Still kickin'!

Hey, y'all. Yes, it's been a solid week since I blobbed. See, we went out of the town for the weekend, and I was afraid to say anything, since I'm sure half of you are just dying to know when I leave so you can come steal my 32" TV and my half-broke vacuum cleaner.

I'll tell you more about my trip after I rest some more.

In the meantime here's a funny I found on YouTube.

Talkin' dirty about the economy

Hey, I try not to get all political or philosophical or controversial over here in Dirty Laundrydom, but you know what?

I am just so sick of hearing about moratoriums on foreclosures and making mortgages more affordable and affordable loans for borrowers with less-than-stellar credit, ad nauseum.

Let me tell ya why.

I live in a 1450 square foot house, because it's what I can afford.

Big Daddy is a licensed plumber who has worked in construction for most of our marriage. Sometimes he's made great money, sometimes he's made crappy money, and right now he's blessed to have a job with a great company and great benefits.

I'm a stay-at-home Mom, but in my former life I was an administrative assistant. I was blessed to make a decent wage, but it wasn't excessive.

We do this little thing in our home called budgeting. Now we're not as good as Dave Ramsey would like us to be, assigning every penny a place, but what budgeting means to us is this: We know how much money we make, and we know what our bills are, and those are our boundaries.

When BD and I got ready to buy our first house in 1998, I think we qualified for maybe $100,000. Didn't matter what we qualified for, though, cause we knew WHAT WE COULD AFFORD. We bought the cutest little duplex that cost $51,000, and we loved it.

Next house, we qualified for about $120,000, but we only spent $75,000. Cause that's what we KNEW we could pay for.

Next? We were approved for a whopping $150,000, but we bought this house for $87,000. Eight years ago next month. We have since added 3 darling daughters to our family, and we are here in this sweet house with 1450 square feet, because it is just too scary for us to take the gamble of living beyond our means.

You know what? I bet 3+ years ago, when BD had a rockin' job and I was still working and we were getting paid by the State to provide foster care, we could have qualified for and bought a big honkin' house in my dream neighborhood. But you know what? It was too big a gamble. One that we would have lost, by the way, because the foster stipend ended when we adopted, and Big Daddy lost that rockin' job, and my girls needed me at home with them more than they needed a big house or too many clothes.

Aren't I good at rambling on?

My point is this: Why in the Sam Hill are we rewarding people for making BAD FINANCIAL DECISIONS?

I'm gonna be real blunt here, okay? If I buy more house than I can afford because the realtor or whoever gets me some creative financing, I deserve to get foreclosed on if I don't make my payments.

If I have bad credit, then I need to RENT until I improve my credit. BAD CREDIT means that I don't pay my dadgum bills! Why on earth should anyone give me a loan to buy a house if I haven't paid the bills I already have?

Now I know that there are people out there who are so naive that they get screwed. I had a friend who bought a brand new little house at a reasonable price, but the salesman flat out lied to them about their taxes, and their payment went up about $500 the second year. That was $500 they couldn't afford, so they had to sell their house.

That's right, they sold their house and moved back into an apartment until they could repair their credit and buy another house. It took 2 years of sacrifice, but they did it. They didn't whine and ask for relief and demand that the government help them out. They HANDLED THEIR BUSINESS LIKE GROWN-UPS.

Okay, so can ya tell I'm passionate about this? It just irks me that I've lived within my means even though it's difficult, but people who made poor choices are being rewarded.

Am I missing something here? PLEASE tell me sweetly what you think.

Here's a quickie...

So I may have mentioned on Wednesday that I am OH so busy this week, and believe it or not, i left out some of my schedule. And since I know that you've spent countless hours wondering, "Is that all? What else might Lori be doing this week?" I'm here to let you know.

Last night Big Daddy took two of the girls and went to the sporting goods store to buy a new bike seat and volleyball gear. While he did that, I went to Kinko's, back home, Payless, Staples, Kinko's again, Target, and Jack in the Box. While he bought a bike seat and some shoes.

Not that I'm keeping score or anything.

This morning I participated in a Senior Health and Wellness Fair, came home to babysit, and at 2:00 we're going to watch Scooter5 cheer in the Homecoming Pep Rally. How cute is that?

But I'm sleepy, y'all. My eyes are really sleepy. I can't wait for 3:00, when hopefully I will be snuggled down deep in my bed with these eyes closed in blissful sleep.

A girl can dream, can't she?

Oh, what a week!

Hey, let me tell ya something.

I can't wait for Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa to open. Those penguins crack me up!

Okay, that's not really what I was gonna tell ya, but the commercial came on as I was typing, and seriously! I can't wait for this movie!

But anyway.

Hey, let me tell ya something, dang it. I am a homebody, my friends. I like to be here, in my home. And not so much in other places. And this week? Is all about the other places.

Monday night: Fantasy Football meeting at the sports bar/family restaurant.
Tuesday night: Pooh8 volleyball practice (fun!) and Big Daddy's softball game (lost!)
Wednesday night: Life Group
Thursday night: Shopping for new bicycle seats, cheerleading shorts and volleyball gear
Friday night: Sweet, sweet nothing, I hope.

I'm more than a little overwhelmed, because the days are just about as full as the evenings, with homeschooling, babysitting, and business stuff.

Now I realize that many of you are MUCH busier than this, but me? I need me some down time, yo. Or I get all delirious and start saying things like "Yo."

Oh hey, you know what other movie I wanna see? The one with the dog? Who thinks he's a superhero, but he only plays one on TV? It's called Zoom or Flash or somethin' like that. John Travolta is the voice of the dog, and it looks like a hilarious movie.

Okay, I looked it up - It's actually called Bolt.

In still other movie news, we saw Beverly Hills Chihuahua on Monday, and it was <what's another word for hilarious?>. Honestly, I wasn't crazy about Drew Barrymore as the voice of Chloe, but the movie? GREAT. George Lopez, Cheech Marin, Paul Rodriguez? Ridiculously funny.

So thanks for sticking it out with this rambling post. I'm off to find some medication for my adult-onset ADD.

You know what's weird?

You know what's weird?

That someone who doesn't like me reads my blog first thing every morning. Sort of gives me the willies.

Wait! Don't go!

Yes, it's still me. I just can't seem to stop changing backgrounds and colors on my little ol' blob here.

What do you think?

Saturday Scramble

So yeah, it's another Saturday and I'm sittin' here chillin' with my girls. I love my hubby cause he left the house 20 minutes early to run an errand for me so I don't have to leave the house.

Rock on, Big Daddy.

I've spent the morning scanning images and trying to get some inspiration to redesign my blog and that of my VERY favorite friend, The Redneck Diva. I changed my background first and when I took a look at it I realized - I HAVEN'T POSTED IN ALMOST A WEEK! So it's time for yet more randomy goodness.

The highlights of my week?

Found a dentist here in town - and I think he's good! Now I don't have to drive 15 miles to Next Biggish Town to the dentist office I didn't like anyway.

Learned that Pooh8 is missing some canine adult teeth, so she's gonna be a snaggletooth until she's a little older, when we can get her some fake chompers. Bless her heart.

Enrolled Scooter5 in a Mini Cheerleading camp at school. She's dadgum hilarious. HEElarious.

I'm currently addicted to fajitas - thank goodness they're relatively healthy. The only problem? The lingering smell of onions that hangs in my house for 2 days afterwards.

We're listening to The Traveler's Gifton CD right now - it's PHENOMENAL. You really must check it out. If you've read it, please tell me what you thought about it!

Highlights to come?

We're planning a trip to Albuquerque soon - combining business with pleasure. Big Daddy has TONS of family there, so it should be a GREAT time. Long drive, though. Maybe I should self-medicate.

And on that note, my friends, I've got to go chop up some onions and cry my eyes out. Have a great weekend!

Dancing With The Stars - October 6

Well, I've gone and started blogging about Dancing With The Stars again. If you watch the show, come on over to the Review Blog and tell me what you think!

What's another word for Random?

Scattered thoughts this week, my friends. Scattered thoughts. For example:

Why do they send so much crap home from Children's Church? And I feel so guilty throwing any of it away! For goodness sakes, my kids made the crafts with their own little bitty hands, and the handouts have scripture all over 'em! Yeah, I trash most of it anyway. I just add 10 minutes to my daily devotions to make up for it.
~
And while we're on the subject of paper and other crap, tell me - what is it that y'all do with school papers and teacher notes and birthday cards and insurance policies and electric bills and vet records and just all those pieces of paper that comes into our houses every day? Because this crap is threatening my sanity.
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When you've got a whole gallon of milk, and you realize it expires tomorrow, is it wrong to feed your kids cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner? They don't mind, and I make sure to throw in some fruit to balance it out. Thoughts? Opinions? Scathing critiques?
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When did people stop typing 2 spaces after the period? I still do it, but I think I'm in the minority. Y'all, it's a rule of grammar. Or typing or whatever. They can't just change it, can they?
~
Why is Breast Cancer so much more important than the other cancers? This is a serious question; I'm not being flippant. Is it more prevalent than, say, pancreatic or lung cancer? I mean, my goodness, everything is pink these days! I'm not complaining, cause I love pink and I certainly want to see cancer beaten, but I just wonder about these things.
~
I have an urge to sew and I really, really wish I could find my sewing box. I have pins and needles and thread and tape measures and all sorts of equipment in there, and I can't find it. I could go buy new supplies, but I think the only place to do that in my town is Wal-Mart, and although I'm not opposed to Wal-Mart, I am opposed to rude people and crowds. So you see my dilemma.

They don't have needles and thread at Michael's or Target, do they?
~
I love my friends, y'all.

I'm not talkin' about those people you think you know, and then you realize that it's all just a phony, fake act.

I'm talking about people who have your back, no matter what. Friends who hurt when you hurt, not friends who hurt you on purpose. I'm re-learning (AGAIN!) what it means to be a friend and to have a friend and just to be who I'm SUPPOSED to be, instead of what someone else expects me to be.

Ya know?

Ah, the exuberance of youth!

Pooh: I didn't know Angelo was a country in Africa!
Me: Huh?
Pooh: I didn't know Angelo...Angela...uh...Africa...
Me: Angola?
Pooh: I didn't know Angola was a country in Africa!
Me: Yep.
Pooh: THAT'S AWESOME!

It's AWESOME that Angola is a country in Africa?

Seriously.

I may be a bit catty tonight.

Weekend Update

Hey, y'all. Just wanted to say

HEY! I'm alive!

Obviously I haven't been motivated to post anything this week, and I'm not really sure why. I could beat myself up about it, and I'm really good at that, but it wouldn't turn back time and have posts magically appear, so...meh.

So what's been goin' on? A big old bunch a nothin'. Hence the absence of posts.

Let me see if I can bring you up to date.

Cooked.
Babysat.
Schooled the chirren.
Watched Big Daddy play softball.
Built an Advocare empire.
Hopefully cut off drama's head, once and for all.

Looking forward to?

Peace.
Some rest, maybe?
Seeing Fireproof.

Oh yeah, and 3 years ago today we finalized the adoption of two of our girls. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the other. I'd love to write a post about it, but every time I try I get all verklempt and nothing I write is coherent or makes sense. Stay tuned.

And have a great Friday, people. I'll try not to be such a stranger.

How's this for some irony?

So I haven't been sleeping very well lately. I've had just some VERY vivid dreams about stupid drama that's been imposed on our lives, as well as various aches and pains that keep me from getting good rest.

Last night (and early morning) I woke up several times, the last time being around 5:00. I remember thinking, "Wow, I sure wish I could sleep in, instead of getting up and getting ready for church." I do that a lot in the middle of the night; plot and scheme ways to get some more sleep. My plans rarely become reality.

Around 6:00 I woke again to hysterical crying, and stumbled into my bathroom to find Scooter throwing up. I tended to her, gagging myself, because that's how I roll, all the while thinking, "Hey, I bet she's gonna have to stay home from church."

But y'all, my scheme wasn't about wanting to skip church; it was just how to get in some more sleep. So now I'm awake, an hour early, tending to a sick kid, AND I don't get to go to church.

Explain to me how that's fair.

I should just change the name to All Scooter, All the Time.

Scooter's night-night prayer:

God, please help me to be good, and please watch over your little lamb.

Cause I'm your little lamb. All the other people are your sheeps. All the big people are your sheeps and the little peoples are lambs. And you are the shepherd.

And you watch over me.

Amen.

Real Life

Scooter5 is in private kindergarten this year at our church. I love that they have a memory verse to learn every week; it reminds me of when I was a little girl. We practice her verse every chance we get.

Here's a little exchange from our dinner table tonight:

Me: Children...

Scooter: Obey your parents...in the Lord...for this is good.

Me: Amen, sister.

Big Daddy and I exchange high fives, cause we're oh, so proud.

Scooter: And facuse me for tootin'.

That's real life right there, people.

They're on to me.

Me: Hey, Scooter, my foot is just screaming! Do you know what it's saying?

Scooter5: Is it saying for me to stop singing?

Me: Nope. It's saying for the cute little singing girl to come rub it.

Scooter: I can't hear it.

Me: Oh yeah, I can hear it.

Scoot: Tink7, can you hear it?

Tink: Nope.

Yeah, it was worth a shot.

Hey, We're alive!

So we didn't blow away! Kinda hard to do when the winds are 17 mph and the rain is BORING.

Yeah, Ike decided to veer right so it rained all day Saturday, and folks? That. Was. It. I'll admit I was a bit disappointed, cause I enjoy a good non-devastating storm, but we went on ahead and ate our Ro-Tel dip anyway. I mean, we went to all the trouble of buying it, might as well enjoy it.

The rest of the weekend? Also boring. Not much to report, but I did want to let everyone know that we survived the .24 inches of rain.

I'll be back when I have, OH, ANYTHING to say.

Oh, and Happy Monday!

Oh, there's a hurricane?

Hey y'all, I am a little dense sometimes. Didja pick up on that yet?

So I've been hearing about Hurricane Ike all week long, and I keep thinking, I really need to check into this and see what it means for me.

But it's been a dramapalooza over here this week, and I just never got around to it. Even though every time I turn on the TV, the radio, it's Ike, Ike, Ike.

Then last night, my Okie friend texted me, "Are y'all building your ark yet?" And I thought, How cute is she? Hmmm...I hope we don't get water in the house again like we do when it rains real hard cause those doofus developers built that new subdivision and now my house floods once a year. I really need to check a weather report. And even, you know, pay attention.

But I was SITTING IN A BOARD MEETING at that moment, so I decided to start paying attention to the topics being discussed, and Ike left my brain again.

This morning my friend was here and said, "There's supposed to be rain and winds up to 30 and 40 miles an hour." And I thought, Wow.

Y'all, I don't know nothin' about wind speeds. Seriously. No frame of reference. I Do Not Know What That Means. I'd really better check that out.

For those of you still involved in our saga, that brings me to now. Or 15 minutes before now, when I'm getting caught up at Google Reader, and I read this post at Big Mama. And I thought, That's almost exactly what I'd buy to hunker down in a storm. Except I'd find a way to make some Ro-Tel and Velveeta cheese dip, dadgummit. I've got my priorities straight up here in North Texas. They may be sissies down in San Antonio, but how you gonna ride out a storm without some Velveeta? Oh and also, I have GOT to check out a weather report!

So I checked the weather report, y'all. Yeah, uhm, Ike Likely To Hit North Texas as a Tropical Storm.

I've got to get to Wal-Mart before they run out of Velveeta.

Stand.

Let me tell y'all something.

I'm sad today.

About 3 months ago I was accused of being mad and rude and offended and I don't remember what else, and it upset me. And I cried. And I tried to fix it. And I couldn't.

But I kept trying. Because that is what God calls me to do.

And for three months the person who accused me has carried a grudge and accused me of additional offenses and talked behind my back, and I have kept trying. Because that is what God calls me to do.

On a daily basis, I deal with anxiety and a chronic illness that is EXACERBATED by anxiety and stress. In spite of this, I have tried so hard to move out of my comfort zone to be kind and forgiving. I praise God every day for giving me strength to go down those hard roads.

And last night people sat in my living room and said it's not enough. This person said, point blank, "I'm not ready to let go of this. That's just the way I am."

What do you say to that? WHAT do you do?

And even as I was typing this, in my spirit I heard, "Stand. Having done all, STAND."

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

OOH, I do love my God.

And I'm not so sad any more.

John 10:10

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Scooter's Prayer

God, please help me be good tomorrow at school, cause I know you want me to be good.

And Tink needs to 'cide, and Mommy needs to 'cide, and Daddy needs to 'cide, and Pooh needs to 'cide, and I need to 'cide...of You. Cause we need you.

I love you, God. Jesus' name. Amen.