I think I am going mad . . .

Its 11:30pm and I am having a chocolate attack. I am thinking, and envisioning inhaling and eating CHOCOLATE. . .

All of the sudden, I am craving a wooden spoon gooped in brownie batter. I am smelling an imaginary chocolate cake rising in my oven and my mouth is watering. I am closing my eyes and pretending that I am biting down on a dark chocolate bar, and the million tiny taste buds on my tongue are having a party like its going out of style.

Alas, my private stash is dreadfully low. Dash it all! My hubby is not here to rescue me. HEB is closed. The gas station down the street doesn't have the right kind of chocolate, plus, there are creeps out there.

BLAST . . . self control, self control, BREATH, deeply, inhale, exhale, its time to go to bed anyway. . .

Midnight Blog Train

Its so late here. . . I am ashamed to be awake - I should be taking advantage of this precious sleep time, but, my body just won't shut down. I did the usual 'shut down' things, like, take a hot bath, turned on smooth jazz, turned down my bed covers, brushed my teeth, etc., etc.


Oh well. That's when I decided to sit here and blog. And, what do you know, I end up blogging about pretty much nothing. Just typing to fill a small space - typing to make my fingers tired, and fingers are connected to hands, and if hands are tired, maybe the brain will get the general idea. Tired should come normally around this hour. Maybe this 'midnight blog train' will scoot me there.

Its a quiet night on the internet tonight. The moon shines full and orange bright, peeking through a veil of clouds. They say more rain is on the way. I will take rain over humidity ANY day.

I miss my hubby. :(


Anyway -


Late congratulations to the B. Family on the birth of Arabella Rose Marie!!!

O Blah Dee O Blah Dah . . . Life Goes On

Despite this present funk that I am in (see post below/see my BLOG TEMPLATE), I am not going to let it screw up my weekend.

I just took Hectordoodle for a walk - it was more humid than I thought! I kind of wish I had my own kiddie pool ;)

It looks like we are going to get some more rain. . . I have a bug in my bonnet to get some weeds out of my front garden, and attempt to dissuade two little sparrows from building their nest in one of our front pillars. They have been going at this process for weeks now, only to drop most of the nesting materials (i.e., unidentifiable 'fluff' of some sort, twine, sticks and dried leaves and grass) all over my front patio. So it looks like I am the messy one.

Thanks birdies.

Well - I am off to do a fun project, following up on my sister's suggestions. I am so proud of myself, in my preparations, I figured out how to use my hubby's drill ;) Ta Ta!

BLOG DISASTER

Something horrible just happened . . . when trying to add a tiny detail to my template, I managed to delete Susie's awesome custom design for me!!!

Bear with me as I try to get things back in order.

Watch out, I'm a Criminal

I admit it. I get carried away sometimes. And sometimes, I carry things with me.

It was just another ordinary trip to Walmart, to pick up a few essentials. I was having a nice phone conversation with my hubby in the middle of a crowded store. I gradually pushed my way to the checkouts and proceeded to scan my items at one of the self-serve stations.
One hand scanning, the other, cradling my very small phone trying to eek good reception at the same time. I finished scanning, everything was bagged, and I swooped up my items and headed out, chatting all the way home . . .er, all the way to the door. A tall Walmart gentleman starting to come after me and said, "Ma'am, may I see your receipt?" "receipt?", I asked, looking at him stupidly, "why do you need to see my receipt?"

Then it dawned on me. Horror of horrors, I didn't pay.

I sheepishly turned around to see a line of agitated people standing behind the station that had just been occupied, not to mention a couple of Walmart employees with hands on their hips.

"Babe, gotta call you back."

"I am so sorry about this. I guess I was just a little distracted."

You know the feeling.

Your face is flushed, you feel the critical eyes of a million people staring you down. And all you can do is fumble. You can't find your wallet. When you finally find it, buried in your purse, you can't find your card. You have no cash, writing a check would take even more time. You find a pet perks card, a cvs pharmacy card, and your other debit card. YOU NEED YOUR WAMU CARD. Maybe in this pocket insert? Finally. The tiny pot of gold. Quick swipe and your out of here - yeah right. It takes two tries because you mess up your pincode. You have never felt so happy to see a receipt print.

Hallelujah, you are free and you are not considered a criminal anymore. You just sort of slouch out the doors after being excorted by an attendant.

Have a nice day Ma'am.

Cuz there's a little bit of something me, in everything in you

I didn't expect the rainstorm today, I didn't expect to be sad this evening. You might laugh if you saw us now . . . my pup and I are mopey tonight - Big Daddy ain't here :( Hector won't eat his dinner - I dunno if he is just being picky or if he is depressed. . .

This evening, I got some groceries, Hector got a long walk, and now its time to wind down. Its hard to wind down when you are so wound up . . .

Sigh.

I am looking at a crystal candy jar that holds 100 precious strips of paper that Haven wrote for me, when we were 100 days away from getting married. I keep it in a place where I can easily grab one at random and remember how much he loves me.

And, as if just to remind me again, another card came in the mail today, postmarked from Kansas, from my own Alert roofing man. Oh, how I love that guy.

So, I end in the land of random. Such is life these days.

Jewels

My mother and I recently had a chance to go to a jewelry showcase. It was a line that I had never heard of before, Silpada. Usually, around here its just 'James Avery this' and 'James Avery that'. I really do like J.A. jewelry, but seeing a new set of things made me a new believer in Silpada. I love how elegant the pieces are. The prices are about the same as J.A., but you are getting your money's worth.

Here's what came in my mailbox yesterday - it was a birthday gift from my mother :)

Missing you in a thousand ways

Finding this card in my mailbox brought a :) to my face.

P.S. I still miss him . . . :(

Trying to get back to the place you helped me to find

Hi.

Its funny how I can't remember what life was like before marriage. And mind you, I was not a miserable single.
I didn't expect to get married right after college, it just sort of . . .happened. No, it was not a mistake either. Haven surprised me out of the blue. Or maybe I was just a daft gal. At any rate, single life shriveled quickly right after we graduated.

Anyway, I don't want to ramble on being alone - I might as well go sulk in some puddles while I am at it ;)

I am watching 'Shall We Dance' right now. Anybody seen it? I dunno if I like the premise so far.

So, I am working on several little projects while my DH is away. No peeking ;) Hint: it involves color (what else is new?)


Okay, there are all thoughts random. I am off to walk-take-off-on-a-dead-run my hyperactive dog.

Goodnight :)

I was 'sistered'

Yesterday, after a long day at work, I went home to find my two lovely sisters, warming my home with succulent smells. My oven was cooking red bell peppers, each stuffed with a medley of rice, chicken seasoned in garlic, some onion and other tantalizing flavors. A beautiful table was quickly set and pita bread with garlic hummus and sprigs of rosemary and fresh herbs topped it off, not to mention glass cups full of strawberries and milk chocolate for dessert. And don't forget the sparkling water ;)



We savored each bite and then went to see License to Wed - purely stupid, don't bother - although, then again, it was pretty funny ;)

Girls, I love you both

THANK YOU

You minister to me in so many ways!

Airports ain't nothin' but places to cry . . .

I am home.

Chicago is now a memory, unpacked like my suitcase. I was a bad person and did not make use of my gifts; i.e. pictures were few and far between. At any rate, seeing my best friend was a perfect excuse to take off work last Friday ;)

An engagement makes a friend all the more lovely. Being loved makes one lovely, I swear. My sweet BF was bubbly, excited, and emotional - the normal 'engaged' combination. I walked away almost wishing that I could be engaged and get married again, just because its one of the most awesome times of life. Okay, and stressful. Okay, and I would not give up being married ;) But man, bridal showers are the BOMB. Remember all the amazing gifts you received when you got married? I am starting to approach my towel and dishes life-limit now ;)

Well. I am home alone. My pup is keeping me company. Or maybe its the other way around. I just took a hot strawberries n' champagne bubble bath in my luscious, under-used tub, and now I am ready for a nice bedtime.

I miss my hubby :( He'll be home in 19 days, and I am praying that they will go fleetingly.

Without him, this list doesn't make any sense. I have no ground to stand on for my pet peeves. ;)
Which makes me look at them in a whole new way. The things that my hubby does that annoy me are little reminders to me of who I am and of how much I love him in general. Okay, so I don't exactly love the heap of clothing on the floor, or the fact that he leaves crumpled dishtowels disheveled on the rack, but, without those little things, I have nothing to pick up and life is so empty without them. I almost am tempted to go throw his clothes on the floor ;)

I won't ;)

Trips and Time

Hi there.

Well, I am packing for a trip to beautiful Chicago (a favorite city of mine - anybody wanna squeeze in my suitcase? ;) to have a visit with my best friend and meet her wonderful fiance.

I kissed my hubby goodbye this morning and won't see him till August. . . What? Oh, let me update you on us. We are not having any problems ;) Haven took a new position with the company which is basically training him to be a project manager. He will leave on Sunday with a crew to go manage a project in Kansas. I am so proud of him, and so excited, but I know that I will miss him terribly. Time apart always makes me appreciate him all the more. But this is something we both decided would be a great move for us, for his career, and for our future. Praise God for His faithfulness!

Anyway, there's a quick update. I will post lots of pics from my trip when I get back :)

Unda' Da Sea . . .

This is kind of random, but these shots on my google homepage caught my eye . . . So cute!

Oui, Oui, Ma Chairie ;)

Everything's Bigger in Texas ;)

zZz

Sleepy

This morning and yesterday morning, we both felt like slugs slinking out of a snuggly bed. . .

I have succeeded in sleeping through my morning alarm all this past week - my goodness, that's kind of embarrassing. Perhaps this 'quarter of a century'/age business has something to do with it ;)

Energy has failed me, or, maybe I have failed it.

I swear, they need to make human re-chargers (un-related to caffeine), kind of like a cell-phone recharger that you can plug yourself into every night. Silly? Yes, I guess it is.

I'm sleepy.

Whisked & Refreshed

UPDATE :)

Haven is a winner - we went to Boerne on Friday and stayed at the Crescent Quarters Inn



It was a much needed mini-vacation, filled with the perfect amount of sleeping in, eating, and browsing around charming downtown. The weather was breezy and cool, with a tid bit of rain, and a few puddles here and there - perfect!

Haven bought me this pewter bread plate at the pewter store while we were there - (Mom, recognize it ;)? She has the same one).



I love being surprised - What a special time, thank you Honey!

We stayed in the French Room :)

Sleeping

Royal window treatments ;)

Riverview

From the Creek Restaurant

____________________________________________________________________
My hubby surprised me yesterday with an early birthday gift . . . he told me that he wanted to take me to the hill country tonight! He cheated and told me where we would be staying. . . but, I am still so excited. The last time we tried to get away (to Dallas, for a F0rmula One race), our car coughed up some problems and we only made it to Austin.

:) I'll bring my camera -

Cheers!

Red/White/Rain/Blue/Gray

We woke up this morning to a heavily clouded sky and whelps of rain. Forecast has put our area on every flash-flood, heavy-rain, flooding-watch alert imaginable. It seems relatively humorous, because these warnings have been up for the past 2 weeks, at least.
My favorite is posted on the freeway flasher signs,

'If water on the road, turn around, don't drown'. . .

Anyway. I love rainy summers - I'd take them any day over a sweaty, humid, blinding sunny 105. Well, it being almost noon, and my hair is still wet from the shower and I am still in my pjs, I'd better get myself going. We are eager to join the thousands who will be flooding the malls and movie theaters today -

And, fireworks? Umm . . . we'll see . . . Good deals and Transformers, here we come!

Happy Fourth of July!

Learning to let go

I am a failure when it comes to daily remembering God’s faithfulness.

I am inclined to myself.

The first thing to come to my mind is most always me-centered. Sometimes, I catch myself cultivating this mentality, and quickly address it. Other times, (more often), I ponder those thoughts, those ‘oh, that would be nice’ sort of situations that I arrange myself in. I am speaking in terms of my will here.

It shouldn’t be a shock to say that I often think my will is best. After all, I am inclined to self. Inclined to sin even more so.

Is there anything wrong with wishing? With desiring something? I am not going to try to answer that with a yes or no, for it is good to desire, and I am a firm believer in wishing. (*lots of my wishes have come true). The thing is, wishing is like dust ‘un-fairied’ until the magic of God’s blessing touches it (and I assure you, I am not talking ‘hocus pocus’ here).

Are the desires good? For instance, a desire of mine is to have children. Now that isn’t bad at all – that is a good desire. But the real question is do I desire the will of God above all else?

I don’t – its shameful. I want to, and yet I don’t seek this in my daily life.

I love my wishing, I love my will, my dreams, my way. And yet, how many times the Lord brings me down a different path, so different than the one I had thought, and often, so different from the one I had wanted. And sometimes I am taken kicking and screaming from what I wanted.

What a foolish child I can be.

He pulls me aside, and gently whispers, ‘Amy, Amy, this is not about you. The webs you weave are tangled. Good and golden desires tarnished by sin, by selfishness’. My plans for you are to prosper you, and bring you peace’.

But Lord, what are these plans, why can’t I see them? Can’t you see what the plans I have here, these ones, the ones that I want?

God is not blind. He does not need me to highlight and red-letter what I want. The fact of the matter is this, Do I trust Him? Do I trust in His faithfulness to bring about what His will is? His will is the best thing. His divine, mysterious will that can frustrate the plans of man to the point of their own exhaustion. And it is for their own good.

Sometimes, I have found myself so frustrated that things are not going a certain way that I start crying. Boohooing because I am not satisfied with the way that everything is playing out.

Its pathetic.

God puts up with such foolishness, how does He do it? He is so patient with our stubbornness, with our foolishness.

Why?

Because He is faithful.

He will not abandon His children, though they wander into barren lands and begin to starve, He rains down manna to feed them.

He provides, He is Jehovah Jireh. He is the Mountain Mover, the Calmer of the Seas, the Creator, the Omnipotent God.

Thank You Lord

'Teach me Lord, to have faith that what Your bringing me will, change my life and bring You glory.'

-“Calmer of the Storm” – Down Here