Recent Discovery

It's called StoryCorps.

You can find it on YouTube.

StoryCorps works to record and preserve stories from our fellow Americans.
They interview real people and then turn the recording into a cartoon.

The stories are funny, interesting, sad and completely wonderful.

Mr. T introduced me to them yesterday in response to the "Today" post. 
This is the first one I listened to.

I also got a big kick out of this one!
And this one.

And...

...that's all I've seen so far.

Let me know what your favorite is!

(Note: There's some cartoons that show up on the side bar that are not from StoryCorps and are not appropriate.  Make sure you only click on the StoryCorps ones.)

Today

Today there is a funeral at the church where I work. 
Today her family and friends fill this building to remember and celebrate her life.

It's interesting to think about how you marry someone and spend your whole lives together, getting to know each other, loving and serving one another.  All the while, knowing that the day will come when you will be separated.

Is it better to have love and lost than to have never loved at all?
Before I was married, I didn't know how to answer that question.
Now, I can confidently say - yes - it's better. 

Loving and losing is a guarantee.  But having loved is so worth it. 
The day will come when we will no longer be husband and wife because death did us part. 
I hope that day is a long, long, long time away.

But knowing it's inevitable makes me cherish today even more.
Because today, I still get to kiss his cheek and hug him and tell him I love him more than I love myself.

And for that I am very thankful. 

Domestic Annoyance

October is Domestic Violence month.  A gal came by at the beginning of the month and handed out some brochures describing what defines domestic violence.  There are a couple of things that are not on the list that I think should be considered: ie. tickling, noogies and loud smooches right in your ear.  All of which I do not appreciate.  However, Mr. T gets a big kick out of them, ergo I must endure these hardships from time to time.

On one such occasion, just after the domestic violence brochures came out, the content was fresh on my mind and I told Mr. T that, "Domestic violence is more then just punching someone.  It's also other forms of torture, like tickling!"  To which he said, "Tickling isn't domestic violence.  Tickling is domestic ANNOYANCE!" 

True.  I certainly don't have a case for domestic violence, however, I (along with many women all around the globe) can safely claim that we are victims of domestic annoyance! 

As I look down the list of what qualifies as domestic violence, I see the following:
Name calling
Driving recklessly
Interfering with sleep
Pinching

After a brief moment of consideration, I've come to realize that I am guilty of all those things.  Which brings me to the conclusion that Mr. T is a victim of MY domestic violence!!! 

I hope he doesn't turn me in.  Can you blog from prison?


   

Breakfast of Champions

This morning Mr. T made a yummy-licious breakfast.  Waffles, bacon, coffee, juice - DOUBLE YUM! 

While I was upstairs getting ready for work, I noticed the house getting a little smoky because of the bacon cooking. 

A smoky house is a familiar sight where we live.  Mostly because I do a lot of the cooking and a lot of the burning of food.  Food that would have probably tasted okay, except I tried to cook it too fast or got distracted by something and charred it to a crisp. 

Which is kind of how the bacon was this morning.  Crispy.  Just the way I like it. 

And the smoky house was fine too.  I came to work with my hair smelling like a campfire and some of my co-workers seemed confused at the unusual scent.  But now the smell in my hair has faded a bit and it simply smells like yummy bacon. 

Meat eating humans and dogs alike think I smell delicious. 

That's how I got the idea to market a bacon smelling perfume. 

Keep an eye out for it.

PS - did I ever tell you that we have a dog named Annie.  She's the quirkiest little thing you've ever seen.

PPS - did I ever tell you that in one of the houses we used to rent, I would often burn the food and set off the smoke alarm.  Annie hated the sound and would run and hide under my bed.  It got to the point where she would hide under my bed as soon as she saw me standing by the stove.  Before I even started cooking, she would find her safe place and wait out the inevitable.  I think my cooking is improving because she doesn't do that as often. 

You can take the girl out of the country...

But you can't take the country out of the girl!

Fortunately, the 7 years I spent in Kansas City didn't take all the "country" out of me. 
And last Saturday was proof.

Mr. T and I spent the day working on the yard.  At some point, a while back, he ordered a huge mound of dirt that he was going to use for something.  I can't remember what - but I do know that we ended up with way more than we needed.

Therefore, we decided to give the dirt to our good friends, the Scollards, because they are some of the best people we know and we love them and we love to give them our leftover dirt...plus they had a skid steer that someone lent them and we needed it to get the job done. 

So, we borrowed the borrowed skid steer, loaded it up with dirt and made several treks ACROSS TOWN with the thing to deliver dirt to their house.



There were some ladies sitting on their front porch who were quite entertained/perplexed that a young-ish GIRL was driving a skid steer back and forth across town. 

I felt really cool.
And really country!
Which is the way I was created to live. 
The country way.

To top it off, that evening Mr. T and I met Grandma and Grandpa T at the local grade school to watch them square dance.

Grandma and Grandpa T love square dancing and they are really, really, really good at it!  My favorite couple to watch! 

They even took a break from the norm and taught us "newbies" a few steps.  After some coaxing, Mr. T joined in and was also really, really, really good.  Must be genetics.  Is there a "good at square dancing gene"?  If so, the T's have it!  He was better than me and I pride myself on being a quick study when it comes to dance routines. 

So, the bad news is that we now have to add "square dancing" to the list of things Mr. T is better at then me.
The good news is that we all know he CAN dance, even though he claims he's terrible at it.  AND when he dances, he smiles from ear to ear, which makes me smile from ear to ear.

I'd say, between driving the skid steer and square dancing, we had one Saturday that was filled with a heaping helping of Hick!  And I couldn't be happier...

Meaghan Smith

Meaghan is my friend from college. 



She is many things:


Intelligent
Giving
Loving
Faithful
And a child of God.


And she works in Ethiopia with Wycliffe Bible Translators.
http://www.wycliffe.net/


Mr. T and I are blessed to invest in her ministry.


A wise investment indeed...

The Lemonade Stand

A couple weekends ago, Mr. T and I embarked on an adventure. 
It was an adventure called, "The Lemonade Stand." 
An adventure that was forged to raise money for Jessica Weast, who works in Ethiopia. 

We want to support her. 

Why? 

Because she's doing a great job, serving a great God, in great ways!  And we love her.

But we don't love "The Lemonade Stand."

The Lemonade Stand sounds like a cheerful, yellow, stand of lemony sweetness - but it's not.

It's actually an energy draining, bee-infested, cesspool of hard work and despair. 

Last weekend was McCook's Heritage Days - a lovely event, filled with parades, hot air balloon launches, craft fairs and more.  Upon the approach of Heritage Days I thought, "Why don't we have a booth!  We could sell lemonade and bottled water for $1 and raise money for Jessica!"  Sounds simple. 

And it was simple - until we added tea, soda, coffee, hot apple cider, candy, pickles, craft jars and OH MY - what were we thinking!!!

Mr. T was such a trooper.  He hauled tons of merchandise to our little booth, then hauled half a ton of back to our car when it didn't sell (because the Methodist church was giving out FREE bottles of water.  Or maybe it was the Mormons.  Either way - UGH!)

In the end, we raised about $420 for Jessica, so not bad, all in all.

Somewhere in the midst of the whole thing I proclaimed, "It would be easier to BE a missionary than it is to try and SUPPORT a missionary!"

I don't think that's really true.  Missionaries, like Jessica, work really hard and love others well.  And compared to the work we did at the Lemonade Stand, I'd say we got the easier end of the deal.   

It Used to Be Said That...

...Monopoly Deal was my new favorite game.  

That is until Monopoly Deal almost ended my marriage this weekend.

I know you're thinking, "Monopoly Deal doesn't end marriages.  People end marriages."

Just like people say, "Guns don't kill people.  People kill people."  Well, maybe you're right.

However, PEOPLE who are overly-competitive, immature and sore losers who play Monopoly Deal are setting themselves up for failure.  

No, I'm not talking about Mr. T. 

I'm talking about myself.  That's right.  The one and only - ME - who has been playing Monopoly Deal with Mr. T for the past two days and has NOT WON ONE SINGLE GAME!!!!!!

I don't like to lose.  Really, ever.  But I can handle it most of the time. 

Unless I'm losing to Mr. T.  I really, really hate losing to him.  Not sure why. 
I'm not the only one according to this:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2011/09/marital-showdown

Anyway, we have played SEVERAL/MANY/MULTIPLE games and I have not won a single one as of recent. 

This does not bring out the best in me.  I do not triumph over my sinful nature when being faced with such a great challenge.

Instead, it brings out the card throwing, tortilla chip chucking, stomping up the stairs, slamming the door, "You're a stinky poop brain!" shouting side of me.  

It's ugly.

And worse yet, we are playing tonight with the Scollards.

And it's likely I will lose.

In which case, there will be two more people on this earth who might witness my Jekyll and Hyde act firsthand. 

I need comfort.

Desperately.

From the only two who can help.

And their names are Ben and Jerry.