27

For my 27th birthday today, I decided to share some random tidbits about me that you may or may not know. Hopefully I can come up with 27 of them!

1. My birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving.
2. Dean and I were born in the same hospital in Fort Lauderdale. Actually my brother and his brother and sister were born there too.
3. I once had a dog named Penelope.
4. I've been camping in Alaska. In a tent. In August. Still very cold.
5. I'm afraid of bees because I've been stung in the tongue.
6. I've also been stung on the inside of my left lower eyelid.
7. My favorite Christmas song is "O Holy Night"
8. My favorite movie is "A League of Their Own"
9. My dad is one of the only true Florida Marlins fans I know.
10. My grandmother used to make chili while wearing a helmet (random story, you'll have to ask about that later)
11. Dean and I met on a blind date.
12. We dated long distance for almost 2 years (except summers together)
13. My dad worked for Delta so we never went more than 3 weeks without seeing each other because I always flew up to where he was.
14. I have had 3 dreams that I've driven off a bridge into the water and died. Yes died. You really can die in your dreams and not die in real life.
15. I have almost a phobia of driving over bridges that curve or are very high, especially bridges that go over water.
16. I played alto saxaphone in 5th, 6th, and 7th grade. I wasn't bad at it either.
17. I've tried 3 different times but I can't play the guitar.
18. I can't play Rummy.
19. I used to do cartwheels everywhere I went. I even did them with a broken wrist.
20. Our high school gave us an extra week off for Christmas break my senior year because that was when all the computers in the world were supposed to crash due to Y2K. Like a week would've helped.
21. I was once the driver for someone mooning. It wasn't Dean.
22. A few days before we got engaged, Dean convinced me that he wasn't ready to get married until he was done with his Masters and Ph.D. program, which he figured would take another 7 years. It was our first (and one of the only) fight that made me cry. He then proposed two days later and we got married that December. He had the ring all along.
23. I'm still good friends with Jamie, whose mom and my mom were pregnant with us together. Now our kids will be friends too. 3 generations of friends!
24. My first piano "recital" was when I played for the judges at FSU to get into the School of Music.
25. While we were in the Keys one time, my dad did a u-turn in his truck and the boat we were hauling didn't make it and flipped over in the road. It actually gouged out a chunk of the road.
26. I am addicted to Sudoku.
27. My favorite food is probably pizza.

Thanksgiving Highlights

Well, we had a great Thanksgiving. A little quieter than normal, given that Dean's brother and sister and brother-in-law were all out of town, but still great. Some highlights:

We may have gotten our Christmas card picture. Not sure, I'll have to see what I can do with the ones we took. Taking a picture of a two-year-old smiling is like trying to grip a slippery bar of soap in a bathtub.

When Dean's grandmother (Tommy calls her Mumuh) arrived and needed people to carry her up the front stairs in the wheelchair, Tommy stood at the top and clapped, saying "Yay Mumuh!!"

He gave the nutcracker (the one he's afraid of) "knuckles". That's a big step for him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I sit here watching Curious George, anxiously awaiting the start of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I figured I'd share some things that I'm especially thankful for today. And every day.

1. My salvation
2. My family
3. My friends
4. Tommy waking up only to come snuggle on the couch with me this morning
5. The huge smile I got when I opened my eyes and he was smiling at me saying "Happy Thanksgiving!" (or something like it)
6. Dunkin Donuts coffee on sale for $2.00 off per pound
7. Seeing the steam rise from my coffee when I walked outside this morning
8. My brother spending the night, possibly giving me an excuse to make sour cream pancakes for breakfast
9. Quietly planning my Black Friday shopping route
10. Having my 80-year-old grandmother pass on her coveted cranberry sauce recipe to me this morning

Obviously these are just 10 of the millions of things I could have written, but they just happened to cross my mind as I was sitting here. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, I'll check back later!

Peace

My parents are going to a funeral today. A relative of mine was killed in a tragic hunting accident on Saturday. He was 15 and his father and two brothers (one older, one younger) were in the boat with him when it happened. Since I got the e-mail on Saturday night, I haven't stopped thinking about it. About the father who had to watch this surreal scene involving his son. About his brothers and the therapy they will surely have to undergo. About their mother getting that unexpected, but most dreaded phone call. About the unexplainable loss they will all feel. And about Thanksgiving tomorrow.

I don't know what the state of their faith is, but I do know that the mother sent an e-mail to everyone asking them to pray like crazy for their family. Yesterday I was in the car and was listening to an awesome CD, "Together" and the first track is a remake of Michael W. Smith's "Agnus Dei". As I listened I thought about this poor mother (I can identify with her most, being a mother), and as I began to cry, all I could pray was that one day they would come to the place of healing where they could praise God with the words of that song "For the Lord God Almighty reigns... You are Holy... Worthy is the Lamb..."

And one of my favorite verses came to mind "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

I know that may be the last thing on their minds as they go through today and tomorrow, but I pray that somehow the unbelievable peace that is found only in Christ will guard their hearts and their minds. Peace that is beyond their understanding. And that tomorrow for Thanksgiving they will be able to thank God for giving and taking away and for providing that immeasurable peace once He has taken away.

Early Birthday Present

My birthday is on Friday. Dean went shopping today. And gave me my gift the minute he got home (he's never been able to wait... it's so cute because he gets so excited). So I am the proud new owner of ... UGGS! They're not the boot kind, but more of the deck shoe type. And they're soooooo comfortable. I feel like I'm walking on a field of bunnies (but without the grossness that would naturally come from walking on a field of bunnies).

Food Fight

Tommy has officially developed an attitude. When someone asks him a question and he's in a sour mood, his answer is usually an emphatic "No-uh!" and I swear there's even a little eye roll in there. Food is the biggest struggle for us now. Not that he won't eat it. No, he eats us out of house and home. However, he's crazy about carbs. Bread, in particular. And until I get my wheat mill, what he's eating isn't going to be very good for him.

The other night we went with MeMe, BeBe (grandparents), Uncle Todd, and Sarah out to eat after church. We just went to One Fresh Stir Fry and I ordered him a bowl with brown rice, chicken, broccoli, spinach, and mushroms. A lofty pursuit, I know, but I figured now's as good a time as any to get him to eat this stuff. Well, he just picked at it and complained while we all ate and thoroughly enjoyed ours. Since it was my inlaws anniversary, they brought out a piece of oreo ice cream cake after dinner and six forks for us all to share. Of course, Tommy was all ready to eat the cake but I had to be tough mom and tell him absolutely not until he ate some of his food. Just a bite. And he finally did take a bite, but after he chewed it, he spit it out and gently placed it in my empty bowl. Then reached for the orea cake. And again I had to tell him no way until he ate a bite of food. At this point, I'm thinking all hope is lost because the rest of us are enjoying our cake and he's now starting to throw a massive fit. In the restaurant. But I held firm. And he ate a bite! Swallowed and all. So he got a bite of the oreo cake and was happy. But should it really be this hard?? I mean, we even watch Sesame Street where they sing about eating the colors of the rainbow (which always makes me hungry, by the way). Even Cookie Monster talks about eating Carrots and Cauliflower, which also begin with the letter C, instead of just cookies. Surely that would influence him. Not yet, though.

However, I do have some help. My family and I are all on JuicePlus , which is roughly the equivalent of 6 pounds of raw fruits and veggies in each serving. Just empty a capsule in his food, stir it in, and watch him get his daily dose of kale, carrots, tomatoes, barley, parsley, cabbage, beets, rice bran, and oat bran. And that's just for the veggie capsules. I believe that whole fruits and veggies are better, but when you have a child like mine who absolutely refuses and is as stubborn as a mule when he wants to be, you gotta do what you can.

Top 10

This is a fun month for me. Beginning on the day after Thanksgiving, Dean will allow me to go nuts and listen to Christmas music in the house, break out all my random snowman Christmas decorations, and clear a spot for the tree. Oh yeah, and that day is also my birthday. So here are the top 10 things I'm looking forward to in the next month or so (drum roll, please):

1. Decorating for Christmas

2. Carpenters' Christmas album... I'm a little sick of it, but there's too much tradition behind it to give it up (when Dean and I were first dating, I was over at his parents house and we were all decorating the tree. After listening to the Carpenters Christmas tape ...yes, tape... about 15 times, I decided to change it out for something else. There weren't a whole lot of options, so I put in an instrumental Christmas tape, and all activity froze in the house and they all acted like I had just kicked their dog. I haven't changed the music since)

3. Going to Oklahoma for the Oklahoma/Oklahoma State football game.

4. Taking Tommy to Dorothy B. Oven Park to walk around with all of the lights and mechanical light-up animals. Actually he might be scared, but we'll just have to face our fears.

5. Making hot cocoa from scratch (a new skill I've just acquired) and baking loads of cookies

6. Christmas on the Moon!

7. Christmas shopping at the mall, not online... gotta have the full experience

8. Family time

9. Dean's and my new tradition of watching a cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie every night in the month of December (except on December 7, when we'll be at Christmas on the Moon )

10. Our anniversary trip to Fontana Village, to relax and recover from a busy Christmas season

Now for some audience participation, what's your favorite Christmas movie?