Song of deliverance

Hi, everyone! It's been a while, I know. Getting all set up in a new home may take just a week for some of you, but I like to pace myself - I'm a big believer in spreading the joy :-) We just had our first visitors last weekend which forced us to pick up the pace (basement carpet has been cleaned and stretched and upstairs carpet shall be installed by the end of the week). DH's brother and sister-in-law came to see us and were also a big help in getting some other little projects accomplished around here, so things are looking up! We even managed to get an antenna in the attic so Craig Ferguson from the Late Late Night Show (after Letterman) is once again back in my life... Ah, the simple pleasures!

But all this also means less time for mamacita here to spend browsing the internet and killing an hour or two writing some fun stories. Well, a while back a friend asked me (after reading my blog) if I was a writer by trade. While flattered, I quickly rushed to say no, but in the back of my mind, a little voice was saying "What about that compilation book on twin stories?" The thing is, as a member of the twins club in my area, a writer got in touch with the club asking for several short stories on life with twins. She got responses from all over the country and picked some she deemed appropriate for the book. I submitted two stories and they both made it into the book. The other thing that came to my mind was that (don't laugh now), as the twins club Chaplain for the last two years (I told you not to laugh!!) I had the opportunity to write articles for the club newsletter.

So, what follows right now is one of my Chaplain articles. It seemed to have connected with a lot of people based on the response I got. Twins or singletons, motherhood takes a lot out of you, but eventually it gives it all back tenfold! The purpose of these articles were mainly to encourage everyone to just hang in there. Hope you enjoy it!!

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"YOU ARE MY HIDING PLACE; YOU WILL PROTECT ME FROM TROUBLE AND SURROUND ME WITH SONGS OF DELIVERANCE" ~~ Psalm 32:7

We’ve all experienced that moment: you hear a song on the radio, or at the mall, or at a doctor’s office, and all of a sudden, you’re transported to a specific time of your life. Like "the" song they played at your high school prom or the song to which you fell in love with your husband.
Sometimes, it’s not so much an exact moment of your life, but rather, a phase. Stop and think: what song brings you back to your first stumbling days, months or years of motherhood? For me, if I were to be absolutely honest with you, that song would be "Unwell" by Matchbox 20. The chorus goes something like this:

"I’m not crazy I’m just a little unwell
I know that right now you can’t tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you’ll see
A different side of me"

Oh, boy, it only takes a few days of no sleep and bad eating habits to make you feel very unwell. Many a days I found that being my theme song and wondering where this different side of me came from.

But you know what? There’s hope! The days go by and turn into months and years in which your kids get older and you learn to cope. Sometimes because God placed angels in your path disguised as wonderful spouses, relatives, friends or neighbors. Sometimes, you had to learn to cope on your own. Whatever the case may be, one thing is for sure: there’s just no one song that will define your entire life. The top 20 hits on the radio change daily. So will the songs that mark important stages of your life.

I know that’s definitely been the case with me. I’ve had a different theme song for the last few years now, to which I even play air guitar and throw my long curly hair around (much to the delight of my son and embarrassment of my daughter – go figure?!) whenever I happen to hear it on the radio. It’s "Better Now" by Collective Soul. Here’s a little bit of it:

"Yeah, yeah, oh I’m newly calibrated
Yeah, yeah, all shiny and clean
Yeah, yeah, I’m your recent adaptation
Yeah, yeah, time to redefine me
Let the word out. I’ve got to get out
Oh, I’m feeling better now
Break the news out, I’ve got to get out
Oh, I’m feeling better now"

What is your song of deliverance? Here’s hoping and praying you get out there and get a good one!

And like flint, we're in!!

Well, we've been in our new home for a week now. Half of the boxes are gone (I'm pacing myself and spreading the joy - ha!). Wow! I'm really learning to love this place! The fall days are gorgeous and just perfect for the kids to ride their bikes to school. I know it won't last and it will get too cold for that before too long but for the moment we're enjoying it.

On moving day, our friend Kittie, unbeknownst to DH, sent an email to coworkers and 5 guys (including DH's boss) and another sweet girl from work showed up to help us haul all the furniture into the house. I was sooooo thankful for our friend's quick thinking and all I had to do was provide the food & beer. They were done in about 2 hours.

Of course, now that all the furniture is in the house (remember, hind sight is 20/20) I decided that no, I cannot leave with the brown carpet upstairs, and we're on the hunt for the last few days for new carpet. Let's call it my "fix" for not being able to paint the outside of the house yet...

Baby girl is having her first sleep over tonight at her BFF's house who lives a couple of blocks from us. Baby boy already has had playdates and they are both now into the Pokemon trading card fever. Lord, help me. I was actually shocked last Sunday when my door bell rang: through the glass panel I was able to see baby girl's BFF's face who just showed up by herself, on her bike, to see if they could play. I'm so not used to that and it was so cool!

But for those of you who may be under the illusion that this move/transition has all been smoother than a baby's but for me, you'll take heart into knowing that into every sunny day a little rain must fall, and I was definitely caught without my umbrella on our last day living at our friend's house. As I'm loading the car with the last of our boxes to get going to our first night at the new home, the kids were going berserk with anticipation. To get them out of my hair, I told them to go ride their bikes one last time while I finished loading the car. Well, someone misunderstood me (I won't name names) and as she left the house, locked the door behind her. This was 3 pm. As I tried going back in for more boxes and realized what had happened, I was pretty miffed. After we tried every single way back into the house, my self restrain came crashing down and I had a little cry fest. For the next 3 hours, we visited the neighbor to the left, who was not home. Then on our way back, missed the neighbor to the right who was just leaving in his pick up. With my purse inside the house, which contained car keys and cell phone, we were pretty much stucked sitting in the garage. For a while we even road our bikes, then just sat in misery (OK, I was in misery - the kids were playing with rocks!). Finally I saw one of the neighbors get home, around 6:15 pm and said neighbor happened to have, as I was hoping, our friend's number and I was able to find her spare key. I haven't memorized any of DH's new phone numbers yet.

By then, DH who had planned on going straight to the new house, had already left several messages on my cell and on our friend's house phone. He was also on his way to the house fearing that some ax murderer had gotten hold of us. So, yes it could have been worse but don't try telling me that just yet. I'm trying to recover from the trauma still.

Oh, yeah, and we finally got internet installed in the house, and also got a home phone number yesterday. The kids have started piano and guitar back up at a very nice conservatory nearby. My Jazzercize cronies continue to haunt me and, who knows, I might give in sooner or later... Speaking of that, they offer Jazzercize Junior here (for kids) and both my kids decided to try it out for a bit: they're rehearsing some musical number from High School Music to perform at one of the Middle School basketball games in a couple of months! I can't wait!

Catch you all later. I hear boxes calling my name...

A weekend of "firsts"...

All right, first of all, thank you Shelia for being my on-line blog consultant :-) As soon as I have full access to my computer at the new house (you know, when I can get DSL again and it doesn't take me forever to open any links, etc) I plan to dedicate a serious amount of time to my beloved blog (I'll need breaks from all the unpacking after all).


And, as far as the outside color of the house, I want some ocean/teal/blue sort of color. Something cheerful... A girlfriend suggested getting the front door painted some strong red, and that might be an excellent idea to hold me over for a couple of years... Thanks, Annette!

Well, last Saturday, DH came up with this crazy idea, which the kids were all over it in no time at all: attend a Tractor Pull - it's so much fun... Yeah, I'll give you a moment to mentally picture ME in the midst of a Tractor Pull since I did not even bother bringing a camera (I didn't want any proof left over for posterity that I ever attended such an event!). Suffice it to say that a Demolition Derby is a thousand times more entertaining. On the way back, I made DH stop and get me one of the "dangling carrots" he promised me for moving to WI: a new Dyson vacuum cleaner (don't worry - I have a long list for him).

Sunday though, was a lot better. DH acquired some tickets for the Packer game at Lambeau Field against the Cowboys (are you guys following me??). That was a lot of fun! I'll tell you what - it was like walking into a State Fair from where we parked all the way to the stadium! They really go all the way here with green & yellow gear. Not to feel out of place (since I was the only one in the family without Packer gear) we went to Sports Authority the day before and got me a hoodie since I couldn't find an Aaron Rodgers jersey that would fit me.

Anyway, we had our tailgate party in the parking lot along with a gazillion other people, marched into the stadium and had a terrific time (not taking the final score into consideration here). As we entered the stadium they gave each of us a Packer flag to wave during the game. They also had sign making stations throughout the stadium so that you could make your sign right there if you forgot to bring one from home. How nice! I sat next to a very nice older gentleman who has been a season ticket holder for forever, and he was ever so nice, cluing me in to when the F-18 jets were gonna fly over the stadium, explaining to me who the funny fellow in the sidelines with the neon orange cooking gloves was and what he was doing, and sharing more game trivia than I can remember now. I tried to reply as if I knew more football than I really do, but I either faked well or he just humored me. As I was trying to take a picture of Randy and the kids, a very nice Packer fan just stopped and offered to take the picture of all of us (and I saw that happen around me as well). They are all so nice! Some Packer fan guys had platinum blond wigs on and I couldn't figure out why till DH explained it was a salute of sorts to Jessica. It was pretty funny. Next time I'll take a picture!

The kids had a good time and were actually well behaved for the most part. They did get bored at about half time but when we offered to leave a bit before the end of the 4th quarter (if you watched the game you can understand why) they actually refused and we stayed trough the end. Green Bay is about 2 hours from home, and the game ended past 10:30 pm, but they had a nice little nap on the way home. Now that we have fulfilled our promise to take them to a Packer game at Lambeau Field, we decided that if at all possible, we're gonna find a sitter for the next game we attend. Who know, maybe the little darlings are the ones who jinxed the game... yeah, that's what happened!

A humble abode...

Check it out - added a pic of the house, but as I still am not all that savvy on the layout arrangement, it placed the picture all the way at the bottom of the blog. The color of the house (the outside, that is) is not to my liking exactly, but as the previous owners just had it painted before placing it on the market, DH is trying to get me to consider waiting a couple of years before we repaint... We'll see!

What to do, what to do??

Believe it or not it's back to warmer days here now (go figure - now that I've located the kids' jackets!). They still need it in the morning when it's around 60 degrees but later it warms up to 78... then back cool again in the evenings.

You know, it took a lot of cajoling for me to finally do this blog, but I can see the merits of it now (anytime friends or family wander what we're up to, they can just check out the blog) and also its downfall (it's a very very public diary of sorts so you have to bear that in mind when writing - For the X-rated version go to http://www.yadayadayada.com/ ha!). Anyway, I'm still learning the ins and outs, only managed to get one picture in there, but once we're installed in our new home in 2 weeks I'll have more time and leisure to work at the computer. Speaking of that, we JUST signed the closing docs on the new place today (this morning)! Kind of exciting!!! I plan on posting a picture later tonight. Check it out! You won't be disappointed... he, he, he!

My kids' school here doesn't have a Volunteer Room like they did back in Texas, but I've already been recruited to assist in the library on occasional Wednesdays. I've been waiting for us to be completely moved into the new house before I can go to the PTA people and suggest something like we had in Texas. You see, they had this room filled with die-cut machines, a laminate machine, a binding machine and all sorts of art supplies. The teachers in the entire school would send any projects they needed help with there and once a week, several volunteer moms would meet there and try to get as much of it done as possible. I've been helping in there ever since the kids started kindergarten, and then this last year I was actually in charge of it. It was a lot of work but also a tremendous amount of fun. This meant that all those cutesy calendars, hearts, and journals that our kids got to work on while learning several different things wasn't entirely on the teachers' shoulders. In my view, it worked great because it left the teachers with more time to do what they're trained for, which is to teach, but it also made it more fun for the kids because they weren't just learning from books and such, but using different tools that capture their interest in a different way. Besides, the stories we got to hear from other moms were just too good. It was such a great way to make friends. One of our volunteer moms turned out to have been Miss Louisiana in 1991. We made her bring the video tape of that and just had a blast watching it (looking good, Christi!).

My new Jazzercise place here is also cool, sort of like a miniature version of the Rec Center in Texas. The ladies are all very nice but there are only 2 instructors teaching. And, wouldn't you know, the first time I had a class with the owner, she comes to me at the end of class and starts on the "You need to be an instructor, girl!" speech. (Rhonda, did you call her?!) I had to laugh! You know, I really would LOVE to be able to do that, and I know I can do it (and do it well) when there's an instructor up there. But I just can't see how I'd manage to remember what arm goes with what routine and how many times, while you're reciting what happened on Desperate Housewives last night and who you kid went to prom with over the weekend! I mean, those girls are multi tasking to the extreme! We'll see. I've been bored enough lately (I'm sure that will change when we start unpacking in 2 weeks) that I'm actually thinking a bit more serious about it.... I'll keep you posted.

I often think of our niece Jennifer when I'm taking the kids to school. Beatrice found us this scenic route that is just beautiful: lots of tree tunnels, lakes, cow pastures and corn fields. Jennifer would be very proud of me - after only 3 days I manage to turn Beatrice off and drive to and from school without her assistance. Of course, my elation at not depending on her for every turn was short lived when last week, I got a little cocky and decided to stop at a supermarket on the way and that took a little more detouring than I thought it should have, so back to work Beatrice goes....

The reason I think of Jennifer is because she used to come visit us in Texas all the time when she had a break from Nursing School (now that she has graduated and joined the work force, her schedule doesn't allow for that kind of freedom anymore). But, coming from a small town in IL, it always amazed that within a few visits she had already figured out where our house and The Galleria Shopping Mall was in relation to the Tollway. I've been visiting DH's family in small town IL for over 10 years now, and whenever I had to go anywhere on my own, he still had to draw me a map of cornfields, cow pastures and any other landmarks (and I use that term loosely) or I'd really be lost. Of course, that is now a thing of the past since Beatrice came into our lives - provided it's not a cloudy day that would obstruct her view from the nearest satellite.

Oh, good news: I'm not going to the library for Internet access anymore. Found this Asian restaurant that has two computers that patrons can use for free and they don't kick you out in 30 minutes... then again, there's only so many egg rolls I can eat per day :-) Catch you later.

To clarify...

OK, lest you start passing judgement on Jazzercise, and just assume that it's your old grandma's Jazzercise, I dare you - no, I double dare you to take a class and then think Jazzercise is anything but the coolest most fun way of exercising. I'm telling you: never would have thought an hour of exercising could go by so fast and be so much fun. I encourage you to look them up, find the closest one to your house and give it a try. They usually offer a visitor free class - ask about it.

And speaking of that, Mary Beth asked me what Personal Touch is. It's basically a personal trainer session, but they usually open it up to groups of 5 people or so. Because it's such a small group, the instructor is able to go from person to person and fix your position, making sure you are using the proper muscle groups to get the most benefit out of that particular exercise. It's amazing how many times I thought I was doing it just right, and after PT, realized that I was a bit off the mark. You can always tell you are finally doing it right because your muscles are so much more sore than before!

Oh, I finally figured out how to add a picture to this blog, but as I'm not that savvy yet, it placed the picture of Truman & I at our morning coffee spot at the very end of the log (so you have to scroll all the way down). I know, I need to also add a picture of the new house, but bear with me... baby steps, you know! Have I mentioned that I'm working with limited resources here? From working in a kitchen which does not come equipped with a garlic press or lime squeezer (the horror!!) to having to wait till DH comes home with his laptop to use a dial up connection (because we're in the middle of nowhere and DSL is not available here).

But these things too shall pass (now would be good :-). Oh well, 23 more days and we'll be moving into our new place and then I'll be plenty busy unpacking and finding all the little gadgets I miss so much. Can't wait!

School/Jazzercise is back on!

Yeah, school started the day after Labor Day here, so that means the kids are now out there interacting with other kids, making friends, learning and, just as important, not watching Sponge Bob Square Pants so much!

I was so excited when I picked them up at the end of the first day, as Madison brought along a friend to meet me. This little girl lives in the same neighborhood we will be in by the end of the month and she walks to school. The next day, this same friend asked if Madison could stay for another hour after school to join her Brownie Troop (the prelude to Girl Scouts...). Of course, I couldn't say no, so Madison is now officially a Brownie and already earned her first patch at that meeting. She's super excited about knowing she'll have friends from school in the same neighborhood.

Dorian has also made many friends but has told me it's too early to make any pronouncements on best friends yet. Beatrice found us a nice back road to get back home from the school, and yesterday we saw two deers and one doe. I stopped in the middle of the road and they just stood there and looked at us! So close - it was so amazing!

And, with the kids gone most of the day, it was more than time for me to find my new Jazzercise haven! When I was looking at locations on-line, I noticed that several places around here meet at churches, which didn't sound very appealing to me (how can you get groovy with it at a church??). Just my luck, wouldn't you know, the closest place to my house, which is actually across the street from the kids' school - how convenient - is at a church? Well, I was so Jazzercise starved that I didn't pay much attention to anything except signing up and starting right away. Well, once I started, I finally looked around and realized that, the room we exercise in is about a quarter of the size of the place I was used to in Texas. It also does not have wood floors or mirrors. Not to be the inflexible import, though, I still gave it a try for two days because, after all, it's within walking distance. But in the back of my mind, I began to realize that in the long run, I was not gonna be very happy in those crowded conditions.

So, I went in search of the next closest Jazzercise, which is about 8 miles from the house, and, bless my poor exercise deprived soul, is at a Dance Studio, which means it has wood floors and mirrors, not to mention that it is a lot more spacious. Today was my first day there and I loved it! They even offer Personal Touch so that will be awesome. Not as loud of a crowd as my Texas bunch (miss you Francine, Allison & Susan), but once I get them warmed up to my short shirts, I intend to let my hair down.... Watch out!