I was just thinking of how blessed I am in my Christian friendships. My three closest friends encourage me, support me, hold me accountable, and love me. Isn't God so good in providing the right people in you life to help you along? We do not always agree and sometimes we have to say difficult things to one another through the love of Christ, but this makes us no less dear in the hearts of the others.
I am not a person who has a giant network of friends and acquaintances. It is more my style to have a few very close friends, and to feel complete in those friendships. This is the way the Lord fashioned me to be. For a long time I worried about it. Should I be more social? Should I join in with more outside groups of people? Was my lack of needing more outside social activities a sign of being unfriendly? Then I realized that it was ok to be peaceful and happy with the small circle I have because this is what God had planned for me. It isn't that I am not open to more friends, I have just come to understand that I do not need many 'sometimes social' friends, and that I am a person who bonds deeply with a few people. I'm sure that if God chooses to enlarge my circle He will do so in the time He finds suitable. He has always done so in the past.
So I no longer feel guilty about not being a 'joiner'. My calling just isn't social butterfly, not that there is anything wrong with social butterflies. I admire their open personalities and enthusiasm, but the world is made up of many kinds of people, and I am not that kind. Currently my focus is on the Lord, my own small and growing family, the dear friends I hold in my heart, and my duties as a wife and mother. I need nothing else to make me whole, and I am thankful to God for the quiet life He has chosen to make mine.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Potato Forgery
This shall be short as time is limited.
I was given mashed potatoes as my Thanksgiving bring along. Now, for whatever reason every single batch of mashed potatoes I make lately has been awful. They hate me. I can make desserts I can't pronounce, but I cannot seem to turn a simple spud into something eatable when mashed. Since my mom was so stressed and busy I didn't want to not help by doing the potatoes, and thus I asked if I might get Simply Potatoes and use those. She said that was fine and I merrily did so.
And honestly, they are so good. If you haven't tried them, you must. They're real potatoes and nothing weird and you truly and honestly would rather eat them than the ones I make from scratch, I can promise you that.
So I bought three containers and we served those and no one was the wiser...until...
My sister-in-law pointed out how good they were and complimented me on my great potatoes.
This is where it fell apart.
See, I felt all guilty as I had not actually done anything harder than going to Giant the week of Thanksgiving...but really...that's kind of a challenge, right? I mean, I was there longer than it would have taken me to make actual mashed potatoes, so it should count. I'm counting it.
Still...the guilt...I was all shameful and sad. Therefore I could not contain it and outed myself as a potato fraud. And then everyone knew the potatoes were a forgery and I am forever disgraced as a Thanksgiving Potato Counterfeiter. Clearly I shall never be given potato duty again. Although, in retrospect, that is probably a good thing.
Hm, perhaps the truth has set me free after all. :)
I was given mashed potatoes as my Thanksgiving bring along. Now, for whatever reason every single batch of mashed potatoes I make lately has been awful. They hate me. I can make desserts I can't pronounce, but I cannot seem to turn a simple spud into something eatable when mashed. Since my mom was so stressed and busy I didn't want to not help by doing the potatoes, and thus I asked if I might get Simply Potatoes and use those. She said that was fine and I merrily did so.
And honestly, they are so good. If you haven't tried them, you must. They're real potatoes and nothing weird and you truly and honestly would rather eat them than the ones I make from scratch, I can promise you that.
So I bought three containers and we served those and no one was the wiser...until...
My sister-in-law pointed out how good they were and complimented me on my great potatoes.
This is where it fell apart.
See, I felt all guilty as I had not actually done anything harder than going to Giant the week of Thanksgiving...but really...that's kind of a challenge, right? I mean, I was there longer than it would have taken me to make actual mashed potatoes, so it should count. I'm counting it.
Still...the guilt...I was all shameful and sad. Therefore I could not contain it and outed myself as a potato fraud. And then everyone knew the potatoes were a forgery and I am forever disgraced as a Thanksgiving Potato Counterfeiter. Clearly I shall never be given potato duty again. Although, in retrospect, that is probably a good thing.
Hm, perhaps the truth has set me free after all. :)
Friday, November 19, 2010
Day of Awesome Crib Findery and Bedding Delivery
Yesterday not only did my crib bedding arrive BUT we got the baby furniture problem solved.
You will never believe how.
Remember the guy from Craigslist that I had written off as a Toolbox of the First Order? Ah yes, as it turns out he was not a toolbox at all. So, sorry Craigslist guy, you are redeemed and vindicated as being a decent person. I can admit when I'm wrong, and I was totally wrong this time.
Mr. Craigslist sent me an email early yesterday morning explaining that the reason he hadn't gotten back to me was that his whole family had the stomach flu. Therefore he was very busy taking two children and a wife to the doctors and holding them with their respective heads in the toilet and thus could not respond to me email. He was terribly sorry and did we still want the furniture? HOLY COW YES! We did. We drove down and it was amazing and lovely and we brought it all home for the very low price of $115.00. Let's just add it up, shall we? One white 4-in-1 sleigh crib by a famous maker with NO recalls and a nice crib mattress, one white dresser-style sleigh changing table with pad, and the most adorable white nightstand you ever saw with a little shelf and a cabinet. Plus T.G. talked him into selling us two top of the line child gates AND the extension packages, which we desperately needed, for $40.00.
So, total spent was $155.00 which is five dollars more than we spent on Little Guy's furniture AND we got two baby gates in the deal. Also the changing table is a dresser style which is nicer than the one we got for Little Guy and his stuff did not come with a nightstand, so technically even though we paid five dollars more we did better on this bargain hunting extravaganza. Hooray!!!
T.G. is probably even more pleased than I am because now he has a wife who is not an anxiety ridden mess full of hateful pregnancy hormones. I am serene and happy in the knowledge that the items needed for the baby's room are here and the fun of picking a room color and whatnot can begin. Woot!
You will never believe how.
Remember the guy from Craigslist that I had written off as a Toolbox of the First Order? Ah yes, as it turns out he was not a toolbox at all. So, sorry Craigslist guy, you are redeemed and vindicated as being a decent person. I can admit when I'm wrong, and I was totally wrong this time.
Mr. Craigslist sent me an email early yesterday morning explaining that the reason he hadn't gotten back to me was that his whole family had the stomach flu. Therefore he was very busy taking two children and a wife to the doctors and holding them with their respective heads in the toilet and thus could not respond to me email. He was terribly sorry and did we still want the furniture? HOLY COW YES! We did. We drove down and it was amazing and lovely and we brought it all home for the very low price of $115.00. Let's just add it up, shall we? One white 4-in-1 sleigh crib by a famous maker with NO recalls and a nice crib mattress, one white dresser-style sleigh changing table with pad, and the most adorable white nightstand you ever saw with a little shelf and a cabinet. Plus T.G. talked him into selling us two top of the line child gates AND the extension packages, which we desperately needed, for $40.00.
So, total spent was $155.00 which is five dollars more than we spent on Little Guy's furniture AND we got two baby gates in the deal. Also the changing table is a dresser style which is nicer than the one we got for Little Guy and his stuff did not come with a nightstand, so technically even though we paid five dollars more we did better on this bargain hunting extravaganza. Hooray!!!
T.G. is probably even more pleased than I am because now he has a wife who is not an anxiety ridden mess full of hateful pregnancy hormones. I am serene and happy in the knowledge that the items needed for the baby's room are here and the fun of picking a room color and whatnot can begin. Woot!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Crib Saga of Unending Anxiety
So, for those that don't know, we are expecting a baby girl in March. Since Little Guy is still happily using all his nursery furniture, the need to get more has arisen.
Ah yes...let the drama begin...
T.G. and I are thrifty people, remember his initials stand for Thriftmaster General. We do not see much sense in paying oodles of money for something a child will outgrow in three years. Therefore the crib searching takes place mostly on Craigstlist and Ebay. Granted we could buy a brand new crib from Walmart for the very low price of $84.00 but there are some issues with this. Issue number one is T.G.'s absolute horror and hatred of anything having to do with the evil that is Walmart, and issue number two is the fact that the cheaper cribs from Walmart do not compare to finding really good used nursery furniture for a good price. For instance, Little Guy's cherry sleigh bed style bedroom set was made by Bassett and is top of the line albeit ten years old. It never had one recall and looks like a million dollars, which is very convenient and nice seeing as how we paid a total of $150.00 for the set. It is solid and strong, and I adore it. We found it on Craigslist for $175.00 and T.G. managed to talk them down $25.00 and to throw in the mattress, changing pad, and a diaper bag for free. Seriously. Did I mention that I love that hard bargaining man of mine? He's awesome.
So we've been scouring Craigslist again for a bedroom set for baby #2. I've already got crib bedding, and boy howdy, I am so in love with it. It's Glenna Jean and the pattern is called Lola and it sold for almost $400.00 new. Ask me how much I paid for it. Go ahead...ask!
$50.00!!!! I am going to insert a large WOOT here. Ebay and I shall be BFF.
Hm. Just realized that it is very late and I am very tired. I shall finish this later.
Ok, it is now the next day and I am rested although dying of hideous allergies.
Back to crib saga...
We did think we had a crib at first, but then said crib turned out to be unusable due to recalls and other issues. So we started searching again.
Yesterday, I found a whole nursery set on Craigslist from this wealthy couple in Westchester. It was very nice and exactly what I want and had NO recalls. So I wrote back and forth with the guy all day and we arranged a date for T.G. and I to pick it up, I got childcare for Little Guy set up and everything.
Sounds like the saga is ended, right? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Oh no. This toolbox emails me last night after everything is arranged and tells me some lady is coming to look at the furniture and might buy it. So I email him back to find out what the deal is and he never responds. I am in baby furniture response limbo. Bleh. My only guess is that he totally sold it to that woman and is refusing to reply to me about it.
What kind of a jerk sells something out from under a person EVEN though there was a pick-up date arranged? I could not be more irritated. As my friend Nickel says, Craigslist has become fraught with ass-hattery lately. So we are back to square one with the crib search.
The bedding set is very light and girlie as you can see: http://www.babyage.com/baby-bedding/glenna-jean/lola-collection.htm
It will look best in a white crib, and truthfully I have my heart set on white furniture for the baby. Now I just have to find some.
Ah yes...let the drama begin...
T.G. and I are thrifty people, remember his initials stand for Thriftmaster General. We do not see much sense in paying oodles of money for something a child will outgrow in three years. Therefore the crib searching takes place mostly on Craigstlist and Ebay. Granted we could buy a brand new crib from Walmart for the very low price of $84.00 but there are some issues with this. Issue number one is T.G.'s absolute horror and hatred of anything having to do with the evil that is Walmart, and issue number two is the fact that the cheaper cribs from Walmart do not compare to finding really good used nursery furniture for a good price. For instance, Little Guy's cherry sleigh bed style bedroom set was made by Bassett and is top of the line albeit ten years old. It never had one recall and looks like a million dollars, which is very convenient and nice seeing as how we paid a total of $150.00 for the set. It is solid and strong, and I adore it. We found it on Craigslist for $175.00 and T.G. managed to talk them down $25.00 and to throw in the mattress, changing pad, and a diaper bag for free. Seriously. Did I mention that I love that hard bargaining man of mine? He's awesome.
So we've been scouring Craigslist again for a bedroom set for baby #2. I've already got crib bedding, and boy howdy, I am so in love with it. It's Glenna Jean and the pattern is called Lola and it sold for almost $400.00 new. Ask me how much I paid for it. Go ahead...ask!
$50.00!!!! I am going to insert a large WOOT here. Ebay and I shall be BFF.
Hm. Just realized that it is very late and I am very tired. I shall finish this later.
Ok, it is now the next day and I am rested although dying of hideous allergies.
Back to crib saga...
We did think we had a crib at first, but then said crib turned out to be unusable due to recalls and other issues. So we started searching again.
Yesterday, I found a whole nursery set on Craigslist from this wealthy couple in Westchester. It was very nice and exactly what I want and had NO recalls. So I wrote back and forth with the guy all day and we arranged a date for T.G. and I to pick it up, I got childcare for Little Guy set up and everything.
Sounds like the saga is ended, right? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Oh no. This toolbox emails me last night after everything is arranged and tells me some lady is coming to look at the furniture and might buy it. So I email him back to find out what the deal is and he never responds. I am in baby furniture response limbo. Bleh. My only guess is that he totally sold it to that woman and is refusing to reply to me about it.
What kind of a jerk sells something out from under a person EVEN though there was a pick-up date arranged? I could not be more irritated. As my friend Nickel says, Craigslist has become fraught with ass-hattery lately. So we are back to square one with the crib search.
The bedding set is very light and girlie as you can see: http://www.babyage.com/baby-bedding/glenna-jean/lola-collection.htm
It will look best in a white crib, and truthfully I have my heart set on white furniture for the baby. Now I just have to find some.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
friendship in turmoil
So friendship controversy.
At what point do you say to someone you care deeply about "I think I need to move on or re-evaluate why we are friends?"
The hardest part is when you really care about someone and have a whole friendship invested for a long period of time and then stuff starts to fall apart. Suppose you know someone or you think you know them well and then all of a sudden they do a 180 on you?
You've always seen them as a Christian and they always acted like one and then, with no warning, they say "Christianity isn't where it's at, I'm going to go off the deep end into total worldly territory instead and then call you a mean-spirited, moralistic jerk for not jumping into that deep end with me."
Yeah.
Sorry, but I've been at the edge of that diving board and looked over...and you know what? There's no water in that pool. None. It's just a long dive into a solid concrete bottom.
And nothing makes me more angry than being told I'm the problem because of my morals, ethics, values, and beliefs.
I'm loving. I'm tolerant. I do my very best to be the way the Lord asks me to be, putting my neighbor before myself and leaving judgment up to Him. I'm not perfect, I mess up often. Thank God that Jesus can cover up those mistakes for me. I'm not about to leave that surety to chase someone into whatever unfortunate pursuit they think suits them better than the the one they used to lead back when God meant something to them.
So when this happens, when friends don't just leave the fold, but race headfirst into hell, what does one do?
When you're being made to look like the bad person because you don't accept societal norms and you hold your ground on Christian beliefs, what do you say?
Do you bother to stick around in the friendship or do you realize it is time to let go?
I don't know. I'm not a quitter, but I don't see this one recovering...not if the things that are currently taking place continue.
I think I'm ready to throw in the towel. I think I have to.
It makes me sick.
But there is a part of me that wonders if once I do cut this tie...will the relief of not having it weigh on me every day be so enormous that I will have no regrets at all other than the one sad bit of knowledge that this person is giving up on their soul to follow earthly entertainment?
How do you weigh the 'what has been' up against the 'what is now'?
I just don't know.
At what point do you say to someone you care deeply about "I think I need to move on or re-evaluate why we are friends?"
The hardest part is when you really care about someone and have a whole friendship invested for a long period of time and then stuff starts to fall apart. Suppose you know someone or you think you know them well and then all of a sudden they do a 180 on you?
You've always seen them as a Christian and they always acted like one and then, with no warning, they say "Christianity isn't where it's at, I'm going to go off the deep end into total worldly territory instead and then call you a mean-spirited, moralistic jerk for not jumping into that deep end with me."
Yeah.
Sorry, but I've been at the edge of that diving board and looked over...and you know what? There's no water in that pool. None. It's just a long dive into a solid concrete bottom.
And nothing makes me more angry than being told I'm the problem because of my morals, ethics, values, and beliefs.
I'm loving. I'm tolerant. I do my very best to be the way the Lord asks me to be, putting my neighbor before myself and leaving judgment up to Him. I'm not perfect, I mess up often. Thank God that Jesus can cover up those mistakes for me. I'm not about to leave that surety to chase someone into whatever unfortunate pursuit they think suits them better than the the one they used to lead back when God meant something to them.
So when this happens, when friends don't just leave the fold, but race headfirst into hell, what does one do?
When you're being made to look like the bad person because you don't accept societal norms and you hold your ground on Christian beliefs, what do you say?
Do you bother to stick around in the friendship or do you realize it is time to let go?
I don't know. I'm not a quitter, but I don't see this one recovering...not if the things that are currently taking place continue.
I think I'm ready to throw in the towel. I think I have to.
It makes me sick.
But there is a part of me that wonders if once I do cut this tie...will the relief of not having it weigh on me every day be so enormous that I will have no regrets at all other than the one sad bit of knowledge that this person is giving up on their soul to follow earthly entertainment?
How do you weigh the 'what has been' up against the 'what is now'?
I just don't know.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Men and Whining. Why?
Why is it that the women I know just get stuff done no matter how they feel, what the weather is, if their back hurts, despite not having extra snacks, and without whining?
Whereas the men I know are complete babies who make me want to strangle them with their moaning and groaning and wasting my time with nonsense.
Ugh.
That is all. Post over.
Whereas the men I know are complete babies who make me want to strangle them with their moaning and groaning and wasting my time with nonsense.
Ugh.
That is all. Post over.
Today - Bleh
Today is really shaping up to be lame right now. I can't even explain the extent of the lameness, but honestly...ugh.
First of all, three guys I totally respect and look up to as awesome, enlightened, decent men dropped the ball in my opinion by championing a gross, debasing photo-spread with the Glee stars in GQ magazine, because, and I quote "It was smokin"
Meh.
It always hurts when some of your moral compass people let you down like that. I'm blue about it.
Especially one of them, who I REALLY seriously and constantly look up to as a person who is beyond that sort of male pattern garbage. So, thus...meh and bleh today.
It is probably my fault for holding them up the standard that I did, but I don't know. Shouldn't someone holding you up to a standard of greatness be a compliment to you? It would be a compliment to me. Perhaps I'm just being unreasonable, because after all, enjoying GQ is probably hardwired into a guy's psyche. I'm sort of baffled though. And sad. Moving on.
There is other stuff too, that I can't get into. Let's just call it...Friend Weirdness and Confusion.
I hate F.W.A.C. It completely screws things up for me until it gets resolved. I just hope this all gets resolved soon.
So, meh again.
In other news, I am sure that I'm having a massive installment of baby hormones today which is, I'm positive, contributing to the general feeling of insanity/anxiety/anger/grumpiness. I am not fit to be around polite society at all. Put me behind the wheel of a car right now and I'd run over bambi's mother if she got in the way. I caught my reflection in the dining room mirror a little while ago and practically had a nervous breakdown over the size of my baby bump. If it is this big now, what on earth will I look like in a month? By March? I'll be as big as a conversion van. Why am I so much bigger with this baby? Normally this would not freak me out, but today I am coasting along in a sea of mismatched serotonin levels. Meh is very quickly turning into something far more sinister and frightening. I cannot wait until Rory gets home because he is usually my equilibrium restorer.
This is so bad. I'm getting more psycho as I type this. I feel like someone should be locking me into a basement jail cell, like the wolfman during a full moon, until whatever this is passes. I think it might be best if I just stay off of facebook for the rest of the day because I am liable to sail into my three guy friends like Joan of Arc with an automatic weapon filled with poison bullets. It. Is. That. Bad.
Oh wait, to top it off, I'm having super-massive, highly colorful migraine auras today. Everywhere I look is full of bright sparks zipping all over and I feel like I'm as some sick, soundless fireworks display that I can't leave or escape.
Ugh. It is just a bad day all around. Meh to the tenth power.
First of all, three guys I totally respect and look up to as awesome, enlightened, decent men dropped the ball in my opinion by championing a gross, debasing photo-spread with the Glee stars in GQ magazine, because, and I quote "It was smokin"
Meh.
It always hurts when some of your moral compass people let you down like that. I'm blue about it.
Especially one of them, who I REALLY seriously and constantly look up to as a person who is beyond that sort of male pattern garbage. So, thus...meh and bleh today.
It is probably my fault for holding them up the standard that I did, but I don't know. Shouldn't someone holding you up to a standard of greatness be a compliment to you? It would be a compliment to me. Perhaps I'm just being unreasonable, because after all, enjoying GQ is probably hardwired into a guy's psyche. I'm sort of baffled though. And sad. Moving on.
There is other stuff too, that I can't get into. Let's just call it...Friend Weirdness and Confusion.
I hate F.W.A.C. It completely screws things up for me until it gets resolved. I just hope this all gets resolved soon.
So, meh again.
In other news, I am sure that I'm having a massive installment of baby hormones today which is, I'm positive, contributing to the general feeling of insanity/anxiety/anger/grumpiness. I am not fit to be around polite society at all. Put me behind the wheel of a car right now and I'd run over bambi's mother if she got in the way. I caught my reflection in the dining room mirror a little while ago and practically had a nervous breakdown over the size of my baby bump. If it is this big now, what on earth will I look like in a month? By March? I'll be as big as a conversion van. Why am I so much bigger with this baby? Normally this would not freak me out, but today I am coasting along in a sea of mismatched serotonin levels. Meh is very quickly turning into something far more sinister and frightening. I cannot wait until Rory gets home because he is usually my equilibrium restorer.
This is so bad. I'm getting more psycho as I type this. I feel like someone should be locking me into a basement jail cell, like the wolfman during a full moon, until whatever this is passes. I think it might be best if I just stay off of facebook for the rest of the day because I am liable to sail into my three guy friends like Joan of Arc with an automatic weapon filled with poison bullets. It. Is. That. Bad.
Oh wait, to top it off, I'm having super-massive, highly colorful migraine auras today. Everywhere I look is full of bright sparks zipping all over and I feel like I'm as some sick, soundless fireworks display that I can't leave or escape.
Ugh. It is just a bad day all around. Meh to the tenth power.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
