Shh... do you hear that? Neither do I!

I am all alone in the house this weekend. (hee hee) Daddy and Susan were supposed to come here to visit, but they had to cancel at the last minute. (hee hee) That was pretty disappointing, so we came up with some alternate plans. (hee hee) Doug took the kids and went to Dallas to visit Keith and his family. (hee hee) Doug gets to hang with his brother, the kids get to play with their cousins, and (hee hee) I get to be in my own house all by myself for the weekend! Wahoo!

At roughly the 24 hour mark, I started getting a bit bored, but that could be easily remedied. All I need to do is leave the house. I could go busy myself with errand running or a movie or hanging out with friends. At the moment, however, I'm enjoying the unprecedented levels of house cleaning productivity! I mean, I keep starting tasks... and being able to finish them without interruption! What is that?!?

I miss my kids a little bit, but I'm really enjoying the break from them. When you have two little people who are constantly needing something from you (even if it's only a hug), it just wears you down. Well, it wears ME down, anyway. So to have two days with no one asking me questions or crying, to be able to watch TV whenever and as loudly as I want, and to be able to sit down and eat an entire meal without getting up -- whew, that's life-giving, let me tell you! :)

The Three-Day Update

I started this post two days ago, but something happened while I was away from my computer and the window got closed. The photo had been saved, but the words I wrote were lost. Grr... I think I was typing something about needing some spiritual refreshing. And life refreshing. I mean, I need a little vacation from life so that I can remember how much I love everything about it!

It won't be next weekend because we have family coming to town, but maybe the one after that. I could leave for a weekend away, but that would cost money and it would cost a lot of money if I went as far from this heat as I'd like to. So what will probably happen is that Doug will take the kids and go visit his brother (or some other unsuspecting relative) for the weekend. I can hardly wait!

Well, I'm glad that I have become more consistent about updating this blog. I still don't post every day, which would be optimal, but I'll settle for every couple of days. There's only so much time that the kids will let me sit in front of this computer. And at night, when they are asleep, my brain is no longer fit to produce coherent sentences. Maybe when they are both grown up and out of the house I'll be able to post daily again... :o)~

Gladiators

I picked up a random movie last week from Redbox and it ended up being quite good! The movie is called 'Gladiator', it's from 1992, and it has nothing to do with the Romans. The main character is a guy who looks exactly like the Russian guy from Rocky IV. Oh yeah, and Cuba Gooding Jr. is in it too - came out the same year as 'A Few Good Men'. Anyway, it was unexpectedly good. (Angela rating: 7 out of 10)

Eli and Lila had routine check-ups yesterday. Lila was there for her 4 Year and Eli his 15 Month Check-Up. They both got immunizations, which involved a fair amount of drama. Eli cried, but that was expected. He cried, covered his head with his blanket, then got over it. Lila cried louder and longer. And she's still limping around today, claiming a sore leg. Otherwise, they both did a great job!

Sadly, the shots have left Eli sick today. He's got a fever and a bad case of Puny. It's just shy of noon and he's already on his second dose of Tylenol and his second nap. I was supposed to take Cookie and Charlie to the vet this afternoon, but I had to move that appointment to Thursday. We also won't be making it to the library. Oh well... Anyway, here are the kids' latest stats:

Lila
Weight: 32.4 lbs (25th percentile)
Height: 38.5 in. (25th percentile)
Body Mass Index: 50th Percentile

Eli
Weight: 22.0 lbs (20th percentile)
Height: 29.5 in. (10th percentile)
Head Circumference: 80th Percentile

Lila is 4 Years Old!

I really get tired of trying to come up with titles for my posts.

Doug has started doing The Master Cleanse now and is also having a hard time with it. My hard time had to do with cravings and then getting physically ill. His hard time has to do with feeling actual hunger. Doug is the type of person who can't go to sleep if he's hungry. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, and is awake long enough to start feeling hunger, he'll get up and eat a piece of bread. If I wake up and feel hungry, I roll over and go back to sleep. This is not fun for him and is leading to some crankiness, but I think the practice of self control will help him to grow. Nonetheless, please pray that his hunger will abate, so that he can enjoy this experience.

We watched a movie with The Houston Peelers this weekend called 'Night Train'. I had never heard of it before we watched it, but it had some big (or at least, recognizable) actors. It had an intriguing premise and a style reminiscent of movies from 50 years ago, but it didn't quite deliver. The violence was also a bit gratuitous. I think it was trying to be sort of comic, but it was mostly just gratuitous. I give it a 6 out of 10 rating.

Sleeeepy

I'm tired this evening, but I don't think it's physical fatigue. I think I just need a break from people. Specifically, I need a break from people who don't come up to at least my shoulders. My children are an unbelievable blessing, but I need a break! I am so excited that Eli is weaned so that I can get away for a while! Sometime in the next few weeks, I will be leaving the house on Friday evening and not returning until Sunday evening and NO ONE is coming with me! Haha!

So, I got hooked on the show 'Lark Rise to Candleford' just as the season was ending and I can't wait for it to start back up! They've been showing reruns in its time slot, but only periodically. It's on PBS and this week it was bumped for some pledge drive programming. My other show is LOST and that one doesn't start until January! Oh, the agony! :o)~

We are still enjoying Gateway South Campus. The music is just great! Once a month, they do Gateway Unplugged, which is basically little church services in people's homes. We went to one last month and enjoyed it. I was hoping to go again this month and start having some second conversations with people, but we were out of town and didn't get home in time. Oh well, next month...

I need to go spend some time with God now, before I "forget".

Brief

So, Doug is contemplating (really, nothing more than that at this point) getting back onto the music team at church. Now that we're at the south campus, there is a greater need for musicians and we like the style and feel of the music much more there. Even though it means I'll lose more of his time to song-learning and band practice, I think it would be great! I haven't seen rock 'n' roll Doug in a long time!

Was too distracted by my new kitten to post for a week...

Soo... is it Fall yet? I saw someone describe this year's weather as "inhumane". I think that's a very fitting description! I mean, seriously, 51 days of 100+ degree weather?!? And it's only August 10th, so you know there's more to come! It never fails. Every August, I find myself wondering why the heck we live in Austin. And then fall arrives and the weather cools down and things get green again and I remember. It's an awesome place to live... for 9 months out of the year.

In a topic having nothing to do with weather, Doug and I have decided to do The Master Cleanse, as described in the books The Master Cleanser, by Stanley Burroughs, and Lose Weight, Have More Energy & Be Happier in 10 Days, by Peter Glickman. It sounds and feels like total madness, but we have friends who have done it and recommend it. It also makes sense once you read the book. I'll keep you updated.

I think our house has gotten just about as unpacked and organized as it's going to get for a while. I was spending so much time focusing on unpacking that I was letting the clutter and laundry pile up behind me. I have now turned from unpacking and started in on more pressing matters, like laundry and vacuuming. (Have I already told you this?) As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to go vacuum the guest room as soon as I finish typing this. . . . Now I'm finished typing. . . . So I'm going. . . . Why are you still here?!?

For those who haven't heard, we had to have Hurley put to sleep yesterday. This photo is the last one taken, just before we left for the vet. :(

Giving up on finishing this update and just posting it as is...

Doug has been gone on a solitude retreat this weekend and he comes home today, sometime after lunch. I'll admit that I'm most looking forward to taking a nap, but I'll also be very glad to see him. I've been praying that he'd encounter God during his times of solitude and come home refreshed and recharged. Even if it was not an earthshaking event, I'm sure it was a nice time for him to pray and reflect.

Work is nearly done on our first house (not to be confused with the one we just moved out of and sold). The roof needs replacing and a few other odd things need to be done and then it can go on the market. I will be glad when it is sold, both for financial reasons and because that will be one file that I can remove from my active brain inbox and put in the archives.

August

Wow, today is the first day of August! Lila is beside herself because it is now her birthday month. And now we'll have an even more difficult time explaining to her that tomorrow is not her birthday. This has been going on for weeks now. She'll ask when her birthday is and we'll tell her that it's, for example, three weeks away. Then she'll ask, "Is it tomorrow?" Speaking of three weeks away, I need to reserve our place at Kiddie Acres...

Reading lessons with Lila are going very well. We're taking it slowly, making each lesson last two days, and she's keeping up just fine. She can read a few simple words now! And I finally found a trick to keeping her attention on the work. Between each task (we do five or six per day), I let her run around and go down the slide a few times. She gets her crazies out and then gets back down to business. Yippee!

Excuse me, but I have to go now. I think I just heard Lila go out the back door and Eli is sitting on the inside, screeching at her. It's not that I don't trust her, but--