Have you ever heard of the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day?

Well, yesterday could equal it for me.

I am over my birthday selfishness.

My birthday is today. And I am ungrateful. Instead of being joyful for my wonderful gifts, I am bemoaning that which I did not receive. And in the course of my pity party, I have caused my husband to feel that he did something wrong. He did not. His poor wife is the problem.

He wished me Happy Birthday before I even got up. My husband made me a carmel apple crisp. He took me to dinner Friday night. He bought me thoughtful gifts. He changed all of our daughter's diapers. What more could a wife and mother want?

I am trying to be thankful.

My husband was very excited. He is liking conversing with our daughter. She is starting to understand and communicate more.

He was telling me of a night when he put her to bed. Our daughter was picking out the books to read. She handed one to my husband, but when he sat her on his lap, she gave a look that it wasn't really the book she wanted. So, he asked her if it was. She shook her head no. He asked her if she wanted another book. She nodded yes. He put her down, and she picked out another book. The right one.

It still amazes me when she does what I ask. Not so much that she obeys me (not that that isn't nice,) but that she knows what I am asking her. I asked her if she wanted to color. She said she did, so I got paper ready for her. I looked over at her, and she was holding her crayons. She knew what coloring was, that it involved crayons, where they were kept, and that she should get them.

As my friend says, she's brilliant.

When I turn on our kitchen faucet, I usually end up nearly burning myself, once the hot water comes through. We have the style where one lever runs both hot and cold. When it is right in middle, the water is too hot to put my hands under. I think this should not be. I have to tilt it significantly to the right for the water to be balanced. It has been this way for far too long, and it irritates me immensely. My solution has been to turn the hot water valve to nearly shut. I turned it more tonight. I think I have finally accomplished a balance in my water temperatures.

Last night we had a thunderstorm. My husband and I were in the bathroom brushing teeth, when our lights went out. I thought he did it on purpose as a joke or something. I was about to say "Hey, what are you doing?" when he informed me that we lost power. It was very dark. Our bathroom has no windows, not that they would have helped since there was no light outside. We realized this when my husband tried to shed some light on our darkness by opening our bedroom blinds to let the post light in. As the slats turned, we were still engulfed in darkness. It was a little scary, having the darkness surround me, even though I knew exactly were I was, and that my husband was with me.

Makes me think of my sin that surrounds me in darkness. And Jesus is my light that shines through. Depend on Him and there will always be a light for the darkness that tries to seep in.

Titan 5 . . . the car seat from the other place.

Since switching the car seat to forward facing, we have been using it incorrectly. Apparently, we were using the wrong shoulder slots. We were using the lower ones, but if those are used forward-facing, "the harness may not properly restrain the child in the event of a crash." Fortunately, we have not had to test that warning.

To remedy the mistake, we create the problem. The problem lies with the straps themselves. First, the straps have two toddler positions. When in the lower position, they are too tight. When in the higher position, they are too loose. And to top it all off, the seat has a strap to "easily" tighten the straps once fastened around my child. Well let me tell you, it would only be easily for the Hulk, perhaps. All I accomplish when I pull on that strap is to pull the seat out of position, hurt my hand and arm, and get rather angry with the seat. The strap stays just as loose as it was. I have to reach behind the seat, a feat in itself, and pull down on the plate that hooks the shoulder straps to the pull tight strap. This method is no where in the manual, though I have found it the only effect method. But another problem lies in that when the shoulder strap is in the higher position, I can't really reach the plate, effectively negating my method.

This may be confusing, but just know that it is a royal pain.

I am trying to call Evenflo but haven't gotten through yet.

We bought a CD tower. We opened it. A shelf was split. We returned it.

We bought a different CD tower. We opened it. A shelf was broken, and it was missing instructions. We returned it.

We bought another CD tower. We opened it. It was missing the screws to put it together. We returned it.

We searched through three boxes at the store and found a CD tower with all its parts, that were also not broken and had instructions. We didn't open it at home yet.

What might we find when we do? Oooh, the suspense. I might have to make yet another trip to Wal-Mart.


~~The subjects in this story were not actors, but real people. This story took place over a period of one week. Stay reading for the thrilling conclusion of . . . "The CD Tower."~~

Be still and know....
Be still and know....
Be still and know....

Stephen Curtis Chapman wrote a song called "Be Still and Know." My mom and I heard it on the radio on our way to choir practice. It is also one of our choir's anthems. It is a beautiful song.

....that He is God.
....that He is faithful.
....that he's our Father.

In our busy lives and schedules, we must be still and know God, hear God, see His works. We must still our restless souls.

"Stand in awe and be amazed."

Be still . . . .

Yesterday, I discovered that when warning labels on prescription bottles say to take the medication with copious amounts of water (copious is my word - the label actually said "plenty," but copious adds a little something,) they mean it. I neglected to adhere to that little warning, but my stomach was quite aware and rid itself of the offending intruder.

Consequently, my stomach felt poorly all day. Though, I didn't take the full dosage, but that was a different oversight on my part. I somehow missed the part where the label says to take 1 dose twice a day. I was thinking 1 dose once a day. Oops. Oopses with medication shouldn't really occur. I get an extra day now to take my medicine. AND, even if I read it correctly, after my morning experience and my still poor stomach, I am not so sure I would have attempted taking the medication again so soon.

But alas, after a meal and with a large drink, I ventured a swallow today. Nothing was forthcoming. I took my medication with no ill will on my stomach's part. But, I did not realize the twice part until it was too late to take the second dose today. I will remedy that tomorrow.

My grandmother had us over for lunch today. When we bring her home from church, she sometimes has us up for lunch. We had the ole standby of grilled cheese and chili (it's usually soup, but we thought we'd try chili for a change.) It was tasty. She also had made an applesauce of sorts, and she added raisin. It was tasty, too. My daughter fell asleep on the way over, and slept right through lunch. She ate when we got home. Guess what she had. You're right - grilled cheese.

Again already my morning is askew. Being up very early, my daughter fell asleep by 10:30. I guess it's hit or miss with her and her morning naps.

I will take the opportunity to read my Bible now.

Today I accomplished my laundry and had most of it folded before I went to sleep. Getting all the clean laundry folded and put away the same day I wash it is a challenge for me.

For example, to have full advantage of the use of my laundry baskets today, I had to put towels washed last Wednesday away first.

I have not read my Bible yet this week. I am trying to read through I Corinthians. And would you believe that the book makes more sense when you read it all the way through, instead of a verse here and a section there? Imagine that! I suppose it would than make sense to read II Corinthians next.

I was feeling very very poorly this morning and than slightly poorly all the rest of the day. I accomplished close to nothing. Didn't make it to my Bible Study.

Today I had a doctor's appointment at 8:30. Got my food shopping mostly done. My daughter fell asleep on the way home. Lunch was late. Afternoon nap was later.

Yesterday was spend moving furniture. We acquired some of my husband's grandfather's furniture. His apartment needed to be emptied by this weekend. So, now our already full house has some new furniture. We need to move some things around and get rid of some things.

Of course the Christmas tree is sitting in the way right now. We will be spending the week rearranging and deciding on what goes where and what goes to the thrift store.

Today was suppose to be the day we started moving and deciding. But after our daughter was down for her nap, it seemed like a good idea for us. My husband fell asleep straight away, but I lay on my side of the bed in my cozy soft warmness (flannel sheets,) reading my friend's manuscript. After cold arms and many pages later, I joined my husband in slumber.

For over two hours we napped. We both felt refreshed. We did not accomplish our task of furniture arranging, but the sleep was needed.

Our sleep had been shorten last night, due to "King Kong." The movie was apparently three hours long. I wouldn't have known that, except for the time it was when we got out. My sister treated us to a movie. "King Kong" was good. The movie was well done with effects, and Kong looked like a real gorilla. He was very lifelike, with breathing and emotions. There were times that we shrunk into our seats, for all the intensity and suspense. I felt myself having to relax after some scenes. I would see it again.

Did I say how much I enjoy my flannel sheets? I have to go slip between their cozy softness again. I think all things should be made of flannel.

Jim is 16, Jerry is 4.
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My plan worked today. I was able to read my Bible. Go meet my husband for lunch. Get my daughter down for a nap, clean the bathroom and vacuum the living room(a leftover from yesterday,) and prepare dinner.

I am quite pleased with my accomplishments.

I will now go rest between my soft, warm, cozy flannel sheets. Did I mention I like them?

Jim is four times as old as Jerry. In four years, Jerry will be half as old as Jim is now. Two years ago, Jim was seven times as old as Jerry.

How old are they now?

This is the puzzle of the day for yesterday on my desk calendar my husband gave me for Christmas. I am not sure what he was thinking giving me math puzzles. I have trouble doing simple addition. But to his defense it is an all inclusive puzzle calendar. There are also word puzzles.
I much prefer word puzzles. Much prefer them.

_________________________________________________

I got my floor vacuumed and mopped. I am glad for that. Like I said, it really needed it.

I have a plan. I am hoping it will help me be more productive. Here it is.
Get up before my daughter.
Read my Bible.
Get ready if my daughter is still sleeping. If not, get her ready and eat breakfast, than get myself ready.
Do errands.
Eat lunch.
Put my daughter down for a nap.
Do house chores.
If there's time, relax.
Get my daughter up from her nap.
Prepare dinner.

I am still liking my sheets, though my husband has informed me that he is sweating.

Laundry, laundry everywhere.

I have been doing laundry nearly everyday it seems for two weeks now. I finally, finally caught up today. Before, I'd think I'd get caught up, but no, we would go and wear more clothes again. And let me tell you, it seemed like we would wear twice as many clothes in half the time.

I am thankful however, that I didn't have to deal with many stains. We were fairly clean people these past two weeks.

Our rather clean dirty clothes aside, we were however not so lucky with our floors. Specifically, the three foot diameter circle that my daughter's highchair sits in when she eats, and the kitchen floor near the stove and sink. Actually, my daughter has been very good lately at not dropping her unwanted food on the floor. I guess my husband and I have been the messy ones.

I must vacuum and mop tomorrow. The floors are desperately calling out to be cleaned. The carpet is a breeze. Just vacuum the dark brown hue, and it's good to go. It's quite the workhorse of a carpet.

Unfortunately, the dark brown isn't so pleasing to my eyes. I much prefer a different color. If anyone wants to contribute to the replace-the-living-room-carpet fund, let me know. We are taking donations, sorry no tax deductions. We are a for-profit family.

The sheets are just as I had hoped. Warm and cozy.

I bought flannel sheets today. I have been wanting them. I returned some pillows and saw the snowman set of sheets. I look forward to resting my head on the cozy softness.

My husband has been looking forward to his Christmas vacation for months. He was glad he could spend an entire week home with his wife and daughter. He also hoped to work on a house project that has been put on hold.

That's what he planned. But don't you know that plans always get changed?

He needed to cut molding for the bathroom ceiling. But could he find the pieces that needed cutting? No. After we looked throughout the house, they were finally found. But the opportunity for cutting them was gone. The molding did not get finished.

He wanted some quality family time. He didn't feel well on and off all week, and after acquiring a fever of 101, he slept from Thursday afternoon until late Friday morning. He felt better Saturday and even more on Sunday, with occasional bouts of felling rather ill.

It's no fun being sick for your vacation, but it's also no fun being sick and having to work.

Went to bed way too late last night. Had to get up way to early this morning.

Our dinner of pork and sauerkraut and mashed potatoes was as good as I had hoped it would be. The pork was so tender a knife was not needed. The potatoes were whipped to deliciousness. And we had green beans. I only tolerate them, so I have nothing more to say about them. Oh, yes. You have to put vinegar on it all, too. Well, not the green beans. Vinegar gives it a bite. Yummy!

My daughter missed out on her first chance at the traditional German fare for New Year's Day. Oh, she had the chance. It was all there in front of her. But lately she has been usurping her independence and not eating things she likes. She usually gobbles down mashed potatoes. But not this night. No sir.
Last year table food was not part of her food palette yet.