CRAZY BUSY!

No fears my internet peeps...I have not abandoned the project, I have not reinjured myself, I am not sick....just CRAZY BUSY!!!!

Fear not, I HAVE been taking pic (and some wild ones at that!) and will hopefully be able to upload tomorrow, or maybe even tonight if I can kick the boys out of the house encourage my dear sons to go do something that doesn't involve driving me insane (it's a short trip!).

217 - WHAT?!?

I ran errands yesterday and today. I hate to run errands. I hate to shop. This was a text I sent Mr. Incredible...

Shopping is no fun
It makes me want to throw up
I might need a drink

BUT - Somethings just seem to make it all worthwhile like

1. The look on Mr. I's face when he realized that by bargin shopping, I was able to afford these for him:

2. The look on #1's face when he realized I had found the "perfect" outfit for him to wear to a party tonight on a clearance rack

3. More than anything else....THIS -

There is so much here for me to love. The floaties in case they drive into a pond. The car seat because OBVIOUSLY safety is the #1 concern here. The license plate - this actually passed inspection! Yes, Somethings just make my entire day worth it.

216 - Mount St. Laundry

WARNING - Unedited gibberish ahead!

Yesterday I attempted to climb Mount St. Laundry. The task was large, the obstacles harsh, and my attitude dismal. I did not reach the summit yesterday, but with renewed determination and fortitude faced the challenge and foraged ahead today. I am happy to report that as of RIGHT NOW there are no dirty clothes, towels, sheets or blankets in my house. HOWEVER, give it a few hours and the beast will rise again.


So as I was sorting the laundry yesterday, I decided to go the extra mile and sort it right. You see, normally I just sort into whites, color, towels. BUT yesterday, I was feeling especially domestic and sorted into whites, darks, brights, reds, towels, blankets/sheets. I even made a pile for brown/tan. I took the following picture to prove I AM able to do this the right way.

Afterwards, when I downloaded the pic, I had a sudden moment of nostalgia. I had a friend not many years ago that was LAUNDRY QUEEN. My slovenly ways used to drive her crazy. Bless her heart, she would try to teach me, but I would have nothing to do with properly sorted clothes, stain removers and the super-special sanitary cycle on my washer. Bright white socks were her pleasure. Clean unspotted jeans her bliss. So when I looked at the pics from yesterday, I missed her. I missed her from the bottom of my heart. I really don’t know what happened to us, I guess we more or less grew apart. If there is one thing I am better at than avoiding conflict, it is avoiding uncomfortable situations. You see it just became easier to avoid interacting with her than to try to figure out what really happened. Yes, I AM the world’s worst friend. Sure, I have my excuses…I don’t have time, the boys schedule make it impossible, our kids are at different stages in life and therefore so are we…but when it comes right down to it, they are just excuses.

So why am I posting this here? To be honest, I am not sure. I debated last night whether I should. But when it comes right down to it, the whole reason I started this 365 Project was to record a year of my life honestly, and well , sometimes honesty just isn’t pretty.

So there you go…

AAANNNDDD Nicole – here is “The Rest of the Picture” LOL!

215 - End of the Day

I survived the game - it was hot, I got swarmed by mosquitos, they didn't win, and it was hot.

Here is the pic for today...yes, it is Cooper yet again, but seriously, when you are this cute, how can it be helped?

More on where he is laying tomorrow...I am still deciding on what I want to post about Mount St. Laundry tomorrow.

Bonus

This is not the pic of the day...it is just a bonus because I have something I want to say...

1. It's hot....like really, seriously hot. I think I am ready to break down and complain about the heat. You know my friend Lisa from Alaska? I was totally ready to join her today. NOW keep in mind I will take being hot over being cold ANY.DAY. but, well, today I am officially complaining.

2. Lisa - I love you, and I know you read Rants from Mommyland, so I know you will understand when I tell you to, "Suck it Fancy!"

3. Tonight #1's team is playing for first place. I cannot even tell you how much I do not want to go sit in the heat and watch.....that's just bad parenting!

4. This pic was taken while driving around town...not sitting in the parking lot. (The driver did not take the pic, the passenger did!)

Which brings me back to #1 - It's just plain hot!

OH I just thought of two more things...

5. If I hear one more person say "Really, it's not the heat, it's the humidity." I am going to hand them a printed copy of this picture and say..."SERIOUSLY, i THINK it MIGHT be the HEAT!"

6. Normaly I would be praising Mr. Incredible for be so adept at maintaining/fixing/magically keeping our poor ol A/C running, but today I think I will give myself a pat on the back for having the brains and foresight to marry a mechanical genius.

and now off to swelter at a baseball game....WOOHOO!

214 - I Got My Sticker

How about you? Did you exercise your right?

I REALLY try to avoid politics here on my little piece of the web, I think there are plenty of other places to go with more informed opinions and information than I could dream of getting into.

HOWEVER...I do not consider what I am about to say political. I really don’t care about who or what you voted for. So we don’t see eye to eye politically, that’s okay….really. I DO care that every American citizen who is eligible to vote understands that it is important to do so. It is not just a right, it is a privilege. It is not just a privilege, it is your duty. Men and women have put their lives on the line, given up valuable family time, given freely of their finances so that you could spend 5 min in a booth letting your voice be heard.

I will get off my soap box now. If I have offended you, I apologize, but hopefully I have given you something to think about come November.

213 - Focus

What has captured our dear Lucy-Fur's attention?

none

other

than

a

Hosta

eating

yard

digging

TOTALLY cute - but irritating for the reasons listed above

AAANNNNDDDD

see that lead on our poor Lucy-Fur?

If it were not attatched to her collar, I would be spending the next two hours giving my neighborhood a show of an overweight middleaged woman chasing an eight pound dog, yelling not nice words and threatening to call Animal Control on her.

(NOT that I have done that before or anything!)

212 - Sheltering Tree - Newsong

This is one of my favorite songs. I love it because I think we can all universally agree, no matter how our beliefs may differ, that a friend in a time of difficulty or hardship can make the all the difference in the world.

it's been said a friend is like a mighty sheltering tree
a place of refuge we can run when trouble comes for you and me
someone we can count on through the thick and thin
when the storms of life are blowing, there's
just nothing like a friend
(there's just nothing like a friend)
chorus:
we all need sheltering trees
friends in our lives who'll get down on their knees
and lift us up before the king of kings
we all need sheltering trees
there've been days that i was sure that i couldn't make it through
clouds of doubt came rolling in and i didn't know what i would do
i would've given in and said i just can't go on
if it hadn't been for a friend that helped me to be strong
(helped me to be strong)
bridge:
you can face the highest mountain and
the climb won't feel so high
or cross the darkest valley and it won't seem so wide
nothing is impossible when a friend is by your side

211 - Red Red Wine - UB40

Red red wine you make me feel so fine
You keep me rocking all of the time
Red red wine you make me feel so grand
I feel a million dollars when your just in my hand

(actually this is a lie, red wine gives me a WICKED migraine, but the color of this flower just looks like a glass of merlot sitting in the sun, on the balcony, overlooking my private beach...oops, started to slip into dream world there, hee hee)

210 - "You Spin Me Round" Dead or Alive

You spin me right round, baby
right round like a record, baby
Right round round round
You spin me right round, baby
Right round like a record, baby
Right round round round

209 - I apologize in advance for this...

 It's peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time

There he go 4x
Peanut butter jelly 4x
Do the peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly,
Peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat 2x

(By the Buckwheat Boys)

Where he at 4x

208 - Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison

Whatever happened
To Tuesday and so slow
Going down the old mine
With a transistor radio
Standing in the sunlight laughing,
Hiding behind a rainbow's wall,
Slipping and sliding
All along the water fall, with you
My brown eyed girl,
You my brown eyed girl.

(and now for the ear-worm, mwahahaha)
Do you remember when we used to sing,
Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da

207 - It's Been a Hard Days Night

...and I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day's night, I should be sleeping like a log
But when I get home to you I find the things that you do
Will make me feel alright
 - Beatles

206 - Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler

Welcome to music week here in Brendaland! I needed to put a little spark back into my blog, so this is what I came up with.

Turnaround bright eyes

206 - Remember Your History

Our church finished "The Amazing Joe" sermon series this week. It was a very thought provoking and touching series that has impacted my thinking. We finished up today talking about all the hardship he went through and yet, in the end, it was part of a greater plan than he could have possibly conceived. At the end of service Brian showed these boxes and suggested that we take one and start putting things in there that would help remind us of when God has been faithful in our lives, even in the hard times. It was a wonderful way to finish this series and I am so thankful that I took this journey with my church family.

205 - Look Mom

You are not the only one who can make great cakes!
#3 and his friend made this today. AAANNNDDD the kitchen was not a complete mess after!

204 - You Are My Sunshine

We dropped by a friend's house tonight to make sure she was surviving the evening (her hubby was working late unexpectedly and she has three kiddos under the age of 6 - need I say more?!?) and this sunflower is growing in her front flower bed. I love LOVE L.O.V.E. sunflowers, but the ones I planted this year kept getting mowed down because I didn't get edging around them. Next year my friends, next year.

203 - H.O.T.

No, not Mr. Incredible (although he IS) but the day today. I was supposed to take the boys to the zoo, but when I picked up #2 from football at 10:00AM and the temp gauge was reading 98, I decided to bail. This was take at 4:30 in the parking lot outside the theater. The theater runs a deal where everyone pays kids price anytime there is a heat warning out...good times!

202 - Summer Storm

Tonight as I was walking out the door to go to a wine tasting with "The Girls" this is what greeted me.

By the way...the tasting was wonderful, the company was fantastic, and now I know more about Riesling than I ever thought possible.

201 - Grill Time

Grilling is the only way to keep our kitchen from reaching the boiling point in the summer.
Good thing I LOVE to grill.

200 - Dog Days of Summer

Lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy dogs

They want a drink of water so they

Wait, and wait, and wait, and wait. and wait

for it to rain.

(Anyone remember "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein?)

199 - Lessons I Need to Learn

I know this is going up way late, but I was on the road Sunday to pick up #1. Since I really don’t want to rehash that trip publicly, I am going to share some thoughts on a subject that has been on my mind the past several days.

Last week, when Mr. Incredible was on vacation, we watched the movie “Invictus”. It is the story of how Nelson Mandela used the South African Rugby team to help unite a very broken nation. Two things I learned…


1 – I CANNOT believe how I lived in my own little bubble in the 80’s and 90’s. I watch movies like this or “Black Hawk Down” or “Through the Gate” (a movie about Rwanda) and struggle with how I could have possibly lived with these very major events going on and have very little knowledge on what was happening.


2 – Nelson Mandela has to be one of the greatest modern leaders. It sparked an interest in me to get to know more about the South African conflict and him. So off to the library I went.


I got his autobiography and the book Mandela’s Way – 15 lessons on Life, Love, and Courage. I finished Mandela’s Way last night. I am convinced that this man is one of the great leaders of our time. What made this book so amazing was not that these lessons are new, earth-shattering revelations, it is that this man who spent his whole life under apartheid, was sent to prison at age 44, lived in a cell that was so small he was unable to lay down stretched out, and came out at age 71 ready to put the past behind him and reconcile a nation, not by “getting back” at the enemy, but by working with them to bring about “one person, one vote.”


I will be honest here, I don’t know how you do that. We are studying Joseph in church and the story is very similar. Joseph, being a bit of a punk, is hated by his brothers and sold into slavery then imprisoned for 17 years. He emerges from prison to become the second most powerful man in Egypt and then is given the opportunity to “get back” at his brothers when they come to him for food. Instead, he forgives them and has them moved to Egypt where he can make sure they are treated well. I have paid attention and get that I am SUPPOSED to have this attitude of reconciliation. I get that I SHOULD be forgiving and give opportunities to rebuild trust. BUT, I just don’t know how that happens.


Back to my trip I don’t want to talk about. It involves people who have wronged me, but nothing near what Mandela or Joseph lived through…like not even close…like comparing a pinch on the arm to being run over by a train…so I am left with the question of how do I forgive, truly forgive? I know it is possible, I have studied two examples in depth now. I know that I am wrong to hold onto this. I have moved on in my life and most of the time I feel like I have forgiven, but then something so insignificant happens and all those old feelings of bitterness and anger come bubbling up to the surface. I defiantly do not extend the same grace to these people that I do others. So I guess I am leaving this post unfinished because I don’t have the answer. I guess this means I have more work, more growing up, more learning to do.

198 - Hot Day

What do you get when you have two boys, neighbors gone, and the third day of 100+ heat index?

Add boxes tape and scissors and you have a box maze for...

Cooper

197 - Cake

What kind of cake does Mr. Incredible get for his birthday?

A Mr. Incredible birthday cake

DUH!

196 - Big Daddy

No, not Mr. Incredible...my little friend the groundhog.

Until today, the only time I can catch him or the kids is when they are in the yard eating...never in their home. TODAY he poked his head out and said "Good Morning"!

195 - Birthday Haiku

What a special day

It is my Honey's birthday

He makes my heart melt

She makes me crazy

Lucy-Fur turns 2 today

Yes, they share the day

194 - Gramma

Remember the Gramma Geramiums I planted for Mother's Day?
Well they survived all the rain/wind/hail and look like this...

193 - Guess

Anyone want to take a guess as to what our next project is going to be?

192 - One Thing

Always leds to another around here...

For example...

Innocent washing of the car

Turns into this...

Which of course turns into...

And then eventually leads to...

This is life as I know it

I wouldn't have it any other way.

191 - He's Home

#1 went on a mission trip to Chicago for a week. Before they left they had to turn their cell phones over to their parents. I don't know who this was harder on, the kids or the parents! It was very hard to not be able to talk (or text) my kiddo for a week. Harder than I thought it would be. In the long run, I think it was good for everyone.

So he is home now and within 10 min of walking in the door he surrounded himself with the things he missed most...
1 - Cell Phone
2 - Shadow
3 - Air Conditioning
4 - Computer
(not sure if this is the order he would put them in! Also mom was not on that list!)

As you can see, Shadow missed him also...she was one heart-sick puppy this week.

190 - Every Mama

Thinks her baby is smart...well Cooper is trying to take it all in by osmosis!

189 - Dream

When I was in 3rd and 4th grade, my room had a window seat. I loved that seat and would sit there for hours dreaming, reading and telling secrets to my friend. It looked out over my backyard and into the woods behind the house.

Some friends of ours are rehabing a house on "The Hill" and we stopped by there to check it out. Guess what #3 found? You guessed it, a window seat. He loved it every bit as much as I loved mine. HMMMM, maybe Mr. Incredible will have a new project to work on this winter...we need new windows anyway...why not make one with a window seat?

188 - Vacation

Today we took these fabulous girls...

And the fantastic #3

Here...

This place has been a stopping place in St. Louis since the 1910's.

You may have seen it on "Man VS Food"

(Not that I watch that kind of show mind you)

We came...

We saw...

We Conquered...

We left stuffed!