Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Pros and cons of a weekend away

This weekend is the annual Ladies Retreat for Gateway Covenant Church. I went 2 years ago and never made it to last years event, altho' I heard awesome things about it. So I'm looking forward to this weekend, if for no other reason than some time away from the house, husband and kids.

*Ever notice how hard it is to think of something when there's this really awesome song on and it completely engulfs your mind? (ie. If I Can't Have You by Yvonne Ellman)

Anyway, like I was saying...but at the same time, there's a bit of fear edged in there. For some reason I don't feel like I've really found a "place" in our church and so in regards to this weekend, I might be the lone woman out. I don't go to the ladies bible study, I'm not part of the worship team, or the Wednesday nite bible studies, I'm not part of the Covenant Women's group. I'm not really part of anything. I guess on the bright side, I should be able to get lots of R & R. This weekend is also the big weekend for the Winter Festival in Prince Albert. There will be fireworks (last years were awesome!) on Friday and all sorts of events off Marquis Rd. during the weekend. I'm a sucker for fireworks, almost made me decide not to go to the Retreat. My parent's also made a freak decision to come down for the weekend. I could stay back and visit them. I'm still not over my cold and am still having bad headaches.

I'm also fearful for my husband (or should I say kids). I don't know who will be worse off: Steve being home all weekend and watching over them or the kids having to live with their Dad for 3 days. On top of it all Steve has yet another hockey tournament this weekend and he's already tired and impatient. Thinking of it now, I might not want to come home Sunday! :)

I am excited to, hopefully, put my new x-country skiis to use. I bought them in January and haven't been well enough, or energetic enough to use them yet. I heard there's a couple of other ladies taking theirs, so that should be fun. Something to look forward to. The food will be good too. At least it was 2 years ago. Lauralea gives awesome facial massages, so hopefully I can talk her into one of those.

Pros and cons...as in most things in life I guess. You just have to decide what you're going for and make the most of it. Pray for us, especially my husband!

Sunday, February 19, 2006

happy, happy...happy?

Maybe it's the impending time of the month, or maybe it was the frigid temperatures last week, or maybe it's the fact that I still have a stinkin' cold. Whatever the excuse I'm finding reasons to be mad. It's funny, I'm taking a bible study right now called Healing For The Angry Heart, and while it's nothing really new, it does make me re-think alot of things and how I can always handle situations better. I'm also realizing that I do have an anger problem, and it may be harder to get rid of than I originally thought and I have alot of apologizing to do! But I'm also having to deal with a lack of contentment in my own life. Like I posted earlier, there are a few others out there thinking about contentment and I can honestly say, if I were in their situation, I'd be pretty stinkin' content. We always think that our situation is worse off, that the other side is greener and we rarely take the time to think of our own blessings. I remember the first church camp I ever worked at was back in 2000 in Cypress Hills. We had to spend a whole afternoon meditating on how blessed our life was and we had to write down a blessing that happened every day we were there. It's something we can all do and it's so simple really. We have food (might not be what we want, but it fills our belly), shelter (again, might not be as nice as that guy's house across the street, but it keeps you warm) and general health (I'd take a cold over cancer any day of the week). So really, what haven't I to be content about? Why do I twist it about and grudge those who have more than me?

I don't know what to say to that. Any ideas? Anyone? I know it's something that I'll continue to struggle with, that I continually ask God for help with and I pray about and over all the time.

So until next time...thank You for this computer that I'm able to jot down my thoughts, even if I go away more confused than when I logged on.


This week at Mom's we're doing a magnet craft. Shouldn't take too long, so there will be lots of time for chatting and socializing with friends! Or bring your own and finish up an old project!! See you there!!

Another # Game

Take any number larger than one digit (ex. 57)

Add the individual number together (5 +7 )

Subtract that total from the original number (57-12)

Now take that number and add the individual digits together (4+5)

Your answer?

Nine.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Lisa it's your birthday

Happy Birthday Lisa!
You know how many times I've heard that? The best would have been over 10 years ago when this guy named Andrew (whom I secretly had a crush on, but he was my manager at McDonalds) sang it to me. That was a good time.
Today, on the other hand, is not. Not only do I still have cold, but the past few days have plagued me with monstrous headaches that WILL NOT GO AWAY. I don't know what to do. All I feel like doing is crawling into my head and pulling the covers over my face and dying. I don't know whether it's from taking cold/sinus medication for 3 weeks (but I still have a cold!) or whether it's from these new birth control pills. I've heard of women getting extreme headaches from certain types of pills. I have a friend who had these extreme migraines and I remember her saying that all she could do during the day was lay on the couch and open her eyes whenever a kid screamed to make sure they werent' dead. I thought at the time, that's terrible, but now I totally believe her.
So that's how I spent my birthday. Laying in bed, with the covers over my head for 4 hours, popping Tylenol like candy and putting Watkins canned ointment on my sinus' until I cry.
Happy Birthday to me.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

My thoughts on other people's thoughts...

I haven't decided whether spending time with other couples is a good or bad thing. In many ways it can be seen as good, but there's always that little compare factor. Altho' I know I shouldn't be doing it, I do. I make note of little things and then I think about how my husband and I would handle the same situation. Lately I've been very happy and content with our relationship, but this past weekend we spent the night at a friends in Saskatoon. Maybe it's the fact that I've been sick for a few weeks now and our physical relationship has been anything but fruitful, but I became jealous of the little hugs, pats and kisses our friends were sharing with one another. I know lately in other blogs some of the topics have been about being content with what we have and looking to the future instead of dwelling on things of the past. You might think that you are content and happy, but all it takes is one little thing to put little doubts in our heads. Why is it so hard for our generation, our society to be happy and content with what we have and who we are? I remember this one Oprah episode from years back and she was talking about womens self esteems and how women in Africa are happy with their bodies. I don't remember the exact stats, but it was like 40-some % of Americans were happy with their bodies and 80-some % of Africans were. Is society really that influential that we can't be happy with who we are? I really like the new Dove campaign. I think it's awesome.
Anyway, so on the drive back to PA last night, I talked to my husband about these feelings. We talked about how we never were PDA (public display of affection) people and would we really want to be? After the hour plus drive, I felt immensely better about our relationship how it was and couldn't believe I was ever remotely jealous of our friends PDA.
I'm learning. Learning how to be content with myself as a mom and wife. How to be content with our "cute little home" and our summer "vacations" in our backyard. I think it's something that we could all get a lesson in once and awhile.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

A Nice Family Moment

The past 2 weeks have been anything but nice and familial (if that's even a word) what with my being sick and Steve being so stinkin' busy with hockey, church and our stupid vehicle. But today, like a breathe of fresh air, something seems different. Just a few moments ago, Steve was practicing his songs for Sunday on guitar, I was sitting on the couch downstairs and the kids were dancing to the music. They ran over to Steve and wanted to "strum" the guitar (not quite as pleasant to the ear, but they're learning!). It's funny to see how entranced they are by the guitar. A good thing.

Otherwise, I'm REALLY getting sick of staying home. I'm doubting more and more that I actually have whooping cough. All that I've read up on it says that it lasts for weeks and weeks. While the symptoms I had/have are the symptoms of the cough, they've all been in the span of a 2 week period, and I'm feeling better every day. So the choice becomes mine, whether or not to go out into the world or sit here, bored, waiting for the test results from my doctor (who appears to be on holidays for the next week). Never being one to sit useless, I'm thinking I may take matters into my own hands and face sunlight once again. Of course, I won't be "smothering" myself onto other people. I'm not that stupid and carefree! Like I said, today there's something different in the air, I just hope it stays like this!

Monday, February 06, 2006

Sick

This is where it's at. The energy level had returned, unfortunately nothing else has come with it. I did a little organizing of the house yesterday only to stop a few minutes later in a coughing fit. There's nothing like not being able to breathe out of your nose (it's plugged up completely) or your mouth (tickle in the throat creates an instant coughing reaction with every single breathe) . So here I sit, barely breathing with lots of energy! Hooray for me! Not only did I miss a truly excellent weekend last weekend (I was looking forward to last weekend for weeks beforehand) but now it's carrying on into this week, which only makes it more depressing.

AND...if you can get more depressing, Callah has it now too. There's something that always breaks my heart when you lay down with your little girl (who also can't breathe) and she has such a fitfull sleep. You just wish you could take away all her pain with the "brush" of your hand as you pull back her hair from her face.

I don' t know why we're always sick. It's not like we don't eat right. Steve is always making sure we eat all sorts of vegetables and eat plenty of Vit. C. I thought it might have something to do with a little mold problem we have (which we're looking into) but then I've been told that this is just life with kids. Kids play with other kids, who are sick, who inturn make your kids sick and it's just a vicious cycle. I don't know if I totally believe that. I know of families with lots of kids who don't get sick as often as we do. So I think there's got to be something more there.

So with kleenex and Lysol in hand, I bring this sickly post to an end. I pray that you and yours are all doing well. If you feel up to it, Mom's is doing a book review on 5 books tomorrow. All the books have to do with marriage and relationships. There will also be a Darla original Valentine cake given away as a draw. For me, that would make going totally worth while!

Until next time!

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Chickens?

Taken from a friends blog:

Raising children is like being pecked to death by a chicken. (written on a plaque given to her by her sister-in-law after babysitting for a week)