Tidbits (Part II)

* Whenever Chloe comes to my house and I am getting ready for the day, she insists on perching on the counter in my bathroom, grabbing a cotton ball, putting it under the running water and leaving the wet mess on my sink. She babbles incessantly while she's doing it, and it's become her signature calling card. Makes me wonder what is going on in her little two year old head. As she gets older will this become part of her daily routine?? "Ok - a little foundation, a little blush, a soggy mass of cotton balls..."

* It's snowed twice in this past week, and this one has misplaced her shovel. It's going to be a very long winter with no shovel and no boots. Of course, I could go out and buy them, but then what would I blog about??

* Wrangler chewed my cell phone charger cord into three pieces last week. So I had to go to Radio Shack and buy a new one... and I'm now the proud owner of a $30 charger with a really thick cord. They didn't advertise it as kitten-resistant, but it looks that way.

* Today was back to work day. Once I finally oozed out of bed, it wasn't really all that bad, for which I was very grateful.

* Last night I had a homework party with Amy. This is the second time we've done it this week, but since I don't have any homework, I lie on her bed and read. Last night I finished "Girl Meets God" which was a fascinating non-fiction book about a girl who was raised by a Jewish father and a Baptist mother, and her journey to find which religion was calling to her.

Now I'm off to Bible study at Evan and Jill's...

Tidbits

* Jed and I just went to see "Chicken Little." Very funny, and even had a reference to Star Wars, that made his little heart sing

* I braved the masses yesterday to go and get a lap top at a VERY good price. I got there 15 minutes after the store opened (at 5:15 am, to be exact!) and they were SOLD OUT! Angry eyes at all the people who had thought of scraping their cars off the night before!

* My Thanksgiving was made especially happy by a voicemail from MATT!! I haven't been able to talk to him since May, what with him being under water on a sub and all, so what a treat to hear his voice!

* Last night a whole bunch of the "kids" (Amy, Andy, Derrick, Wesley and Douglas) who grew up on Chestnut Hill at the same time I did, and are currently residents of Singleton, converged on my home for games. We had a fabulous time playing Cranium and Taboo.

With Thankful Heart

All week I have been so happy... and so thankful. And it wasn't just the fact that I had completed a difficult training class at work, or that I only had to work three days! I love Thanksgiving - love the opportunity to focus on all that I have to be thankful for. Not that I don't do that on a regular basis, but it's fun to know that most everyone else is doing it at the same time.
And this year, I've realized once again, how very much I have to be grateful for. The older I get, the less I take things for granted, and this year I've realized what an incredible life God has blessed me with.
Last night we had a Thanksgiving service at Chestnut Hill, and it was so rich. There were so many people there, and the response was amazing... person after person standing up and giving God thanks for all that He's done in this passed year. It went for over an hour, and then people stayed around talking and laughing - realizing how very fortunate we are.
Between talks with Jill as we got ready for the service, and having Derrick and Wesley over for a bit after church, and a long talk with Mom on the phone after everything died down, I realized once again how much I love the family God has put me in. And how rare the bond that we have is. And how fortunate I am that some live so close by.
I woke up this morning to snow falling, and the first snowfall is always so beautiful. I opened my shades to see two of my favorite little ones bundled up in snow clothes, tentatively waddling around, exploring the white stuff.
And in the tradition that we've always had in our house, here's my list of other things that I'm thankful for from this past year.

- Mom & Dad, and almost daily contact with them
- Being next door to Evan and Jill... not just across the field, like last year
- Seeing Darren and Sara's family several times throughout the year... all five of us driving in the convertible to get ice cream
- Being back on Chestnut Hill (I never get tired of being thankful for that!)
- Our family vacation in August
- My little apartment
- Drewey & Amy
- My whole group of friends, and the times we've been able to get together through out this year. God has been so good to give us such an incredible support system and bond as we all trek through this stage of life
- Contentment in the stage of life that I'm in right now. I love my life, and have complete peace
- The Boys Next Door - it opened up a whole new world that I, Lindsay Hones, got to relish in for those two months... and am still reliving and loving
- My new car, that will help me get safely through this winter
- Being a trainer at Oxford - I love finally being able to answer "Yes, I like (sometimes even love) my job!"
- The cruise - it came completely out of the blue, and was an amazing time of having fun and once again realizing how much I have to enjoy in life
- The Josh Groban concert with Amy
- Being an Aunt - it fills me with daily joy to know that I have five nieces and nephews whom I adore
- My VA friends - blogs have allowed me to keep in more frequent contact with them, as well as a trip down in Sept for Kerin's wedding where I was able to spend some quality time with several
- My cell phone... hurray for the technology age! Blogs and cell phones are on my list, but it's b/c of who's on the other end of them. I am VERY grateful that Verizon hasn't figured out the Nova Scotia is not part of the US, as I can call Mom & Dad under the plan that I have, and now Drewey has Verizon so we can talk as much as we want for FREE- and I'm thankful that Mike & Rachelle live three hours behind me, as they are my late-night driving companions!
- A renewed vision and a deeper relationship with my Jesus. These past few months, it's been amazing for me to see where He's brought me, and a joy at knowing He'll take me further and deeper when His timing is right

And as I think of those that I know might read this, I feel like Paul when he said, "I thank my God always concerning you..." Happy Thanksgiving, my friends - and may you each have a special day, basking in the knowledge that we serve a God who delights in giving us our heart's desires!

Thoughts

I've been going through a Bible study book called "Falling in Love With Jesus" and I've had the opportunity to study the story of Mary and Martha in depth. It's a timeless tale, and one that I've heard either preached on, written about or have read it myself numerous times. This time, though, I read it with new eyes. And here are some of the things that I gleaned...

*When the story is first told in Luke, Mary is introduced to us as "Martha's sister." I found this very interesting, because it's often the situation where the lesser known sibling/spouse/friend is referred to as "so and so's" something. In this case, Martha was the outgoing one, the one that was more known, and Mary was just "the sister." And yet Mary is the one who ultimately made the right choice, the choice that has her going down in history as the one who "sat at Jesus' feet."

*Then Lazarus died, and Jesus came back to Bethany to grieve with the two sisters. Martha rushed out of the house, and met Jesus before he even got to their house, admonishing Him that if He had only been there her brother would not have died. Jesus answered her back with riddles and questions. Mary waited until Jesus called for her, and then went into Him, broken, falling at His feet weeping, but using the exact same words that her sister had used. Jesus didn't question her, or confuse her with riddles. He wept with her, and then did the unimaginable - rewarding her quiet faith and raising her brother from the dead.

This made me wonder... Even though the words were the same, Mary had a different attitude in approaching Jesus. Was it because she had a deeper relationship with Him? A relationship that came from sitting at His feet, spending time with Him.
I know that Jesus allows anyone to ask Him questions, but will He perhaps answer differently dependent on the attitude that we have in asking? Not because He can't answer if our attitude is wrong, but because we may not be open to what He chooses to do if we're not in line with Him?

I know that in my own experience, when I've knocked on Heaven's door demanding answers, it's hard to hear anything but my own grief or anger. But when I get my spirit right, it can be easier to hear what God is saying in return to my questions.

Thoughts?

Jed's Food Pyramid

The other night I was at Evan and Jill's for dinner. Jill had made her delicious chicken fajitas, and all were enjoying them except Jed, who loathes chicken. They make him a special one that has cheese, sour cream and a small piece of chicken hidden somewhere in the wrap.
After finishing his first one, Jed requested a second. Jill made him one, leaving out the chicken, (as he'd already gagged a piece down in his first one) but slipping in a piece of tomato. Sadly, Jed saw the red piece of grossness go in, and began to howl.
Jill, being the wise mother that she is, told him she had left out the chicken, but put in a vegetable, because (in true mother style) "You need to eat your vegetables."
"BUT CHICKEN IS VEGETABLES," wailed her firstborn.
After some questions, it was discovered that "vegetables" are anything food-wise that he doesn't like to eat.
And there you have it!

Overwhelmed With Goodness!

Well, November 8th came and went, and what a day! I've decided, based on how much fun it was, that I'll have more than one birthday a year. Course, I wont age, just have fun!

It started on Monday night, when I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered to my door by Katie... and dinner with Cherilyn (her birthday is the 6th, so we always try & do something together on the day in between) and several emails (from proactive people) before I went to bed.

I woke up in such a happy mood on Tuesday, and got a phone call from Mom, and visits from Evan, Jed & Chloe before I even left for work. Then the phone calls, emails, and text messages started pouring in. By the time I got to work at 7:30, I was already overwhelmed by how special I felt. Then, my supervisor came into my classroom and announced to my class that it was my birthday. He then proceeded to make them sing "Happy Birthday" to me while he hopped all over the room, pointing at me. I don't think I've ever turned that many shades of magenta in my entire life. As he was leaving the room he told my class, "The reason I came in the morning was so that you would have time to do something nice for her by this afternoon." His guilt trip worked, and they got me a cake & balloons during lunch.

And on my way home I talked to Dad on the phone & then stopped at a meat shop in Bedford to pick up the best marinated steak tips in the world for Evan to grill for dinner. I walked in, and while the guy was filling my order he looked at me, grinned and said, "Is your name Lindsay?" "Um, yes" I stammered, and he said, "I've got something for you in the back." He brought out a huge bouquet of balloons that Amy had dropped off a little while before, having known that I was going to stop there on my way home.

Jill made an incredible dinner, Evan grilled the meat, Mom was with us (which is the first time in nine years that I've had Mom there on my birthday!), Amy came, and the kids played with the balloons. There was laughter, so much food, more flowers (some GORGEOUS roses sent through the mail by Drewey & a bouquet that my brother picked out especially for me... using the method of "which colors do I dislike the most, because Lindsay will like them the best" It worked, by the way. They were beautiful!) and presents. How fun is it to get presents?? Mom and Dad got me an MP3 player, which I'm more than excited about... or will be once I figure it out.

And while reading blogs, I stumbled across an entire blog entry written by my VA big brother, talking about how much he loves me. For a "Words of Affirmation" person, that was an amazing gift. Then Sara sent a poem she wrote, and it made me laugh, laugh, laugh.

What a happy day... I think I'll do it again next year!

There's this girl...

... in my new training class that has a penchant for throwing out random questions or comments. Today, I was training the masses on how Oxford covers Chiropractic care, and she raised her hand. I've learned to cringe on the inside when I see her hand go up... I spend most of my day cringing, as she's constantly asking/telling something.
This afternoon was no different. In the middle of expounding on Oxford's policy regarding chiropractic care, came this question.
"Um, I don't know if this has anything to do with what we're talking about right now, but... Why did Forrest Gump have those braces on his legs."

AAAAAAAaaugh!

The Lord's Prayer - Hannah style

I was babysitting on Sunday night, and one of the little girls (nine-ish in age) was making a prayer card for her Confirmation classes, and had to write out The Lord's Prayer.
She started multiple times before she was happy with the results, and as I was cleaning up her false starts, I saw one of the pages and it made me laugh out loud.

"Our Farther, who aren't in heaven, howly be thy name..."

A Big Ol' Thank You!

Wow - the stint as a diva has ended. What a let down!

But what a way to go out! For our closing night, which was Saturday, I counted 23 people that were there to cheer me on. Drewey got a picture of most of them, and I can't wait to see it.

We had a great performance that night... one of the best of the run of four. And it was so fun to be behind the curtain and hear laughs that I recognized!

So - for those who were in the audience on any of the nights, thanks so much for making me feel special. And for those who called or emailed to say "good luck" or prayed that I wouldn't get sick, (which I didn't, thank the Lord) it meant a lot.

I'll let you know when the next one is!! :)