When you have to explain it, it isn't as funny

What a difference two years can make in the sense of humor of my two oldest boys. BB is also quite advanced in vocabulary and comprehension so I would say he is not typical of a 9 year old. He asked me if I knew what an Antelope was. I said it was a kind of deer. Then he asked me what an E-lope was. I was puzzled at first.

There is no such thing as an E-lope. There are no animals called that. But the word elope means to run away. Some people elope when they sneak off to get married.

"Oh. OK. Have you ever seen an Ant elope?"

I'm beginning to understand why he is asking. Nope.

"Have you ever seen a cat litter?"

"Have you ever seen a horse fly?"

At this point, PH chimes in, "I have! And then it bit me!"

This results in peals of laughter and BB tries to explain, "You have seen a HORSE fly?"

"Yes. It bit me and it really hurt," says PH.

"Nooooooooo... Have you ever seen a HORSE....FLY?"

Poor PH, this has gone over his head so I tell Princess and BB that this kind of joke requires a different kind of thinking that PH has not developed yet in his brain and no amount of trying to explain it to him is going to make him understand the joke. Its that literal versus abstract thinking. I got a good chuckle out of it.

And then we made other drivers on the road chuckle when I cranked up the radio and declared that it was now "Mini-van Dance Party" while we jammed to an old Donna Summer disco song. It was a very pleasant drive.

Favorite quotes from my Scrapbook weekend...

1. What happens at Raspberry Ridge, stays at Raspberry Ridge.
2. I have shopper's thumb.
3. I have Laughing Shoulder.
4. I think I cracked my rib from laughing.
5. (After watching "P.S. I Love You...a total chick flick) I'm not crying...it's allergies. Stupid ragweed.
6. The Cricut is not so much a tool as it is a Lifestyle.
7. What time is it? Wow...already?
8. Didn't you wear that shirt yesterday?...I haven't changed it yet. I only slept a few hours.
9. I still plan to take take a walk and a shower this morning. (the time is now 7pm)

There were many, many more but please refer to #1.

Just because you can does not mean you should

Today, I was driving home from my 5th annual Scrapbook retreat. It was wonderful. I laughed, I cried, I sat in the Shiatsu massage chair and ate a lot of really fabulous food. I think I even did some scrapbooking in there too. But all good things must come to an end and it was time to pack up and go home. I picked up my youngest 2 children at my Grandmother's in western MN. My sister called me and we were chatting away, laughing and having a good time when I hear this funny noise. So, I turn to see the Pumpkin-head has turned around in his chair and is using a pop can to relieve himself.

Whoa son! What are you doing? (that goes in the book for Stupid Questions Parents Ask...Obviously, I KNEW what he was doing...the real question was WHY are you doing that?)

"I have to go to the bathroom."

You could have told me and I would make a pit stop. I don't want you to use your empty pop can for a potty. You set that can down and be very careful not to knock it over.

Peanut chimes in, "It's my pop can. I was done with it and I gave it to Ian."

Well, don't drink from it now. And neither of you do that again, got it?

My sister is still on the other end of the phone, laughing her head off. I tell her that she is not helping because I need to sound mad but it is hard when she is making me laugh. Then she says, "Well, that is a benefit of being a boy. You have Point and Shoot capability. Now we know where that expression 'I need to use the can' came from."

That just made me laugh even harder. But the laughter stopped when I had to carry the can full of urine to the garbage can. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

And thus ended my vacation weekend. I knew that I was time to go back to the real world.

Waiting

It's the theme of my life. And I believe it is the message that God is trying to drill into my head. "Sit still and wait. Be patient. It's for your own good...for your growth and your protection."

But it is so hard. I live in a culture of "Got to have it now" and I have realized that I buy into that very often, even though I know I need to, in the words of Monty Python, "Run away....run away..."

I am in this Bible study by Beth Moore called Stepping Up. She is going through the Psalms of Ascent. I have been absolutely amazed. First of all, let me say that I really had NO INTENTION of joining the Bible study this spring. But I was walking past the sign up booth and saw my friend from the fall and the next thing I know, I am walking over there...Actually, spiritually Yanked is more like it. I did not go there of my own volition. And suddenly, I am signing up and parting with $20 for the book. Then the next thing I know, Vicky asks me, "You mentioned on your evaluation that you would be interested in being a Bible Study leader. We need one. Are you still interested?" The word flew out of my mouth before I could stop it..."Yes, I would."

WHAT???? 10 minutes ago, I wasn't going to sign up and now I'm going to be a leader? Lord, what are you doing?

"I'm giving you a push."

OK. But I don't understand and I am not sure that I am ready but since You are obviously leading me...perhaps leading by a kick in the pants, but still...then You have a plan and I will go with it. I will submit.

I have been blessed. I have been amazed. And I do not regret it for a minute. I will be sad when it is over.

What I have learned from Beth is to spend some time "on my face" before the Lord. I have never done that before while praying. I felt silly at first when I laid down on my bathroom floor. It was a room I could lock and have no prying eyes see me...and it was also 6:30am so the likelihood of being caught was slim as well.

After I got over the jitters and the feeling silly about it, I have felt a compulsion at times to get down on the floor, flat on my face and pray. And sometimes, I just listen. One day, I was really struggling with an issue that has been a common struggle for me for many years. I keep fighting the same battle and it seems like every time I gain a little ground, I slide right back down. So, I got down on my face and I really did not care who came in and found me, and I asked the Lord to speak to me and tell me what He wanted me to do.

I'm still puzzled by his answer. I am still struggling with it. But it is becoming more and more apparent that He is calling me to be obedient and to take a big leap of faith and put my trust in Him even when it doesn't make sense. I will admit that I am scared. I just cannot wrap my finite brain around how He could possibly work this out. But a part of me is tugging on my shirt tail saying, "Just try it...see what happens. What do you have to lose?"

I guess I should title this more along the lines of a call to obedience instead of waiting. But sometimes when I write, I start on one thought and travel down a completely different path. But that is OK, it was the path I needed to explore.

The question I am asking myself is "What am I waiting for?" as I heed the call to obedience. The Lord could not make it any plainer. I don't think my fear will go away until I jump in with both feet. Am I waiting for it to make sense? It may not make sense until I walk through it and look back. Faith is very much like that. I am thinking of that game I used to play in the pool, Marco Polo, where one person is blindfolded and calls out "Marco" and the others call out "Polo" and you try to catch them by walking toward the sound of their voice. Except that God is not trying to evade being caught but He does want me to listen to the sound of His voice and walk towards it, trusting Him as I do.

It's an interesting position I find myself in. I'm about to put that blindfold on and walk out into the pool, not knowing what I will find but knowing that the Lord will be there answering me when I cry "Marco...".

Tiger is a Mama of Five

Every new Mom needs to tell her story. This is Tiger's:

I have been very tired lately, just laying around a lot. I haven't even felt like sitting in the windows, watching the birds and the cars go by. I just want to lay in the dark, quiet places; under the table or under the beds. This morning, I woke up from my early morning nap and something felt different. I stood in the hallway, staring into space, wondering what was going on. My humans left for church and I went looking for a dark, quiet place to lay down. I found the big, soft bed of my Chief Human in Charge of Food and Water (she is also in charge of the smaller humans). I snuggled down under the quilt. It was so dark and warm.

But I couldn't sleep. My tummy started hurting real bad and things got real wet but I couldn't leave this spot. I really don't know what is going on. I began to push hard and instinct took over. I didn't think at all. One by one, these little lumps fell out. I cleaned them off and laid back down to push out another. There were 5 of them.

After a while, Chief Human in Charge of Food and Water, layed down on her bed and kicked me. I yelled out, but I am so tired, that it was not really loud. She heard me and pulled back the blanket. She got real excited and said something about "Kittens". I don't know what that means except that she used to call me her kitten.

I looked around and saw there were these squirmy, little things and they were climbing all over me making this squeaky noise. I weakly yelled, "What do you want from me? What are you?"

Something latched on to a nipple. OUCH!! But the squeaking stopped. Hmmm. Interesting.

Chief Human picked me up and put me in a box. I yelled, "I don't know what those things are...but they are mine... and I must stay with them and make the squeaking stop!" And I jumped out of the box and back on to the bed. Then Chief Human carried the little squirmy squeakers to the box and once they were all in there, then I laid down in the box with them. All five of them found a nipple and stopped squeaking. They are really kind of cute. They seem to need me and I seem to need them. I feel so compelled to just lay here and take care of them, to protect them and lick them clean. Maybe that is what Chief Human meant. These are kittens. My kittens.

Tulilp Mom and Pumpkin Head, the 7 year old!!

Pumpkin Head's 7th Birthday...Or a Possible Alien Invasion???

Update on a few things...Mixed bag

Ironic statement: I tell my daughter not to give up while looking for the house key. But I am ready to throw in the proverbial towel in regards to my son who is pushing limits and my buttons. Ouch. No need for anyone to point out that to me...I read over my post and felt immediate conviction that I must find a way to push through.

I think I have. After another evening of arguments, backtalking, bullying of his little brother, I called BB to me and explained that his behavior is completely intolerable. I asked him if there is something going on inside him that he is bothered by and that he would like to talk about. He said he could not think of anything. Then I told him that as a consequence for his mouthy behavior and rotten attitude he would be spending at least the next day inside and that could be extended if his stinky attitude continued.

On Friday afternoon, I called home to talk to the kids and he told me that he was changing his attitude. And for the most part, he had. He was much more pleasant and less mouthy. I told him I would refrain from deciding about extending his grounding through Saturday until Saturday morning. I want the kids to do some cleaning up before they go play, so I will see how his change in attitude continues before issuing a verdict.

This particular consequence seems to work best for him. That and missing out on other activities. Last year, he missed out on going to the State Fair. He still talks about that and he is really looking forward to going this year.


Princess and the Key:
While we were settling down for bed, she says, "Mom, I think I might know where the key is..." She is going to look for it first thing on Saturday morning. This was a good opportunity to explain how sometimes when we get upset, we don't always think very clearly and when we relax, we may remember things we had forgotten.

I still think that this stage of parenting...which is kind of like being a Life Coach is really becoming my favorite.

Son, don't get me started...

Yesterday, it was not a good day to be my children. It was a frustrating day to be a mom. I came home and learned that my dear daughter, keeper of the extra house key and locker of the door, had lost the housekey...A week and a half ago...and had only now told me! And the front door can only be locked from the outside WITH a key. This means that my children have been going to school and leaving the house unlocked...for a week and a half. Fortunately, we live on a very quiet side street with seemingly very nice and decent neighbors who are not home during the day to notice this. But it still made me very angry at the thought of what all could have happened.

Princess, you need to look for the key.

"But I don't know where it is."

So you will have to pull yourself up off the couch and start looking for it. The key is not going to find itself. (I mentally slap myself on the head because that little statement right there sounds just like something my mother has said to me but it doesn't stop me...I'm on a parental roll). You might even find that if you start to clean things up, you may find the key.

Princess puts on a pout, tears welling up in her eyes. She spends about 4 3/4 minutes looking in the living room and plops back down.

Did you find the key?

"No."

Well, you can't quit just because you couldn't find it after less than 5 minutes of looking. Look everywhere. Even in the places you think it could not possibly be. Start in your room.

Now she plops down on the stairs, props her chin on her fists, with her elbows on her knees with more tears.

"I can't do it. I can't find it."

Here we go... Lecture mode is kicking in. I can't seem to stop it. It's flying out of my mouth. I am frustrated, angry and very disappointed.

Princess, you don't seem to understand how bad this is that you lost the key. You were responsible for it. You were responsible for locking the door every day. And you didn't tell me for over a week that the key was missing. You may as well have just flung open the front door and announced to the world that our house was wide open and our stuff was free for the taking. I trusted you to lock up the house and I trusted you to come to me first when you can't do what I am expecting you to do. And now, you want to quit because it seems too hard. You need to march upstairs to your room NOW and start looking and you will not quit until that key is found. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?

Now the pout grows legs and she stomps up the stairs, arms crossed, sobbing like she lost her best friend and muttering under her breath. But she has to understand that this IS a big deal. And she can't just quit because it gets hard. And I cannot let her off the hook or she will not learn to respect the responsibility that I put upon her, nor will I trust her with more responsibility. It's a tough lesson. It was painful for both of us. I don't like to make her cry. But sometimes, that is what must happen for learning to take place.

Now enter The Boys. I begin to tell them that this key needs to be found and that I want them to stop what they are doing and help out by searching for the key. BB pipes in, "I don't know what it looks like. I have never seen it.

I think he thinks this will get him off the hook for looking. He is wrong. But he has begun to draw a line in the sand and there is another battle brewing in front of me but I didn't see it until it was too late.

BB, please head upstairs and look for a key on a butterfly keychain.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr" followed by a complete disregard for my instruction and he continues to work on his drawing.

BB, you heard what I said, now march upstairs and do what you are told.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR" and more ignoring.

Pretty soon, I am at my complete wits end and I am yelling. He is acting like a stubborn mule, refusing to move or do anything I say. And I am at a complete loss for what to do. He does not respond in the same way as the others do to the type of correction I use. A sharp tone just makes him more stubborn. A spanking makes him angry and act more like a caged animal that is cornered (it's a frightening thing, so I don't use spanking with any of my children any more). I am scared to send him to his room for time out because he can be so destructive. I really do not know what to do with him. Lately, he has begun to bully his little brother and even do things like shove him, slap him or just plain yell at him and tell him to go away, on top of his usual bossiness.

To be quite honest, I was so worn down that I just quit trying to get him to look for the key. I think this may be his strategy. He will be annoying and disrespectful to the point that I can't take it anymore and I quit trying. And he has won the battle. He got to do what he wanted which was what he was doing and he successfully avoided doing any work.

So, at dinner, his comment just about sent me running off the edge of the roof. I asked him to turn on the lamp in the dining room. He says, "I feel like I am a slave."

Ohhh hooo son. You are sooo wrong. You are not a slave. If anyone in this family is a slave, it is your mother. I work all day long. I come home and I work more. I do all the cooking, all the cleaning. I wash your clothes, clean your rooms, clean the house and make sure that you have everything you need to get to school. You have very little that is required of you. You are not a slave. It is not slavery for me to ask you to turn on a light so that we can see while we eat dinner. It is not slavery for me to ask you to clear the table or to pick up your clothes and toys or the garbage you throw on the floor. You are ungrateful, disrespectful and rude.

I am growing very weary of being argued with, being growled at and being disrespected. But I don't know what to do to change this attitude and these behaviors.

More Funny Quotes

Kristi: (co-worker on one of my teams) I need to talk to Dan...
Derek: (co-worker on my other team) Well, he's more our team lead than yours...We have 51% share-holder in Dan.
Kristi: Ok, well, if you have 51% of Dan, then we claim 96% of Tulip as OUR nurse.
Tulip: I think that would be right technically anyway...since most of my clients are on your team.

It's so nice to be wanted!


Peanut says: Mommy, I have decided that I don't want to get big. I want to stay this size forever.

Maybe I am weird...(I know that I am)

But I was sitting with Tiger on my lap and I put my hand on her belly and I could feel one of the kittens moving. It was absolutely amazing to me. It was a moment that actually took my breath away and I have realized that I am really excited to see these kittens being born.

And since the plan is to have Tiger spayed after the kittens are weaned, for my kids, it will be a once in a lifetime experience for them as well.

Prenatal Classes Feline style

So, Tiger, whom I have declared to be my feline version of Jamie Lynn Spears because she is a young cat, not quite a year old...so kind of a kitty teenager, is getting quite round. I am watching her with great interest to see if she will start to waddle the way pregnant women do when they start drawing closer to delivery day. She is not waddling yet. She still jumps up on things and perches on the window ledges to watch the birds and other things that catch her interest. But otherwise, she seems to sleep a lot more, eat a lot more and use the litter box a lot more. Not so different from a human.

Tonight, Princess found a little stuffed cat that meows when you squeeze it. So, she was showing it to Tiger. Tiger was interested in it for a while and was chomping on it and rolling around with it but then began to pick it up with her mouth. Princess kind of squealed and said, "Tiger, don't carry it in your mouth!"

A teachable moment, "Darling, that is how Mommy cats carry their babies. They pick them up by the back of the neck and carry them in their mouths until they are big enough to follow her."

"I know THAT...but Mom, she is carrying the kitten by the leg!"

Ohhhh. I hope that instincts kick in by the time the kittens are born and Tiger does not really carry her babies around by the foot. I don't think I can model the kitten carry for her. My kids would get a kick out of it though...to see me trying to carry a baby kitten in my mouth while showing Tiger how it is done.

I had a dream where Princess told me that Tiger had given birth to 5 kittens on my bathroom floor. I woke up in a cold sweat.

Funny Quotes

BB: I have $9 saved. I only need 41 more dollars and I will have $50.

I am so glad he is learning math in school! What I loved about this comment was his positive attitude.

Peanut: (about camping in August again) I hope that this year there won't be any storms. And because I don't need training wheels, I won't need to hit any girls.

Taken out of context, he sounds like a bully. But I shared earlier that last year, he attempted to bike sans trainers and took out a little girl as he wiped out...and it took him a year to overcome this fear.

Tulip: (to a co-worker as I tried to explain why I could not put two coherent words together) I am not getting enough oxygen to my brain...I barely get enough oxygen in my lungs. It takes me 10 minutes to recover after moving my chair from one side of my desk to the other.

My Mom: It's a good thing I didn't have any boys. I don't think I could handle the destruction. Girls grow out of that destructive phase fairly early. I don't think boys ever do.

And that is why men need hobbies that require power tools!

Desert Bloom (my sister): (upon the announcement that she has applied for a transfer to Minneapolis....and we are all praying she gets it!!) I'm already packing in my mind.

Beth-my cube neighbor: Our financial advisor told us that we will have to cut out food from our budget. But my husband says I HAVE to eat because I am pregnant. So, he is the one who is cutting out food.

Random Thought

I wonder if I can count my minutes spent coughing as part of my aerobic exercise? I can feel not only my rib cage muscles but also my abdominals. It's almost like doing crunches and since it takes up so much of my day....

So, my "glass is half full thought" is I'm not sick...I'm getting buff!

Or maybe just delirious.

I try not to hate anything but....

For the record, I HATE being sick. The swollen and aching joints has gone away only to be replaced by post-nasal drip and a hacking cough that results in 20 minute coughing fits. Every time, I lie down, more junk runs down the back of my throat and I wind up having to sit up, holding a pillow, coughing up what is left of a lung and part of my liver. I am diaphoretic (in non-medical terms " a cold clammy sweat") and thankfully, the fevers have gone away. I may have cracked a few ribs but I can now identify all of my intercostal muscles (those would be the muscles between the ribs...there is a set used for inspiration and a set used for expiration) because they hurt every time I take a breath larger than a tiny puff.

I won't even begin to describe the colors and the textures of the junk I am coughing up or swallowing. That would be a whole other blog called "Really Gross Stuff I Have Seen and Can Discuss at the Dinner Table but Don't".

I'm just so tired of being sick. I hate getting winded walking the 15 steps to the bathroom. Or having to take a 30 minute break to recover from my walk into work. And if I happen to forget to take the OTC medication I bought for exorbitant prices at the gas station, I can hardly talk before I will be hacking for another 15 minutes. I actually sent myself home on Monday to rest after spending most of the night coughing, tossing and turning. When the medicine finally kicked in, my kids came home and it was time to go and get my youngest at daycare. I just can't win. I HATE being sick.

I'm pretty sure the rest of the people in my world are sick of me being sick too. My co-worker who is 5 months pregnant keeps a respectable distance. I completely understand. I don't want her to get sick. But I don't have the plague. I am not contagious anymore. I don't think. It's better to be safe than sorry. But it does make for some lonely work days. Not to mention all the comments of, "You sound terrible...Are you going to the doctor?" To which I reply, "No...my fever has broken...my mucus has thickened and my cough is actually productive now...I have turned the corner and I'm getting better. Really...I AM... It sounds worse than it is..." Truth be told, I'm putting on a brave face because I really feel awful and would like nothing better than to stay at home and sleep all day. But duty calls. No rest for the weary. Or the sick.

The Man-atorium

I have considered writing about this particular declarationfor a while, which has been imparted onto me by my mother and my two sisters, but I have been reluctant because it might mean that I would actually agree with them that it's a good idea. They love me and don't want to see me get hurt again. And they also believe that I have more healing to do both from my divorce (which will be 5 years in August) and the 2 year relationship I ended in January.

The Man-atorium is not a Man-hating thing in any way. I do not hate men. I don't even hate the men who hurt me. However, I agree that I have repeated a pattern of choosing men who are bad for me who become controlling and abusive. And I find myself starting to slip back into my old pattern trying to be pleasing to them so I stuff my own beliefs, opinions and sometimes my values down for the sake of "keeping the peace". However, this eventually starts to eat away at me. I do not want to return to where I was when my marriage ended.

After a little over 9 years of marriage, 3 kids and another on the way, I was living 1000 miles from my family. I couldn't talk to my family when my husband was home because he would listen to my conversations and then talk over them, make comments or make signals to me that I should get off the phone. The two close girl friends I had, I spoke to them during the day when he was not home. My whole life was controlled by keeping the peace with my husband. I did not do anything without his permission. I did not go anywhere if he didn't know I was going there. I didn't spend money if he did not give me his blessing. And if I did spend more money than he had given me permission for, then he would verbally berate me until I cried and confessed that I was horribly mistaken and very selfish not to have asked him. After all, he was the one who worked every day and I was merely at home caring for the children.

After I learned that he had been abusing my daughter, I moved back to MN and got time and distance between us, I began to see just how unhealthy my marriage had been. With the help of a therapist, I began to discover that my coping mechanism for dealing with being abused was to change myself. In a sense, I allowed my personality to disappear and my self-esteem and identity was so tied in to him that I felt that I had become a shell of a person or a role. I was "Wife" and I was "Mommy" but nothing else.

I had to fight hard to break out of that. I began to see myself differently. I began to see that I was strong and that God had given me a brain, a sense of humor and a determined spirit that I did not even know I had until I needed to call upon it in order to do some really hard things. I went back to college to become a nurse. I amazed myself when I sat in Chemistry class and realized, "OH...I get it." That was the first time in a very long time I ever thought I might be smart. I spent the next 3 1/2 years working part time, going to school full time and raising 4 kids as a single parent.

I gained a lot of ground in 5 years. I can understand my family's concern that I would let that slip away by repeating a bad pattern and once again choosing a man who devalues me, who disrespects me and treats me harshly or cycles between being sweetly attentive and doting to silently cold for little or no reason. Both of these men professed to be Christians who loved the Lord and desired to follow Christ in their lives. Yet, they both have been blind to how they treated me.

I do need to sort out why I keep finding men like this. Do I have a target on my head? "Controllable and Malleable". If so, I need to find a way to get that off. I also need to be courageous enough to stand my ground even in the face of an opposing opinion and know that it is OK to a) have an opinion and b) be disagreed with. And I think too that I need to figure out how to respect myself enough to garner the kind of respect I want and deserve from another person. I don't think I can do that while in the midst of a relationship. However, developing friendships can be a safer way to practice those skills and sort some of that out.

I think I should be proud of myself for recognizing that this was happening again. And when I was beginning to feel disrespected or that my opinion was being devalued, I started to speak up and stand my ground. I think my ex-boyfriend found that very unsettling and at that point, the magic sort of wore off in our relationship and the good times were fewer and farther between and the distance became greater. In the end, I found myself holding back how I felt on a lot of things and observing him and how he was around me and my family. If I gave in to his tyranny, things would go smoothly and he was doting and sweet. If I held fast to an opinion or argued a point, he was dismissive and rude. It proved my point.

My Mom is telling me that if God wants me to be married again, He will bring the right man along. A pastor who was teaching our Life Enrichment class today was talking about how we can sometimes create hardships in our lives when we try to rush God along. I do think both these people are reading the same script and I need to sit up and take notice.

I'm going to quit fighting the Man-atorium. I have my family to care for. I have friendships that I would like to continue to develop; some new and some old but the blessings in both kinds are numerous. It's a rich life I have right now.

Things I have learned this week

1. Sometimes things that look like they are bad can turn out to be really good...i.e. my van dying and having to get a new one. My kids and I really, really like our new vehicle.

2. And even though I am nervous about having a car payment and higher insurance, I do also believe that if God brings you to it, He's going to bring you through it.

3. The "Not so fun facts about Fifth Disease"
-while mild in in children and like chicken pox, you will develop an immunity and most likely never get it again, in adults it can be more than mild.

-Adult cases can cause the itchy rash that is from head to toe, in the ears, in the nose, the bottom of my feet, the palms of my hands...all at the same time like some sort of whole body Itch Fest of which I wish to no longer be a part of...and the rash sometimes reacts to sunlight causing me, a fair skinned red-head to look like a sun-burned lobster after a mere 2 minute walk outside.

-The doctor mentioned "some joint pain" but she failed to mention that this joint pain would also result in swollen joints. Every morning, I wake up with my fingers looking like stuffed sausages, my ankles looking like elephant feet and my knees stiff and snap, crackle and popping as I walk up the stairs. Then later on in the day when the fluid shifts out of my joints, I find myself running to the bathroom every half an hour like a pregnant woman.
-This joint pain can last for several weeks up to several months. One website said even several years. Hooray.

-I am not having fun.

4. I survived my first night at a Bible study small group leader. It went really well. I'm looking forward to the next meeting.

5. My kids like to pray for people and now that we have a white board up in our kitchen, we are writing down prayer needs and spending time praying at meals for those needs. BB added his friend who had strep throat. It has been so sweet to listen to them. It has also created some enthusiasm that I have not seen in them for quite some time.