Today is my sweet hubby’s birthday. It’s been 33 years since his first birthday, and he just gets better looking every year.
Could y’all do me a really big favor?
Could everyone, all at once, go over to his blog and leave him a happy birthday comment?
As a procrastinator extraordinaire, I just have to say that I love the artificial pressure of self-imposed deadlines. You get all the motivation with none of the stress.
It’s like a large Decaf Mocha Cappuccino with an extra shot of espresso. All the goodness of rich coffee flavor and chocolate, but not enough caffeine to wake the baby at 2 AM.
aaahhhh.
I’m doing the happy dance. My new best friend Sandy sent me a coupon code for CBD. Well, it’s the first time I’ve ever heard from her, but you’ve got to love anyone with a good coupon code after such a long dry spell, right?
Thanks Sandy!
Here it is:
Christian Book Distributors code: 251426AE Good for 10% off a purchase of $35 or more, valid until 4/13/07
10% off is great, right?
Now try this on for size:
Between now and March 31, Vision Forum is giving away a $50 gift certificate for every $95 of merchandise purchased. That’s an effective discount of over 30%. You can’t redeem the certificate until May-December, but for a 30% discount I’m not going to complain!
Just think: you can buy 3 Geneva Bibles now and get a 400 year old Framed Geneva Bible Page for free in May. Just a suggestion…those pages are just the most incredible idea…I wonder who thought of them…
If you want to be my friend, remember to enter my source code in your order: inashoe.
There you have it: 2 great discounts
Use them wisely.
Today while we were out running errands, I saw a panhandler at the light ahead. As we approached, I realized she was standing exactly where I would be stopping. I casually eased my elbow up onto the edge of my door, inconspicuously locking it.
I glanced quickly and read her sign: Hungry and homeless. God bless you.
I tend to be a bit sceptical of a well fed, healthy-looking man with 4 good limbs who can spend the day dancing from car to car, but my heart went out to this woman as she stood there. She looked a little ashamed and a little desperate. She had a little too much makeup, not quite enough clothes, and a bruise on her jaw. It was the bruise that caught me.
I don’t give money to strangers – rather, we give to the church and to charitable organizations of good reputation. But I didn’t want to just smile and hope she found one of those organizations.
Feeling a little sheepish, I beckoned to her. I told her quickly that I couldn’t give her any money but did she want a peanut butter & jelly sandwich?
Without hesitation, she thanked me and nearly snatched it from my hand. The light turned green and we moved on. She smiled and waved as she gulped down the sandwich.
It was a very small thing, and I felt small about it, but I was glad to have brought her a little joy.
Our next stop was the dentist, where 4 of the children had appointments. Our insurance company had rejected a $30 claim, and I inquired about it while we were there. The receptionist found that it was because our daughter’s cleaning was done 3 days shy of the every-6-month minimum. There was no disputing this claim.
She shrugged. “I’ll just write it off.”
And just like that, we were $30 richer.
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.
Proverbs 19:17
Our son is growing. There’s no doubt about it. He now eats like two horses, and poops like two horses too.
Another clue: he is occasionally waking up to eat during the night, something he hasn’t done since his last growth spurt. I think the technical term is sleep regression.
What do you do when a baby who has been sleeping through the night suddenly starts waking up again? Well, if you’re not too lazy you give him a quick feeding and put him back to bed. Theoretically, this is enough to satisfy his enhanced Growth Spurt hunger levels, while not encouraging the habit of midnight snackage. When his growth slows to a more normal rate, he’ll resume his old sleep habits. Congratulations.
If you’re lazy like me, you bring him to your bed and let him nurse over the next 2 hours while you doze fitfully. Then, because you can’t really sleep with a baby in your bed, you drag your lazy carcass out of bed and put him back in his bed. As you trudge back toward your own bed, you hope you aren’t encouraging him to wake up for a 2 hour long, 5 course dinner every night at 2 AM.
With girls, this plan works.
I’ll let you know how that works with boys.
Nominations are open, with 21 categories this year. Thanks in advance to Sprittibee and her pals for all the work they will be doing!
Two categories that made me laugh:
19. Best SUPER-HOMESCHOOLER
Ever feel like a loser after reading someone else’s lesson plans, seeing their field trip photos, listening to them talk about whatthey got done today, or seeing pictures of their children’s accomplishments? You were probably feeling the effects of visiting a SUPER-HOMESCHOOLER’s blog. These are the A-list homeschool parents that just BLOW YOU AWAY with their enthusiasm. We all have our good days, but this blogger has us all beat.
20. Best Nitty-Gritty Homeschool Blog
Since we included a category for the Super-Homeschooler… I figured we would add one in for the homeschooler who is brutally honest and open about her mistakes and failures. These are the moms that make you feel better and let you know that it is OK that we aren’t perfect. What would we do without them???
I am not the Super-Homeschooler. I’m pretty sure my lesson plans never made anyone feel like a loser, except maybe me when we ditched the plan on Day 2. So. How about the Nitty-Gritty Homeschooler? Is it any coincidence that I love the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band? I wonder if I can nominate myself as a Super-Loser Nitty-Gritty contestant.
My husband and I were discussing romance novels the other day, and I have to say that I have always thought of romance novels as p*rn for women. While men often have a weakness toward straying visually, I think that emotional straying is a weakness common to women. Romance novels fit the bill. The fact that they are often extremely graphic only makes the comparison even stronger.
This begs the question: what about Christian romance novels? The nice clean sort, where people only long for each other until they are safely married? The ones were they undergo physical and emotional turmoil before ultimately finding their destiny in their life partner?
I have read a few of these in the past, and I still think they cultivate and fill appetites that ought to be filled by a woman’s husband or that should not exist in the first place. I think that these books encourage ladies to be discontent with their day-to-day lives which lack the angst and excitement of the heroine; bored with their husbands who may bear little resemblance to the dashing hero; disappointed in their spiritual life which may lack the earth-shattering highs and lows of the characters in these books; and dissatisfied with their own appearance and personality.
If mass-marketed romance novels are p*rn for women, then maybe Christian romance novels are like the underwear section in the Sears catalog is for men: full of images that are technically clean but nonetheless lead our thought life in directions that are not glorifying to God.
Of course these accusations may be leveled against any book that presents trials, struggles and a happy ending, but some awaken healthy desires in a godly way while others do not. A good book may inspire readers to work harder, love more deeply, or fight more courageously, but I think that romance novels are designed to awaken our coveting nature: we women want romance, excitement, love, security. We might already have all these but we want more – like Eve, we want to know what we’re missing. The serpent didn’t tempt Eve by telling her how delicious the fruit was; he tantalized her with whispered hints of things outside her experience.
Some may say, “But what about the Song of Solomon?”
Obviously the book has deep figurative lessons, but even if you take it entirely literally, the Song of Solomon is not a romance novel: it is a celebration of love and a mutual praising. In its treatment of love, it bears little resemblance to romance novels of any sort.
Maybe my evaluation of romance novels sounds harsh, but even if you disagree I hope you’ll evaluate your choice of books Biblically. Don’t look only for objectionable language or content. Ask yourself a series of questions:
Can you add to the list?
No uninspired book will be perfect, but let’s not fool ourselves about which ones are true, noble, just, pure…
To the 2 spiky white hairs I pulled this morning from the front center of my hairline:
We regret to inform you that you have been relieved of your duties in the front center position of the scalp.
Your inability to maintain a seated position reflected poorly upon the organization’s image, giving an impression of disorder and carelessness. Your flamboyant white mode of dress made this problem too apparent to ignore, forcing your termination.
You are invited to apply for a new position at any time, however we believe that you will be better suited to the sides or back of the organization rather than the front center.
To the rest of my hair:
In light of recent issues, we have instituted two new policies affecting employees in the front center department:
a) Employees are required to remain seated at all times. We will gladly work with those whose age or other physical limitations make this a challenge and will provide styling gel upon request, but will require that they adhere to the standard as far as they are physically able.
b) Front center employees are strongly encouraged to wear the standard dark brown uniform. Employees wearing white will be held strictly to the policy above.
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For those who are wondering, I have no objection to the white hairs that are beginning to appear here and there – I’m delighted that they are white, since I always admired beautiful silvery hair in older ladies.
But I can’t stand the ones that insist on standing straight up. In front.
Prideful hairs, beware.
You’ve probably heard about General Pace’s position on homosexuality and all the trouble he has stirred up by daring to claim a firm moral standard.
I love Joseph Farrah’s question:
…according to this idiot (Sharon Alexander, the deputy policy director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a homosexual activist group), people in positions of authority must divorce themselves from their personal convictions of right and wrong.
If that is indeed the case then how in the world are we supposed to hold people accountable for war crimes?
Moral relativism has far reaching consequences. The sayings are trite but true: Ideas have consequences, and there is no such thing as a victimless crime. Take a look at prime time TV, highway billboards, or magazine covers in the grocery line and try to convince yourself that moral standards are a private issue.
The AFA is asking people to email President Bush in support of General Pace. They make it easy if you’re in a hurry – just fill in your name and email and send the prewritten message. Or take time to tell them what you really think. Either way, issues like this have implications far outside of the bedroom.
He’s had his hair trimmed before, but today was The Day. His bangs were creeping down his forehead, and hubby and I resolved long ago not to be those parents who let their little boy’s hair grow til he looks like a girl.
We pulled out the clippers, snapped on the #3 guard, and buzzed The Boy’s head while Deanna stood by with the video camera.
He had a blast and was right at home in the center of attention. Our brave little guy was not a bit bothered by the noise of the electric clippers or the fact that the slightly dull blades occasionally pulled his hair.
When it was all over, he sat in a pile of stubble looking more like his daddy than ever before. His sisters squealed at his new and improved cuteness and took turns petting his prickly head. Yes, I had a turn too, but I didn’t squeal. Did not, did not, did not…
And then, of course, we had to take a picture of Rachael. Just because, well, because she’s Rachael.
