I'm surprised I remembered the password to this thing.

And what have I been doing the past week?

Somehow, in the past week, this:



was joined by this:


Yes, friends, we adopted ANOTHER dog.

Well, actually, we're fostering him, just to make sure he works out.

(Also, because he's scheduled to have a little snippity-snip next week, kwim?)

I think he's going to. Work out, I mean. Poor Delta was so used to having a buddy, she was getting a bit lonely in the backyard. And she wasn't acting out, as such, but she WAS barking a good bit. And she DID escape from her pen twice on Sunday.

And so we just thought what the heck - two is just as much trouble as one, right? That's what people who are trying to get me to have another kid tell me, anyway.

Having these dogs is almost like having another kid, though! No, we aren't up all night, feeding every two hours - or changing diapers - or anything like that, but they're pretty time consuming all the same.

I realized one day this week that when you have animals to care for, there is no such thing as staying in your PJs all day and not leaving the house! I have to go outside and feed them each morning, and usually Jason comes along a little later to take them for a walk. Even though they're outside, we figure it's good for them, and for us, to get out and walk a couple times a day.

When Jason goes out of town this summer, I'm not sure what's going to happen to the whole "walking" thing - I'm not at all sure I can walk two dogs which weigh more than my kid, all by myself.

Just like kids, these two have very different personalities. Delta was obviously a pet. She is very social, and she loves to be with us. Her favorite thing in the world (besides tumping over her water bowl or playing in the water hose spray) is fetching a tennis ball. She could do it for hours!

Lucky - that's what we found out the other dog's name is - seems to be very different. He belonged to a member of our county's planning commission who passed away earlier this month. The widow is a cancer patient, and she was unable to care for his dogs so she asked the shelter to take them. We are surmising that he must've been mostly a "yard dog" and not had a lot of interaction with humans.

He doesn't like water, and he doesn't like riding in in the car - things Delta adores.

He does seem to have solved the barking problem - she barks a bit, and then she settles down. I was concerned about her being left alone all day, but I feel much better with Lucky back there. He hasn't been aggressive with her at all, besides getting, well, a little too friendly with her in the beginning. I was told that once he's, ahem, worked on, that shouldn't be much of an issue.

Anna Marie is beyond thrilled to have not one, but two dogs - and I've got to say, it isn't so bad. It's good for her, too, because she can go back there and get them out of the pen and play with them - and not spend so much time on that DS!

Hopefully all of us - the dogs and the humans - will adjust to our new reality soon, and they won't take up so much of our lives that we don't have a chance to do much else!

The bill for the first 24 hours

Adoption fee for a shelter dog: $35

First trip to the vet after adoption: $110

Look on your kid's face when she realizes the dog she's petting is going home with her: priceless.

(Note: no Mastercards were harmed in the making of this blog post.)

What I did on my summer lunch break

Y'all, I adopted a dog.

I KNOW! CRAZY TALK!

In all the years we've been married, we've never owned a dog. Part of that is due to location - we've always rented, and couldn't have inside pets, and never had a fenced in backyard. And really, I'm not much of a "dog person," but I've tended to like the larger, more mellow dogs more than the smaller, yappy ones.

But, something has happened to Jason in the past couple of weeks. I put a "pet of the week" ad in the paper, and I mentioned that there were two female Labrador Retrievers, both spayed, who had been surrendered by their owner because he was going into the military.

I may have said, "Man, if I had a fenced in backyard, I'd go get those dogs."

You know, in passing.

Last Sunday, Jason and I may have had a conversation about dogs, and how we have an enclosure in the backyard that would make a good dog pen.

And last night after church, Jason might possibly have asked me to call today and see if the labs were still there.

I never in a million years thought that those two dogs would still be unclaimed after two weeks - but they were. Well, at least one of them was. The other has been paid for by an elderly woman in the next county, but she hasn't picked her up yet.

I was instructed by Jason to tell the ladies at the shelter that if she didn't come get the other dog, to give us a call.

We almost got two dogs today, y'all! TWO!

Jason still feels really badly about the two being separated, since they've been together their whole lives, so I can't guarantee that we won't end up with another dog in the near future.

Anyway - on my lunch break, we went to meet Delta. We paid for Delta, and then we left so Jason could get the pen ready, and bring the van.

After school, he came by to get me - and Anna Marie had no idea what was going on. When the tech went to get Delta, she was a bit hesitant. But - once she got down on the floor, and saw how gentle the dog was, she was fine.

Delta had a little trouble being convinced to get into the back of the van, but she rode through town with us just fine. Anna Marie is playing with her now, while Jason finishes getting the pen prepared. I hope this will give her something to do besides play that silly DS all summer!

For a larger dog, Delta is very gentle. She hasn't jumped up on us at all, and she's not been a "barker." I just hope she can adjust to the relative quiet of our neighborhood - that shelter was loud!

I think we'll enjoy this new "adventure" of dog ownership. I just hope Jason knows what he's gotten the rest of us into!

So, now that I've lost all my loyal readers

(You know, due to not posting. Out of sight, out of mind!)

Really? A week and a half I've been gone? Really?

Because it doesn't feel like that long. Four, five days, tops.

I hope all you gals had a marvelous Mother's Day, whether you:

A. Are a mother,
2. Have a mother, or
D. Are a bad motha (shut yo' mouth!)

Mine was, well, it had its moments. Like the moment when I opened a card from Jason, to find the exact same gift I'd gotten my mother, an O'Charley's gift card. You know, so my mom wouldn't, as Amanda said, be trying to figure out how to feed all of us on her $25 card.

(I still don't know where or when he bought mine. I bought mom's Friday night, at Sam's. He's being sneaky!)

Or, the moment when I got into an argument with my sister over whether a 30-45 minute restaurant wait was reasonable on Mother's Day.

(For the record, we waited exactly 30 minutes for a table, which was just about how long we'd waited to eat Mexican the week before. You know, when it wasn't a holiday.)

Ahem.

Or, the moment when I got what I'd actually asked for, a pair of New Balance I'd found at Sam's for $35. They're sharp, but I'm doing the responsible thing and saving them for gym-only wearing.

Just like "they" say you should. Whoever-the-heck "they" are.

I guess the best "moment," though, was when Anna Marie handed me her obligatory handmade cards. One of which said "Thanks for being a 1st place mom!" Complete with a medal she'd drawn all by herself with my gel pens.

Because of all the words I could use to describe my job as a mother, "first place" isn't one that readily comes to mind.

The sermon at my church yesterday was entitled "Jochabed's Mothering Seminar" and focused on Moses' mom. She was a lady of great faith, and courage, but she was also a lady of great influence. She didn't just raise Moses to be a great leader, she raised Aaron and Miriam to be leaders as well. The Children of Israel were delivered out of slavery because one woman feared God more than she did Pharaoh.

We have such an awesome responsibility, and while I can look back over the past seven and a half years and see how far I've come both as a person and as a parent, I don't know if I'll ever feel like I'm doing enough.

But, does any mom, or dad, or aunt, or anyone who has influence in a child's life ever feel like they're doing enough?

I guess that like anything else in life, it's the little things - making a French Toast casserole tonight, and making sure she's brushed ALL of her teeth, and that she's done her homework - that add up to the big results.

Seeing how she'll turn out - well, that's the scary part. And the exciting part. All sorts of emotions wrapped up together.

The challenge is trying to take advantage of all the little moments in between the big moments, when all those moments seem to go by both excruciatingly slow and mind-numbingly fast at the same time.

Call Noah.

I think we may be in need of a loaner.

After threatening to rain for several days now, the proverbial bottom has dropped out.

(Ever wonder exactly which bottom has dropped out? Me too.)

And, while I'm glad I don't have as much stuff to do as I did last Saturday, still, I shall have to exit my domicile at some point. Yesterday, through some strange chain of events, I was DONE with my deadline work by lunch.

I know, weird, right?

So, while I thought that Anna Marie was going to have to skip her dance pictures - half an hour away, at 4 p.m., requiring lots of costume changes, hair, and makeup that precluded Jason taking her - I was able to leave work at 3 p.m. and participate in the "festivities."

Two and a half hours later (or, a bit after 6 p.m.) we were done.

"We're running a little behind," the dance teacher says. And by "a little" she meant "about an hour."

Funny thing is, since they're charging $50 for five small photos, I probably won't even be buying them. The main reasons I even went were to get her costumes, and because they take a couple of group photos.

Anna Marie did treat me to a private tap performance once she got into that costume, though, so I guess that was something.

Anyway, Anna Marie had requested a dinner at Red Lobster. I was trying to get mom and Amanda to come down, but they convinced me to drive to their neighborhood - and dine at Pei Wei. And somehow, when I left that restaurant, I was minus one red-headed kid.

Hmph. Funny how that happens!

Jason, by the way, had weaseled out of the whole shebang by promising to "clean the office" which is code for "pile everything on Melissa's scrapbook table." I walked in alone, and he said, "Did you leave her at Red Lobster?"

"No, I left her at Pei Wei. With Gramma."

I've just received a breaking news alert, that Gramma and Anna Marie are in the area where I'll likely be having to pick her up, so I suppose I'll have to get Jason up (yes, it IS after 10 a.m.) and get a move on.

That is, if Noah has a spare ark on hand.

I am persuaded

That I need to enter the 5 minutes for mom Mother's Day giveaway.

Because I can.

And because today, they're giving away an itty bitty computer that has MY name all over it.

(Well, not my name for real. But it speaks to me.)

So, meander on over there, because they've got a heck of a lot of great stuff to give away.

Good luck!

I love saving money.

I really, truly do.

I love that I walked into Walmart this morning and bought the following:

1 six-pack of Orville Reddenbacher's 94% Fat Free Popcorn (the full-sized bags, not minis)
1 two-pack of Weight Watchers ice cream cups
1 bag of Tyson grilled chicken strips
2 bottles of Rimmel nail polish

And paid $6.32 out of my pocket.

How did I do it? Well, our Walmart just renovated, and they're putting stuff on clearance like CRAZY. Yesterday, I bought four pints of Ben and Jerry's for $1 each! Two boxes of Mollicools (little beads of ice cream) four-packs for $1 each! Two 2-packs of Weight Watchers ice cream for $1 each!

I stocked up on ice cream, and bought another box of that popcorn, and bought an All You magazine, and spent about $12.

And, in that magazine, there were coupons - $1 off the popcorn (so it was free!), BOGO free nail polish ($3.16 for both bottles), $0.55 off the chicken strips (the most expensive thing I bought, but worth it for the convenience) and $0.55 off the WW ice cream (making the 2-pack cost just $0.45, instead of the $2.54 it would have been normally.)

In the past couple of weeks, I've gotten Nestle Fat Free Hot Cocoa (25 calories, and normally $2.44 a box) for $1, and that popcorn - I've been stocking up, because the dates will be good for many months and I know it's stuff we'll use. I've got two stashes - one at work and one at home. I'm covered!

It should be criminal how good I felt walking into that store this morning, knowing what good deals I was getting. When all this clearance is gone, I don't know what I'm going to do!

Need a laugh?

Yeah, well, so do I.

The 23-year-old daughter of my friend Stephanie from church was killed in a wreck last night. She leaves the most adorable 3-year-old daughter this side of Anna Marie at that age.

(I never met my friend's daughter, but she brought her granddaughter to church with her on a pretty regular basis.)

And, I got some reminders about Anna Marie's upcoming summer camp trip in the mail today, so I was reminded that MY KID IS GOING TO OKLAHOMA FOR A WEEK THIS SUMMER. WITHOUT ME.

And, well, there's just a lot of funky junk going on in the world in general, and in my life in particular.

So, in honor of Stephanie, I present you with a YouTube video we all watched during a break in choir practice about a month ago. (Stephanie is one of the altos, like I am, and we rely HEAVILY on her leadership of our section.)

Our music pastor referenced this video in conversation, and when we took a break, Stephanie went into his office and found it so we could all watch.

Enjoy. And I hope that you aren't in such need of a laugh today as I am - and that if you are, this little clip will provide it for you.

How exciting!

I'm part of a recall!

Normally, I don't have any products new enough to qualify for a recall - like those on cars - or of the right product category, like baby items.

But this time - it's my beloved Senseo machine.

The one that got me hooked on coffee, and the one that saw me through last week until Jason bought me a new Hamilton Beach Brewstation.

(The six-cup model that was $25 at Walmart. Not the $50 model. Don't get too excited, folks.)

Apparently, there is some problem with mineral buildup and an "external electrical fault" and exploding coffee machines. And while I no longer use the Senseo as my primary machine (and there haven't been any reports of problems in this country, just in Europe) - well, heck, if they're going to be nice enough to send me a brand spanking new coffee maker, who am I to quibble?

I feel so special!

SO, if you have one of these machines, hie thee hither to the Phillips website, and check the bottom, and see if yours is on the list.

Can't have our coffee makers exploding on us, can we?

Notthatfunny.com

(That was what Amanda text-messaged me when I told her some of this story.)

Well, you know how Jason works on Tuesdays, and doesn't get home until about 5 p.m.?

And how Anna Marie normally rides the bus to First Baptist Church for their choir and handbell program?

Well, that program ended two weeks ago. So I've been having to bring her to my office after school.

Most of the time, she comes in, she does her homework, and she plays on the extra computer. This Tuesday, however, she decided to make trouble.

And lots of it.

When she got into the car after school, she said one of her friends had asked her to decorate a pencil for her. I don't ask questions, folks - it doesn't make any sense to me either, but I'm not seven.

Anyway - after she did her homework, she started on the pencil decorating part of her afternoon.

She had her watercolors with her, and used them to make some lovely, colorful designs on the wooden writing instrument. I'm working away, when she comes in, gets my scissors, and asks:

"Mom, how do you make confetti?"

Look people. I may have been born in the morning, but it wasn't that morning. I knew that she'd get to cutting, and soon there would be small scraps of paper all over the floor of my place of business. And guess who would be cleaning it up? Yep. Me.

Not going to happen.

So I told her that. And she was unhappy. And she went to another girl in our office and asked her how to make confetti.

After I'd told her no.

See where this is going yet?

When I got on to her about it, she ran through the glass door into the back part of the office where the kitchen is. A few minutes later, she comes back up to the door and hands me a note. I have left all spelling, diction, and punctuation intact.

Dear Mom, I have went to the back so I won't get in t-r-o-u-b-l-e fo cutting out confetti. I am not going to cut out cofetti. But I'm using my science skills to build a machine. So farewell. Goodbye. Love, Anna Marie.

P.S. (Bring me your pack of popcorn eggs.)

Editor's note: I had a pack of popcorn eggs on my desk, picked up at half price that morning at Walmart. Guess she wanted provisions while she was inventing.

She then called our GM, Shirley, into her "office." Shirley then returned with a paper reading "No moms allowed!" and taped it to the glass door, per Anna Marie's instructions.

(Wait! It gets better!)

When I went to the back anyway, she threw a small fit. Luckily, it was time to go home. In the car, I told her that although the others in the office may have been laughing, she had disobeyed and disrespected me, and there would be no TV for the rest of the evening.

She didn't like that last part. Not one little bit.

When we got home, she again ran into her room and closed her door. While I was in my room explaining to Jason what had transpired, here is the note she brought me:

Sorry that I acted bad at your job. But God already forgot about it. Love, Anna Marie!

(Insert pictures of the two of us, with rays of light emanating from our persons.)

I still (heart) you!

The part about God forgetting about it? Apparently she must have been listening when I told her that when we ask forgiveness, that's what He does - He forgets all about what we did.

What do I say to that? I'll tell you what I said.

"I love you too. You still aren't getting to watch TV."

Guess what - she did everything else I asked her to the rest of the evening. She made her bed. She put her plate in the sink. She did something else, too, but it escapes me just now.

So, I did end up letting her watch the last 30 minutes of the Food Network Cupcake Challenge with me. You know, so she can get ideas for the next time she bakes something with her Aunt Manda. And, it wasn't "her" TV, so technically it didn't count, right?

Right?

Y'all, after Tuesday, I know this much - if that which doesn't kill me makes me stronger, I'll reach superhero status before long.

Happy Easter!

This is going to be short and sweet, because I've been up since 5:15 a.m. and I have a sinus headache and it's about time for me to get to bed.

And the 5:15 wouldn't be so bad, except we had to be at church at 7:45 because we had an 8:30 service and we had to sing in both that and the 10:30 service.

At the beginning and end of each service, so we had to stay for all of both. On the platform. No sneaking out for a bathroom break!

(Thank GOD they put some chairs up there for us!)

Oh, and did I mention my coffee maker, which I haven't had quite a year, didn't work well this morning, at 5:15? That instead of 4 cups of coffee, it made one really, really strong cup?

Just like the other one that it replaced?

(Thank GOD I'd gotten some Senseo pods on clearance at Target last week, so I had a Plan B!)

Not surprisingly, there was a Harley in the sanctuary this morning.

Yes, on Easter.

No, no one was riding it. It was covered in a white sheet. I make that clarification because we have had people ride theirs into the sanctuary, on Biker Sunday.

It was part of the Pastor's sermon, about how that the value of an item is set by the buyer, not the seller, and that Jesus deemed us very valuable when he bought us with His blood on the cross.

Anna Marie went into childrens church for the first service, but decided she'd come into the sanctuary for the second.

(No, I didn't get any pictures this year. We had to be at church at 7:45 people! With less coffee than usual! I'll get pictures next time she wears her outfit!)

She did really well, sitting on the front row where I could see her (and next to her friend Chloe and Ms. Sandra, one of the more mature ladies in the church.)

After church, we went to my Aunt Esther's new house. And, just like at Christmas, I pretty much ate beyond all reason. Spiral ham? Check. Chicken and dressing? Check. Banana pudding? Check.

My mom had spent the night there, and my aunt and uncle from around the corner (who is my uncle twice over, I guess, because he used to be married to one of the other sisters who passed away), my Aunt Esther's younger daughter, and a couple of other family members showed up. Anna Marie was the only kid, but she survived.

(It helped that she had Cartoon Network, and her DS, and a Star Wars Clone Wars game for her Leapster.)

We finally left, and Jason said, "I think I ate too much ham."

I was all, "Dude. I know."

I can't believe this day is finally over, and what a good Easter week it's been. It started with last week's musical and then small groups, and ended with today's double header of a service and time with the family.

It didn't matter that the temperature dropped 15 degrees from lunchtime until we left, or that it's rained all day. We were inside, a family, something that sadly doesn't happen too much outside of funerals these days.

I'm testing my coffee pot, and loading myself up with ibuprofen and allergy meds, and soon I hope to be all snug in my bed.

I hope that all y'all out there in blogland have had a blessed Easter too.

He is risen, y'all!

Because obviously, you know, I have some pull

We had some major thunderstorms in our area last night, a situation I always dread because Anna Marie has developed an irrational fear of them.

Inevitably, she ends up in my bed.

I tried to dissuade her last night, because I was tired, and today is a deadline day, and I really did want to actually get some sleep.

She was especially concerned last night, and asked me odd questions like "Did Gramma's mom ever get in a Tornado?" No, I don't think so. "Did you ever meet Gramma's mom?" Yes, she didn't die until after I was married! "Was Papa ever in a tornado?"

(I think that one of the kids in her class has told her that he's been through three, which, at his young age, is highly unlikely unless he lives in a trailer park in Arkansas.)

(Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. I'm just sayin.)

So, seeing as how I've taught her that we need to go to God with our concerns in prayer, she asked me to pray that "the rain would come down slowly and the thunder would stop."

So, I did.

Apparently, she wasn't satisfied with the results of my prayers, though, because the next time the thunder crashed, she cried out:

"WHEN IS HE GOING TO START LISTENING TO YOU?"

And I shall never breathe again…

Isn't that how that Toni Braxton song goes? Let's see - I'll do a quick search, and…

Yep. I seem to remember having an argument with Amanda once, because I thought it was "believe again" and she insisted it was "breathe" and I thought that promising not to ever breathe again was a bit drastic.

But I digress.

I guess I should say I feel like I'll never breathe again, at least not freely and without great effort. Spring has sprung, and it's brought with it allergy season. I awoke at 4:30 a.m., unable to breathe, with a dry mouth because apparently my body's autonomic nervous system switched to "mouth breathing" while I was sleeping.

Yuck.

Now that I'm upright and awake - and have lots of coffee in my system - it's a bit better. But still! Annoying.

Speaking of sinuses…

(Nice segue, huh?)

I didn't include this information on the previous post, for fear that Amanda might read it and spoil the surprise, but Jason was recruited at the last minute to perform a solo in Sunday's musical.

"Last minute" being at 5:15 p.m. the night before the performance, about 45 minutes before rehearsal.

We'd gotten to church early, so Jason (who has kind of been put in charge of some of the media stuff) could get the computer set to play the DVD soundtrack. Pastor Rich, the music minister, said, "So, Jason, you ready to do that other song?"

See, Jason was already scheduled to conduct one song so that Pastor Rich could sing a duet. And the "other song" was supposed to be sung by a girl who is singing with the tenors, but she'd decided on Wednesday that it was just too low and she couldn't do it. So, Jason assumed that since it was so late in the game that Pastor Rich would sing it, too, and he'd conduct the choir.

Wrong.

Jason said, "You mean conduct it, right?"

To which Pastor Rich replied, "No, I mean sing it. Didn't I tell you Wednesday night?"

Um, apparently not. But, he can be excused for forgetting - on top of his regular work, and getting ready for the musical, his wife's grandmother had just passed away in the middle-of-nowhere Arkansas, and she was already gone out there with her parents. That left him with their three kids (all under the age of 10) to pack and join her the next day.

He'd just gotten back into town in time for Saturday's rehearsal.

Jason, ever the trooper, said, "I've got 45 minutes before practice. I can get ready!"

The rest of the choir was as surprised as he was when time came to practice that song and he moved to the mic. He'd been running the computer (my cousin, who was supposed to do it, was moving and couldn't make practice) and Pastor Rich traded places with him.

(The second time he sang it, he recruited Anna Marie to run the computer. No joke!)

Jason did it perfectly in practice! I was so proud of him! The choir was going nuts!

And then, Sunday morning came.

We had to be at practice at 9 a.m. Jason, like many others, had his sinuses draining down his throat all night.

His voice cracked like a 12-year-old boy. He was mortified, but really, it could happen to anyone! He was wearing a tie at that point (and our friend Ron called it one of those "unfortunate early-morning tie/neck incidents) which may have made it more difficult to hit those notes. He took the tie off, Pastor Rich gave him some stuff to spray on his throat, and we all started praying.

Mom and Amanda came to see Jason conduct, but I didn't tell them about the solo. When he walked up front, I could see them glancing at each other like, "What the heck?"

He did a great job! His voice did crack just a teeny bit, but nowhere near what it had done two hours earlier, when it wasn't warmed up enough. He was embarrassed, but I've heard lots of folks comment on what a good job he did. And if I'd had a solo, I would've been in the same boat - I took a deep breath at one point, and was rewarded with a "frog" in my throat that I had to fight against for the next half hour. By myself, it would NOT have been pretty.

Those songs from the musical are supposed to enter our rotation for choir specials, so I can only hope that he'll get the chance to redeem himself once allergy season abates a bit.

Of course, I've always thought Jason was great, but it's nice for others to acknowledge it - those who aren't married to him!

So, here's hoping that allergy season ends swiftly, and we can all get back to breathing - and singing - again.

Pushing myself

I have been absent from the blog, mainly because in real life, I'm pushing myself.

I'm pushing myself every time I get on the treadmill at 5 a.m. And believe you me, when that DJ on my Podrunner podcast said yesterday morning that we'd be doing 20 minutes STRAIGHT of the running part, I just about got right back off and went right back to bed. But I didn't. I pushed myself. And I finished my fifth week of Couch to 5K.

I'm pushing myself with a personal project that a week ago was just an idea, and now is coming together at a really scary pace. It's pushing the limits of what I've known myself to be capable of, and it's terrifying.

I'm pushing myself in the morning, because our choir is performing one of the more challenging pieces of music I've ever done. I'm not even sure how my voice will react to singing it all at once with no breaks, but I'm willing to find out.

I'm sorry I haven't been here (or at your blogs) much in the last week, but I'm coming back - better than ever - because I just keep pushing myself.

Exciting times

Isn't coffee a wonderful thing? I can go from drowsy and unproductive to up and at 'em in just a few sips. Brilliant!

(I fear I have become way too dependent on caffeine. Oh, well. I won't be weaning myself off today!)

Exciting things are happening in Melz World.

First, I'm halfway through the second season of Lost! I took a couple days break, but now I'm back at it.

Also, I'm on week five of Couch to 5K! I know! I can't believe I've stuck with it this long either!

Also, Jason and I volunteered at (and got free tickets to) a concert on Friday night. And not just any concert - The Gaithers.

You know the ones - infomercials full of old-time Gospel singers, sitting around in various venues singing songs that are even older than they are.

Now, Jason and I aren't huge fans of this genre of music, but it was to help a friend, and have something to do on a Friday night, and, well, these folks are talented.

We were originally supposed to work one of the merchandise tables, but we actually got a better job - handing out keychain lights and postcard advertisements at the furthest (and last to fill up) door.

While the other workers had to leave the concert and work during intermission and after the show, once we ran out - about the time the show started - we were free to enjoy ourselves.

In the hallway before the show, we saw several artists, walking around like normal folks.

We saw this guy:



(That's Michael English.)

And we saw this guy, hanging out at his merchandise table as the volunteers were being doled out:



(That's Russ Taff.)

And then, right before the show started, I saw the woman who had taken the volunteers around. She was walking really quickly and talking on a radio, and there were about five big, burly guys behind her. And in the midst of the group was this guy:



(That would be Bill Gaither.)

I grabbed Jason and was all, "Jason! Bill Gaither travels with bodyguards!" And he was all "He's probably sued so many people [for copyright infringement] that he never knows who he's going to run into."

The first segment of the concert had each of the different groups singing a set of songs. It lasted about two hours, and after intermission, the last hour was more on the lines of their "Homecoming" series - everyone onstage, singing really old songs.

Like I said, we aren't huge Southern Gospel fans, but they put on a good show. I haven't heard Jason laugh so much in a long time. Plus, did I mention we got in free?

Free is (almost) always good.

Friday was also the day that a very exciting project was born, one that I can't tell you about now but one that I PROMISE I'll tell you all about soon.

Very soon.

(No, I'm not pregnant.)

Perhaps the MOST exciting news of all - it's finally time for us to have a yard sale, so that means I get my dining room back this weekend! My darling husband got the bug to clean out the closet WEEKS ago, and the stuff has just been piled there ever since. I've even heard a rumor that he's getting Anna Marie to clean out a load of toys, and that makes this mom's heart want to SING!

Exciting times at Melz World. You better believe it, folks.

Fail to plan = plan to fail

Ok, so I've heard that little saying my WHOLE life, but it never really sank in.

But now I'm married to Jason, who plans EVERYTHING.

The people I'm from? Not so much.

One of the first things you learn in Weight Watchers is that you have to plan. You have to look ahead to see what situations you're walking in to, and you have to know what you're going to eat or do. If you do that the majority of the time, on those occasions when you can't prepare, it won't be such a disaster.

But several days this week, my life has been full of FAIL. And not just plain FAIL, but approaching EPIC FAIL territory.

I realized yesterday that my failure to plan was setting me up to fail.

The problem? Getting Anna Marie out of the door for schools. We've been doing this for two years now, but for some reason, it's become increasingly stressful lately. Part of the problem is that I've been letting her sleep five minutes later so I can get a bit more done, and the other part is that she's growing up and I'm expecting her to do more for herself.

For the past two days, we'd both ended up in tears by the time the school run was over.

Yesterday, I had an epiphany. I noticed that she would do what I told her to (get dressed, eat breakfast, etc.) but she wouldn't do anything else in the sequence unless I was standing over her, giving her instructions right then. She's seven years old - I shouldn't have to stand over her for every little thing!

Then, I remembered her room-cleaning checklist. I can tell her to clean her room, and she dissolves in a fit of overload. But, I can break it down into a series of tasks - make bed, clear clutter off floor, etc. - and she can manage just fine.

I applied the same principle to our morning routine. I planned!

Last night, I told her that there were things she HAD to do in the mornings to get ready, and things that were OPTIONAL (like reading part of a book). If she got the mandatory things done, and she still had time, then she could read or whatever.

We went over the steps to getting ready: go to the restroom, put on your clothes, eat breakfast, put on your socks and shoes, brush your teeth and hair. When she finished one task, I said, she needed to go ahead and move on to the next.

Guess what - it worked!

Instead of running so late that she got to school just as the bell was ringing, we left the house a full 20 minutes earlier today. She was ready not just in time to run out the door, but early enough to get some reading in as well!

And one of our biggest obstacles, her tying her shoes - once I wasn't standing over her, rushing her to get it done, she did it without a hitch. Rushing around, turns out, was making her make mistakes.

Who knew?

We got to school in plenty of time to beat the traffic, neither of us was in tears, and I had time to run and pick up a couple of things from the store. It was magical!

And now, I'm making a plan for my own life. And I know that the "best laid plan" fail, but I'm seeking some help from a Higher Authority on this one. And even failure with a plan isn't usually as bad as failure with no plan at all!

This thinking through what you're going to do before you do it could revolutionize life as we know it.

Viva la revalucion!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

And yet here I sit, typing away on the computer.

Don't worry, I've already been outside in the sunny, 74 degree weather - doing yardwork.

Now, I'm resting.

Yesterday didn't start out so beautiful, but it was great by the end. And I'm not just talking about the weather!

Since Anna Marie has made it into the 80 point Accelerated Reader club at school (a feat which I don't think many of her classmates have accomplished) and since most of the books which got her there were part of the Magic Treehouse series, I thought it only fitting to reward her with a trip to a book signing by their author, Mary Pope Osborne.

I've never been to a book signing before, so I didn't quite know what to expect.

It was really, really cold and dreary. We left the house a little early so I could take my time getting up there (and so we could each lunch, naturally) and I'm really glad I did. We were going to eat at Panera bread, but I never could find it, so we went across the road to the mall and ate at the food court.

(And also bought her a hoodie on clearance at Macy's, because I didn't realize the cold would hang around as long as it did and we left the house without proper outerwear for her.)

We got to the bookstore a bit after noon. The event was to start at 1:00 p.m.

The place was already getting crowded!

We picked up a copy of her latest book, bought it, and found a place to sit for the next half hour until she arrived.

Since the bookstore was in a swanky part of town, most of the families there were pretty swanky too. Many of them knew each other, because their kids attended the same (very expensive) private school.

Mrs. Osborne had fallen and broken her wrist - slipping and falling on the ice outside the hospital, when she was going in to have her broken knuckle repaired - so she couldn't sign the books. She had a stamp of her signature, and they used that to put in the autograph.

But - since she couldn't personalize the books, they made it up to the kids by posing for pictures! While the Osbornes posed, the bookstore staff stamped the books.





She was really great! She and her husband, Will, bounced ideas for stories off the kids. They've also written a musical based on one of their books, and I'm crossing my fingers and my toes that we win one of the sets of tickets for when it comes to Memphis next week.



When it was over with, we walked to Dinsthuls candy - made in Memphis, with a store in the same shopping center as the bookstore. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining - and Anna Mare was completely overwhelmed by her first encounter with so much chocolate!

It was such a great day. Not everything went as I'd planned - Subway for lunch instead of Panera - but that's OK. Anna Marie got to meet one of her favorite authors. I was so proud of her - she spoke when Mrs. Osborne spoke to her! And she even said Anna Marie was gorgeous!

Now, Anna Marie wants to know when Barbara Parks, author of the Junie B. Jones books, is coming. Guess I'd better keep my eyes peeled!

Oh, the irony!

I am awake, on a Saturday, and it's not even 6 a.m.

That, in and of itself, should be a federal offense.

But, it proved to be the perfect time to write this post! Who knew?

In the past month that I've been going to the gym, I've had lots of people surprised and impressed that I get up at 5 a.m. to fit it in. Those who know me in real life know that I've always been more of a night owl than a morning person, and the others, well, I guess it's just the idea of rising that early that colors them impressed.

But, dear reader, I have discovered that if I don't get up that early and exercise, it won't get done at all. I've adopted the old Nike slogan about the whole situation: Just Do It!

I don't really enjoy getting up before dawn. I don't really enjoy leaving my house when it's still cold outside, so that I have to wear a coat over my gym clothes. I don't really enjoy the potential to lose another hour of sleep.

But - I do enjoy knowing that I'm doing something good for myself, and I do enjoy the feeling of accomplishment after I've completed another session of Couch to 5K training, and I do enjoy know that it's one less thing I have to get accomplished that day.

I get all Nike on the situation, then, and just do it.

And I've been thinking about addressing this for a while, and lo and behold, I get this email from Spark People about why it's beneficial to exercise in the morning!

So, go, peruse the article (and while you're there, see all the other neat stuff that Spark People has. Their food tracker has gotten me excited about journaling about).

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not going to the gym today, though. It's Saturday, and I'm going to bask in the glow of my television for a bit before I take Anna Marie to Memphis to meet one of her favorite authors, Mary Pope Osbourne. She's the writer of all those Magic Treehouse books that kid has been devouring, and it seems there's a bit of a book signing today.

Now, then - where's my coffee?

I did a bad, bad thing

Things have been quiet here lately in Melz World, and I'm a bit ashamed to admit why.

I'm LOST.

Well, not really. I don't know what has possessed me, but I've started watching Lost this week.

From the beginning.

Did y'all realize that this show is currently in its FIFTH season? That means I have FIVE seasons to catch up on. All my spare computer time this week has been taken up with watching past episodes online.

I'm more than halfway through the first season, y'all.

Now, Jason has mocked me. He's all, "You do realize they get off the island, and then they go back to the island, and …" (This is where I stick my fingers in my ear and I'm all "La la la I can't HEAR you!")

He's gleaned this bit of knowledge from an episode we caught the last few minutes of the other night. Yes, I know that they get off the island. Yes, I know they go back.

No, I don't need any more spoilers right now!

I know the plotlines are probably going to go from the ridiculous to the sublime. I don't care. It's good enough right now, and that's good enough for me.

It's just that sometimes, when I'm on a couple-hour marathon, I kind of wonder to myself, what have I gotten myself into?

I'm hooked, and I have to know what's going to happen to these characters next. It's hopeless. I'm a LOST cause.

Lost, I wish I could quit you!.

Just the facts, m'am.

This blogging thing has gotten really difficult as of late, because so much of what is going on in Melz World I'm not at liberty to share.

Here's a hint on part of it - it starts with a "w" and rhymes with "jerk."

And after a meeting I had last Wednesday, I have a lot of decisions to make about, ahem, jerk. Let's just say some changes are being made, and they are no good/very bad/perfectly awful.

(I'd say more, but once I get started, I won't be able to stop, and I don't need to end up like dooce any time soon. Ya dig?)

So, I'm sorry I've not been present around here lately. I will tell you that I didn't weigh in on Thursday morning, because I got my bad news on Wednesday afternoon and I was still trying to process it - as much as anyone can process being told that, among other cutbacks, they were having a week of vacation that they'd already earned taken away -oops, did I just say that? - and I couldn't take the chance of a bad outcome.

Yes, I'm supposed to be honest with myself, and with you, but when you've had a week like I did - and I didn't eat poorly, and I did exercise, but sometimes even that isn't enough - well, I didn't need to add another thing to my (proverbial) plate.

The weather here has been just absolutely dreary, to the point that I think it's been affecting my mood as much as anything else. No offense to those who live in the Pacific Northwest, but several months a year of gray, chilly weather would really do me in.

Thankfully, I did spy a bit of blue sky this afternoon. I just wish the weather guys would have told me that it wouldn't get near today's expected high of 67 until nearly 5 p.m., so I would've been a bit more prepared for the chill.

We had a great couple of days over the weekend - choir practice on Saturday, and two fantabulous services yesterday - and I was feeling much encouraged today.

And then, Monday began in earnest!

I found out about more cutbacks in our operations at work, and then Jason called to say that he'd just gotten a speeding ticket!

He plans on contesting it, by the way, because he sees no way he could've gotten to the speed they clocked him in from a dead stop in the distance he'd traveled. He's sure to go all "Speeders Fight Back" on them in court. I can just see him now with his laptop and projector, showing how that it was scientifically impossible for him to have been going that fast.

Or, we could just pray that the cop doesn't show up - especially since the ticket comes close to one week of his pay!

Either way, it looks like I'm going to have to work a little harder to hold on to that ray of hope I'd found over the weekend - and pray a little harder that Monday sees itself right on out the door before it does any more damage.

On being blessed - and being a blessing

I have about eleventy-million blog posts rattling around in my head right now, but for the moment I'll just regale you with one.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to do something that, when I signed up for it, seemed to be no big deal.

However, as I was doing it, and afterwards, I was struck with the enormity of it all.

I read to four kindergarteners.

Simple, I know. I signed up with the PTO, went to the school at my appointed time, picked four books out, and read to four little kids out in the hallway, one by one.

It was two hours out of my life that affected the rest of my day, and continues to do so.

It was pretty obvious that these kids were chosen to be read to because they need a little extra help in that department. Know how educators are always telling us to read to our kids, from the time they're babies? I don't know if these kids parents were doing that or not. So, that's where I came in. I pulled the kids out of class to give them a little one-on-one reading time, time which the teacher can't spare.

I had picked pretty rudimentary books, most of them at a preschool level. Some of these kids couldn't even read me the "sight words" - and because I had a kid in this school as a kindergartener last year, I know they should be able to read things like "my," "she," and "the" by now.

This isn't a judgment on the kids - it's just a fact. They aren't very fluent readers, but that's why I (and the other volunteers) are there - to give them a little extra help.

And those kids told me some things that revealed a lot about their situations at home, and maybe why they might not be getting that reading practice outside the classroom.

One of the books we read was about going to the beach. I asked the girl if she'd ever been to the beach, and she said she had, with her father - when he lived in Virginia. He now lives in Kentucky, she said.

We live in Mississippi - ergo, her parents aren't together.

Don't take this as a stereotype, but I'm going to guess that her mom is trying to put food on the table (an admirable quest) and may not have as much time as she'd like for reading with her daughter.

Like I said - not a judgment, just an observation.

Another book was about a girl who liked making messes. I asked this student (different from the beach girl) if she kept her room neat, and she said she didn't have a room - she sleeps with her mom.

As does her baby sister.

Y'all, in all Anna Marie's life, she's never had to share so much as a room - even when we had to live with my parents - never mind having to share a bed. My girl doesn't know how blessed she is.

The kindergartener told me later that her mom was going to school, but she didn't know what she was going to be when she finished.

Again, this is admirable - and I told the girl that her mom was doing a good thing by trying to get an education - but it doesn't leave much time for extra reading with your kid.

Most of the time, we focus on unfit parents as the ones whose kids aren't up to par in school - but these two families show that sometimes it's just life's circumstances that don't permit the one-on-one learning time.

As I was leaving yesterday, I stuck my head into the room of one of our town's aldermen, who happens to be a speech therapist at the school. She thanked me for volunteering with these kids.

And then it hit me - Anna Marie had come home the day before with a certificate (and a coupon for a Personal Pan Pizza) for joining the 80 point Accelerated Reader club. That is a HUGE accomplishment for a first grader - and probably due to the number of chapter books she reads, which are worth more points.

I realized I was so blessed that, for all the other struggles I've had with my strong-willed daughter, academics had not been one of them. I don't have to beg her to read - many nights I have to take the books away from her so she'll go to sleep. And many mornings, she gets up earlier than she needs to and I have to take them away from her again so she can get ready for school.

This isn't bragging on myself - I didn't do anything special to get her to this point. I read to her since she was a baby, yes, but her intelligence and love for learning is a gift from God.

So, as I was talking in the speech room, I realized why I needed to do this - I was blessed, so I needed to be a blessing to someone else.

In fact, here is what Genesis 12:2 says about what some folks call "paying it forward:"

2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

Our pastor covered this text a few weeks ago, and he said that the original language commands us to be a blessing - to do good to others.

I thought I was volunteering because the PTO said they needed help - but I was really doing it in obedience to God's Word.

How can I not? How can I sit with my daughter, in her own room in her own bed surrounded by so many books that I passed over two dozen down to a coworker's daughter and mine hasn't even noticed they were gone - and not do what I can to help these other kids?

Maybe their parents aren't able to read to them, because of time or other obligations. Lord knows, if I had more than one kid I wouldn't have been able to spend the time that I do with Anna Marie. Maybe they are so burdened down with life's concerns that reading a bedtime story is the last thing on their to-do list.

Or maybe they are taking the time to help their kids with their homework, and they just need an extra set of hands.

Whatever the reason, I walked out of that school much different than when I'd walked in: excited about the opportunity to serve these kids and their parents.

The opportunity to be a blessing.

Yawn

Yes, I just made you yawn just by typing that. You're welcome!

Why is it that the "spring forward" part of Daylight Savings Time seems to take a week to get over? Is losing an hour really that much of a shock to our systems?

I'm gonna go out on a limb, and, from my totally unscientific research (a.k.a. talking to people I know) I'm gonna say "yes."

I should have had no trouble at all sleeping Saturday night, too, because I'd spent the day helping Amanda move into her new SECOND FLOOR WALKUP apartment.

Did I mention that it was on the second floor? That it's part of an old house that was converted into apartments, and the only access we had was a three-foot-wide back staircase because the downstairs peeps weren't home?

I don't think it was the actual moving that did me in, though - it was the painting. Amanda found a can of sky blue paint in the attic, and decided that her room need not be bright lime green any longer. Anna Marie and I did a big bunch of the work - she had an itty bitty little edging roller - and my arms and back are still recovering.

But despite the intense manual labor, I still tossed and turned.

(Oh, did you wonder about my weigh-in on Thursday? Yes, I weighed in at the gym, but I think I'm going to invest in a scale all of my own because I don't know if that one is being calibrated on a regular basis. As you can tell from my distrust, it did not give me good news, but Jason and Amanda have both assured me that NO WAY did I gain five pounds in one week. They assure me that it's all the muscle I'm building.)

(Because they're experts, of course, and I trust them implicitly.)

I'm on my second week of Couch to 5K, and so far, so good. I almost skipped this morning because my muscles are still sore, but then I realized that 1. I won't get to go for the next two days because Jason will be at work, and 2. My legs weren't hurting, just my arms, and I don't need my arms to walk on a treadmill.

I realized this morning that, while I don't enjoy getting up at 5 a.m. to go to the gym, I do enjoy going, and I enjoy getting it over with for the day, so I guess 5 a.m. it is - at least until summer, when I can sleep in until 6.

My iPod is loaded with all 10 weeks of the PodRunner Intervals, so I should be good to go. What am I going to do once that 10 weeks is up? I don't know, but I should be in MUCH better shape by then so we'll see what happens.

I really do need to take some measurements, because that scale completely freaked me out Thursday morning. I've got to have some other criteria to measure my progress by than those numbers.

I know for a fact that I wouldn't have been able to do the manual labor I did on Saturday back when I was 90 lbs. heavier. Good gracious, that back staircase was a better workout than I've probably ever had at the gym!

So here's to keepin' on keepin' on, and measuring our progress without being tied to the scale!

You say "potato" I say "almost an athlete"

Remember a couple of years ago when I started the Couch to 5K program?

No, then you can click here. But hurry back!


Hahahaha. Ha ha.

That lasted about as long as Anna Marie's resolve to keep her room clean every day.

Now, though, I'm hoping it'll be a different story. Since I've joined a gym, I have access to a treadmill. That's indoors! When it's 25 degrees outside! And I said to myself, "Self, this would be a PERFECT time to start back up on your Couch to 5K aspirations!"

(Yes, I use big words like "aspirations" when talking to myself. Don't you?)

I have two podcasts that I've downloaded - the "official" C25K, and one called PodRunner Intervals. I like the second better, mainly because the first one features a guy talking over the music. That really messes up my groove, y'all! The PodRunner podcast just gives me an audio signal when it's time to change from running to walking and vice-versa.

Now, my gym is the super-high-tech kind, with motorized treadmills. How do I make this work? With the speed controls, of course! There are two sets on these machines, one of which is right by my hands, so I can change speeds pretty quickly - like, say, during the audio signal.

The only thing I knew I was going to miss was being able to zone out and watch TV while I ran, but then I hit upon another solution - I watch it anyway! I can't hear it, because my earbuds are in my iPod, so I pick something like QVC that I can just watch without sound. Brilliant!

I'll probably never run a 5K, of course, but I think that this will help step up my training on the three days a week I do it. Plus, it can't help but make me a better walker when the Five Star Races come around this June!

Now, if I could only convince Jason that I could use a new pair of shoes, all would be right with the world.

Y'all, I just had to blog about this.

Here I sit, my belly full of barbeque brought home from the auction, and a light dusting of snow (snow!) outside.

And I turn on the TV, and this is what greets me. Toddlers and Tiaras.

I watched it a few nights ago, and I thought maybe the folks I was seeing on it were flukes. Surely, there are only a handful of parents and kids out there like this, right?

Right?

Wrong.

Last time, one of the families was a black lesbian couple from Jackson, Miss., with three girls. The two older girls, who were about 4 and 7, were the ones competing.

They made all their own pageant clothes, and y'all, I watched the two moms (along with their fashion designer/stylist friend) spend more at Hobby Lobby on stuff to make a couple of dresses than I pay in rent each month! And not to be judgemental - but they were obviously living in public housing.

Another family from my last viewing had two girls, the older one a confirmed tomboy and the younger the classic girly-girl. I kind of wondered if the mom pushed the younger to compete because of some deep-seated, subconscious resentment that her older daughter wasn't "girly" enough.

(Because I know NOTHING about tomboy daughters, of course.)

*coughfightswithdaughtertowearadresscough*

I was disappointed mostly with the attitudes/actions of the parents. After all, the kids are just doing what they've been programmed to do.

Like, say, wear false teeth because it's obviously not acceptable for a six-year-old to have a gap where she's lost her tooth. Or, prance around on stage in skimpy outfits and shake what their mamas gave them just a few short years before.

Today, there is a two-year-old whose father makes her pageant wear and is obviously more interested in her winning than she is. There are also several mothers competing against their daughters for the grand prize.

There are hair pieces, and fake tans, and false eyelashes.

I honestly don't know how these folks afford their "hobby" - the grand prize is only about $1,000 - $5,000 cash, and they've got to be spending much more than that on lessons, and spray tans, and spangly dresses. Not to mention travel to the pageant, and staying the weekend at the hotel!

Just for the sake of argument, I asked Anna Marie what she'd do if I tried to dress her up and put her in a pageant.

"I'd run away," she answered, not missing a beat.

Yeah, I think I'd run away too. Far, far away.

Official Thursday Weigh-In

Let's just get this over with. I weighed in this morning, and, if I'm reading that scale at the gym correctly, there was no change.

None. Nada. Zip.

Which means that I'm maintaining, which is good. I mean, that's what I said I'd be happy with, right? Right?

I haven't been to the gym in two days, because Jason's been in Memphis and I can't very well leave a seven-year-old at home alone. But I was back in there today, hoofing it on the treadmill, and getting back into the groove.

I'm in this thing for the long haul, and if it means that I never break 140, well, then, so be it. I guess I need to start taking my measurements, so that I'm not so freaked out by the number on the scale each week.

Now, I'm contemplating what the best way is to tell my Weight Watchers leader that I'm taking a bit of a hiatus from coming to the meetings. Partly because of the environment I grew up in, I have a SEVERE anxiety about telling people things that might mean they aren't happy with me.

(Yes, I know she isn't going to fly off the handle like some people I know, but still - I don't like to have people possibly not like me! I have issues!)

De flu! De flu!

Am I the only one around here old enough to remember watching Fantasy Island on Saturday nights as a kid? And getting scared half-to-death?

No? Good.

Sigh. I'm typing this on the desktop, because it appears that Jason didn't bring the laptop in when he came home from work. And now he's gone, and I'm here at home, and I've just realized what he's getting for Father's Day this year - a more comfortable office chair.

If you follow me on Facebook - and really, that's probably the worst thing to happen to my actual blog in a very, very long time - you know that I'm mother to a sick little girl.

Except - she isn't acting sick! Well, she did on Monday. She came home from school and took a nap! And then I came home to find her all lethargic, lying in her "Hippo Chair" watching television. Complaining that her legs were achy. And I took her temperature, because only a fever could make her act that way.

Yup. Bring on the Advil.

Monday night before bed, she's fine. Tuesday morning, more fever.

(And then tears, when she hears that she had to miss school.)

I felt worse than she did yesterday, so much so that I fell asleep watching TV. I never do that. Never.

After a couple more rounds of fever-fighting Advil yesterday, she woke up this morning ready to go.

(And truthfully, so was I, because I had a special section to get done and it had to be done TODAY. And I hadn't started on it at all on Tuesday! Don't blame me - the run sheet, which tells me what ads are running, probably wasn't finished until yesterday anyway. But I digress.)

I took my fever-free daughter to school and hightailed it to work to get started, only to get a call from the assistant teacher about 9 a.m.

She's running a fever.

I went to pick her up, and I could tell she just wasn't feeling well. She had what my mother calls "weak eyes."

I took her to work with me, and then Jason let Amanda leave the auction and come back down to get her. By the time she arrived, we'd made the decision to take her to the doctor.

Amanda took her in, and miraculously, they were seen within a few minutes.

A flu test was administered. Did you know they can do that now - stick a Q-Tip in your nose and tell you if you've got the flu? Guess when you don't have health insurance, you're sort of out of the loop on these things. It came back positive, and the doctor (oddly enough, named Anna Mary) said that she must have a very strong immune system, because she looked pretty good for someone with the flu.

We're strong stock.

They were finished about lunch time, so I took the two AM's out to Subway for lunch. Amanda brought the little one back to my house, and I braved the wilds of Walmart for the Tamiflu that was prescribed.

(Did you know there's a run on the stuff right now? Isn't flu season supposed to be over? Walgreens was out, and Walmart only had enough to fill half the prescription!)

She has to miss the rest of the week of school. But she's acting like she isn't sick at all! She's eating fine, she's playing - the only way you'd know she was ill was to look at her eyes, or maybe at her flushed cheeks if she's running a fever.

So now, Jason went to choir practice, and I'm here with Anna Marie. Several miracles happened today - Amanda was able to watch Anna Marie; we caught the flu in the early stages, so we might not need antibiotics; I finished my special section; and Jason brought home dinner, so I didn't have to cook!

As sad as she is to be out of school, she did learn the magic that is getting your mom to check you out. She told Amanda while they were waiting at the doctor that she wished she had a phone, so she could call me every day to come get her.

She's gone from a H.A.T. (Here All the Time) kid to a truant, in one easy step.

I did at least call the school for today's work so she won't be swamped when she goes back. And she was thrilled. Thrilled! I have one funny kid.

I'm just praying that Jason's strong immune system, and my flu shot, hold up through this ordeal.

Meet K•9!

Dude. We did it.

And it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - MUCH less complicated than the recent Reading Fair fiasco.

I put together the internal structure - a Capri Sun box, opened to make a rough triangle, with cereal box cardboard covering the bottom and front and back openings; an oatmeal box for a head; and a toilet paper roll for a neck.

(And also an old makeup brush handle for a tail)

Here is the original:



He's Doctor Who's canine companion, who now lives with Sarah Jane (one of the Doctor's former companions). Anna Marie first saw him on The Sarah Jane Adventures, a Doctor Who-type show geared towards kids. She LOVES that show, and she can't wait for the new season to begin.

(Her dad has turned BOTH of us into sci-fi geeks, I suppose.)

And here is our version:




I explained to Anna Marie from the get-go that ours was not going to look like the original. We did the project on my bed, with the laptop showing the above original picture for reference. She was OK with the project, and its deviation from the norm.

We figure it'll be the only robot dog brought in today, and certainly the only one from a much-beloved British sci-fi show.

The only problem is, last night while we were searching for an image, she saw a radio-controlled model. Now, that's on her list - at $60!

Maybe I should've just made a Dalek instead. Maybe she wouldn't have thought them so cute!

Official Thursday Weigh-In

I figure as long as that gym I've joined has a scale, I may as well use it.

First thing in the morning, before I've had anything to eat or drink, so that won't be affecting my weight.

Now, let me just say, it's one of those doctor-type scales, and I'm not completely sure I'm using it right. But - yesterday, I weighed 149, which would be a half pound loss from the last time I weighed in about a month ago. And today, it was 150. I know I didn't gain a pound overnight! I blame it on the Chinese food I had for dinner last night. And on the increase in exercise, because we all know that both of those things will make you retain water!

So, I'm going to split the difference, and say 149.5, which is the same as I weighed before.

(And no, I'm not going to weigh myself every morning - I just wanted to see where I was yesterday, since it had been so long. I'm planning on staying with a Thursday weigh-in schedule.)

I got back on the recumbent bike today, and LAWD, it was hard. It's supposed to increase the resistance once your heart rate gets up to its target, to keep you from over-shooting, but it was SO HARD to pedal from the get-go that I was sore (to the point of not being able to move my legs) within the first three minutes. So I set it to manual mode (where I control the resistance! BWAHAHAHA!) and it was much better. I think there may be something wonky with the machine I was using (it also kept saying my workout was paused, when it wasn't) but there isn't any staff there at 5 a.m. so I couldn't report it.

I'll let some more experienced gym bunny fail on it later today, when someone is around to complain to!

Someone saved my life tonight

Well, actually it was last night, but I was too tired to post this then.

It all started when I joined the gym yesterday morning. Of course, being in the middle of the work day, I didn't work out, I just paid my fee. I had to work late last night, but I'd decided that if I got finished at a decent time, I'd go by the gym. I had my clothes with me and a gym bag and everything!

My meeting was over by 5:45, so I figured that I could get in a half hour and still be home before too long.

Whoo boy - I did the recumbent bike, and my thighs really felt it! I had my iPod with me, but I never used it - the exercise machines all have little TVs, and I just plugged my earbuds into that.

(I don't know how accurate the on-board computer was, but it said I did 10 miles in that 30 minutes.)

I did a cool down, and headed a few doors down in the strip mall to Subway to pick up some dinner. It was there that my troubles began.

I was wearing a pair of the capri workout pants I'd found on clearance on Monday, along with a long-sleeved T-shirt with a short-sleeved shirt over it. I looked fierce!

I also, unfortunately, had my heavy wool coat on, because it was so cold outside. But inside that Subway it was roasting! And the line was really long, so I had to wait quite a while.

By the time I was ordering my Veggie Delight, I was starting to feel sick to my stomach. I was afraid I'd throw up right there - but that would've been preferable to how I began to feel.

First my head started "buzzing." That's the only way I know how to describe it. It was like when Anna Marie and I had been playing around with some massagers at Walgreens once, and she put it on my head - except much more intense. I tried putting my head down close to my knees, to see if that would help.

Obviously, it didn't, because then I started to lose my hearing! I literally felt like my ears were closing up. Not good!

The middle-aged woman who was making my sandwich asked if I was ok. She advised me to sit down, and asked if I'd like some water. I told her that would be nice, and that I thought I'd overheated at the gym.

I took off my coat, sat down, and the next thing I knew there she was with a bottle of Dasani she was pouring into a cup for me. She also poured cold water onto a napkin and rubbed my wrists, my forehead, and the back of my neck.

Immediately, I started to feel better. It was like my body temperature dropped all of a sudden. She (who happened to be black) bent down and whispered in my ear, "You know you white girls can't take getting overheated like that!"

She asked if there was anyone she needed to call, but I knew Jason was already in his PJs watching TV in bed, and that Anna Marie had already had her bath and was in hers too. I figured that if I was feeling better, there was no use in calling them.

After sitting there for about five more minutes, I got back up. The line had disappeared by then, and I finished my order and came home.

I thanked her profusely, and I have a good mind to call the owner (who is also an alderman in our town) what a great job she'd done. I don't know what might have happened if someone hadn't been around who knew what to do - because although I did, I wasn't functioning properly and couldn't have done it to myself.

She said she was teaching a class once and a boy got overheated, and that she remembered the directions the nurse had given her. What are the odds that she'd be working at the same time I needed that exact help? I dare say that the teenagers who normally staff that restaurant wouldn't have been as knowledgeable.

I went back to the gym this morning - I'm going to have to go early in the morning, before my family and my job need me - and I took some precautions. Short-sleeved shirt, bottle of water, etc. This was even worse than when I got overheated during the 5-Star races a couple of years ago.

I learned my lesson last night - and I never, ever want to have that experience again.

There are no words

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To describe how funny I find this sign. Especially when I imagine Barry White saying it.

Aw yeah, girl.

Guess it's a good thing I went to Walmart this morning and spent $23 on four pair of workout pants and one shirt, and plan on joining a $15 a month gym later today.

(And why did I only buy one shirt? Two of the pants had a white stripe, so I can wear a white shirt, and the other two had a bright pink and a turquoise stripe, respectively. I could only find a shirt for the turquoise stripe.)

For an extra $10 a month, I could have a tanning package at the gym too, but really, who am I kidding? I need those cancer-causing UV rays like I need a hole in my head.

But I do need to get down to that gym - because I've had the misfortune to meet a few hamburgers in my lifetime, and it's looking pretty impossible to make my waist slender.

But I don't want to give up!

Help for my procrastinating peeps

Hey, Melz-Worlders!

Have you gotten your kids their Valentines Day cards yet?

No? Are you like me, and you don't really care for the overly-priced, overly-commercialized fare at your friendly neighborhood Big Box Store?

Or are you making them by hand, lovingly crafting each and every one with your scrapbook supplies?

(LOSER!)

Well, never fear. I have rounded up a few FANTABULOUS, PRINTABLE Valentines card ideas!

(Ok, so I can't take all the credit, but I'm passing the printable goodness on to you!)

These are really cute, and if I'm reading the info correctly, they're FREE! Etsy also has several designs that are inexpensive to download. Man, do I ever wish I was this talented!

I love these too, and they even come in a version that you can color. Fancy!

I kinda wish I'd seen these like, two days ago, before I did Anna Marie's cards. They're tres chic!

Alas, I did not see those, but I saw these and they're the ones I pulled into Quark, put her name on, PDF'd, and printed out. I cut them out last night while I was watching TV, and voila! Instant Valentines!



(It does help somewhat that the teacher requested that we not put the kids' names on them, just our kid. I don't know what is up with that, but I'm not complaining!)

Yeah, I do work somewhere with access to all sorts of graphic stuff, and I could've designed them myself, but this year, I figure I'll leave all that designing to people who are, you know, good at it.

Now, if we could just figure out some resource for the men in our lives who wait till the last minute, we'd really be in business!

Where to begin?

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and it's like 70 degrees outside.

Yes, that's February in Dixie, y'all. In a few days, it'll be subzero again. Enjoy it while it lasts!

We took full advantage of the weather this weekend, and Jason forced Anna Marie to finally learn to ride her bike sans training wheels.

Here's his clever, five-step process:

Step 1: Make your wife almost have a coronary, simply by suggesting that the family take a walk together - because in the last 13 years, the only time he's suggested walking with her was the night he asked her out for the first time.

Step 2: Get the kid on the bike. Not hard at all.

Step 3: After a couple of blocks of frustration at the kid's penchant for leaning to one side, take the training wheel off that side so she has no choice.

Step 4: Fuss a bit more, really lose patience, and take the other training wheel off.

Suddenly, she's working without a net.

Step 5: Take the kid to the empty bank parking lot next to your house, and don't let her go back home until she's learned to balance.

See? Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

So she's learned to balance but she's now working on the turning part. The weather is still nice, so hopefully Jason will take her back out this afternoon so she can practice a bit more. We weren't home for long enough yesterday afternoon to bother.

(And let me just interject - I think that's part of the problem with kids getting into the out-of-doors these days. Gear! Head-to-toe armor is now required to step out your own front door! Back in my day, there was no gear. There was just getting on the bike, and if you fell off, you fell off. A few scrapes and concussions never hurt anyone, right?)

I've also had a minor phone crisis this weekend. I felt like that Verizon guy, except instead of saying "can you hear me now?" I was saying "Hello? Hello?" The folks on the other end could hear me, but I couldn't hear them!

(Speakerphone was fine, but really, I'm not trafficking in international secrets, but I can't very whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifell go around on speakerphone all the time, can I?)

I called customer service today, since the phone is still under warranty. They led me through a series of tests, and had me jump through a few hoops. Finally, I was instructed to do a "hard reset" and well, that fixed it. Except, now I have to replace all my data, and I don't even have a new phone to show for it!

And, I've come to a decision. It also involved a step-by-step process.

Step 1: Hear a friend brag that she's paying half what you pay for your data plan, on the same carrier, and with a comparable smartphone.

Step 2: Attempt to get ATT to lower your data rate, using a combination of logic, pleading, and slightly veiled threats.

Step 3: FAIL

Step 4: Decide that since you're paying for a data plan, and you've found a website that does basically what Weight Watchers online would except for free that you're going to justify the cost of said data plan by quitting Weight Watchers.

I said it, yes I did.

I had already been considering dropping the meetings and joining online, because I wanted to make better use of the technology stuff they offer. I've also tired of tying up every Thursday night, and have realized that I've put a lot of my life on hold for the past three and a half years because of those meetings. Now that Anna Marie is in school, there are lots of functions on Thursday nights that preclude me from even going and weighing in, much less staying for the meetings. Add that to the nights I already have to work, and you see where I'm going with this?

I'm going to buy a scale, and weigh myself first thing in the morning on Thursdays - that way, I can't make excuses for myself about the amount of sodium I've eaten that day affecting my weight, or wonder if I drank some water too close to weigh-in time.

I've also tracked everything I've eaten so far today on Sparkpeople using their mobile site, something I haven't done on a paper tracker in an embarrassing long time. That mobile site offers tons of information, like nutritional info (including popular restaurant foods) and it's FREE.

So yes, I've made my decision. I do intend to call my WW leader this week, to let her know what's happened. I had a bad weigh-in last time I went, and I don't want her to think I've quit because I'm discouraged.

I have to go it on my own some time, and after three and a half years, I think that "sometime" is probably "now."

I've got to keep myself honest, because really, I'll only have myself, and not super-salty lunches, to blame if I fail.

Huh? What's that?

You'll have to excuse my less-than-stellar hearing this morning.

You see, the suite we were blessed with - that awesome, awesome suite - was perfectly level with a bank of speakers.

It was loud peoples. Really, really loud.

The evening couldn't have gone better.

I have learned that when I try to figure out and plan things, they often go awry. But when God works them out - well, He's much better at this stuff than I am.

This has been a hard week, because on top of the usual meetings, I've been sick, and I've spent the better part of three days getting my Better Newspaper Contest entries prepared.

Long story short, I was coming up a bit behind in my regular work.

When I got back from lunch yesterday (I'd spent the first half of the day finishing up the BNC) I had a note that said I was to expect an article that afternoon from one of our writers (which, incidentally, we'd been waiting on for TWO WEEKS ALREADY). That article was going to save my sick/busy/TobyMac lovin' behind.

God's perfect timing!

After much prayer, nail-biting, and anxious emailing, the article came in just in time to allow me to leave early and get ready for the concert.

Just before the article came in, I got this text message:

Suite 12

Do you know what that meant? That meant that Jason and I were being invited to sit in the suite with the folks from our church who had the hookup!

I had heard about the suite, but I figured it was going to be filled with teens and young adults and old fogeys with us were in with the flotsam and jetsam of the general population.

I text back: For real?

Because that's my answer for anything that I can't believe - for real?

(I actually said that, out loud, at a board meeting I was covering recently. For real.)

The answer came: The suite holds 18. With you guys, we should have 18.

As our music pastor is wont to say: SWEET!

Amanda got to my house to watch Anna Marie just in time for Jason to take me to a proper, sit-down dinner - at Zaxby's. I had been afraid we'd have to drive through somewhere, but, like I said - just in time.

We got finished at Zaxby's and got gas, and got to the Civic Center just in time that we didn't have to wait but a few minutes in the bitterly cold wind.

The door we went in? Right next to Suite 12!

Sweet!

We closed the glass doors at the front of the sweet suite, and that deadened the noise just enough to make it bearable. Jason and I spent the majority of the concert behind those doors, half watching the show, half hanging out with our friends.

It was perfect.

And - and! Our Pastor Bob had gone backstage before the show to pray with the other pastors, and brought Brandon Heath back with him! Pastor Bob's next-door-neighbor, who was with us, is a HUGE fan, and he got to have his picture taken with him!

Sweet!

When Brandon Heath and TobyMac did their sets (like, the very end of the evening) we did to out into the seating section of the suite. Of course, TobyMac was the very last act, and the longest set, and also, I think, the loudest.

Jason ended up going back behind the doors, and I went back there occasionally to give my poor eardrums a rest, but the remainder of the set - I was out there, singing along and dancing like some 15-year-old.

It was awesome!

Our sweet suite was right by the door, which was close to where we'd parked, so we didn't have to wait for the crush of 10,000 teens to leave and we got out of the parking lot before the major traffic started.

We old fogeys were back home by 11 p.m.

Unfortunately, my ears were ringing, making it pretty difficult to sleep. But, it was totally worth it!

I have learned that not only does God work things out better than I could have, He also provides blessings that I don't deserve and certainly couldn't afford. The suite was comped to Pastor Bob because he's reserved a suite for a Gaither concert next month. It made the Christmas present from Jason - money for the tickets - all the better.

I was so touched that we were considered by our friends to share in their blessing, and words can't describe how grateful I was to them for the honor. There were lots of other folks they could've invited, but they chose us.

God is good, TobyMac is loud, and my ears are ringing.

Sweet.

It's 10 p.m. Do you know where your blog is?

Ok, so it isn't 10 p.m. It's more like 12:30 p.m. local, and I'm feeling the need for a nap because of the Chinese food I had for lunch.

(Why do we think that one type of ethnic cuisine is more sleep-inducing than another? Think about it - we blame it on Chinese, Mexican, Italian - I think they're all to blame. I think we just like to sleep once we eat. I think we need to adopt the Latin American practice of shutting the town down for two hours midday, so we can all take naps. But I digress.)

Dude, the Sickness, it is trying to come on strong in the Turner household.

Friday night, Anna Marie had an "episode" in the car, and by "episode" I mean "throwing up all over herself, the seat, the car mat, and one of her Webkinz.

In the parking lot of Kroger.

She had been complaining that she wasn't feeling well, and she wouldn't eat her dinner, and then the next thing I knew, bam - there she goes.

And at home. All night long.

The poor dear slept with a towel under her, and a trash can beside her. Old school style!

She recovered by Saturday night - longest 24 hours OF.MY.LIFE. So, we went to church on Sunday and then to the most awesomely awesome Super Bowl party at the home of our friends Brooke and Ron.

As I said in the RSVP email, the Turners might not even know who is playing, but we love food, and we love our Small Group peeps, so we were there!

If you're on Facebook, I was tagged by our hostess Brooke in some photos from that night. Look it up!

Monday morning, I had a board meeting to cover and I called Jason when it was over to see if he was back from his trip to Memphis yet.

He wasn't. And he asked if I could pick Anna Marie up from school when the time came, because he planned to go to bed when he got home.

Uh oh.

He did just that, too - while I was home eating lunch, he came in and went straight to bed. He didn't get out for the rest of the night, except for a few minutes later that night when I was coming home from another meeting, and he was trying to get Anna Marie to bed.

He did go to work yesterday, but on my way to take Anna Marie to school, I felt - nauseous.

And then I felt achy.

And so I took some Pepto, drank a diet Sierra Mist, and went on in to work. Not because I didn't have a sick day to take off, but because I had too much to do at the office.

After a couple of hours at work, I couldn't take it anymore and went home. I tried to rest for a few hours, but the city was working on a gas pipe two doors down, and it was LOUD.

I just did the best I could.

I did feel better after the rest and some ibuprofen, but I still felt kind of run down the rest of the day.

Fingers crossed - we all three seem to be up on our feet today. I can only surmise that the flu shot my employer so graciously provided me with at the beginning of the winter has helped me avoid the worst of whatever is going around.

I sure hope we're all well because - dude. Tomorrow night. Winter Jam.

I've been looking forward to this for months, and nothin's gonna keep me from my TobyMac.

After all, I saw the second Lord of the Rings movie through a full-blown case of the flu. Surely I can muddle through this concert with a little fatigue, right?