we should be obedient to it? Even if we didn't like it? Then what about the Scriptures that command us to forgive one another? (Matt. 6:14-15, 18:21-25; Mark 11:25; Luke 6:37, 17:1-4; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13) Then, shouldn't we forgive, even if we don't want to?
I am not saying in the least that it is easy to forgive. I know what it is to struggle with forgiveness. I have been betrayed by friends. I have had my confidence and worth utterly destroyed by others, even other believers. I am haunted sometimes by the things people have said to me, and sometimes I wish that God would punish them and make them see how deeply they have wounded me. I have had to watch as others have hurt my family members. There is one woman in particular that I still wish I could tell her off for believing she had the freedom to rebuke a member of my family based off a piece of gossip shared by another woman who really (viewing her position) should have known better than to repeat, let alone repeat as authority (and which piece of gossip was skewed, unfounded, and unfair). I know what it is to want to cream someone on behalf of someone I love rather than forgive. I'm not saying at all I've got this down pat. I do not at all judge the comments that were made or those that made them because I fully understand, but it has made me think.
Why? Why is it so hard for believers to forgive? Why do we sometime think we don't have to, though it's clearly commanded in Scripture? Especially in the light of the enormity of the forgiveness we ourselves have experienced from the Father? Why do we find this area so difficult and think that because it is difficult and so wrapped up in our emotions, we aren't called to be obedient in it? Because this is not the first discussion I've had with other believers on this topic: it's come up in Sunday School, Bible studies, among friends... It's definitely something that's out there and a struggle for more than just the ladies in my study or myself. But didn't Jesus say, "The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me" (John 14:21). So... doesn't that include the command to forgive? Even if it's hard? Even if we don't want to? Even if we don't feel like it? I think I may agree more and more with what one very wise woman said in our study today: that forgiveness is not a feeling but an action, not dependent on our feeling. I've believed for a long time that the idea that love is a feeling is a fallacy: it's a conscious decision, a choice, an action. I may need to add forgiveness to that list.
So, what does this have to do with d-group? No, I won't be teaching on forgiveness. At least not an entire lesson, though I might bring it up for discussion to see what the girls have to say. But today's discussion in Bible study did make me camp out on James 1:22-25. I want above all for d-group to be both a time of learning but also to be applicable and practical. Wild and crazy Bible stories are definitely fun. And ALL Scripture is good for equipping. :) But I think it would be a missed opportunity if we didn't look more closely at this passage and look at what that really encompasses. Because I think it encompasses more than we really think sometimes. So, tonight, if I can pull myself together enough, I think I might gather together Scriptures that represent what we should be doing and discuss what's easy and what's hard and what that really means for us as believers. Because I think it's an on-going battle for us, isn't it? After all, even Paul said, "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate... For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." (Romans 7:15, 19) Sigh. You and me both, Paul.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
3.5 weeks and counting...
I had my first weely appointment yesterday. Good news: I'm already starting to dilate and efface. This is such welcome news to me as my sister did neither with her first baby and had to be helped along on both accounts. She had to be induced with both of her boys. I'm hoping to avoid that, if at all possible. So I was very glad to hear progress has begun.
Three and a half weeks doesn't sound like a lot, but it feels like a lot! But that's mainly due to pregnancy-related discomfort. My feet are now so swollen I can rarely wear shoes. I've taken to wearing Nick's monster moccasins around. (You should see the looks I get in Walmart!) Even more uncomfortable, is that it seems the swelling has spread into my arms and has put pressure on my carpal nerve, giving me some pretty strong symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. Three fingers and my thumb are numb all day on my right hand and it is becoming harder and harder to close that hand around anything. At night it has become painful enough that sleep is difficult. Ah, the joys of pregnancy! At least I have been assured that it will go away after delivery, if it might take time. So, I say, let's get this over with!
Nick and I are both anxious to meet Eliza face to face. I can't wait to see what she looks like. I foresee several moments of looking into that tiny face and being overwhelmed with a feeling of surreality that she's actually mine. I have no idea how mommy-hood is going to feel: being an aunty, I totally understand. Being Mommy is definitely something that will take some getting used to!
Three and a half weeks doesn't sound like a lot, but it feels like a lot! But that's mainly due to pregnancy-related discomfort. My feet are now so swollen I can rarely wear shoes. I've taken to wearing Nick's monster moccasins around. (You should see the looks I get in Walmart!) Even more uncomfortable, is that it seems the swelling has spread into my arms and has put pressure on my carpal nerve, giving me some pretty strong symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. Three fingers and my thumb are numb all day on my right hand and it is becoming harder and harder to close that hand around anything. At night it has become painful enough that sleep is difficult. Ah, the joys of pregnancy! At least I have been assured that it will go away after delivery, if it might take time. So, I say, let's get this over with!
Nick and I are both anxious to meet Eliza face to face. I can't wait to see what she looks like. I foresee several moments of looking into that tiny face and being overwhelmed with a feeling of surreality that she's actually mine. I have no idea how mommy-hood is going to feel: being an aunty, I totally understand. Being Mommy is definitely something that will take some getting used to!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Recouping
Last week was difficult mostly because I was getting less than minimal sleep. By Thursday I was run down, strung-out and emotional. By Friday I managed to get some sleep but suspected I was getting hit with something, and sure enough on Saturday a cold ensued with force. Unfortunately, that was the day we had our birthing class. So, I got to learn about the joys and realities of birth while wishing I could lay my head down or blow my nose in private. Still, it was good and we learned a lot. Which then coupled with an early and incredibly unseasonably cold weekend. I finally got a full-night's sleep last night, but it was plagued by some very strange dreams.
All this, and another cold, gray day, has left me feeling rather gray myself. And with a house that's a wreck from lack of care due to lack of energy. My to-do list is long, my energy still low, and my need to feel productive rather high. Solution? Christmas music.
Okay, odd solution. And I know I might seem Christmas-obsessed right now. But have you ever noticed that the easiest way to find a good, up-lifting, heart-warming movie is to watch a Christmas movie? This is my logic, anyway. I decided to watch an up-beat Christmas comedy that might lift my mood and help me get in the swing of some work. However, we have only one in the house (White Christmas, total classic), and I can't watch it for two reasons: our VCR isn't hooked up, and my sister would kill me for watching it without her. Netflix's "Watch Instantly" option doesn't carry holiday movies, apparently. What's a girl to do to watch a holiday movie out of season? She doesn't. Instead, she finds herself trolling the genre stations on Pandora, finds the "Peaceful Christmas" station, the "Rockin' Christmas" station, and the R&B/Pop Christmas station (for she won't listen to Country Christmas!). And, then she laughs heartily to herself as she listens to Wonderful Christmastime as sung by the Wings and wonders how the guy downstairs likes her tunes.
All this, and another cold, gray day, has left me feeling rather gray myself. And with a house that's a wreck from lack of care due to lack of energy. My to-do list is long, my energy still low, and my need to feel productive rather high. Solution? Christmas music.
Okay, odd solution. And I know I might seem Christmas-obsessed right now. But have you ever noticed that the easiest way to find a good, up-lifting, heart-warming movie is to watch a Christmas movie? This is my logic, anyway. I decided to watch an up-beat Christmas comedy that might lift my mood and help me get in the swing of some work. However, we have only one in the house (White Christmas, total classic), and I can't watch it for two reasons: our VCR isn't hooked up, and my sister would kill me for watching it without her. Netflix's "Watch Instantly" option doesn't carry holiday movies, apparently. What's a girl to do to watch a holiday movie out of season? She doesn't. Instead, she finds herself trolling the genre stations on Pandora, finds the "Peaceful Christmas" station, the "Rockin' Christmas" station, and the R&B/Pop Christmas station (for she won't listen to Country Christmas!). And, then she laughs heartily to herself as she listens to Wonderful Christmastime as sung by the Wings and wonders how the guy downstairs likes her tunes.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Couponing Triumph
So, I'm still getting the hang of the coupon thing. My sister-in-law amazes me. She's got so many coupons and makes such savvy deals. I'm a little behind. Partly because we don't have any ink in our printer, partly because... well, I'm just not that organized. I'm trying, though. But today, I think I probably had my best shopping trip to date since I've started this whole bargain shopping extravaganza.
Currently, our local Dillons Supermarket (of the Kroger chain) has a sale on Pillsbury refigerated biscuits and rolls for $1.77/can (sale ends tomorrow, sadly). Also, currently, they're running a deal where if you buy so many cans of Pillsbury refigerated product, you could earn so much cash off your next Dillons purchase. (Better explained here.) I didn't have the same coupons mentioned in the blog post where I learned about the offer, butI did well enough. When I came out of Dillons I carried about $18 worth of merchandise, for which I'd less than $6, plus I had scored a $4 coupon off my next purchase and a free loaf of bakery bread. Oh, yeah. :)
Currently, our local Dillons Supermarket (of the Kroger chain) has a sale on Pillsbury refigerated biscuits and rolls for $1.77/can (sale ends tomorrow, sadly). Also, currently, they're running a deal where if you buy so many cans of Pillsbury refigerated product, you could earn so much cash off your next Dillons purchase. (Better explained here.) I didn't have the same coupons mentioned in the blog post where I learned about the offer, butI did well enough. When I came out of Dillons I carried about $18 worth of merchandise, for which I'd less than $6, plus I had scored a $4 coupon off my next purchase and a free loaf of bakery bread. Oh, yeah. :)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Welcom, Fall!
A tree on Huntoon St. between Garfield and Mulvane has turned a bold shade of orange. Leaves are skittering across the ground, the breeze is cool, the sky a little rainy, and I am on my way to fix myself a hot apple cider with real cider and real caramel sauce (thank Heaven for leftovers!). I'm listening to the chatter of birds not yet gone south and enjoying the fact that this evening it will be cool enough for me to wear a sweater home from d-group. I love fall!
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