keep on the sunny side

So here's the thing.  Falling asleep at 4ish in the morning  apparently leaves me a bit...emotional.  Today I find myself doing things like you-tubing sweet little videos about daddies & Facebook postings by the siblings, which naturally(?) leads me to old Twila Paris videos and an ill-advised stroll down memory lane...leaving me somewhat verklempt.  I should get more sleep.  And eschew chips & salsa at 2:30 in the morn.

As if that weren't enough, it seemed only right to keep All the Feelings going by catching up on a little bloggy reading, rendering me a weepy mess.


(Work should be a blast tonight!)


Anyhoo, in light of all the very many feelings, I thought I'd lighten things up a bit
and share some of the happy.

Well.  There's this, of course

1.  Yesterday I ran some errands and met up for an impromptu lunch with Katie & Audrey.  I was particularly delighted out of my mind while driving with the windows wide open and the sky all blue and the radio loud.   Life, just the way I like it.

2.  I had a few minutes to kill so I wandered through Bath & Body Works.  I haven't been there since a quick trip the week before Christmas (!) and let's just say this was better.  I sniffed at least 42 candles and looked at a fair amount of random.  And! Not one overtly perky, subtly intrusive, sweet little thing asked me what I needed, and by the time I inhaled the honeysuckle candle for the fourth time I was longing, LONGING I tell you, for spring.  I would not be exaggerating one bit to say that store was spring in a jar.
 
3.  Noodle was beside herself with happy during our little excursion.  She was all girly, skipping along and giggly, and just thrilled to be with us.  She kept clasping my hand on her right & her mama's on the left, and swinging them together.  She was so happy! just to be with us.  If that's not swoony I don't know what is.

4.  I scored a bag of M&Ms on the 50% off-aisle at Target.   I went with the peanut butter variety this time. 
I know it's a stretch, but it seemed right.

5.  Today I read this.  Oh y'all...

Right now someone is (very loudly) working on a neighbor's car outside my window and people are shouting over the racing motor and I might have heard a bad word, and the feelings I'm current feeling are of a whole different variety.  See how that works?  Life.  What a blast :)


Y'all have a great Wednesday!

sometimes a good hard look at the to-dos is what is required

Oh y'all.

I'm so far behind in my regular life it feels like I'm back in front.

Like seriously.

Maybe if I list all the ways I'm woefully behind it'll help me focus in the coming days.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

We'll see.

Ways in Which Renee is Woefully Behind

1.  Ye Olde Blog.

I spent like a-year-and-a-half blogging faithfully a minimum of five days a week.  Sometimes more.  I was completely militant in my commitment to never miss, and I loved it.

After beginning my quest to educate America's youth I was still very, very faithful, but I ever-so-slightly relaxed about the when's.

However, this summer, and most especially since this move, I can't find my groove.  It'll happen no doubt about it.  If we've learned anything in these last months together it's that I have no shortage of words.  Just time & energy.  

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I have NO IDEA how you mommies manage to blog on top of your jobs and kids and church and what-have-you.  

As per my usual I choose to attribute it to youth.  As we all know, everything's super easy when you're young.

So what am I gonna do about it?  I'll continue in my bloggy loosey-goosey attitude for another couple of days and then?  Well then I get back to my routine.  Next week, Lord-willing-and-the-creek-don't-rise, I'll return to my regularly-scheduled offering of heart sprinkled with drivel.

Or drivel sprinkled with a little heart.

Whatever.

 

2.  My space in the new house.  

In brief, I have shelves hung on the walls with nothing on them, several boxes that still need to be gone through, a rugless floor, things that need to be returned to Target, things that need to purchased...and a LOUSY Internet connection that is making me nuts every day when I try to do my job.  

In other words, I have many, many, many decisions to make.

Decisions.  I hate 'em.

So what am I gonna do about it?  By the end of the week the modest goal is to have things in their place.  And hopefully the Internet figured out but that's probably optimistic, so let's just say I'll have tried yet another something different in my neverending quest to a solid connection.  Baby steps is what I'm saying.

3.  My tired sad little lack of daily quiet time/focused Bible study.

And therein lies most of my problem no doubt about it.  I'm feeling hungry and anxious to dive into a specific study.  I'm definitely one of those people who's quiet time goes much better and more productively - and satisfying - when I have focus.  I'm not gonna lie, I miss my quality time alone with Jesus so much that I'm feeling all twitchy.

Of course this is ridiculous because He hasn't gone anywhere.  

(I'm a goober.)

So what am I gonna do about it?  I can't decide exactly which study I want to do next, but by the first of the week I'm going to quit vacillating and make a doggone decision.  Right now I'm torn between Kelly Minter's Nehemiah and Beth Moore's James study.  If I decided right this very second I'd go with Nehemiah first.  Which means I'll probably do Nehemiah and then James.

I'd love your thoughts as I'm obviously decision-impaired right now.

 

4.  All the other stuff I'm too tired to talk about now that I've actually thought about the first three.  

There's no sense overwhelming you too.  I want you to still like me when I've located both my footing and my mind.

The homeschooling details and unanswered emails and half-finished projects and encroaching feeling of I'm-never-going-to-get-myself-together will just have to wait for another day.

So what am I gonna do about all the rest?  Pray.  And then maybe I'll pray a little more.

A girl's only human, after all.

andy griffith (sniff)

I'm a child of the 60s/70s and I love television.  

Now I know all the reasons why I probably shouldn't.  I know all the arguments I give to my family about ditching cable and protecting my grandchildren from being inundated by all the terrible that is TV in 2012.  But still.  I love me some television.

I enjoy all manner of TV offerings, but some things never change, like ever.

Like my love for Andy Griffith.

I imagine if my back were against the wall, so to speak, I would have to say my very favorite television show in the history of ever would be The Andy Griffith Show.  

Andy Taylor was one of the kindest, gentlest, most patient dads/friends/nephews/bosses ever portrayed and I might have loved him just a little bit, in spite of the, you know, fictionality of his existence.  

Even when I was small I somehow understood AG's genius in making the character so multi-layered and interesting in the face of the never-ending silliness going on around him.

Many years later, when Matlock came along he seemed to slide into that role effortlessly, and if felt as if he had always been Ben Matlock, and I loved his curmudgeonly, cranky-but-lovable Ben nearly as much as Andy!  I loved how he would break into hymns on both shows, and in Matlock he would be shown at choir practice and what-have-you.  My mom said if he didn't love Jesus he surely was an excellent actor ;)

(I suspect both to be true.)

I'm sure to some of you this might sound lame, but AG really did feel like family in some way.  I didn't have grandparents active in my life, but he seemed like he'd be a good one ;)  I might have teared up a bit the day he died. 

Not because I'm nuts, mind you.  

(Although of course I am!)

I suppose it was because we've lost a lovely man who reminded us that there is great beauty to be found in simply loving those around us & living our lives with quiet dignity and contentment.

Or something like that.

Anyhoo,

It's been a difficult, and arduous, and somewhat difficult process, but I finally have my top five favorite Andy Griffith episodes of all time whittled down...to six.  

or actually seven.

It's the best I could do. 

And they're in no particular order, because again...the best I could do.

Since we're remembering Andy, I decided to omit the episodes that focused specifically on other cast members because SO MANY.  These, of course, would include anything Barney (PERFECTION), and the ever-delightful Ernest T. Bass (OHMYWORD!) and Aunt Bea playing the warden or Goober taking the car apart.  

The line had to be drawn somewhere people, and today is all about Andy.

So without further adieu, here are my top favorite memories from The Andy Griffith Show:

The Pickle Story

"I don't know how I can face the future when I know there's eight quarts of these pickles in it."  (Barney)

A Feud is a Feud

"Their daddies could have saved themselves the expense of a double funeral if they just would've let them had a cheap wedding."  (Andy)

Alcohol and Old Lace

"And this booze you've been sellin' ain't legally recognized either so I've gotta take this ax and pow, pow, pow!"  (Barney)

Andy, the Marriage Counselor

"Good mornin' Dear."  

"Good mornin' Honey."

(Ha!)

The Loaded Goat

"Andy, are you sayin...?  "Yep, somewhere wandering around Mayberry is...a loaded goat." (Barney/Andy)

"You would have to show up today Otis; about one loaded goat at a time is all we can handle!" (Andy)

Dinner at Eight

"Yes, I know that already.  Now I'm goin' over to Helen's to eat my third supper, and then I'm comin' back...and I'm gonna kill you."  (Andy)

And because it's as intertwined with my Christmas memory as the cupcakes we eat, likely because I've seen it every Christmas Eve since, well, birth...my favorite ever episode of The Andy Griffith Show is Christmas Story.

"Do you mean to tell me that you're gonna spend Christmas in jail for two measly dollars?" (Andy)

(As Ben sings along to Away in a Manger while he peeks through the bars of the window at all the happy, I have this powerful urge to go hug a cranky person.  True story.)

 Thanks for the oh-so-sweet memories, Andy!

p.s.  Vote for your favorite episode in my sidebar & I'll post the results next week :)

sunday six - week two

Well I hope you're having a wonderful weekend so far :) 

Mine has turned out to be unexpectedly hectic.

Which is bound to sound ridiculous and also redundant to y'all since approximately every couple of days I'm saying life has been unexpected in some way.  Unexpected is pretty much my baseline these days.  

I still laugh and laugh and laugh when I think way back to a handful of years ago when I was concerned about my looming empty nest. 

That nest, it's never empty.

I don't know what I was thinking.  I should've known God would have my back!

So enough of the rambling.  I have no time for the ramble at this juncture so I'll just proceed with this week's rendering of six.  On a Sunday.

1.  This.

 ...and in the interest of fairness, this.

Oh my!!

2.  True Fact:  If you can watch a baby boy gather his blanket and paci and then attempt to pry open the front door, all the while pronouncing that "Mama" is on his mind without feeling sad and a touch panicked, you have a heart of stone.

Stone, is what I'm saying.

3.  Mason jars.  I suggest you get some.  I've grown increasingly dependent on them and now use them for practically everything.  Things stay fresh forever and no, I'm not kidding.  

Seriously y'all, I bought a package of Oreos weeks and weeks ago for E and what we haven't eaten are still yummy and crunchy and yummy.

Mason jars.  You heard it here first.  or not.  but still...

4.  Observation:  You know there might be a mess when you're greeted by the small child as you descend the stairs with "What??"

In  a mildly related note.  I owe E some glue sticks and pencils and what-not.   

Don't tell him.

Sometimes he's a bit touchy about having his things ruined behind his back.

5.  My Kari wrote this and my Mary wrote this and they both made me so proud and inspired.  I love how all my girls love Jesus so much!   

6.  I found this on my bedroom wall this morning.

It might look harmless here, but it was two sizes of huge on my wall, I'd say three or four feet in diameter at the very least. Maybe more.

To say this was unsettling and upsetting and a bit yucky would be an understatement.  

Because this was very unsettling, very upsetting and a WHOLE LOT yucky.

Well that's it  - I've gotta go!  I'm off to do tiring things and quite possibly eat a blueberry muffin. 

Have a lovely Lord's Day :)

sunday six

I have one day off each week.  That day is Saturday.  

Ergo, Saturday should be my favorite day of the week.

And yet, it's not.

Sunday.  

That would be my favorite day of the week.  

I love love Sundays.  

The sun shines brighter when it's Sunday.  The warm air is warmer and the cool air more refreshing.  Nothing in the history of eating can top Sunday dinner and I think you know I'm saying truth.

...and y'all, can I get an amen on the delight that is the Sunday nap?

****************

I leave you with the following six.  On Sunday.

Ergo, my Sunday Six.

(I apologize for all the ergo-ing.  I don't even know so I won't try to explain.)

1.   If you spend oh, I don't know, an entire afternoon sitting cross-legged on the floor cutting up ancient t-shirts into 11 x 13 squares oblongs for your Jermy's college graduation that is in approximately not-enough-days-away, your musculoskeletal system might just scream at ya all.night.long.   Consider yourself warned.  Keep yourself  hydrated and take small breaks along the way.  

Pace yourself is what I'm sayin.'

2.  I'm not necessarily proud of it but I might have watched the entire eight episodes.   And I might have watched them all in one day.  And that day might have been yesterday.  And I could have been watching while sitting cross-legged on the floor cutting squares oblongs of old t-shirts.

Or maybe not.  I don't wanna say.

I'm a lightweight history buff and also enjoy me some good drama, so when I discovered it was on Netflix I knew it was only a matter of time.  

Of course I didn't know them personally, but frankly I didn't find it particularly shocking...it rang kinda true to my formed-all-my-life perceptions.  

I really don't understand why the family was in such a snit about it.  I'm no historian but I certainly don't think it broke any shocking ground...nor was it particularly hateful toward anyone. I just don't understand all their crankiness.  

Do they really think we think those people were as dreamy-wonderful as they projected back in the day? 

I'll never understand the very wealthy, but I imagine it's not so easy to seemingly have everything, but still no control over the things that we humans actually care about most.

All that being said.  They sure were one sad bunch of family.  I feel sorry for them for that.

3.  Amelia's lemon tea.  Amen.

4.  Jeremy's almost finished!!!  We are rapidly approaching giddy around here.  I couldn't be prouder of him if I had birthed him myself. 

5.  I can't seem to get enough of Needtobreathe's The Reckoning.  Elijah is a fan of the air guitar in the back seat, which makes me all manner of tickled.  My goal is for him to enjoy car dancing with his Aunt Nay for as long as possible before he understands just how embarrassing that actually is.  The other day we were "performing" Slumber while waiting in line at Wendy's and the nice grandpa walking inside to get his single with cheese stopped and chatted it up with us for a minute.  He seemed very amused by our my humiliation.  In retrospect, I imagine we were quite the sight.  Old(ish) grandma in front seat exhibiting a shocking lack of rhythm singing along with, well, Elijah being full-on Elijah in the back seat.  My daughters would have been horrified.  For me.

6.  Claritin double-teamed with Flonase, with a brand-new box of Kleenex.   

It's the little things, folks.

Bonus!

Awwww....

Happy Sunday!

Nine Favorites...For Right Now

You wouldn't believe me if I told you how hard I tried to come up with a tenth.  
I just couldn't do it.  Nine is what is meant to be.


1.  I love iced tea.  I especially love sweet iced tea.  
Recently I've taken it up a notch and played with a variety of fruit teas.  

For a while my M.O. has been to prepare peach tea and pour it over ice, a lemon wedge, and a couple of slices of frozen peaches.  and then proceed to drink on it all day long.  

Oh-but-now, over the last couple of weeks, I have completely lost all beverage-related inhibitions.  I fill up a mason jar with the prepared fruit tea and then add a bit of fresh or frozen fruit...and let it sit around for an hour or seven and get all married or happy.


(I guess married and happy would be better.)


(Either way, suffice it to say I'm hooked and also in love with my fruit tea.)


Sometimes I even prefer it over my Pepsi.  


I don't even know myself anymore.


2.  Travis Cottrell's "When the Stars Burn Down."  When it comes to playing this CD on Spotify I can. not. stop.  His We will Dance feels my heart with such hope and anticipation it makes even the rainiest day seem all full of good.


3. Law & Order, Criminal Intent.  What can I say?  I'm an enigma.


4. Oatmeal with blackberries.  I still can't get enough of this healthy morning delight.  However, I am sorry to report that replacing the strawberries in my cereal with said blackberries was somewhat of a miss for me.  I dunno why...it just didn't work.


5.  My beloved fleece blanket.  All these years later I still love it.  Thanks Kate!!


6.  While perusing approximately a million different sites looking for schooling ideas I came across 280Daily...and I love it!  It's a way for me to journal in bite-sized pieces, which in my case makes it borderline realistic.  Basically it reminds me of Twitter (except it's completely private) in that there are a set number (280) of characters to use to sum up the day.  This feels much more doable for me, and even after just a couple of weeks it's fun to go back and read what in the world I've been doing with my time.


7.  The Big Boo Cast!  Y'all, this was so fun.  I owe Melanie and Sophie many thanks as they gave me more than a couple of giggles while I did random things like scrubbing toilets or washing dishes.  This is mildly embarrassing but I might as well tell ya that I listened to them all.  It took me a while but I persevered and got 'er done.  Now I am again stuck with my own thoughts as I conquer the mundane.


8.  When Peyton was born I was introduced to takethemameal.com.  This just might be seriously the best idea I've come upon in a while.  

It's downright shocking how many bright ideas there are floating around.  
and disheartening that I didn't think of a one of 'em.




9.  Speaking of Peyton...

 
Some yummy goodness is what he is :)

Goals. I've Got a Couple

So I'm linking up with The Nester this morning.  She's throwing a little party over at her place today and I wanted to play!  The subject?  Home Goals.  


For this passive reactor valiantly trying to bring purpose to her steps, writing down a couple of things that I've been putting off for ages and ages goals for the year sounds like a good idea.  And I'm thinking posting said goals on the worldwideweb can only help.


Accountability.  It's a good thing.


I wish I had the energy at 1:30 in the a.m. to be all adorable and clever...and I really really wish I had fun pictures to correspond with the adorable-ness and also clever-ness, but you might remember I'm a touch camera-challenged at the moment.  Kari lent me her little point-and-shoot but evidently it needs charging.  or something.  Who can really know for sure?  All I know is it's currently in a useless state.


Anyhoo, I wandered through my house a couple of times this week, and very quickly compiled the following list.  I could surely add others but let's get real...If I got all of these done it would be a home-decorating miracle.  No sense in getting carried away.


Therefore, without further ado, behold the list.  Of home-related goals.  
In short, a to-do list for the grand year of twenty-twelve.  


It's gonna be a purty one!

Paint the mirror in the living room.  I'm ashamed and chagrined to admit that I bought the paint back in the summer.  You can't really tell in this picture, but I feel like it's way too metallic and shiny.  I want to try to even it out a bit.  I think I keep procrastinating because I'm afraid I'll ruin it...but there's no room for wimpy-ness in home decorating.  I'll keep ya posted!


Paint the kitchen.  My children have painted all of my other major spaces for me, but the kitchen is sadly blah.  This is the year, my friends. I can feel it!


Redecorate the bathroom.  I am SO OVER my bathroom.  I've had the same shower curtain for approximately a hundred years, and the rugs & what-have-you are just a hodge-podge of randomness.  I want new...everything in there.  The only thing holding me back is a (somewhat) manageable sum of money and making a decision.  Oh how the decisions wear me out...


Start collecting fun plates for the kitchen wall.  And then pull down the shelf I have there now and hang 'em.  Of course this will require some scavenging and I'm not so good at that.  Time will tell on this one, but I'm going to try.


Refresh my "blessings" wall in the living room.  Poor Owen hasn't even made the wall yet.  Owen is now fourteen months old.  There aren't enough excuses in the world to make that okay.


Hem & iron all the bedroom curtains. They were hung during my birthday surprise, but they were too short.  I ripped the hem out but never re-hemmed them, or pressed them.  Seriously, y'all...It's so hard to care about the little details when you're the only one who sees them.


Make Jeremy's t-shirt quilt (shhh...it's a surprise!)


Find a good pattern and make a baby doll for Audrey.  I really want to make her a doll baby for Christmas next year.  If any of you have any suggestions for me I'd really appreciate it.  So far all I have is the glimmer of a dream and no plan whatsoever.


Sort toys and set up playroom upstairs.  The toys are overrunning the house.  I plan to reorganize and fix up the spare bedroom as a playroom.  This one should be fairly easy.  Practically all I will need is some gumption.


Clean out my disaster of a closet.  Oh y'all it's bad.  Real bad.


Tidy kitchen cabinets and clean out lid drawer.  See above regarding the bad.

I also want to start accumulating interesting picture frames so I can hang them going up my stairs.  This one will likely take some time, but I'm going to keep an eye out as I'm out and about.


One more thing!  I have a bunch of apple crates that I've used for approximately a thousand years as end tables/book shelves/toy boxes/foot stools, etc.  I want to stain them.  I saw that on Pinterest & it seems easy enough.  I even have some stain already.



So there you have it.  Most of this is easily done with minimal expense.  Which means I don't have much in the way of an excuse.  Which means I need to get busy.

Do you have anything you've been wanting to do around your house?  Do tell!


Have a great Wednesday :)

31 Days: I Love the Occasional List

Since I'm feeling hopelessly behind in pretty much everything in my whole life it seems today would be a swell time for a listy offering.  

Lists are this busy fatigued lazy blogger's way of emptying out a few of the thoughts that rattle around inside the ol' cerebral cortex.

1.  I heart Chipotle.  I love some good Mexican food so much that if my grandchildren were there I would happily brave the thousand-degree temperatures and move to Texas (home of the best Mexican food EVER - except maybe, you know, MEXICO) just so I could consume it on a daily basis.

On a side note, how is it possible to love Mexican food with my whole heart and yet hate cilantro more than any other food group in the history of ever?  

I have no answers for this great mystery of life but am grateful that it's a complexity we can all live with.

2.  I don't understand how this is even possible but I recently, and by recently I mean in the last 48 hours, viewed the first two seasons of "Sister Wives."  

OH Y'ALL.

I'm a bit chagrined to admit that I found the whole thing riveting.  

RIVETING.  

and I have no earthly idea why.  My fundamental issues with polygamy aside, one man attempting to keep four different wives and 16 children happy just seems like a Terrible Plan fraught with all manner of aggravation and frustration.  However, after watching a few episodes I suppose I can see how some women might be drawn to the abundant sense of family, especially if they were lacking in family when young.  

One thing these people are not is lonely, that's for sure.

In my opinion it looks about a zillion times harder and less wonderful than the way God designed it, and frankly, I'm thinking marriage is challenging enough without us mucking things up unnecessarily.

I do have to say this, though, and I don't mean to be at all mean, but while I really kinda liked all the "wives" - who seem to be devoted mothers and just basically kind people - Kody The Husband is downright goofy.  

Well-intentioned probably, but Y'all... SO GOOFY.

Which leads me to that age-old question.  How in the world do the goofballs end up with FOUR different wives when perfectly nice people like me don't even have a fella?

Just a question. 

Next up in my Netflix-y rotation would be Toddlers and Tiaras.

Because it's all about stimulating the cerebral cortex. 

3.  Audrey just spent a few days with me.  That right there was some grandparenting delight is what that was. 

4.  It dropped from around 80 to around 50 degrees in the span of approximately 12 minutes around here this week.  That makes for some weird weather here in the Valley.  WEIRD WEATHER.

5.  I tried a three-ingredient pumpkin muffin recipe I've seen floating around on Pinterest, and while I have eaten four or five of them I have to admit they prove the old adage, easy is not necessarily better.

(I'm not sure that's an actual adage.)

(What's an adage?)

I'll share my favorite muffin recipe with you soon when I'm less busy fatigued lazy.  It may have more than three ingredients but, how can I say this...it tastes like you actually tried.

6.  My head still hurts.  In other words I still have a headache.  

This is ticking me off because basically I've had a headache for about a hundred years.  Or at least a few weeks.  Same difference.  

I only mention it here because, and I'm just gonna say it, I'm fed up and also sick and tired of having a headache.  Therefore I'm appealing to you, my bloggy friends, for suggestions.  I know lots of ya have had a headache before, so I'm hoping maybe you can give me your tips on how to avoid losing my ever-lovin' mind.

Happy Thursday ;)

**You can catch up on the rest of my 31 Days of Things I Love series right here