Not Me! Monday

It's time for MckMama's Not Me! Monday blog carnival once again. The weeks roll by so fast, this gives me a chance to look back and review it...and confess.

You know that we CFers cough a lot. Well, I did NOT let loose a little trickle when I was coughing this last week. Not me! I'm too sophisticated for that! Nor did I not cough up way too much that would even gross my 14 years old son out!

On Wednesday I was so depressed over the state of my husband's attitude at his new job and the state of our marriage and the state of our finances and...oh, that should be another more private blog, sorry!...anyway, I was not so depressed that I stayed in the same clothes all day long and when school was over I did not crawl into bed and sleep away the afternoon!

I did not skip church supper and church that night because I didn't want to answer people's questions on how my husband is adjusting to his new job and how things are going. (I can't lie and didn't want to share the truth!)

I did not, in my depression, leave the house twice this week wearing the makeup from THE DAY BEFORE! It's better than no makeup, right?

I did not look into other options because my son's 8th grade (homeschool) work is getting so hard that I can hardly help him with it! (But I AM smarter than a 5th grader! Tee hee!)

I did not invite my mother to lunch, only to have her show up with bags of groceries for our family. They are so sweet and giving!

I did not skip quite a few of my medicines this week in order to stretch them out and help with finances! My doctors would have a fit! And along that line, I did not pick up a generic prescription and have to pay $64.99 because our insurance has been terminated and Cobra not set up yet! Ouch!

I did not wake up sad one morning, only to find that I had a beautiful new blog to look at and enjoy.

I did not eat 2 slices of my homemade lemon meringue pie yesterday! Not me! That would be terrible for my goal of losing weight!

I did not get up at 2:30 this morning to drive my husband over to his big truck to leave. Yawn!

Let's see, these are getting entirely too serious and you will never come back...Please come back. I just love reading your comments and knowing I have some new friends out there in blogland!

Don't forget to go to MckMama's to follow links to more Not Me! Mondays! Some of them are very funny!

God is so good to us!

We went to S.S. and church this morning, but came home partway through church because my head was really hurting. It feels like it could go into a migraine and I only have 2 Imitrex left and insurance isn't covering my meds. right now.

Anyhow, since I've been home this verse has been on my mind:

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

It is so good to know that no matter how far we slide, no matter what we do, that God is waiting to forgive us, that he gives us a clean and merciful start each day. He loves us so much more than we deserve. He is always there for us. He is compassionate and merciful. His mercies are new EVERY MORNING.

Promise, Hope, Encouragement

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

This is such a great verse. Who am I to add anything here?

Have a good weekend!

Hot for the Holidays - Week 3?

I'm losing track of where I am in Hot for the Holidays. Week 3 or 4. I could go back and look, but that seems like so much work now that I'm into posting!

So, do you want the good news first or the bad news?

Okay, let's start with the bad news...this is what I look like. (Ha! Ha! Gotcha, Jackie! Now it's YOUR turn!)


And if you haven't eaten your breakfast yet...my friend took this glorious shot of me this past Monday. Ick!


She tells me "Oh, don't doll all up with makeup and hair! Let's just go as we are. Don't you know we look younger without the makeup?" And what does she do? Takes my picture! (My hair is darker because I haven't been afford to have the hairdresser highlight it again.)

I would like to at least get rid of a couple of those double chins. Let alone some of the bulk. Do you know that I weighed 115 when I got married 21 yrs ago and around 120 at age 34 when we adopted R? There's some incentive for you young mothers to work out each day and watch what you eat! lol

I haven't been able to do much exercise this week because of my knee. It's still swollen and bruised and painful.

But the good news...I lost another 1.5 lbs! With all of the stress I wasn't sure if I would lose or gain this week. But that makes a total of 3.5 lbs so far. Because I have so much to lose I can't tell a difference with my clothes yet, but there's always next week.

Woooo-hoooo! Look what Jackie did for me!

Wow, was I ever surprised when I got on here this morning! My friend, Jackie, always has such beautiful blog pages that she designs all by herself. She offered to do one for me and here it is!!! Doesn't she do a beautiful job? I think she should do this as a part time business online! Her sweet little Savannah might not want to share her with something that timeconsuming, but Jackie sure has the talent for it. Thanks, Jackie! It looks great!

Lots of pictures! and our eventful weekend.

It seems like forever since I've been able to read my favorite blogs and do a little blogging of my own. Here's what's been going on this weekend:

Sat. AM: My son passed Karate belt testing on Saturday and now has his blue belt. Woo hoo!

That's him, tying his new belt at the end of the presentation ceremony.

Sat. afternoon: Husband got home after being gone 6 days. Can you say LAUNDRY?

Sat. evening: My son had a youth group activity involving a bon fire and hayride. The highlight of his evening? When the tractor hit a skunk and they were all sprayed in reflex! (Our pastor was walking around the front of our church yesterday morning with a clothes pin on his nose! What a riot!)

Also, Sat. evening: My long-time dear friend from PA arrived for a short visit. More on that later, with pictures!

My friend

ALSO, Sat. evening: The transmission went on our van, which is what I drive all of the time. What horrible timing! No job recently, now he's started a new job, Cobra payments for a couple of months, bills we can't pay and our main transportation dies and costs over $900 to fix.

Sunday: a great day starting with S.S. and church and introducing my friend. Showing her around in the afternoon and running errands for hubby, then making about 4 meals in the evening and packing him up to leave again. I was EXHAUSTED!

Monday: Relaxed on our deck with Irene. The weather has been beautiful and the trees show God's imagination and handiwork. We ate on the deck, then toured our historic town. Then made grilled supper and at on the deck under the lights.

After which my husband called and told me he didn't think he could stay at this job and we had a big argument. I cried and cried and Irene consoled me. We stayed up talking until 1:30, which was the 3rd night in the row I was up that late and rising at 7AM each morning, so I'm worn out. Just the stress could wear me out, let alone the hours and the pace I've been going.

Irene left this morning. I'm going to miss her but am sooooo glad she came to visit for a few days. It was just wonderful.

**Full disclosure: Two of these pictures were taken by my friend. **

Down on my knees - in a painful way

Okay, so Jackie fell off her treadmill and hurt her knee. But she had her very sweet daughter administering her sympathy and prayers.

I fell out of bed this morning and landed on my knees. An accident, not a prayerful intention, I might add. Yow! (I really need to tell you my "Christmas Night Terror" story because it's actually funny and my knee still hurts from then, but I don't have time right now.) I had leaned out of bed to pick up something off of the floor to pull on and fell out. I was only half awake, which is probably why I hadn't just swung my feet to the floor as I usually do.



Dear, sweet Rico, my beloved Golden Retriever,


my guardian and compassionate friend, came running to my aide. But he seemed to think I was on the floor to play with him and got all in my face with his nasty breathe. He did lay down next to me, then, until I could get up off the floor. Now my already sore knee is even more sore and swollen. I had been getting up to get onto the treadmill, but wasn't up to that right then. Probably as well. I would have probably fallen off the treadmill as my friend did!