I got a meeting with the Bobs in a couple of minutes

So here’s how my past month has been: work work meeting meeting meeting work meeting meeting work work work meeting home swim cook eat clean storytime work. I've had six meetings so far this week--and it's only Tuesday.

My company is implementing a new software system that will affect everything we do, and I’m the division lead on that project which requires many meetings and a lot of extra work. We’re acquiring a new company, and if all goes as planned by year-end we’ll have moved to their office building and I’ll most likely have a new boss, a new job title, new responsibilities, and a longer commute. Batman starts school Thursday, the girls start school in nine days, and I start school in two weeks. Batman and I are looking for a new church home. Number One has a digestive condition that requires daily monitoring and weekly calls to the doctor. We’ve been planning her birthday party, which is next weekend. And Special is apparently training for a career in men’s clubs, judging by her latest dance moves.

BUT. I like my job a lot, in spite of all the meetings. Our new offices are in a great area with lots of shopping and lunch places nearby and I can still take the freeway all the way there. The girls are very excited about starting school, as am I (Batman is . . . not excited about in-service but will be happy to see his students again). We have narrowed our church choices down to two and think we can be happy either place. Number One’s doctor is excellent and is very proactive in treating her condition. And Special does provide for a lot of laughs, even if many of them are behind her back.

So, I’ll keep churning out my TPS reports and blogging when I can. Always look on the bright side of life . . .

And I’ll use my Crock Pot a lot, like for this recipe I’ve posted here.

And I’ll keep in mind that it could be worse. I mean, at least my name isn’t Michael Bolton.

Wuv, true wuv

The other night at dinner, Special was pestering us to let her have a root beer float for dessert. Batman told her tht if she didn’t finish her dinner she’d never be allowed to have a root beer float again—he’d tell her husband that she couldn't have them because of how she acted when she was five.

As we laughed, Special informed him that she’s never getting married. She said she doesn’t like to kiss in public, she doesn’t want to have a baby because it hurts, and she doesn’t want to cook. Number One piped up and said, “The reason you don’t want to get married is so you don’t have to buy things for your husband!”

Hee! Just think of the number of shoes I’ve sacrificed on the altar of marital bliss! But then I compare this:

to this:
And I have to admit that the sacrifice was worth it. Happy 16th anniversary, Batman!!

PS You owe me a pair of Manolos.

Excrutiating Minutiae

So . . . not much going on these days. I had a headache yesterday. Number One threw up in my car last night. We went bowling last night with friends and I came in dead last . . . and one of our players was three years old. (I'm totally using the bumpers next time.) We had lunch today at a fabulous Persian restaurant and ate so much that I skipped dinner. I finally cleaned up my office and got rid of all (well, most) of the paper stacks. The most fun part of the last week was this:

The famous 2 B's came to visit! Batman and the girls got to play with them much more than I did (stupid job!) but I did get to smooch on them a little bit. Brooklyn doesn't mind so much, but I have to sneak up on Barrett. I would have taken a picture of him, too, but my camera's shutter isn't fast enough.

All right, enough rambling. There's a new recipe up here. I'm going to eat some ice cream and go to bed.

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Salvation

Okay, so I'm feeling a little naked after that last post--time to don my Cloak of Cynicism! And here's the perfect outlet:

http://crummychurchsigns.blogspot.com/

Here's a sample of its hilariousness:

In other news, I'm now posting to a cooking blog that my sweet sister-in-law invited me to join. You can find us at http://www.dishandspoonrecipes.blogspot.com/.

PS: I should note that I actually have three sweet sisters-in-law and zero non-sweet sisters-in-law; Kim is the one who invited me to join her cooking blog. Wow, syntax is important!

PPS: Can anyone show me how to link to a website using regular words and not the URL? I can do it in emails and in Word documents, but I can't get Blogger to do it. Anyone? Bueller?

I like Christian rock. It's very positive.

Have you ever heard of Hillsong United? Even if you've not heard their name, you've definitely heard their music; they wrote "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" and "Shout to the Lord" among many, many other popular contemporary Christian songs.

They gave a free concert at Lakewood Church last Sunday night, and the four of us went with a couple of friends. Not knowing much about them, we assumed there would be plenty of seating--after all, Lakewood meets where the Rockets used to play, in a 16,000-seat arena. Ha! By the time we got there, even all the standing-room spots were taken and we had to sit in the overflow area and watch the whole thing on TV screens! It was still great, though, and I think it was about as close to heaven as we can get here on earth: thousands of people focused on praising God, not debating Bible versions or arguing about the appropriateness of praise teams, just lifting their voices and hands and hearts in pure worship. It was awesome, and awe-inspiring.

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, and hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord."
--Psalm 40:1-3

If you know me in real life, you know how true this verse is in my life. God indeed has lifted us out of a very dark place and has given us a firm place to stand--right in the palm of his hand, where we always were and where we always will be. We have a new song of praise to him for the wonderful, amazing things he's done in our life over the past 21 months.


Jesus, Lover Of My Soul
by Hillsong United
album: Shout To The Lord (1998)

Jesus, Lover of my soul,
Jesus, I will never let you go
You’ve taken me from the miry clay
You've set my feet upon the Rock, and now i know
I love you, I need you,
Though my world may fall, I’ll never let you go
My Saviour, my closest friend,
I will worship you until the very end.

I'm back, baby, I'm back!

Okay, so we've been back for a week and a half now. But I'm just now catching up to myself!

Our vacation was so great--we got to see family and so many of our old friends; the kids had a wonderful time at "Camp Baba" with my parents and nephews, and Batman and I really enjoyed DC.

We stopped first in Memphis, where we went to church with two of our oldest (not that old!) friends, Dan & Karla, and their sweet angel of a daughter Ainsley. She and the girls really hit it off, while the adults tried to cram ten years of catching up into one lunch. Hopefully it won't be another ten years before we see them again!

After lunch we spent some time at Starbucks with my friend and former boss Sandy and her husband Rick. It was so great to see Sandy again and to get to know Rick; they're a great couple and Batman and I both wished we could have had more time to spend with them!

We spent a few days in Lebanon visiting with my brother and his family; my grandparents were there as well, and I'm sure they enjoyed seeing all their great-grandchildren in one place. We had our annual family portrait photo done. Have you seen that episode of Everybody Loves Raymond? Ours wasn't that bad.

When Batman and I got to DC, the first thing we did was go shopping. The second thing we did was go eat. We did a lot of both over the week we were gone, in addition to a LOT of walking. Batman walks faster than I do (especially with my six blisters! Stupid cute shoes!) and this was my typical view:

See Batman racing along in the foreground? I also saw a lot of this:

We did some of the touristy stuff, but the best thing was going to the Library of Congress and watching a Coke commercial that Batman's great-uncle Glenn filmed back in 1965. He was a test pilot on the F-104 Starfighter, and after watching his commercial we went to the Air and Space Museum and saw his plane! Well, it wasn't HIS plane, but one just like it.

We spent the last night of our trip in Baltimore (their motto is, "Public Transportation: Only for the Very Brave") (or possibly, "Spend All Your Vacation Dollars on Cabs!") and saw an Orioles/Yankees game at Camden Yards. It was hot--sweat-in-your-underwear hot. I wondered as I melted, why was I so miserable? I live in one of the hottest cities in the US, and I was sweating like a hog. Then I realized that here, we have sense enough not to sit in the heat--we air-condition everything, including our ballparks! Sadly, not only was Camden Yards not air-conditioned, neither was our hotel. Visit Baltimore: We Love to See You Sweat!

When we got back to Nashville, it was SO great to see the girls again! We had brought them presents from the International Spy Museum (which we highly recommend) (unlike Baltimore) and enjoyed hearing about all the fun they'd had with Pop and Baba. The day after we got back, we got to see two of our favorite people, Tim and Marian, and had a great lunch with them at Wolfgang Puck's. Everytime we see them, it's like we only saw them the day before--we pick up right where we left off.

After lunch the girls and I met our three best friends from Florida, Tammy, Bree and Audrey. They live in Kentucky now and came down to Nashville to see us while we were in town. We've missed them terribly since we moved, and it was such a treat to see them! The girls were a little slow to warm up at first, but once we hit the Build-A-Bear workshop they started giggling and playing like best friends again. They also made lists of everything they want there--I think Number One filled up three sheets of paper.

We decided to spend an extra day relaxing with my parents--Batman and I felt that we'd hardly spent any time with them ourselves! We shopped and talked and ate the best chocolate pie I've ever put in my mouth. It is the best pie in the world, and it's found at the Sunset Restaurant in Lebanon, Tennessee. Take your next vacation there, you won't regret it (like you would if you went to Baltimore).

Everything about our vacation was wonderful--the food, the relaxation, the sights, and spending time as a family. Even Baltimore had a Hard Rock Cafe and a Filene's Basement. But the best part by far was seeing our family and friends. We love you all!!!

See all our vacation pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/larfamily/Vacation2007

Our LOL Cat

Batman and the girls built a fort this week, and the girls have been sleeping in it every night. Jumpy really liked it too!

We're headed out on vacation, and I'm pretty sure I'll get to see *almost* my entire readership while we're gone! I'm looking forward to seeing all of you!! In place of blog posts for the next two weeks, here's something even better: LOL Cats! http://icanhascheezburger.com/