October Happenings

It is the beginning of October which means the opportunity to celebrate my sister's birthday. I honestly don't remember the last time I got to celebrate with her in person so we were WAY overdue! We happened to get tickets to the David Crowder Band concert through the youth group at the church Cyndi is teaching at right now. I wasn't feeling very well, but I pulled myself together, gathered a bunch of Kleenex and off we went. Turns out we had 2nd row tickets and through some interesting circumstances, we ended up back stage to meet the band.

Since I'm all about the "instant connection", I threw out (as we were herded past for our 5 sec photo op) that I went to Baylor and got a round of "Sic 'em Bears" from them. I'm sure they will now never forget me.

I have to say that I really love that the 3 of us girls in this picture have far less hair than any one guy in the band. That's just awesome!

Never one to miss an opportunity to eat cake, I was excited to make my way to RJ Goodies for a bakery cake that is heavenly. Oh, how I miss it already! I'm lucky I even got this picture...

As we all know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Amazingly enough, I have only had one woman close to me do battle with this disease and win, but through the wonderful world of blogs, I have met another amazing survivor. She is close to my age, has 3 kids, an incredible outlook on life, and is now officially a survivor. Way to go Erica!! You can meet her here and read her incredible story!

Tomorrow we take G back to the doctor to see why his CT scan came back abnormal this summer. I am praying it's scar tissue and nothing more. I will keep you posted!! Scot is actually in town so he's going with me which I am very grateful for!!

Speaking of in town/out of town (we were talking about that, right?), we are definitely moving to Singapore at the end of the school year. Scot will move in Feb or March and the boys and I will leave when school ends. We have registered them at the American School there and are getting their passports tomorrow. It's going to be an interesting 7 months between now and when we leave alternating between time crawling by and time moving too quickly. It is all very overwhelming for me right now! We are going to have to be very purposeful in our marriage for the next many months since most of that time we will be apart.

Life is most definitely an adventure and I'm excited to see where God leads us! Between now and then, I think I will start brushing up on some Mandarin!

Run

My sister, Cyndi (at the end of a good go-get-'em cheer), my friend who is responsible for getting me into this, Kristi, and myself after a long Labor Day run.

".........let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Almost two months ago I completely lost my mind and signed up for the Houston Half Marathon. A dear friend of mine had been working very hard at convincing me that it was actually fun to run around Houston for 13 miles and being one that loves a good challenge, I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

The crazy part is that if I had waited just one more day I would not have made it in. The half and whole marathon filled up in under 48 hours.......darn it all! I have to admit that I did take some pleasure in letting people know that I would be running 13 miles come January.......like only "elite athletes" think it's a good idea to run continuously for 2 or 3 hours so that had to somehow change people's perception of my athletic prowess.

My sister, Cyndi (who you may remember from here), was kicked out of Israel back in June and can't go back until the end of December. She decided to spend the interim here in Houston with us and I have loved, loved, loved having her here. She is a runner. For real. Like when I ask her how far she runs in Israel she tells me that she will run from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and back. I mean, how cool is that?

Oh, and let me clarify. My definition of run means that at some point between my left and right foot hitting the ground, there is airspace......however brief and far apart it may be. Her definition is let's see if we can run 4 miles in 20 min or less. I will actually get winded and start sweating just by riding my bike next to her while she runs.

When I officially started "training", she was kind enough to run at my pace, which presented a whole different kind of challenge for her. It wasn't long before I had built up some endurance and she was complimenting me on how much better I was breathing (translation: I was actually breathing instead of gasping for air) and how much my endurance had improved (translation: I wasn't talking about how I was going to die at any minute).

It wasn't long before I was comfortably running 3 miles and was ready to increase my mileage except that I was experiencing a lot of pain in my right hip. We did a "long" run one day and after 5 miles, I was in so much pain it was barely tolerable. It has been frustrating and annoying. I need to have it checked and I wonder if my goal of running the half marathon will be realized.

With my recent focus on running, I have realized the depth of truth in the verse I posted at the beginning. It is not a mistake that Paul chose the action verb of "run". It is hard to run a race. There is training involved, aches and pain, endurance, and most of all perseverance. You have to be devoted to getting stronger by running almost every day to achieve the goal set before you.

Walking is easy.

Recently I have had friends do a lot of walking:

Walking away from their marriage.

Walking away from the challenge of raising godly children.

Walking away from fighting inner demons.

Walking away from friends.

Walking away from financial responsibility.

Walking away from God.

Walking is easy.

Signing up for the race, staying committed, running through the pain......that is the race marked out for us, even when everything in us screams out to quit.

Running to your spouse to save a marriage.

Running the race of godly parenting.

Running from strongholds satan uses to destroy.

Running to friends for support and encouragement.

Running headlong into financial discipline.

Running to God.

One day we will all cross the finish line and I pray that my Father will be standing there proud of the work I did, forgetting all the times I walked away only to be pulled back into the race by His gentle prodding, gently smiling at the callouses I wear from training, and calling me by name because of the relationship we've forged while He ran with me.

That will be the ultimate Runner's high.

*I am dedicating this post to you, Dana. I will always be your running partner.*

The Top of Nob Hill

I have been missing from Blogger world for awhile now........it's amazing how much more I get done when I limit my computer usage! Surprise, surprise!

Taking a break from chin whisker conversations, as much fun as those are, I wanted to update about a whirlwind of a trip I took with Scot last week. I got an email from him the Thursday morning before letting me know that he and I would be leaving early Sunday morning for a business trip to San Francisco.......my mom was already scheduled to fly in on Saturday (thank you very much frequent flier miles) and I had better get busy.

Get busy?? Yes. This was one of those convention type events for the pipeline industry and there were about 2 events scheduled per day. Unfortunately, I live my life as a "soccer mom" and don't have the quantity of grown up clothes that would be required for a trip such as this so I was forced into a marathon shopping spree. I would rather sit and stare at a blank wall than go shopping for hours on end so I was not excited about this.......especially since I needed a dress for a black tie affair and was regretting my decision to eat this last year.

After a crazy 48 hours, most of which I don't remember with any clarity, I was packed and ready to go. By the time we got to the airport, I was very much excited about having a week with my husband in a city I have never been to before. One of my dearest friends was going to be going as well......her husband works with mine........so that was an added bonus for sure!

We arrived early enough on Sunday to have the whole day to ourselves. We stayed at The Fairmont which is pretty much at the top of Nob Hill. That means walking TO anywhere was fine......it was walking BACK that made up feel like your heart was going to explode out of your chest. We spent Sunday down at Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39 with a gazillion sea lions hanging out, stumbling upon a chocolate festival in Ghiradelli's Square, taking an obligatory shot of Lombard Street, and walking 14 blocks to an amazing restaurant my brother recommended. We got to sit at the Chef's counter and watch all the cooking take place. I HIGHLY recommend this restaurant.....it was called A16.

The nice thing about going on trips like this one is the opportunity to do things I wouldn't normally get to do. We took a fun tour through Napa that included a lunch in one of the wine cellars. I don't like wine.......I have really, really tried because Scot loves it. I just honestly have not had many that don't cause a full body spasm when I taste it.

Monday night was a welcoming cocktail hour and that's where I learned that "Smart Casual" doesn't really mean any one thing. Being a very international crowd there were women in full out sparkly cocktail dresses down to khakis and a top. The week was going to be so intense, my husband, who can pack for 2 weeks in China in a carry-on, had to create a spreadsheet to make sure he had all the clothes he needed.

Tuesday we got to hang out by ourselves. We went to a wonderful cafe near the hotel for lunch where Carmen Policy ended up sitting right next to us. I had NO idea who this dude was, Scot knew immediately. Apparently he was the President of the 49ers back in the day when the Cowboys and 49ers were swapping Super Bowl victories. He ended up buying our lunch and spending quite a bit of time talking football with Scot. My sweet husband was in heaven.....a real treat for him.

Then we walked up and down some killer hills to work off that wonderful lunch.

Wednesday Janah and I went on the Alcatraz tour. Scot and Janah's husband had meetings all morning so they didn't get to go. I happened to be married to a history buff who feels the need to read every single sign when we go to museums so I figured we shaved about 3 hours off the tour by not having him there. It was honestly one of my favorite things about the week. The audio tour is really great and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting.

Thursday night was one of my favorite evenings of the week. CAT sponsored the night by renting out the AT&T ballpark where the Giants play. We got to eat on the field, hang out in the batting cages, and enjoy a live band with fireworks. It was really amazing and I felt very fancy that night!!

Friday morning was the brunch and fashion show for the wives. I was working really hard at talking my friend, Janah, out of going. It wasn't until her husband sweetly informed me that she had been looking forward to the fashion show that I went back to the outfit drawing board and attempted to channel my deep down hidden "ladies that lunch" self. It was a nice morning - the brunch took place in an art gallery and the space was wonderful. The models were crazy skinny and scowled the whole time........poor things! Someone give them a brownie!

Janah and I took no less than about 15 pictures of ourselves and just could not get a great shot.....we finally resigned ourselves to the fact that it was less likely the picture taker person (I think everyone there had a chance to snap a shot at us), it was the subjects in the picture. Bad outfits for photo taking, wrong lighting, 2 foot difference in our height......pick any excuse! This was the best out of them all!

The best part of the fashion show was when it ended, they extended an invitation for us to try on the fashions ourselves. Girl, I'm from Texas where we eat Mexican food at LEAST once a week. I couldn't get back on that bus fast enough......no thank you.......I did NOT need that kind of torture!

That afternoon I drug Scot back down to the Wharf for one more bread bowl of clam chowder. I am not lying when I tell you that I tried on my formal dress for that night before we went....just to make sure I had not eaten my way out of it!! Praise God it still fit so off we went! Pure heaven!!

Friday night was the formal black tie event to finish the week. The best part? Seeing Scot in a tux for the first time since the day I married him. He looked F-I-N-E.......my heart skipped all kinds of beats!

Every single picture I have of the week I took with my phone since I was under the impression that my camera wasn't working.....until we got home and Scot pushed one button on it and all of a sudden it was working again! Anyways, we don't have any really good pictures of us that night, but we sure had a great time. There was a great band and we danced for hours.....I have never seen Scot dance for as long as he did that night. It was so much fun!

We had to catch a shuttle at 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning so suffice it to say we got about a two hour nap before heading back to Houston.

It was a wonderful trip and a true blessing all the way around. I left swearing off make-up and more than one outfit change a day......that was a little intense!

I loved getting some time alone with Scot and I definitely fell in love with San Francisco.

The length of this post astounds even me so for any of you who have stuck with it and aren't even related to me, I appreciate you!

False Advertising

Do you see the serene look on this patient's face as she undergoes laser hair removal??

IT'S A LIE!!!

Picture me without a cute headband, laying on the table with funky dark glasses on because what I'm about to do to my face could render me blind........awesome....

I'm relaxed and ready to start down the road to my whisker free future when Hilda (who is very disappointingly named Carlene), drops her glasses in place and says "Let's get started".

What happens next is truly a blur as I was trying to cope with the feeling of having 1,000 hot needles poking into my face without writhing in pain.......or screaming. I could almost see Hilda throwing her head back and emitting an evil laugh while I wondered if those glasses were really protecting my eyes, or just masking the fact that I was crying.

It honestly took about 5 minutes and then we were done. I wondered if there was blood streaming down my face and neck after the torture. I have never had to struggle harder to be polite and to show self-control than when Hilda told me that next time:

"I will kill some more"

She then left me to regain my composure in the little room before meeting me out front. It literally felt like someone had punched me in the jaw.....over and over and over again.

I proceeded to the desk with the sweet girl that has never had a zit or chin whisker, and begin the process of setting my next appointment. I casually mentioned how much pain I'm in and the fact that they should offer a Vicodin cocktail prior to laser hair removal. The adorable 12 year old receptionist just laughed and said

"Yeah, everyone says that".

Ok, so is it just me? Maybe you people ought to consider WARNING those of us that have no clue that this experience is so excruciating. Maybe that's why "Hilda" is so free with showing off her armpit, because you are so mesmerized by the promise of what could be, that you get sucked in at any cost.

Round 2 is October 8......you better believe I will be inhaling some Advil and packing my own ice pack for that visit!!

If I Burn It......It will Die

**Very Important Disclaimer**

If you happen to be married to me or are a male figure in any way related to me, you may want to skip this blog post. The following information could be harmful to your health, the mental kind.

Yesterday I went to the dermatologist. I adore my dermatologist....she is cute, personable, and has great skin - therefore I trust her.

I received the now familiar lecture about how poorly I follow my prescribed skin care routine (much like the lecture I get at the dentist for not flossing while bleeding all over that little napkin thing they have clipped on me.......and why in the world is that little suction thingy see through?? Watching the blood being sucked down the tube does not in any way help the already scarred reputation dentists have.......).

I inquired into a couple different procedures they advertise in their little pamphlet thing you get to read through while waiting for the doctor, but quickly wrote them off as being way too high maintenance, or just flat out too expensive.

I then took a deep breath, swallowed my pride, and inquired about laser treatments to deal with the horrendous condition called chin whiskers.

(Scot, I warned you at the beginning so don't blame me if some of the magic has disappeared because you are still reading this.)

The doctor quickly referred me to the lady who does that sort of thing in her office. After (very loudly) asking one of the nurses at the nurses station who was standing there with every employee known to man, to take me to the laser lady for info on CHIN WHISKERS.....geesh.....I was introduced to Hilda the laser lady.

I don't really know her name, but she was an older European woman and was every ounce a Hilda.

She asked me what the issue was.......I was surprised she didn't know after the booming announcement down by the nurses station. I told her about my "issue" and her first question was:

"What color iz de hair?"

Ummmmm......black. Does it really matter??

That was when she pulled out the dreaded round magnifying glass with 1,000,000 mega watts of light bulbs. One look and she said:

"Oh, yes......I see de problem."

You do?? Cuz I took full advantage of the natural light pouring into my car to pluck a few strays before coming face to hair follicle with that darn magnifying glass.

"Zou need to stop plucking for two weeks before I start ze treatment so ze hair follicles are intact."

"Then I will burn it and it will die."

Right there I knew that I needed a job where I could say that exact statement every day.

My mind was whirling with the news about no plucking for two weeks when she very suddenly pulled back her cute pink scrub top sleeve, thrust her armpit into my face and said:

"Zou see? No shaving for seven years!!"

After recovering from the sudden appearance of her pit in my face, I had to admit that it was an impressive sight!

I told her to sign me up and off we marched (high knees, straight back) to the desk to get me all signed up.

Two weeks from yesterday will be my first session with Hilda. Between now and then, I'm hoping my poor whisker follicles will be so afraid of their impending doom that they will have mercy on me and the imposed two week tweezer sabbatical.

Don't you just love being a woman??

Be Still

In four days G starts school and then on Monday, N joins him. A new start - almost like New Year's Day in many ways. Lots of promises are made for renewed discipline, culinary achievements, and organization. Unfortunately, these most often go by the wayside by September when I am talking loudly to the kids (yelling), driving through somewhere for dinner, and have papers scattered all over my kitchen.

The one thing that is different this year is that I am learning to Be Still. This is not easy for me as I think I have had an overloaded schedule since I was 12. I like to be busy, active, involved, and social so I end up being overwhelmed many times. My head, my life, all start to feel like this:

An enormous mess where I can't find anything I am looking for and just give up trying. Humility at its very best!! There was nothing in me that really wanted to post that picture except that it best describes how I feel inside most of the time.

Until God met me in Florida this summer. He knew it would take a week for me to calm down enough to pay attention to the lesson He was trying to teach me. Week two was all about quiet communion between my God, whom I love with my whole being, and me. Week three was about confirming all I had been learning. The big lesson??

"Be Still and know that I am God" was not written in the Bible just to take up space. It is a command. He is telling us to Be Still. Not just for a minute, or five minutes because how well can you really know someone in that short of time? Five minutes of being still would be like speed dating and I just don't see God being cool with that.

We tell our boys all the time to Be Still. Often it's when we are trying to get a point across and need them to pay attention. They are so distracted by everything else going on that even if they are still physically and listening, I can tell by looking in their eyes that they aren't really hearing me because they aren't still on the inside.

For me, it means cleaning out some of what makes my mind so noisy. Just like that playroom, it's getting rid of what isn't needed and finding a proper place for what is. None of it is bad and all of it serves a good purpose, but we just don't need all of it.

There were several weeks in there that God had been sweetly telling me to resign my volunteer position at Living Proof. Boy howdy, I did NOT want to do that, but He was persistent and I was obedient.

Budget cuts required the church to cancel our C3 event for the Fall, so God took care of that without me being involved at all. I guess He figured my involvement just made it that much more complicated and time consuming!

With Scot's new job I have given my days at the hospital back to the other speech therapist that had so kindly let me take over when we were unemployed.

There is more and I fully realize that everyone's journey with this is different. For me, it was about not doing so much for everyone else that my family suffered. Let me tell you.......it feels really good. There was nothing wrong with what I was doing, it was all very purposeful and for a good cause, but there were many times I lost who God was because I couldn't hear or see Him in all the craziness.

Be Still. Sit with Him. Talk to Him. Spend time with Him.

Then you will know HE is God.

In a perfect post, I would have an incredible, Pottery Barn type picture to post as an "After" to the one I posted above. Honestly, I'm still in the midst of cleaning up so I can't tie all this up in a nice neat bow. Oh yeah, that's another thing I'm letting go of........feeling like I have to have it all figured out in order to talk about it.

There can be something powerful about allowing others a peek into the journey.

A Slap In The Face.....

That would be the gift Reality gave to me this morning. To think that in less than two weeks we will be diving back into our school schedule.......the boys and I are leaving tread marks in our attempt to sloooooowwwww summer down.

California was a ton of fun....crazy, but fun. My Grandmother loved having her son, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren surrounding her to celebrate 90 wonderful years of life! This is a woman who still put on her bathing suit and went swimming with all of us - she even wore her goggles! Up until about 3 years ago she still went skinny dipping on a regular basis and believes that being 90 is absolutely no reason at all for not going down the water slide (that activity includes her bathing suit in case you were wondering). She has, and continues to lead a fascinating life that includes being a championship diver. She is witty, edgy, and has a wicked sense of humor.

So Scot and I went from having endless amounts of time together to only spending ONE of the last six weeks together! I was happy to have him there with me......but very sad to see him go home early.

I completely soak in every minute I get with my siblings all together. This is Lisa, Dave (the gentle giant), and Cyndi who is home from Jerusalem, living with us, until December! Yeah!!

I love this shot of N. He was super excited to wear his pink button down shirt with his mohawk......that look on his face says it all!

G and his cousin who is now old enough to think that having older cousins absolutely rocks the world! It was all about fire trucks and racing cars and my boys were only too happy to oblige!

My sweet nephew and his parents below. All 3 of us girls absolutely adore our sister-in-law. She is one very cool chick!

The boys and I spent our last night in Venice Beach with my brother and sister-in-law. The next morning we went for breakfast at a place that was way cooler than I am. N was pitching a fit because outside of porridge or Ricotta pancakes, there was nothing on the menu that remotely resembled IHOP. I decided that as the oldest, I should treat......let's just say that I haven't had steak dinners that have cost as much!

We did, however, get to see Marisa Tomei dining right across from us. No entourage, no drama.......in order to keep it that way, I channeled my inner Californian and tried to blend even though I really wanted to run up to her and tell her how much I LOVED My Cousin Vinny, quote a few lines, and then whip out about 3 cameras to take pictures with her.

I think my brothers would have disowned me on the spot.

I have so much so share with those few of you that still pop over to visit the blog! Alas, alone time is right around the corner and I look forward to spending more time sharing with each of you! Between now and then, I challenge each of you to find some way to use the word "alas" on a daily basis........a very underutilized word in my opinion! Go ahead, try it!