Reasons to celebrate!

If you do a Google search for "ridiculously unnecessary", my blog is the second thing that pops up! (It was the first last night, but some punk bumped me down to #2).

I am not even kidding. Go ahead and try it.

I'll wait...

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=ridiculously+unnecessary&aq=f&oq=


See? Someone stumbled upon my blog with that search (I have a very sophisticated blog tracking system Sitemeter, it's free - that's how I know.)

Apparantly "ridiculous" and "unnecessary" are very popular searches on Google (there are over 400,000 results), and either one of which could apply to my blog. However, when you combine the two together, you are immediately catapulted, passing all other ridiculous and unnecessary things of this world, directly to my blog.

Is that not the most awesome thing ever?!! I cannot tell you how much that makes my day!!

But what makes my day even better than that (if you can fathom) is that today is Mr. Wonderful's Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday, Baby!!!!! I love you!!!!!!

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming...

Get up.

Wake kids.

Feed kids.

Set timer and dangle "if you're in the kitchen by the time the timer goes off you can ride your bike to school" as a bribe incentive for Kyle to hurry his little self up.

Feed self.

Kiss kids.

Drive Kyle to school 'cause he didn't even come close.

Kiss Mr. Wonderful goodbye.

Lay on my bed for 10 minutes wishing I could stay home today.

Shower.

Consider flopping back down on my bed, but get dressed instead.

Pray all the while.

Sit here and type this....and mentally prepare to go to work.

Ever have days like this? I'm running on auto-pilot today. I'm so glad He knows where I'm going!!

A reason to just be yourself!

Have you seen this video of Susan Boyle ? This lady is amazing and inspiring and just plain CUTE!! It made me cry!!!

In defense of my most blonde moment ever

Have you read a certain husband's blog from Wednesday?? Hmmm...he must have forgotten that addendum to our marital vows that read "thou shalt not tell the entire world when thy wife loses touch with reality."

Well, in my own defense (and I use the term 'defense' very very loosely here) I just have to say that in our crazy life it would not be that unusual for wildlife to be bounding through the house. Especially with children who are oblivious to many things...including but not limited to closing doors.

It is not outside the realm of possibility, am I wrong??

But hon, I forgive you for the breaking of the proverbial vow. I probably have nothing to worry about, really. It's not like your blog gets nearly as many readers as mine does.

Happy Resurrection Day!!

Thank You, Jesus...for providing the way to the Father...for healing our brokenness...for Your sacrifice...for Your love that was greater than the pain You endured for us. Thank You for the cross.

More most perfectest purse awesomeness

Last night Vince and I attended the first night of a homegroup, in which we will be going through the book "Sacred Marriage" with 5 other couples from our church. It's going to be awesome, by the way, but that's not what I'm writing about.

As we arrived and sat down, Vince nudged me and pointed...and there it was. On the floor next to Mary's chair, a well worn loved version of my new most perfectest purse! I picked mine up off the coffee table, held it up in front of me and said, "Mary!" That's all I had to say. She smiled this 'I know what you know' kind of smile and said, "Isn't that the greatest purse EVER!?" I said "YES! I just bought mine yesterday and I LOVE it!"

And as we revelled in our mutual most perfectest purse awesomeness, she said this: "I know! I loved it so much that the day after I bought it I went out and bought another one because I knew I would want it when this one wore out.

I think I could hear the "Hallelujah Chorus" playing in the background.

The most perfectest purse ever, and making my husband's head hurt.

I found it! The perfect purse! It's the most perfectest purse ever! EVER, PEOPLE!! I'm a happy girl!

It's been a long search, months actually. My old purse used to be the perfect purse. I bought it over two years ago, and I should have bought two because I of course could not for the life of me find the same one a few months ago when the handle was wearing out beyond repair.

Ok, let me break for a moment and tell you that if you are a male you might want to just stop reading right now. I actually plan on writing an entire blog about my purse so it is very likely that nothing beyond this point (or up to it) will interest you in the least.

So, girls, I have been looking for a new purse for months now, and as we ALL know, getting the "just right purse" is essential to personal happiness and success in daily life. There are few things more annoying than a bad purse (except perhaps an entire blog about purses, if you are a guy).

The reason it has taken me so long to find one is that I have very specific requirements in a purse. And they are as follows:

1) It has to be real leather. Or a fake material that I happen to think is real leather. Not because only real leather is "good enough" for me....psha. I just don't like shiny, plastic like material because it tends to crack, it has to be a soft leather.

2) It has to have a short handle, I don't do over the shoulder straps because they always fall off my shoulder. Annoyance.

3) It has to have separate pockets for my cell phone and lip stuff on the outside of the purse. I like to be able to find these things while driving, which is not conducive to digging through a bunch of crap stuff. Notice that my new most perfectest purse has both! Cha!

4) It absolutely cannot have any sequins or tassles or unnecessary gaudy embelishments.

5) It has to be able to zip shut. I hate purses that don't close because when your purse tips over (as mine does often) then your stuff spills out. Uber annoyance.

6) It has to have at least two big separate sections - one for my wallet & notes, the other for all my crap important stuff that I don't leave home without (my mini hairspray, lotion, advil, altoids, nail file, camera, and the ocassional happy meal toy). I could totally win Let's Make A Deal.

7) And last but not least, it has to be big enough to hold all of said crap important stuff, but not look like a suitcase.

Like I said, it has taken me months and a significant amount of whining to find the just right purse. During that time, I looked at many different purses at many different stores and turned my nose up at all of them for one reason or another. I wasn't in too big of a hurry until recently, as the handle on my purse wore ever thinner and neared it's breaking point. That's when I got desperate.

Good decisions are rarely made while in a state of desperation, and in mine I ended up making the ultimate purse faux pas....I settled. I found one that I "liked" but didn't "love". (Kind of like the difference between DQ and Cold Stone). I did "like" it tho, and when I bought it and brought it home to show Vince, he was genuinely happy for me (or more likely he was just happy that the whining was over. Ah, silly man).

However, it was just not meant to be. Over the next several weeks, my new crush began showing it's true colors. I realized that #2 wasn't true enough, and #5 had happened far too many times, and it just wasn't working out. I was going to have to break up with my purse. No sugar coating it, I would just have to tell it the truth. "It's not me, it's you." So one day in the car I made the announcement to Vince...my wonderful husband who tries so hard to understand the workings of a woman's mind and decisions..."I don't like my purse".

He paused, looked straight ahead for several seconds with a dazed look on his face, and said "that hurts my head."

So imagine his excitement today when I announced to him that I had found the most perfectest purse ever! For real this time! It is a relief to both him and me. And the best part about my most perfectest purse....it was 50% off so I paid only $13 for it! Cha-ching! (What's that? It can't be real leather for that price? Sssssh! Lalalalalaaa...I didn't hear that.)

I should go out and buy another one just like it as soon as possible so that I don't write another blog exactly like this one in two years.

Hope!

Here is Hope's acting debut!! As I have mentioned previously (in this post last month), Hope was asked by our friend Jodi at church to act in her "movie", which is actually a project that Jodi created for school to address the issue of child abuse. It is quite precious and Hope did a wonderful job!