"Um" IS A Word...

...that's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Seriously, not sure I could have used this word more if I tried. I'm thinking we should just make it an official word. Would that be so bad? We'd all be happier with the idea of public speaking if we could just use that dern word. Amen?

SO. I have decided to participate in...


This is a blog carnival at 2nd Cup of Coffee where all sorts of bloggers are doing a video recording of themselves for all of blog world to see. I told Linda I would think seriously about doing this. And I did. And then I thought VERY seriously about NOT doing this, especially after I made several feeble attempts at recording a video. Ultimately, I decided to just go ahead and show you the video I made (warts and all). Aside from the "um"s, I'm also completely inaudible at times...so much so that I considered offering a transcript so you could actually know what I'm saying. Feel free to ask if there are any parts you just can't figure out. I could probably add in several more disclaimers, but this is turning into a long post and I haven't even gotten to the video part yet. So without further ado...

How Would You Like Some New Tunes?

I have a copy of this great new CD by Ayiesha Woods to give away!! She is a Grammy nominated artist and I think you'll really enjoy her music. Take a minute to check out the widget above to read more about her and listen to some of her music! How cool is that? Wish I had my own widget. Anywho, all you have to do is leave a comment if you'd like a chance to win! All entries must be in by midnight (central time) on Wednesday, October 1st!

HE IS THAT HERO!!!!!

Product Search on ebay: 2 minutes

Larry Boy Plush Toy: $4.00

Shipping and Handling: $3.50

Illuminated 4 year old face: Priceless

"Delicious Autumn..."

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." ~George Eliot~

It's my favorite time of year! I love this season and all the warm and cozy things that go with it. I thought I would share a few of the things I delight in each year once the leaves begin to fall...

(in no particular order)

Crunchy Leaves!

My Fall Festival Yankee Candle!

Pumpkin Patches...

Fall Decorations

Pumpkin Pie Crunch

Traditions

Caramel Apple Cider

Fall Soccer Season...

The wonder of God's creation...

And more...much more, but that is all I can think of right now. What about you? What will you delight in during this blessed fall season?

The Big D, Desperate Measures, Larry Boy, Et Al.

Hello there. I feel like it it has been a while since I've had any quality writing time here on this ole blog. Honestly, the Big D and all that accompanies it seem to take up quite a bit of my mental energy these days. That and the usual distractions of life tend to keep me away more than I like. However, I'm in need of a good mental purge and that requires transporting a few of the things inside this cluttered brain OUT and...well...into your cluttered brain, I guess. Sorry about that. I have a feeling it may be a long and incoherent ride, so proceed with caution.

First off, I've done the unthinkable. Those of you who know me in real life may want to brace yourself for this announcement. I wouldn't want to be held responsible for anyone getting hurt...by say...falling off your chair in shock. It really is shocking. Are you ready?? For ONE WHOLE WEEK I have abstained from any and all carbonated beverages. Except for about two ounces of Root Beer that I consumed during a weak moment at the soda fountain on Friday. But I don't even like Root Beer that much so I don't think it counts. Can you believe it? I can't, I honestly can't. It was an experiment of sorts to see how it would effect my weight loss efforts. Honestly, I'm not sure it is something I can make stick forever, and I'm pretty sure I will be having a small carbonated beverage (by the name of Coca-Cola) shortly after my weigh in on Monday, but it is good to know that I can do it and I probably will do it (abstain) a lot more in the future. But definitely not when eating pizza or popcorn. Because that is just sick and wrong.

Self control is HARD, people.

And healthy food is kinda boring.

And did I tell you I started running? I think I may have mentioned something about that in the bad attitude post. By the way, my attitude seems to be doing a little better. Anyway, back to the running. In an effort to revive my dying metabolism I have resorted to some desperate measures. Eliminating carbonated beverages definitely fits into that category. As does running. However, the running I'm actually starting to like. Oops, sorry I didn't warn you guys about that one...I'll wait while you pick yourselves up off the floor. I can't believe I really said that out loud. Yikes. I've been attempting to gradually work up to running a straight 30 minutes. This past week I got up to 4 minutes running/2 minutes walking alternating for 30 minutes. That may not be impressive to many of you, but for me that is HUGE.

You may have gathered from Nana's Birthday post that William has a slight fondness for Larry Boy these days. I can't even begin to tell you the depth of his love for Larry Boy and how cute I think it is and how I want to buy everything Larry Boy and give it to him just to see his face light up. I haven't actually done that, because 1) I try not to give my kids everything they want and 2) Larry Boy things are hard to find. I did find some printable coloring pages online and can I tell you that he has spent HOURS coloring them since then. I am not exaggerating. And the care with which he colors them? Melts my heart. It's as if he's had a coloring transformation. He has never been big on coloring. If he colored at all, he would use one color, scribble a little bit and be done. This is how he colored the Larry Boy page.


Multiple colors. In the lines. A coloring transformation, I tell you!

Hmmm. Let's see. What is there left in my brain to bore you with? Oh, yeah...piano lessons. Richie has recently started taking piano lessons. This brings great joy to my heart. Or it did until I realized it was going to take quite a bit of supervision (ie. effort) on my part as well. Oops, that was a bit too honest wasn't it? Actually, I really am happy about it, but I'm also sure there will be a special reward in heaven for Moms who patiently endure their child's piano practice. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I'm about to wrap this up. Really. I must tell you that I was able to meet a sweet blog friend in person this past week. I attended a baby shower in her honor. She just adopted a gorgeous baby boy. It was wonderful to meet her and I only wish we could have spent more time getting to know each other. I didn't get any pictures. It seemed just a bit awkward to interrupt her shower for a bloggy photo shoot. However, you can hop over to say "hello" and see her precious new addition here. Congratulations, Kara!

Lastly, I feel like I should address the rather glaring addition to my blog. Over there to the right. Honestly, I'm not sure what to say about it except that I've heard good things about BlogHer ads, feel like they advertise tastefully, and I thought..if I can make a little extra money by simply doing something I already do...why not? Hope you all don't mind!

That is all for now. Thanks for your rapt attention...or distracted skimming...whichever one applies.

AND THE WINNER IS...

Jamie, from Mom on a Journey!

I think God knew you needed a little pick me up, huh, friend? Jamie's hubby is in the National Guard and is away for a few weeks helping out with hurricane relief efforts. Congratulations, Jamie! Hope you enjoy the book. I'll contact you shortly to arrange delivery!

The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society: Book Review & Giveaway!

Recently I was contacted by a company called Glass Road Public Relations. They offer public relations for Christian authors. This company arranges blog tours for authors and their most recent book on tour is by Beth Patillo and titled The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society. Below is my review, also I will be giving my copy away! Stay tuned for details at the end of this post!

On the Front Cover:


On the Back Cover:

"On the third Friday of each month, Eugenie, Ruth, Esther, Merry, and Camille meet at the Sweetgum Christian Church to enjoy the two things that connect them: a love of knitting and a passion for books. Their camaraderie remains unthreatened until Eugenie, the town librarian, introduces an angry teenager into their midst. Eugenie also gives them a new reading list: the classic novels of girlhood that young Hannah has never read. Little Women. Pollyanna. Heidi.

With each click of their needles, the ladies of the Knit Lit Society unravel their secrets: A shadow from Eugenie's past haunts the controlled order of her life. Merry's perfect little family is growing again - but will she continue to feel her identity slip away? Camille dreams of leaving town but is bound by ties of love. And the sisters, Ruth and Esther, must confront a lie they have lived with for more than thirty years.

As Hannah is reluctantly stitched into their lives, the women discover the possibility that even in sleepy Sweetgum, Tennessee, they can still be the heroines of their own stories."

My thoughts:

I will admit this book is not one I would typically pick up to read, but I ended up enjoying it. It was an easy read and I found myself wondering about what might happen next in the lives of these ladies. As far as Christian Literature goes, it was not very preachy. I suppose that would be a plus for some and a minus for others. For me, it was a plus.

I related most to the character of Merry, a busy wife and Mom. I was most effected by a line the author wrote to voice Merry's thoughts on being available to help Hannah, the troubled teen. It said, "She didn't have the capacity to add any more people to the lengthy list of those she cared for and prayed for." Unfortunately, I relate to that thought process more than I care to admit.

All in all, I enjoyed the book. The story was engaging and I appreciated the idea of a community of women (all flawed) ultimately coming together to redeem the life of this young girl.

The Giveaway:

If you would like a chance to win this book, you may enter the giveaway by simply leaving a comment! Please enter by midnight on Thursday, September 18 (central time). I will post the winner sometime on Friday, September 19th! If you are not a blogger you can still enter the drawing, just leave a comment with your email so I can contact you if you win!

Nana's Birthday Post

I'm a little late with this, but Nana had a birthday on Thursday and although we did talk to her on the phone, I wanted to wish her a happy birthday this way as well! So, I decided to ask the boys a few questions about Nana. Happy Birthday, Nana! We miss you and love you so much! I decided to use the format Richie's teacher used last year for a Mother's Day Questionnaire. Enjoy!

Will's Answers

My Nana is _____ years old. Her is 5.

Her favorite TV show is _______. Larry Boy

Her favorite song is _______. The Larry Boy Song

She loves it when I _________________. play with my Larry Boy toys.

I know that she loves me because __________. Because she comes to our house and I can show her my Larry Boy things.

The things that make her happy are: ________________. Watching my Larry Boy movie.


Richie's Answers

My Nana is _____ years old. 61 years old

She weighs _______ pounds. 10 lbs.

Her favorite TV show is _______. TV shows about animals.

Her favorite song is _______. I have no idea!

I know that she loves me because __________. Because I love her.

The things that make her happy are: ________________. Learning about animals, seeing me because she doesn't get to see me a lot, and learning about flowers and trees.

A Bad Attitude

It has now been established that my metabolism is dead and has no plans to revive itself any time soon. How do I know this, you ask? The proof is in the pudding (sugar-free, of course). The Big D is just not producing the desired results. Nor is my exercise regimen which last week included SIX workouts. Yes, 1-2-3-4-5-6. Count them and weep. Or at least that's what I've been doing. Workouts that have included running, people. RUNNING! Those of you who know me in real life know just how desperate I must be to even speak that word, let alone act it out!

SO. Want to know how I did last week after dieting (I will confess to having ONE rough day with the eating) and working out SIX times? I gained 1.5 lbs. GAINED. Tell me how that is possible?!?!?! And I don't want to hear anything about how muscle weighs more than fat...blah, blah, blah. Or don't mind the number on the scale...blah, blah, blah. Or your metabolism slows down as you get older, yeah, yeah, yeah.

WHATEVER!!!

It also just so happens that the 1.5 lbs I gained this week is the amount I lost last week after 4 weeks of not one single budge on the scale. So, essentially? FIVE WEEKS of no progress.

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

(That's me screaming.)

AAAAACCCCCKKKKKK!!!!!

(That's me screaming again.)

So you can see now why I have not been posting much as of late. I knew if I did it would just be this emotional vomit. I guess if you are looking for something cheery and uplifting you should try another blog today. Because this stinks. Period. And yes, I realize that disclaimer would have been more helpful at the beginning of this post. Feel free to file a complaint.

(Pausing...)

(Taking a deep breath...)

Phew. That was not pretty, was it? Just count your blessings that you didn't have to experience my emotional vomit in real life like this friend did today. Thanks, Janelle.

I feel like those of you who stuck with me through all that spewing, deserve a little light at the end of the tunnel. So, I'll leave you with this. I AM NOT GIVING UP. I'm more convinced than ever that this is a spiritual battle for me and I know that the WINNER is on my side. The other guy needs to just give it up and GO HOME!

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Isaiah 41:10