open mouth insert foot

Picture it...Summer 2002...a six month old Evan Drake is just learning to sit up, a still-in-her- twenties young mother is attending a play group with 3 other young mothers who she has only known for 3-4months. This young mother, having just turned 29 brings her spouse to the playgroup. Someone has made a pan of brownies to celebrate that birthday. The young mother is grateful stating that she loves brownies and had made some herself not too long ago. Her spouse, thinkin he's some kind of funny guy, then says, "yea but you ate the whole pan before I got one". A hush fell over the room. jaws dropped. horrified glances were exchanged. Sam, Sam, Sam...

My question to you guys...when has someone (a spouse, buddy or significant other) really embarrassed you???

A little bit of badness...

I spend some of my best moments with the Lord in the early morning hours, walking through the house with various , often scrambled chores (that never seem to get completed). This morning as I was cleaning my kitchen I was thinking, no matter how much anti-bacterial, bleachy, stop 'em dead in their tracks (and for generations after) cleaner I use...there is always some dirt, germs, bugs (choose your favorite euphemism) left. There exists a school of thought out there that theorizes that by continuously disinfecting our environment we are contributing to the veritable explosion of asthma, allergy, and antibiotic-resistant viral and bacterial strains that are plaguing us today (I know...scary stuff and I could go on). The point is that by leaving things a little dirty we actually help our bodies do what they were so exquistedly crafted to do which is to use our own immunity to strike a balance with our environment. And getting back to the thought that originally inspired me to post this AM...I think that we as christians need exposure to a bit of bad to better ourselves. Anyone who has ever said "there but for the grace of God go I..." knows what I'm talking about. It humbles us, keeps in touch with the un-churched and reminds where we've been and , by contrast, where we want to go. Bless you all today!!

A special kind of stupid

So just to encourage a bit of fun blog traffic...

What is the stupidest thing you have ever seen anyone do?

My sophomore year at the U, I worked at the Michigan Union Wendy's. Anyone who has had the pleasure of working in the greasy arts know that during downtime, ridiculous conversation generally ensues. On one spectacularly slow night we were all playing "I bet you can't..." which , for anyone who is curious, is essentially the idiot's version of "Truth or Dare". This guy named Mike was just in the zone..pumped, hyped, whatever...ready for anything. Johnny (on of the funniest guys ever) bet him that he couldnt finish a 32oz Frosty in less than one minute. Boy he sure showed him. He was sent home 30 minutes later with the most intensive head pain ever.
Like I said...a special kind of stupid.

In the closet...

Hey...anyone else think that Dr. Phil is a Secret Agent Christian???

a follow up

For those of you who know me, you know I have an AMAZING husband, so let me just tell you how he responded to Thursday's Mayday call to him at work...he quietly told me he would be home as soon as he could. He showed up with a dozen roses, a bottle of my favorite wine and a box of chocolate chip cookies...and he just held me. What a man. A mighty, mighty good man.
I'm so blessed!!!!!!

"Quick!, anybody know how to get a chick out of a VCR?!" and other emergencies

Last night I had a bad Mommy night. Odd, because it was a great blog day. So striking to me, because most of my day was spent on such a high; good mtg @wk, no one bleeding when I returned, great talks with God, Coffee with my guy, funny chats with Kel, giggly pics of Manny and M&M (Mischief&Mayhem, m,y 2 and 3 year olds) to show off at work, an awesome praise by chaplain Ron @ our wk mtg ( I could go on)...I felt on top of the world! How is it that a mere two hours later the polarity of the earth shifted and landed squarely on my shoulders?? Wellllll...a combo of on call activity and what can only be described as a 2 yr old declaring war on her mother ensued. In the span of 30 minutes, G dumped 2 full aquafinas on the livingroom floor and one cup of cookie -dunking milk on the table, ran out side without a pullup & plopped her naked tookus in the dirt and smiled the broadest grin you've ever seen at every turn ,correction and admonishment from me. Meanwhile, E lost the ability to walk subsequent to a bandaid being placed on his ankle and then once the paralytic bandage was removed followed Grace around through all of her activities with a combination of giggles and a scary look of reverance that seemed to say loud and clear, "Damn. Wish I'd thought of that." In the midst of all of this craziness, I was fielding multiple calls from work.

As I sit here recounting my stressful tale, it becomes clear to me that one of a couple of things might be happening here:

1. God decided to use me to entertain you guys this AM

or the most likely scenario...

2. God is reminding me that the mountain top can become a slippery slope and to stay humble in my work and parenting.

Man...I gotta stop praying for patience:) God Bless you all today!!

morning mayhem

you know...I think if I ever got to eat a warm waffle in the morning, I'd have to look outside to see if a pig was flying by

I gotta post a praise...

I just said that out loud to Sam and it sounded good. I just realize it's been a bit since last I posted. so...lemme catch you up. Thanks for all of you who said a prayer for my first on call night. To say it went well requires a bit of perceptual license, but I made it through by the grace of God and Manny slept all night (woohoo!). Last night marked a more formal return to work and I lead my first meeting followed by my first night on call ( last week was a partial shift for my co-worker who needed a break). The meeting went extremely well considering some difficult issues on the agenda. Just when things were starting to feel a little dicey, my supervisor announced that she needed to leave but needed to meet with each of us individually beforehand. As people left and returned people were returning with enormous smiles on their faces. I soon found out why. I was the last to meet with the supervisor and was granted a 9.3% raise. Join me in raising your arms heaven-ward. Praise God!!
...and Manny slept all night and is still sleeping...I'm in the bonus round Baby!!!!!!

about me...

Well...in the spirit of "getting to know u day"...When I was in the 5th grade I was a self-proclaimed roller disco queen (anyone else catch that 70's show episode?...not that bad but close). I still know some pretty cool moves. On one particularily windy day I rolled myself down to the Church of Christ parking lot (a block from the house I grew up in) with an umbrella. I had 2 successful high speed sails across the lot before I hit a pebble, went flying and nearly impaled myself on the umbrella handle. That was a special kind of stupid...but it did win me a friend who in witnessing the whole thing was laughing so hard she nearly wet herself. what a way to meet someone. The good news is we're still great friends.
Also...please say a prayer for me...I start my first post-Manny oncall shift tonight.

An Auspicious Occasion

My husband has at long last hit 30!!!! I don't quite know why I find this so exciting. Maybe it's because his metabolism might slow down a bit, maybe the dreamy look in his eye when anyone speaks of fire or explosions won't last quite as long or maybe I won't hear the theme song from those Vonage commercials playing when I ask him to retreive something from the roof. It's like I told my dental hygenist the other day when she asked how long it takes to drive to the twin cities. "10 or 12 hours, depending on who you're married too", I replied. I don't know, Maybe it's because I've settled down so much. I enjoy watching my husband turning from daredevil to daddy. Those of you who know him well know what a wonderful mix he is of the two. Please join me in wishing a happy, blessed and outrageously tame 30th Birthday to Mr Swingin', Slammin' Sammy Walsh!!!!!