Overwhelmed

My courageous and strong persona is starting to get some stress fractures.

We have kinda sold the house. The realtor for the buyer isn't the most "with it" fellow so until he gets all the paperwork done and earnest money submitted, it isn't official. I met the buyers when they came by yesterday because they wanted to look at items we might be interested in selling. Of course, I didn't find this out until I met the realtor, who was sitting in front of my house after giving me a whopping 30 minute notice they were coming. He told me the purpose of the visit and I suggested I stick around because......ummmmm......this isn't Macy's and I thought MAYBE it would be helpful if I actually TOLD the buyers what we were selling. I guess they were going to just walk around and pick out what they liked??

The good news is that I really like the people buying our home. The bad news is that while sitting upstairs watching The Biggest Loser last night, it finally hit me that someone new was going to be moving in to my home in about 6 weeks. My home, the one I really love. The one that has seen its share of fun, laughter, tears, frustration, and prayer.....oh my, the prayers that have filled this house. I just can't even think about it.

It is all becoming very, very real. They want to close mid May which means we'll be moving into a hotel for about 5 weeks. Our furniture will have already been shipped off or sold which means we need to live somewhere that is already furnished.

Weekends are filling up and I am putting off the monumental task of packing for as long as I can. What to ship? What to pack for 2 months until we get to Singapore? What to store? What to sell?

What to do with all these emotions?

Stop Growing!!

We got home from Spring Break very late Sunday night. Because of that, I let both of the boys sleep in a little on Monday and just took them to school late.

On my way to Garrett's school after dropping Nathan off, I got a phone call from a good friend asking about lunch plans. I promptly went through my day's commitments including a visit to my good friend, Carlene, for "chin whisker burning" as I fondly refer to it now.

The phone call ended with a promise to meet for lunch after my few moments of torture when I heard a small voice from the backseat.......

Your getting your chin whiskers burned off?

Oops.......a brief lapse in judgment resulting in my forgetting to speak in grown-up code to my friend and now another piece of Garrett's innocence was being chipped away and I was left holding the tools.

I wasn't sure what to start with. Addressing the chin whiskers or the fact that I was voluntarily getting them burned off. I jumped in with a discussion about women getting older and chin whiskers......as soon as I uttered the word "hormones", he put a very decisive end to the conversation telling me he "didn't want to know any more".

I don't blame you buddy.

That visit marked the 5th trip to see Carlene of "I will burn them and ze will die" notoriety. I told her that I was a tad frustrated with the smattering of whiskers that were still growing. She looked at me and said,

It is because you are ALIVE!

Really? Because I thought I had paid to make "zem all die" so why are some still growing?

She looked at me again and said,

There is only one other thing I can do.

Great!! Let's do it PRONTITO, por favor.

She leaned over and got about one inch away from me and proceeded to yell at my chin...

STOP GROWING!

Then she stood up and proceeded to don her safety goggles, turn on her laser, and grin a little wider with every sizzle of a chin hair losing its life.

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. I love this woman because she seriously loves her job and feels like her days on the whisker battlefield aren't over until the aroma of burnt hair fills every one of her treatment room.

Viva la Carlene!

Something Quick

A quick hello as I bid good-bye to an incredibly busy weekend full of saying good-bye to Scot, hello to my brother, rodeo, Blue Bell Ice Cream factory, quaint restaurants, antique shopping, winery, barbecue, church, steak dinner, good-bye to brother and hello to packing madness.

Whew!! Having my brother (he's number 4 in the lineup of 5 kids) here for the weekend was amazing. He is very urban and super cool, but he embraced his inner cowboy like a real trooper. It was fun being with him all weekend, especially after he bought his cowboy hat. He is 6'8" in bare feet....throw on some boots and a hat and you have yourself a spectacle. He isn't hard on the eyes so wherever he was there was a ton of attention and I loved every second of it. I adore Dave.....he soaked in every experience this weekend held and can't wait to come back for more.

The boys and I leave for Vancouver early in the morning. I am looking forward to a few days away from the stress of house selling. I may even go wild in Vancouver and leave a pair of socks on the floor or something!

Ok, back to packing.......I will leave you with one of my favorite pictures from the weekend!

A Bad Taste In Your Mouth

As the boys get older and more independent, there are certain boundaries that are naturally changed. They are now allowed to go around the block if they are with another kid instead of only being allowed between the Cox's and the McDaniel's driveways. They are allowed to go to the Men's bathroom alone in certain situations. They are given money to order food for themselves at restaurants.

The reality is that I don't know what they say or do every second of the day like I used to. One incredible piece of advice I was given was to pray that they "would be caught in their sin". So I do and they are busted all the time.

Last Thursday I had lunch with Nathan at school. A sweet boy that we've known for years came up to me.

"Mrs. Jenkins? I want you to know that the last time I was at your house, Garrett was using bad words."

I of course asked which words those were and he told me Garrett used the "A" word and the "H" word.

I thanked him and he went on his merry way. That afternoon I verified the story with another friend and found out that both boys (actually all the boys but thank goodness I am only responsible for 2) were saying things like "Helllllllllllllen Keller" and "Asssssssssstronaut". There was more, all of it dancing around the actual words.

It did make me laugh, on the inside, but the intent was there. A perfect time for a lesson.

We have discussed with the boys many times that bad words, not just cuss words but any words that are teasing or demeaning, should taste bitter coming out of their mouths. To emphasize this point, both boys were given 1 tsp of vinegar to drink as a consequence for their choice of words.

One gagged.

One cried.

Two boys were left with a lasting impression that they are still talking about days later.

I'm thinking maybe I should start off each day with a teaspoon or two myself.........

Discarded Spoons

Yesterday found the boys and I with an unexpected lunch date. Scot left after church to drive to San Antonio to be with his Grandmother after a recent fall resulted in a broken hip. I was already settled into my "after church clothes" when I got a text from a wonderful friend wanting the boys and I to have lunch with her and her 13 year old daughter.

It took me 5 min to change, round up the boys and head out. My sister joined us and we were a rowdy table of 6. The 13 year old was sitting next to my 11 year old and was trying very hard to not gag as Garrett worked his way through a pound of crawfish. Nathan was bitterly disappointed when the fruit he ordered on the side turned out to be fruit cocktail and not a selection of fresh berries like he had invisioned. My only complaint with lunch was finding a slice of pear in my salad that still had the sticker on it from the store. I will take a sticker over a hair any day of the week.

When lunch was over and we were daydreaming about Sunday afternoon naps, we got a wild idea that it would be fun to head over to a local ice cream store. I happened to have gift cards that would treat us all so off we went. We were in line for quite awhile and when it was finally our turn, it was organized mayhem as 6 of us were trying different flavors, ordering fancy concoctions, and trying to decide between cups and waffle cones.

I was still debating my options when the sweet 13 year old offered me a taste of her Birthday Cake Remix yumminess. I immediately agreed and she grabbed one of those little tester spoons and gave me a bite. She had already offered my sister one and Lisa was licking every single drop off her spoon. It was delish!

I finished my taste and dropped my tiny spoon in the container for dirty spoons and turned to find the 13 year old staring at me in horror.

Is that where you put the dirty spoons?

Yes........why? It took me half a second to realize what had happened. She had grabbed our taster spoons out of the dirty spoon container. Lisa was still sucking on her spoon and I was seconds away from squirting GermEx right into my mouth.

I have to admit, I would take a dirty spoon over a hair any day of the week too.