Laughing Myself Silly

I never watched The Office before. I didn't even know what it was about, except the obvious. I wondered how there could be a show about the stupidity that can go on in an office full of people. Via the wonders of Netflix, I have been catching up on past seasons, and I have been laughing myself silly. It is a show about nothing. This morning I was practically screaming with sidesplitting laughter when Jim faxed an email to Dwight supposedly from his future self about the coffee being poisoned, causing him to run across the office and slap it out of Stanley's hand. Oh my gosh - I'm laughing just typing about it. If you have ever worked in an office you recognize the cast of characters. It is way too funny!
Thanks Emily!

The Good Life

I just had one of those moments when I realized that although my life isn’t perfect, it’s good. We are making friends – evidenced by the fact that I ran into a friend at the local Walmart and she let me bring her sweet little girl home with me to hang out with Kullen for the afternoon. It was just a piece of “real” – the being somewhere and running into somebody, stopping for a minute in the middle of the hustle bustle of your shopping to talk a minute. In the last year I have been merely the spectator in those kinds of moments that seemed to have been reserved for other people.

Just a little while ago, the kids were playing some sort of game down the 30 foot hallway that spans the length of our house using my broom and a wadded up sheet of paper as a sort of puck/ball. (Somebody tell me how the toy companies survive?) They were playing the “Lilo and Stitch” soundtrack thick with Elvis music and giggling. As I passed, Kullen and I had a tug-of-war with the broom. I wondered how many moms allowed such fun to go on in their homes without interfering. Maybe a lot of them – I just know I wasn’t allowed to play like that as a kid.

I have been baking pizza crusts all day in anticipation of a house full of teenagers for a "make your own pizza" and movie night. The smell of dessert pizza is wafting through the house, but it is not nearly as sweet as the thought of having a house full of friends, not to mention a new litter of kittens. It makes my heart soar.

I cut myself a piece of Kullen’s birthday cake, and went out and sat on the porch swing listening to the music of laughter inside, throwing my legs all the way out and in like I did as a little girl trying to swing my way to the moon. I realized how very happy my life is becoming, in spite of a lot of sadness.

Turning it Around

I had a good friend tell me once that my husband and I were so blessed with the gift of laughter. It is one of the things I remember loving about him the most when we first met was that he always made me laugh. Of course, I was very young, and as we had children and the responsibilities of life crept in, for several difficult years, I didn't find him so funny anymore. Our marriage was headed directly for divorce-ville, at Nascar speed. Somewhere along the way, God changed me, and I learned to laugh with him again and this has made all the difference in our marriage.
This morning he woke me up about 10 seconds before he had to leave for work (2 hours before I had to get up) and needed some help. I couldn't even get my brain to acknowledge that I was awake, and in a bit of a huff (hair standing straight up on top of my head) I said, "Why did you ask me for this last night?" which we all know is totally unproductive. His answer was, "Well you were too busy laughing." I let it go at that point, knowing that we were both being irrational, assisted him the best I could and let him leave. About 15 minutes later I called and was clarifying some things about what was happening after work, and he seemed calmer, so I was asked him if he didn't know that no matter what I was doing, he could interrupt me to help him, and what was up about the "too busy laughing" comment. He started to crack up and said, "You're NOT allowed to laugh! Bwaaahahaha!" obviously realizing the ridiculousness of what he had said.
This laughter is a gift from the Lord. It turns things around over and over again. Thank you God! Help us chuckle our way through old age - together!

Late Night Shopping - Merry CHRISTmas!

One of my favorite holiday traditions here is a late night shopping trip my friends and I make one night in December together. We usually start out in the mall, go out to eat, and eventually make our way to Target and Walmart, and whatever anybody may be interested in along the way. We did it last night, and it is all bittersweet. It was great fun, and yet deep inside is the knowledge that this may be the last time I share a Christmas with these friends before the Lord clears the way for us to move to Texas. There were lots of laughs and fun. I was worried much of the day that because of the ice that had covered the ground that we would have to cancel, and that would have devastated me. I was just having one of those days that you just know you have GOT to get out of the house - and for me yesterday was one of them. Nobody was being particularly bad - but there have been stresses kind of pressing on me - and the joy of Christmas has been eluding me. Now, it wasn't the shopping that set me in the right spirits, but friends, and laughter and remembering that we enjoy giving to one another to celebrate the gift that continues to reach through eternity and give true and lasting joy - the kind that the worldly troubles cannot drown or temper. Thank you Jesus for that reminder. You are the reason for the season - and without you all the rest really means nothing! Praise You Lord for Your gift of eternal life - that you were born in a manger to die on a cross in so that our eyes might sparkle with eternity. Let us be light in this dark world that seeks to snuff Your name out of CHRISTmas!

Never a Dull Moment

I think that sometimes I must be partially insane - when I look at some of the things that happen to me, and then I contrast it with the lives of those around me, who all seem to be having perfectly normal, lovely, uneventful lives - not to say they're BORING - but that things run a natural course, repeatedly without interruption - and my life - well this is a fast moving train, and I never seem to know where it's going. (I am having insomnia tonight - it is 12:39 and I normally can't hold my eyelids open much past 11 - so this may be a weird post I delete in the morning - hopefully before anyone reads it!)

JenIG's post entitled "Weird People are More Creative" got me to thinking the other day - about how many times I have experienced absolutely unusual things - and when I tell the story to others, they just can't believe that really happened. For instance, a friend and I with our five children got lost last March (2004) on the Appalachain trail only miles from our home - but with children who were overly tired that we couldn't carry anymore, we simply could not find our exit. I used the very last of my cell phone battery to talk to my husband who sought help for us, while we cuddled up the seven of us underneath emergency blankets by a felled (is that a word?) tree singing any song that came to our head. AND the rescue party sent out to find us never did - we were found by my friend Christin's husband Dan - whom to this day is my "big hero". He took us back to their cozy log home and gave us hot drinks and a short reprieve before going home. That Sunday at church we were presented with certificates from our Pastor in recognition for our great service in increasing the Intercessory Prayer lives of the members of our congregation (or something like that) - and for worship they thought it would be funny to sing "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?" Here's how clueless I am - I am ON the worship team and didn't get that they chose that song to pick on us! DO OTHER PEOPLE HAVE CRAZY LIVES LIKE THIS??? I don't think so.

Okay so all of this to segue into the story about last night. I had taken my kids and a couple of tag-alongs (as usual) to Christian Skate Night in a neighboring county last night. Like I said, I am not usually up that late - preferring in my older age to be a morning person - whereas in my twenties I used to be a night-owl and a morning person. (I know I'm rambling but bear with me, there is a story here - I think I used the wrong "bear" homonym didn't I?) Okay, so anyway, since we have only one car and were out of bread and milk, I had to stop off at the store on my way home at 10-ish (it isn't easy to get four teenagers moving in the same direction - even though skating ended at 9:30) - and then I had to drop my daughter's friend, Tayva off at her house which is quite a ways away from my own - so we're at around 11ish now - after the store and the friend's house. When we get near town, I remember that my husband and I had showed the kids this big old house we had dreamed of buying before we bought the one that we did, and I thought I would swing in through that neighborhood on the way home so they could show another friend, Devan who lives closer to our house - whom we hadn't dropped off yet. In so doing, I thought I had arrived at the road where I wanted to turn very suddenly, and made a very quick left - even though the direction of our home would have been to continue straight. I drove up an unfamiliar hill rather quickly, and suddenly found that my car went off the end of the road and I was in a grove of trees. It was so strange - and as I was trying to explain it to the kids, even 8 year old Kullen said, "Mommy this isn't where we live." I realized what I had done, and started laughing so hard that I couldn't tell them it wasn't the road I thought it was, but that I did turn left on purpose. It was one of those eyes watering so bad you can't see, sides hurting from laughing so hard, snorting, hysterical "I can't catch my breath" moments. We were all in absolute hysteria! I know the people that lived in that little neighborhood thought there was a demon possed, drug crazed driver who drove up their street, off the end of the road, and now sat, unable to drive in the car screaming - with laughter of course - but who knows if they could tell that!

What is the moral of this little story - life is never dull in our family - but maybe I am the one creating the chaos. I know I am weird, but I promise I am not trying. One of my daughters had a scrolling screensaver not long ago that said something to the effect, "Calling me normal is an insult". They just want to be identified as a part of our family!!! Aw, I'm having a warm fuzzy moment - could that mean I am half-asleep and should go to bed now? Do you think this weird post will help me earn points in JenIG's contest? I wasn't trying - but hey, maybe I'll sneak over there and try not to wake her and ask her to check it out!