right now...

...I'm hanging out waiting for my girl to arrive so we can drop off her wee babe and pick up my great-with-child-and-definitely-not-wee firstborn.  We shall then make our way to Charlotte, where we will reportedly find  an embarrassment of delights in the form of outlets and Ikea and yes, The Cheesecake Factory.  


(Let's just take a moment here, shall we?)

...I have a sink full of dishes from dinner last night.  The countertops might also be littered with assorted and also ridiculous miscellany such as empty Pepsi cans and dangerously-close-to-overripe melons.  and yet here I sit visiting with you and very aggressively ignoring the aforementioned mess.  (upside of alone-living!)


...I spy a super-soft blanket on my bedroom floor, tucked against the wall with three soft pillows and one tiny elephant.  Evidence of my sweet visit with Peyton yesterday and his increasingly cooperative napping.  That child is ridiculously compliant & sweet-natured.  
Love him.


...I'm listening to a sweet song on Pandora that's making my heart ache just the tiniest bit with the best kind of nostalgia.  

sigh.


...I've been struggling with the clasp of a bracelet that was a gift from one of my dearest a few years ago.  I can't even pull it out of my jewelry box without wanting to hug her tight.  I wonder if she even remembers finding it for me?  I wonder if she has any idea how it fills my heart when I see it on my wrist?


...My crazy-old oscillating fan in the bedroom is making an unpleasant screeching sound as it rotates.  I fear for it's future.


...Kari just texted that she's still 20-ish minutes away.  Wonder if I should run to the store for a Snickers for our hapless sitter/daddy/uncle who is, in fact, not, going to be enjoying a pleasant afternoon visiting and shopping and eating and patting baby bellies?  


...I'm filled with quite the conglomeration of feelings and I don't really know why.  I suppose sometimes feelings just cascade over in an uncontrollable fashion and you just have to "dog swim" (shout out to the four-year-old!) your way through them.  


...Right now I"m feeling thankful and burdened and peaceful and sad and hopeful and nostalgic and happy.  Oh, and thirsty :)


So what in the world is going on in your world right now?  (Do spill!)


Y'all have a happy Saturday!

titleless. it can't be helped

Well y'all, first thing in the morning, after I pack a bag and make my bed
and engage in some marathon tidying, I'm on the road again! 

We're gearing up for some Big Graduating Fun on Saturday so I'm heading  home for a couple of days.  There will be caps & gowns & diplomas, along some hugs & eats and so forth.  My goal is to take at least three pretty pictures in the next 48 hours while simultaneously not eating more than my share of the chocolate cake.


I think we all know how that is going to go.

However, before I wrap this up and get down to the business of tossing and turning and not so much sleeping, I do want to ask you to pray for my step-dad.  He has a myriad of serious health conditions and was admitted again tonight with some blockages in his heart.  They will be doing another cardiac cath in the morning.  Because of his health history we're all really concerned about him and would surely appreciate your prayers!



Thanks guys - I hope y'all have a great weekend :)

why we smile straight through the tears...

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,

His kingdom is forever!

*Martin Luther

 

 

...of mice and me

So it has come to my attention that many some a couple of you have been wondering how my war against the rodents is progressing.  

Well.

Last we talked I was semi-hysterical and yes, I'll  just say it, a little weepy.  

After a quick chat with my sister in which she didn't technically laugh at me but I knew she was laughing in her heart, I realized the exterminators had already laid the groundwork for said wardom.  In short, they had "laid bait" in the cellar.  (Note:  I do not like that I am now familiar with the term "laid bait."  Whatever.)  

Rex came home from work armed with a tiny smidge of compassion and a much healthier dose of patience...and three different forms of ammunition to kill the little fellas.  

(I'm usually a relatively kind-hearted sort but I would've killed Willard myself the night before if I had the chance.)

(Like killed him dead.)

(I don't like this side of me very much.)

Anyhoo, we stuffed SOS pads (I read it on Google) into the tiny little hole in my floor, and Rex smeared peanut butter on several traps and placed them strategically around my room.  Like for real he had three or four different traps in my tiny little space.  

And I was fine with that.   


Maybe an hour or so later Willard woke up and I heard him near my TV.  I'm pretty sure he actually slid down the wall, probably while climbing up the back of the apple crates I have my television sitting on.  (I'm very fancy.)  

My heart stopped and then raced again and I might have hollered the tiniest bit, but then I settled back down to work for a bit.

Not even half an hour later there was a truly disgusting/obnoxious/disturbing/GLORIOUS, snappy kind of sound and I knew deep in my heart that I was emerging from round one victorious. 

It was super gross and I was thrilled and delighted and relieved that Rex was home so he could cope with the severe ick that followed.  

(Rex was not as thrilled, delighted, or relieved.)

Robin confirmed it was, in fact, a large-ish mouse and I felt moderately vindicated.

And they have not stopped with the mocking even yet.  

My theory is Willard was the only mouse actually in my living space when we plugged up the hole because he's the only one actually trapped (i.e. killed) to this point.  

...But we know the little varmints are creeping around because you know that bait I mentioned them laying?  Yeah, it's disappearing.

GROSS.

Elijah proceeded to use his trip to the Dollar General to come home with three icky rubber mice to torment me with, and he has tormented with relish.  

One morning there were two lying right by my head when I woke up.

YUCK.

And then my sweet sister who is supposed to have my back had the nerve to gift me with this. 

I'm checking the classifieds.  

Happy Monday :)

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.

something of an update

(Warning!  In editing this I've discovered I sound cranky & whiny, but who has the time to change midstream?  Please bear in mind that moving-fatigue is a bonafide condition that is reported to be quite temporary.  Carry on.)

So I'd be happy to share a few pictures of mostly crazy to brighten your day and give you a sense of perspective, but I still have no idea where the cord is. 

So I won't.

I'm a little horrified to realize I moved exactly one week ago and I still don't know where my camera cord is.  Or my razor (yikes!) (don't judge).  Or the tops to my favorite, use-'em-every-day water bottles.

Or my equilibrium.

The boxes are slowly dwindling and I have, in fact, found both my underwear and the floor, but there are still piles and lists and some more piles.

There is also a geriatric dog who's unofficially on hospice, whose current activity is primarily wandering to a different spot on the floor and upchucking, and then napping some more.

And a puppy who is really sweet and not barking so much.  But still.  PUPPY.

And to make our day complete, I'm sitting around waiting for the cable guy to come back again.  We had planned to pretend life was not in complete disarray and flee to the pool, but you know, CABLE GUY sometime between 10 and 12.  (It's 11:29.  Good thing I rushed that razor-less shower!)  I'd be cranky but they're bringing me a DVR and I'm intrigued.  I plan to record all manner of irrelevance and watch it at my leisure.

Which I predict to be late October-ish ;)

Later gators!

but i'll carry you in my heart like the melodramatic fool that I am

Lucky boys.  Someone else lugs their stuff around and likely cleans under the fridge for 'em too.

Okay Peeps, so this is me saying I'm just one oldish crazy lady who is incapable of getting it all done.

Moving Day is looming.

There are some borderline moods going on around here and mainly I'm teetering on the edge of a lovely combination of HYSTERIA mixed with a touch of NOT CARING AT ALL.  

It's a sight to behold, is what it is.

I'm surrounded by clutter and chaos and messy floors to the point where I'm starting to twitch.  

...and seeing as how I can't really not do my job, and I can't not pack my stuff, and it would be wrong to not look after E - and I definitely can't not put shelf paper on any-and-every shelf I find in a certain new residence, my options are limited.

So it appears the one thing I can, you know, not do is Ye Old Blog.

So we can call the next few days a hiatus, or a vacation, or even that-time-Renee-ran-away-to-parts-unknown... 

...but whatever ya want to call it one thing is sure, I probably won't be posting any new drivel until after said move is complete.

I know.  You're welcome.

Have a great week, y'all - and don't forget to be thankful that you aren't moving all of your worldly possessions across town this week cause IT AIN'T SO MUCH FUN.

Catch ya on the flip side  :)

I spy with my mildly panicked eye...

A VERY LARGE, old-school Christmas tree dismantled and piled in a Rubbermaid tub, with a tree stand lying crookedly on top...

Kari & Drew's old, rather huge-ish television that used to belong to her Uncle Joe, waiting hopefully for a new home...

A myriad of plastic tubs & apparently-now-hard-to-find apple crates...

Christmas presents bagged up and ready for transport to Kari's...

A blue bouncy seat, and lime-green trampoline, and that Little Tikes picnic table with the crayon scrawling...

My probably-should-have-been-tossed-eons-ago-but-still-works, oscillating fan...

(remember back in, oh, April? when it wasn't too stifling to open our windows??)

(good times they were)

Miscellany of nearly suffocating proportions...

(drama much?)

Undone mending, a shamefully un-vacuumed floor, 

and, let's be honest, my unopened-since-Monday Bible.

(sigh)

I won't tell you what my eye spies after I stand up from the sofa.  There's no sense in all of us panicking.  I need for you to REMAIN CALM so you can, you know, talk me down from my edge of despair.  

Ha!

I kid.

Mostly ;)

 

suspiciously close to drivel

First things first.  Do y'all ever make fluffy scrambled eggs with just a splash of milk, salt, & pepper, sprinkle a bit of cheddar on top...and then dunk each and every bite in a nice serving of salsa?

You so should.

Anyhoo, where did we leave off?  I do believe I was sleepless in the wake of The Big Sale planned for our front yard.

Junk.  How embarrassing.

Here's a question for you.  Is it possible in any way to maintain your sense of dignity while sitting in a lawn chair surveying your worldly possessions scattered all over your front yard, baking in in the summer sun?  I don't think so, but maybe that's just me.

More Junk.  How embarrassing.

What might be even worse...watching strangers pull up to said lawn, meticulously inspecting said worldly possessions, and then leaving empty-handed, finding not a single item worth their pennies. 

Seriously Susie Stranger?  Not even a Mary Higgins Clark mystery for 50 cents?  Hardback?  It's nothing short of demoralizing to recognize that the things that you cared about a mere 12 hours earlier can't even net you a buck on the open market.

(You might have picked up on the fact that yard sales?  Not so much my thing.)

(I have my pride.)

(Misplaced as it might be.)

All in all, though, I suppose it was worth the time & aggravation & heat, and giggling & people watching, and yes, the Christmas money!!

Teri kept reassuring us that we were having wonderful Fun and Fellowship!  

Hi Robin!  She's not junk.  She's my sister.

Two things about that:

1.  We Baptists can throw a "fellowship" spin on anything and call it SUCCESS.

2.  Poor, poor Teri.  She netted approximately twenty-five dollars for her day of fellowship.  

Hard to believe we're worth it.

Also not junk.

I was so past tired but forced myself to stay awake until 8:00 that night.  I desperately wanted to crawl in the bed at approximately 6:57 but held firm, and amazingly, (what insomnia?) I was sound asleep and also out like a light sometime before 8:30.  

And then!

And then I proceeded to sleep until 8:00 the next morning.  Without interruption.  I don't even know when that last happened but who cares because IT HAPPENED. 

At any rate, Sunday I woke up happy to face the sun at 8:00 and proceeded to have a good day.

....and then I did the unthinkable & after finishing work last night attempted to do it all over again.

And it nearly worked!  I proceeded to get in approximately 7 hours although I might have been, shall we say, a bit on the wakeful side.  But at least I woke up ready for the day 45 minutes before the alarm went off and have already chopped veggies and cleaned fruit and put on my swimsuit.

Because today we swim.  and sweat.  and eat melon.

...and, you know, try to locate my floor and hopefully new owners for the three(!) television sets sitting in the middle of my living room floor, none of which belong to me - not to mention the other assorted cluttery goodness.

Tomorrow I'll share the riveting tale of how I made my summer salad! and brushed my teeth! and loaded the dishwasher!  

Say what you will, but you can always count on me for riveting coverage of what matters none.

Happy Monday ;)

so here's the plan

So I wanted to sit & chat with you for a nice while about things like yard sales and getting rid of A LOT of my stuff and packing and moving and surprise parties and Christmas, but the melatonin fix ain't cutting it this week so I'm sleep-deprived and mildly emotional (read: CRAZY).

...and my very first Craigslist stranger has my address and is coming to my home in less than an hour.  

and I'm ungroomed.

Will you still be my friend if I throw one long run-on sentence and a couple of phrases at you more often than you deserve?

You will?

Well I love you too :)

so here's the plan...

Have a great weekend :)

because a full life is a good life

Source: Renee on Pinterest

Things are nuts around here.  

I know you must think I make these things up but no.  I do NOT make these things up.

The chaos that is my unkempt home is shocking even to me, and yet I'm powerless to effect change right now.  I've been home for four days and have yet to unpack.  Audrey is here and is, and I quote, MAD, because she wants her mama. 

I'm not gonna lie to ya. 

I want her mama too.




Happy Tuesday :)

 
 

five minute friday: see

Looking around me on this wet, gloomy day I see...

the last remnants of my favorite  cinnamon candle flickering atop the old apple crates that I use as a side table,

the basket on the floor attempting to keep my work paraphernalia in one place

last night's McDonald's remnants (oh the shame!),

a stack of second-grade curriculum options,

that shiny-new, flat-screen-y gift that makes me smile every time I notice,

pictures of what matters tucked all over,

the ant traps under the window

(sigh)

three pairs of flip flops, one pair of sandals, and two different sets of tennis shoes (my twice-his-age size 7s and his sturdy little boy's),

a brand new copy of Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, my Bible and the Jesus Calling devotional,

Peyton's bouncy seat, and Audrey's & Owen's books, and assorted first-grade miscellany

baby wipes, and the blanket Tana gave me forever ago that used to wrap around my little girls, and the mini trampoline that sometimes makes me sore, and the same blue box of Leggos that have been in use in my living room for nearly 20 years.

When I look around I see life spilling over everywhere,

and I don't really mind the gloomy gray anymore.

Happy Friday :)