Office Hours

Schedule. A plan for performing work or achieving an objective.

Are schedules as hard for you as they are for me?

This lady has not been doing a good job managing her time.

My days seem to slip out of my hands too quickly. It gets so frustrating. My natural DNA is anti-plan/schedule. My natural DNA wants to play instead of work. Let's have people over. That is what is usually on the forefront of my mind.

In His sense of humor, God has decided that this season for me would include staying home raising boys and teachin' them school. It is interesting because TV is not the main culprit of time wasting in our home. It is my lack of planning/scheduling that allows our days to slip away. It is a stretching thing for me to maintain some semblance of routine. But painful as it is, it must be learned and executed on my part. Boo. Boo hoo hoo.

One area we've grown into getting better at is a 6:00pm cut-off time for house work/laundry/cleaning. The goal is for us to be sitting down for dinner no later than 6:00pm. After that Mom is off duty with house chores. Plan ahead or deny yourself.

All this preface leads me to yesterday. It was a trainwreck. There was not one set of tracks for us to run on. Shane had been home with us the week of Thanksgiving which was so great. Then. Bahaaaaaaa waaaaaa he had to go back.

This morning I sat in my chair and jotted down places where my life has tumbled out of control:

• my weight
• my heart is easily angered
• my mouth is quick to speak
• no routine with the boys
• no routine for myself
• inconsistent times with the Lord

Well, how's that for a crummy looking list?

Overwhelmed with gratitude to God for leading me to Psalm 51 things slowly began to perk up.

Cleanse me.

Blot away my iniquity.

Against you alone Lord have I sinned and done evil in your sight.

Wash me.

Create.

Create in me a pure heart.

Renew.

Renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Restore.

Restore my joy.

Sustain me.

Thank God for new days and new beginnings. And, hard as it is, we're moving back into schedules and consistent discipline on my part.

I'm going to be held accountable for how my time is spent.

Praying it honors Him today.

The Sudsy Truth

Well friends you might as well know about my new bad totally liberating habit.

You know the drill.

The whites are done.

The darks are done.

The sheets have all been washed and put back on the bed.

The towels are done.

And you look into that pesky basket only to find some stragglers. How'd that black sweater, hand towel, 14 pairs of white socks and a blanket that needs to be washed on delicate make it's way into my empty basket.

You may remember this incident.

Something changed it me that day.

Don't even think I haven't gotten myself into a little habit of taking that annoying load of mis-matches and closing my eyes while I dump. it. all. in. without. even. consulting. the. labels.

Bugs & Sunshine. Getting it cleaned one medium sized jumbled load at a time.

Southern Living Thanksgiving

Well ya'll I am in domestic heaven. This year Thanksgiving is at our house. Take a look at this beauty I'm making. Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue. I'm growing up.

You can tell you are growing up when you are excited about making your very first meringue pie. Truth is this pie could taste like dirt but I want a slice on my plate because it is so purty. This year I'll be the old aunt making pies.

Suh. Weet.

The next dish I'm equally excited about is Giada's Spiced Apple Walnut Cake. The fun part about this recipe is that you have to wear a tube top while you cook it and you have to talk with your mouth full to annoy your poor guests who happen to be in the kitchen while you taste along the way making sure you got the seasonings correct.

The last two things I'm cooking are My Mom's Dressing and San Jacinto Sweet Potato Pie. If I give you those family recipes I have to kill you.

Well, I changed my mind. I love my blog friends so if you wanted it I'd give them to you. They're realllllyyyy good.

We're also having Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Dinner Rolls, and I forget what else.

Dinner is at 5pm Thursday.

Heavy Hor D'oeuvres, Parades, Naps, & Footballs games will be the order of the day before dinner. Oh, that and tube top cooking.

From my kitchen to yours, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your peeps and that nothing burns and all your delicacies are seasoned to perfection.

Bon' Apetit!

Unsubscribe

This morning has been house cleaning on my Inbox.

Neiman Marcus, I thought I wanted your updates to keep up with fashion but right now I'm just trying to keep us all in something other than pj's during the day.

Curl Mart, my dreadful year of trying to have cute curly hair has come to an end.

Priceline, we're not going anywhere soon except to the Kroger.

Children's Place, well, you make the cut because you have cute, affordable clothes.

Facebook, oh how you deceive me. 2 million emails since I last checked yesterday, my friends love me so much. Check Mail. Foiled again. Just a bunch of updates on how Jimmy Lou's brother's dog's mama commented on the same photo my neighbor's daughter commented on.

Thank goodness for the little, itty bitty button at the bottom of emails that reads: Click here to unsubscribe.

Walking

My prayer the last 3 weeks has been that I will walk with the Lord.

In the dailyness of life, schedules and deadlines that I would be found walking hand in hand with Him.

An interesting thing has come out of walking with the Lord each day. There is joy even in busyness.

Have you been swamped with a plate full of commitments? It gets a little overwhelming doesn't it? My wise bible study teacher once told us to commit each day to the Lord. Allow him to take out and put in whatever he chooses.

Thankfully God has given us 24 hour segments to work with at a time.

His 24 hours.

This week I found a website of a beautiful girl named Katie, click here to be taken to her website. She is a woman who is living in the fullness of joy that God has to offer this side of heaven. She's enjoying the fullness of joy because she is walking with Him where He has led her. The JOY radiates from her face. My word the pain and suffering of some of her posts is gut wrenching. It is messy.

One look at her life will etch its memory in your mind for days to come. It will cause the life changing questions like, "Am I following you today LORD?" I live on a suburban street, have 2 nice cars, 3 boys and a full schedule. Our family goes to church. My man works 9-5 and I stay home with my babies all day.

You know what practically it is looking like for me this week? I'm hosting a lunch at my house Wednesday afternoon. Everything in me wants to deep clean. The itchin' to clean my blinds and suds up my baseboards is about to explode I want to tackle it so bad. Really, like visions of Pine Sol and a scrub brush are dancing in my head.

Everything in me wants to get my twinkle lights and Christmas balls and floral ribbon and deck the halls.

You know what it looked like last week? My very special friend got married and everything in me wanted to go to the consignment shop and get a cute new outfit. In my mind I schemed and schemed on how I could find some time to get over there to look. Do you know what the Lord told me? He said march your happy self right into your bathroom, open up that closet door, choose a shirt. Take it off the hanger, put it on and be happy because you've got sheets and a couple loads of laundry that need to be washed. You can shop another day.

I'm in the mood to write. To sit at my computer with a Peppermint Mocha and write.

And I don't know. I don't know if time is going to allow these things or not. But walking with God today for me practically looks like taking these desires for how to spend my time before the Throne because there may be some other things He has in store for how to spend the 24 hours he's given me today.

(things like posting a blog and being sure to make up words like dailyness and being extra sure to use plenty of runonsentences)

Pencil Me In

Apparently I don't know how to look ahead and plan nights off into my calender.

Do you find yourself in those situations too?

Times where you are kind of scared to peak at your calender because you know every day is full?

We are heading full swing into a busy time of year.

What a blessing to be celebrating so many wonderful things with friends. The wedding fairy has been visiting my friends and we've had the joy of celebrating so many friends and their big day. Huh. That means maybe this time next year the baby shower fairy might be visiting.

God is blessing my business and my calender is full of dates for fashion shows.

Thanksgiving is 13 days away. Christmas is 43 days away.

My desire for the busier times of year is to honor God every day and be able to enjoy all that the season has to bring. My sweet friend getting married tomorrow received some wise advice from her Mama.

"Take time to enjoy all the 5 senses. Enjoy the smell of the candles. Enjoy the beauty of the color and lights. Enjoy his hand holding yours. Enjoy the food. Enjoy the sound of laughter and singing."

In the midst of a hectic schedule, don't forget to pencil in times of rest and downtime for your family. Being able to enjoy life at an unhurried pace is a gift.

Slow down and enjoy the ride...

Surrounded

This year I am going to surround myself with people I love.

My home is going to continue to be a reflection of color and whimsy.

I am going to paint a canvas.

Life is going to be intentional.

I will sit more.

Talk less.

This is going to be year of freedom and joy.

A year of spiritual revival and awakening.

Caring less about what people think.

Striving to be obedient to that still small voice even when the command seems scary.

God has already been stirring in my heart and it feels like it is about to explode with JOY.

I do not want to waste one second of this life I have been given.

I might even put a picture of two cute butt cheeks in a post if I want.

Yes. 34 is going to be a good year.

I this. I that. Then I did this. Then we....

Come on in and pull up a chair, we gotta talk.

I hate to read posts like this one.

Seriously, they usually make me want to puke. What an attitude, huh? Just bein' real.

They are usually an attempt at motivating the reader toward something better and end up reading as pious and judgemental.

My thoughts today are not an attempt at some super-spirituality or condeming attitude toward mankind.

This post is me talking to myself but you can come in and take a listen if you want.

Or you can X out which is cool too, don't tell anyone but that's probably what I'd do if I were you.

Talking a lot about yourself.

Being consumed with your life and your corner of the world.

This morning we talked about PRIDE in our Bible study.

My teacher said when a person uses the word I a lot they have pride.

It is like a glaring red flag in conversation.

Guilty as charged.

It got me to thinking.

About the last time spent talking on the phone with a friend.

Was the conversation dominated by you telling about yourself?

Your lot in life?

Your accomplishments?

Did you ask the other person about them?

What about your time on Facebook.

Are your comments all about you?

Your story.

Your soapboxes and platforms?

Your rendition of the same thing that happened to you?

What about the last time spent in prayer?

God I want this, I don't want that...

Please do this, please don't do that...

It is such an ugly thing, that Pride.

It repels people.

It is draining to the listener's ears.

It is more repulsive to God than the smell of skunk is to us.

God Hates The Sin of Pride.

It is a stench to his nostrils.

Where is it hidden in my life?

That is the big question for you today LORD?

Make me despise it as much as you do.

Turn over the hidden stones.

Was pride the first sin in the garden?

Is it the easiest for Satan to tempt us with?

These are hard questions that cause anger to well up inside us at the mere mention of the subject.

Lord please uproot the ugliness so that your Glory and purposes can push through and shine for your renown.

Simplicity

a bright red leaf laying on the ground

the flicker of your favorite candle

the smell of garlic bread filling your home

a laugh

toy story 3 at redbox

naps

soft blankets

a good nights rest

warm baked chocolate chip cookies

Butter

Two weeks ago something unheard of happened at our house.

Butter.

We ran out.

What proper Southern Woman runs out of sweet cream butter?

Talk to me.

Am I a freak?

Thank God for good friends and my Mama.

When I was at my friend's house and she heard the drama at my house she walked straight to her fridge to get me a stick.

She knew.

I mean girl, She. Knew.

Ina without a stick of butter is like a sky without a sun.

Then when my Mama heard I was fresh out of butter she went straight to the Kroger and bought me 3 boxes of Sweet Cream Butter.

That's 12 sticks for the lay folk.

Now ya'll can all carry on because the sun has been placed back in the sky.