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Ronald Reagan will forever be remembered as the “Trickle down” guy (suddenly that sounds like a major Depends malfunction. ew!). I actually agree with his economic “baby” and just like many other principles, it applies to more than economics.
Trickle down works in families too. There’s that obnoxiously true saying… come on, repeat it with me, “If mama ain’t happy…” Seriously, the day I realized how true that was was started a huge change in my home. Does that mean I’m always “happy” now? No, but I do have better control over how I express my displeasure and that control seems to have extended to limiting how often I am truly… um… dis-pleasured. The same is true for older children. Their misbehavior and disobedience/defiance often sets the tone for the younger children. Pretty soon, you have not just disrespectful oldest, but four kids all clamoring for most obnoxious child of the month.
However, it is amazing how correcting the attitudes in yourself or one of your children can have a positive cause and effect in the rest of them. Johnny has gotten away with being mouthy and rude for far too long and finally mom has had it. She realizes he’s mirroring her in too many ways so not only does she have to put a stop to it in him, but she has to stop her own lousy attitude as well. She learns to bite her tongue, stops the backtalk every time it happens, and sure enough, the rest of the children slowly follow suit.
Photo and others amazing photos can be purchased from istockphoto.com
Of course, this often reveals other problems you’ve missed due to being so annoyed at the smart mouthing. Susie isn’t completing her work in a timely manner or is bossing the younger children. It’ s amazing how weeding out one type of weed in the garden… making sure you have every one of those dandelions gone… reveals a bunch of fox tails!
Trickle down works both ways. You get to choose whether the good is trickling down or the bad. Your attitudes, behavior, and demeanor sets a tone that your older children will imitate and in turn, your younger children will learn. Start with self, don’t wait to perfect it, just start there, and then move onto weeding the gardens of your children’s hearts before the weeds choke out the seeds that you’ve been trying to plant there.
Buy this and other cool pictures from Istockphoto.com
No, I’m not becoming a tree-hugger. I’m not about to start avoiding disposable pads or diapers, and I do not plan to issue chalk and chalkboards to the kids for drawing.
I’m talking about the green stuff we all hope is in our wallets. Yeah the “M” word. Money, Mammon… you name it, we want it.
It just occurred to me today that we hear a lot about “disposable income”. I think this deceptively innocuous word holds a huge explanation for a lot of spending waste in American families. We are the disposable generation. We dispose of everything from paper towels and plates to toilet bowl scrubbers and last year’s wife. We (this is a collective society we, not personally or implying that everyone does this) buy new cars every five years and even inconvenient children are quickly disposed of before they have a chance to be born.
So, when economists and marketing projectors talk about ‘consumers’ or disposable income, it really does fit into a mindset that has slowly brainwashed our nation. I know what it means. I know this is an issue of semantics. Disposable income is simply the income available to be used as we’d like after our obligations are met. Technically speaking it isn’t talking about tossing it away when we no longer want it. However, I remember my English lessons in PACEs. They clearly deliniated the line between denotation and connotation. Denotation is, of course, the dictionary definition of any given word. The actual meaning. Connotation, is the implied meaning of a word in the context of speaking. I can say, with sarcasm, that I love paying a fortune for gas. In context and with the inflection of my voice, the connotation would lead you to understand that I do not mean that I (denotation) truly do love to pay high prices for petroleum.
There is also the power of suggestion. If someone tells you, often enough and especially if very subtly that spending money on xyz is wasteful, it is likely that eventually, you’ll come to hold that position unless you are of tremendously strong mind. There is a saying that “fiction, repeated often enough, becomes fact in the public mind.” We can all see where this is true in our every day life. Advertising makes a killing every year promoting this very concept. They flash their information on the screen, magazine, or in the radio spot often enough, that it’s hard to forget that people ever got by without Direct TV or Verizon wireless.
Disposable income is a potentially scary terminology because it has, at its base, denotation that can subtly override connotation (just as connotation often overrides denotation). We hear it often enough in a society that has disposable everything, and then we find ourselves treating it as if it was truly disposable.
I wonder what would happen if we all woke up tomorrow, looked at our bank balance, and realized that we truly do have no guarantee that any more income will come trickling in. I wonder what would happen if when we started placing things on conveyer belts at the grocery store and discount store and department store and craft store and toy store and clothing store and…. What would happen if we looked at each thing with a futuristic eye. Some questions that I plan to try to learn to think of in my “going green to keep the green” are…
- Will I have this item, the memory of it, or the benefits from it, in a month?
- Will I know that my money went to this item when I look at the bank balance next week and still be glad I bought it?
- Will this truly enhance my life?
- Is it likely to make me desire to spend more in the future?
- Is it “in the budget”? (laughable since we don’t have much of one but still… it’s something to think about. If we had one, would it be in there?)
- Will I miss it if I don’t buy it?
- Is there somewhere that I can get it free, rent it, or otherwise reduce the cost of it?
I don’t want to start being “penny wise and pound foolish.” I don’t want to turn money into an idol by making the use of it ‘holy or not’ but neither do I want to make it an idol in letting its use run my life and encourage me to waste. Neither are prudent or wise.
I want to rethink how I spend money on the following things:
- food
- decorating
- clothing
- educational supplies
- craft supplies
- gifts
- treats (especially treats)
Basically, I want to ensure a bigger return on my financial investment whether it’s purchasing a bottle of water, a pack of scrapbooking paper, or a new couch.
Now… how to do that. Anyone have suggestions? Websites? Ideas? Come on people, share with me!
Outside my window… there is a ton of mess from fixing the windows and tearing off the siding. Must. Clean. Yards.
I am thinking… that it’s going to be nice to be able to sleep without my teeth tomorrow night.
From the learning rooms… Jenna found her grammar book.
I am thankful for… modern dentistry… with the exception of sandpaper stuff that makes the dentures fit better but rubs the inside of your mouth raw.
From the kitchen… I ate some rice business… I sort of chewed it. I also had a donut, but not from my own kitchen.
I am wearing … khaki crops and a black sleeveless top.
I am reading… Aggie all over again as I do the first rough edit/polish.
I am hoping… that the lethargy I have will abate soon. My brain wants me to WORK.
I am creating… adorable clothes for my girls which you can see on my Eclectivity blog.
I am praying… for wisdom in frugality without scrimpiness in order to bless my husband in paying for the permanent dentures before the comes. I want to manage to live abundantly while being frugal enough to accomplish this. Christmas might make it tough.
Around the house… I can’t see the floor for the mess. Time to call the kids in. Yep. Sure is.
One of my favorite things… blessing people. Time to learn to do it “free”.
A few plans for the rest of the week… reclaim my home and routines. Finish a few projects, edit a book, and relax a bit.
A picture to share… Me and my new choppers. (Will post when I get in there to take a pic. I’ve gone from looking like my mother to looking like my dad’s mother! Hee hee. At least it’s a little familiar!
I’m doing a shameless plug for my own book because I really want to share some things about this story that are very dear to me.
First, I want to talk about my inspiration for this story. Argosy Junction began as a NaNoWriMo challenge. I’ve done NaNo for three straight years. The first year, I challenged myself to write a romance (that being the point of the story rather than a part of the story), and Hope 101 was the result. Last year, I made myself stick to an outline (I never write with an outline… I usually don’t know the end of the story when I start writing!), and I finished a week ahead of time with Thirty Days Hath… In 2007, my NaNo challenge to myself was to write about a subject near and dear to my heart. Phariseeism and what happens when it grows into legalism. Argosy Junction, then called Not As I Was, took months to finish even though I wrote the allotted fifty thousand words in the thirty day time frame of NaNoWriMo.
In Argosy Junction, a small group of like-minded families grow more unified of mind until deviations from the core are seen as sin and rebellion rather than individual methods of applying principles. I’d seen this happening repeatedly with friends and online and it hit home closely. I love rules. I confess, I see how ’spiritual’ I look with rules. I tend to lean toward Phariseeism in my heart so writing this book was very cleansing to see where I might end up if not careful.
Nothing that the church in this book encouraged was wrong in and of itself. Much of it is a part of my own life. From clothing choices to gender roles, I support them all, and this book was not intended to be a vilification of anyone’s personal convictions. My point in writing this book wasn’t to attack anyone’s application of scripture. Rather, my purpose was to show what happens when we make our applications law where scripture does not. I took each tiny extreme to its “logical” conclusion and showed the pain that resulted and how that pain affects different people. (You see the varying ways that different people respond. From growing hard, to panic at change, clinging closer to the rules, to utter rejection of the Lord and His church, people handle the extremes very differently.)
The other thing I wanted to share with you was the unintentional symbolism in the story. I’d originally started with a bison ready to charge as an opening to the book. My dear friend Judy had an obstetrician who met her husband in Montana while she was reading a book and looked up to see a bison pawing the ground. Her thought, “how picturesque.” A Jeep raced across the countryside, a door flew open, and my friend’s doctor was ordered into the Jeep by a park ranger who eventually became her husband. She later discovered that Mr. Bison was ready to “charge”. I had considered using that as my opening scene. I thought it’d be fun to put her story into print, but I was changing it up quite a bit. Then I learned that there is some kind of book that begins with a very similar story happening in the Outback or some place like that. Well, I didn’t want that. So, I went for comic relief and brought in sheep.
My reason for explaining all of this is to show how unintentional the use of sheep in the book was. For the sheep rancher’s family to be the ones who have walked away from the Lord’s “flock” was a bit of irony that I couldn’t have planned if I’d tried. On top of that, seeing the shepherd being one of the main people who led the Lord’s flock down that path away from His “green pastures” really brought home the point that we always look to The Shepherd, not just a shepherd and how important it is for the Lord’s shepherds to keep His flock in His fields and not lead them astray.
This brings us to the final thing I wanted to share. The cover of this book has so much unintentional symbolism it almost hurts. At first, I was looking at page after page of sheep pictures, pictures of the Montana Rockies, and horses. I tried ranches, boots, and even guitars and hats. Finally, I realized that maybe a piece of barbed wire would give enough empty space for words, so I looked for that. The moment I saw this barbed wire with a bit of wool attached to it, I knew I’d found my cover.
As I recently contemplated the picture, my heart constricted. The Lord puts protective fences around our hearts and lives. He does this out of love and concern for our physical, spiritual, and emotional safety. That’s what the piece of fence on the book would symbolize, but it has a barb. That barb is just like the additional rules and regulations man adds to the Lord’s fences. Perfectly harmless if you keep an eye out for the fence and keep away, but if you aren’t careful and get too close, it can hurt. If you look very closely, you’ll see that the wool on that barb is tinged with blood. Oh, how it hurts me to realize how often the church is the cause of Christians’ deepest wounds.
The cover shows all of this, and I can’t take credit for it. It wasn’t intentional. I don’t like to credit or discredit the Lord’s hand in anything. To say the Lord did this, implies that somehow my cover is ‘inspired’ and that is not what I mean to say. However, I can’t help but wonder if the Lord didn’t lead me to the very picture that I needed for my book knowing that there was this subtle story within the picture that symbolizes a major theme in this book.
I am so excited about this book. While Noble Pursuits is always going to be dear to my heart as one of the first stories I wrote as an adult, Argosy Junction is a deeper more well-rounded story. I always recommend Noble Pursuits with a caveat, but I have no caveat for Argosy Junction.
Argosy Junction will be available through Amazon.com in six to eight weeks. Until then, it is best purchased directly from me. Just email me at: chautona at chautona dot com.
However, in keeping with my tradition of giving away copies of books I review, I thought it only fair to give away a copy of Argosy Junction so please do leave a comment if you’d like to win a free copy!
Stay tuned for an upcoming blog contest for those who have read the book! Both bloggers and their commenters will have a chance to win!
Well, for the past couple of weeks, I’ve made a concentrated effort to create a craft nook in my bedroom. Without one, I’m kind of stuck for sewing options. I don’t like taking up living room space and I really don’t like not sewing. The alternative was removing the piano, which we gave to a friend’s mother, and rearranging my room. After many hours of work, this is what I have.
Here I show my little plant. I decided that I needed some greenery so I bought a little plant and repotted it. I might put a ribbon around it… or not.
I had to put these pictures on the little corner shelf I had left over from when we had bookshelves in this corner. I kept a shelf here in order to keep things from falling down the corner.
Kaylene immediately asked why I “had” to put her and Nolan’s watermelon picture on the shelf. She kind of has issues with things like that, but I love that picture and had absolutely ZERO intention of not displaying it where I can look and smile at my little “non-existent” children. Well, at least until the State of California decides to recognize them.
One of the first things I wanted to do was put up a peg board for easy access to my things. I eventually want to create a “cupboard” door to cover it so it’s not so ugly and utilitarian, but until then, I’ll just be satisfied.
Note to self: See if the Quilted Quail has my 6×24″ Omnigrid ruler in stock yet. This replacement for my broken ruler is not my idea of a good ruler. I miss the yellow and black lines.
You also can’t see it, but there is also my little Ikea metal pail that used to be in the kitchen. I love it in here and now there’s actually something in it! I have my seam rippers, fray check, and measuring tapes in there.
My cupboards! These are just simple little crate cupboards from Target. In this one I have two distinct things.
1. The upper shelf holds the fabric I intend to sew up “this week” (it’ll change per week or two depending on how much I sew up. My goal is that as I clear the shelf, I’ll go out to my totes, pull in another stack of fabric, stitch it up, and voila! Another week or two’s worth of work. In this shelf there are several t-shirts for appliqueing. I may have to bring in matching fabrics from elsewhere, but we’ll see. I see Jenna’s skort and t-shirt, Creed’s jon-jons, Jenna’s skirt/skort and t-shirt. Lorna’s t-shirt and then fabric for bottoms. I’m thinking about cutting a very short pair of shorts and adding tiers to them to give it the appearance of a skirt. I see the gingham for skirt/skort and shirt… some vintage pillowcase fabric for a vintagey dress… I’m thinking something apronish. My Amy Butler bag fabric… some corduroy for a fall skirt.. some daisies that I have no idea what to do with, a dress to cut into a skirt, and who knows what else!
2. My plastic drawers. In these are zippers, spools of thread and bobbins that don’t fit in my thread drawers (eventually I’ll only have thread in my thread drawers but for now, this is ok), and an empty one. On top is a vintage embroidered pillowcase to sew into something cool, a blank linen dress to embellish, and to the right, canned air and the “trap” for the serger.
In the left cabinet, the top shelf holds my smocking pleater… and four little tins. Those tins hold hardware and other trinkets for paper crafting/card making. I can now find my brads, charms, and other metal works easy peasy!
Below that are four photo boxes that hold paper craft supplies. In the boxes are…
1. Adhesives
2. Rubber Stamps
3. Stamp pads and markers
4. Punches and scissors
Of course, as you can see, I also keep my iron and ironing sprays in here. (Sprays are behind the iron… kind of hard to see.)
I’ve been in and out of those boxes several times already and it really wasn’t a big deal. Easy to get in and out and once I make the labels, I won’t have to guess which box I need.
Note to self: get on that label making!
See! My punches and scissors from one of those boxes. I just reach in, and voila!
Seeing them makes me want to start creating. Let’s see… which font should I use….
Name that movie!
Below that shelf, is the paper part of my crafting supplies. The top box I know has sticker sheets, scraps of paper from other projects and such. I’m not sure what’s in the others… I’m thinking stamps are in one…
Below that is a plastic set of drawers. I have different things in each set… patterned papers, solids, etc.
Two of my paper packs didn’t fit in the drawers (they are slightly too wide for some reason, so I just set them on top.
Again, I plan to label it all.
To the left are my Stampin’ Up! catalogs and if you look very very carefully, to the left of those are my two paper cutters. I love my paper cutters and I LOVE how they slide in there so easily. They stay nicely out of the way, but I’ve already pulled them out twice and it was so easy to take them out and then put them away again.
A close up view of the drawers opened and ready for use. It’s so easy to sit at the counter, reach down, flip through the drawers until I find what I want, and then close it up again. I’m amazed at how easy it is to keep everything clean.
Note to self: MAKE LABELS!
To the right of those cabinets, is the other wall. On that wall I have one long shelf that holds four blue canvas baskets. In those baskets are projects in progress, trims, sewing machine parts and accessories, and… um… I don’t remember.
Note to self: Are you ever going to make said labels?
Below that is my peg board.
To the right of that, a nice metal strip that holds pins, needles, and safety pins. I have two empty ones for the future.
My trusty Bernina is waiting there for me. I can’t wat to clean her up and use her!
Below the counter on the right is a cubby that supports the counter and holds the fabrics for my bedroom and the boy’s room. As soon as I’m done sewing those projects, I’ll put other things I’m working on down there. That’s kind of exciting for me.
I will eventually buy a white chair for that corner and pad it.
This is what the other side looks like!
The shelf above them holds my pretty cans. In the cans there are buttons, grommets and eyelets, and I can’t remember what else. On the left of that shelf is a new white 12×12 box for whatever I need in the future with my Tiffany’s box on top for fun. I know, I’m a nerd. I kept the box my gift came in. Sue me. It’s probably the only thing I’ll ever get from Tiffany’s and is one of my most treasured possessions because of who sent it and why. (you know who you are and I think of you and thank the Lord for you every time I see it). To the right of the cans are 2 plastic handled metal latching boxes. One has all my Wrights packages. Bias tape, rick rack, piping etc. Anything still in a package. I have a second one next to it and when I find the REST of my packages, I’ll need it. I want to decoupage something on them but I haven’t decided what yet.
The brown drawers have already been moved to the left of the counter on the book case under my windows. The metal basket was going to be my trash can for the room before I decided to go “craft” in here. Now I’m going to get a regular trash can and get rid of that.
On the right at the bottom are two shelves. The upper holds serger thread and patterns currently in use. The lower holds the same.
And here is the corner look… just because I can show it.
Now, my serger is in place of my “oh Brother” back up machine. I have to find a home for that thing. It did its job while I needed it, but I’m very happy to have my Bernina back and a part of my sewing life.
All in all, I think it’s a very nice little corner. It has everything I need on a day-to-day basis, and anything else I need, I can get from the garage and return there when I’m done.
I can do pretty much anything I need to in this corner but
1. Iron
2. Cut
3. Quilt anything of any significant size.
So there she is… my pretty little craft nook. I’m so excited about it!!
Or at least I’m learning to! At thirty-nine, I can whistle! Thanks to the miracle of dentures, the holes in the roof of my mouth are now covered and I can whistle! I’m driving the family crazy. Give me a few months and I might just be able to whistle with Deanna Durbin!
I turned thirty-nine yesterday. I don’t feel thirty-nine, but according to my birth certificate, I am. Thought you oughtta know. It started much like every other day… wake up, get on line, have something to drink or eat, get to work… I did a few extras. For one thing, I needed to pack for our trip out of town last night, so I started cleaning out our bedroom closet a bit while I worked. That was kind of important to me since I’ve been getting my room in shape again. About the time I had all of our clothes laid out and had planned to make a run to the store for the kids, I got a call.
“Mrs. Havig, can you come in today at 4:00 or 4:30. The guy from the lab wants to make sure that your bite mold is right.”
What am I going to say, no? I agreed, called Kevin, and stepped up the process. I had things to do. First on the list was getting those clothes in a duffel bag (which I could not find.) Then I wanted a shower so I could go shopping. My body on the other hand, decided it had other ideas which kept me house bound if you know what I mean. Sigh. I never did get to the store. By the time Braelyn had Kevin home from work, I was packed and ready to go… except for a bit of curl to my hair. Don’t want to freak them out, and I did have a nice Birthday dinner planned!
Desert Sky Dental- Victorville, CA
We hop in the car and toodle on down to Victorville. We arrived at three. So, I signed in, gave them my cell phone number, and told them to call me if they needed me before 4:30. Off we went to Big Lots where I found some cool beans things for paper crafting and a chair that Braelyn needs for her photography business. I bought the paper stuff… I’m still thinkin’ on the chair. About 95% sure I’ll get it if it’s still there when I go back. While we waited in line, I got a call from the office. “We’re ready for you.”
Off we went. Unlike most dental places, they really do get you in a room really quickly and usually start working on you in a reasonable amount of time. I find that unique to my dental experiences. I told her about the piece of bone I could feel and she assured me it was normal and if the oral surgeon thought it was too long, he’d file it down a bit. That’s what I assumed, but you never know. They fit the pieces in my mouth, checked the bite, decided it was perfect, but the assistant didn’t like how loose it was on the bottom left where we’d already extracted broken teeth. She was concerned that the gum had already shrunk so much that the plate would be too loose for starting. The dentist listened to her, felt around, checked it out, and agreed. They decided to take a new mold.
The last time they did the mold of my mouth, I had no trouble. But with fewer teeth to stop the stuff from squishing way back into my soft palate (and making mold of my tonsils too she said), this time I gagged a couple of times. I felt so claustrophobic. It was short-lived, however, so after maybe ten minutes, we were out of there. The nice thing about going in again was having the nurse tell me I could have a small cup of water around 4-5 am. I was determined to do it so my blood volume would be as high as I could get it. I have tiny veins deep beneath the surface. It’s hard to “find a vein.”
Comfort Inn Suites- Victorville, CA
We left there and went straight to the hotel. That was fun. There were two shows on about girls and their “sweet sixteen” parties that we just howled over. The first girl didn’t seem to have much fun at her party. We all knew it was “all about her” including a brand new Audi, but she just didn’t seem happy or having fun. I don’t know if that was camera editing of if it’s the sign of a spoiled life. The second girl was also self-centered and a bit of a brat, but she was at least appreciative and she clearly had fun. I have no idea what the second mom paid for their party bt the first mom spent $180,000 to turn sixteen. Ouch. That’s triple what I paid for my house!
Finally, Kevin and I decided to go to dinner. I chose Outback because I knew Kevin wouldmore easily find something he wanted there, and I could get their tenderloin. I wanted BEEF in my system since I knew I wouldn’t be eating much for a few days. I had their tenderloin and stuffed shrimp and sweet potato. Mmm it was good. Very. Good. Mmmm… Afterwards, we strolled through the VictorValley Mall and bought candy at the Sweet Shoppe, a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament for me (cause I collect the bird series and I wanted it), and though we looked for a book I needed at Barnes & Noble, I didn’t get it. Bath & Body Works had this amazing perfume… something citrus… I almost bought it. It smelled so fresh and clean. I just loved that stuff. I kind of– no way, I really regret that now. If I feel up to it, when we go back on Tuesday, I might just get it. Then again, if I know me, I’ll just forget. Oh well.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel. Kevin, still nursing the same headache he’d had all day, went for a sit in the hot tub while I watched Clean House. Oh that show is startling! I also guzzled. G.U.Z.Z.L.E.D. I wanted all the fluids I could get in me before 1:30 a.m. hit. Turns out, I could have kept going until 3:30 a.m. but that story is coming.
The beds were amazingly comfortable, but neither of us slept very well. We finally decided it had to do with our being accustomed to a fan that sounds like an airplane engine. Our BRILLIANT white noise was gone. At five, Kevin woke me up to let me get my last dribbles of water. Alas, I could have had a little more than I did. Oh well. I got up around eight, puttered around getting dressed, put on my tennis shoes that I haven’t worn in 2 years, posted a facebook, HK, and WS prayer request, and off we went.
When we arrived, we found that they wouldn’t let Kevin leave to fill prescriptions. Next time, we’re going to demand them an hour before the proceedure is supposed to start so that we’re not riding around for half an hour waiting for them to be filled. We were early. My appointment was 9:30. We got there just after 9:00. No biggie. The gal told us that the lab said they’d arrive somewhere around 9:15 with my teeth.
9:15- No teeth. Staff apologetic.
9:30- No teeth. Staff very apologetic.
10:00- No teeth. Staff very apologetic and getting a little impatient.
10:30- No teeth. Staff extremely apologetic and getting very impatient.
11:00- No teeth. Staff is no longer apologizing… they know it just magnifies the wait by now. They are visibly agitated.
11:30- (or somewhere close) Staff calls me back.
Now here is what is interesting. They took my bloodpressure. It was 140/85!!! Mine is always around 110/60 or 110/70. That was so bizarre because I didn’t feel nervous at all, wasn’t even extremely excited. Actually, I was looking forward to laying back and resting. I was exhausted. The second one was lower making me think that maybe the first one registered while she was doing the IV stick. The gal was good. That’s all I’m sayin’. Good. Gal was great!
Then they gave me nitrous oxide. I didn’t quite understand that, but what the hey. I mean, General Anesthesia is on the way, so why the oxide? At some point, they must have given me novocaine too because I woke up to a 100% numb mouth. The last thing I remember before I slipped into oblivion was one gal asking the other, “What happened?” Ummmmmmmmm WHAT? Still don’t know what that was. I’ll have to ask.
I woke up with new teeth in my mouth, in a wheelchair, heading out the door. I’m sure they did other things to wake me up, but I don’t remember them. They said I fought the proceedure. Whatever. I don’t remember it. They said the dentures fit beautifully. I can feel that they fit well, but I do have questions. Such as
- Why is my mouth, which has always had varying degrees of an underbite (from mild to severe depending on how many teeth I did or didn’t have), suddenly have an overbite?
- Did I damage something when I changed the first gauze packs and discovered that my lower plate was sitting sideways on my gums? *eek!*
- Why did my biggest blast of pain come in the interim between full numbness from the novocaine and the novocaine being worn off completely. When I was fully numb, just soreness, no real pain. When it was wearing off but not gone, PAIN. Severe, I want to cry, pain. Once the novocaine was worn off, I was still sore, but the PAIN was gone. I think it’s weird and I want to know why.
Do I like my new teeth? Sure. They’re attractive enough, they’re not broken, rotted, yellowed, or likely to fall apart if I bite something too hard (although my gums might right now!) How do I feel about the process? I’m very grateful. I can’t imagine living in a time when this wasn’t possible. In the middle ages, I would have died by now from infection and who knows what. Do I have any doubts or regrets?
One.
I don’t know if it’s the gauze packs (don’t think so because they’re gone now and I still see it), the swollen cheeks, neck, and jawline, the adjustment period, or what, but I don’t look like me. I’m not exactly a beautiful woman and I really am not exceptionally vain, but I look at myself in the mirror and I think, “Well, she does look a little related, but she doesn’t look like ME. (It’s not the actual teeth showing. This is with my mouth closed. Open just makes it that much more pronounced. And, I’ll be honest, I think aside from the obviousness that broken and decaying teeth are very unattractive, I looked better the other way. This gives me a very different face shape that I’m praying I don’t have to get used to.
The teeth are worth it. Regardless of whether or not I like how my face looks six months from now, I’ll LOVE my new teeth.
I’d just love to thank the Lord and my amazingly supportive husband for the gift of new teeth and I’ll work at being thankful for what may turn out to be a facelift as well. I took before pictures on the cell phone. Not sure how to get them off but when I do, I’ll post before and after.
Here are two afters… in all their unattractive glory. If I look whipped, miserable, and in need of a shower… it’s because I am. All three.
I ran over to the handy dandy Random Number Generator and told it to give me two numbers…
From my count, Carolita and Miranda Allen are my winners! I’ll send yours out when Argosy Junction arrives Carol. Miranda, I’ll try to email you and get your address. If you see this, please email me at chautona at chautona dot com with your address.
Enjoy your books ladies!
Outside my window… it’s a beautiful but hot and humid day for my birthday.
I am thinking… of all the things I need to do before I go out of town tonight.
From the learning rooms… not much is being learned.
I am thankful for… my beautiful sewing nook. It’s just so pretty!
From the kitchen… I’m having The Outback for dinner… the kids can have red beans. (name that movie girls!)
I am wearing … denim cropped jeans and a blue cowl necked sleeveless shirt.
I am reading… A blog about living today as if we were in the 50’s. Very stimulating and thought provoking.
I am hoping… that I’ll be glad I’ve put myself through this torture once the teeth are in!
I am creating… CD sleeves.
I am praying… for wisdom for the oral surgeon and speed to our wheels as we drive home tomorrow.
Around the house… Rob is fixing the stucco around my doors and windows! YES!
One of my favorite things… singing. I love to sing.
A few plans for the rest of the week… recuperate and get used to having lots of teeth.
A picture to share… the old and the older… house wise we’re going from the siding back to stucco… how it was when we bought it.
to
Subtitle: the shape of motherhood in the grip of God
Author: Tricia Goyer
Publisher’s Synopsis: In the everyday stretch and squeeze of motherhood, Tricia Goyer often feels smooshed by the demands of life. In Blue Like Play Dough, she shares her unlikely journey from rebellious, pregnant teen to busy wife and mom with big dreams of her own. As her story unfolds, Tricia realizes that God has more in store for her than she has ever imagined possible.
Sure, life is messy and beset by doubts. But God keeps showing up in the most unlikely places–in a bowl of carrot soup, the umpteenth reading of Goodnight Moon, a woe-is me teen drama, or play dough in the hands of a child.
In Tricia’s transparent account, you’ll find understanding, laughter, and strength for your own story. And in the daily push and pull, you’ll learn to recognizes the loving hands of God at work in your life… and know He has something beautiful in mind.
Well, title didn’t grab me, but the subtitle was exactly the kind of thing that draws me and, forgive the pun, grips me. Tricia Goyer wrote a book that, in so many ways, I could have written. We have an amazingly similar life in some areas and polar opposite in others. We both know the sting of unwed motherhood, challenges of fighting perfectionism, and the ups and downs of home education.
Interspersed with stories that make you laugh, cry (yes, I actually had a tear or three when reading of her grandfather’s passing), and empathize, Mrs. Goyer takes you on a journey through the truths of scripture and deep into your own heart to discover where you and the Lord have disconnected. Was it an easy read? Yes. And no. Every page had me reading happily, and then back tracking to reread a line, paragraph, or the entire page.
It’s not a deep Bible study. There isn’t a need for a lexicon or Bible commentaries. This is good. Mothers rarely have time to spend hours disecting a verse. They need direct reminders of God’s truths in encouraging and practical but time sensitive ways. Finding time to read a book in a single sitting is a difficult thing for the women most needing of the encouragement in this book and the author is clearly sensitive to it.
Like Trisha Goyer, my oldest three children are ‘grown’. I relate to where God is stretching her and where He has squished her back into the container. I think most mothers can relate either to where she is or where their lives are going. She kept a beautifully blanaced combination of past and present stories to encourage and stimulate us to ‘love and good deeds’.
If I have an objection to the book, it’d be her use of The Message as her scripture reference. I prefer a literal translation over a paraphrase. However, it did get me looking up the scriptures she used to ensure their appliciability and correct contextual use ,and perhaps that was the intention! Seriously, that was my biggest objection and it’s obviously a pretty weak one.
Honestly, if you need encouragement, like to keep your encouragement tank full, or just need a bit of a prod to reconnect with your Lord, this book will encourage nearly anyone with a family– even if they aren’t a mother. I’d never call this a deep book, but neither is it fluff. She managed to pack some meat into nice bite sized pieces that you can pick up, chew, digest at your leisure, and when hungry again, pick up again.
I am excited to have TWO copies to give away. I’ll try to draw names on Friday, but with my upcoming dental work, I could be doped up on drugs and forget. Please forgive me if I do. I will definitely draw sometime before Sunday I’m sure.
