On Friendship, Weight and Muffin Tops

I promised you some flashbacks from the MO Baptist Convention I recently went to regarding Miracle Word, so here ya go! Debbie drove along with me, and I'm so glad she did. We had a great time getting to know each other a little better. I'm really not sure what we would have done without her, just Ethan and I. She helped to make our booth presentable and ran the PowerPoint. I guess Ethan and I hadn't thought about who would do that!

I had a wonderful 24 hours, visiting with other booth-owners at the convention, visiting with other convention-goers, hanging out with Debbie and Ethan, the whole thing!

We arrived Friday night and I shot this fine photo of Ethan's 'Yes! Got it!' look. We were going over the program that evening, but mostly just enjoying each other's company. I love that Ethan doesn't take himself too seriously and that he's so laid back. It's very endearing, not gonna lie.

Here I am just a few minutes before our presentation. I took a moment in the ladies room to show you my official convention nametag. I was extremely nervous and thought I'd show you what fear in my eyes looks like (in the ladies room--don't tell me you don't have any ladies room shots!) The presentation was fun...very small group, which worked for me. Public speaking in a group under a dozen...is that really public speaking? More like hanging out with new friends and chatting--LOVED it.

The best part of the whole day was worship. The messge was incredible, the energy was just right, AND Ethan got to lead the worship songs. I have to tell you, I've seen Ethan in front of our church hundreds of times...and I don't remember ever being as proud of him as I was that day. He was AMAZING--he bridged the gap between the younger jeans-t-shirt wearing crowd and the older suit and tie crowd. Not always a given that it can be done...but he did and he did it WELL!

And that takes me to my latest journey into the world of Weight Watchers. I saw a photo my friend, Debbie, took at me sitting down, ugh! I decided that yeah, it's time. So I called up my friend Pam and convinced her she needed to go with me, she could point and laugh when I got off the scale. She jumped at that, we went. I have to say, I'm pleasantly pleased that I'm 20 pounds less fatty than I thought I was. I'm a fatty, just 20 pounds less fatty. So, sigh, I will continue to gaze at my closet filled with clothes that don't fit anymore. Okay I can get 'em on, but the muffin top staring back at me in the mirror makes me very hungry. They'll fit again soon. I'm keeping my clothes.

I began gaining weight after I had a complete hysterectomy AND quit smoking, and know I have the metabolism of a turtle. It's not fair, but it is what it is, friends. I'm going to have to put brakes on the gain. So I'll be counting points and drinking water for the rest of the Summer.

And I know some of my friends don't worry about their weight, and I don't hate them. I'm very happy for them...until they mention they were born thin., that's a problem. Then, not so happy. And if you're like me, don't you want to go back to third grade and say 'Oh yeah? Well I can lose weight...whatcha gonna do about that face of yours?'. Is that wrong? Okay, it is. I won't say it. But thinking in my head, heck yes! I'm a mean fatty. It's how I am.

Winnerrrrrrrrrrr Time

I'm home....and had a fantastic time, I'll bore you silly with that tomorrow.



I do have a winner to announce--the winner of my contest, the 5n2 CD and the DD coffee goes too..blalalallalalalalalallalallallblalalalallalalllallallalalal (drum roll that was a drum roll)..........



Megret, I'll email you in second for contact information...and thank you so much for coming by. I wish I had ten more to send --it's a lot of fun for me. Alright, I'm off to contact Megret, put away some laundry and kick back for the rest of the evening with my bad boy John. Very bad. I'll check in with my faithful friends tomorrow, I miss all y'all.

Live Simply, Simply Live, Give Simply, Simply Give....The Shirts Are Going Outttt

Oi! (Stole that from you, GiGi, is that okay?)....Ethan, Youth Pastor at our church just emailed me and asked how many shirts I wanted to order and I realize...I didn't follow up on this! I'm fixin to get these addresses to all who indicated they wanted to play along with The T-Shirt Post. I'll be emailing you today or tomorrow for those addresses. Then no reason I won't have time on Friday to get those going, and I cannot WAIT to see the blog posts!

I have, however, been giving the living simply phrase a great deal of thought. Is this living simply, or is it living....simply?

My inclination was living simply, learning to do without the 'things' I have grown accustomed to, so that's where I'll take this (some things, such as Tab, I didn't get to choose! WHERE IS TAB?????). Yet there are things I am willing to do without so that I put myself in a position to help my friends in the nursing home as well as the two kids we have sponsored through Compassion. I am turning more and more to the store brands, because while I scoff at saving $.50 on a bottle of "Meinz" ketchup, if I did that just ten times through my shopping trip, that'd be $5.00. Five bucks per week would be $20 plus a month. My little guy, Gervasio, could purchase something useful in Kenya for that. The trick will be to dedicate that savings to them, write it down after each trip and save it.

I've got other convictions. I don't need to go to lunch with friends each week, I've save tons there. I don't go often anymore. And when I do lunch, I don't need to be the hero and pay for everyone (I do that often, I think it's insecurity on my part--they shouldn't pay to be with me, I should!). I am beginning to look at my life, see how discipline has been as absent as a man at a bunco party.

Even more important, I need to tithe more and on a regular basis. Put that money in the basket FIRST, then everything else will follow....or not. Maybe I do without for a few weeks. That scares me, I am struggling with that. But over the years, I've come a long way in my thinking about money, about life emphasis. And I trust my church to know best where to put that money--there are people helped in ways I'll never hear about. But I know if I need them, they'll be there, and my friends who put money in that week won't know about it either. I guess that's my goal for the remainder of this year and the year coming up.

So...the confessions are out on the table, you see I have been and still am selfish with my worldly possessions. I'm going to send out the shirts along with a Sharpie....first to the North, going to Coffee Mom in Canada, and the Southern one starting with D in Texas.....and they'll keep the chain going (I'll put in the addresses of the next in line) and perhaps add some friends of their own to that list.

If you want to OWN one of these shirts, the proceeds go to charity...they cost $10 plus a few bucks shipping (I'll pick up the handling, lol). Ethan knows the little girl who designed it and prints them. Let me know, give me the size you want (XL is quite large) and I'll see that you get one ordered. I plan on making these shirts part of my Christmas shopping, it really is a nice little shirt, good quality, the black and white is simple, goes with any pair of jeans you'll find in any given consignment shop!

I Think, I Blog...I Blog..I Think (Usually)

This could sound a bit nerdy, but I've always coveted The Thinking Blogger Award. And finally I get to put it uppp on my credentials case! The lovely Katja has bestowed this upon me at her blog Skimbaco, and on her 100th post no less. So happy 100th and thank you, Katja, I think we're practially twins too. Okay, sans the beautiful hair and drop-dead figure she has going on. Me, that is. You--you're all that AND a candy apple (they've been on my mind lately, I'm fighting it but idk, may need to hunt one down).

So now the award gets passed on from here, and this is the part I seriously dislike--how do I pick one and not the other? Here goes--and if your name isn't uppp, it's not that you don't think, I just didn't think, that's all.

Funny, funny funny and loveable GiGi. I'm not sure it's legal to be a pastor's wife and be this funny and slightly bent, but she is. But it IS South Missouri, where she resides, so maybe this is okay. (giggle) She's a wife, a mom, part time computer geek, and daughter of missionaries. I thoroughly enjoy those posts, I never considered until now what it felt like to be outside my comfort zone so completely for so long.

Sewing is a passion, but only second to clowning around. Seriously, my friend Sharon and her father do the clown thing for real! Complete with face painting and balloons, as a community service. And it doesn't stop there....no no no...she's also a dancing librarian, she dances with library cars in parades (could I MAKE this up? it's TRUE). Her words crack me up from time to time, her energy makes me feel 100 years old, and I am a better person for knowing her.

My friend Cheryl at Word Quilts has about the most generous heart I've seen. She sees a person in need of lifting and lifts (I was recently blessed enough to be on the receiving end). Cheryl is exactly the kind of person I want around me when my day isn't going well--she chooses her thoughts (emails as well) and carefully blogs them. I've learned a few things about empathy from this lovely lady.

I have a new friend, "D" who lives in TX under the name USO Girl. Love that her blog was originated to entertain Coastie Bro, her brother who is in the military as we speak. Funny funny funny, entertaining and often remembering to put in a little something for her brother when she posts. I'd be missing her if her blog washed away with all that Texas rain she talks about! She's the BFF to my last award winner, B/S.

Finally, and this one is completely different than my usual--Ethan. Ethan is the youth pastor at our church and usually posts only on Fridays. When he posts, I think. Which is what the award is about, right? If you're needing some theological insight to life, or if you just need to know how long it took him to read Harry Potter, then say hello to Ethan. He's really very good at this writing/thinking thing. (Ethan, that gets me out of overnight youth duty for another year, right??)

I know y'all get sick of the spiel...but I truly mean it when I say I wish I coulda picked ALL of you. I adore ALL of you more than you know. Blogging is a way of opening up a new window into our lives, reaching out to people we wouldn't have gotten to otherwise, and I love that part! Think on think on....

PS--I think I'm doing a giveaway soon---what do ya'll think of me giving away some custom CDs straight from my blog? Pretty much 70s & 80s with my face pasted on the cover...is that too narcissistic?