Mommy Brain

Saw this meme on Keer Unplugged and decided to steal borrow it.

“What you’re supposed to do is go to Google and search in their images section. Then post the first (or your favorite) image when you enter the following things:

* The name of the town where you grew up.
* The name of the town where you live now.
* Your name.
* Your Grandmother’s name. (Pick one)
* Your favorite food.
* Your favorite drink.
* Your favorite song.
* Your favorite smell.”

Update: If you do this, make sure your Google image search preferences are set to “Use strict filtering”. That way you won’t get any yucky results when you “google” a name.

I grew up in Sedro Woolley, Washington, and this sign is at the entrance to town.

Don’t really want to post my current home-town’s name, but here’s a picture that came up.

The first pic that came up when I searched my name (Carrie) was a graphic photo from Stephen King’s movie. Since this is a family-friendly blog, I chose pic #2 of Carrie Underwood from American Idol.

My grandmother’s name is Dorothy.

Anyone know how many Weight Watchers points?

Mmmm, java.

My (current) favorite song is called Enough.

Favorite smell: rain.

If you decide to borrow this for your blog, leave a comment and let me know so I can check it out!

“My mother didn’t try to stab my father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that.”

from Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, and Other Things I’ve Learned by Alan Alda

Do you have any memorable “first lines”? Share, please.

(Grace for the Race: Meditations for Busy Moms was provided to me free of charge by Mind and Media, who received it from the publisher for the purpose of being reviewed.)

Dena Dyer knows that moms are busy, so she has written a book filled with short (usually 2-page) meditations that combine humor and inspiration. My days have been filled to the top these past few weeks, and it was nice to have a book I could pick up whenever I had a couple minutes and read a complete chapter.

Ms. Dyer shares her struggle to find her way as a mom, a writer, and a Christian. She uses stories from her life to show God’s grace in the seemingly mundane. I found much to relate to in this book. For instance:

– the penchant for weepiness that overtakes us when we become mothers:

“Writer Ken Gire says: “In each tear is distilled something of eternity, something of love and compassion and tenderness, all things that originate in heaven and come to earth as a sacrament to my soul, if only I am willing to take and eat.”

So whether I weep at a wedding, sob at a funeral, or tear up with joy while listening to a friend’s good fortune, I’m no longer ashamed. In fact, during this pregnancy, I’m crying with abandon — content in the knowledge that I’m touching both heaven and earth at the same time.”

– struggles with weight issues:

“Throughout my struggle with weight, God has reminded me time and again that He wants to be my food. Some days I let Him fill me up with His peace and power, and other days I run (again!) to the candy machine.

I’ve learned that my spiritual life is a lot like my eating habits. It’s a daily battle to let Jesus, the Bread of Life, be my sustenance. It’s much easier to run to the television, read a gossip magazine, or call a friend than it is to take the time to tell God what’s bothering me and let Him work on my problems.

So my earnest prayer has become, “Lord Jesus, help me to hunger for You more than I hunger for earthly food. Make me as excited about spending time with You as I am about going out to eat.”

And sometimes I add this postscript: “One more thing, Lord — please let there be chocolate in heaven.”"

– the neighborhood competition to have the most lavish, expensive birthday party (for a child!)

“Is it just me, or are kids’ birthday parties becoming too extravagant? Growing up, all we needed was pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, some cake and ice cream, and a few favors. Now, moms feel pressured to have an overarching theme, live entertainment, bounce houses, and pony rides — not to mention goody bags rivaling those given to Academy Award presenters.”

Each chapter ends with “Notes from the Coach” – a selection of Bible verses to meditate on. If you’re looking for a book that has quick devotions that will make you laugh and encourage you to keep pressing on, then you’ll enjoy Grace for the Race.

…because I sprained my ankle Friday night. Again. Actually, it’s the other ankle.

The week was going pretty well. Busy, but that’s normal. Tuesday night I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting, and when they weighed me I had lost nine pounds since six weeks ago at my doctor’s office. The swimming must be working, which is encouraging. I thought the meeting was boring, but I enjoyed seeing the three ladies from Kevin’s office who have been doing WW for the last eight months and have lost 40, 50, and 60 pounds, respectively. I’m doing the Flex Plan, which requires you to count points, but lets you eat normal food. Basically the points system teaches you what normal portion sizes are. I’m cautiously optimistic.

Then Friday at work Kevin got a raise. Not huge, but big enough to cover the cost of my weekly WW meetings and then some. We’re considering getting “channels” back, as the kids call it. We haven’t had cable in two years, and have done fine since my parents have the same tastes as us and record what they watch for us. (Lost, NCIS, Commander in Chief, Invasion. And our antenna picks up Fox, so I was able to watch American Idol and we love House.) Kevin has been missing Discovery Channel and The History Channel, though, and I’d love for the kids to have Animal Planet again. We’re considering going the satellite/Tivo route. That way the kids won’t ever have to flip channels (going past MTV, VH-1, E! and the like); they can choose their shows off the menu that Mommy has previously okayed and recorded for them. Anyone out there have Tivo or the like? What do you think, is it worth it?

Anyway, after dinner Friday night, Kevin headed up to the local soccer field to take pictures of our friend’s son’s team. I headed downstairs to the computer to work on a writing assignment, happily munching on a Weight Watchers ice cream sandwich (yummy, lowfat, and only 2 points!) and misjudged the bottom of the stairs. By two steps. I came down hard, my ankle gave way with a nasty crunching sound, and I ended up flat on my back in the storage room. I then proceeded to panic, because the pain was excruciating and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get up, and Kevin wasn’t home and the kids were playing outside loudly and were unable to hear me. Long story short, I managed to pull myself upright and Kevin came home to find me crying with the pain. After icing it for an hour and taking four ibuprofen and still no relief, I called my mom and she took me to the ER. Nothing broken, just a bad sprain. They gave me an air cast — a splint that I step into and fasten around my calf with velcro. It keeps my ankle perfectly straight so I’m not able to injure it again. With my track record, that’s a good thing.

They instructed me to stay off it for the weekend and ice it every 2-3 hours. So I had lots of time to read and work on my next Bible study lesson. It’s much better today, and I’m alternating between hobbling around for awhile and then putting it up for awhile. Bible study tomorrow, thank goodness I don’t have to stand to teach!

That’s what my weekend was like. How about yours?

I’m supposed to be working on something else, but my daughter has reminded me that I need to answer the questions she tagged me with. So here goes:

1. What is your favorite movie?
Braveheart, Sleepless in Seattle

2. What is your favorite song?
Right now I really like a song called “Enough” on Jeremy Camp’s Carried Me: The Worship Project. My favorite changes quite often.

3. Are you like your mom?
I don’t think so. Mom and I have very different personalities. I’m more like my dad.

4. What is your favorite actor/actress?
Favorite actors: Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Matthew McConaughey
Favorite actresses: Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep

5. What is your most embarrassing moment?
Don’t know about the most embarrassing, but this is certainly the most recent. When I was at Women’s Retreat going to the bathroom, the stall door swung wide open. And I just happened to be in the handicap stall, which is huge, so I wasn’t able to reach the door to pull it closed because I was, um, still going.

6. Do you want to be my friend?
Yes, Natalie, I am proud to be your friend, and even more proud to be your mom.

So I’m perusing my local library’s list of new titles and these are the first two:

How to Turn Your Ex-Boyfriend Into a Toad and Other Spells for Love, Wealth, Beauty and Revenge by Athena Starwoman
Protecting Your Teen From Today’s Witchcraft: A Parent’s Guide to Confronting Wicca and the Occult by Steve Russo

Weekend-before-last’s Women’s Retreat is a distant memory. I’m finding it hard to even believe I went away! Everything is back to normal (read: crazy and busy and wonderful and hard). I haven’t posted much on daily stuff lately so here goes.

School: Homeschooling is going great in 2 1/2 out of 3 cases. Natalie and Noah are coming along fine, and (usually) enjoy their projects. Jonathan is the 1/2. Half the time is great – the half where we’re playing games and jumping around and having a ball. The other half, not so great. This is the half where I actually need him to pay attention to my instructions for longer than 30 seconds. I know he’s a kinesthetic learner, and I’m trying to accommodate that in any way I can. But he needs to learn to listen to what I’m saying and follow instructions that involve more than one step, and he just doesn’t. Any ideas on how to improve his concentration and focusing skills (without medicating him) would be appreciated.

The Homeschool Class that we attend every week has been wonderful. We’ve been studying rocket science and last week blasted off our homemade rockets. The kids are loving it.

Housework: Everything except those items required for basic health reasons have fallen by the wayside, where I expect them to remain until further notice.

Writing: First-time rights to a short story of mine were purchased for a nominal* fee by a small-press magazine. It will be appearing in the November issue. Cool thing is I posted this story on a Christian writers’ site months ago and then forgot all about it, so this was a welcome surprise. *(Said fee being $5 and two contributors’ copies, but hey, it’s a start.)

Bible Study: This is coming along. Our second week was really rough and I was shaken. I knew that some of the ideas presented in the Heaven book were new. I’ve read the book twice now (some chapters three times) and this book is entirely biblical. He has oodles of scripture references throughout each chapter, and I’ve studied them on my own and in context and have not found anything to disagree with. Maybe that’s why it was so surprising when one of the ladies, who comes from a strong denominational background, had a huge fuss with one of the lessons. Funny thing is, she wasn’t even arguing with anything that Mr. Alcorn had written in his book, but with one of the scriptures! She said, “I just can’t believe this, it’s not what I’ve always thought.” And I’m looking at the Scripture we just read aloud, where the point is very specific, and sitting there with my mouth hanging open. I don’t even remember how study ended, I was so flustered. But our Women’s Ministry Leader, whose house we happened to be at, spoke up and reminded us that our beliefs need to be founded on what the Word says, and not on what a certain pastor or denomination or book teaches.

As I was preparing for the next week, I felt like I was going into battle. I used my PC Study Bible concordance and looked up any and all scriptures pertaining to this one point to make sure I wasn’t off track. And then I prayed. I didn’t really know what else to do, but I did know I didn’t want every week to go like that.

At the beginning of the next study, while we were still in the “getting coffee and gabbing” mode, this lady spoke up. To paraphrase, she said, “I need to ask your forgiveness for taking up so much time last week with my own issue. I realized as I was studying this week that I have never done an in-depth study on Heaven, and yet here I was doing exactly what the preface said not to do, which is confuse ‘what I’ve always heard’ or ‘what I’ve always thought’ with biblical teaching. Please forgive me.” I was flabbergasted! She is a lovely, kind woman with very strong opinions and this was unexpected. But I was grateful and all of the tension that had been created the week before was diffused. That week’s study was wonderful and yesterday’s was as well.

One thing that has stuck out to me in this study on Heaven is the idea of a place where everyone is righteous. No sin. My husband and I recently watched the movie Crash, which deals with racial prejudice in L.A. (Note: this movie contains very strong language and one quick instance of shadowed partial nudity, so watch at your own discretion.) The movie had moments where people’s ideas and beliefs were challenged. Some people changed for the better, some for the worse. But it got me thinking about how heaven will be truly multi-cultural. Completely diversified with no sin. Even when people have the best of intentions, our relationships with people of other races can be tainted by our pre-conceived ideas or theirs. How cool that in heaven we will all be one Body of Christ, with all of the varied beauty and creativity that God placed in all cultures. (Sorry, didn’t mean to get off on such a tangent, just some thoughts that have been rattling around and if I don’t get them down, they’ll go away. Very quickly.)

On a related topic, I have not been posting my Bible Study lessons due to lack of time and because I’m not sure that anyone is really interested. If you are, please let me know and I’d be glad to e-mail them to you.

Music: My intentions to take October, November, and December off from leading worship were derailed. Our church has three worship teams. John and his wife Lynn, who co-lead, have been away all summer and were supposed to be back in time to take their turn this month. We just learned that they’re not coming back until at least November, and maybe not at all. That means that if I take these months off, worship every Sunday rests on the shoulders of one lady. One perfectly wonderful lady who also happens to be our church secretary and is over-worked as it is. So I told her to put me back on the schedule for once a month. Our youth pastor and another lady will be alternating with the fourth Sunday, so we’re covered. But there goes my break.

So now you know what my life has been filled with. Good stuff mostly, but lots of it. And I don’t anticipate things slowing down until I’m done teaching this quarter of Bible study. Four weeks down, six to go. Good thing my husband is understanding about all the things I’ve had to let slide! I’ve also missing my reading time, which is why the “Books I’m Reading” section of my sidebar hasn’t changed in weeks. I’m still reading the same books, which is highly unusual for me. I’m usually a two-or-three-books-a-week reader. I did finally update the kids’ reading lists, though, which is mainly for my own record-keeping, but they’re there if anyone’s interested.

It’s time to get the kids ready for Family Night at church. What a huge blessing it is to know that every Wednesday I can forget about fixing dinner and take the kids to church for homemade soup or chili and homemade bread. If only they did it Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, my life would be perfect!

“Jesus is a good example of character, but He’s also much more than that. He is the solution to flawed people like corrupt Dartmouth alums, looters, and me.

It’s so easy to focus on the defects of others and ignore my own. But I need saving as much as they do.

Jesus’ message of redemption is simple. People are imperfect, and there are consequences for our actions. He gave His life for our sin so that we wouldn’t have to bear the penalty of the law; so we could see love. The problem is me; the solution is God’s love: Jesus on the cross, for us.”

The above comes from a speech given at Dartmouth’s Convocation September 20, 2005 by student body president — and homeschool graduate — Noah Riner. Quick the link to read the full text.

Update: World Magazine’s article detailing the fallout and Noah Riner’s gracious response.

Yesterday was a bad, bad day. I’m not talking a little irritating, I’m talking mommy-completely-lost-it-and-yelled-and-screamed-and-then-burst-into-tears-of-guilt kind of bad. Once-a-month-psycho-mother-from-you-know-where and find-the-nearest-big-yellow-school-bus-and-shove-them-all-on-board.

The details aren’t all that important, except to say it was mostly me and not so much the kids. Well, on second thought, they were pretty horrible, but my reactions were, too.

Then last night I get this e-mail advertising Cranium.com’s Family Fun sweepstakes. I click on over to enter the $50,000 Grand Prize (one can always dream, right?) and find out I’m the instant winner of a Cranium Family Fun game, designed to have everyone laughing, playing, and working together. This on the day when the only game I feel like playing with my children involves tying them up and running away.

Glad to know God has a sense of humor. And glad that today has been a much better day.

A couple posts back, I talked about how entertaining it was to hear my fellow Women’s Retreat-goers’ tell how they met their respective husbands. This triggered a couple questions about how I met my knight-in-shining-armor. (Or should I say knight-with-amazing-computer-savvy, which in this day and age is even more important!) I thought I’d start by posting my all-time favorite picture of the two of us together, which was taken by a wonderful waitress at Black Angus on our 10th anniversary this past March. I could post a picture from our wedding day, but I’m afraid the big puffy bangs would scare you to death.

I met my husband at church. Boring, huh? I guess I should back up a little. In 1992 I graduated with an Associates degree from our local community college. That fall I transferred to Washington State University as a junior. I was a theater major/music minor and only able to attend because of an acting scholarship that paid part of my tuition and a student loan, co-signed by my parents.

That was not a good year. I was miserable, homesick, and doing lots of things I knew I shouldn’t be doing. Without going into detail, I was not honoring God with my life. I have been a Christian pretty much all my life, but my last two high school years and my college years were ugly.

At the end of the year, after having my heart completely broken, I was faced with a choice. Stay at WSU, which meant taking out another loan, or move to Vancouver, Washington to live with my aunt and uncle and work as their nanny. I chose to leave WSU. I knew that I was headed down a scary road, at the end of which was either an alcohol-related accident or an unwed pregnancy. I would also have a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts, which would qualify me to do — well, pretty much nothing. I loved to act and sing, but since I was already moderately overweight, a career as a performer was pretty much out. And in order to teach, I would need my Master’s, which would require two more years.

I finished out my summer doing summer stock theatre, and then headed to Vancouver at the end of August. That Christmas, I attended a Christmas cantata at a local church, and the words of familiar carols like Hark! The Herald Angels Sing both convicted me and comforted me. I joined a church and the following spring started attending our church’s singles’ ministry.

Enter Kevin. The first conversation I remember having with him was standing outside Friday’s restaurant after singles’ group. I think we talked about singing — Kevin loves to do karaoke. The next week a group of us went to Elmer’s after Sunday evening service, and Kevin and I and another friend stayed late talking into the night. I found out later that Kevin had mentioned to the other friend that he could really fall for a girl like me. Around the same time, I told my friend that I was interested in Kevin, and her response was, “But he’s so short!” Kevin’s 5’5″ and so am I. I didn’t see the problem.

That September, Kevin’s room-mate threw him a surprise birthday party for his 29th. I arrived at his apartment 45 minutes late and found him outside talking to a friend. I walked up, smiling, and said, “Happy Birthday!” Kevin grinned and said, “What are you doing here? And how do you know it’s my birthday?” Turns out he hadn’t been in to the party yet, and I’d just spoiled the whole thing! Well, I blushed and was completely embarrassed. He found something attractive about how flustered I got. (Which is why I wanted to throw him a surprise party this year for his 40th, and actually keep it a surprise.)

Two weeks and lots of conversations with my friend Sue later, I knew Kevin liked me. I knew he thought I liked him. (We were adults, but for some reason this still played out like something from seventh grade. ~grin~ ) I also knew that Kevin was shy and would take forever to ask me out. So I asked him. (I know, I know — this is not a picture of Biblical, submissive womanhood, but I was only 21, so oh, well.)

We had our first date on October 1st. We went out to dinner with another couple at a great restaurant called the Melting Pot. (And dessert was cubes of cheesecake and poundcake and strawberries and bananas and kiwis dipped in chocolate fondue. Funny how I still remember that!) Then we went back to his apartment and watched the movie Dave on video. He kissed me, and that was that. We never looked back.

I took him to Montana with me to have Christmas at my parents house. We knew by then we were getting married (he never proposed, we sort of just knew it, so no great proposal story, sorry) and set the date over Christmas. We were married three months later on March 31st, 1995. 10 years and 4 kids later, and here we are. And we still love each other!

Okay, I told mine — it’s your turn. How did you meet your husband or wife? Post it in the comments or on your blog and then let me know.