Bloggity Tour of Homes - Tardy Style

I've been in a bit of a blogging slump, though life is cruising along pretty well. For those 2 or 3 of you who will see this, here is my lovely home.

Alas, this is a terrible picture of our room of "packing in faith", I can only say it's fuzzy because the stress of "packing in faith" has made us all a bit wobbly. Still waiting to hear on jobs in Tulsa and waging spiritual warfare on the Enemy who is in the business of discouragement and delay.
This is my son's room. I have to say that by the time we got it finished with the cute paint and border (which you can't see, but has cars and trucks on it) he was 12 and had outgrown it. Perhaps the next owners will love it. Or paint over it.
Apparently we're much calmer outside. Yes, the yard is bereft of grass. It's a drought. The plant pots are from the garden that didn't happen this year. BooMama said to print it the way we live. We actually threw away the pots yesterday, but we aren't sodding the yard until this heat breaks. In general the front door is open, even as late as midnight. Or later if I'm not paying attention. We're all night owls here and obviously oblivious to intruder danger.
Yes, that's him. Clicker in hand. But you can't have him, he's taken. By the owner of the Diet Coke from Whataburger. The perennial laundry basket peeks out from the coveted chair-and-a-half perched beneath the holy ceiling fan. The walls are a yummy Bit-O-Honey color that I just love.
Welcome to Sunday dinner. A little Pork Chop Casserole, salad, sweet tea, and cobbler for dessert - prepared by my 17 yr. old daughter. Determined just a few months ago to pre-make (as much as possible) my Sunday dinner so I could actually enjoy the Sabbath. What a welcome home from church! God bless Time Bake and Crock-Pots!

We just painted the kitchen and I love it so much I think I'll do it all over again in my new kitchen. The top half is a Ralph Lauren River Rock Texture in SwampWillow. The bottom half is a Ralph Lauren semi-gloss in Mediterranean. You can't see the stained glass window, but it really looks nice with this. The master just got a new coat of paint this week - Waterwheel by Behr, which is really boring, but good for resale. It does look nicer, I just prefer real color.

My children took the pictures, uploaded them, and linked it all together. I'm afraid I'm woefully inept at this sort of thing. I will assure you that though our home may be a bit (or a lot) untidy and in the process of remodeling and packing, you are welcome at anytime. Except maybe early morning. We will stop what we are doing, TiVo what we were watching, and serve you something yummy to eat. All 6 of us cook - my 13 yr. old son made cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits, and gravy for me this morning. And most of all we will laugh with those who laugh and weep with those who mourn. Because we love you.

Epiphany

In my continuing quest to be more like Jesus, I have discovered a dilemma. You see, I hate surprise parties. Not just an "I don't prefer them," but a true hatred. All the anxiety about secretive planning, last minute SNAFUs, etc. Maybe it's because I'm a control freak. (Ya think?)

The dilemma is, I think God loves a surprise party. He loves to wait till the last minute when you think He's not going to come through. He is not inclined to tell you why, or even why He won't tell you why. This is a problem for me. I think I must have been the most annoying 4 yr. old ever, because I'm always trying to figure out why.

I know, I know. It's about faith, releasing control, trusting God. I know that control comes from fear. I know that He's never let me down before and He's not likely to start now. But, darn it (foot stomping here), I don't like surprises! I suppose I've had enough nasty surprises from the world that I am a little shell-shocked.

So, once again, I need to speak the truth. Jeremiah 29:11-14 (truly my "holding on for dear" life verse) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

Glory Hallelujah! It's a promise and I'm holding to it. But please, don't plan a surprise party for my birthday next week!

Very Sad News

My dear friends in BlogWorld,

I am so sad to report that on the way to family camp our District Youth Leader was in a car . His 10 yr. old daughter was killed and his other daughter broke her arm. Please pray for this family and for the camp as all try to take in this terrible news. The Enemy has stolen away a precious life. We know she is now with the Lord, but those left behind will have a tremendous struggle. My brother is Camp Director and has been very ill the last couple of days. It falls to him to lead the camp through this and he will need all the prayer support he can get. I am so sad that I can't be with my two teens at this time. This will be the first time they have really dealt with the of a young person and they saw the cars as they passed to go to camp. I can't think of anything else to say.

Home again, home again, jiggity jog!

Uh...where am I? Got the email that I would have to take a test before I could even be considered for an interview at ORU. No combining the two. So I rearranged some plans and hopped in the car Thurs. 9:30 am and arrived in Tulsa 3:45 pm. Finished the test at 4 pm. Great. I even went over my answers 3 or 4 times just to be sure.

So I headed out to my friend's place in the country to stay the night. I seriously may move in with her because I love her place so much! We spent hours catching up - really...hours...4 am kinds of hours. That's what Tiggers like best. I d for it to end. She's the kind of friend that you can pick up with after (3 prepositions in a row!) years and it all - the sweetness, the fun - comes rushing back. My soul has been restored. I think I may give up whining for a week or two.

Decided not to go to family camp. It was a quality decision in terms of money and what needs to get done on the house, but I'm really going to miss the whole experience. I love family camp. More than jelly bread. And I LLLOOOVVVEEE jelly bread. Believing for fresh wind and fresh fire for my teens who are going. As for me and my hubby - we will work on the house.

New developments in the job universe for him. No word on the interview last week. After months of saying, "I don't want to work retail. I don't want to stay at ___________," He is now considering transferring with ____________. He just took the RMA exam for promotion and scored really well. We'll see how that works out. Maybe God's plan all along.

Here is a mystery. I always wanted children and planned the ones I had. Finished when I was done. Organized, huh? I just never felt like I was very good at being a mom. I figured I made a better dad. You know, amused and delighted by the idea, but ready for the break that work would bring. In fact I was a stay at home mom for 15 years, a quality decision. But it was really hard for me. I don't mean to be whiny here, I just didn't realize how hard being a mother was and figured I was just doing it wrong. That's not really the mystery part, though. What I can't fathom is how, now that I have a 20, 17, and 13 yr. old, that they truly like me. Of course they love me - that's the law isn't it? But they actually like me, think I'm funny and cool, and it when I travel. It's a mind-bogglin' thang. I'm not terribly self-sacrificing, I don't live for them, keep organized scrapbooks, or clean their rooms. I'm pretty strict, require more chores of them than most of their friend's parents, and lose my temper way more than I ought. Such a faulty person! Honestly! No kidding! It's just the goodness of the Lord. No other explanation. I love having teenagers and look forward to their transition to friends. God is so good.

On the road again

Let me start with a recap of last week's journey.

We had a lovely drive to Tulsa and arrived at our motel to find our names posted in the lobby. We had been chosen as the Priority Club members of the day and were rewarded with: a suite instead of our discount room, a special parking place, an appetizer buffet, a free breakfast, a gourmet chocolates! Wow, what a blessing! It really set the tone for our trip. We unpacked, contacted my mother-in-law and had dinner at Zio's (always a favorite), and headed back to the hotel for an early night. Yes, we actually made it to bed by 11!

Doug headed out to his interview the next morning just before 10 and I moseyed down to breakfast. I had the whole buffet to myself (aaahhhh) and had the nicest waitresses ever. One older lady even packed an orange to go. She put it in a brown bag and said, "It's just like going to school. Have a nice day and be good!" "Thanks, Mom!" I replied and returned to the room. 2 hours later Doug finished up his interview and said it went very well. The front desk asked about the interview and treated us so nicely. We had some lunch and went house shopping.

That evening we headed out to the country to have dinner with some dear old friends we knew from 22 years ago. We were young and poor together in those days - now we're older and still poor, but they have fared quite well. They have a huge log home on 99 acres and are semi-retired from the plumbing business. They now train race horses. This is me not coveting! HA! They're still just as down-home as ever and we had a great time catching up.

Back to the hotel with the intention of leaving in the morning. Fast forward to 2 pm. when we finally left town. I think hubby was just hoping the boss would call him in to negotiate and so didn't want to leave.

That was Friday - we still haven't heard back from the interview and are wondering what happens now. Thank you note sent, follow-up call and email. Nothing.

Trying to stay positive, I applied for another position at ORU as a Communications Staff Writer. HR replied that I would need to take a written test before I could get an interview. SO, I'm headed back up to Tulsa tomorrow and hoping that God will move Heaven and Earth to arrange an interview while I'm there. This is gettin' spendy. Monday is family camp so I've got to zip back home and pack up the young-uns and head to East Texas.

Once again your prayers would be so appreciated. It's good to know we're not alone in these trying times. God is good - all the time.

the Road Warrior

My first meme

I'll take this as a tag since I saw it on BooMama, and most of you don't know me very well, yet.

Accent: Several years of voice lessons have eliminated most of it, but I tend to pick up whatever I hear.
Bible Book that I like: Isaiah, hands down
Chore I don't care for: the one where I have to clean or tidy something
Dog or Cat: Dog of course
Essential Electronics: Computer, Trio 600 Palm/cell phone, TiVo
Favorite Movie: Gone with the Wind
Gold or Silver: Silver
Handbag I Carry Most Often: cheap beige thing I found at Wallyworld that has lots of dividers
Insomnia: I prefer to call it, "I just don't want to miss anything important...ever."
Job Title: Receiver of everyone's life story...anywhere...anytime. That's why I became a counselor. Might as well get paid for what I do all the time anyway.
Kids: 3
Living Arrangements: Husband, aforementioned kids, older sister, 3 dogs, 2 ferrets, and 2 birds in a smallish, older, suburban home until we move to Tulsa.
Most Memorable Moment: realizing I had just become engaged to a man I had met on a blind date, 2 days before. (age 19, still together 23 years later)
Naughtiest Childhood Behavior: snooping in my sisters' stuff
Overnight Hospital Stays: first birth, hysterectomy some years later
Phobias: stairs, heights, not realizing my full potential
Quote: "Prayer doesn't change God, it changes me." C.S. Lewis - Shadowlands
Religion: Foursquare, don't worry, it's not weird.
Siblings: 1 brother - my pastor - 11.5 yrs. older, a sister - living with me - 9 yrs. older, a sister - close by - 6.5 yrs. older
Time I Wake Up: 9 am or 10 minutes before my alarm, whichever comes first
Unusual Talent: I can ride a unicycle
Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: ooh, where do I begin? This could be a meme all by itself.
Worst Habit: I to do things by myself - it works itself out in procrastination
X-rays: arm - not broken, age 6, foot - broken, age 19 sliding down college bannister, various and a sundry inconclusive, soft tissue problems due to car s since then
Yummy Stuff I Cook: herb encrusted prime rib, chicken fricassee with herb dumplings, chocolate strawberry shortcake, my husband says, "everything"
Zoo Animal I Like Most: Lions - Aslan, natch.

Busted! Again!

Rewind to yesterday. My dear husband and I are totally wound up over this interview thing and acting like a couple of snapping turtles for 2 days. Finally he tossed the straw that broke the camel's back. I let him have it - both barrels. I was SO right!

This morning getting ready for church, really quiet. Shower talk with God - I was so right - but I don't think I handled it well and he probably will miss how right I was because of my delivery.

Fast forward to the sermon - The Power of the Tongue/Liberties and Boundaries. OUCH! I was SO wrong. Wish I had apologized before church. I when that happens! What's with the stinkin' direct feed camera from my house to the pastor's house?

So I will have to spend the next howeverlong trying to repair. "A wise woman builds her house, the foolish tears it down with both hands." Also we have to survive the wait to hear about the job. I don't even want to think about the ramifications of not getting it. I think I feel queasy now. Maybe I should eat some chocolate. Like a barrel. Or two.

P.S. Note to BooMama: I can't figure out how to reply to your blog, because it requires more brains than I can wrangle at this point. Suffice it to say, "You're a better man than I, Gunga Din," when it comes to wifery and I love reading your blogs.

We're Off to See the Wizard

A grand Independence Day, all-in-all. My husband grilled pork chops, we watched the "Overhaulin'" marathon and nearly got rained out of fireworks.

Tomorrow is the day we head out to Tulsa for Doug's interview on Thursday morning. Attention all prayer warriors - we're hoping this is the one! Doug got the most beautiful chocolate brown, pinstripe suit that makes me think all kinds of lovely thoughts about him. I'd hire him in that suit just to hang out at my business to improve traffic flow! He feels really good in it and I hope it is the confidence booster that puts him over the top, interview-wise.

Just a short post tonite and then I'll update you when we get back Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Thanks to all you wonderful post-ers for your words of encouragement. We cooked with mustard seed today, and I think my faith is at least that big. Happy 4th everyone!

The whole enchilada

For all of you (untold thousands, I'm sure) who don't know what the Big Thing in my life is, I'll try to blog it succinctly. However, this is a long story so you might want to go potty and get a fresh Diet Coke before you begin.

Last July, as I was winding up my M.Ed. in Counseling from UNT (lots of pretty initials!), my husband's Expo (along with many others, though not all) got word that it was closing. This lovely store was only 2.5 miles from our house and had been easily accessible by the Vespa scooter I had won from Target just the year before. So he needed to transfer to the Galleria store (more than 20 miles away and not accessible by Vespa) or change jobs. Now I must tell you my husband DOES NOT LIKE CHANGE! Apparently one of God's little jokes was that Doug married me.

Doug was driving the Vespa because MONEY is our perennial Big Thing and we could not afford another car. So, we sold the sweet Vespa and bought a VW Harlequin Golf from my niece and nephew. Now this car comes originally with 4 colors, at once, and invites lots of comments. Not really a problem because we all love attention at our house. I mean we are absolute (I can't use that word here) for attention. Competition is an accompanying factor.

At any rate, I began to feel change was in the air and started praying about it. Pretty quickly I felt like God was saying that we would finally get to move to Tulsa and enter a new phase in our lives. My husband concurred and we began to get confirmations from various sources who knew nothing of our plans. Even all 3 kids were in favor of the move. This, in and of itself, is a miracle because they are all teenagers who can never come to an agreement about anything, except camping for Thanksgiving (YAY!). So we began to make plans, pack our eleventy-hundred books, apply for jobs, and Doug temporarily transferred to the Galleria store.

Fast forward to last week. No jobs yet. I've had two in-person and one phone interview, all for different jobs, in the last year. Doug has had no interviews. We have resubmitted the dream to the Lord, many times, and still heard, "Yes, you're going." O.K. Then Doug makes 3 contacts in Tulsa, schedules an interview, and finally gets approved to take the promotion test for Expo. In one week. We approach the aforementioned niece and nephew about buying our house immediately so we can pull out some equity to afford the upcoming move. They agree. Life is good.

This week. The test and the interview are next week and we have a trip planned to make it so. Then we get a call saying the niece and nephew, whom we love dearly, have changed their minds. Hence "revolting development" of previous post. So...back to the Lord. You see the financial Big Thing is ever looming and the move and my anticipated employment, as opposed to my previous educational financial drain, might just put us in the not sweating every week category of earning.

Here's where ya'll come in. Pray. Please. That all my hair does not fall out from the entirety of my follicles slamming shut from stress. That SOMETHING will develop on the house situation that will allow us to buy Diet Coke so that the previous hair situation can be held off. That Doug will interview well and be offered a position that actually pays instead of eakes. That I can get a stinkin' interview for something that even remotely involves this degree that I worked so hard to earn. That I don't kill everyone in my house: 2 daughters with PMS, a sister going through "the change" who picks fights with the kids, and a son who responds to stress by trying to control everyone in the house by arguing. I LOVE MY DOG!

Thanks for hanging on to the end. God is faithful. "He didn't bring us this far, to leave us. He didn't teach us to swim, to let us drown. He didn't build His home in us, to move away. He didn't lift us up, to let us down."