When Melanie and I were in Nashville a couple of months ago, our friend Paige mentioned that Compassion was doing a really cool thing at a local church. The Compassion folks had parked a huge (HUGE) truck in the church’s parking lot, and Paige thought it would be great if we ran by to check it out. Mel and I were totally game, but truth be told I couldn’t fathom why a big ole truck would be such a big deal.

Well.

That big ole truck pretty much blew me away.

Because once you walk inside, you really do experience Compassion’s ministry in a whole new way. The truck (or semi, or whatever) houses an interactive display that allows people to walk through the lives of three different children who have been sponsored through Compassion. You get to see and hear what their day-to-day lives are like – and you also see and hear the hope they have as a result of their involvement with a local Compassion project.

It is the coolest.

And your kids WILL. LOVE. IT.

You take the tour at your own pace, with an iPod and a pair of headphones as your guide. There is so much to see, to touch, and to read – and more than anything else, it’s a phenomenal way for you and your kids to get an up-close look at what a sponsored child’s life is like. If you currently sponsor a child through Compassion, you’ll feel a deeper connection with that child – and if you don’t currently sponsor a child through Compassion, you’ll gain a greater understanding of exactly what a sponsorship can do (and mean) in a kid’s life. Plus, there are plenty of Compassion volunteers on hand who can answer any questions that you may have.

I’m just as tickled as I can be that Compassion’s Change the Story Experience is in Birmingham this week at The Church at Brook Hills (which just so happens to be my church). That big ole truck will be in the parking lot from Wednesday, October 10th until Sunday, October 14th. You can even set up a time to stop by so that you don’t have to wait once you get there.

Change the Story will be in other cities this fall and winter; you can check out the schedule to see if they’ll be somewhere near you.

I really, really hope that some of y’all get to go!

I’ve seen this video in three or four different places today, and MY WORD.

That’s really all I know to say about it.

MY WORD.

Well, and also: the whole horse thing is, as the French say, le awesome.

(The French don’t really say that.)

(At least I don’t think that they do.)

(However, since I do not in fact speak French, I cannot say for sure.)

See? LE AWESOME.

I adore college football season.

Yesterday was my birthday, so I started off the day by walking into the kitchen and fixing myself some bacon.

It seemed like the right thing to do.

In lots of ways I feel like I’m still adjusting to this whole being-in-my-40s thing, mainly because I’m not real sure how it happened. It just seems so, I don’t know, grown, and that strikes me as sort of hilarious considering that on an average day I feel like I’m about 24 – only with a way bigger sense of responsibility and also some genuine concern for others.

You may be picking up on the fact that as far as being responsible and feeling genuinely concerned for others, 24 was not necessarily my finest hour. It was, however, a time when I felt very young and wide open to possibilities, and it’s funny to me that even though the circumstances of my life have changed drastically, I still feel really young and wide open to possibilities – almost 20 years later.

However, there’s nothing that will remind you that OH NO, SISTER – YOU’RE NOT IN YOUR 20s ANYMORE like someone saying, “Happy Birthday! How old are you today? 26?” – and then collapsing into a fit of laughter.

That happened to me about four times yesterday, by the way.

Since I’m trying really hard to avoid sugar, I asked my people to please keep the cupcakes and the birthday cake and the brownies and the whatnot far away from the birthday festivities, and they were very sweet to do just that. In lieu of cake and ice cream, A and I met D at Chuy’s for a really early supper (we prefer to eat as many meals as possible with the over-70 set), and the weather was so great that we sat on the patio and enjoyed the view (as well as the absence of stifling humidity). It was a great, laid-back way to celebrate; D and I put the hurt on some chicken fajitas while Alex dug into a burrito dish that he affectionately calls “Cheese Mountain.”

Honestly, it would be impossible to not have great affection for a mountain-o-cheese.

After dinner I did my best to put a dent in a gift card that D gave me, and then I headed to Bible study. It was a treat to wrap up the day with some of my favorite people – and with a mighty good lesson, too.

So all in all: yay, birthday. The whole day was such a sweet reminder of how intricately God works in and through our relationships, and the older I get, the more I marvel at how much He teaches me through the people that He has placed in my life. I am unspeakably grateful for that, and I would be such a train wreck on my own. I have been such a train wreck on my own. Have mercy.

Anyway, that’s pretty much the gist of what’s been going on around here. This weekend Sister and I are driving up to Lexington, Kentucky to see the Bulldogs play, and I cannot wait. I’ve never been to Lexington before, so if you have any restaurant recommendations, fire away. I can’t wait to see that part of the country – especially when the weather is this beautiful.

Happy Thursday, y’all!

When I look at other people who are wearing skinny jeans, my first thought is usually something along the lines of “Well – you look absolutely darlin’.” I’m especially fond of skinny jeans in bright colors, so I develop a serious case of wardrobe envy when I see someone wearing hot pink skinny jeans and, say, a denim shirt. I want to run to the store and replicate the look ASAP, but there’s only one problem.

I look terrible in skinny jeans.

Seriously.

Like “bless your heart” terrible.

Part of the problem is that I’m apple shaped. Another part of the problem is that I am not a size 6. And the biggest part of the problem is that my calves are enormous. So if I put on a pair of skinny jeans, I basically look like a beach ball with bowling pins for legs.

Oh, yes ma’am. It is a very attractive look.

Now that the weather is cooler and skinny cords are all the rage, I’ve been on the hunt for some boot cut cords in bold colors. About six weeks ago I saw some plum-colored cords on the Old Navy website, and since I figured it couldn’t hurt to give them a try, I ordered them on a whim. They came in a few days later, and much to my surprise, they fit great. They also help me feel a little more hip and with it and now; even though they’re not skinny cords, the color makes them feel current and fun.

This morning I decided to see if there were any other colors still available in that same boot cut style, and I ended up ordering another pair in a deep, bright blue. It dawned on me when I got my confirmation email that I should pass along the link just in case anyone else feels awkward in skinny jeans or skinny cords but still enjoys a trend.

And certainly you don’t have to be apple-shaped in order to wear these cords – the boot cut is friendly to all body types. But if you’ve been wanting to embrace the bolder colors, the Old Navy high-rise flared cords are a great option. Plus, Old Navy has a discount that ends today; if you enter THANKYOU at checkout, you get 30% off. I don’t have a vested interest in you using the discount, and this post isn’t any sort of affiliate deal – but I do like to pass along a bargain.

Last thing: if you decide to treat yourself to these cords, I’d suggest ordering a size smaller than you usually wear. Old Navy jeans / cords are no stranger to the stretch, and it’s always nice to be able to wear pants for a full day without having to constantly pull them up.

So. That is all. Rock on, people.

Rock on in your colorful cords.

This morning Alex opened the front door and stepped outside for a minute. I didn’t pay him too much mind since I was running around and trying to get ready for our day, but after about thirty seconds he walked back inside, shut the door, and said, “WHEWWWWWWWWW! IT IS HUMID OUTSIDE!”

I couldn’t help but laugh, because listen. If I’ve passed along nothing else to that little man, I’ve passed along a keen awareness of humidity levels. Train up a child, etc.

And he was right, you know. It was definitely a WHEWWWWWW morning as far as humidity goes. I’m grateful for all of the rain, and heaven knows that this is the most green August / September / October that I can ever remember, but in all honesty I’m looking forward to a day (SOON, LORD – SOON!) when my bangs have a shelf life of longer than 15 seconds. I’ve spent the last two months with my hair tucked behind my ears in a futile attempt to contain the frizz, and quite frankly I look forward to cooler weather and the hope of hair victory.

Honestly, I didn’t realize how much I’ve been longing for hair victory until I walked through this season of hair defeat. I just trust that this hair humbling is for my good and for God’s glory.

Plus, I have to keep in mind that this crazy humidity – and the resulting rain – is part of the reason why we had such a delightful weekend. We didn’t have one thing on the calendar, so we just hung out and watched football and enjoyed being in our pajamas. I did run some errands on Saturday, but that was mainly because I’m on an obsessive quest for a new purse and needed to check out the options at Steinmart and TJ Maxx before they ran out of all the purses.

That’s totally how my brain works, by the way: THE STORES WILL RUN OUT OF PURSES IF I DON’T GO LOOK RIGHT NOW.

It’s all very normal and healthy.

So I spent some time looking at purses, but I didn’t find one. However, I did notice that Steinmart already had their Christmas decorations on display, which makes total sense when you consider that Halloween is still almost a month away. It’s the perfect time to stock up on lots of sparkly wreaths. Time’s-a-wastin’ – only 84 days until Christmas!

Anyway.

Yesterday after church we enjoyed the blessing of the Chuy’s, and after we got home (and back in our pajamas), I napped, watched Food Network, and basically avoided any activity that society would regard as productive. I would have felt a little guilty if it hadn’t been the best day of my whole entire life.

Okay. Maybe that was a slight exaggeration. But it really was about seventeen different varieties of delightful. The fact that last night was the season premiere of Revenge was just an extra measure of happiness. I’d wondered how in the world they were going to get another season out of Emily avenging her father’s death, but it looks like those writers thought of everything. Now she’s investigating what happened to her mother, and I’m feeling confident that the show could go on forever at this rate. Plus, I am fully convinced that she and Nolan are siblings, so that has to be a plot line at some point, right?

Needless to say, I’m experiencing all manner of Revenge-related optimism.

So that’s about all going on around here: purse hunting, TV watching, pajama wearing, and now that it’s Monday, adjusting to reality again. And working. And figuring out how I can avoid going to the grocery store.

As you can tell, my October is off to a rip-roaring start.

So apparently it is Thursday.

I’m not entirely sure what happened to the first three days of the week, but they have been speedy little devils. I had lots of working and cooking and errand-running to do after being away from home at the end of last week, and judging by the times that I’ve fallen asleep the last few nights, I have also been trying to set some personal sleep records. I haven’t hit my personal best sleep time yet – that would’ve been when I was a senior in high school and once slept for fourteen hours – but let’s just say that rest has been high on my priority list this week.

(She says, as she types a blog post at 6:13 in the PM while wearing her favorite pajamas.)

(#mamawstyle)

One of my favorite parts of this week was Tuesday night when I watched an installment of SEC Storied that focuses on the life and career of former Mississippi State football coach Sylvester Croom, and oh my word did it ever make me teary-eyed. It was really inspirational, and if you get a chance to sit down and watch it with your family, you totally should. I enjoyed it so much. D still hasn’t seen it, so I’m going to watch it all over again when he does.

And in other riveting news, I also picked up some new pillows for our couches on Tuesday. I realize that this isn’t at all interesting to anyone besides me, but I am just as tickled as I can be to have the new pillows because the sofas needed a little pick-me-up. Sister and I picked out fabric a couple of months ago, and my friend Barbara worked her magic with the sewing machine. I love the way the pillows turned out.

Here. You should meet them.

I know that the whole chevron thing is trendy, but since I tend to run a solid two to three years behind the trends and then hang on to them way too long (hello, trouser jeans) (and hello to you, too, sixteen different toile patterns in my last house), I figure that the chevrons and I will have a long and happy life together.

As far as the bird fabrics go, I realize that we’re having a bit of a “put a bird on it” moment in this country, but the birds have a special meaning to me (no, seriously – they really do have a special meaning), and I would tell you the whole entire bird-related story if I weren’t just a wee bit afraid that you’d think I was WAY OFF THE DEEP END CUCKOO.

CUCKOO LIKE A BIRD.

Anyway. I like the new pillows. Yay, pillows!

Wednesday was BU-SY (or BIZZY, if you prefer) – work, laundry, supper, Bible study, etc. and so on and so forth – but when I got home from Bible study and started to straighten up the kitchen a little bit, I turned on the TV to see if there was a show on the DVR to keep me company.

LO AND BEHOLD.

Now listen. I get that it wasn’t the season premiere. It was more like a highlights show. But it was new (NEW!), and that means that the season premiere is on its way. I can’t even tell you how much I’ve missed seeing Victoria Grayson stand on that fake balcony and stare out at the fake ocean while Emily Thorne / Amanda Clarke stands on her fake front porch and watches the footage from a Grayson Manor hidden camera on her phone.

It is beyond delightful.

This morning I got to do something that I have never, ever done before: I picked out a book cover for my book. Sweet Lisa Jackson (who works at Tyndale and takes such good care of Melanie and me) brought me the cover proofs at dotMOM last Friday, and of the three options she showed me, I loved every single one of them. By yesterday, though, I was really starting to favor one of them over the other two, so today I emailed Lisa and made it official. They’re going to do a little more tweaking and whathaveyou, but I am excited. Except for the part where people might read it and I will feel very vulnerable and want to hide and block out the world and watch all five seasons of Friday Night Lights again.

Sometimes I struggle with courage. I’m not sure if you’ve picked up on that or not.

All righty. I have bored you for long enough. And now I need to get the little guy in bed and watch The Dan Mullen Show and then read the October issue of Southern Living because it has pumpkins and mums on the cover, and if I need anything in my life right now, it’s pumpkins and mums.

And 65 degree temperatures.

And a little bit more sleep wouldn’t hurt.

*I heard that there might be a bacon shortage next year.

*Granted, the article I read was about Europe.

*But still, I panicked.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that I wrote a post about Designing Women over at Ree’s blog. I know that some of you were barely born when it was on in the late 80s / early 90s, but I thought I’d pass along the link just in case you feel inclined to read it. Happy weekend, y’all!