thoughts on worship

Fourth of July is coming up!  Picnics, fireworks, watermelon and God Bless the USA.

Here's something that I've thought a lot about though.  Maybe you will want to think about it, too.

One time at church, the weekend before the 4th, they played a patriotic song in church.  Soon, people began spontaneously rising to their feet.

Ok, no problem with that, EXCEPT, in that same church I never saw people spontaneously rise to their feet when singing about the God of the Universe.

Is something wrong when we feel comfortable being demonstrative in our adoration of our country, but not in our adoration of our God?

howdy, ya'll

We spent the day in the Wild West.  Buckskin Joe is a little town made of of old buildings from different parts of Colorado.  The site has been used in the filming of many movies.

Way back, Twenty-three years ago, I worked here for a summer.  

Some of the shots are a view of the Royal Gorge.

I didn't take many pictures.  Most of them have my kids and I don't like to put them on here. 

It's a fun place to visit if you're ever in Colorado.

the thing about batman

He doesn't even have any super powers.

Anyone could do what he does...

anyone with a bat-belt, that is.

advice

Pet them now and then.  Give them some affection.

Feed them at least once a day.

Make sure they have plenty of fresh water.

Teach them to come when called.

Establish where they are allowed to be and where they aren't.

Make sure they bark at strangers.

Let them outside to run around now and then.

Clean up their bodily messes.

Provide opportunities to socialize.

Strictly forbid biting...unless it is an unwanted stranger.

There you have it.  How to parent.  Watch for me on Oprah.

thursday thirteen

Thirteen TV quotes:

""the couples that are truly right for each other wade through the same crap as everybody else but the big difference is they don't let it take 'em down"" 
     -- Perry Cox - Scrubs

""Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason."" 
     -- Jerry Seinfeld - Seinfeld

"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" 

     -- Adam Savage - Myth Busters

""Whenever I'm about to do something, I think 'would an idiot do that?'' and if they would, I do NOT do that thing"" 
     -- Dwight Schrute - The Office

"I wish I could....but I don't want to" 
     -- Phoebe Buffay  - Friends

"I'm not so good with the advice... Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?" 
     -- Chandler Bing - Friends

"Unless I'm wrong, which, you know, I'm not..." 
     -- Adrian Monk - Monk

That's enough to make me LOL...out loud" 
     -- Adrian Monk - Monk

"Wait, wait, Shawn don't do this, ... SHAWN don't you, don't you DARE learn a wrong lesson when I'm trying to teach you a RIGHT lesson! … Shawn? Stop stop stop stop! Stop trying to figure it out! Stop jumping!!! … shawn? Shawn!" 
     -- Henry Spencer (Shawn's father) - Psych

""This is not the Indian restaurant, this is a residential number and you are speaking to the lady of the house on a white slimline telephone with last number re-dial facility."" 
     -- Hyacinth - Keeping Up Appearances

"No, a moo point. Like a cow's opinion, doesn't matter. It's moo ..." 
     -- Joey Tribbiani - Friends

"Mind the pedestrian."

Hyacinth - Keeping Up Appearances

"I have my own opinions. I'm not just some trophy wife." 
     -- Marie Barone 

more about magpies

Here is a photo I took this morning through my screen.  the middle one is a baby.  He's just a little bit fuzzier than the others.  Much noisier and more demanding.  I wish I had a good audio recorder so I could share with you just what its like around here.  

If you click here it will take you to a site with a Magpie photo.  Just under the photo is a very small green box you can click to hear the Magpie.  The pretty song you hear in the background is a Meadowlark.  We have those, too.  Not that I can hear them over the other racket.  Now, imagine that Magpie multiplied by about ten.  And the babies sound harsher, louder, more demanding...

I used to be absolutely terrified of storms.  

When I was very young, maybe five, there was a horrible storm in the little mountain town where we lived.  We were at church and we saw a fire in the distance.  

The fire was just up the street from our house.  I remember the front porch having a couple of inches of water with dead worms floating in it.  

Daddy wasn't home.

The roof was leaking everywhere.

It was scary.

Mom had us kneel by the couch and pray.

My dad was up fighting the fire and he came home safely.  The people in the house were safe and most of the house was saved.

I assume that's where my terror of storms began.

I remember being outdoors and seeing the dark clouds approaching.  I would feel sick to my stomach.  Dread would grip my heart.  

I always hid under the piano.  I felt somewhat protected there and it was close to the door so I could make a speedy escape if lightning struck - as it was bound to do.

When I had my first kid, I realized that I didn't want her to learn that fear from me.  So I started pretending that I wasn't afraid.  I was still terrified inside, but I did my best not to let it show.  No more hiding under furniture or cowering in the corner.  (Yes, I did that even after I was married)

Eventually, the fear subsided.  I have a friend who always says, "Feelings follow behavior"  I think there is a lot of truth to that.  Don't feel like you love your husband?  ACT like you do.  

Anyway, that's fodder for another post.  Back to the storms...  Yesterday I saw some whirly, swirly, scary looking clouds and my heart beat a little faster.  But I reminded myself of what I had read in Job.  You know the part where God is telling Job what's what...

God says, "Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go

   and say to you, 'Here we are'?" (Job 38:35)

The lightning answers to God.  God is in control.  The wind and the waves listen to Him.  He is God of the storms.

Ye storms howl out His greatness; let your thunders roll like drums in the
march of God's armies! Let your lightning write his name in fire on the
midnight darkness; let the illimitable void of space become one mouth for
song; and let the unnavigated ether, through its shoreless depths, bear
through the infinite remote the name of Him whose goodness endureth forever!

--Charles Haddon Spurgeon

magpies

Well, slap me up side of the head and call me a tuna!  I forgot to post yesterday!

I have long been a fan of Magpies.  I think they are nostalgic for me.  It seems like my dad used to point them out when we went for rides.  I don't know.  But I like them.

That may not be true for long, however.  Apparently our area is a great breeding ground for Magpies.

Have you ever heard a baby Magpie?

The thing is these "babies" are the same size as their parents.  The only way to tell they are babies is that they holler all the time and sit around with their mouths open.  And they do holler.  

In the mornings, they prefer the trees near my bedroom.  Nice.

who i am

"What in the world?" - got that from Mel.

"And you know what..." - that's Cindy.

"I mean, you know" - Danica

"Definitely" - definitely comes from Chris

I picked up some intonations from Robbie.

I shrug my shoulders a bit sometimes to make a point.  Nancy does that.

I pick up other people's speaking habits, intonations, and body language very easily.  And it used to irritate me.  I don't want to talk like you.  I want to talk like me.  But what I realized yesterday is that all of these things that I pick up and make mine are part of what makes me Me.  

When people bump up against each other, we leave little bits of ourselves.  That's a good thing.  Usually.  I have picked up some things from TV people, too.  Not sure if that's good or bad, but it certainly warrants taking care what I watch.  

I am like a quilt and the people I have in my life have added their own patches.  The result is a quilt that is uniquely me.

I am a stew.  One person adds some carrots, another a potato.  This one adds the hot peppers and this one the broth.  In the end, my stew tastes like no other.

I can't even pin point the things I've picked up from my family and my friend, Anna, who I've known almost my whole life.  Their influence is too long standing and close.

We impact others.  And the influence that the above mentioned people - as well as many other friends - has had on me goes far beyond the way I speak.  They have given wisdom, support, prayer, laughter, and so much more.

Thank God for the people who have contributed to your quilt, or your stew, and purpose that the things you contribute to others will be gorgeous, or tasty, depending on the metaphor you choose.

If you aren't supposed to eat sugar because it makes you tired and cranky - don't eat sugar.

That was a mighty good Snickerdoodle, though.

one word meme

I'm doing this meme from Angie Hunt's blog.  I'll try to post something meaningful tomorrow.  Each question has to be answered with only one word.

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Your significant other? very

3. Your hair? short

4. Your mother? Mom

5. Your father? Dad

6. Your favorite thing? Bible

7. Your dream last night? ghosts

8. Your favorite drink? rootbeer

9. Your dream/goal? transform

10. The room you’re in? office

11. Your ex? nope

12. Your fear? water

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? wiser

14. Where were you last night? upstairs

15. What you’re not? willowy

16. Muffins? nah

17. One of your wish list items? desk

18. Where you grew up? Colorado

19. The last thing you did? write

20. What are you wearing? shorts

21. Your TV? Monk

22. Your pets? Heeler

23. Your computer? Mac

24. Your life? blessed

25. Your mood? grumpy

26. Missing someone? cousin

27. Your car? hot

28. Something you’re not wearing? crown

29. Favorite store? Kohl's

30. Your summer? sapping

31. Like(love) someone? yes

32. Your favorite color? red

33. Last time you laughed? today

34. Last time you cried? unknown

35. Who will re-post this? anyone! 

new post on Books and Starbucks

thursday thirteen

Here are thirteen Christian books that I have read at least two times.  

1. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom - The true story of a family in Holland who hid Jews during the Holocaust.

2. A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliott - the biography of Amy Carmichael who was a missionary to India during the turn of the last century.

3. By Searching by Isobel Kuhn - Isobel's story from doubt to faith.  She went to China as a missionary in the 1920's.

4. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken - A beautiful autobiographical tale of deep, passionate, consuming love.

5. Run Baby Run by Nicky Cruz - the autobiographical story of Nicky Cruz, a gang member who finds God.

6. Christy by Catherine Marshall - A fictionalized account of a true story.  Christy goes into the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee to teach school at the age of 19. 

 

7. C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy.  Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength.  These are very imaginative.  You have to keep in mind that they were written in the 40's, so the thoughts he had about space travel are pretty cool.  There is a great spiritual thread running through the books, of course.  It IS C. S. Lewis.

8. Phantastes and Lilith by George MacDonald. Actually, several books by George MacDonald.  He is an old time writer.  His books have been edited so that we can understand them because they were originally written in  old Scottish dialect.  The style is still old, but I love his books.  These two I mentioned are fantasies and while I enjoy reading them for entertainment, I am pretty sure the deeper stuff goes over my head.

9. Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow -  A non-fiction book about contentment, worry, regret, forgiveness and more.  

10. Lord I Want to Know You by Kay Arthur - A wonderful book teaching about many of the different names of God.

11. The Path of Loneliness by Elisabeth Elliot - we've all had times of loneliness, but this book is full of wonderful encouragement and wisdom for any time.

12. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis - we all are pretty familiar with these books now.  If you haven't read them, though, DO.

13. The Bible by God - It's essential.

 

another wordle

One of my favorite passages in the Bible.  Job 38

something cool

Look what I found at Angie Hunt's blog.  Just go to www.wordle.net and make your own!  The bottom one is my life's verse and the top one is a little bio I wrote really quick.  You can use anything.

weird kids

Over at To Know Me is to Love Me, my cousin blogged about some odd things she did as a child.  I was already thinking about telling you all this, so I will go ahead and tell you now.

I used to eat dog food.  Not the canned kind - that's disgusting.  But I ate the dry kind and also cat food.  Cat food is a bit better than dog food.  

So, we had a neighbor boy and I decided I should marry him when we grew up.  I was probably about five or six at the time.  Anyway, he wasn't much interested in marrying me so I had to bribe him.  I told him if he would marry me, I would bring him some candy.  Well, we never had candy around that I can remember.  So I would come back out and tell him we were out of candy and give him a handful of dog food instead and we would sit there, each on our own side of the fence, crunching on dog food.  It seems that this same scenario played out more than once, so he must not have been real bright, but he was all I had.  And also, I used the same technique to get him to promise that we could live on a farm when we got married.  I was quite pleased with myself snagging a husband in the first grade.

I also used to lick our pony's salt block - yummm.  And I sampled the chicken food, and the pony's oats and her hay and probably the rabbit food, too, but I don't recall.  I just loved trips to the feed store!  LOL  And sadly, this was when I was a few years older.

I don't eat that stuff anymore, but every now and then, walking through the dog food section...

New post on Books and Starbucks.

here's the story...

I have a lot to talk about, but I'm not feeling so hot today so you'll have to wait.

For now go take the quiz and tell me which Brady you are.  I can't believe my answer!  And apparently I AM a flirt!

You Are Greg Brady

Outta sight! Suave and all American, you tend to be clean cut and upstanding. You're friendly with most people and a huge flirt (sometimes even with family members!).

What Brady Are You?

two daddys

My daddy is a good daddy.  He worked hard for years at a job he hated in order to care for his family.  He was an RN and worked at the State Hospital.  Back in those days, not many men were nurses and I had many a friend argue with me that I really meant he was a doctor, as if I wouldn't know.  

My daddy taught me to fish, even to bait the hook and take the fish off by myself.

My daddy taught me how to change a tire, although when the need has arisen I have looked helpless and waited for a man to help me instead.  Even when I was single (Jen).

My daddy taught me how to check the oil, where to put the coolant and windshield wiper fluids, (Susan).  He also told me everything I needed to know to be as safe as possible.

He warned me about the evils of boys.  "I know boys.  I was one.  You can't trust them."

He made me mind my mother.

He took me to the dump with him.  It was fun, really!

He bought me ice cream cones.

Even after I was married he would sometimes slip me a $20.  I took it.

My daddy would do anything for his family.  If you are related to him in any way, you can know that he is on your side.  

I have a good daddy.

My husband is a good daddy, too.  He shares equally in the parenting responsibilities and its quite possible that he changed more diapers than I did.  He is always willing to spend time with his kids and take them out for one on one time.  Or he will take them both somewhere to give me a break.  He spoils them more than I do and he is more flexible and fun than I am.  

My kids love their daddy, and so do I.

backyard geographic

My friend Accidental Poet has a blog with a webcam of a robin's nest.  Go there and scroll down to the beginning to see their little journey.  It is very interesting.  Go look!  I should have mentioned it earlier.

life's verse and a note for contest winners

For those of you who won the contest -- remember that you need to now offer three prizes on your blog!  

And now, for today's post...

My life's verses are Romans 12:1-2.  I'm not sure when or why they became that.  I don't remember actually picking them.  I was going to say that they are the verses that I try to live by, but I guess I try to live by all of them.  But these are uppermost in my mind.

To me a life's verse and a favorite verse are not the same thing.  My favorite verses are those that encourage me and give me joy.  I guess my life's verse is the one that I feel like is the theme of my life?  Does that sound right?

1Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

As for my favorite verse - I could never even begin to choose.  There are hundreds!

So, tell me.  What is your life's verse?  And if you have a favorite, share that as well.

winners

The winners of the notebooks are:

tappity, tappity, tappity...

Accidental Poet!  Hooray!

Quite Contrary!  Yippee!

And The Flower of the Family!  Whoo Hoo!!

Ok, I have some of your addresses.  But I do not have Quite Contrary's address.  Please send it to me at keep1hope at comcast dot net.  Ok!

thursday thirteen

Thirteen things that amuse me.

1. Watching birds. Not "bird watching." Just watching them. Especially when they are fussing about something. That's funny.

2. Watching people, especially other couples, interact.

3. Watching a toddler try to be a "big boy/girl"

4. Telling myself funny stories

5. Watching people walk

6. Looking at noses and or ears. Very amusing.

7. Singing and making up new words to old songs.

8. Spending time with my children. They are quite interesting.

9. Dancing and/or acting weird.

10. Speaking with an accent.

11. Pretending I'm from another planet and trying to figure out what in the world in going on around here.

12. Responding to the voices in my head. Oh, come on. You know you have some, too.

13. Experimenting with facial expressions.

weather report

Ok, I know some of you are sweltering.  But here, now, at 3:50 PM, it is 68 degrees.  And thats only because it warmed up!  Earlier today it was just downright cold.  I keep opening the windows when I get up and then our furnace turns on.  Every day except yesterday.  For some reason yesterday was 93 degrees.  But the day before it was 70-ish, and the day before that.  And so on.  It looks like it will be in the 80's Friday through Monday, but who knows.  

speaking of flirting

I have it on good authority that all a woman has to do is speak to a man she doesn't know and she is flirting.

One time at the gym I saw a guy on a contraption that I hadn't seen before.  It wasn't a guy I was admiring; lets just get that straight from the beginning.  I asked him something about the machine -- how it worked or something, I don't remember.  He told me what I wanted to know, but he mentioned his wife like three times in the process.  It made me feel kinda weird, like I was some kind of female letch or something.  

So when I got home I told my husband about it and he said it was because I was flirting with him. I said, "I Was Not!"  And he said, "You talked to him didn't you?"  That's when it was explained to me that speaking politely to a male is flirting.  I have since then confirmed this information with a male friend of ours and my own dear dad.  Yes, they agree, initiating conversation with a man is indeed flirting.

I am a BIG Ol' Flirt then.  I had no idea!  So, for those of you who think you have forgotten how to flirt...I don't think so.  Apparently it takes very little skill.

Men, what do you say?  

Ladies?  Are you as shocked and appalled as I was, or did you know this already?

man oh man

My grandma had a fine tuned sense of appreciation for a good looking man.  She never lost that.  It was inborn.  It is in my mother and my sister and me as well.  My sister even developed an internal radar.

I'm not saying (I can only speak for myself, of course) that my tongue hangs out and I think dirty thoughts.  I just look and appreciate.  I've heard people say that if you're married you shouldn't look.  No, if you're married -- or not, for that matter -- you shouldn't LUST, nothing wrong with looking.  And I personally don't stare, or flirt.  My grandma on the other hand...  Ok, she's not here to defend herself, but it's the truth.

I was thinking and between the ages of 10 and 20 I had at least 15 crushes.  That's only counting people I actually knew.  That doesn't include the totally unattainable like Donny Osmond and Eric Estrada, other stars, and the occasional gospel quartet that passed through.

There is no point to this post.  Don't bother looking for one

Another contest

Go here, to this blog, The Write Word For Women to enter a contest to win a free book!  Hurry!  Go now!  It is Megan DiMaria's book Searching For Spice.

contest!

I won a prize from Lauri at Lauri's Reflections and the deal is a pay it forward kind of thing.  So, I have to give away three prizes.  If you win one of my prizes, you will need to give away three prizes on your blog.  Lauri had won a critique, you can look here to see what I won from her.  I think I got the white one...

So, to you three or so fellas who read my blog, my apologies.  I know this prize isn't really up your alley, but you could still win and give it to a lady you care about. 

I am giving away these cute little notebooks.  They have magnetic closure devices and inside they each have pretty unlined paper.  They are the perfect size for a purse or to keep by your bed for when sudden inspiration hits.

If you want a chance to win one of these notebooks and a pen, then leave a comment and I will draw names to choose three winners!  

* edited to add - I will choose the winner on Friday the 13th!

how you can tell its summer with your eyes closed

smells:

fresh mown grass

fertilizer, chemical and otherwise

wet soil

cantaloup

peaches

roses

watermelon

cotton fabric in the sun

koolaid, popsicles, etc

grills

fireworks

sounds:

sprinklers

lawnmowers

kids

hummingbirds

doves

meadowlarks

various other birds

fireworks

crickets

locusts

wind in the leaves

bees and other buzzers

sensations:

the sun burning skin

mosquito bites

sweat

comfortable warmness if you're in the shade

Did I forget anything?

New post on Books and Starbucks!

thursday thirteen

As writers I think we need to experience all that we can.  Of course those experiences should in no way dishonor God, so I'm not talking about psychotropic experiences or anything like that.

One easy way to broaden your experience is through food.  Some of you read my TT about weird foods I've eaten.  So I could write about a character eating Kangaroo and describe it accurately.  :)

Today's list is the different nationalities of foods I have had.

1. Italian - who hasn't?

2. Mexican - again...

3. French

4. Greek

5. Moroccan

6. Lebanese

7. Vietnamese

8. Russian

9. Ethiopian

10. Liberian

11. Haitian

12. Indian

13. Thai

road-trips

I like taking road-trips when they can be relaxed and slow paced.  I like to stop and see things along the way.  At least I think I would like that.  I've never been on that kind before.

When I was in college, I used to ride with a boy from VA to CO straight through.  We stopped for potties and food, but that was it.  Thirty hours on the road.  Oh, it makes me nauseated to even think about it now.

Once some other girls and I went up to Michigan from Virginia for Thanksgiving.  The trip there was fine.  The trip back - well... We had trouble with the car in Ohio where one of the girl's lived.  It was something wrong with the timing chain.  Her dad got it running but told us that no matter what we needed to make sure the engine kept running until we got back to school.  Well, at a little town in West Virginia, we pulled into a turn lane to get gas, and just like that the motor died.  You should have heard the moans.  We pushed it to a station and a very nice man worked on our car in the parking lot, in the rain, for the entire next day.  My dad was good enough to wire us money for a motel.  The man who fixed our car wouldn't even take money for helping us, but my friend forced some on him as we left.  

Once, I flew out to California to meet with my sister and drive home with her.  She had some kind of little Ford that didn't have AC.  It was summer.  We drove through Arizona.  If you've never driven through Arizona in the summer without AC, I suggest you keep it that way.

Then about sunset, just this side of Kingman, the car broke down.  There we were, two girls, rattlesnakes hiding everywhere, and the sun going down.  Finally a guy stopped and we prayed and got in his El Camino that we later noticed had a mattress in the back.  I think he lived there.  We kept praying.  We also mentioned that our dad watched America's Most Wanted.  He drove us back to a truck stop where we called for a tow and he refused to take any money.  We forced some on him before we left.  We got ripped off a bit by the garage.  It was the timing belt.

Once, my parents and I were driving through Missouri and the car broke down - timing belt.  Someone needs to do something about those things.  Do cars still have them?

I've also done a road-trip with my hubby and kids from here up to Wisconsin.  That was nicely incident free.  My in-laws used to live in New Mexico so we've been down there a few times, but that hardly even seems like a road trip to me.  A real road trip involves more than two states.  For a friend of mine, I won't mention names, it apparently only involves leaving the Denver metro area.

I've been on several trips on the east coast and I once went with my friend and her family up to Yellowstone.  All of these trips are so much better in retrospect than they were at the time I endured them.  But I love seeing our country and I really hope to take some time to take some road trips where the trip is as much a part of the trip as the destination.  Did you get that?

where do you find your value?

I watched this movie a few months ago and it really got me thinking.  First of all, let me say, I am not a "liberal."  But I don't think that only liberals should be concerned with these things.

I'm showing you a clip that had the most impact on me.  If you want to watch the entire video you can go to The Story of Stuff website.

I honestly can't watch this without crying.  And you know what?  It makes me feel duped.  It makes me feel like an absolute fool to have fallen for this stuff.  Especially those of us who are followers of Christ should recognize this stuff for the deception that it is.  We need to wake up.

Today some friends and I prayed for the economy, jobs, the debt situation.  This "golden arrow" that we serve kept coming to my mind.

*I believe that after 911, Bush did tell us to grieve, hope and pray, so ignore that part.  He did also tell us to shop.*

This clip runs a bit long, but please, take some time to watch it.  I think it's six minutes.

hey there

At nearly nine months pregnant during the dog days of summer, it was all I could do to go to the grocery store.  One particular time, my husband went with me to help.  After wandering the aisles choosing all that we needed, I was desperate for a break.  I found a bench near the exit where I waited while my husband stood in line to pay.

I looked at my peachy colored dress that was large on even my girth.  It wasn’t beautiful, but it sure was comfortable.  I had reached the point in pregnancy where I no longer cared how large I looked and I had given up on trying to look attractive in any way in the sweltering July heat.  I felt huge, melted and tired.

As I rested my tired feet I saw my husband coming from the cash register pushing the cart with bagged groceries.  As he drew near me, I leapt up and joined him (maybe leapt isn't the right word). I began jabbering to him about our purchases and looked into the bags in the cart as we walked toward the exit.  I noticed a couple of new things and wondered if he had left the line to pick them up.

“When did you get these?” and   “Why did you get that?” and “Where is the rest of our stuff?” I asked.  Then with a funny tingling sensation I realized this wasn’t our cart!  He must have grabbed the wrong one at the end of the checkout area. 

I drew in a sharp breath and said, “Wait, this isn’t our stuff.”  I looked up to see his reaction and to my horror found that this wasn’t my husband!  A strange man with coloring similar to my husband was looking at me with wide eyes and mouth agape.  He hadn’t had a chance to get a word in, but had continued walking; no doubt in an attempt to escape the babbling, scary pregnant lady who had claimed him.

I stopped in my tracks to look behind me and there stood my husband at the cash register looking at me with quite the bemused expression.  I quickly mumbled my apologies and waddled away as quickly as I could in the direction of my real husband.

I will never forget the supermarket matrimony mistake and I imagine somewhere in the world there is a dark haired man who will never forget it, either. 

five kind things

Robin at Actions Speak Loudest did this on her blog and I liked it, so I'm doing it too.

The Five Kind Things Meme works like this:

List five kind things you do for yourself.
List five kind things you do for your closest friend, partner or child.
List five kind things you have done for a stranger.
List five kind things you do for fun.
List five people you are tagging with this meme.

Five kind things I do for myself:

1. I take a break when I need one.  My hubby is a very good dad and parents equally with me.  If I need time alone or off with friends, he is more than willing to provide it.

2. I play

3. I try to get off my own back from time to time.

4. I nurture friendships

5. I try to eat right

Five kind things I do for my friends, husband or child:

1. I try to listen without judging or offering unwanted advice.  I'm not always good at it, but I try.

2. I tuck my kids in and kiss them goodnight

3. I will buy a friend lunch or a gift from time to time.

4. I try to be supportive.

5. I wash their clothes - sometimes.  Not my friends' really, but I would if they needed me, too.

Five kind things I have done for a stranger:

1. Once I saw an elderly lady wandering around a huge parking lot.  I drove her and her husband around until they found their car.

2. I watched a lady's baby in an airport bathroom so she could potty.

3. I watched a lady's baby at the fair so she could ride the Merry-go round with her pre-schooler.

4. I frequently let people in front of me in check out lines, if they are frazzled, have only a few things, or seem impatient.

5. I pick things up for people when they drop them.

Five things I do for fun:

1. Read

2. Play computer games

3. Talk to friends

4. Sing and dance

5. watch movies

Five people I tag:

1. Jen @ Inner Voices of a Spinster in the Making

2. Julie @ Flower of the Family

3. Queen of the World @ To Know Me is to Love Me

4. Mom @ Moms the Word

5. Mel @ Monday Through Sunday

And all the rest of you are welcome to play, too.  Just let me know if you do!