Falling

16 November 2007 by

It’s hard for me to believe that it’s been almost a year since we moved, and over the last couple of weeks I’ve thought about how different the fall foliage is here than it was at our former house. Our old neighborhood was a new-ish subdivision where a lot of the trees had been chopped down for the sake of development, and while the nice part of that was that we never had to, you know, rake, the bad part was that we didn’t get to fully enjoy the colors of fall.

But this year? In the new-to-us-but-much-older house where the trees are very, very tall?

We have reveled in the fall.

There have been a couple of days this week when I’ve actually stopped my car at the top of a hill so that I could soak in all the colors – it has been prime time for the golds and the reds and the oranges. And when you take those colors and contrast them against a sky so blue that it almost hurts your eyes – well, it’s been nothing short of breathtaking.

Today after lunch Alex and I went for a walk, and I took the camera with us because I know that soon all the leaves will be gone – we only have a few more days to take in all the gloriousness.

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And I want to remember.

Filed Under: Family Fun

A Little Link Love

16 November 2007 by

Some recent posts I have really enjoyed:

Thankful by Susanna at Confessions of A Tired Supergirl

Thursday Thirteen: Ethel Edition by Melanie at This Ain’t New York

What Goes Around by Antique Mommy

Filed Under: Bloggity Fun

All Dwight’s Heroes Are Table Tennis Players

15 November 2007 by

Tonight’s episode of The Office made my heart break just a little bit. There was something so touching and sad about seeing Michael confronted with the harsh reality of different areas of his life: his job performance, his relationship with Jan, his perception of being “groomed” for the corporate office.

But to see him smile his way through it all, ever-loyal to Dunder-Mifflin, even shaking his big boss’ hand at the end of the episode – well, I just wanted to hug him. Two or three times.

Bless his heart.

But in true Office form, the writers still found a way to bring us the funny, even if there was a complete and total absence of Andy, and I’M SORRY, BUT WHERE WAS HE?

My favorite parts:

1) Kelly Kapur clarifying the difference between “talking trash” and “talking smack”
2) Pam and Kelly having a stand-off at the restroom door
3) “That’s what she said.”
4) More tomorrow – XOXO, Michael
5) Dwight and Mose’s ping pong match at the end of the episode

What surprised me the most about tonight’s episode was how protective I was of Michael, how mad I was at Jan for betraying his trust, and how, at the end of the day, I probably have some co-dependency issues because I just want for Michael to work out all this stuff and be happy and good at what he does and get real phone calls instead of the make-believe ones that Pam pretends to have written on Post-It notes.

I love this show.

See y’all in the comments.

Filed Under: TV Is My Friend

Gladly And Freely

15 November 2007 by

This morning I had an email from a friend of mine at church. Her name is Rashel, and two and half years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She was 28 years old at the time.

Today she’s cancer-free.

The work that Rashel has done since her diagnosis is remarkable, really. She has started her own foundation, and through her foundation she ministers every single day to people who are walking through the devastation of cancer but may need some help getting to doctor’s appointments or buying groceries or keeping up with their household chores.

Once every couple of weeks Rashel sends an email to several hundred people and basically just makes needs known. Today she shared about six children whose parents are walking through cancer or some other life crisis and asked for help providing those kids with Christmas presents. She mentioned a family who is in serious need of prayer. She included a link to a new business started by a mother of six who lost her husband to lymphoma last year.

Totally inspirational, that Rashel.

And the end of her email today? It hit me right where I’m living. For the last couple of weeks I have been BOGGED DOWN – that’s the only way I know to say it. And while my husband probably had no idea when he married me that COUNSELING SKILLS would be required, God bless him for listening to me and talking to me and loving on me while I’ve poured out my heart to him for the eleventy-fourth day in a row.

Here’s what Rashel’s email said this morning:

In closing, anyone who knows me well knows that life can be sixteen shades of messed up, and I’ll find something to be positive about. Some may say that’s endearing, others would say annoying.

All of that being said; even still… I struggle…

I have a full heart, a pocket full of dreams and hopes; I’m planted firmly in the foundation of God’s character and word, and daily grasp at hanging on to that. I lose perspective, I have moments I’m ashamed of, and I feel weak, tired, restless and grouchy at times.

My reason for telling you that is this, we’re all in that… Every single one of us… Cancer aside, fill in the blank, we all struggle.

I’m taking Phillip Keller’s words and making them my own:

“In brokenness and contrition I humbly cry out to God for help. I reach out to Christ for restoration and healing. I exercise faith in another because I know I must touch someone greater than myself. Similarly I seek out others I can serve and in my suffering service I find fulfillment and freedom from myself. It is to my soul that God gives himself gladly and freely.”

Translation: I must get over myself, love on others and in that, I can’t and never will miss God.

Be encouraged.

That really spoke to me today.

I hope it speaks to you, too.

And if you’d like to check out Rashel’s blog and read even more of her story, you can do that right here.

Filed Under: My Friends Rock

I Think I Have Sufficiently Savored The Victory

14 November 2007 by

I am now watching the Mississippi State / Alabama game for the FOURTH time.

Since Sunday.

Because seeing the game in person just wasn’t enough.

And much to my delight, we continue to win every single time I watch.

But this is IT. Really. I have to move on. I have to concentrate on our game against Arkansas this weekend. Not to mention that we have a basketball game against Clemson tomorrow night.

I need to FOCUS, dadgummit! FOCUS!

So I’ll only watch this play one more time. Just once more. Really.

Just one more time.

And then I will cook supper or clean or something.

Really.

I will.

Filed Under: Beloved Bulldogs

A Giveaway That’s Chock-Full-O-Sassy Goodness

13 November 2007 by

A couple of years ago my sister-in-law Janie went out of town for a fun girls’ trip, and she packed all manner of cute earrings and bracelets and whatnot so that she would have lots of accessory options when she arrived at her destination.

As a chronic overpacker, I know a little bit about the need for many accessory options.

But what Janie wasn’t expecting was the fact that once she arrived at her hotel, her jewelry was a tangled mess. All of her longer earrings had gotten completely twisted and knotted during the flight, and she spent a solid hour trying to undo the damage.

So when she got back home a couple of days later, she sat down and decided she’d solve her jumbled jewelry problem.

For the last two years she has worked on a couple of different prototypes, and when she finally hit on the very best idea, she met with a patent attorney (OH YES MA’AM – SHE HAS PATENTED THIS PUPPY AND EVERYTHING), found a manufacturer, and started the distribution process.

And now she’s sharing her great new product – which has been selling like hotcakes at Christmas markets – with you.

Internets, meet The JJ.

(Here’s a secret – SHHHHH – “JJ” stands for “Janie’s Jewels.”)

(Isn’t that adorable?)

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I know it’s hard to gauge the size, but The JJ is about the size of a long wallet – only a little bit bigger. It will fit in a make-up bag, a purse, or in the pocket of your suitcase.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that size-wise it’s terribly convenient.

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This is what it looks like on the inside. What’s so brilliant is that Janie figured out a way to hang the earrings instead of trying to fit them in little tiny compartments, and do you SEE how much stuff fits in there? Do you SEE?

You could literally take 20 pairs of earrings on a 3-day trip.

Quite frankly I don’t know how much more a girl could ask for.

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And then the center pocket? The place where you can put all your bracelets? It actually detaches from the JJ – which makes it way easier to pack your stuff and then unpack it when you get where you’re going.

I also love that The JJ can stand up on a dresser or a nightstand or a bathroom counter – because it’s just so much easier to see your jewelry options.

It’s very important to be able to see your jewelry options, girls.

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If you look, there are also leather strips at the top where you can put your post earrings – the ones that might not need to hang but are so easy to lose.

ISN’T IT THE CUTEST?

Janie’s working on getting a website up and running, but since it’s not quite ready yet, she sent me pictures of all the JJ fabric patterns. And if you’d like to win one of the NINE JJ’s Janie is giving away, here’s what you do:

1) Click here to see all the fun fabric options for The JJ.
2) Come back to this page and leave a comment telling me which pattern is your favorite.
3) THAT’S ALL!

I’ll leave comments on this post open until Saturday, November 17 – and then I’ll draw for nine winners.

And if you’d like to order one (or two! or nine!) for Christmas gifts, I’ll post all of the how-to information then.

Hooray for The JJ!

Y’all have fun!

Filed Under: Rambling
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