Once upon a time there was an eleven year old who begged his mother for permission to stay at his best friend's house after school. After presenting multiple reasons for why this was a good idea, the mother relented.
Two hours later the mother's phone rings and she sees it's the best friend's mom. She answers with a "what's wrong?" and hears that her son has bumped his head and is now laying on the couch trying to fall asleep.
The mother knows this is bad news and calls her friend that is an ER nurse that lives near the best friend. The ER nurse is gracious enough to rush over to check on the eleven year old while the mother waits anxiously by the phone wondering if her night was going to end at the hospital.
Soon the phone rings and the mother answers and hears lots of laughter and a disjointed story via several different boys. The gist of the story is that the head injury was made up in order to mask the fact that the eleven year old isn't feeling well.
Head injury.
Upset stomach.
Head injury.
Upset stomach.
The eleven year old gets on the phone with the mother and explains that he didn't want to have to go home. The eleven year old and his friends thought claiming he had bumped his head would ensure his chance to stay put.
Many tears, a taxi ride later, a plastic bag that will never be the same again and the eleven year old is now tucked into bed. Without a head injury.
Not that the mother didn't think about giving him one.
April 30, 2012
April 27, 2012
Dying Brain Cells
Today has been one of those days where I feel like I've been home for brief 4 minute increments of water and potty breaks in between outings. It's one of those days that has been so random you aren't sure if you accomplished a lot or nothing at all.
I went with a friend to take her two toy poodles for Rabies shots in preparation of their move to Dallas in June.
I went to lunch with a friend at a Greek restaurant that has the most amazing salad known to man.
I went to Bible study for 54 minutes because that's all the time we had before rushing off to meet kids at home.
I drug Nathan on an errand to drop off paperwork and then bribed him with Starbucks to run another errand that ended up being a wild goose chase even though he busted out his Mandarin trying to assist his frustrated mother in asking for directions. I love it when he does that......purely for the expression on people's faces because it's so unexpected.
I sat down by our back fence waiting on Garrett to get home from school on the activity bus. His card to get in the gate is broken and I'm currently in negotiations with the office at our apts over whose responsibility it is to replace the key card when it no longer works. I am most definitely going to lose that argument in a passive agressive manner that people here seem to have perfected.
I went to dinner with my men to a restaurant Nathan researched online as part of his 5th grade Singapore history project. He purposefully chose a location that is now known for housing many restaurants and hosting live bands. He purposefully did not choose a museum. My DNA most definitely flows through that boy's body.
I am writing this incredibly boring blog post that has no real substanance or meaning because of a crazy 5 week/6 day challenge I clearly felt the need to begin.
I will be putting on comfy clothes and my glasses, grabbing my computer and heading to a friend's house to pull together some end of the year events before everyone disperses for the summer.
I will then fall into bed and watch the American Idol results show in 12 minutes since the results end up on my Yahoo news feed before I ever get a chance to watch. I'm still in mourning over Colten getting the boot.
As self-focused and silly as this post is, I must leave you with 3 of my favorite taxi memories from this year.
1. This happened today........a taxi where the driver watched his show more than the road. From what I could tell it was a Chinese version of CSI and we almost died running into the back of another taxi. After I picked my purse up off the floor and dug around for the change and lipstick that had fallen out when we went from 50 kmh to 0 kmh in 2 seconds, we were off again without a word being said. I guarantee I left DNA behind in that taxi.
2. The most blinged out taxi I've been in and he was super, super proud of his ride. This picture doesn't do it justice....the lights, the upholstery, the variety of candy in random plastic boxes.
3. I LOVED this guy. I have loads and loads of video of him but this is just a small snippet. I so wish I could have understood what he said because he talked and laughed for about 30 minutes before realizing I was taping him and that was the end of that.
I have nothing meaningful or deep to say except this is what Doing Life looks like around here on many a day.
I went with a friend to take her two toy poodles for Rabies shots in preparation of their move to Dallas in June.
I went to lunch with a friend at a Greek restaurant that has the most amazing salad known to man.
I went to Bible study for 54 minutes because that's all the time we had before rushing off to meet kids at home.
I drug Nathan on an errand to drop off paperwork and then bribed him with Starbucks to run another errand that ended up being a wild goose chase even though he busted out his Mandarin trying to assist his frustrated mother in asking for directions. I love it when he does that......purely for the expression on people's faces because it's so unexpected.
I sat down by our back fence waiting on Garrett to get home from school on the activity bus. His card to get in the gate is broken and I'm currently in negotiations with the office at our apts over whose responsibility it is to replace the key card when it no longer works. I am most definitely going to lose that argument in a passive agressive manner that people here seem to have perfected.
I went to dinner with my men to a restaurant Nathan researched online as part of his 5th grade Singapore history project. He purposefully chose a location that is now known for housing many restaurants and hosting live bands. He purposefully did not choose a museum. My DNA most definitely flows through that boy's body.
I am writing this incredibly boring blog post that has no real substanance or meaning because of a crazy 5 week/6 day challenge I clearly felt the need to begin.
I will be putting on comfy clothes and my glasses, grabbing my computer and heading to a friend's house to pull together some end of the year events before everyone disperses for the summer.
I will then fall into bed and watch the American Idol results show in 12 minutes since the results end up on my Yahoo news feed before I ever get a chance to watch. I'm still in mourning over Colten getting the boot.
As self-focused and silly as this post is, I must leave you with 3 of my favorite taxi memories from this year.
1. This happened today........a taxi where the driver watched his show more than the road. From what I could tell it was a Chinese version of CSI and we almost died running into the back of another taxi. After I picked my purse up off the floor and dug around for the change and lipstick that had fallen out when we went from 50 kmh to 0 kmh in 2 seconds, we were off again without a word being said. I guarantee I left DNA behind in that taxi.
2. The most blinged out taxi I've been in and he was super, super proud of his ride. This picture doesn't do it justice....the lights, the upholstery, the variety of candy in random plastic boxes.
3. I LOVED this guy. I have loads and loads of video of him but this is just a small snippet. I so wish I could have understood what he said because he talked and laughed for about 30 minutes before realizing I was taping him and that was the end of that.
I have nothing meaningful or deep to say except this is what Doing Life looks like around here on many a day.
April 26, 2012
A Muse
I am sitting here staring at a blank screen wishing this post would just write itself. I never know where to start after being absent for so long. You should see my journal. I think that one book has spanned about 5 years at this point and it's transitions are awkward and painful to read. I'm always envious of those folks that write journal after journal of their thoughts and feelings and musings.
I think you're only allowed to have musings if you journal. Or paint stuff. I've honestly never heard of an engineer who had any musings.
So here goes....in no specific order......my musings.
1. I had grandiose plans of doing another blog challenge (much like last year at this exact time) where I have to write a post every day as a way of forcing myself to chronicle this past year. I was going to start at the 8 week mark prior to our heading home to Houston. The 8 week mark came.....and then went.....and I had nothing. I couldn't start at 7 weeks because who starts anything that is 7 weeks long? I was all geared up as the 6 week mark approached....I mulled different themes around in my head and prepped myself for the challenge....and nothing.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 5 weeks and 6 days blog challenge. Yep! That's me. Always living outside the box. Not that this is a formal commitment or anything.......just making sure that's clear.
2. I had the most amazing dinner planned for tonight. One of the components was a big pot of black beans. They were perfectly seasoned and even had diced green chile in it. I went to turn on the light above my stove so you could actually see the black beans in the black pot and heard a loud POP as glass shattered all over my stove from the lightbulb blowing up. I don't know if the stove light blowing up is normal or not, but those are the kinds of questions I stopped asking many, many months ago. I honestly stood there and stared at those precious black beans and contemplated serving them to my men. Chances were pretty good there wasn't glass in those black beans sitting in a black pot and if there was any glass, I was pretty sure it was small enough to not cause any damage. Just in case you've missed it, I don't live in Texas anymore. I don't get to choose from 82 different varieties of black beans for 90 cents a can. And they had green chile in them! Alas, Scot intervened as he clearly values the health of his family over green chile.
3. I am almost giddy with the anticipation of going home this summer. A year is a very long time to go without seeing your family. Driving a car. Drinking Sonic Diet Coke with lime. Buying strawberries and gum and 82 varieties of black beans. Riding a bike. Watching TV without Chinese subtitles. Being inundated with political propaganda during an election year.
Ok, so maybe there are some things I don't miss.
4. I got to a point about 3 weeks ago where I had an epic meltdown over feeling like I was failing in every single aspect of my life. Not the kind of fail like that time I was convinced that selling Creative Memories was going to make me my first million or the kind of fail like happens exactly 4 days into a new diet. I'm talking the kind of fail where you feel like you are actually doing more damage than good. It was not fun. It's getting better.....lots of prayer and reordering of some priorities.....it's getting better.
5. I am 5 weeks and 5 days away from no longer having a kid in Elementary School. It's all puberty all the time in my house these days and boy is that a ton of fun! (Insert dripping, stinky sarcasm here)
6. I am saying good-bye to a lot of friends in the next 5 weeks and 6 days. It's the ex-pat circle of life. People come and go and the longer you are here, the more friends you make and the more likely you are to be saying good-bye. A lot. Conversations these days are all about when you're leaving for the summer, how long you'll be gone, and who is moving. Calendars fill up with going away lunches and dinners as people wonder the appropriate mourning period before picking off available helpers and cars and potted plants and appliances from those leaving.
7. Speaking of cars, in Singapore you have to buy a certificate that allows you to buy a car. It's called a COE which I think means Certificate of Entitlement. Right now, a COE will run you $90,000.00. That's right......$90,000 will buy you the privilege of buying a car. $90,000.00. Yep, you get nada, nothing, zilch for that money except the option of going out and buying a $100,000 Hyundai. I don't even have anything witty to say about that.......it's just plain 'ol crazy!
8. Almost 2 years into our Asian lives and I can say that I have mastered the squatty potty. They don't scare me or intimidate me anymore. Me and a hole in the ground? Bring. It. On.
9. Did you know that I was tall? I get told that on an almost daily basis here and I'm always thankful for the reminder. You know, in case I forget one day.
10. I am all out of musings. Done. I'm ready to curl up with some Chinese subtitles and an apple dipped in Nutella. If you've never tried it, you must! The apple and nutella part, not the Chinese subtitles.
I think you're only allowed to have musings if you journal. Or paint stuff. I've honestly never heard of an engineer who had any musings.
So here goes....in no specific order......my musings.
1. I had grandiose plans of doing another blog challenge (much like last year at this exact time) where I have to write a post every day as a way of forcing myself to chronicle this past year. I was going to start at the 8 week mark prior to our heading home to Houston. The 8 week mark came.....and then went.....and I had nothing. I couldn't start at 7 weeks because who starts anything that is 7 weeks long? I was all geared up as the 6 week mark approached....I mulled different themes around in my head and prepped myself for the challenge....and nothing.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 5 weeks and 6 days blog challenge. Yep! That's me. Always living outside the box. Not that this is a formal commitment or anything.......just making sure that's clear.
2. I had the most amazing dinner planned for tonight. One of the components was a big pot of black beans. They were perfectly seasoned and even had diced green chile in it. I went to turn on the light above my stove so you could actually see the black beans in the black pot and heard a loud POP as glass shattered all over my stove from the lightbulb blowing up. I don't know if the stove light blowing up is normal or not, but those are the kinds of questions I stopped asking many, many months ago. I honestly stood there and stared at those precious black beans and contemplated serving them to my men. Chances were pretty good there wasn't glass in those black beans sitting in a black pot and if there was any glass, I was pretty sure it was small enough to not cause any damage. Just in case you've missed it, I don't live in Texas anymore. I don't get to choose from 82 different varieties of black beans for 90 cents a can. And they had green chile in them! Alas, Scot intervened as he clearly values the health of his family over green chile.
3. I am almost giddy with the anticipation of going home this summer. A year is a very long time to go without seeing your family. Driving a car. Drinking Sonic Diet Coke with lime. Buying strawberries and gum and 82 varieties of black beans. Riding a bike. Watching TV without Chinese subtitles. Being inundated with political propaganda during an election year.
Ok, so maybe there are some things I don't miss.
4. I got to a point about 3 weeks ago where I had an epic meltdown over feeling like I was failing in every single aspect of my life. Not the kind of fail like that time I was convinced that selling Creative Memories was going to make me my first million or the kind of fail like happens exactly 4 days into a new diet. I'm talking the kind of fail where you feel like you are actually doing more damage than good. It was not fun. It's getting better.....lots of prayer and reordering of some priorities.....it's getting better.
5. I am 5 weeks and 5 days away from no longer having a kid in Elementary School. It's all puberty all the time in my house these days and boy is that a ton of fun! (Insert dripping, stinky sarcasm here)
6. I am saying good-bye to a lot of friends in the next 5 weeks and 6 days. It's the ex-pat circle of life. People come and go and the longer you are here, the more friends you make and the more likely you are to be saying good-bye. A lot. Conversations these days are all about when you're leaving for the summer, how long you'll be gone, and who is moving. Calendars fill up with going away lunches and dinners as people wonder the appropriate mourning period before picking off available helpers and cars and potted plants and appliances from those leaving.
7. Speaking of cars, in Singapore you have to buy a certificate that allows you to buy a car. It's called a COE which I think means Certificate of Entitlement. Right now, a COE will run you $90,000.00. That's right......$90,000 will buy you the privilege of buying a car. $90,000.00. Yep, you get nada, nothing, zilch for that money except the option of going out and buying a $100,000 Hyundai. I don't even have anything witty to say about that.......it's just plain 'ol crazy!
8. Almost 2 years into our Asian lives and I can say that I have mastered the squatty potty. They don't scare me or intimidate me anymore. Me and a hole in the ground? Bring. It. On.
9. Did you know that I was tall? I get told that on an almost daily basis here and I'm always thankful for the reminder. You know, in case I forget one day.
10. I am all out of musings. Done. I'm ready to curl up with some Chinese subtitles and an apple dipped in Nutella. If you've never tried it, you must! The apple and nutella part, not the Chinese subtitles.
February 17, 2012
Goldfish and Lemongrass
This is going to be a quick and not well edited blog post.
Which means I'm clearly delusional in thinking my other blog posts ARE well edited. I'm a girl that has a healthy love for the comma which would certainly drive any English, major, crazy, seriously, I'm not kidding. I love the"......" too even though it has a name I don't remember....
In exactly one hour I will be leaving on a jet plane heading to Israel. I'm going to be with 23 other women on an intense 10 day study tour. And by intense, I mean we've easily spent 40 hours doing map work and reading to prepare for this trip. It's like being in graduate school except for no tests or papers to write or an unhealthy addiction to Diet Coke.
These past couple of months have been incredibly busy around here with Scot and I passing in the night on some occasions. I think we will have spent a total of 4 days together in all of February. I told my Grandmother that it's a good thing we are well past our trying to have a baby days because I would be one irritated woman waving an ovulation test in front of my man on Skype.
Since I told my Grandmother that, I figured it was ok to type it.....even if it borders on TMI. Or dives right into TMI.
Three days ago Scot came home from a trip to the states where he stocked up for us. He came home with 195 pounds of luggage and about 12 of those pounds were actually his things.
It was like Christmas around here. All the excitement of the new and then all the mess of figuring out where it all goes. It looked like Target had thrown up on our dining room table. There were Christmas cards to read that had been sent to our Houston address, clothes for the boys that seem to be growing like lemongrass (weeds don't apply to our new Asian lifestyle and I'm trying to be relevant) and enough Goldfish to feed a small country.
Oh right, we live in a small country.
Ok, enough Goldfish to feed my two sons that are growing like lemongrass.
I have to say that the table felt like a perfect representation of my life right now. Crazy and unorganized and often overwhelming.
Some call it "having a lot on my plate", some call it "too many balls in the air", I call it "there's no wonder I'm getting grayer by the minute".
I took a deep breath and decided to just start working. One item at a time until the table was cleaned off.
Literally and figuratively.
Now I have 45 minutes until I climb on a plane and read something completely silly and irrelevant and watch movies that I haven't seen and hopefully sleep until 21 hours later I get to see my sister in Israel.
Which means I'm clearly delusional in thinking my other blog posts ARE well edited. I'm a girl that has a healthy love for the comma which would certainly drive any English, major, crazy, seriously, I'm not kidding. I love the"......" too even though it has a name I don't remember....
In exactly one hour I will be leaving on a jet plane heading to Israel. I'm going to be with 23 other women on an intense 10 day study tour. And by intense, I mean we've easily spent 40 hours doing map work and reading to prepare for this trip. It's like being in graduate school except for no tests or papers to write or an unhealthy addiction to Diet Coke.
These past couple of months have been incredibly busy around here with Scot and I passing in the night on some occasions. I think we will have spent a total of 4 days together in all of February. I told my Grandmother that it's a good thing we are well past our trying to have a baby days because I would be one irritated woman waving an ovulation test in front of my man on Skype.
Since I told my Grandmother that, I figured it was ok to type it.....even if it borders on TMI. Or dives right into TMI.
Three days ago Scot came home from a trip to the states where he stocked up for us. He came home with 195 pounds of luggage and about 12 of those pounds were actually his things.
It was like Christmas around here. All the excitement of the new and then all the mess of figuring out where it all goes. It looked like Target had thrown up on our dining room table. There were Christmas cards to read that had been sent to our Houston address, clothes for the boys that seem to be growing like lemongrass (weeds don't apply to our new Asian lifestyle and I'm trying to be relevant) and enough Goldfish to feed a small country.
Oh right, we live in a small country.
Ok, enough Goldfish to feed my two sons that are growing like lemongrass.
I have to say that the table felt like a perfect representation of my life right now. Crazy and unorganized and often overwhelming.
Some call it "having a lot on my plate", some call it "too many balls in the air", I call it "there's no wonder I'm getting grayer by the minute".
I took a deep breath and decided to just start working. One item at a time until the table was cleaned off.
Literally and figuratively.
Now I have 45 minutes until I climb on a plane and read something completely silly and irrelevant and watch movies that I haven't seen and hopefully sleep until 21 hours later I get to see my sister in Israel.
I'll get to wear these new hiking shoes that will make me look super smart while I'm studying in Israel. And they have my new orthotics in them that I had to have made for my foot issues which will make me look super old.
Nice.
I am now sitting at the airport trying to finish this in some sort of nice meaningful way. I'm trying not to be too emotional about being away from my boys for 2 weeks. I sent Scot a text telling him that if something happened to me to please make sure the boys grow up loving Jesus, being gentlemen and marry great women.
He responded with "OK".
That's it. He knows me well. It's going to be ok.
Until I get home and the dining room table looks like the printer at the school and the Goldfish and various sports equipment had thrown up all over it.
February 01, 2012
In the mood for a chat
In a life that has come to feel almost normal, I love it when all of a sudden something happens to remind me that my life is........well, different. Strange, even. Maybe strange isn't the right word. Foreign? Where's my thesaurus when I need it?
Oh, right....it's back in 1987 from the last time I actually used one.
Over the last 6 months I have snapped a couple pictures of things that make me chuckle on the inside. Like this menu from Chilis where they not only give the phonetic spelling of fajitas, but they actually have a step by step pictorial of how to fold a fajita.
Folks, we ain't in Texas any more.
Then you have to pay $45 for small Fa Hee Tuz and I am not chuckling any more.
There was the time I was at a grocery store and an entire aisle was devoted to this product......Cow Ghee. You can't find Rotel or coconut or pine nuts for less than $1 a nut, but Cow Ghee? Oh, yeah.....they've totally got you covered!
I think someone told me it's purified butter. I don't know if that really matters because the looks of it still makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.
One day my Adventure Club friends were pulling out of a parking lot after spending a few hours risking life and limb in the name of fun, and all of a sudden the car load of adventure girls in front of us stopped while one hung out a window to take a picture.
Even a Baptist girl thinks this is funny..........and knows not to make any further comments.
Even though she is really, really tempted to.
There are a lot of "lost in translation" moments but I think this description means exactly what it says. This one I can't claim......stole it from a friend with her permission but without her testimonial on the truthfulness of the advertising.
We have just wrapped up Chinese New Year in this part of the world. I would say this is the biggest holiday in Asia. If I was a good expat, I would know all the ins and outs of the traditions surrounding this holiday.
But I'm not a good expat but am good friends with good expats so if you really want to know, I can put you in touch with someone!
I didn't take many pictures this year, but couldn't help myself during the traditional Lion Dance that came to our apartment building. These happen all over the place as they are meant to bring prosperity and good fortune to whichever place of business they visit.
There are usually two lions and they dance to loud drums and cymbals.
The oranges and lettuce are the "offering" given to the lions and they will "chew up" the lettuce and spit it out and then peel the oranges and leave the peels to symbolize good fortune.
Then the dragon thing came out and they did cool things with it. How's that for informational? Just call me Mizz Wikipedia.
During the whole event, Nathan could hardly contain his excitement. Some kids are woken up by alarms or their parents or the lure of a good cartoon. This day, Nathan was woken up by lion dancing. I think the charm of that is lost on him.
And since I am going to be in a TON of trouble if he sees this picture, here's a shot of him about a millisecond before hitting a solid double to the outfield.
Life is extremely busy around here right now. I have two good friends from Houston coming to visit me for a week......they are bringing me a big bag of pine nuts and that makes me very, very happy. I am going to soak in every single moment with them and hope it will hold me over until I see Texas again in the summer.
When they go home, I have a week before leaving on a 2 week study trip in Israel with 23 other women. In order to prepare for that we've done about 40 hours worth of map work.
I am very, very smart now.
I also thought it would be a good idea to read the Bible in its entirety before going. You know, because 40 hours of map work just isn't enough. Let's power through Ezekiel as well!
Needless to say, I'm behind and that irritates me but I'm determined to get it done.
I'm determined because I'm trying really, really hard to embrace discipline. Let's just say that all the suggestions to read the book Made to Crave did not fall on deaf ears and I'm currently on Chapter 5 of a book that was written all about me.
It was. I don't care what the author says.......she is going to be owing me some royalties.
In my embracing discipline I've tightened down the hatches in the food department. I was doing great with my egg and veggie breakfasts and then yesterday.......
Yesterday was the day that my egg had a feather attached to it.
It wasn't a huge feather, but did it need to be??? This is why I stick to donuts. And could clearly use a manicure.
Well, it was nice having this random little chat with all of you. No more procrastinating, I must get back to being disciplined.
Actually, all this discipline is exhausting me....I'm going to bed because tomorrow Texas is coming to visit and we are going to make Fa Hee Tuz without using any instructions!
January 25, 2012
The "D" Word
I vividly remember the days when I would sit on the bottom step of our staircase and watch out the front windows of our house waiting for the boys to come home from school. I remember the sound of little boy voices competing with each other in the telling of their day. I remember fixing them a snack and sitting at our table with one on either side of me as I helped with daily homework.
I remember the look on their faces as they would fill me in on who said the "S" word on the bus and my utter horror at the thought of some snotty nosed kid stealing the innocence of my boys.
I then remember them whispering to me the dreaded "S" word.
I remember the look on their faces as they would fill me in on who said the "S" word on the bus and my utter horror at the thought of some snotty nosed kid stealing the innocence of my boys.
I then remember them whispering to me the dreaded "S" word.
Mom, he said STUPID.
One boy would sit in awe of the tenaciousness of his brother as he actually dared to use the bad word while I would release a huge sigh of relief knowing innocence remained intact for one more day.
Then came the day when the "S" word really meant the "S" word. And all the other words that are described by the one poor letter of the alphabet that never did anything to anyone. The day when I started getting a grunt in response to questions about their day. The day when fixing a snack meant opening a bag of chips and eating the whole thing. The day when I just wasn't smart enough to help with homework anymore.
In my world there are words that are bad just because of everything they mean....or I just get grossed out by the sound of it. One word I despise?
Ugh....I'm getting sweaty palms just thinking about typing it.
Moist
That is just an awful word with ZERO positive connotations to it. ZERO. Yes, I have gotten used to being inundated with the word when people find out I don't like it but you will never, ever, ever, ever in a gazillion years EVER hear me use that word. It will from here on out be known as the "M" word.
The other word?
Discipline
Don't go rolling your eyes. I'm just telling it like it is.
Lately, I have been In. A. Mood.
Can I get a witness, Scot?
Scot?
Oh, that's right. He is running every errand known to man to try and stay out of my way. A mood people, and it ain't been pretty so I'm feeling the need to unload. Aren't you excited?
Being disciplined is something I have struggled with my entire life.
I do happen to have a sister who got all the discipline genes I'm lacking plus a thousand more. You just can't talk that girl out of being good. She eats healthy every single day.....not just on Monday. She exercises whether rain or shine and not a day goes by that she doesn't spend good, quality time with God. I am in complete awe of her.
I can't even manage to be disciplined with things like allowance. I think I owe Garrett about $924 at this point.
OH!! I am proud to say that I am disciplined with which direction I like the toilet paper to roll. Oh! And I'm also disciplined in putting chapstick on before bed. Does that count? Is it more of an addiction? For the sake of argument, we're going with discipline.
I struggle the most with food. It's just the truth. It's not my only struggle, but it's the biggest one.
I am the worst at having just one or two cookies and then finishing off the whole batch so it won't be there to tempt me tomorrow. Or messing up at 8:42 in the morning and totally splurging the rest of the day because it was already a lost cause. Or being determined to start eating right on Tuesday but waiting until that next Monday because who starts a diet in the middle of the week?
I am the worst at having just one or two cookies and then finishing off the whole batch so it won't be there to tempt me tomorrow. Or messing up at 8:42 in the morning and totally splurging the rest of the day because it was already a lost cause. Or being determined to start eating right on Tuesday but waiting until that next Monday because who starts a diet in the middle of the week?
I'm not making light of this because many of you know my struggles in the past have been real. And in all my attempts at keeping that part of my life (a struggle with the "P" word)* a secret, God has asked me on more than one occasion to share because it was Him that saved me.
But Oreos are still being made and popcorn still begs for a handful of M and Ms and rainy days are still made for curling up under a fuzzy blanket doing nothing.
And discipline still eludes me. I waste an afternoon away on the computer reading about women who lead super amazing disciplined lives when closets need to be cleaned out, I choose a good TV show about disciplined people over exercise, and I won't even mention what dinner looks like half the time at our house.
That's it.
I don't have any magic ending to this post where I tell you that I all of a sudden got a large dose of discipline and dropped 20 pounds in a week and every closet is now organized by color. I'm just telling you that again today I asked for forgiveness for my lack of discipline and I am tired of apologizing for the same thing over and over.
I don't have any magic ending to this post where I tell you that I all of a sudden got a large dose of discipline and dropped 20 pounds in a week and every closet is now organized by color. I'm just telling you that again today I asked for forgiveness for my lack of discipline and I am tired of apologizing for the same thing over and over.
No big theological answer and I have no idea how you say "Discipline" in Greek or Hebrew, I just know I struggle with it.
Maybe I'm just sitting here hoping I'm not the only one.
Maybe I'm just sitting here hoping I'm not the only one.
Now I must go bake some brownies for a thing at church tomorrow and no, the irony of that is not lost on me.
Nice, warm, somewhere between raw batter and dry, brownies.
I told you I won't ever say that word!!
*At the rate I'm going, not one letter in the alphabet is going to be safe from me. "E"......you're next on my list!
*At the rate I'm going, not one letter in the alphabet is going to be safe from me. "E"......you're next on my list!
January 17, 2012
We Need To Talk
Scot and I had a much needed lunch date before Christmas. The lunch started with his all time favorite four words...
My hope is that we can go back to Cambodia in May before we head home for the summer. I just don't want to live my life without frequent doses of these four amazing people and a whole lot of awesome kiddos.
And if you ever want to go with me?
Well then, We Need To Talk!
We Need To Talk
He swears those four words cause dread in every man. I think he's over exaggerating. There's nothing better than a good in depth conversation where we share our thoughts and feelings....where hours slip by unnoticed because you are so absorbed in the conversation.
According to Scot, having his fingernails pulled out one by one would be more fun.
Whatever.
Anyways, we were at lunch and I informed him that I thought we needed to buy a house in Houston. We then needed to rent out said house to a friend of mine and then I would feel more rooted and could stay there when I went home and could have all my stuff that is in storage delivered to the house and unpacked and then I could get my Fall and Christmas decorations and bring them back to Singapore with me.
He looked at me for a solid moment before he said....
So let me get this straight.
You want your Fall and Christmas decorations here in Singapore
and your solution to that problem is to BUY A HOUSE??
Ok, so it made much more sense in my head. It is all kinds of fun being married to me.
You can maybe understand why he was slightly afraid that we'd go to Cambodia and I'd give away everything we have and come home with four extra kids.
I react. It's just what I do.
I had promised him that I wouldn't make any commitments and would limit my knee jerk reactions until after he and I had a chance to make some decisions together.
Although it was hard at times, I did a very good job of asking loads of questions, doing a lot of listening, and just absorbing all our time in Cambodia had to offer.
I had promised him that I wouldn't make any commitments and would limit my knee jerk reactions until after he and I had a chance to make some decisions together.
Although it was hard at times, I did a very good job of asking loads of questions, doing a lot of listening, and just absorbing all our time in Cambodia had to offer.
Because we aren't just talking Christmas decorations here.
We're talking about the lives of children. Children who have had much of their childhood stolen from them and in some instances, their innocence. We're talking about young adults that are investing every moment of every day into some boys in the hopes that they can give them a future. We're talking about an opportunity to invest in a ministry where every single dollar counts for something.
These kids and these ministries deserve nothing less than a very purposeful and thought-out reaction with a whole lot of prayer driving the decision. Throwing a few hundred dollars their way to ease my guilt or discomfort over their situation?
They flat out deserve better than that.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with acting on impulse in a situation where help is needed. I have a problem with acting on impulse, feeling better about the situation, and returning back to life as normal without some attempt to be an ongoing part of the solution.
They flat out deserve better than that.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with acting on impulse in a situation where help is needed. I have a problem with acting on impulse, feeling better about the situation, and returning back to life as normal without some attempt to be an ongoing part of the solution.
In the course of planning for this trip, being on the trip, and after the trip, many people have been incredibly supportive and encouraging. We've heard over and over how amazing we are to have gone on the trip.
I don't want to discount those words at all because I know they were said so sweetly.
It's just that I don't think we are all that amazing.
James 1:27 says this:
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself
from being polluted by the world.
I can only speak for myself when I say that I fight constantly to not be "polluted by the world". Entitlement, discontentment, and blurring many lines are what I battle with.
I really don't want to leave those words written there, but it's truth.
Our time in Cambodia was nothing more than practicing obedience to what we as Christians have been told to do. There are many, many people that do exceedingly more than we do at a much greater sacrifice and those people are who I consider to be amazing. Not us.
I think my time in Cambodia was an opportunity to get rid of some pollution in my life. And I have to be honest, it was so much easier to breathe.
Because some of you have asked, I am providing information on the Boy's Center for you below.
The facts:
The Boy's Center (officially called Punlok Thmey which is Khmer for New Growth) needs $4500 a month to keep its doors open and meet some of their goals. They have only been open since September 2011.
They are supported 100% through individual donations and right now they are receiving $700 a month. They fall under International Outreach Ministries and all donations are tax deductable.
They had a fundraiser walk-a-thon last year called Traffick Jam that raised enough support to keep their doors open. They would like to get to a point where Traffick Jam money is used for things like buying more computers or improvements on the Center.
The ladies that are running the center have raised their own support in the states and the Cambodian employees currently make around $150 a month. The goal is to raise that amount closer to $200.
Their goals are to be able to provide lunch for the boys that walk through the doors and that would cost $75 a week to feed close to 100 kids.
They would also like to become a safety shelter that is open all night for boys who find themselves in dangerous situations and need somewhere to go.
Every single red cent donated goes directly to them and what they are doing. You can read more about it and donate here.
If you have any other questions, you can contact me at keri@me.com.
My hope is that we can go back to Cambodia in May before we head home for the summer. I just don't want to live my life without frequent doses of these four amazing people and a whole lot of awesome kiddos.
And if you ever want to go with me?
Well then, We Need To Talk!
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