Catching up...

Yes, I realize it has been forever since I have blogged. I've thought about it a lot and then thought, "it's too hard to get caught up" and therefore procrastinated more digging the hole ever deeper for myself. So here's a quick recap of the last month or so:

Labor Day Family Camp at Ozark Conference Center - This is one of our favorite events of the year. We started going several years ago and we all immediately fell in love with the place and the people and the activities. Good family fun. (And we got through the whole weekend without Joshua breaking anything!) My mom came up for the afternoon on Saturday and brought us a whole trunk full of stuff we don't need, so we had to reconfigurate all of our packing to return home. But isn't that what moms are for? And I did so enjoy getting to see her. We got to see lots of friends from our church in Benton and as an added bonus for me this year, we shared a cabin with my college roommate, Lori and her family. What a blessing to be able to reconnect in person, not via Facebook or a blog. (Here is a link to her's by the way. You can go there and learn all about how to be one of those moms who can do everything (make curtains, use cloth diapers, make your own wipe solutions and laundry detergent, all while homeschooling and caring for the babies - yes she's that mom - and although I do enjoying poking fun at her expense on occasion, it's probably just to make me feel better because I am so not that mom.)

Anyway, all in all, Family Camp was once again a wonderful time to regroup as a family and refocus on what's really important.

The Kansas DMV - I have grown, in the last week, to hate the Department of Motor Vehicles in Kansas. While I recognize that my lack of organization has contributed to the problem, I am still highly irritated that I am driving around with expired tags and nobody here wants to help me. I am thankful I still have friends in Arkansas who work for the state who are assisting me with getting all my ducks in a row. Even still, it is not easy herding said ducks to the three (YES THREE) different offices I have to go to, take a number, wait an ungodly amount of time, write a check or pay cash (because they don't take debit or credit!) and then move along to the next office to do the same. Once this process is said and done, there may be a whole blog day devoted to this lunacy.

Girlfriends Weekend - Oh, how I look back on this weekend with fond memories and strong desire to do it again. Once a year, my two bestest friends and I schedule a weekend to meet and just hang out. It really doesn't matter where we are, because we don't do anything but eat and talk and sleep. We have done Memphis in the past, as one friend lives in Benton and the other in Nashville, but with me moving to Kansas, this was no longer a viable option, so St. Louis won out for the best halfway point. Plus there are a lot of tourist attractions there. Of course we didn't make it to any of them, but the idea was good. (We were able to see the Arch from the hotel window, so I think that counts as doing something touristy.) We did see the Sneak Peak of the movie "Whip It" and they liked it okay. Me, not so much, but whatever. We also shopped and ate cheesecake and laughed until we cried and talked and shared our hearts and our burdens and we left with our souls refreshed and renewed knowing we have friends who will be there for whatever life hands us and who will pray us through it.

As I was driving home, I could only praise God for blessing me with these girls who I will truly be friends with forever.

A big birthday - One of our guys had a birthday last week. He has talked about it for weeks (wanting a radio and a new watch and money). When you ask him when his birthday is, he responds "past" which I guess is a pretty good answer. I mean, there is only one day a year (the actual birthday) when "past" is incorrect. Ask him how old he is, or is going to be, and the answer is "seven." (He actually turned 49). We were trying to teach him 49, and he kept saying "seven" and then somebody pointed out that we all stop aging at some point (she claimed to be 29, some stop at 39, etc.) and said he just chose to stop aging a little younger than most of us do. So we decided to let him be seven. And the truth be told, if he acts his age, seven might even be stretching it a little.

He got a job - Our job hunter got a job a couple of weeks ago. It's really just a "try-out" per his employment specialist. He's working as a "courtesy clerk" at a local grocery store. It's really an interesting title since there isn't much "courteous" about him, but I think we've determined that what he is really doing is just bagging groceries. Hope he doesn't get fired soon but if he does I'm sure it will make for a good story.

My Favorite Quotes - "My mom used to have a BMW Buick so I know all about that kind of car."

"Yeah, I want to go fishing with you sometime. Except I don't like to be in a boat or close to the water, and I don't want to have to put bait on the hook or hold the pole. And I don't really like touching or smelling the fish that people have caught."

And my absolute favorite quote this month comes from Joshua. He and I went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, because he had never been and he LOVES cheesecake. He had the Red Velvet one, which was huge and wonderful of course. I so enjoyed watching his facial expression as he savored every bite. But the quote came when the waitress came around and asked him if he enjoyed it. He looked up at her and said, "I feel like I have made a deal with the devil. Sometimes to get something good, you have to sacrifice. To eat this cheesecake, you have to be willing to feel like you are going to throw up when it's over and you have to be willing to never eat another Wal-Mart cheesecake again. If you are okay with those two things, then this is SOOO worth it." Oh how I love that kid!