Monday, April 20, 2009

Houseguest?

There is a house centipede on the loose in our house right now. I believe this is the first time one has been spotted and escaped destruction on my watch, maybe in the whole 15 years of our marriage. My rule for spiders and house centipedes is that if one shows up in the house, no one sleeps until it is dead. Ask Jim about it sometime... the poor guy's got stories. But this morning, a critter (thankfully on the small side for centipedes) lumbered up by my shoe in the bathroom, causing Brynn to go three kinds of crazy. Her screams went supersonic as she did this prancy, freak-out-march with her feet, getting out of the bathroom as fast as possible. By the time I could understand her well enough to know there was "a bug," it had taken cover behind the toilet. I finally found him, but he managed to wedge himself under the baseboard and completely out of sight before I could do the deed. Frustrating. But not as much as knowing I would have to either let him live, or be late for preschool. Obviously, we went to school. (I'm not THAT bad.)

At this point, I have two concerns. One, Brynn may never sit on that toilet again, since she knows it did not die. Two, I know from experience when and where my little friend is going to show up again. It will be be in MY bathroom this time. And it will crawl out onto the shower wall while I am in there naked and vulnerable without glasses on. So not only will I have nothing to kill it with, but it will look like a tarantula to this blind lady. I have no choice but to plant one of Jim's sneakers in the bathroom next to a can of hairspray and wait for him to show up. I will be ready, and he will not get away this time.

I hope he shows his wriggly-legged self sometime today. If so, he's toast. Wish me luck.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Eleven Things I Shared With Christy

(because I couldn't stop at just ten)

11. The Jill Phillips concert at Asbury. Technically it was Andrew Peterson (Jill Phillips was only the opener), but I had never heard of him, so you used Jill to get us to go. You were right as usual... Jim and I now love Andrew Peterson.

10. Hanging out in hospitals.

9. Seeing the Schuers play at High on Rose. We loved their music but regretted the venue. Remember when that drunk girl fell in your lap? Yeah, that was not so much our scene. We laughed hard that night.

8. Our girls-only weekend last August.

7. That last morning you came over to hang out while Josh played golf. I'm so glad we had that chance to sip Starbucks hot chocolate, eat muffins, and talk about everything from theology to reality tv.

6. Many, many, many meals at Fiesta.

5. Black Friday shopping in 2003.

4. Three moving days with you and Josh. I always ironed the shower curtain.

3. Roadtripping to New City Cafe in Knoxville to see Katy Bowser (who is awesome). I went to the bathroom for two seconds and she came over to our table and talked to you guys while I was gone. Betrayed by my bladder once again. Remember how we almost hit that deer at 2am on the way home?

2. Your wedding day. I was large and pregnant and wonderfully purple, haha. But you were radiant. What a JOY to be a part of your perfect day.

1. April 15th. Maybe eight or nine of them? Not enough. I loved making it a big deal with you, and even (unintentionally) giving each other the same gift once or twice. I loved the two or three phonecalls in early April deciding where we wanted to eat. Our favorites were not the same, but we took our decision seriously and always considered several restaurants before landing at Red Lobster. Your mom made us dessert and we shared the evening and the attention. I'm so sad you aren't here today. I miss you. I would honestly ignore the whole thing if I didn't know how disappointed (not to mention ticked) you would be with me if you knew. But I will not eat at Red Lobster on our birthday again. That was something special, just for you and me. Happy Birthday, Christy. This day is forever different, but I will always be celebrating with you in my heart.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Humbled and Grateful

"...Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ."

excerpt from "In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Comedian?

A couple of nights ago, we were sitting around the dinner table eating dessert when Brynn said, "I bet God is eating dinner right now too." Jim shot me a look, then asked her what she thought God was having for dinner. She looked up confidently and said, "blue Jello, same as us."

Yesterday Brynn drew a very cool picture of herself and me shopping at Wal-Mart. (I know it's sad, but it's what we do.) Anyway, she was talking about the picture, saying how I was super tall in it and had really curly hair... and then she had me spell out the letters for Wal-Mart so she could write them in the background. It was a keeper. At some point during Brynn's commentary, Katy took a break from her own scribble action in the Pooh coloring book, and leaned across the table on her elbows. She scrutinized Brynn's work, then wanted to know, "Where KAY-ty?! Where ME? Where MEEEEEE?!" Brynn looked at the ceiling and sighed. Then she went back to her picture and said frankly, "You weren't BORN yet."

Tonight on the way to Wal-Mart (I can't help it, we needed diapers!), Katy was having a full-on tantrum. I don't know how to describe this event other than to say, it is truly an impressive display of emotion. Before we left the house, she jumped up in the air twice like a sumo wrestler coming down on an opponent and then threw herself in the floor on her stomach screaming, fists clenched and pounding. I love her like my next breath, but I had to turn away so she wouldn't see me doubling over in laughter. So now we're in the car on the way and the tantrum is just starting to show signs of waning. I say, "Katy, you need to dry it up Baby because there is no crying in Wal-Mart." Brynn smiles at me in the rearview mirror and says, "That's right Katy. There's a sign right on the door that says No Crying." I smiled back at her little joke. Katy continues to wail. Brynn's smile goes conspiratorial and she says, "If you get caught crying in Wal-Mart the police will come and take you to jail!" I laugh at the joke and Brynn is satisfied. Then she looks over at her still-miserable sister and says sweetly, "Oh, Katy. I'm just messing with ya a little bit."