WHY?

I just don't get responsive readings.  I really don't.  When I was younger, I was insecure and self-conscious and hated them because of those factors.  Now that I am older, I have a huge disdain for responsive readings.  I kind of get the point.  Kind of.  No.  No I don't.  I don't understand why we do them.  I don't understand what it is about them that makes them so appealing to others.  Am I the only person in the church who hates responsive readings?  I have a feeling I will get some flack for this hatred of mine...but I can't hide it any longer.  It's time to proclaim unashamedly (OK, maybe a little ashamed) that I cannot stand responsive readings!  I can't quite put my finger on what it is about them that annoys me so much...but there's something...for any of you who don't go to church or weren't raised in a church where responsive readings were part of the service, let me explain.  The idea is that the pastor/preacher/worship leader reads a small section from the Bible or some other church-approved book, and then the congregation reads another...and this continues until said responsive reading is done.

Example of a responsive reading:

Leader: We pray for those who are suffering.

Congregation: Give us the wisdom to know what we can do to comfort them and be with us as we attempt to do so.

Leader: Today, we especially ask that you be with those with a mental illness. Help them to have faith that you are with them even in their most difficult times.

Congregation: Guide us as we show them love and compassion.

Leader: We beseech you to provide understanding and direction to the leaders of our nation. Help them to recognize the needs of those who are suffering and have the desire to respond with justice and compassion.

Congregation: Help us all to do the same.

All: Bless, guide and heal us.  Amen

So...maybe I just have a bad attitude...but I've always disliked these.  I guess maybe you should pray for me!

No Bake Cookies *Updated*

The last time I tried to make no bake cookies sugar-free the consistency was horrible.  They tasted great...but you had to eat them with a spoon, as they all just kind of melted together into one large plate-shaped cookie.  This time around, I had more oats on hand and so I was able to make them thicker.  The only problem this time is that they needed to be sweeter.  I guess I can't have everything...but maybe some day I will perfect them...so here is the updated recipe for anyone that wants it.  Oh this time I also used almond butter instead of cashew butter, since it is what I had on hand.  These don't match the sugar-filled ones at all, but they are a close second, especially when you want chocolate.

Gluten-free No Bake Cookies

1 1/2 cups agave nectar*

8 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup gluten-free unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup almond butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup pecans

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

4 cups gluten-free quick oats

In large saucepan, combine agave nectar, butter, milk and cocoa. Heat, stirring frequently until boiling. Boil 1-2 minutes; remove from heat and cool 1 minute. Stir in almond butter, vanilla & salt and mix well. Add oatmeal (and nuts/coconut if desired). Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment paper and let cool until it hardens. *If you can have sugar, increase amount to 2 cups.

I'd like to present...CHICKEN PARMESAN CASSEROLE

I did it!  I made it!  A casserole.  A dish all by myself.  With no recipe.  I did of course have some guidance from The Gluten-Free Homemaker.  So...does anyone want to know what I made?  How I did it?  Well, that's too bad...I'm going to tell you anyway!  ;-)

OK...I'm not sure where to start.  I did it in about 25 different orders...let me think through this.  OK.  Let's start with the pasta.  I used Quinoa Garden Pagodas pasta.  Naturally gluten-free, it's a good option.  Unless you can't eat corn...which I'm not supposed to...BUT I'll make an exception where my pasta is concerned because I know I like Quinoa and I'm just not quite ready to give up corn as a grain...so...all that being said, cook your Quinoa pasta, drain it, and set it aside.

Next, prepare your spaghetti sauce, or marinara if you are feeling fancy and want to call it that!  For the sauce:

4 Tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion
1 small green pepper
2 cloves of garlic (I used a garlic press and next time will add more garlic)
1 Tbsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 12 oz can tomato paste
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder

Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Sauté onions, pepper and garlic until soft.  Add salt, pepper, tomato paste and crushed tomatoes.  Add seasonings and simmer for 20-40 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta.  Mine amounted to about 3 cups by the time I was done-I just used the whole box.  After the pasta was done, I spread it in a 13x9 pan.  Then I put a thin layer of sauce on top of the noodles (because my test recipe told me it needed just a bit more sauce in it).

Now I am horrible with measurements when it comes to creating a breading, so the amounts may be too little or too much-it depends on how much chicken you are wanting to coat.  I originally had too little and had to add more.  So, for the Parmesan chicken here is what you will need (give or take a few Tbsps here and there!):

2 cups chicken, cut into bite-size pieces.
3/4 cup almond flour
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning (you can use oregano, basil, etc...)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 egg
1-2 cups Mozzarella cheese

Mix egg in bowl.  In a separate bowl combine almond flour, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.  Dip the chicken pieces into the egg and then into the flour mixture.  Place the coated pieces of chicken into the pan with the pasta spreading it out so that the whole pan is covered.  Next, pour the remaining sauce on top of the chicken and pasta.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle Mozarella cheese on the top.  Cook for another 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

CANDIDA RETURNS

I knew it was going to happen.  I've been going down a very unhealthy path with food and I knew it would catch up to me.  And it has.  My dear old friend Candida has decided to move back into my body and I am not too happy about it.  Not only do the symptoms suck, trying to cut out pretty much everything I love to eat is just horrible!  Next to impossible!  Without being able to stay home full-time and experiment all day in the kitchen.  And even if I COULD, my back and neck would never let me get away with that.  Cooking now consists of doing most things that I can sitting at the table and if I am made to stand, taking breaks every 10 minutes or so to rest my back.  It's ridiculous.

And the only way to ensure that Candida doesn't hold me down is to fight it.  By going back to eating yeast-free.  Which has HUGE benefits, but is extremely difficult to master.  In fact, I didn't master it last fall when I was diagnosed with it.  I did awesome.  For 6 weeks.  Then I had knee surgery and allowed myself to believe that while I spent just one week recovering it would be OK to eat whatever my husband brought to me, since I couldn't cook.  And once I was back on my feet, the healing process took WAY longer than it should have.  Top that off with out-of-control neck pain for the next several months, here I sit, having gained back all the weight I lost last fall, with a gut that is terribly sick.  I may even need to get antibiotics and an anti-fungal from the doctor to combat it in these beginning stages of trying to rid my body of it.  I was so miserable yesterday that I said "Enough is enough."  So it's back to a yeast-free diet I try to go.  :-(  I know that ultimately it will be a good thing.  A great thing.  I'll feel better physically and mentally, not to mention emotionally, so you wonder why I don't always eat that way...but let's face it.  Running through the drive thru or cooking frozen fish sticks or corn dogs on a school night takes WAY less time and energy after hustling four kids everywhere and working all day.  Yes, I realize that is a run on sentence.  That is how I intended it to be!

Anyway...so today I went back through my "files" of gluten-free web pages to try to find a casserole to make.  We're having movie night at church and the theme is casseroles.  Needless to say the fattening stuffed chicken casserole I was PLANNING to make has been nixed.  So it left me having to create my own.  And I remembered that The Gluten-Free Homemaker had a post about creating your own casserole, so I'm being brave and experimenting, which usually NEVER goes well!  EVER...I have a small portion baking right now and IF it turns out, I will post pictures and the recipe later.  If it doesn't turn out, well I am sure I will be back later to whine about it.

Follow Me Chickadee...maybe I'll link up this week!

Today I am going to tell you about the time I did, then didn't, then might, then might not, then DID go see Shrek at the Fox Theater!  I'm a sucker for drama.  I'm quite the drama queen myself.  So, when someone else has their own drama and I get to sit back and enjoy it...well...it's always good to laugh.  I promised my friend I wasn't going to expose her deep, dark, family secrets that led to me FINALLY getting the free tickets that allowed me to see Shrek The Musical.  I toyed with the idea of changing names and facts...but I've had a horrible headache and don't think my brain is functioning appropriately enough to be funny!  Let's just say there was a time and place to meet, and then some police involvement and potentially not getting the tickets, and then finally getting the tickets.  It was quite amusing.  Well, probably not for some of the people involved...but it was one of those things where you think "This kind of thing only happens to me!"
I had a very sweet friend offer me tickets to see Shrek for today.  Initially I thought "There's no way.  I have to work and it's in the middle of the day.  Furthermore [yes I did think furthermore in my mind], who would I take with me?"  I have four kids and knew Livvy was out.  She's too young with too short of an attention span.  Kaleb had already had his birthday and a date with mom and dad, so it didn't seem fair to take him, not to mention the fact that he had soccer practice.  Katherine is *hopefully* going to see Switchfoot (with mom and dad of course!) for her birthday next month.  So that left Abbey.  Do we play the part of irresponsible parents and take our kids out of school just to go see a play about a big, green ogre?  Well, of course!
The show was...well...it was Shrek.  I didn't care for the movies!  However, I LOVE the Fox.  LOVE IT!  So, while I didn't LOVE the storyline, the musical production was good.  The music wasn't just incredible, like in Wicked, BUT it was funny and enjoyable.  The costumes and especially Lord Farquaad and the Dragon were incredibly well done.  Really great.  The stage looked amazing.  Overall it was a great experience.  What made it so amazing was having Abbey there with me.  Shortly after Act 1 started, Abbey leaned over and whispered "This is WAY better than the movie!"
It was at the intermission that my heart began to swell, experiencing this with her.  Because she said something to me that both floored me and fulfilled me as a mother.  Abbey is just naturally expressive, so she can say "I love you" and manage to put different emphasis into it each time.  She has this way with words and facial expressions.  Always has.  I hope she always will.  But when she turned to me and said "You just don't know how much this means to me!", I almost cried.  People, she's SEVEN!  She was in heaven.  It was just so awesome to hear those words come out of her mouth!  I love that girl so much!!!  I hugged her, beaming, and said "Oh I think I do know and I love you so much.  I am so glad I can share this experience with you!"  She had so much fun.  Something would happen and she would just look at me and smile. She laughed and just absolutely loved it!  What a wonderful experience!!  
So, thank you anonymous friend who has questionable family members who may or may not have occasional run-ins with the law, for making my afternoon possible!  Abbey and I thank you.

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

10 REASONS I LOVE MY JOB

10.

I can wear whatever I want.  If I want to squeeze into those spandex biker shorts and tube top (GROSS!), while my coworkers may complain, there is no rule (that I know of) saying I CANNOT.

9.

The people in my office talk about the weirdest things, like the Easter Snake and how with one look you can tell if someone is a prostitute.  Seriously...the stuff these people come up with is priceless!

8.

I'm good at what I do.  I can't EXPLAIN what I do, but I am good at it!  

7.

Facebook is an acceptable mental break.  Wait...it is, isn't it?

6.

I have the ability to work from home, or any location as long as I have an internet connection.  SO glad for a VPN/remote desktop!

5.

There is a Q'doba within minutes of the office.

4.

My husband allows me to frequent aforementioned Q'doba every other week or so. Which has little to do with my job, unless you will believe that Q'doba makes me do my job better?

3.

I have a 30 minute commute, which means a good hour of "reading" books (thank you Audible.com) I wouldn't otherwise have time to read.

2.

I work with vendors who sometimes send us food, take us to lunch or send us Starbucks gift cards.

1.

I GET TO SLEEP WITH MY BOSS!  

(Don't worry people...he's also my husband.)

Premiere Week!

Maybe it's not officially premiere week, but there are some great shows premiering this week!  So far this week I have watched Glee (was it even necessary to mention that?), Chuck, Raising Hope, Lone Star and Running Wilde.  Now I'm sitting here watching (and almost crying 10 minutes in) The Biggest Loser.  I watch a LOT of TV.  I love it.  Kris and I really connect and enjoy watching "our" shows.  So, let's talk about some of these shows.

Raising Hope - Kris is not impressed.  I am.  Well, not impressed.  But I thought it was cute and could either be good or really struggle to maintain a decent storyline.  I'd like to give it a couple more episodes anyway.

The Biggest Loser - Well, there isn't much to say yet.  I've only seen half of the contestants thus far, but I enjoy the show.  I am hoping I find others to root for that I just really like.  I felt like last season just wasn't as good as previous seasons...or rather, it was hard to find someone I wanted to root for last season.  My heart strings are already being pulled for this woman (Aida I think?) whose two little brothers died(due to circumstances beyond her control) and when she was in an accident with her third younger brother her father slapped her in the face and said "Are you trying to kill another one?"  What a horrible, horrible thing to say.  To your child especially!  I like Burgandy too...

Lone Star - I think this show has potential.  It's about a conman who is living 2 different lives and things begin spinning out of control.  I thought the premise was interesting, so we watched it.  While watching, I was thinking "I really like this show."  By the end, I loved it.  Hopefully it will keep up the momentum!

Glee - It is coming in 3rd place simply because I didn't not think the premiere was AMAZING.  Don't get me wrong.  I loved it because I love Glee.  I love Charice.  She's adorable and can sing to boot!  I really hope she comes back to New Directions.  Not sure how I feel about Coach Beist.  But I LOVED every single Sue interaction on the show.  SO. FUNNY!!  The previews for next week look good, though I think it will be one of those episodes I probably can't let my kids watch, because of the suggestive nature of the clothing and behavior.

Chuck - THE PREMIERE WAS AWESOME!  I love Chuck!!!  And the premiere was just very well done and made me realize how much I had missed it over the summer.

Running Wilde - When I first saw Will Arnet was starring, I was instantly intrigued.  I loved Arrested Development.  I love his character even more in Running Wilde.  It was so funny!  I just really enjoyed it and it will have it's place in my Hulu queue.  I was watching bits and pieces of it again today and it made me smile.  Can't wait to see what is in store this season.

Upcoming shows I can't wait to watch?  30 Rock, Community, Modern Family, and Big Bang Theory!!

What are you watching this season?  Any of your favorite shows premiere this week?

Another post about GLEE? Really? Yes...

My baby is finally here!  OK...so it's not a baby.  But I am in love...like you would be with a newborn baby.  OK...maybe not quite so enamored.  But...my day went from just alright to SPECTACULAR.  Why you ask?  Because THIS came in today!

I was giddy like a little girl at Christmas today at lunch talking about watching Glee.  And then, when I got home from work, I had a box, THE BOX, from Amazon.com.  Containing my pre-ordered season 1 DVD set (and it only cost me $9.99).  See that?  GLEEK edition!  For Gleeks.  Like me.  Of course, there was no way I was going to wait until my upcoming Gleekend for the special features.  I LOVE the Glee Jukebox that is on some of the discs.  It blends songs and their scenes from the episodes into one long music video.  Of course, as they played Bohemian Rhapsody (from the finale) while Quinn was having her baby I bawled.  Again.  Just like I did when I watched the finale.  Cried and cried.  All of my kids want to watch Glee with me, because they see how excited I get and they know it makes me happy, and so they want to share that with me.  I wish that there weren't as many "adult" elements in it as there are because I want to be able to share it with them.  I am going to keep track of what is not appropriate during the Gleekend, so I will know if there are any episodes that are OK for the kids to watch with me but I am doubtful that there will be any.  *Sigh*...maybe in a few years...

GLEEKATHON!!!!

It is SO happening!

Friday night, Oct. 1.  

7PM.  

Season 1.  

GLEE.  

22 episodes.  

Great food and fellowship.  

Come one, come all, except for kids.  

No kids allowed.  

Not even my own.  

I.CANNOT.WAIT!!!!

So, if you want to join me for my First Annual Gleekathon, contact me for details!

Devoted

You know how devoted I am?  I participated in Follow Me Chickadee on Friday, promoting with the proper link and all...and never linked up!!!  I had the post ready about 30 minutes before I thought the link was going up, and figured I'd add my name in the morning...and then completely forgot.  Until Saturday morning.  I'd say that's devotion right there!!

I'm watching Hoarders again.  I had to stop eating.  I believe it is impossible to consume food while watching this show.  In fact, I'd recommend watching the show on an empty stomach.  Um...I just thought of a way to combat my addiction to food.  I need to just watch Hoarders any time I want to eat!!!

Seriously though, it's so sad and so disturbing.  This lady that is hoarding the spoiled food in her fridge and coolers?  There is something seriously wrong with her brain...it's so very sad.  To live like that.  To realize that there are some people who truly think that this is a normal way to live and behave.  It's scary.  I hope that none of my kids (or my husband!) ever get to that point in how they live their lives.  I think that is what scares me the most, worrying about them and the choices they will make in the future.  But I can't do that.  I have to trust God with them.  I know that.

B2S/B2B

I'm a procrastinator and tend to work out of order.  So, I AM participating in Kludgy Mom's Back to School, Back to Blogging, but I am doing week two before week 1.  I am afraid that if I don't just get started I will miss out.  I have done half of the work for week 1 but haven't found a chance to really sit down and deal with the writing aspect of it.  You see, I hate all the technical aspects of the internet and blogging...widgets, templates, all sorts of big words that intimidate me.  So here I am, trying to knock out this portion, in the hopes that it will help me move forward with week 1.  First of all, check out the Back to School, Back to Blogging here:



This week's writing assignment is to pick a topic from The Idea Bank, after submitting your own 10 suggestions. This is going to be a great resource for bloggers who, like me, tend to be experiencing some writer's block from time to time.  The topic I chose for this post is "What is the chore you hate to do and how creative could you be in getting out of it?"  I didn't even have to think about this one, at least the first part.  
LAUNDRY.
I. HATE. LAUNDRY.
The up and down the stairs is my least favorite.  It's the part that I avoid at all costs.  So what am I doing to get out of it?  I have pretended for the last 2 years that I have constant pain in my neck.  I pretend that it hurts me to carry the basket full of 6 people's clothes, 75 times each week.  I also pretend that my back hurts whenever I lean over to reach into the basket to fold the clothes.  So in an effort to avoid doing the laundry, I have bred and now trained small people to be able to do this task.  It is my primary goal for their lives.  I have two of them trained (two still in training), two of them who can take the baskets up and down, put the clothes in the washer, put the soap in, start it, switch it to the dryer, bring the clothes upstairs and even manage to not-quite-correctly fold the clothes and put them away.  It was actually pretty clever on my part.  How many of you are sitting there nodding in agreement that laundry is by far the WORST possible chore?  Here's the solution.  Have FOUR children.  Because, at some point, they will all be big enough to assist.  And you will not have to go on pretending to be in physical pain just to escape the responsibility!  It's either that, or ban clothing entirely in your household.  

Couldn't be more proud

As Christian parents, the thing you hope and pray for most is that your child will fall in love with God and long to follow him.  Abbey has seen both Katherine and Kaleb choose to be baptized in the last year and a half.  And she has been begging us recently to let her.  We weren't sure she was ready, but recently she just kept pressing and pressing.  Finally I sat down and talked to her about it.  It was so cute hearing her compare following God to the Veggie Tales Sweet Pea Beauty movie to her life.  The first answer she gave when I asked her why she wanted to be baptized was "God told me to."  Here are a couple of pictures from that awesome day.  We, as her parents are so proud.  Kris even more so for being able to be the one baptizing her.  She was SO excited...it was awesome to see the light in her eyes!

Follow Me...

...Chickadee...




It's about time I get back into the blog world again.  I've had a few posts here and there but haven't been as active.  Bottom line...I feel like my life is spinning out of control, in a nice orderly fashion.  School has begun again and while Kris and I are working similar shifts now, the chaos hasn't improved.  It has only changed.
Let's see...Kaleb has started soccer.  Abbey has speech therapy two nights a week.  Kris is in a Bible study one night a week.  I'm back to working almost 40 hours per week.  Kris is putting in at least that many.  He'd put in more if I'd let him.  Not because he wants to avoid his family.  Well, he might and he just hides it really well.  But I think it's because he is a workaholic and he finds it impossible to just leave when the work day is done.
Our vans, Hydrangea and Oscar are doing well.  Kris has adopted and fallen in a strange sort of love with Oscar.  Oscar is older.  Oscar has some of that same charm my Explorer had.  The kids called *that* van Oscar.  They insist that it is NOT because Kris is grouchy.  I'm not sure I believe them.  We are all deeply in love with Hydrangea.  When Livvy was sick on Monday and riding in the blue van (Hyrdrangea), she told me that Hyrdrangea was sad because she was sick.
I discovered Wipeout tonight.  I then shared the joy that is Wipeout with my kids.  Every single one of them sad, enraptured.  For the entire hour!  We did bedtime activities during commercials and then they were back in there, glued to the TV.  It was so funny watching their reactions.  What is it with people enjoying watching other people fall???  There is something so disturbing about that!  I was tense the whole time and thinking...there's no way my neck could handle that!
Anyway...happy Friday everyone!  If you like what you see, feel free to stick around for a bit.  If not, well...thanks for the one time stop over!

Thinking of starting a new trend

It's not fair.  Men have it so much easier than women.  I mean, seriously.  Why is there so much pressure for women to look a certain way?  Why must we have hair?  Can't I just shave my head already?  PLEASE????

I wish I had some cause.  Some worthy goal or reason to shave my head.  I also wish that it would be acceptable as normal and beautiful.  Because if it were, my hair would be gone.  I HATE dealing with hair.  Monday I went from this:

To this (please ignore holes in sweater-must buy a new one):

And while it is indeed short, I swear it took 10 lbs off of my neck, which was a HUGE relief and left me wondering why I didn't do it sooner.  And as I was thinking about it more, I thought that I would love someone to give me a good incentive to shave my head so I don't have to deal with hair anymore.

Maybe us bloggers could start a new trend.  Maybe we could band together and begin a community called The Bald-Headed Bloggers Club or something like that!  We could chronicle our experience and the comments people make to our faces and behind our backs.  Who knows...it could be the next big blogging craze!  Who's with me??  No one?

Well...it's just a dream anyway...

Elephant Rocks and Johnson Shut-ins

Here are some pictures from our Labor Day excursion to Elephant Rocks State Park and Johnson Shut-ins State Park.  We went with good friends of ours and had a great time, even though all I could think about the whole time was "How many people get hurt here every year?"

Can this be happening?

My baby turns 5 years old tomorrow!  AHHH!!!!!  When did that happen?

How could she:

Turn into HER:

It's probably because she's hungry.  All the time.  And all she ever wants to do is eat.  She was home sick yesterday (I think she has croup), but not TOO sick, so we took her birthday money and went to Target.  See Angelina Ballerina there?  One of her prizes.  We also went to McDonald's.  When we were leaving, I kid you not--I was opening the door to leave, she said "I'm hungry!"  My reaction?  "OLIVIA WE JUST ATE!!!  YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY BE HUNGRY!"  

Well, that's Olivia for you.  5 years have now gone by since we welcomed her home.  5 LONG years...filled with allergies, asthma, eczema, stitches, and too many spoiled tantrums.  But they were years also filled with large amounts of laughter and fun and scratching our heads thinking "Whose kid is that??"

Man I love that little girl!!

Here are few of my favorite Olivia sayings:

"You know what will make me stop talking?  Playing on your phone."

"I talk a lot when I have short hair but when I have long hair I don't."

"I get to wait!" (for "I can't wait!")

"These are pajamas that make me love Jesus more...if I keep them on."

"No, that's for cooking or volcanoes!"  (her explanation for baking soda when I told her I used it on my hair)

Livvy: You can have devil water.

Me: Did you say devil water?

Livvy: Yeah, devil.  It means two waters.

Must.Relax.

Today was a LOOONG day.  I hate the days where I am gone for over 12 hours during the day!  We had a paid for dinner at a very expensive restaurant tonight.  I was brave though and tried three things I've never had before:  frog legs, risotto, and some sort of chicken I can't remember the name of.  The frog legs were OK.  Not great, but not bad.  Yes, like everything else...it tastes like chicken!  Risotto was NOT impressive.  At least, not the one I had.  Some mushroom something or other.  It was just OK.  It definitely wasn't this awesome dish that I have to have all the time, which is kind of what I had expected since that seems to be all they really cook on Hell's Kitchen.  Well, that and scallops.  Which I could have had tonight but I figured 3 new tastes were enough for one night!  Maybe I'll be brave and try scallops next time.

We picked the kids up from Grandma's house and headed home, after searching high and low for a pair of cleats for Kaleb.  It was close to 9pm by the time we were close to home.  As we are driving along the outer road, suddenly from a distance I see this car veer into our lane.  And not just veer, realize he was in our lane and get back out.  The maniac kept driving towards, head on.  I'm yelling at Kris, who isn't really comprehending what is happening.  The kids are screaming, because they also have understood that if we don't get out of the way this idiot is going to plow into us.  At the last minute, with very little time to spare, Kris swerves to the shoulder and the idiot swerves back into his lane, seeming very in control of his vehicle.  I turn behind me to watch this other car and they just drove along down the road...as if nothing had happened.

My thinking is that they weren't paying attention and realized before it was too late, then got back in their lane.  Oh and I'm not talking about a car that is half in our lane and half in theirs.  I'm talking straight ahead, dead center in front of us.  Kris thinks that it was some young idiot, just acting stupid, trying to scare us.  IF that is the case, I'm pissed!  Who does that???  Of course, if that is what happened, the person can't know that we have four small children in the van with us.  They can't possibly be thinking about the possibilities, or consequences of waiting a second too long and actually coming into contact with us.  But to be so stupid and careless with no regard for anyone else is infuriating.  And as I reflect on it, given the amount of time they had to drive in our lane straight towards us, I think Kris is right.  Because it wasn't like they accidentally started veering into our lane, realized their mistake and corrected back into their lane.  They drove at us, almost as if we were playing chicken.

We make it through this little late night near-death experience and I ask the kids if they are all OK.  I hear Kaleb call from the back "Katherine's crying!"  He said it as if it was wrong for her to be crying, so I chastised him and told Kat that we were almost home and I would hold her when we got home.  True to my word, I called her up there and she just held onto me, crying.  I asked her if she was crying because she was scared.  She said yes but that she was also crying "because it made me think about the day Angi died."  This made me sad, hearing her tell me that.  She knew Angi and loved Angi but this was the first time I'd really seen her crying and upset, aside from the day Angi actually died.  I held her and within just a few minutes she was composed and ready for bed.  I am praying that none of the kids have nightmares tonight!  And I am very thankful that God protected my family tonight. 

Mental break needed at this time...

No...of course I am not blogging from work.  How could you ask such a thing?!?

I give up.  I give up on hoping I will someday NOT be in pain.  I'm just going to have to suck it up and figure out a way to deal with it.  Suffer through and hope for more good days than bad.  With chiropractic treatment, it manages to maintain the pain level, keeping it down (mostly) to the 3-4 level.  But it never goes lower than that, and I am getting frustrated.  Not with the treatment.  Just with the lack of results.  I can't even begin to tell you all the different treatments and therapies that have been bombarding my body over the last couple of years.  Some of them I can't even pronounce.  And through it all, the pain doesn't go away.  It's minimized most days, and for that I am so thankful.  But this is just utterly frustrating.

That aside...my kids are contemplating my death and trying to figure out who gets what when I die.  OK...that's a little exaggerated, but a great intro into a comment Abbey made this morning.

I've mentioned before that she loves the music from Glee.  Oh how I wish I could share that show with my kids...but sadly they are much too young for some of the scenarios.  But I share the music...most of it anyway.  Some songs I don't let them listen to, being the good mom that I am.  Sure it makes perfect sense to let them listen to Bad Romance, but not Gives You Hell.  I mean come on...one has the word hell in it!  Yes, I let them listen to Bad Romance.  If I thought for a second they even perceived a little bit of what Lady Gaga is talking about I would not let them listen!  But for now, they are young and naive...and so they listen to Bad Romance.

My almost-five-year-old is hilarious to hear and watch.  Someday we are going to video her listening to Bad Romance through headphones, as she sings along to the parts she knows.  We went to Elephant Rocks and Johnson Shut-ins over the weekend (will post pictures soon like any good blogger would do!) and as Livvy was just splashing away in the water we heard her singing (with no one else around) "I don't wanna be friends..." over and over again.  It was too cute!

All that to tell you that I had the Glee soundtrack (volume 3-let's be specific here!) sitting in my van and Abbey spied it on her way out of the van for school.  This of course prompts her (typical adorable Abbey) to say "Mommy can I have that Glee CD when you die?"  Every time I have thought about that throughout the day I find myself smiling and so thrilled to have that girl in my life!  The things kids say and do are enough.  You know?

He's got me pegged!

My husband knows me very well.  He knows that last minute changes to our plans may upset me.  Maybe.  I am all about being spontaneous, if I have control over it.  However, if someone else changes my plans and I have no say in it, I tend to get insanely crazy just a little anxious.

I had traffic on the way to work today.  I then worked all day, and drove to the school to pick the kids up.  I had received an email earlier in the day informing me of a soccer meeting (for Kaleb) at 5:30pm.  I thought it was kind of annoying because his soccer practice only went until 5pm.  So I was going to have to pick my girls up at 3:30, take them home, then go back to pick Kaleb up at 5pm.  Wait around for 30 minutes, sit through a meeting and then come home.  That is how I THOUGHT my day would go.  But when I arrived at school, I saw a sign on the door reminding me that I had a Parent-Teacher Fellowship meeting at 6:30.  OK...so scratch the coming home after the soccer meeting.  Now, in addition to sitting through another meeting, I'll have my crazy 9-year-old son in tow as well!  Perfect...

So I was already thrown off and feeling just a little frazzled.  All went well with the driving around all over the place and meetings and I came home hoping to just chill out in front of the TV.  I got Kaleb in bed and gave my girls hugs and kisses.  I poured myself a bowl of cereal and it was at this time that I heard Kris turn the TV on.  Sweet!  He is going to get one of our shows going so we can sit together and just relax.  That's when I realize he has turned the Food Network on.  So I sit down with my cereal and think "Food Network is on.  I can tolerate him still working I guess..."  So I tell him "You can still work if you need to.  I'll just watch this."  The man had planned this out all along!!!  He didn't need my permission.  He was going to work anyway...and in an effort to smooth things over and make his working acceptable, he tried to distract me with the Food Network!  Did it work?  Yes.  Yes it did.

Maybe it is a rut...

I'm starting to believe I may actually be in a bit of a blogging rut.  I've had so many different excuses for not writing since school started.  Now as I contemplate how I went the entire day without getting on the computer at all, writing included, I think that I'm in a funk.  With writing anyway.  I just refuse to post something, just to post. And so I guess I just haven't had anything to say.  I mean, I know I've posted, but mostly it's been boring updates that nobody but me cares about!  None of the "good" stuff...you know?

I haven't forgotten about posting the pictures from our scavenger hunt and giving you the ability to vote.  But my husband has been busy and hasn't had a chance to redesign the Facebook page and get the pictures up and "voteable".

I'm watching Hoarders for the first time.  Wow.  This show is making me anxious.  I feel for these people, the hoarders.  The anxiety they must be feeling watching people touch their stuff.  Wanting to keep everything because there is just something inside them that screams "I NEED THAT!"  I don't get the hoarding itself, but I get the other obsessive, compulsive behavior.  I understand that.  I understand feeling like your life is out of control and not being able to breathe because someone is doing something that you can't control.  It's like me with being touched.  If I don't want to be hugged or touched, I get that same anxiety.  I feel tense and like my life is out of control, and like I will literally die if someone touches me.  It's the same kind of feelings these hoarders have.  And that is why I am anxious watching this little old lady upset because she doesn't want to get rid of a rusted rake.  She is cringing and ready to explode inside because she feels like her life is spinning out of control.  I get that.  And I ache for these people.  I just want to throw a Xanax at them, and then run away, because of course I'm not going to HUG THEM, what with hating to be touched and all!

Google Voice Bloopers

I find things like mis-translations amusing.  Kris is obsessed with MOST things Google (and has me hooked on quite a few products too), especially Google Voice.  Instead of just sending you the voice message, they transcribe it in an email.  And if you don't speak extremely slowly and clearly, they get the message wrong about 100% of the time.  Here are some of the most amusing ones Kris has gotten:

"you call and ask someone from the next 10 years." - ahh...looking into the future...

"If you had Dad jazz polyps in, that way to go for us to bring home." - OK...three words that don't belong in the same sentence: jazz, polyps, Dad...

"we were supposed to get that together and then room no." - should I be concerned that someone is leaving my husband messages about getting a room number???

"I'm sorry. A parent or something to eat." - interesting choices

"I did love you" - hmm....from Kris' mom...who apparently doesn't love him anymore

"I'm today."

"I'm just following up with you see if you thought of Ann yet. We have a couple of options that might work for you" - WHO THE HECK IS ANN?????

"Hey Chris is dead."  :-(  I didn't know!  To think I had to find out through Google voice...

"He's been in space. I'm in the world."  what?

"Hi Daddy, this is Kathleen HI, This is going alright. Please, please call me back sometime. Yeah, hi." - this one is a bit confusing, seeing as how it came from my mom, and her name isn't Kathleen, or anything close to it.  But with the double please, it seems urgent...

"Hey, Rob Rob Rob of." - this one came from me, and I'm pretty sure I was annoyed with having to leave him a message and said "blah blah blah"

"Britt, birthing Broadway." ???

"so I'm kind of sad that you're calling." - this one was from me, but I am pretty sure I never once said that

"Hello Kris, This is your basement. Give me a call. Thank you." - one of my favorites! We're pretty tight with our basement...