Predictability

Sometimes I think my life is uneventful, unpredictable.

I just walked into my kitchen to find
a mysterious Wal-Mart bag in the
center of the floor.

The floor I meticulously mopped yesterday
afternoon just minutes before
Leila dumped the sugar bowl all over
the floor and before Tre
knocked his soda off the table onto
the floor where it splattered about a
three mile radius.

SO I was walking through
the yard picking up various pieces
of trash and I realized there were
piles of
dog poop
everywhere.
EVERYWHERE.

At first I thought it was just one corner of the yard,
but as I ventured from one end to the other,
I found it
everywhere.
It was disgusting.
I kept imagining all the
frolicking children that play
in the yard on Sundays after church and
wondered how many of them dragged
dog poop into
their minivans and suvs.
*snicker*
I know. It's gross, but
I called the poop patrol,
which gladly obliged my request to pick up
the poop when I offered
wal-mart bags and plastic gloves.
Am I crazy? That's how I'd do it,
if I had to be on poop patrol,
which I don't,
because I've got five able-bodied children that
take great pleasure in doing such things.

Which brings me to my next point of interest.
Here's my dog, our dog;
he's their dog when
I don't want to be part owner and caretaker.
I walked out the door today and
saw the greatest thing ever.
We have a pink dolly
stroller with a canopy,
just big enough that
Leila can still take rides in it
when she feels up for the adventure.
I saw this little bundle of blankets tucked inside
the stroller and assumed it was a doll until
I saw poor Scooter's face
sticking out of the blankets!
Kennedy had him wrapped up and
sitting on his tail,
like a baby would be positioned.
He was just riding along like
it was normal until
he saw me and was immediately embarrassed, then
he started squirming to get out.
I couldn't find my camera,
naturally, and the batteries to the
video camera were both dead so I only captured
a milisecond of the moment, but I caught it darn it!

I'm sitting here laughing
to myself as I merrily type along,
all the children are playing outside in the
remarkably warm-for-December weather, and
I think to myself, "I hope
Leila doesn't go out there.
Surely there are still piles of mashed
poop in the grass,
she'll get it all over her little feet.
That would be awful."
I knew the door was open, but I was so
engrossed
in getting this written that
I couldn't tear myself away.
Yeah.
In the meantime I hear a rustling
plastic bag.
Leila.
Kitchen.
Plastic bag.

You guessed it.
She had carried the bag out
the back door and was just starting to
rummage through it.
I laughed all the more and threw
the bag out into the yard for
the kids to dispose of properly and
Kennedy said,
"If she was playing with it, I know why. Cuz we were too; it's really fun!"

It's not. Predicable or uneventful. Ever.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Friends

One of the greatest things about life in Nebraska is that
we have friends.

I have LOVED living in Missouri because
we were surrounded by family.
My mom and dad were close,
my sister lived with us,
Dale's mom and dad and sister and nephew were a mile down the road,
we had aunts, uncles and cousins and grandparents
at every birthday party and holiday,
it was amazing.

The thing about Fremont is the spontaneity.
I LOVE it.
People stop by, make play dates, drive by to check on us...
we have friends.
I still have my sister,
who is the only person besides Dale that
I am COMPLETELY uninhibited
with, and for that
I am more than grateful.
God knows I need her; and
we think each
other is
the funniest person in the world.
But in addition to that,

I have people here that I am totally
comfortable with.
I don't feel pressure when they walk into my house and
it's messy.
It doesn't matter if I am already
in my jammies and slippers or
if I am in the middle of a project that involves
piles of books and papers
strewn throughout the room,
I love to be able to just drop it to
sit and chat whenever the opportunity arises.
I love it.
I love having friends that love us
and that love hanging out.

It never ceases to amaze me how God's blessing works.
We have lived for a long time without friends and
without social stimulation,
which naturally forced us to
rely on each other
for both of those things.
That was the greatest blessing we could've asked for because
it reinforced the fact that God,
in His infinite wisdom,
gave us everything we need in Him first and
each other secondly.
Now that we are both completely convinced
of that very thing,
He has lavished on us a multitude of
people to run the race with,
that will crack jokes or
cry with us, but above all
fight the good fight and
stand beside us.

For this I am more than grateful,
I am humbled.