Here It Is Thursday

I'm finishing up Kate's furniture.
Charlie and I will drive to North Carolina on Sunday.
These are days filled with so much of the unpredictable.
God's grace and provision gives me rest when I least expect it.
His grace also gives me activity when I least expect it.
I love that He orders my days.  

Where Do I Start

To convince you to read this post.


Don't go there yet, though.


I'll do multiple links to help you get there.


To me it's hilarious and has MADE MY DAY.


First of all, I have to tell you, the title of the post caught my eye because - well - here it is - Joy's Life-Is-Crappy Bachelorette Show.


The life-is-crappy phrase got my attention because Charlie and I have an inside joke about that.  Several several years ago, when I was taxiing my four children to every event, every class, all of the time, and trying to get everywhere on time, or at least decently on time - I was having a very bad moment and was very, very stressed, so I called Charlie on my cell phone to vent and I blurted out this statement to him, "I HATE MY CRAPPY LIFE!"  Well, clearly, I didn't and never have had a crappy life.  I've had crappy moments - a lot of which I've brought on myself - and well, life does get rather crappy at times - but heck - that's life and I just wasn't dealing with it very well at the time.  So - my husband who was busy at work providing for his family got the phone call from his wife who was acting rather "witchy" and screamed in the phone that infamous phrase.  I repented of my bad behavior and we've used it in jokes quite often and we say that with "tongue-in-cheek" - You get the point.  


so when I saw that post with that title I had to go read it.  Well, guess what?  I didn't realize this post was a spin on The Bachelorette Show.  I  HATE HATE The Bachelor Show and the Bachelorette Show.   They are wrong on so many levels and also painful.  I have watched some of them and I cannot imagine doing that, being that, whatever it is, fake or real, on public television to entertain people.  It's the bottom of the barrel kind of behavior.

So this post is a different spin on those two shows and it's priceless.  PLEASE READ IT!
If you feel that I'm too hard on those two shows, please comment and defend their virtues which apparently I've missed if there are any.  Also, would love to know if anyone out there loves this post like I do.

In case you didn't recognize all the different spots at which I handed out the link, then here it is, spelled out:  http://joyinthisjourney.com/2011/07/joys-life-is-crappy-bachelorette-show/

Andrew on Monday

Andrew waiting for me to get off the computer,

get a shower,

and go with Near (I am Near) in her car.

He has on Luke's size 5 shirt.

It's all I had clean at the house for a little boy.

Notice the silly band on his arm.

He wears it high.

And his shirt sleeve is caught in it.

After my shower and he's got a better shirt on.

It had been wet and I dried it.

Still Luke's but not quite so big.

He wanted to look at Abigail.

He pronounces it now,

a-B-gail

I asked him where we were going in the car.

This is him talking behind his paci saying,

"To McDonald's, in Near's car."

To support himself there, on the couch,

he presses in on my tummy with his fist.

Now we're going.

But not just to McDonald's.

Going down to Unique Treasure's and make second payment on chair I got for Kate.

Also look at 6 other chairs which I can't quit thinking about.

Great price for the 6 of them.

And - no Monday is complete without a quick run to Wal-Mart.

What Has Been Going on this Week Besides Abigail Working on Being 4 Weeks.

That's right!  4 weeks, people!  That's huge.  She's eating a lot and fattening up and we're all passing around children like they are hot potatoes.... or a juggling act.


and in the midst of all of that.....

Kate, my youngest daughter, 23, who has recently returned from a 4 week trip to China, will be leaving tomorrow for Atlanta - a training conference - She is an RUF Intern  at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.

Next Friday she will drive from Atlanta to Winston-Salem.  On Saturday or Sunday Charlie and I will do what we've been doing for some time now, moving one of our girls from point A to point B.  We will get a truck or a U-haul and load it up with the "stuff" Kate and I are presently working on (furniture) and drive it to WS and help Kate move from a small basement apartment to a larger house which she will be sharing with 3 other girls.  It's very nice and very empty.  So the 4 girls are filling it up with various pieces of their parents' their furniture.

I'm a project girl and a flea market girl.  Why do I like that stuff?  Old stuff made new.  A lot of people do.  Why?  But I and We do.  Say the words Retro and Vintage and I'm sold.  I'm hooked.  You have my attention.

This week Kate and I drove to Chattanooga to  Knitting Mill Antiques.  Ahhhh.  Loved it.  I spent 66.00 and bought an occasional table for Kate, a chalkboard for Kate, 3 placemats with 4 matching napkins for me, aaannnnnddd, I think that's all.

I'm giving her my kitchen table which was an antique when Charlie's parents bought it years ago, and I've used it the biggest part of our married life, and now I'm passing it on to Kate.  It's an oak pedestal table.  3 of the chairs still can hold an adult person.  I'm giving her those.  We're painting it/them a pale gray and distressing it.  The chairs will be a pink/white color.  Kate's picking all of this stuff out.  It's all her doing and I inquire about her plans and I'm just helping.

Kate had in mind an old ornate frame which she could spray paint a choice color and put a chalkboard in it - for her personal use, in her room - for notes and lists and reminders.

She also was thinking of a community chalkboard for the group of girls to use - somewhere in the kitchen.  At the Knitting Mill Antiques I found the community chalk board for them and spruced it up with some new chalkboard paint.  Kate found the cheap frame she was looking for, bought it and now we've painted it.  Looks great and just have to get the board for it from Home Depot.

We've made lots of trips to Home Depot this week.

And.....Finally.......Kate had already purchased this old window and has made pom garlands(just made that name up) to drape over the top in a swag fashion and maybe put photos behind the glass.

We have ideas.  She has ideas.

that's all.

that's what is going on here besides lots of breaks at fast food places with 

Ann and children or just children.  

Also - staying in close contact with Laura Beth and their story or Scott's Story.

Yesterday I was attaching my computer to my printer.  Haven't used the printer in a while because I'm so low on ink.  I have a dab of black.  It might print out a faint copy of something in black.

As I turned on my computer it started printing - something I had set up several weeks ago - and it was scripture, apparently I missed getting it the last time my printer was on.  I don't remember.  It was like God sent it to me to give everyone in the world who needs to hear, again, that He is Sovereign and is in control of our lives, our life, our world, of history - of everything.

He made us all.  He made EVERYTHING.  He knows EVERYTHING.

Isaiah 45: 7-8

I form the light and create darkness,

I bring prosperity and create disaster;

I, the Lord, do all these things.

You heavens above, rain down righteousness;

let the clouds shower it down.

Let the earth open wide,

let salvation spring up,

let righteousness grow with it;

I, the Lord, have created it.

Isaiah 45:12

It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it,

My own hands stretched out the heavens;

I marshaled their starry hosts.

That is what came out of my printer yesterday when I least expected it.

(plus.....Sarah and her roommate don't have to move!!!!  Hallalujah!!!!  they have found a 3rd roommate to replace the one who left New Orleans.  So very very glad about that.)

I think I've just done roll call in this blog post.

Ann - check

Kate - check

Laura Beth - check

Sarah - check

Five Days Later

It's been that long since my last post.

I didn't mention, while I was writing that,

that, even as I typed,  Charlie was planning yet another delicious meal for me and my girls.

I just felt like he'd done more than he'd needed to do and he was working just as hard on the Friday night meal as he had on the Steak Dinner.

He was preparing Wild Salmon to be grilled, along with fresh asparagus.

Delicious bread with an herbal olive oil for dipping.

He was having Kate make a peach cobbler for dessert.

I kept saying to him that he was going to hit a brick wall and that he was working too hard.

He had arranged for Steve to take Luke and Andrew somewhere so it could be a girl night for us - an extension of my birthday celebration.

What I didn't know,

he had a huge surprise planned for me.

Two of my very close friends who live in Birmingham arrived at my house around 4:00 pm.

I was "lolling" on the couch - with Sarah and Kate in the room - Mary Ann had gone back to the hotel for the afternoon - and as I sat there I saw someone walk up the back porch.

I said, "That looks like Val Carrier!"  But then said, "Oh, it must be Mary Ann."

Got up, walked into the kitchen - and in walked Val and Martha Robinson and Mary Ann and Charlie and everyone knew about the whole thing.  

I've talked about Val and Martha on this blog before.

We go all the way back to childhood.  Thru elementary, but mostly in high school.

Thru college, single life and here we all are - 

All along I travel down to Birmingham to get my Martha and Val "fix".

That moment when I saw them walk in and I knew they were here, plus 3 of my girls - 

it was such a great exhilarating moment.

Charlie had planned all of this and we had the night ahead and the next morning.

Ann showed up shortly after that with Ellie and Abigail.

Again, wish Laura Beth and Ada could have been with us.

I don't know where they would have slept.

I guess at the hotel with Mary Ann.

Below are LOTS of pictures.

There were many more.

Val took them all, so I had to stop and make sure I got some pictures of her,

so we would have photo evidence of her being with us.

You'll see 2 of her.  

She's the one with the camera.

Charlie did all of this for me.

Put SO much thought into the whole thing.

As Martha said,

"He's a student of his wife".

He loves me.

NEXT MORNING

on the back porch

in our pajamas until shortly after noon.

At one point I said to everyone, after looking at the clock,

"Don't anybody panic, but it's after noon and we're still in our pajamas".

Made several pots of coffee.

Kate made for us a Grits Casserole, Strawberry Scones, and Fresh Peaches.

I brought out my sterling silver and plaid dishes.

I love silver in the morning.  I do.

And friends and coffee.

The pictures reveal that Ann came over with her 4.

She apologized but we were glad to have all of them.

Had to twist her arm to get her over here.

That's all about my birthday.

I have wonderful friends and family - a wonderful husband.