Tagged

I have been tagged by Mandy. Six random things about myself. So here I go.

1.Samantha Who? Just caught up on the first season via DVD in a flurry. I love so much about this show. It's funny, the things she wrestles with are questions we all have about who we are, and her clothes. I love her clothes! It's a half-hour show so on DVD or Tivo it is only a 20 minute time commitment (that is if you can just watch one, which I can't).

2.Magazines. I love them. I think it is the small bits of information you can get in one publication. It really keeps me interested and I can just read the things that interest me and go back later and read more.

3.I hate raisins and nuts in baked goods. The texture of these two things really change when you put them in batter and bake them. It grosses me out. I do like raisins and nuts in other contexts, trail mix, salads, a handful from the pantry. A possible inconsistency to this is that I really like craisins in cookies.

4.The last time I traveled I almost had a panic attack on the plane and while going over a scary looking bridge. It was the first time this had ever happened to me. I am not sure why.

5.I have been looking for a pair of black flats for 3 months. I can't find a pair I like (at the right price), I have probably looked at hundreds of pairs of black shoes to no avail. Also, I love peep toe shoes, but my left big toe was broken so when I wear them it looks like I am flipping someone off with my 2nd toe.

6. My paternal grandmother, my sister and myself do not have a gag reflex. Which means that throwing up in darned near impossible. It also means that I could be one of those sword swallowing carnies if I wanted to.

I am not going to tag anyone, but it was really fun to do. If you are so inclined you can tag yourself and say I tagged you.

Thankful.

My husband is amazing! I'm telling you I keep getting surprised and humbled by the ways that he serves me. When I am tired and overwhelmed he gives me perspective. Today was one of those days that I was just exhausted and thinking about the upcoming week just made me feel like sobbing. I was cranky and probably a bit bitchy. Mostly, it is all the expectations I put on myself. Those feelings that I should be super-wife or something. Making sure all the meals are planned, groceries are bought, laundry done, floors scrubbed with a toothbrush. Wait, I never scrub with a toothbrush, but somewhere in my head it seems like a virtuous quality of a wife. My sweet, observant and pursuing husband noticed my angst and really entered into it. He offered to go to the grocery store, pick out meals for the week, and was really happy to do so. I sometimes struggle with receiving help and so we compromised and went together. He did all the hard work of deciding what we would eat. He picked the meat, that's his thing. It was just a relief not doing that alone today and I felt released to not feel like I have to. After all of that, he came home and emptied out the fridge (with some really nasty stuff in it) and unloaded the groceries, loaded and started the dishwasher. Today I have been piled with grace upon grace. I am so thankful!!

The Fuminator and other tails

I discovered a wonderful tool. I had seen the furminator in ads and in dog stores, but had never wanted to put down the $. My hubby found a great deal this week and ordered it online. We got it in the mail today and I used it on my dogs. It's claim to fame is that it decreases shedding and gets rid of the undercoat of long haired dogs. It worked wonders on Charlie (Chuck, Crazy, Charles Barkley...).

Charlie-not photogenic, but sheds a lot!
I brushed him and out came about a target bag worth of hair, I'm not kidding. It just kept coming out. I was so excited that all of that hair wasn't going to be on my floors! I am going to do it again tomorrow. I also tried it on Nigel, a less willing participant and it wasn't quite as productive, but that could be due to his excessive squirminess. Speaking of Nigel.
Nigel-loves the camera, escape artist extraordinaire
We sent Nigel to a friends house (backyard) for several days while we travelled to my parents house. He did quite well we were told until the last night. We got back late evening and B went to pick the big guy up, the dog-sitters weren't home so he didn't bring Nigel home. We figured we would pick him up in the morning. B got a call about 7 am saying that someone had found our dog on their front porch. Nigel had escaped. B went to pick him up and he found Nigel sitting on the porch with a 8 year old girl hugging his neck. Apparently, they found him, let him into their house where he sniffed around and sat on their couch. This family just thought he was so sweet and said they would love to dog-sit if we ever needed someone. It seems that he had learned how to open the gate of the fence. If you know Nigel you will know that he is about 100 lbs of Irish wolfhound and lab. The very thought of him coming into our house is terrifying-we just imagine that his tail would knock down everything in sight. But, apparently our fur face likes couches and cuddles. It just makes me smile and a bit more sympathetic to letting him inside:).

Project Haiti

Saturday we had the joy of helping load a 40 foot shipping container with clothes, shoes, food and medical supplies to go to Haiti by boat. This vision was born from a wonderful woman in our small group. She is inspirational and full of faith. She organizes groups of doctors, surgeons, nurses and others to go to Haiti several times a year. There is a clinic there that provides medical assistance for the Haitian people. It is such a wonderful project that continues to inspire people, get people involved in serving others and sharing Christ with a lost nation. It was beautiful to see all those that donated. People gave just about everything, from a $25,000 anesthesia machine, 3,000 pairs of shoes from Payless, to rice, beans and flip-flops. All of these things given with love and a hope that the love of Christ would touch the recipients of these things.Just learned last night that anesthesia machine was worth $70,000! Wow!