The Porch Light copyright by Revka (2006-2010). All rights reserved.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Every Need Supplied

images courtesy of fotosearch.com

Thanks for all of your concern for Mr. Incredible. We appreciate your prayers for him and are happy to report that after just two visits, he has noticed a significant decrease in pain. (I'd also like to thank Dana for making me realize that I had not made clear that we did see the X-rays for ourselves. The spinal damage was very clear, even to our untrained eyes.) I'm not really posting about Mr. Incredible's plight this time, though. I'd like to share the story I made reference to in that post - the one about our recent acquisition of a Suburban.

Several months ago, I posted about Mr. Incredible's need for a different truck. After discussing our situation, he decided that we would be better off getting another family vehicle. That way, if our minivan ever broke down, we wouldn't be stranded. He also decided he wanted an SUV, not another minivan. (It's a guy thing. *laugh*)

We knew from the start that buying a new SUV would not even be an option. The prices for those things are simply ridiculous; some even cost more than the first house we bought! Around the end of February, we started visiting dealerships to determine what particular SUV/s would fit out needs and also to find out what year and mileage we could expect from a vehicle priced in our budget.

...fast forward to March... After rather extensive research, we determined that we needed either a GMC Yukon XL or a Chevy Suburban (the same vehicle for all intents and purposes). We also determined that both of those vehicles would cost about $20k with 70,000 miles. Since an honest look at our finances told us that we could not afford to take on that much additional debt, we decided that we would just have to wait until next year to purchase another vehicle. We were perfectly content with that decision.

The last week of April, I received a phone call from a lady in our church saying that she and her husband were trying to sell their Suburban and wanting to know if we would be interested. I explained that we had actually determined that we did need a Suburban but had also decided that we needed to wait until next year to purchase one.

Not wanting to seem rude or dismissive, I asked her what year their SUV was, how many miles it had, and how much they wanted for it. When she said that it was a 2003, I mentally dismissed it as any kind of possibility. After all, the vehicles we had seen were a year or two newer and already had 70,000 miles on them - the highest we wanted to go. So when L. went on to say that the vehicle only had 33,000 miles on it, my jaw dropped, and my ears perked up in a hurry! When she told me what they wanted for the Suburban, I about fainted because it was half the price of the used vehicles we had looked at that had twice the miles on them! I asked what color it was, knowing Mr. Incredible did not want another black or white vehicle. It was blue. (see a picture of a 2004 blue Suburban)

I told her that I thought we would be interested but that I needed to talk to Mr. Incredible first. We discussed it and both agreed that this offer appeared to be Divinely ordered - we were content waiting until next year to purchase a vehicle, they approached us, the vehicle had half the miles for half the price of the ones we had considered, and we could actually afford the asking price. Mr. Incredible gave me the okay to contact banks regarding financing options.

To shorten this story a wee bit, two days later, our loan had gone through, and five days after that we had the vehicle in our possession. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, we firmly believe that this opportunity was from the Lord. He knew better than we did what we needed when. And isn't that always the case?

"What about gas prices?" you may wonder, and with good reason. The Suburban is a large-tanked gas-guzzler (I just filled up *my wallet says ouch!* and figured we got 18 mpg from the last tank of gas), but we never intended for this to be our primary vehicle. We intend to use it only occasionally and mostly as a back-up in case something should happen to one of our other vehicles. Of course, if we are blessed enough to have a fifth child, we will probably have to use this as our primary vehicle - simply because it will be the only one big enough to accommodate all the car seats!

What lies ahead? We do not know. We have joked that if gas prices keep rising, we may need to revert to the "good ol' days" and purchase a horse and buggy. (I wonder if there would be much savings once we calculated the cost of all the horse supplies we would need.) All we know right now is that the Lord has once again done "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." (Ephesians 3:20 KJV) We praise Him for today's provision and trust Him for tomorrow's unknowns.

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Life Insurance

I have posted about life insurance several times before, discussing children's life insurance, advocating preparing for the future by making sure you have a life insurance policy, drawing a brief comparison of whole life and term life policies, and scattering throught out various posts other incidental remarks relating to life insurance. If I have so much to say about life insurance, what do we have?

Both Mr. Incredible and I have term life insurance, and each child has her own whole life policy. I do need to check to make sure that Mr. Incredible and my policies provide adequate coverage for our situation. I'm pretty sure that they do, but I want to be absolutely sure.

What about you? How important do you think it is to have life insurance?

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Thursday, May 29, 2008

Mr. Incredible's Woes

(illustration courtesy of fotosearch.com)

Poor Mr. Incredible is in pretty bad shape. He and my brother were messing around playing basketball at Miss Muffet's party on Saturday when he jumped and landed wrong. He told me later that he instantly felt the pain in his back, but he kept on with normal activity anyway.

On Sunday, Mr. Incredible's brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came to spend the night so we could all go to the beach together on Monday. Mr. Incredible drove both ways, including the trip home, which was considerably lengthened by Memorial Day traffic. By the time we got home, he could barely get out of our Suburban (oh, I have a story to tell you later about how we got that vehicle!) and hobbled into the house. I noticed that he looked like an S - his hips appeared to have been shifted over and were not in line with the rest of his back as they were supposed to be. The way he was walking reminded me of a crab. I didn't think that was a good thing.

Since he had had bouts of back pain before, he opted to wait it out to see if the pain would go away. He did go to work on Tuesday, but they sent him right back home. Only that evening when he saw his hips for himself did he agree to have me set up an appointment with a chiropractor.

Wednesday morning, he and his supervisor had to make a 2-hour trip to a meeting. The meeting itself lasted four hours, most of which time Mr. Incredible spent seated. Then he had to make the 2-hour drive back. I had been able to make a 4:00 appointment for him. He got back from the out-of-town meeting about 20 minutes before the appointment and was in terrible shape when he met with the chiropractor.

Since neither one of us had ever been to a chiropractor, we weren't quite sure what to expect. The office was spacious without being huge, and it was modestly furnished - no teak furniture there! The staff was friendly and helpful. Unlike traditional doctor visits, we only waited about 5 minutes before being called back. The nurse (?) went over a questionnaire and did a bit of assessment before returning with the chiropractor himself. The remainder of the consultation involved x-rays, range of mobility evaluation, and a little bit of therapy. We were told to return this morning to review the x-rays with the chiropractor and plot a course of treatment.

The x-rays revealed that Mr. Incredible has stage 2 spinal deterioration - some of his vertebrae are indeed out of place, his spine does not curve as it should, and some of his discs are thinner than they should be, all indications that his back problems had been occurring for some time. His treatment consists of chiropractic visits for the next 5 days, followed by three visits a week for the next 6 weeks. He had his first adjustment today. I hope he feels better soon!

I'm curious. Have you been to a chiropractor? Which do you think is better qualified to treat this type of injuries - chiropractors or doctors?

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Security

With all the talk (and evidence) of a slumping real estate market, I am interested to see how traditionally strong markets are affected. Will, for instance, Wilmington NC real estate owners find their investment losing value instead of gaining it? What about real estate values where we live? While we are not planning to move any time in the foreseeable future, knowing that our home could lose its value is a semi-scary feeling.

The good news is that my family's security lies neither in the value of our house nor in the fatness of our bank account. My family's security comes from the Lord, and even if our outward circumstances deteriorate, we can always depend on Him to care for us.

"Give us this day our daily bread..."

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When Is a Wine Rack Not a Wine Rack?

I've talked before about finding ways to reuse items instead of simply throwing them out. I think my favorite new use for an item so far is the sewing box that was originally a fishing tackle box.

I was thinking about things I have seen in thrift stores and realized that the purpose for which an object was created need not limit its uses. For example, I believe that it is wrong to consume alcoholic beverages; therefore, I would have absolutely no use for wine racks - as wine racks. I would, however, be very happy to use a wine rack for some other purpose. I can see one being useful for organizing scrapbooking and art supplies or (depending on the style) transforming a narrow table into a desk with a pigeonhole for any office tool imaginable.

Have you pressed a piece of furniture into service as something other than what it was created to be?

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Birthday Update

Miss Muffet had a wonderful time at her birthday party. Because of pregnancy brain, I neglected to let some of our friends know when the party was going to be, but thankfully family was able to be there, and there were plenty of cousins with which to play.

The Lion King cake turned out well. Mr. Incredible recommended that I just purchase a cake this year instead of making it from scratch. That turned out to be good advice. All I had to do was add the Simba decoration and the wording. Miss Muffet loved it.

After eating pizza, the cousins went to play outside. Whenever kids come to our house, they nearly always end up riding the girls' John Deere Gator. That has been the best toy. You can see what a great time the kids are having. Pookie Bear is in the back left, and Miss Muffet is driving. She didn't want me to take her picture. The bottom picture is a cousin, not Miss Muffet. Three other cousins were at the party, but I didn't get them in any pictures.

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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Glasses Be Gone!

I wish I had pictures to illustrate my tale, but my scanner is out of commission right now. So just imagine I shared all my lovely photos with you.

When I was in 3rd grade (just 8 years old), I found out that I needed glasses - very thick glasses. The only frames my parents could afford were those thick and huge plastic frames. Oh, how I hated my glasses! To make matters worse, my eyesight continued to deteriorate, meaning my lenses grew thicker with each subsequent visit to the optometrist.

None of my friends or family seemed to mind the ugly glasses. No one teased me about being a "four eyes" or called me other names. (Of course, that was probably due to the fact that they knew I would beat them up if they had the temerity to do that - no joke.) But I hated wearing glasses.

As I recall, I was a junior in high school (1993-1994) before I finally had enough money (and my parents' permission) to get contact lenses. Since we lived on the Texas/Mexico border, we traveled to Reynosa, Mexico where I finally got my coveted contact lenses at a much cheaper price than I would have paid in the U.S.A. - I was so happy with my contacts!

Most of the years since have found me wearing contacts. A couple of times, I have lost my contacts and have had to resort to wearing glasses again. I still hate them as much as I did when I was in school. Two years ago, I finally made the switch from gas-permeable (semi-rigid) lenses to soft lenses. That is nice! Now, if I lose a lens or if one of the children decides it looks like something to eat (Pookie Bear did that one time), I have another lens to replace the lost/broken one.

If you wear glasses and are not satisfied with them, why not consider switching to contact lenses? If you wish to conduct research in order to make an informed decision regarding changing your eye wear, the Internet provides a wealth of information. You might consult a contact lens guide or view a contact lens wearer's frequently asked question page. It is even possible to save money on your lens' purchase by browsing a contact lens coupon page.

Whatever your situation, contact lenses may be your best chance for telling your glasses, "Be gone!"

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"Sweet Caroline" Blog Tour and Contest

Thanks to LitFuse Publicity for providing a free review copy of this book. No other compensation was received for this review. The opinions contained herein are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.

Sweet Caroline by Rachel Hauck is a fun read. Caroline, the main character, has always put others before herself, and when the owner of the cafe where she works dies, she is left having to decide whose needs are more important - her own (accepting her dream job in Barcelona, Spain) or those around her (keeping the cafe open).

Coinciding with her occupational struggles, her romantic life also becomes a struggle. Will she date J.D., the town deputy, or will she and her first love, Mitch, find that they still fit together?

As if occupational and romantic dilemmas weren't enough, Caroline finds herself being pursued by God, Whom she has never known nor cared to know. Could He really care about her?

I'm not giving you any more details about the story, but I will tell you that this is an easy-to-read and entertaining story. To see what other bloggers have to say, visit the blog tour schedule. To purchase this book, visit Amazon.com.

If you would like a chance to win a Scrumptious Baking Basket from Rachel (the basket contains a Super Cool Apron -pictured on right, a Low country cook book signed by PAT CONROY, rolling pin, and a pie plate), all you have to do to enter is sign up for Rachel's newsletter.

As an additional bonus, here is the recipe for Bubba's Buttery Biscuits:

  • 3 cups self-rising flour
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled, plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted for brushing the tops
  • 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the flour and chilled butter in a medium mixing bowl. Work the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingertips until the butter pieces are a little larger than an English pea, but not larger than a lima bean. If you are using your fingers, work quickly so that the heat of your hands won't melt the butter.

Pour in all of the buttermilk and, using light pressure, fold the mixture a few times with a plastic spatula until it holds together. Do not over mix. In order to make light biscuits, it is important to work the dough as little as possible.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead it quickly and gently 6 to 10 times or until it begins to be almost homogenized. There will be large pieces of butter throughout.

Sprinkle a little flour under the dough so that it won't stick to the board and lightly dust the top of the dough so that it won't stick to the board and lightly dust the top of the dough so that it won't stick to the rolling pin. Roll the dough out to about 1/2-inch thickness.

Cut the dough into 2-inch rounds, place on an ungreased baking sheet, and bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes. I like the biscuits to be crispy and brown on the top and bottom, but not dry in the middle. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter. Serve right away. (recipe from Louis Osteen)

About Rachel:
I'm a forty-something, a child of the '60's, '70's, '80's, '90's and '00's. Born in Ohio, I lived several years in Oklahoma and Kentucky before my parents moved the family to Florida. I graduated from Ohio State University (Go Buckeyes!) with a degree in Journalism. As a member of Phi Mu sorority, I partied my way though the last few years of college.

But, the truth is, and always will be, I belong to Jesus. At the age of six, I knelt at the altar of a Tulsa Methodist church and gave my life to the One who loves me. I met Tony, my husband, in '87, at church, of all places. We got married in '92. Tony has been a pastor for twenty years. I've worked with him in eighteen of those twenty. Our heart is to see teens and adults passionate, radical and whole hearted for Jesus.

I've always wanted to be a writer. In '93, I started an epic WW2 novel with two plots. It was well rejected. After that ordeal, I took a break and put efforts into my job as a software project manager. But, I missed writing and in late ' 99, I took up the craft again.

With a little help from my friends, my first book was published in ' 04, Lambert's Pride, a romance novel. I love writing chick lit and romance. I love writing. What an honor.

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Friday, May 23, 2008

Be Back Soon

Mr. Incredible and I have been cleaning today. Honestly, Mr. Incredible has probably done the bulk of the work. Sweet man. *smile* I spent most of the day re-cleaning the girls' room. It was as much of a disaster today as it was before I cleaned it on Monday. *sigh* We are nearly done - the only room we haven't touched is the girls' school/toy room, and we can do that tomorrow morning if need be. The only thing I have left to do tonight is to add Simba to the cake.

On a side note, why can't home furniture be constructed to be as durable as office furniture? I don't even have any boys yet, and I am constantly amazed at what a beating the girls can give our furniture!

One other item of possible interest: Mr. Incredible has started his own website/blog, U.S.S. Grady DE-445. His website is about the ship on which his grandfather served during World War 11 and currently includes a dedication post and a small photo gallery showcasing some of the ship photos handed down through his family and a couple of other photos he found online. He would really appreciate your stopping by and taking a look. This website and his grandfather's involvement mean a lot to him.

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day. Let us never forget those heroes - past, present, and future - who gave all or part of their lives in service to their country.

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Progress

Yesterday was the first day of my "White Glove" mania. By the way, I'm not really going to clean as if someone were going to inspect my house with a white glove, though I remember all too well those White Glove inspections at Pensacola Christian College. I'm happy to report I never failed one.

Despite being away from home from 11:30 a.m. until 5:15 p.m (some pleasure and some not - just ask Pookie Bear who got her 5 yr checkup complete with 4 shots), I did get the girls' room cleaned. All I have left there is to hang up a basket of clothes that belongs in their closet. Now I just hope they will keep their room clean for the next 4 days!

Today, I am working on cleaning my piano/computer room. It is littered with clothes that need to be sorted and stored in our shed. I need to get that done before my piano student arrives at noon. I also plan to clean both bathrooms today - sinks, mirrors, counters, toilets, and all. I will sweep, but I'm not mopping until Thursday or Friday. The floors might be decent on Saturday if I hold off that long, but if I were to mop any earlier, it would just be wasted effort.

I'm trying not to overdo things, but I'm not so sure I'm succeeding. I keep having periodic contractions, most likely Braxton Hicks, but still painful. There are other things going on, too, but I will spare you the details. *laugh* I do have a doctor's appointment on Thursday and am scheduled for an ultrasound then, too, so we'll see what my doctor has to say.

At my last visit two weeks ago, she said that the baby had moved down low and appeared to be engaged. Considering I'm at 34 weeks now, it would be good if little man would wait 3 more weeks so he can be considered full term, but the way things go, he'll probably be late. (I keep telling myself that, hoping not to be disappointed if he does arrive after July 4.)

I hope you are feeling better than I am! *smile*

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Monday, May 19, 2008

Blog Tour: A Whisper of Freedom

Thanks to LitFuse Publicity for providing a free review copy of this book. No other compensation was received for this review. The opinions contained herein are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.

Note: I thought I had scheduled this post to publish on Sunday, May 18, but I guess I just saved it as a draft instead - my apologies, and I'll get it right next time!

A Whisper of Freedom was my first introduction to author Tricia Goyer, and I will certainly be reading more of her books! Even though this was the final book in a three-part series, I was able to pick up the story with no problem, for which I am thankful.

Set in Spain during their relatively unknown civil war, A Whisper of Freedom has all the elements necessary to keep readers glued to its pages: danger, mystery, betrayal, love, and even a fabulous treasure! Along with the excitement, Mrs. Goyer interweaves timeless themes such as sacrificial love, forgiveness, and redemption.

"A Whisper of Freedom proves that courage and commitment don't always result in outward victory. But there are whispers of hope and freedom that resonate through even the darkest night."

About Tricia: Tricia Goyer is the author of twelve books including , My Life UnScripted, and the children's book, 10 Minutes to Showtime. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference in 2003. Tricia's book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005. In addition to her novels, Tricia writes non-fiction books and magazine articles for publications like Today's Christian Woman and Focus on the Family. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences, and has been a workshop presenter at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Conventions. She and her family make their home in the mountains of Montana.

If you wish to read an excerpt from this exciting book, you can download it as a PDF file. You can also watch the series trailer, visit Tricia's website and blogs, or buy the book from Amazon.com. If you sign up for Tricia's newsletter, you will be entered to win one of 5 signed copies of A Whisper of Freedom. To find links to reviews by other bloggers, visit the blog tour schedule.

As part of this tour, I am participating in a fun meme, and if you participate in this meme, you could be one of three brave players who win their own lost gold (gourmet chocolate coins and three books in the Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War series.) To enter all you have to do is answer the MEME on your blog and then leave a comment on Tricia’s blog tour post that you’ve posted your MEME. Easy.
  1. List three things you would do with a chest full of gold (assuming you got to keep it):
    a. Sell some of it and go on a world tour with my family. :)
    b. Give 10% to my church.
    c. Put the remaining gold in a safe deposit box.
  2. List three charities/missions/organizations you support and why.
    a. Our local church - the Bible says that we are to give freely unto the Lord, and we always support our church first.
    b. World Wide New Testament Baptist Missions - this is the mission board founded by our pastor; we know what they believe and also know that our money is being used to spread the Gospel
    c. Forest Glen Bible Camp - Mr. Incredible has been on several missions trips to help this camp; I have been on one. We personally know the camp founder/director and his parents. We know their beliefs and know that this ministry is worthy of our support.
  3. List three ways you have volunteered your time/services:
    a. Piano - have played the piano wither full or part-time for the churches I have attended since I was in Junior High.
    b. Children's ministries - I have helped with several different ministries, including Patch the Pirate Clubs, Children's Church, Sunday School, Nursery, and a Children's Choir.
    c. Design work - For causes/organizations I deem worthy, I have discounted or donated in full my design abilities.
  4. List three things you keep "hidden" when company comes over:
    a. Dirty laundry!
    b. Dirty dishes
    c. ???
  5. List the last three things you've lost.
    a. Debit card
    b. Driver's license
    c. Keys
  6. List the last three things you've found:
    (See previous question)

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Friday, May 16, 2008

One Week Countdown

No, not for the baby, though I wish it were!!!

A month ago, I mentioned Miss Muffet's upcoming birthday (She's the blondie on my shoulders - isn't she cute? *smile*), but time has slipped away since then, and I find myself with a mere seven days left in which to prepare. I'm starting to stress a bit! I'm finding it hard to get around and exhausting to clean, so my strategy is going to have to be to "white glove" one room each day next week. If I stick to that plan, I should have the house in order by next Saturday.

Thankfully, my girls and their friends are at the age where they prefer to just play outside together, and I don't have to plan many, if any, activities for them to have a blast. I think I'll do what I did at the last birthday party and let the kids eat outside. I must admit it was nice to be able to tell the adults to take advantage of our "dining room furniture" (it's not really a dining room, and the furniture isn't formal, but what else do you call it?) instead of their having to sit on couches and wherever else they could find to sit. (I trust the adults to eat food on our furniture without making messes; the kids, I don't.)

I am sure that, as usual, I am stressing when I don't really need to. I'm sure the kids and adults alike will have a great time and everything will go smoothly. How about reminding me of that periodically over the next week? *laugh*

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Ambiguity

Thanks to everyone who left such sweet and encouraging comments on my last post. Mr. Incredible asked me last night if I was ready for labor. I replied that I was fast approaching the point where I don't care what it takes - just get this baby out of me! I know some women love being pregnant, but, honestly, I don't. And that's okay because the baby is worth it anyway.

So... I won't complain about pregnancy-related issues today. I'll just share a different annoyance with you. *grin*

Mr. Incredible and I recently had to complete a form which required both our printed and written names in two separate places. The first place just asked for our names. The second place asked for our first, middle, and last names. How would you have completed that first blank?

I actually debated about what I should do and opted to fill in first name, middle initial, and last name for each of us. Unfortunately, when we turned in the form, we were told that we should have used the full middle name instead of just the initial. I mentioned to the lady that the form didn't say that at the top even though it did at the bottom. She didn't say a word - offered no explanation or anything. Instead, we had to fill out a corrected form and pay an additional fee.

I was very frustrated. Why didn't they spell out exactly how they wanted us to fill in our names in the top blank like they did in the bottom one? Why did they penalize us for their failure to provide clear directions? To me, that's like telling your interior designer (we all used one to decorate our homes, right *laugh*) that you want curtains at every window but providing no further information. That leaves you open to a wide range of possibilities for what you will end up getting!

What do you think? Should I have just known to write our names in full? Should I find out how I can make a suggestion that they clarify their directions?

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Monday, May 12, 2008

Our Weekend

I'm late with my Mother's Day greeting, but it is heartfelt nonetheless: I hope that each of you wonderful ladies had a great Mother's Day.

At 33 weeks pregnant, I am generally uncomfortable and find it nearly impossible to get a good night's rest. This weekend was particularly exhausting. We were gone all day Friday - I had a doctor appointment in the morning, and then we got together with friends that evening. It was so much fun to see everyone again, and I must thank Bill and Rosie for keeping the girls overnight for us. We would not have been able to stay as long or to be as carefree if we had the girls with us.

On Saturday, I worked on sorting and putting away baby clothes. Let me tell you, Buddy Bear is gonna be one well-dressed young man! It's nice to see his room taking shape and to be able to cross one more item off the "getting-ready-for-baby" list. Now just to paint and clean up his crib...

I felt terrible on Sunday. Not only was I tired, but every movement hurt, and I felt so generally yucky that I just wanted to dissolve into a puddle of tears. Thankfully, Mr. Incredible made sure the girls took a nap after church, meaning that I was actually able to sleep, too. Though I still hurt when I woke up, at least I was not as tired. Since I had the 2/3 year old class at church last night, that was a very good thing. One more class and one more children's choir practice, then I'm done for at least three months! (Can you tell I'm ready?)

All in all, I had a productive weekend and a nice Mother's Day. How have you been doing?

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Thursday, May 08, 2008

106 Books Meme

Because I love reading, I grabbed this meme from Seeryus Mama. These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users, meaning they are most likely sitting on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, underline mark with ~ the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish. (In my defense, the ones I read for school and did not finish were ones where we were only required to read a certain part and the book just didn't grab my attention enough for me to read the whole thing.)

  • Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
  • Anna Karenina
  • Crime and Punishment
  • Catch-22
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • ~Wuthering Heights
  • The Silmarillion
  • Life of Pi : a novel
  • The Name of the Rose
  • ~Don Quixote
  • ~Moby Dick
  • Ulysses
  • Madame Bovary
  • ~The Odyssey
  • Pride and Prejudice
  • ~Jane Eyre
  • ~The Tale of Two Cities
  • The Brothers Karamazov
  • Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
  • War and Peace
  • Vanity Fair
  • The Time Traveler’s Wife
  • ~The Iliad
  • Emma
  • The Blind Assassin
  • The Kite Runner
  • Mrs. Dalloway
  • Great Expectations
  • American Gods
  • A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
  • Atlas Shrugged
  • Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
  • Memoirs of a Geisha
  • Middlesex
  • Quicksilver
  • Wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
  • ~The Canterbury Tales
  • The Historian: a novel
  • A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
  • Love in the Time of Cholera
  • Brave New World
  • The Fountainhead
  • Foucault’s Pendulum
  • Middlemarch
  • Frankenstein
  • The Count of Monte Cristo
  • Dracula
  • A Clockwork Orange
  • Anansi Boys
  • The Once and Future King
  • ~The Grapes of Wrath
  • The Poisonwood Bible: a novel
  • 1984
  • Angels & Demons
  • ~The Inferno (and Purgatory and Paradise)
  • The Satanic Verses
  • Sense and Sensibility
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray
  • Mansfield Park
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
  • To the Lighthouse
  • Tess of the D’Urbervilles
  • Oliver Twist
  • Gulliver’s Travels
  • Les Misérables
  • The Corrections
  • The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
  • Dune
  • The Prince
  • The Sound and the Fury
  • Angela’s Ashes: a memoir
  • The God of Small Things
  • A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
  • Cryptonomicon
  • Neverwhere
  • A Confederacy of Dunces
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything
  • Dubliners
  • The Unbearable Lightness of Being
  • Beloved
  • Slaughterhouse-five
  • ~The Scarlet Letter
  • Eats, Shoots & Leaves
  • The Mists of Avalon
  • Oryx and Crake: a novel
  • Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed
  • Cloud Atlas
  • The Confusion
  • Lolita
  • Persuasion
  • Northanger Abbey
  • The Catcher in the Rye
  • On the Road
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  • Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
  • The Aeneid
  • Watership Down
  • Gravity’s Rainbow
  • The Hobbit
  • In Cold Blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
  • White Teeth
  • Treasure Island
  • David Copperfield
  • The Three Musketeers

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Scheduled Posts and Boy/Girl Shoe Giveaway

Hey, y'all! I thought I'd let you in on a couple of items.

First, if you are a Blogger blogger (ha!) and haven't already seen the announcement in your dashboard, scheduled posting is no longer in draft but is now live for everyone. Hooray!!!!! I can finally write posts and schedule them to be published in the future! Maybe I'll even get back to my (long-forgotten, I am sure) Thoughtful Tuesday posts.

Over at RS Designs, we are hosting a contest in which you could win your choice of a cute boy's or girl's pair of shoes from Bugaboo Shoe Co. The image to the right shows just one of many available styles. To enter, follow the link to Bugaboo Shoes Co. (found in the in the giveaway post), decide which pair of shoes you would most like to win, and leave a comment with that information at the giveaway post. You have until 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 19, 2008 to enter. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 20, 2008. If you don't have young children of your own, these shoes would make the perfect gift for a friend or relative.

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What Women Want Blog Tour

Thanks to LitFuse Publicity for providing a free review copy of this book. No other compensation was received for this review. The opinions contained herein are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.

Welcome to my portion of the What Women Want blog tour. I am happy to be able to tell you my thoughts regarding this book.

This book is unique in that the authors conducted a national survey and interviewed hundreds of women in preparation for its writing. The first section of What Women Want addresses 12 areas - including your relationship with God, love in your life, friendships, and finances - where women expressed deep needs or desires in the survey answers and the interviews, and the second section includes a Bible study which shows how God is the answer for each of those 12 areas and includes questions designed to help you assess your standing in each area, discover what God's Word has to say about that area, and apply your findings to your life. Plenty of room is included for you to write your discoveries in the book itself, and the study is appropriate for individual or group use.

Another element I like is the author interviews found at the end of each chapter in the first section. The authors interviewed have some expertise or personal experience regarding the topic discussed in that chapter, and these interviews help to give a more personal touch to that topic.

Important: this book uses many different versions of the Bible. Since I believe that the King James Version is the Bible for the English-speaking people, I cannot recommend this book in that regard.

About the Authors: LISA T. BERGREN is the author of twenty-eight books. She writes a lot from the heart and in many categories – from gift and children’s books to medieval fiction and Bible studies. She is a wife to Tim, an artist, and mother to three phenomenal children–Olivia, Emma and Jack. For more specifics on Lisa, see her Web site at www.LisaTawnBergren.com.

REBECCA PRICE credits her long career ("Twenty-five years–yikes!") in the Christian publishing industry as providing opportunities to meet and learn from many gifted teachers and authors. She has worked in marketing and executive positions at NavPress, Word, Multnomah and WaterBrook Press. After moving around the country (and to London and back), she returned to her home state, embarked on a business venture with Lisa, and is now a publishing and marketing consultant.

You may read the first chapter from both the first and second sections, peruse a letter from the authors, and take your own five-minute survey at satisfiedheart.com. If you wish to purchase this book, you may do so through Amazon.com. To read what other bloggers have to say about What Women Want, visit the blog tour schedule post, which contains links to all of the blogs reviewing this book.

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Friday, May 02, 2008

Early Baby?

It's a bit hard to believe that there are only eight short weeks left until my due date. We still have no name picked out for Buddy Bear. Actually, Mr. Incredible has no name picked out; there are plenty of names I like, but he is extremely picky when it comes to his son's name. *smile*

Despite the fact that all three girls have arrived "late," I was beginning to think that Little Man might be wanting to come a bit early. He seems to have dropped a bit, which means that my ribs are no longer constantly sore - nice! Unfortunately, his position change has made me extremely sore in other areas, so much so that I have been relatively comfortable only when not moving. During church Wednesday night, I was experiencing what I assume to be Braxton-Hicks contractions every few minutes during the whole service. They were a bit different from the Braxton-Hicks I experienced with the girls in that my whole stomach and my lower back were affected. I'm definitely going to be asking my doctor about all of this at my next visit.

Thankfully, I am feeling a bit better today. We are by no means ready for Little Man to arrive. We are still cleaning out what will be his room and have not yet painted it or gotten his crib up. People have also generously given us several cardboard boxes of infant boy clothes which I still need to sort through. All his clothes still need to be washed, too. Yikes! I'd better get moving!

I'll keep you posted as my due date draws ever nearer. I hope you are all doing well.

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