Waiting by the phone

It's a miracle that I have fingernails. I bite them when I'm bored, nervous, or awake.
I really have no reason to be nervous. I know that we don't want to be where God doesn't want us. I know that if this is our house, it will be ours, and no one else's.
So why can't I turn off my brain?
I have always been the type of person that when I decide to do something, I want to start doing it yesterday. Waiting around for someone else to make decisions is really hard for me.
I.am.not.a.patient.person.people!
So I feel the need to go get some boxes and start packing things. I don't even know if our offer will be considered, much less accepted. I'm going to have to stop obsessing.
(And yes, I realize it's a holiday weekend, and I will NOT hear anything before Tuesday.)

2 Corinthians 10:5 b
and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Dreaming the impossible dream

I am a bundle of nerves. I can't go to bed, much less sleep right now. Shawn and I made an offer on a house today.
I have been mentally arranging furniture, trying to figure out where to put my dishes in the cupboards, imagining.
Just imagining.
This house is so big I am not sure where to have school. Do we set up class in the bright, cheery sunroom? Or do we go with the room that's technically a formal living room? Perhaps we should use the office that is attached to the carport. Or maybe even the little building down the hill in the backyard that looks like a little school house. But there's no bathroom there, and my common-sense sister reminded me that walking to school in the rain might get old.
The kitchen is HUGE, and the old cupboards, notice I didn't say cabinets, are plentiful. The pantry is amazing, with even an outlet in it.
It was built in '76, and is right out of the era, but I love it. It smells like an old house, but in a good way.
It sits on 2.25 acres of trees in a variety of species. I noticed pecan, pine, magnolia, tulip, dogwood, and I don't know how many others. By the time we get the property cleaned up to its potential glory, It'll look like a park.
We'd be on the inside of a cove with one other house, right across the street from the neighborhood lake. I would never have to wonder where my son was. If his fishing pole was missing, I would know right where to find him. I might even have to put in a dinner bell, just so I wouldn't actually have to go get him.
When Shawn asked me what I thought, I just let my smile answer.
My cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
But I think I'll live.


Matthew 19:26
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Wordless Wednesday (play doh silliness)

Off the charts Smell-O-Meter

In the attempt to break free from renting the in-laws' house, Shawn and I have been scoping out the market. I went to see three possibilities in the same neighborhood this evening. Let's just say they were quite a variety.
I have a recurring dream in which I am walking through a house with no halls. One room leads to another and the only way to get to the next room is to go through the one I'm in. Each room is more hideously lavishly decorated than the one before, which sounds like it would be a good thing, but they have been decorated by my MIL, who is known for decorating with the bargains at Big Lots.
The first house I saw tonight was that house. There were two bedrooms that had bedrooms on the other side of them. You had to walk through one to get to the other. I couldn't believe how much that creeped me out. I spent much of the time trying to unlock the mystery of the current owner's existence, and we finally decided that it must be occupied by an older lady who lives alone.
As I was leaving, following the agent, I saw a small black car in the driveway of the next house. There were a couple of young-ish people in it. I wondered if they were the owners of the house I had just seen, and they were waiting for us to leave, so they could go back home. As I suspected, they waited until we were almost around the corner, and pulled into the driveway we'd just vacated. The agent and I continued around to the next house, when my Something Doesn't Smell Right-O-Meter went clanging in my head.
They didn't fit the house.
I suggested to the agent that something seemed off, and she went back. Sure enough, they had pulled into the driveway, backed up to the door, and were looking mighty suspicious. So the agent drove by slowly, looked the situation over, and went across the street to the fire department to call the police. By the time the police got there, they had left. Tina said they saw her checking them out, and thought they got scared. If it was me, I'd have blocked the driveway, snapped a couple of pictures of their car, then called the cops. Of course, I'd have probably been shot right in front of my kids, too.
Good thing I wasn't the one there at the time.
The second house was a foreclosure that is sitting empty. It reeks of animals, there are dead cockroaches everywhere, and it needs a LOT of work. The notes on the listing printout says it needs some TLC. The realtors remarks say it needs some touch up repairs. I think it needs a laying on of hands.
The third house was very sweet, in the "I love pink and cats" sort of way. It was also sitting empty, but it is not a foreclosure. It is nicely staged, smells nice, and is very clean. I'd call this move-in-ready, except for the need for paint. I don't love pink.
I think Shawn needs to see all three so he gets an idea of what $100,000 gets you.

Post 100! Yee Ha!

Spent the weekend hanging with the peeps. Dad was in town for a few days. He brought the rain with him. Hasn't rained in months, and we want to hang by the pool for a few days. So, of course, it would go and spoil our beautiful, beautiful plans. That's okay. We managed a few splashes between the scattered showers. It was nice to sit around and do not much with the ones you love.
We watched a few movies, caught some of the olympics, introduced Dad and the cousins to geocaching, and played some games.
Fun was had by all, including the six dogs.
Think I laughed so hard I cried while playing Clue.
We were getting bored with it, (note to self, the game is MUCH longer with six players) and Caleb was playing with the game pieces. I shouted, "Caleb, stop touching Miss Scarlett!"
Bethany and I hooted for a while. And every time we caught each other's eye, we laughed some more.
Can't wait to do it again.

Don't Forget the Pregnancy Test!

There has never been a time when I needed a pregnancy test (to determine or rule out) that I didn't head straight to pick one up. I have never gone to the store for the test and forgotten to buy it, if indeed I thought I should use one.
So forgive me if I had to ask the cashier at Walgreens why in the world would there be a pregnancy test on the shelf next to the check out where they keep the impulse buys. It wasn't placed there by someone chickening out, either. There was actually a price on the shelf.
I know that people frequently buy the things that are put there. I can't tell you how many times I have been waiting in line to check out, saw something I needed, and picked it up right there. They actually do lots of research to determine what items sell best next to the register. But who goes, "Gee, I totally forgot I needed a pregnancy test. Good thing they put it here!"

And in answer to your question, I did NOT forget to buy one this time, either.







I didn't need one.
(tee, hee!)

A new adventure

I am a brave woman. I am a strong, confident (sometimes), fun-to-hang-with Mom. I was reading an article in a parenting magazine about fun activities for families. I like to look for new stuff to do because I have a wacky sense of adventure.
That's how I roll.
So I found the new craze is this thing called geocaching. Basically, you sign up online with any number of websites dedicated to the sport, and log in the zip code where you want to hunt. There are many, many "caches" hidden in various and sundry places in your area. Using a GPS receiver, you enter the latitude and longitude coordinates and head out to find it. Part of the fun is doing it secretly. One of the objectives is to find the cache without anyone knowing you are up to something. You retrieve it, sign in the log which is enclosed, and put it back as well, or better hidden than you found it. Then you go back to the website and log your find.
There are other variations of the sport, but being new to it, we are starting with the basic cache hunt.
It was really fun with six kids on the adventure, but it was a sad moment for my ten-year-old when she realized there was no "cash" involved.

**After we found another cache today, we realized this is a great way to witness to people in a non-confrontational way. And people come from all over the place to find these things! We'll simply leave a tract in the ones big enough to hold one, and put a scripture sticker on the log we sign.