The "it" girl

Erica tagged me.

Now I have to think.

Worse. I have to think of five more people to tag.

Alright, grey matter, here goes...

10 years ago today-> Let's see, it's not quite August yet, so I would have been a few weeks pregnant with the only child I ever conceived - and lost a few weeks later.

5 years ago -> Hmmm... I had a two-year-old, and our planned adoption had just fallen through because the birthmom was, in fact, not pregnant in the first place.

1 year ago-> We had just come back from visiting Doug's family in Calgary, and my in-laws were in town for a family anniversary.

Yesterday -> slept late, went grocery shopping, took the kids to the playground, finished reading another Narnia book to the kids.

Tomorrow -> Planning to head to the zoo.

5 snacks I enjoy -> Cadbury fruit and nut bars, black licorice, zesty Doritos, peanut butter cups, Dutch licorice (double salt)

5 adult beverages I enjoy -> I don't like adult beverages. Not even one.

5 bands I know the lyrics to-> Bands? Songs, perhaps... Most U2, Dire Straits, Phil Keaggy, the Eagles (Get over it!), and the closing theme to Corner Gas....

5 things I would do with $100 000 000 -> pay off family mortgages, renovate said houses, give my mom an allowance, fund more FASD-specialized classrooms, maybe study linguistics just for fun... Oh, and get Jude a bigger house!

5 locations I would like to run away to -> Heaven (yeah, yeah, cheesy... but true), Austria, Scotland, a cabin of my own, an amazing spa for extreme pampering.

5 bad habits I have -> Proofreading everything, procrastination, shooting my mouth off, defeating self-talk, eating too much junk

5 things I love doing -> Ha! you thought I was gonna say knitting! But I'm over that at the moment. I love eating freshly baked dense fudgy brownies, watching my kids sleep (*whew* silence!), riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad coaster at Disney World(go figure - I'm not a roller coaster girl), proofreading, singing (worship mostly)...

5 things I would never wear -> butt floss (thong), blue eyeshadow, size 2, "nuthin' at all"(stupid sexy Flanders!), 4" spike heels...

5 tv shows I like -> the Simpsons, Crossing Jordan, Law and Order - CI, Reba, What Not to Wear

5 movies I like-> Anne of Green Gables (the whole freakin' 8 hours!), Simon Birch, the Princess Bride, Blast from the Past, the Party (Peter Sellers)

5 famous people I would love to meet-> Her Majesty, the Queen (what!? I'm English and Scottish!), Mother Teresa (no one said they had to be living!), Mel Gibson, Phil Keaggy, Nick Arrojo and Carmindy ( I could use the makeover!)

5 biggest joys at the moment -> Yikes! I'm more of a cup half-empty girl, so this is a tough one... let's see... Being able to express myself, seeing my kids learn, wearing the right size bra, finding a way to get Kelvin to eat veggies (whoo hoo carrot & raisin salad!), and NOT gaining any weight this week.

5 favorite toys-> Computer, TV remote, delete key, timer, ones I don't have to clean up

5 people to tag -> Well, obviously I'm gonna tag Jude, then Mel. I'd tag Colleen but she's offline at the moment. So I'm gonna tag Shannon, Mercy, and Loraleigh and let them answer on the Breathe site.

So there you go... Tag! You're it!

What's in a name?

A blog by any other name would smell as...

Yeah, yeah, cut the poetry and get on with it....

I was thinking the other day about changing the name of my blog. I chose it originally because Chicken Stew is warm, nourishing, and full of all kinds of weird things. And that's what I thought my blog would be.

Well.... it's full of all kinds of weird things, but it's far more full of passionate rantings and musings than things that are warm.... Nourishing maybe, but not all that warm and fuzzy usually. (Is fuzzy stew a good thing?)

But then I found myself over on Joyska's blog telling her that I would have to stew on what she had written. Stew? Hey... I could be onto something.

Chicken Stew. Full of all kinds of weird stuff, and a place where this chick does her stewing...

Reader's Digest

Yeah, I know... I need to post more often instead of putting out these novellas, or manifestos, or other long-winded pieces of print.

Heavy Heart

My dearest friend, Jude, has lost her father, lost an uncle, and struggles to find a way to relate to her mom. And I am at a complete loss as to how to help her. Not that I haven't been in a similar situation - I was the one who held the family together when my Dad died, and my mom later lost her ability to think straight. The tough part, I think, is that all this other stuff (caring for her mom and the estate stuff) is making it extra difficult for her to process her own grief. I wish I could lift off some of this other stuff and give her the space to process. Everyone needs the opportunity to process grief at their own pace. But, alas, I am not superwoman (could she do this?), or God. So I will call out to the one who is. God, that is. I'm not calling out to a fictional character - I'm not that far gone!

God, it is my prayer that you would not leave Jude in this space any longer than necessary to accomplish whatever it is You have purposed. Bring your comfort to my friend and the strength necessary to walk this path. You are with her all the time - there is nowhere she can go that You are not there. Be her comfort, her strength, her counselor, and give her Your perspective.


Exegesis Schmexegesis

Yuck. I hate when I have to do this. I had to do it once before in a small house church, and I don't think he ever quite fully forgave me.

I had to challenge someone on a public teaching that I didn't think was exegetically correct. I'm risking relationship, but I feel so strongly about truth that I couldn't keep quiet. Now I wait for the fall-out.

Yuck.


Fit Fit Fit

Yesterday we got a family membership at the Y. You know what this means, of course.... More structure in my life! Generally speaking that's a good thing, but I fear being too busy in fall and not having enough down time. Tradeoffs. Life is full of 'em.


Camp WannaHockALoogie

We brave (insane?) souls took our boys camping for a couple of days last week. Doug's parents were here (for a family funeral) and always come with their fifth-wheel trailer, so we took advantage and went camping with them to Riding Mountain on their way home. They in their trailer. We in our tent. It was a good time, for the most part, but on the second evening of the mandatory drive to spot wildlife both boys fell asleep in the van. Not good. Not good at all....

Matt spent the next few hours whining about how he couldn't sleep. It was enough for Doug to cut our stay short by one night. Doug has enough sleep issues himself. He knew he couldn't take another night like that and remain reasonably sane.

On the plus side, we did spot several black bears, a herd of bison, four deer, a moose, and several (read dozens of) crows. Oh, and one vole.

So, there you have it. My life at the moment. Keep on challenging your assumptions. After all, what's the worst that could happen? You could find truth....