Owner: Rocks In My Dryer URL:http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/ Join Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 22:31:19 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: The sleep-deprived ramblings of a busy, saved-by-grace mom who does NOT have her act together. Site statistics:Click here
Well, This Is a Fine Kettle Of Fish... 2006-11-03 15:44:42 Did you know that, according to this website (hat tip to Barbara for the link) today is National Cliche Day? So let me pause to pay homage to this great day, and by extension, my father, without whom I would have counted chickens before they were hatched, crossed that bridge before I came to it, jumped off a cliff because my friends did, and truly thought that money grew on trees. Love you, Dad! Read more:Kettle
Weekend Wisdom 2006-11-04 15:31:00 He is not all we would ask for (if we were honest), but it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for, and only then, that we can clearly preceive His all-sufficiency. It is when the sea is moonless that the Lord has become my light. --Elisabeth Elliott Read more:Weekend
, Wisdom
If You Give a Kid a Rodent... 2006-11-05 01:45:29 Mothers of Bloggityville, I implore you for some input on an important, four-legged subject:
My boys want hamsters, or gerbils, or mice, or (*gulp*) rats for Christmas. My pet experience is limited to dogs and hermit crabs, so I need some help making this decision from any of you with experience with these sorts of pets.
Which variety stinks the least? Which variety is the least amount of work? Which variety is least inclined to escape and give birth to a dozen rodent babies in my favorite pair of shoes?
Or are they all so icky that we should avoid this altogether? Read more:Rodent
The Corrie Story, Part 1 2006-11-06 07:01:00 My daughter's birthday is approaching later this week, and it has dawned on me that I've never written her birth story. For us, it was very dramatic, though I know it's mild compared to what other families have been through. Still, I don't want to forget one minute of it. So if you'll indulge me, here's Corrie
's birth story, in three parts (it's a long story, y'all). Here's part one:
Around March of 2003, I was telling Hubs about some friends of ours who had a surprise pregnancy. He looked at me nervously. "That wouldn't happen to us, would it?" he asked. My response (and yes, this is actually what I said): "No, Honey. When you hear of people 'accidentally' getting pregnant, what that actually means is that they messed up on their birth control. We're very careful--we're just not the sort of people that happens to."
And somewhere up in Heaven, God must've thrown His mighty head back and laughed. Because one month later, while the room spun around me and my
It Still Matters 2006-11-06 22:17:00 Tomorrow, November 7, is election day. If you are like me, you are wondering if there is something that causes every shred of common sense and decorum and honesty and restraint and kindness to be sucked right out of a person's brain the moment they enter the city limits of Washington, D.C.
There is great speculation this year that the "values voters" of middle America will stay home from the polling places. That we've had enough. That we've given up.
Prove them wrong.
Show them that regardless of how our politicians may behave, we Normal Americans still care enough to be apart of the process, flawed though it may be. The worse things get in Washington, the more your vote matters. (And if you aren't sure about the elections in your area, click here for more info.)
Vote tomorrow. Be heard.
Weekend Wisdom 2006-11-02 15:41:00 The sweetest lives are those to duty wed,
Whose deeds both great and small
Are close-knit strands of unbroken thread
Where love enobles all.--Elizabeth Barrett Browning Read more:Weekend
, Wisdom
The Corrie Story, Part 2 2006-11-07 07:57:00 This is part two in a three-part series that will probably be interesting to my immediate family only. But if you're still reading, you can see part one here.
My doctor told me that the odds were good I would go into labor in the next 24-48 hours, since my water had broken, but I was having no contractions at the moment. My husband, remember, was camping with our boys in the remote woods of Arkansas, out of cell phone range. We could have tracked down a forest ranger to find him, but it would've taken hours and would've frightened Hubs and (even worse) the boys. We made the difficult choice to wait until early the next morning, when my Dad would drive to find them.
I was so worried that Hubs would be alarmed when he heard the news, and that his fear would rub off on the boys. I prayed the most specific prayer I've ever prayed when I begged God that somehow, in the middle of the night, with no advance warning, Hubs would somehow know that I was in labor and would feel peace. Read more:Corrie
Amazing Grace 2006-11-07 23:27:00 My blogging buddy Megan's husband Craig (did you follow that?) wrote an insightful response to the Ted Haggard story on his blog. I thought you might enjoy reading it here. Read more:Amazing
, Grace
, Amazing Grace
Works For Me: Car Cleaning 2006-11-08 07:01:00
Does the floor of anyone else's car look an explosion at a french fry factory? Mine is scary.
So here's my little WFMW tip for the day: I keep a stash of empty grocery sacks in my car, so that when I'm in the car waiting for a child at the dentist, or karate, or soccer, etc., I can use the time to quickly gather up the trash and dump it in the nearest trash bin. I also keep a bottle of fabric freshener (this stuff is my favorite) in the car, so I can hose down gently spray my otherwise rancid aromatic vehicle.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
At the request of many of you, next week (November 15) we will be having a "themed" Works
-For-Me Wednesday...the Christmas Edition! Please be thinking ahead about some Christmas-related tips you can share. Time savers? Gift ideas? Recipes? Anything that makes the holidays easier would be great.
Want to share your helpful tip with Bloggityville? Leave a link below. First-timers, please read through the guidelines here before posting.
Read more:Cleaning
The Corrie Story, Part 3 2006-11-09 09:57:00 This is part two in a three-part series that has probably gotten wa-a-a-y too long already. But if you're still reading, you can see part one of our daughter's birth story here, and part two here.
Two years ago today, my baby daughter cried the moment she entered the world, just as I prayed she would. I was flooded with relief. I hardly got to see her as the NICU team whisked her across the hall to evaluate her. As we had planned ahead of time, Hubs left my room immediately and stayed right by her side, running back every couple of minutes with brief status reports: "She looks fine!" or "She's on oxygen, but she's breathing great!" Before they took her to the NICU, they brought her to my bed and let me hold her for a few seconds. She was tiny, but she was clearly very strong and very healthy. She was taken to the NICU, and I didn't get to see her again for several hours, while they checked her status more fully and started her IV antibiotics (since my water had been broke Read more:Corrie
Vic 2006-11-10 08:05:00 I was drawn to Vic the first time I saw him, probably because he reminded me so much of my own grandfather. His steps were slow and his shoulders were slightly hunched, but his brown eyes still danced with the vigor of a younger man.
I first heard his story a few years ago, when we were each volunteering at our church's Vacation Bible School. We were taking our breaks at the same time, and we sat next to each other. I can't remember how it came up. Did I ask him if he was a veteran? Did he bring it up himself? I don't recall. What I do recall is that I spent the next hour next to him in motionless attention as he shared his war stories (literally, his war stories).
He enlisted in the Army Air Corp (now the Air Force) when he was only seventeen, and he was sent to the Pacific. He was a ball turret gunner in a B-52 when his plane was shot down over the ocean. He and his crew floated for days in enemy territory, sharks circling them. They were finally picked up by a U.S.
The Internet Trolls Are Attacking 2006-11-10 15:14:59 That unholy scream you hear (don't you hear it?) is me gnashing my teeth over the fact that EVEN WITH COMMENT VERIFICATION the Internet
trolls are managing to inundate my site with spam, most of it p*rn related. Until Typepad and I can sort this out, I'm going to turn off all comments, except on the most recent couple of posts. This drives me nuts, and I'm really sorry for the inconvenience.
If you need to reach me, you can click on the e-mail me link to the left. Unless you're a troll, in which case you take a flying leap off something very tall.
Darn trolls. Read more:Trolls
, Attacking
The Funniest Girl In Bloggityville 2006-11-11 17:45:07 Here's your thought for the day, courtesy of Antique Mommy:George Washington, the father of our country, is often quoted as having said, "I cannot tell a lie" And that is why he is the father of our country and not the mother. Mothers lie. We have to. It's a survival skill. I hope you have the good sense to be a regular reader of her blog; if not, you are missing a rigorous ab workout chuckling at her posts.
Bloggy Business 2006-11-12 07:46:00 Just a few miscellaneous things I wanted to tell you...
I have four new copies of a little devotional booklet entitled of ADVENT: A Calendar of Devotions 2006. If you'd like one, leave a comment below before 11:59 pm CST, Sunday night, 11/12. We'll employ the Highly Scientific Method of drawing all the commenters' names out of a hat to determine the four winners. Remember, don't leave your name unless you're willing to (privately) give me your snail mail address (I'll e-mail the winners).
And while we're talking about Advent, take a few minutes to check out the blog Advent for Evangelicals. It's a great Christmas resource!
Remember that this Wednesday (November 15) we will be having a "themed" Works-For-Me Wednesday...the Christmas Edition! Please be thinking ahead about some Christmas-related tips you can share. Time savers? Gift ideas? Recipes? Anything that makes the holidays easier would be great.
Have you checked out Laura the Organizing Junkie? Her blog is Read more:Business
And Then He Kissed Me 2006-11-13 10:06:00 My nine-and-a-half-year-old son sat next to me in church last night. I looked at him and noticed a piece of white fuzz in his hair. I reached up, picked it out, and scratched him briefly on the head. And then, without any prompting, without a look or a sound, he leaned over and kissed me quickly on the cheek.
Just like that.
I spend a lot of time wondering about this firstborn child of mine. Am I pushing him too hard? Not hard enough? Does he resent how much time I spend with his siblings? Is he making good choices? Should we give him more priviliges? The wheels in my momma-brain seldom stop spinning where this boy is concerned.
But then, in a moment so simple and sacred that I caught my breath, my boy kissed me on the cheek. On his own.
Just like that.
And I know we're doing fine. Read more:Kissed
Birthday Girl 2006-11-13 07:26:00 The Sweetest Peach in Georgia is turning 40 today! She's had a bumpy few months, but it's never stopped her from teaching us all much about thankfulness. Head over to her blog and leave her a quick birthday greeting from Bloggityville!
Happy birthday, Peach! Read more:Birthday
Have You Heard? 2006-11-13 22:34:00 By request of many of you, this Wednesday we will be having a "themed" Works-For-Me Wednesday...the Christmas Edition! Please be thinking ahead about some Christmas-related tips you can share. Time savers? Gift ideas? Recipes? Anything that makes the holidays easier would be great. Feel free to grab the graphic below for use on your post.
Read more:Heard
Taking Christmas Card Pictures With Four Children OR "Thank You, Lord, For Photoshop" 2006-11-14 08:04:00 So, we attempted to take Christmas
card pictures this past weekend. Aren't I so together and ahead of schedule, I bragged to myself, as I spent all Sunday afternoon getting ready for the pictures. Corrie's napped was perfectly timed so she'd be cheerful at 4 pm. I ironed the kids' clothes. Everyone was showered with blow-dried hair, thankyouverymuch. Yes, we were all quite ready for an afternoon of collecting photographic evidence of what a happy and clean-cut family we are.
We planned to take the pictures at a local office park that has beautiful landscaping, a big pond with a fountain, and geese. But I forgot something: where there are geese, there is goose poop.
We had been out of the car exactly 7 seconds when Stephen reported that he had stepped in goose poop. No problem, I told him, just watch where you're going and we'll clean your shoes when we're done. Then Adam stepped in it. I'm gritting my teeth at this point, but I'm keeping my patience. Barely.
Read more:Taking
, Pictures
, Children
, Thank
, Photoshop
2006-11-14 23:38:00 The Carnival of Kid Comedy is up over here! Want to participate next week? Instructions are here. Our gentle hostess KimC is asking for funny stories next week from your childhood. Go call your mom!
Don't forget about the Christmas Edition of Works-For-Me Wednesday tomorrow!
Works For Me: Christmas Edition! 2006-11-15 07:01:00
Welcome to the first annual ChristmasEdition
of Works
-For-Me Wednesday, in which we share ideas that will make your holidays so smooth that you're guaranteed to be speaking to your family members in January! Wait, no guarantees...but they're still very good ideas.
Here's my simple little tip--
Is anyone else annoyed by the way toys are packaged these days? When I was a kid, you could pull the toy right out of the box. Nowadays you need a screwdriver, wire cutters and a degree in mechanical engineering to get the dang baby doll out of the package. This is especially pleasant when you have a five year old jumping up and down next to you squealing, "Hurry! Hurry!" This year I'm going to take all the toys OUT OF THE BOXES before I wrap the gifts. That way the kids have access to their toys right away. And I have less trash to clean up on Christmas morning.
I'd love to hear your clever holiday tip (or two or three or four...) Just leave a link below! Guidelines still ap
What In The Heck...? 2006-11-16 07:30:00 (If you're looking for Works-For-Me Wednesday, just scroll on down--it's the next entry).
I have a climbing rose bush that climbs up the front corner of my house. This time of year, when I'm too lazy preoccupied to weed, climbing weeds tend to overtake it. But this year, hanging from the climbing weed, I have found this:
There are three of these strange-looking cocoon-type things that are, as you can see, quite large (I showed my hand to give you an idea of scale). I have never seen anything like them. They're kind of creepy.
So, you horticultural-types out there--what is this? Some sort of other-worldly flower about to burst into bloom? Or are alien spawn hatching in my front yard? Because y'all, the holidays are coming, and I do not have time to fight Evil Pod People.
The Gospel According To Joseph 2006-11-16 07:38:00 Sharing my faith with my children is one of my favorite things about being a mother. But sometimes, expressing the beauty of the Gospel
to a five-year-old boy with the attention span of a fruit fly leaves me shaking my head. The following conversation actually happened this week:
Joseph
: Do people have eyeballs in Heaven?
Me: Probably not like we have them now, but we will certainly be able to see what is going on around us in Heaven.
Joseph: Do people sleep on clouds?
Me: I don't know. Maybe. The Bible doesn't tell us a whole lot of specific things about Heaven, but we know it will be a million times better than earth.
Joseph: Bad guys in jail don't go to Heaven.
Me: Well, they do if they ask God to forgive them for their sins and ask Jesus into their heart. We're all sinners, whether we're a bad guy in jail or not...
Joseph: If they don't love Jesus, they'll go to hell and the devil will keep them in a cave.
Me: Well, something like that. Do you underst
Frazzled Oklahoma Housewife VS. The Pod People 2006-11-16 22:19:00 Really, y'all are just cracking me up with your comments on this post. Some of you suggested it might be edible (scary weed pie, anyone?), others said to keep it away from my kids because it's toxic. And an alarming number of you agreed that the Pod People have landed in my front yard. I was particularly fond of the idea that Tom Cruise might be inside.
Thankfully, I have a local friend who is a master gardener--she saw this picture and assured me it is a "weed seed pod". She explained in an e-mail:As the pod dries out it will begin to resemble a misshapen okra pod. It will pop open at the ribs to expose fluffy seeds that will land everywhere and sprout like mad for next year. (The invasion theory was not far off.)But, being your Trusty Investigative Blogger, I must see this for myself. So, donning my gloves for safety (I don't want any alien juice on my hands) I decided to cut into it. I even used my beloved Cutco knife, because if I'm going toe-to-toe with the Pod People, Read more:Oklahoma
, Housewife
And So It Turns Out I'm Not So Good At Trash Talkin' 2006-11-17 07:39:00 This weekend, my beloved alma mater (Arkansas) is playing my friend BooMama's beloved alma mater (Mississippi State). And we both really, really love our teams. And we discussed privately, wouldn't it be fun to try and stir up some really big rivalry thing between our two blogs and trash talk at each other?
Except I'm sitting here at my computer thinking, trash talk? Hmmmm....trash talk? This is why I could never be a truly serious sports fanatic, because my version of trash talk is something like:Hey there, BooMama, get ready for the Hawgs to slaughter the Dawgs. But really, it's nothing personal, because I know your school is lovely and I'm sure the boys on your team have worked so hard, and I'd hate for your fans to be disappointed...See? I can't do it. There's not a competitive bone in my body (at least, not where sports are concerned. Trivial Pursuit is another story entirely.). I want my team to win, of course, but I just really don't want the Other Guy to Read more:Trash
Weekend Wisdom 2006-11-18 15:33:00 Give us this day, Lord,
Not the miracles our human hearts long for,
Not the proud but brief satisfaction of saying to doubters,
"I told you so!"
But give us daily bread, only that which
You see will truly nourish us in our pilgrimage toward home.--Elisabeth Elliott Read more:Weekend
, Wisdom
Anyone Seen a Little Green Lizard? 2006-11-19 07:06:00 After much fretting on my part, my two-year-old daughter Corrie's vocabulary is finally beginning to blossom. But she still has plenty of gibberish to share with us, often using the same nonsensical words repeatedly. A particular favorite of hers is "GEICO!" Yes, that one. But the funny part is that every time she says it, nine-year-old Adam shouts loudly and quickly, "FIFTEEN MINUTES ON THE PHONE COULD SAVE YOU FIFTEEN PERCENT OR MORE ON CAR INSURANCE!" Corrie roars with laughter, shouts "GEICO!" again, and...well, you get where this is going.
Shouldn't I be getting some commission for this? Read more:Anyone
, Green
, Lizard
, Little Green
In Which I Write About My Little Brother On His Birthday So He Will Stop Complaining That I Never Blog About Him 2006-11-20 11:33:00 As I child, I dreaded Communion. Not on any serious, theological grounds, but because my little brother Reed sat next to me and cracked me up. EVERY TIME. And the only thing worse than cracking up during church was cracking up during Communion during church. I would feel my dad's hand on my shoulder get tighter and tighter and...ouch, Dad!
And so I dreaded Communion.
But Reed's greatest Communion performance came when I was probably about 10, and he was 8. The plate was passed, and I was already biting my lip so hard it nearly bled. Don't look at Reed, don't look at Reed, I coached myself. Suddenly, I felt a nudge in my left elbow. Foolishly, I turned to look. HE HAD SPILLED GRAPE JUICE DOWN THE FRONT OF HIS WHITE DRESS SHIRT. I laughed out loud, very hard, and so did he. And, as I recall, that little episode bought us not just a shoulder squeeze from Dad, but a Trip Out To The Foyer.
The delightful irony of this story is that my brother now serves Communion. He is Read more:Write
, Brother
, Birthday
, Little Brother
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