A Typical Week

As I said in my earlier post, we seldom have a "typical week" around here.  In ministry, plans can change on a dime so things are always a bit chaotic.  We try to harness that chaos as much as we reasonably can.  Here is what's going on at the moment.

Brian always gets up EARLY (I usually do as well) and spends time in his study.  I spend that time getting my thoughts together and drinking LOTS of coffee, which always me to do that a bit easier. 

Today I'm planning for next week.  The key to our crazy lives is to get ahead as much as we can, and that means planning and organizing.  It typically gets unorganized before its all said and done but I like to think we're a bit ahead of the game if we at least have a plan.

Today I want to go get the grocery shopping done because tomorrow I have a full day of getting rid of the gray in my hair (insert winky face) fixing dinner (biscuits and gravy), and then its the first presentation of the church Christmas musical.  Once I get back from the grocery store I have the remainder of paperwork on my desk to get finished up.  That involves taking the sign-in sheets from our classes and adding that information to the student database and into our email list.  Its time consuming and reading people's writing makes it more so. 

Sunday morning is the Installation Service for the new pastors. I think that's us!    The congregation voted Wednesday evening and frankly I'm still trying to wrap my head around it all.  I fully expected the vote to be in favor of Brian and Dennis, but I did not expect the HUGE number of people who came out to vote.  Driving up the hill to the church I actually had to wait as cars were backed up a bit waiting to turn into the parking lot.  The parking lot of full and there was a Sunday morning crowd there with a line of people waiting to sign in to vote.  That show of support has truly left me in shock and I know both Brian and I are so very appreciative. 

Sunday all of our family will be there.  I wonder if that platform is big enough for all of our crew and all of Dennis and Connie's crew?  That's a lot of people! 

Sunday evening is the second presentation of the Christmas musical at church.  Now it has been our tradition since the boys were little to come home after church and eat frozen pizza.  I think we did that back then because we had two growing (and hungry) boys to feed on a very tight budget.  We would get home and be starving and frozen pizza was both cheap and fast.  After a long day at church, that just seemed to fit the bill.  Today we can afford better but there's just something about it that seems right so we still do frozen pizza on Sunday night.  Come to think of it, that might be the only predictable thing about our weeks.

Normally I go to the grocery store on Monday but this Monday I will be baking 25 dozen cookies.  That's right TWENTY-FIVE DOZEN!  Those will be little take away gifts for the ladies in our TWAW chapter at our party later in the week. 

Tuesday I will probably still be baking cookies and then Wednesday I will go teach an Intro to Handgun class. I'll go in early to do any office work that needs doing before class.  Wednesday will be an "dinner in the truck" night and a "get stuff done" day in the office.

And Thursday there will be about 25 women here for a party!  In December our TWAW chapter does not meet and shoot, we meet and eat, and talk, and hang out with each other.  TWAW is truly a sisterhood and we need that time to chill with each other as much as we need the training and education piece.  Just to make things interesting I also have an appointment with the oral surgeon on Thursday to make sure I'm healing well.  

As I'm typing this I am also on a group text with the guys at work to organize a Meet The Instructor night - and to remind them to get the January/Feb. schedule out. 

I'm also getting emails that will need answering before the day is over.

And I got texts from Brian (he left a few hours ago to do hospital visits and run by the church office).  We have added to our security team at church and have a meeting set up a meeting for the security team to meet and look at some changes that will be coming. 

So that's about it.  Between family, church, work and volunteer activities, we keep running. 

Speaking of which .... I'll see ya later!  

Do You Remember?

Growing up my mom and dad always made the most amazing candy at Christmastime.  There were pecan logs, chocolate fudge with walnuts, peanut butter fudge, divinity, Mexican wedding cakes, and peanut brittle.  It was an event each year that i remember well.  I even remember the pink mixing bowl that she would mix the fudge in and the big spoon with the pink handle that she used to stir the heavenly mixture.  I remember licking the bowl and the spoon as I waited for that first bite.  

It was a tradition carried on when my own kids were growing up.  It just didn't feel like Christmas if we didn't have the homemade candy that had been a part of every Christmas I could remember. 

Its hard for me to pick a favorite.  It would have to be a toss up between the pecan logs and the fudge.  Hey, I bet you could use fudge to make pecan logs!   Now there''s a thought!

Did your family have a favorite Christmas candy tradition?  Do you still carry it on? 

Merry Christmas! 

A Non-Typical Week

I was thinking about posting what a typical week looks like at our house, but then it occurred to me that we don't have too many typical weeks. 

 In fact, this week, is anything but typical.

This morning I woke up around 5:30 and snuggled with the dogs a bit before climbing out from under the covers.  Once up, I showered and let my hair dry as I worked on multiple marketing email campaigns for 88 Tactical, did some Facebook work for the church, for 88 Tactical, and for TWAW.  That took most of the morning, then it was on to doing a bit more decorating for Christmas. 

Next Thursday our TWAW chapter is having a Christmas party at my house so I want it to look like I made an attempt.  Besides, I just LOVE Christmas!  Don't you?   The season just feels ... different.  We're a bit more focused on giving.  We're thinking about family and friends, the folks who are truly important to us.  There is music that brings back memories of days gone by, and then of course, there is food! 

Sorry, I got a little distracted there.  Christmas does that to me.  

Next up today I will go to work and do some office work, check class numbers, print flyers, and then teach an Intro to Handgun class. 

Tomorrow morning I head back to the dentist for the second part of the dental procedure to do an implant.  Earlier this year I was eating a piece of beef jerky and broke my tooth off below the gum-line... so... i now have several months of procedures to get through before I have a tooth again.  I'm actually knida looking forward to laying on the couch for a couple of days and doing nothing at all though..  Is it bad when you look forward to having a piece of metal screwed into your jawbone just so you can chill for a while?  I'm thinking that's probably bad.  

Speaking of different, Wednesday will be truly different.  Brian has served as the Associate Pastor of our church for 32 years.  Wednesday evening the congregation will be voting on whether to accept him as the Senior Pastor and Dennis as the Associate Pastor....or not.  I'm sure it will all go in our favor - I mean if they don't know us and trust us by now then I'm not sure what to think.  It can still be a little bit ... different... when you know people are voting on whether to keep you around or not though.  I've contemplated whether I should start organizing all the stuff around here just in case we have to pack up and move. 


Friday night we have the basketball game of a very special 5 year old to attend.  I can't even tell you how much fun that is, and how impressed I am that these little ones are as good as they are.  Gosh, when I was quite a bit older, in middle school, I attempted to dribble a basketball down the court in gym class. It would have gone well I'm sure except that i stepped on the ball, twisted my knee and looked like a complete dork in front of my classmates. 

Assuming all goes in our favor Wednesday night, there will be an Instillation Service on Sunday morning.  THAT will be really different.  Brian has been in ministry for nearly 40 years, has served in 4 churches as either Associate Pastor or Senior Pastor and we have never had an Instillation Service before.  Now that is definitely different. 

I hope your week is a good one!  

The Good Stuff!

I hope your Thanksgiving was a good one.  I know so many people are struggling this year. Its the first Thanksgiving without someone dear to them at the table and that just always stinks.  We've been there too and I can tell you that you never stop missing them, whatever the reason for their absence.  

Our day was perfect....  Well, almost.  

The food was just okay.  I'm not a great cook.  Most of my cooking is experimental at best but somehow we made it work.  The good stuff though is not about the food at all. Its about who is there to share it with you.

We were blessed to have everyone here and a brand new first Thanksgiving for the newest grandchild.  That makes it perfect.

Here is how our day went.

I was up at 5am to make homemade hot cocoa and monkey bread and to get that turkey all ready to go into the oven.  It wasn't too long after getting the monkey bread out of the oven that I heard the sounds of three kids jumping around in their room upstairs.  Cody, Allison, and the kids had come in the night before and met us at church and then spent the night.

The morning was spent getting food in the oven at the appropriate times, and welcoming Logan, Kati, Emma, Larkin, Kati's mom, and my mom,  navigating kids running through the house and swooning over Larkin.    The poor kid was passed around so much we probably wore her out, and yes, her Papa Brian and I fought over her a time or two.  

Meeting their cousin for the first time

At dinner it was fun to read portions of the family tablecloth.  If you don't know about the family tablecloth, well .... its priceless and you should run right out today and get yourself a white tablecloth and start this tradition next Thanksgiving.  Every year, everyone at the table writes what they are thankful for and dates it.  The little ones trace their hand and have their parents write what they are thankful for.  Its sweet, and hilarious.  We started this tradition the last Thanksgiving my dad was with us and I am SOOO glad we did.  

Larkin getting her hand traced onto the family tablecloth
(She was not happy about it)

This was one of my favorite moments.  Kati wanted their "First Thanksgiving" family picture taken.  Emma was posing with a big smile all ready for the picture, when Larkin spit up all over her from her daddy's arms above.  The photos tell the story of how that went.  And yes, this truly is the good stuff.

From our family to yours!
We love you!

That Face

Don't let that face fool you.  He is pure orneriness! 

Today he ate the generator!  Well, part of it anyway. 

Yesterday it was the rug in my office.

The night before that he kept me up till one in the morning wandering the house looking for trouble. 

And at some point he ate yet another of my socks. 

With all the running to and from places of late, he has been crated too much and now he's paying us back. 

 Goodness I hope life settles down soon for all of our sakes.  

In the meantime, its a good thing he's cute!

Its A Blur

We have an inside joke in our family.  When things get crazy we say, "its a blur".  It is a reference to a family vacation we took when the boys were little.  We boarded a train and went around the country seeing as much of the country as we could.  And yes, it was a blur.  

Our lives have definitely been a blur the past few weeks.  I've lost track of what day it is more than a few times.  There have been sleepless nights and long, long, long days.  

Our Senior Pastor passed away a couple of weeks ago.  To say that is a major blow would be an understatement.  He has been the pastor of the church for 47 years, my pastor for 43, and my husband's work partner for 32 years.  The loss personally and professionally is enormous and has thrown our lives into upheaval. 

The day of his funeral, Brian also attended the wedding of a young couple in our church, then we came home and were eating a late dinner when we got the call that our daughter-in-law was in labor.  For a while there we thought we were going to have a funeral, a wedding, and a birth all in the same day.  But it turned out to be a false alarm - that day.  The next day it was the real deal and our fifth grandchild, Larkin Elizabeth came into this world.  She is absolutely the most beautiful baby I've seen since

our last grandchild was born and we are in love. 

Larkin has gotten off to a rough start.  She is healthy, but she is jaundice, which has meant time in the NICU, getting discharged, and then going back to the NICU again.  As I am writing this, she is home but her levels are back up so tomorrow she may be headed back to the hospital again.  I am sure she will be fine, but I'm not so sure about the rest of us.  

And my best friend's mother passed away rather suddenly in the middle of the night a couple of days ago.  Today we had her funeral.  Her mom was a sweet lady and such a character (like her daughter).  She will be missed. 

I have been so proud of our church family.  They have truly pulled together and supported one another and been their amazing selves.  Not only are they there to provide whatever is needed to our Senior Pastor's family and the family of my friend, but they have been there for each other in ways that can not be counted.  They are like that all the time, but it seems more so lately.