January 3, 2010

The first 3 days!

It might take me a few days to get back into the practice of writing a note everyday. Although the kids go back to school tomorrow so maybe I will have more computer time. The new book is not as intense as the first, perhaps because it is a year long. The dares go on for a whole week instead of just a day. This weeks dare is to pray “Lord, teach me what real love is and make me a loving person.” We could all use some of that!
This follows along really nice with the six week series Tom just finished called Love Wins. In today’s reading it said love is the key to which I said no it’s not! Love is the door, humility is the key! At least one person pays attention in church. Ha Ha.
So anyway it’s all about real love, the love talked about in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. The book suggested reading those verses and replacing the worlds “love” or “it” with your first name. I am going to type it out so you can see what it looks like and then I will share my reaction.
Rachel is patient, Rachel is kind, Rachel does not envy, Rachel does not boast, Rachel is not proud. Rachel is not rude, Rachel is not self-seeking, Rachel is not easily angered, Rachel keeps no record of wrongs. Rachel does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Rachel always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
So I made it to about self seeking and then I wanted to puke cause that isn’t really me at all. Maybe for five seconds out of each day I might be one of them. Ok exaggerating there but you get my point. It’s pretty powerful to read it with your name like that. Wow I have a lot of work to do. Better say the dare prayer about a hundred times today

 

January 4, 2010

Day 4

Love simplifies.
That is pretty much the exact opposite of how I have looked at love. It can make things quite complicated but then again it’s the difference between the world’s definition of love and Gods definition of love.
Romans 13:8-10 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “do not commit adultery,” “do not murder,” “do not steal,” “do not cover,” and whatever other commandment there may be are summed up in this one rule “love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to it’s neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Nope I did not read that in the bathroom either but I can only speak for myself. When love fills your mouth you encourage your family rather than tearing them down. I need a giant fist fill of love shoved in my 24/7 because I am not always so good at this so for now I continue to pray “Lord, teach me what real love is and make me a loving person.”

 

January 5, 2010

Day 5 Men must watch chick flicks!

Well that isn’t exactly what the reading said but my interpretation. Actually the title is Love is the business of men and the point was that real love is not merely women’s work. Jesus was the most loving man to ever walk the earth and remains the perfect example of manhood. So men should strive for that. So I asked Brian what chick flick are we going to see and he said he is on a different day. I told him to please get on the same day as me so that we can have these meaningful conversations so we’ll see. Yep I keep on praying to teach me what real love is and make me a loving person because I don’t even think I can get there in this life time! However it will be fun and rewarding trying!

 

January 6, 2010

Love is your job description

Everyone is longing to be loved. It is in-bred, God given, lifelong and deeply felt. However too many of us (like me) are too busy worrying about being loved by others than showing those exact same people that they are loved! Love is our primary responsibility in marriage especially since we all vowed it at the alter. So we are responsible for fulfilling our spouses love tank (another Pastor Tom word). Always remember when your spouse deserves your love the least, that is when they need it the most. Wow though isn’t that the hardest time to try and show it. It is much easier to stab the person in the eye or kick them in the jimmy than show love. So maybe next time Brian is acting like a butthead I’ll try and be loving rather than critical and rude. That will be a difficult task for me. Oh and this prayer thing is working. I am back to feeling how I did during the love dare. Not that things are bad, they are really good. It’s just when we were involved in that it was like love was more present or something. Ok shutting up now because i am rambling. I have had a bad headache every night for a week and idiot Farmville will not load for me so I can’t harvest my crops!

 

January 7, 2010

Love is Fertile soil (day 7)

When you plant a seed in fertile soil it grows and blossoms. Wow that’s real simple and so is if you love someone they grow and blossom too. So how will your mate be affected by living with you in the future? Will they become radiant or saddened. After a week I already feel much more radiant and today was a great example. Of course today was a disaster as well. This is the story of my life.
Work finally needed me to come in at 3 today. So I get in my car at 2:15 and head out the door. The outer road has not been plowed so I am debating whether or not to go to gas station for a coffee. I am also watching the guy behind me in his big 250 truck with a lift kit and I can tell he thinks my 20 miles an hour is too slow although the only thing to drive on is the ruts from tires. I watch him once try to move to the left of me to go around and he spun all over the place. So I decide I better put my blinker on early and slow down so the guy doesn’t hit me. I am slowly working my way to the middle when bam I hit not once but twice. He first crashed into the back of my car and spun me and crashed into the front of my car. (all on my side) I had my seatbelt on but crashed my head into driver side window pretty good. I didn’t lose conscience or anything. We pull into gas station and he tries to tell me I didn’t put my blinker on and he was turning into gas station and I plowed into him. I guarantee he was trying to pass me on the left again. Anyway I called Brian because it was less than five minutes to come down and help me. He was all aggravated and said what for. I told him because I hit my head really hard and I can’t think of what I am suppose to do. So he is all aggravated and I remind myself not to take this personally this is always his first reaction. He comes down and takes one look at the car and freaks. You know the back side of my car is totally gone. It was hanging by a thread and the cop ripped it off and threw it through the back window that the truck broke out. I am going to post pictures soon. My side view mirror is gone as well as a big crack in the side of the front of the car. The insurance guy told me that it is way over 1500 worth of damage. I am taking it Monday to get it fixed.
So anyway back to husband. He sat in car with me while we waited for cop to fill out paper work. He was very nice and kept calling the kid a punk @ss and was not happy that kid was trying to blame me. Brian knows how I drive (remember last summer I found the love dare day where he listed positive things about me and good driver was one of them which just shocked me). Later this evening he kept saying none of this would have happened if you wouldn’t have pulled into that punk @ss kid. I knew he was kidding. He even asked me if I was doing ok.
Even though my car is drivable I can’t go anywhere because the back window is broken out and it is too cold. So I am house bound till Monday when I get a rental.
Oh and I asked Brian why he was so aggravated that I called him and he said cause he thought I just slid into someone and when he saw my car he freaked. I love him!

 

January 8, 2010

Love is best when God is first

Love God first, then your spouse, then your kids, then the rest of the world. If you put your spouse first you turn them into an idol. Don’t really have to worry about that happening in my house any time soon. I say me first, God second and forget everyone else. Just a little light hearted humor there. However it is easy to get the priorities all mixed up. This weeks dare is to spend a little time praying and reading the bible each day. I’ll let you know how it goes. Talking to God is easy for me, getting out that giant book and reading it is another story.\
Feel pretty normal today except for cussing like a salior. Brian hates that and so do the kids. Not sure what the deal is. I decided I have blood clot pressing on the cussing center of my brain causing the issue. As if. Only thing that hurts is my rib is a little sore where I must have knocked into the door. Other than that I am fine. Oh and the kid that hit me never even called his insurance agent. The guy called me and told me this and left a message with his dad for him to call. I have a feeling this kid is in big trouble. And if he didn’t think his parents were going to find out who was he kidding. No way could I fix the damage to my car out of pocket. Just not quite that rich! Brian is working tomorrow and Sunday 10 hours but he was kind enough to get a ride from a guy that lives nearby so I can drive his truck. I am more nervous about driving it than he is letting me drive it. Will probably only use it to go to church and the baptism. He has to miss the baptism as well so I am hoping for a video copy. Will have to suck up to the video people at church. Hee hee.

 

January 10, 2010

Love is most when God is first (day 9)

Time is passing by rather quickly. I drove today. My moms car and I felt like I was in a racecar because it is so low to the ground and it is a six cylinder compared to my four. I decided to drag race down seckman road. Oh crap she reads my notes. Just kidding. Tomorrow I am taking Brian’s truck to church tomorrow since he is working. He was kind enough to get a ride today to work but took his keys with him. Dork alert! However I know where the spare set is and I made him put gas in it so I am good tonight.
Today’s reading keeping God first blesses your marriage more than any other practice. I prayed today about my cussing problem, I need so much help with that. I also actually read the verses it said to read. I am assuming Brian opted out since he never has drug his bible into the bathroom. Hmm so two goals met. We’ll see how tomorrow goes!

 

January 11, 2010

Love keeps God’s commands

Jesus said the first and greatest command is love your God with all your heart and soul and mind and the second is love your neighbor as yourself.
Tom spoke about change in church. He said sometimes just a little change is needed to get your life back in balance. He was then balancing a pencil on his finger and demonstrated how a slight disruption sent it flying. Talked about spending time with God and loving God can get the pencil back on track. I have had so much peace for the past 10 days and when he said that I was like he’s right. This will sound totally crazy to some of you but this devotional thing has led me to focus on God first thing (when I remember to read it) and then I think about it the rest of the day. My life seems more in balance. However it is so easy to jump right back out and bring the focus back to myself first.
So the goal here is to keep God first because the peace and love that I fell can’t even really be described by my words to make any sense at all!

 

January 11, 2010

Love walks with God

John 13:35 by this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Good disciples of Christ make good spouses. Sometimes i think this book is filled with a whole lot of duh statements.
When we reuse to obey Christ’s commands, our spouses are left to deal with the fallout. Brian has dealt with a lot of fall out over the years.
Asked what are priorities for marriage and is walk with God helping or hindering the marriage. Well hopefully this beginning walk is helping. It seems to be so far anyway.
I have a feeling this makes no sense at all. This vicodin which I really didn’t want to take has only knocked my headache in half and I feel loopy. Brian was very caring when I came home from ER today. He went and picked up my pain medicine and every time I tried to speak told me I had head injury. He was actually a pretty good nurse!
Ok signing off for now. Hopefully day 12 will be a little more inspirational to you all and a little less crackhead sounding!

 

January 13, 2010

Love offers companionship

I felt horrible today. My headache was out of control and I finally took a vicodin at around 1. I don’t like taking them at all because my mom always said “vicodin is the most addictive pain pill in the 30 year old population.” Oh wait I am not in my 30’s (I’m in my 20’s ~ at least in my cracked up head) so I guess I am safe. I called into work as well, there is no way I can take care of patients with the way my head is acting.
So the phone rings around noon and it is Brian. He rarely calls me and he says “oh I see you didn’t go to work today.” And I told him I called in because of my head. He then informs me I am fired and after that asked me how I was feeling. I gently reminded him next time ask my how I am doing before he tells me I am fired. He is a great companion most of the time!

 

January 13, 2010

Love brings completeness

A mean leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife and they become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
God made marriage as the finale to creation. He saw the man hanging out by himself and knew he would never survive without a partner (like the better half, the one that has a clue) so he ribbed his rib out and made women. Otherwise the poor lonely old man would have withered and died cause the goofy animals just wouldn’t cut it. Ok so that is CR’s version. It works for me.
We are so intimately combined with our mate that together we are to live as one complete person. therefore Brian completes me. I told him that one day a year or so ago and then a couple months later we were watching Jerry McGuire which he must have never seen cause when Jerry used that line Brian got all bent out of shape and said you got that from this movie. I said heck yes you don’t think i could make something that cheesy up all on my own.
Yep so just remember God made us girls cause the boys couldn’t stand to be alone. Next time Brian starts in about how annoying we all are I will just remind him he wasn’t tough enough to be the only half of people creation.!
Wow vicodin is some weird stuff and I am really tired of this headache! Oh and the kid that hit me is a junior at Emily’s school. She rode the bus with him in elementary school and said he was obnoxious!

 

January 15, 2010

Love extends help

So reading this I get nailed for making fun of men yesterday and how they can’t survive without us. The authors of the book are men and the first sentence today was “let’s be honest-men need help. They try to function alone but consistently fall short.” Can I get an amen? therefore girls were made to help these people out.
Marriage is intended to show us that we’re not all sufficient in ourselves. That is something I struggle with every day. I rarely ask for help and try to do it all alone. That’s why last week when I called Brian after the car accident and asked for his help it was huge. Of course he being the clueless man God made him he got annoyed at me first and then I clued him in later. So I need to work on letting him know I need him. That is a tall order!

 

January 17, 2010

Love multiplies, builds and unites families! (days 15, 16 & 17)

I got a little behind on writing. My head started feeling better on Friday and watch out world there I came. Not really. I was too busy growing blueberries on my fake farm in Farmville to get anything done. Actually yesterday I tackled the computer/Allyson’s room and after 3 hours restored it to organized. I give it a week before it is a disaster again.
This weeks dare (started on Friday) was to pick a project that needs to be done and work on it as a family. When I asked Brian that evening if he had one in mind he asked me what I was talking about. Yep he was on day 14 while I was on day 15. I told him to read 2 days and catch back up. So the next day he says I thought of a project and I knew what he was going to say. WE should clean the playroom and get rid of a ton of stuff. He is right and it needs to be done. there are so many toys that no one plays with and I could probably make at least fifty bucks on Craig’s list. So I was all set to work on it today (Sunday). Last night in the middle of the night I woke up and couldn’t hardly breath. It went on all night and I decided I must have thrown a blood clot to my lung (being a nurse can be so annoying especially when said nurse is known as worse case scenario nurse). I even dreamed I was in hospital and J-Ho was my tech and she couldn’t get the oxygen sat machine to work so she was busy trying to find one while i was trying to find oxygen tubing. Anyway I think I have a URI which is probably viral. No fever just wheezing when I take deep breaths and coughing. The kids were calling me smoking grandma. We’ll see how I am feeling tomorrow because I really don’t want to go to the doctor.
The readings had to do with love unifying not only the immediate family (mom, dad, kids) but also extended families and talked about extending grace to them as well. So basically in CR terms you aren’t just marrying your spouse you are marrying all their relatives as well.
I’ll keep you posted on the playroom. If I clean it out I could probably purchase a treadmill and have a place for it. Plus I did the floor in those interlocking alphabet tiles and when it is clean you can see all our names hooked together like a crossword puzzle. Yep CR is gay as well as crazy!

 

January 21, 2010

Love Dare through end of week 3

Sort of got way behind. Amazing what going back to work does, especially with an addiction to a stupid computer game. However the whole family plays (except Kayla) and my mom and I have had so much fun.
Love inspires purity.
This section was written just for me and I had a little talk with Brian about it. Nothing gets on my nerves worse than him whistling at chicks on TV or watching shows where people are half naked. I tell him it is disrespectful and at one point in our lives he called me square. After he read this section I think he realized purity is much more than not having a sexual affair. It is keeping your eyes focused on your spouse and honoring God.
Love is fun.
Being with the person you love the most was never meant to dissolve into mete duty and obligation. It is not a fun way to live. I lived that way for a long time but not anymore.
Love causes growth
That is pretty straightforward part of marriages purpose is to remind and strengthen each other. However it is so much easier to criticize and find fault. Our spouse is suppose to expose our flaws and weaknesses to us so that we can grow and become more Christ like. Hello that sets off a major chain of defense. Must work on this area.
We did complete the family project this week. The playroom is almost unrecognizable. I took a picture of the floor before i moved the big stuff back in. See if you can find all our names. I was in charge of throwing away and Allyson helped me decide what she wanted to keep. Brian hauled all the trash and junk upstairs. We didn’t let him help us organize because he would have thrown everything away. I should have taken a picture of the trash out at the curb. We only have once a week pick up and it was massive. Oh well we provide job security for our trash man.
Looked at next weeks dare which starts tomorrow. Say nothing negative to your spouse. When I told Emily that last night she said “you’ll fail”. Then said “oh that’s negative”. I told her not to worry that the first thing I thought was “I’ll never make it ten minutes much less than a week but i am going to try my bestest!

 

January 27, 2010

Talking to God for a friend!

Dear God,
Hi It’s CR. Haven’t written in quite a while, like since camp this summer so decided it was about time.
Just want to ask you to be with J-Ho tomorrow during the time she is taking her boards. Remove her anxiety and nerves would you. We all know she is a sweater and we really don’t want her leaving boards looking like she walked through a rainstorm. If you can’t remove the sweat at least make sure she remembers to wear her clinical strength deodorant.
We both know she knows this stuff. All she has done is study so keep her mind open and don’t let her freeze up or over think the stuff. You and I both know how easy that is to do on these nursing boards.
Let her sleep well tonight and get totally wasted tomorrow evening.
Love always,
Rachel <><

 

January 28, 2010

Love day by day week 4

It’s hard to believe the first four weeks have been completed. I might just write once a week unless something major happens. I have found the daily readings are really short and perhaps a weekly summary might just be best. I just finished working on the taxes. It is the first time I have ever done them myself. My mom has always done them for us but she has decided to retire and with the nifty turbo tax program I think I can do it all on my own. This whole tax thing relates to the story of the week.

The dare was to say nothing negative to your spouse. I tried but I am not sure how well I did. The main bible verse this week is one of Pastor Toms favorites. Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry for the anger of man does not bring about the righteousness of God. (I think, I just did that from memory and don’t ask me where it’s at because I am not sure).

There are a couple of things that Brian can say and set me off in two seconds or less. The first is new and is related to the car accident. I have a friend that works at the gas station near Seckman. I was telling him about accident and he said oh that kid comes in all the time and said it was 50% my fault and 50% his fault so Brian calls me 50/50 girl and I just go through the roof most of the time. I did hear from insurance last week and the accident is 100% his fault. So why I let Brian bug me and cause me to fly off handle I do not know. Especially since i found his list about my good qualities and good driver was on there.

The second thing is tax return. Every year at this time he starts in about every single way we can cheat and lie about deductions. He makes me crazy and use to practically accuse my mom of not knowing what she was doing. Well I did turbo tonight and got the same amount of refund. I refuse to lie or exaggerate expenses, it is not worth the repercussions of that behavior. He tried to tell me we could claim the deck as home improvement which we cannot. Now if we put insulation in or new windows and doors anything that is energy efficient we could claim that. Anyway I found myself yelling at him and probably called him stupid so yeah so much for the negative thing.

Questions for the week are you known for being a patient person? Depends on the situation. Most of the time probably not. Just hurry up already! Are people calm around me or worry about me over reacting. Well I tend to talk louder and louder the more excited I get. However i do remain calm on the outside in critical situations at work. Can I demonstrate patience in intense situations? No idea will have to be on the look out for this over the next few months!

Next week continues with the patience and I have to really be slow to anger and fly off the handle. Must remember Brian likes to aggravate me!

 

February 8, 2010

A day in the life of Rachel!

I am forgetting about the love dare and talking about what the past 24 hours of my life has been like. If you need a good laugh just keep on reading. This is free and cheap entertainment.

So yesterday the oldest informs me she has a group project due in the morning. Does everyone wait till the last minute these days? I had the computer guy over from across the street to help set up the printer and he says all you have to do is take laptop into computer room and plug usb cable into the laptop. Ok right there that should have been my first clue of impending doom but I was so excited to be off of work I didn’t even think about it. So I’d say it is close to 9 pm when said daughter decides she needs to print some stuff for the poster board. So we take computer in back room and plug it in and of course nothing happens. After uninstalling and reinstalling the program and going to windows to download some program that is needed I discover this windows 7 computer will not support it? (Shut the hell up Uncle Larry). So I then decide fine I will put Microsoft office 2007 on my computer so Emily can email her stuff to herself, open on the computer that works with the printer and print it. That takes at least 30 minutes. Emily also needs pictures from when she was little scanned and sent to Walgreens to be printed by tomorrow. Well I have a brand new scanner/printer combo and I am in no mood to figure it out so I put that off till the am and go to bed.

At 7am my phone beeps text message and said daughter says a piece of my project fell off and I need it by second hour so I now get to run to school as soon as Allyson is out the door and on the bus. I run it up to school and return to mess with the scanner. I scan all the pictures and then go to save them where I always save them and I get a message saying I either do not have enough space on the hard drive or do not have permission to access the folder. Ok I am getting really bent out of shape by now. My hard drive has 35% free space and the external hard drive where I was attempting to send them has 90% free space. The folder I was choosing I had created myself. (Again Uncle Larry zip it, no comments about Mac). So finally I figure out how to save them and send the stuff to Walgreens.

It is now time to answer email and I am responding to an appointment. I use outlook express and when I go to spell check it, spell check is trying to change all my words to Spanish. Yeah I have no idea how that happened and still haven’t fixed it. So I had to tell person now you know I cannot spell and I cannot deal with anymore technology bull crap today so just ignore the spelling errors. (I know Uncle Larry is now rolling on the ground).

So I take a nap and get up and do 2 miles on treadmill. Then I go to Farmville for my daily addiction. I then decide I am going to make the recovery disk for Emily’s laptop. My sister never did this and ended up with virus on her computer. She called the company and they said they could send her the recovery disk, it was free but to ship it was 25.00. Yeah whatever. So I spend 20 minutes waiting for computer to split the screen or something like that only to find out I need a DVD disk and all I have is CD disks. That’s it I hate technology.

So to complete the day I am working this evening. It is already snowing. I finally got my car back last Friday and it looks brand new. Not for long as the snow will make it all dirty and ugly. I am very nervous some punk in a lifted up truck will call me grandma for going to slow and try and blow by me again. Hopefully all the crazy stuff is over and tonight will be smooth sailing at work!

 

February 12, 2010

Kansas City Adventure with Emily

My latest adventure included Emily. We headed out Thursday night to go to Rockhurst University which is located in Kansas City. Emily had an interview on Friday for a full academic scholarship. Actually it was 3 interviews with 6 different professors and groups of five kids. Each group of five was different kids each time. There were 150 kids interviewing for 7 scholarships. However at the end of the day it was announced there would be 9 scholarships given out (wow that greatly increased her odds) and everyone that came would be getting an additional 1000.00 added on to the scholarship they already have. So that is an additional 4000 for a few hours time. Not bad at all.

The trip up there was crazy. We decided to use the GPS that Brian gave me for Christmas. I thought it was the best gift ever but after the last two days of using it, it rates up there with the carbon monoxide detector. We attempted to have it locate I-hop in Columbia since we couldn’t see the restaurant from the highway. Yep it had us driving in circles till I was cussing up a storm and finally saw it myself and stopped listening to the GPS. It took us a totally different way in to Kansas City and I was so confused that I was sure we were lost but then magically we arrived at the hotel. It cost five dollars to connect to Wi fi but my farm was calling me and I decided what the heck, the hotel we stayed at gave us a Rockhurst discount so it was all even. I stayed up till one am goofing off on the computer.

We got up the next morning and Emily wanted coffee so I made some in our little kitchen area of the hotel room. She proceeded to spill it on her shirt. I couldn’t stop laughing. Luckily she couldn’t decide which shirt she wanted to wear so she had brought two. She then noticed deodorant on the shirt and decided God was telling her she better go with the mustard yellow shirt and she wore that. We then ate at California Pizza Kitchen and then headed over to the college to start the afternoon. While the kids were doing their thing the parents had events to do. I skipped them all and went to the library and played free cell. There was no way I was sitting through the student led panel, then the faculty led panel, then financial aid and then taking a campus tour. I had already done all of it twice and wasn’t going for a third time. There was nothing else more to see or do that would convince me Rockhurst is the greatest school ever. Well actually there was one thing. Emily learned today that they have counselors (with PhD’s) to help the kids who are home sick. This is awesome. We weren’t’ in the hotel ten minutes before Emily was ready to go home. I should probably schedule her first appointment right now.

If the winners are picked on authentic answers then Emily should win. One of the questions was “what would you tell incoming freshman about high school.” The four other people state to get involved in service projects and clubs. Emily’s answer was to be who you are and not to pretend to be someone else. Also to the effect of who you hang with affects who you are. (At least one teenager listens to Pastor Tom’s sermons.) They asked her if she had a million dollars what would she do with it. She talked about our sponsored child Pendo through compassion international and said she would give all of the money to them. (Take that J-ho and Meaghan, make fun of me will you?). They also asked what the kids liked to do. All the others said service projects and helping others. Well not Emily she said she liked to cheerlead, hang out with her friends and spend time with her family. Really how many teenagers are all about serving others and not themselves. So if authenticity is a factor at least my daughter was real and didn’t give answers she thought people wanted to hear. She must be a lot like me!

The letters will be sent out within ten days so we should know soon. Even if the answer is sorry try again, it is such an honor knowing that she was chosen to interview! Oh and the trip home with the GPS was no better. I could see highway 70 right in front of me and the girl voice (which I now refer to as a cuss word) said to turn on the street before. So Emily says you better do it then it says we are lost. I was so close to throwing it out the window. I turned around, got on 70 like I wanted to and turned the stupid thing off. We won’t be going back to Kansas City until August 14 when Emily moves in. Rockhurst comes to St. Louis to sign the kids up for classes and make the student ID badges. Now really how cool is that?

 

February 18, 2010

Technology is Evil!

So maybe it’s not technology that is evil but rather my personality doesn’t work so well with it. For those of you that don’t know I cannot leave something alone until I figure it out. This has its advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation. Now when it comes to my computer or my iPod my personality disorder is a major disadvantage. It has been a horrible past six days but I thought you might all just get a kick out of this.
It all started when I upgraded to Office 2007 so that Emily could print a paper out on my computer because her computer wouldn’t work with the printer. After that outlook express (which I use for my email) started spell checking everything in what I thought was Spanish. How would I know, I never took a foreign language in high school or college. So anyway I finally went to Microsoft’s website to discover it was actually spell checking in French. Outlook express is now considered obsolete and not even offered on vista or Microsoft 7 so they had no intentions of fixing it. So I had two choices download a spell checker or use a different email client. First I tried the spellchecker and could not get it to work. SO I tried thunderbird mail. Three days later I still could not receive email but could send it. (Hello basically same problem in outlook express because of spell check issue). I read 10 articles and did everything, finally called tech support only to be disconnected so I decided ok try spell check again. So I download it and nothing happens. Then I realize I am spelling every word correctly (that is a miracle in itself) so I decide spell something wrong on purpose and see what happens. Hello it works so I am back to outlook express and happy again until I do 2 miles on the treadmill on Sunday and it doesn’t upload to the Nike website. I figure it is just a fluke. So on Monday I do 3 miles and it still won’t upload and I am getting a little testy. All of a sudden the past two runs disappear without ever uploading and now I am really nuts! So I decide to reset my iPod back to factory settings which was easy enough. However when I went to reinstall all my songs I remember that my music is on my external hard drive and that I had to click each song individually to get them on the stupid thing. Hello we have like 1500 songs now and I get to the H’s and have had enough and go to bed. Next day I get up to continue and like magic every song goes back on my iPod so I am back in business. Restoring the IPod erased my calibration setting which has worked to my favor. Before at the end of 3 miles (according to treadmill) my Nike chip would state I still had another ½ mile left to go. This meant I would go another ½ mile because I wanted the miles right on the Nike website. (I know I have serious neurotic issues). Now my iPod says my 3 miles are complete when treadmill says I still have ½ mile. This is so much better. Makes my pace look faster but at the moment I am doing 14 min/mile.
And now you know why J-Ho calls me CR (crazy Rachel). I am off to bed before some other piece of technology acts up and I go crazy. Oh wait I forgot all about filing Emily’s FASFA. Let’s just say I couldn’t sign electronically because it said my pin was wrong. (Even though I did the “I forgot my pin” and it gave it to me.) I then spent 30 minutes on live chat to be told to submit without signing. Today I got an email stating to go sign it. Well I decided to file an amended one to see what the issue was. I had put my social security number in wrong so once I corrected that I could electronically sign it. Yep this is year one of 12 of dealing with that crap. Oh it was kind enough to tell me that the parent portion is 20,000. Yep CR really has that lying around the house x 7 for a physical therapy degree. Just shoot me now!

 

April 12, 2010

Prom 2010

If you looked at the pictures and wondered why there were none of Brian and I with Emily there is a crazy story behind it. First of all it was our neice Sarah’s first communion and Brian is her Godfather. We both went to the service at one which was just awesome. It was way cool and so was the priest who officiated. I figured it would take an hour at the most and I would be home by 2:15. That was my first mistake. It ran late and Emily had a crises that required running to the store. I finally peel into the garage at 3 just as her prom date was arriving. Brian went over to Sarah’s party so he was not home. We are rushing around getting ready to take pictures when I notice there is a hole in the seam of the butt of her dress. It was put together like pants in the back seam wise. So I bark at her in this panic striken voice get the dress off I have to sew it up. So we go to my room and I start hand sewing it and notice there is another ripping out spot up higher. I say oh this will not work we need the sewing machine. So I take the machine out of the closet and run to the kitchen like the house is on fire. I rip the cover off the machine forgetting i have pins in a little bucket with no lid sitting there and they go flying everywhere. They are actually quilting pins and sharper than regular. I was like crap dont’ have time to clean this up, sit on the pins and sew the seam of the dress up and then do it a second time in like 5 seconds flat. Emily puts dress on and has me put Austin’s flower (no way am I trying to spell that word not using spell check.) Well I adjust it 3 times and then stab my finger with the pin till I almost bleed. I tell him my nerves are shot so if his mom wants to adjust it that is fine. We take about six pictures and on their way they go. The seam held up the whole night which is a good thing because I have a feeling the whole butt would have been out by 9 if I hadn’t notice the small hole. So for everyone that thinks home ec is for losers, it literally saved Emily’s butt for prom!!

 

May 15, 2010

How the Moehlmann’s ended up with a dog

Honestly it all started back at Christmas time for me. It was when my friend Jen K fostered her first dog which just happened to have 3 legs. It was too big for me to even consider but I started watching her status and looking at the other dogs she was fostering. so maybe a month ago I asked her if stray rescue had any other dogs besides pit bulls because lets face it, if you only go by what you see in the media hype who in their right mind would own one of those. So I looked at all the dogs pictures and Trix really stood out to me and then it started. She became a full blooded pit bull that was going to be sweet family one dog one second and the next killing someone so I started doing research on dogs in general. I also started watching the dog whisperer and have purchased 3 of his books. I have learned that any dog can be obnoxious and flip out. However they don’t just flip out for no reason. Most of them start with little issues that get out of control. 99% of pit bulls never attack anyone and are in no way people aggressive but the 1% makes the news. the millions of small mean ass dogs never make the news either. I watched enough to know I would never have the trust to keep a full blooded pit pull. If the dog knows you don’t trust it you are screwed from the begining. So no I don’t own a pit bull and have no intentions of ever doing.
Well I thought about Trix for two weeks before I ever filled out the adoption papers. I showed my husband and my kids. Brian verbalized all the pit bull stuff I heard from everyone else. Then we were notified that Trix was not right for our family. she had never been around kids and was living with the trainers. The adoption coordiantor suggested a few other dogs. 2 ruled out instantly because they were boys, one was huge like 80 pounds (sorry for all you giant dog lovers) and 2 were possiblities. So Soliel was who we talked to first and she came to visit. Brian swore she was going to be a vicious attack dog. he could not believe how calm she was but attributed it to benadryl and being here for 45 minutes. that was on Sunday and it was this past Friday before she came back again. I was excited and so were the kids. Well she puked on the floor from riding in the car but has yet to have an accident in the house. She fell through the pool cover but that needed to be replaced anyway. It was the cheap one that came with the pool that was already duck taped in 4 different places. I took her for a walk right away and used Cesears techniques. she did fairly well but has some leash learning to do. I made sure I was first out the door and in the door. while we were walking this grey hound came charging at us. I stood straight up, claimed my territory and gave the other dog the back off signal and it turned and ran. Oh Cesear would be so proud cause I showed my dog I am a pack leader and protecting her from other dogs! (Ok so I am a little gay too!) She walked past people, dogs behind fences and cars. No barking, no growling no hair raised nothing. She could care less. We did 2 1/2 miles to drain her energy. We took a nap and then the kids came home from school. Let the party begin. by the time the evening was over 8 people had been over and all the dog did when the door bell rang was stand there and wag her tail and then asked to be petted. Brian is wanting to know where his killer dog is. Brian and I went out and kayla, allyson and a friend walked the dog down to the snow cone shack. she bothered no one. This dog is strong and could have easily drug Kayla down the street yet she walked just fine. So night time falls and I put her in her cage. not a peep out of her all night. Brian gets up this morning and dog standing up in cage looking out the door like hey you gonna let me out of here. She has yet to bother the trash. Has no interest in food only gets up on the couch when invited. She is amazing.
Yep I’d only adopt a dog from stray rescue from now on. these people know how to evaluate dogs and I trust them 100%. Of course i haven’t told foster mom yet it’s a go but if I send her the picture of Brian and the dog she would know.
Dogs are great!

 

July 25, 2010

Rachel’s not so random thoughts Big Stuf Session 1

While sitting in the middle of the first session God spoke to me. Not in an audible voice for that would surely make me CR. (crazy Rachel). I could feel it~Rachel you have been questioning why you came ever since you knew you weren’t leading kids. You told yourself they wanted you to come because you are a nurse but you didn’t believe it in your heart. The chances of anyone becoming sick or hurt is rather low so what is your purpose? Your purpose is to write your thoughts out after each session and put them on facebook. (luckily my roommate has a lap top with an air card). During The Love Dare you had a huge following and if you write I promise people will read. People I choose to read. So therefore if you are reading this it is because God chose you to read CR’s crazy thoughts.
First of all I didn’t even make it through the first song before I could feel God’s love for me. this is huge as it was 2 years ago for the first time in my life FELT loved. I knew in my head people loved me but I never FELT it. This is difficult to explain and almost impossible to get others to undrestand unless you (the reader) are as screwed up as me and then you just know.
Jared Herd spoke tonight. Look him up as he is an awesome pastor somewhere in CA I think. This years theme is THINK. Main point the most important thing you think about yourself is what you think about God. I think! I was writing really fast. I don’t even begin to have a clue what that means just yet.
We as a cultrue spend a lot of time looking for the story behiind the story. think about Tiger Woods, Lindsay Lohan, and Brittany Spears. As a culture we want to know the dirt on everyone. We spend a lot of time putting others in the small chair (while we are in the big chair) questioning why they do things and criticizing them while never putting ourselves in the small chair and figuring out why we do what we do.
Our mind and thoughts control our actions. So if we change our thoughts we change our actions.
When you live in CR world things are very small. My parents divorced when I was 5 but stayed friends. we had family dinners together and my parents never spoke ill of each other. I thought I was ok and had no issues. HA! I found out two years ago I had huge fear of abondement issues to the point I shut everyone out. No one was close to me, not even God. Why let him in for surely he would leave me too. Camp 2 years ago was sureal (that note is still in my notes look for it)I heard (not audible of course) and felt Gods love for me. I realized I never gave Brian a chance for as soon as we started dating I kneew one day he would leave me (hard to believe 25 yr annivrsary of our first date is in oct)so I ddin’t allow him to know me. It’s still hard to open up but i am working on this.
So this week I plan to live every moment with the thought God loves me and will never leave me and that will surely guide my actions.
Until session 2 take care!
Love,
CR!

PS I am not doing anything on facebook except for signing in, writing a note and signing it out! No farmville, J-Ho is taking care of my farm.

 

July 30, 2010

Rachels not so random thoughts Big Stuf Session 2

So I ended up with a major headache and then just lost track of time and never did get back on the computer until I got home. I hand wrote (written? beats me) all my notes and will type them out one day at a time. I realized this week I devote way too much time to farmville and I am either going to cut back or quit altogether. I have not decided yet. I haven’t written notes in forever because I have occupied my time doing mindless activities. Anyway on to the note.
My day today started at 6 am. I got up and walked 4 miles on teh beach. It was already super hot and my shirt was almost as sweaty as J-Ho’s. This would be the only day I would walk because i would soon develop a headache that would last 36 hours. After the walk I grabbed a quick shower and sat on the beach for 30 minutes of quiet time. After that it was eat breakfast and session started!
Jared spoke again today and if I was paying attention to what he was talking about he has moved back to the Atlanta area where he is originally from. So CA may be out. His talk was about trying to figure out what God’s will is for your life. Unfortuanlty he didn’t have a clear cut answer and I didn’t get enough out of it to even speak about it in this note. It would be great if God did give us an envelelpe with our life path laid out.
After Jared sppoke the adult leaders go to the leader session with Reggie Joyner. Now he is a dynmaite speaker and I look forward to his talks every year. He talke about having an idea in your head about what a family should look like. He showed a photoshopped picture of 2 perfect adults, with 2 perfect kids and then spoke about how dangerous it is to make that your mission to have each family look like in your church. Well the obvious problem is these people are fake and DO NOT EXIST and the second when you try to obtain this you become seriously frustrated. It is better to look at the story behiind the families. This made total sense an hour ago and I don’t feel like I am doing this justice.
He then stated on 23% of familes are in the traditional sector as in kids with orignial parents who are married to each other. Everyone else is blended, single or some other combination. So as a kid with divorced parents I was in the minority and as an adult still married to my original husband I am still in the monirity. As for my picture of what I thought my family would look like as an adult it would be just me and maybe a dog or two. I am still not sure how a husband and three kids made it inot my picture. If I tried to mold my family to that perfect family picture Reggie showed I would be very disappointed and it just isn’t possible anyway. I never really tried because I didn’t really see a family as 2 adults and kids all living together.
Back to something Jared said. He ended his talk by asking what God would tink and say about you. So here is what I think God would say Rachel are you ever going to fully believe that you are so much more than just the smart one? You are funny, kind, giving, and caring and I knew exactly what I was doing when I made you!
CR

 

July 31, 2010

Rachel’s not so random thoughts Big Stuf Session 3

Session 3 was led by a really funny guy named Duffy Robins and the topic was unthinkable. As in where is God when the unthinkable happens? Your faith will be defined when everything falls apart not when things go as planned. He then spoke about stories in the bible that didn’t go as planned and let me tell you those people were really messed up! Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. Goad had Hoseah a prophet marry a prostitute named Gomer. Can you imagine trying to explain that one and just exactly what was God thinking anyway? Adam and Eve had one kid murder the other kid and it just goes on and on.
He then spoke about John the Baptist questioning Jesus if he was who he said he was. The dude baptized Jesus and heard that voice speak from the sky that said this is my son whom I am well pleased with. (CR paraphrase of course). And this John guy didn’t even ask Jesus himself, he sent other people to do it.
Many people walk away from God when he does not fit into their plans. It takes surrender instead of control to walk with God. It takes falling apart to realize only God can put it back together.
As a person with a high need to control this is not ever easy but a daily struggle. I have had a severe headache for about seven hours now so this is all I am writing.
CR

 

August 1, 2010

Rachel’s not so random thoughts Big Stuf Session 4

God calls ordinary people to do extra ordinary things. This is the theme thought the bible. Peter did all kinds of crazy things like deny Jesus three times and he still went on to do great things. Remember when he chopped the guy’s ear off and Jesus had to put it back on. Would have like to see that? Jesus “peter really you just did that? What were you thinking? You should know by now that is not how I work. Give me the ear back and hand me the sword.” Peter asked Jesus as he was walking on the water if it were really Jesus. Seriously dude you have been with Jesus every day for years and you aren’t sure? So Jesus told him to come on out to him. Peter made it a ways before he became fearful and started sinking. Stepping out of the box (or out of the boat) and doing great things is hard. To do what no one else does, you must think like no else does. Hey I am halfway there as I have had both my father and my nursing instructor for pediatric clinicals tell me I don’t think like a normal person. I use to think that it was a not so good thing but it could be a really great thing after all. It certainly makes me who I am today.
If God could do what he did with the disciples what can he do with you?

 

August 4, 2010

Rachel’s not so random thoughts Big Stuf Session 5

I heard Stuart Hall spoke and it was awesome. I will be purchasing the camp audio and listening to it soon. I spent the afternoon at the ER with a camper. She was ok, just had a bladder infection. So I spent my time checking out the hospital. It took 2 hours to e taken to a room. It seems like where I work the goal is 30 minutes. The doctor made it in before the nurse which I found interesting. They used the same IV pumps as I do. They also carried the same zone phones as I do. I guess they are called zone phones and not cell phones because they only work inside the hospital. I won’t discuss how many times I made it to my car and heard this beeping and went crap I forgot to turn the phone in. This place had the same dress code too. The nurses were in blue and white and the techs in Gumby green. I found that really strange! All the tests and blood work took about the same amount of time. (As in forever or it just seemed that way.) Once it was time for discharge they were in to do that in like five seconds and we were out of there.
This is the night where the camp talks about following Jesus. 51 kids from our church stood up and said they wanted to follow Jesus. That was so awesome, I was sorry I missed it but knew I was where God wanted me to be. I prayed for all of them because returning to the real world and all the peer pressure will be so hard!

 

August 4, 2010

Rachel’s not so random thoughts Big Stuf Session 6

The people you surround yourself with directly influence the direction of your life. My parents must have known this because one or two of the people I hung around with they didn’t like. Now that I am grown up (at least by my chronological age) I can see why. I know the path they took and it was certainly not one neither my parents nor I (now) would have wanted me to take.
Stuart did an incredible visual presentation that words will not do justice too but I will try. (Upon returning home I swiped someone’s picture of this and will post with the note). He had a big clear Rubbermaid box with the word YOU written on it. Then he talked about once you accepted Jesus into your life (that was the talk that occurred the night before while I was at the hospital) He lives in you. He then took a smaller clear Rubbermaid box with the word CHRIST written on it and put it inside the YOU box. He began speaking about the light of Christ shining through you. He had the lights turned off in the room so you could see the two boxes and Christ was showing through the YOU on the ox. It was so powerful I couldn’t stop looking long enough to fumble around and take pictures. He then went back to speaking about how influences cause the light of Christ to be covered up to where people only see YOU. He took a black blanket and would cover and uncover the Christ lighted box. It was so freaking awesome.
In the parent session today Reggie talked about reaching out to the college aged kids. That often churches say yeah they graduated and now we are done. They assume the kids will wander on their own and be back in church when they have kids of their own. The tats on this are pretty low, like only 25% will actually return. However what would happen if churches engaged kids at this age. After all they are making major decisions, like careers, spouses and where to live. Yep I’d say this is an important age!

 

August 4, 2010

Rachel’s not so random thoughts Big Stuf Session 7

Session 7
Tonight was broadcasted via the internet. How totally awesome is that? Technology is so amazing. It was a totally different set up tonight than the previous two years I have been. No one spoke tonight but the audience interacted with a screen by talking, singing, sitting, and standing. The music was so phenomenal this week and I have a few new songs to add to my jammin Jesus folder on iTunes. Nothing better to walk to than that!
Since there wasn’t a message to write about I thought I’d outline what a day at camp is like. Our entire church (240 people this year-shooting for 500 next year in case any of you have teenagers that would like to go) is up and on the beach at 0:730 for small group and quiet time. The leaders have a topic each day to talk about for 10 to 15 minutes and then the kids spread out and pray or write or do something being quiet until 0:800. After this it is breakfast time and then everyone gets ready for the morning session at 9:15. The sessions are so much fun, nothing like traditional church growing up. It starts out with Frisbee throwing and games. This year they did minute to win it and a couple kids would be on stage doing crazy things. Then the band would sing and then someone would deliver the message (or sermon if you like to call it that). That lasts till around 11 and then the college and adult leaders go their own room to listen to Reggie speak and the kids stay behind. They listened to the Drama Children’s Choir one day and the skit kids performed who are hilarious. After that it’s lunch and then free time on the beach. Dinner is from 5 to 6 and then all the kids come back to the beach for quiet time from 6:30 to 7:00. After that the evening session starts at 7:47 and the kids are pumped. The noise in the hallway waiting to go into the room is LOUD. Think about 1500 teenagers yelling and screaming. It is so awesome!! Session is over around 9:30 or 10:00 and then the kids go out onto the beach in small groups with their leaders and talk. Curfew is 11:30 and everyone has to be in their rooms. NO exceptions. The entire camp is pumped so trying to fall asleep before 12:30 or 1:00 is almost impossible and then the day starts over again.
So for everyone reading my crazy writing Big Stuf camp is by far the best week of the year. God is here and he shows up and does big things. The text THINK to 50555 has raised 90,000 in six weeks just 5 bucks at a time. I do believe Pastor Tom is right; it’s the closest place to Heaven on earth. It’s five days of nothing but thinking about God, singing about God, talking about God and feeling God’s presence. Isn’t that what Heaven is going to be all about.
A lot of God stuff has happened since I returned home. I will share that in the next day or so. Who would have ever believed Casey Darnell (he was main singer, worship leader at camp) friend requesting me (yeah I jumped around the house over that one like a love crazed teenagers and said ha ha Casey friend requested me) last winter would lead to a major thing at camp which would tie directly into what I do at work. Yep God is big and God is here!!

 

August 6, 2010

God, a friend request and a great song

So sometime last fall or winter (I can’t really remember) Casey Darnell friend requested me. He is the worship leader for Big Stuf camp. I remember thinking wow why is he friend requesting me but figured it had something to do with mutual Oak Bridge Community church friends. So during one of the camp sessions he spoke about how last summer he found out he and his wife were expecting a baby and how they shared it with the interns and it was happy time. Then after camp was over they lost their baby. As soon as he finished that sentence there was God again saying (not in an audible voice, cause surely I am crazy but not schizophrenic) now you know why the whole friend request thing happened and write him when you get home from camp. So I did on about six hours of sleep and he probably thought I was either really nice or a total nut job. Actually for those of you that know me from the pregnancy loss point of view I have a gift from God concerning pregnancy loss parents and I really shouldn’t joke about it. Anyway so I wrote him and didn’t think anything more about it. Tuesday was my first day back at work after camp. Amy called me and said it is ten and time for me to call you. I really thought I was off that day so I was like what are you talking about I am off work. Well I wasn’t and another nurse wanted to go home so I said let me jump in shower and I will be there by 11:15. On the way to work I decided to listen to Casey’s song When the Waters Rise and I didn’t listen to it once, I listened to it seven times in a row and I was thinking this song would be perfect for the Heart print (St. Johns program for moms who have lost a baby either through miscarriage, ectopic, stillbirth or neonatal death) patients. So I went to work that day and we had a heart print patient and I so wished I had a copy of his song with me. So I was telling Megan about it and I was like let me look on the internet and see if I can find the words. Yep I found them on Casey’s site and printed them off and gave them to the patient. He wrote the song when he and his wife lost the baby and it based on Isaiah 43. I am pretty sure at some time after Andrew’s death Pastor Kevin told me to read that as well. After this I sent Casey another message and he answered me. He is a totally cool guy (who could probably be my kid, if I had him at a young age which makes me feel older than dirt, however Dan P told me I look 23 so I listen to him.) with a great voice. I will include the link to listen to the song on Utube. If you like you can purchase it from iTunes for .99. It will be the best dollar you ever spent. To all of my tightwad friends, don’t be getting it for free of lime wire or any of those other sites or God will strike you dead! Ha!

If it doesn’t publish as a link copy and paste in your browser or write on my wall and I will post it as many times as possible. I think I am turning into the oldest groupie ever! Totally kidding!

 

October 11, 2010

10/11/85 was our blind date, not the hockey game!

I always knew scrapbooking would come in handy to help me remember things; I just had no idea it would make me realize that for twenty years I have had the blind date/hockey date all confused. When Jen pointed out there was no game on 10/11/85, I went to my scrapbook and sure enough the hockey tickets said 11/2/85. I had written a note to the side that our first date was in October and to think all these years I thought it was in September. I called and attempted to share this with Brian but he was so aggravated about having to pay to park on the street at his current job site that he didn’t even seem to care we were both crazy. I am sure when he returns from golf he will give me trouble.
Our blind date was crazy. My friend from high school set us up because she was dating Brian’s friend and she knew I liked skinny guys. Brian certainly fit that category as he weighed 120 pounds back them. I remember them pulling up in front of the house and Brian, my friend and her date and her date’s brother all get out of the car. Yes folks we had a fifth wheel for the date. So my sister in true form is spying out the window and yells that I am overdressed because the boys are wearing jeans and t-shirts. Then she sees Lisa and tells me I look fine. Keep in mind I am wearing a white sweater with fluorescent plaid pants on. Hey it was the 80’s what can I say. Brian was wearing and AC / DC Fly on the wall concert t-shirt that he still has to this day. He put it on last year and now weighs 30 pounds more with massive muscles so it just looked hilarious. It was like he was the Hulk.
So off to the car we go. The fifth wheel drives, my friend and Brian’s friend are in the back seat and Brian and I cram into the front seat. It’s a stick so fifth wheel has Brian shifting for him while they make stupid boy jokes. We end up going to south county mall and walking around. Somehow ended up at Styx Baer and Fuller (located where Dillard’s is today) furniture section looking at mattresses. So after that little trip we go to a guy named Johnny’s house. He would turn out to be Brian’s “boyfriend” as they have gone to Canada several times fishing. This was in Johnny’s drinking days so he had a keg of beer on tap. Everyone helped themselves except for me because I was a total Miss Priss back in the day. Next we stopped by Hardees in Arnold (now a Chic Filet is located there) where my friend worked. We invited a co9uple of her friends back to Brian’s house to play pool. I met my future mother in law that very first night as she was home. They had just gotten a new dog Gypsy who was a miniature dachshund. She was in the process of being housebroken and had had an accident in her cage. Brian’s mom was all embarrassed. So I attempted to play pool but mostly just watched.
They took me home and I think I got a peck on the cheek. I informed my mother, I had met the man I was going to marry. I had already had plans to go see my previous boyfriend at college in the next couple of weeks. That is why it was a while before the next date. However, once we started dating Brian would only call me on Wednesday’s to talk on the phone. We would talk for three hours. He said if we talked more often we would get bored with each other. Oh to be young and crazy again.

 

November 10, 2010

CR’s crazy day!

Before I tell about today I must back the truck up as the story starts last Thursday. I had received the cell phone bill and was carefully checking it out since I just bought the new iphone. Well I noticed that Emily’s line had some 9.99 reoccurring charge on it. So you’d think the website would have a phone number listed on the main page to call with billing questions. Heck no after running around in circles from web page to web page I finally found a number to call. I had them put a thing on our phones that if anyone tries to download ringtones or subscribe to stuff they have to know the password. Companies are getting very sneaky at this as last week Brian was trying to look up marinade recipes and they wanted a cell phone number. That was for the sole purpose of slapping us with a monthly fee to some stupid service. Luckily he did not do it. I was on the phone for 15 minutes and probably the internet another 15. I figured after that all would be good.
So today I get up to get Allyson ready for school and I can’t find her shoes. She only has one pair because she hates shoes and is extremely picky. They are nowhere to be found because she left them in Brian’s truck the night before. Now on Monday afternoon Brian fired me because we were out of food and he had to buy the kids fast food. I quickly called his cell phone and left him a message telling him he was fired for having the shoes in his truck. So I wait till the store opens and buy her a pair of shoes and take her to school. When I return the dog has managed to get the Tupperware chip bucket off the counter and try to chew through that to eat the chips. She was unsuccessful so I say to her we will go on a walk as soon as I am done with the bills. I had noticed the day before that my 47 I tune credit from the gift card I received from the iphone is down to zero and I know I have to find a way to contact them because everyone swears they didn’t purchase anything. However I had been on that website the night before for 20 minutes going in circles with no way to contact them either. So I tackle the bills and notice the home phone has a 15 long distance charge on it. Ok we always use or cell phones for that. I have to search att website for 10 minutes before I finally say screw it and call a number to get a real person. After 15 minutes the girl says the call was made to Canada. I was like we don’t know anyone in Canada so just as she is going to reverse the charge I remember Brian called the fishing place in Canada about going there in two years. I tell her never mind and she asks if there is anything else she can do. I say yeah find me a new husband and we both laugh. So I call Brian for the second time today and tell him he is fired. Then I decide to tackle the iTunes issue. I finally decide to lie and say I have a problem with my iphone so I can talk to a real person. She was awesome and showed me where to look to see what had been purchased. Yep I’d say it was Kayla and when she gets home we are going to review the apps she has vs. what was purchased. I then go to fill out the rebate for her contacts and can’t find two boxes of her contacts. That’s it, I tell Soleil we are going for a walk and we do four miles. I decide since I am 34 weeks behind on Rob Bell sermons I will listen to him while walking. I have it up full blast and can barely hear him. So I figure if I walk on road I can’t listen to Rob. Well 40 minutes into the walk I remember there was a setting in iTunes on the iphone for the volume control of iTunes. I go to it and turn it up all the way and I can now hear Rob Bell. Great too bad I had to strain the entire first half of the walk.
Now I try to plan who is going to take the kids tomorrow and faraday as Brian and I have plans. Oh the joy of being CR. This would be hysterical if it weren’t ME!