Miss Piggy? Table for one...

so...HEB ran a special this week on pork loins - $1 a pound. well...i cannot pass a deal like that up...so i rifled thru the mounds-o-meat and got a whopping 9 pounder (8.83 lbs, actually). this is the largest loin i've ever purchased. the last time i purchased one was a sam's...it came in at just under 7 pounds and cost me around $19. i must confess, dear reader that i LOVE butchering meat. there is something so therapeutic about hacking up a carcass. i carved it into two roasts, 12 - 1 inch chops, and a pound of strips for stir-fry.

i had an epiphany this morning. i've been pretty certain about my plans for the children's choir christmas program since last year (it's the music teacher in me...the night after i finish a program i come up with the idea for the next year's gig!)...i was going to do a presentation on the christmons (what they are, where they came from and what they mean). i'm pretty sure that it must have been the holy spirit b/c i've been stuck with this idea for a while when suddenly this morning ideas just started coming and i couldn't stop them! so...in 1 1/2 hours, i have a script, songs ready to go. i can't believe it - well, yes i can! anyhoot...be on the lookout for "Deliverers and Shepherds and Wisemen, OH MY!" on December 13 at the 9:30 service at UCUMC.

so...my idea is totally different than the original (altho i am using the same information just not in a "christmon" context). here's the outline:

Deliverer - God delivered us out of nothingness (creation), God delivered the Israelites out of slavery, God delivered the Israelites out of lawlessness (10 Commandments), God delivered all (prophecy of simeon, Christ (John 1:1-14))

Shepherds - Moses, David, John the Baptist (W thinks that John was a wise man...but i'm calling him a shepherd in the context of Luke 3:15-18...yes?)

Wisemen - A Call to Faithfulnes (Hezekiah), A Call to Holiness (Isaiah), A Call to Worship (Magi)


there'll be songs sprinkled around, of course. i think we'll end it with the Rich Mullins song "My Deliverer is Coming" with the kids singing the chorus with the praise team. i mention the Holy Spirit above b/c i look at this now and know that i didn't inspire myself! i am so thankful for this! i'm super excited!

so...in summary:

1. butchery is cool
2. pork is delish
3. steph is grateful

Maestro? If you please...

here are some of life's little oddities that intrigue me...i wonder if i'm alone in these observations?

1. the floor is dirty. i swiffer, i swiffermop. i stand back to admire my handiwork. then mealtime comes. the floor is dirty. i swiffer, i swiffermop...ad nauseum.

2. babies only like to poop in a freshly changed diaper.

3. b waits until just after i windex the bathroom mirror to flick his toothbrush on the back of his front teeth spewing spittle and kids sparkly crest in all directions and on all surfaces.

4. when cooking or baking for just us, bread comes out with crusty exteriors and chewy interiers, cookies are the perfect balance between chewy and crunchy, pasta is al dente, meats are tender and juicy. when i cook for others...well...the opposite occurs...plus a small fire and/or copious amounts of smoke.

5. m began her life with 12 pacifiers. over the last 16 months, i have purchased many more and lost many more. we were down to two when i decided that it was time for more. the most recent purchase of 4 pacifiers was tuesday (today is friday). i can only find one. it's actually an old one. what happens to odd socks and pacifiers?

6. i cannot use the self check-out lines. it never fails. no matter what i'm purchasing i still need a cashier to come over and clear something out of the computer, turn a key, push a button, enter my birthdate. this highly offends me b/c i was a skilled walmart cashier for a couple of years in college. i am quite capable of scanning items, typing in produce codes, swiping coupons. i was quite excellent at it, actually. these days, i can't purchase a loaf of bread by myself without two cashiers with jingly sets of keys coming over to diagnose my lack of cashiering skill. but...i digress...

rest assured, dear readers...i am not complaining. just observing. you know how some reality shows will play the "dumb muzak" when they want someone on the show to appear clumsy, crazy, wierd, bumbling, or just plain stupid? sometimes i think that the soundtrack of my days must sound like that.

anyway...as i step off my soapbox...excuse me, my observation tower...i report to you the day's activities:

went for a walk, b on his scooter. i can remember when the top of his head was even with the top of the handlebars. i noticed today that he is getting so big. it's funny how kids grow up so gradually that you don't notice until they move a certain way, stand a certain way, etc and you realize how time has flown by.

i got my fall veggies in the garden. spanish onions, garlic, lettuce, baby spinach, and cilantro. i also noticed that we have 4 cucumbers about ready for harvest and GREEN BEANS!!! whoot!!!

built a marble run. read a chris von allsberg book called "two bad ants". not his best effort.

read "horton hears a who" for the 3rd time since getting it from the library yesterday. it's a long one!!! we seem to have "horton hears a who" perpetually checked out...

m drank rainwater from my watering can.

b and i cuddled before his rest time. that lasted about 5 minutes before he said "i'm ready for you to leave". (cue bumbling muzak)

played soccer.

watered newly planted plants.

marveled at the beautiful weather and wind...all windows open!

so...to summarize:

1. whom do i petition to change murphy's law into "steph's law"?

2. GREEN BEANS!

3. cue the "stoopid muzak" outro...

Hmm.

so...it's 5:27 am. i returned about 1/2 an hour ago from taking my mom to the airport. we had a great visit. i know that i should 1) try to stop her 2) get it all done myself 3) insist that "no, no! i really don't need her help!"...but I LOVE that my mom does the laundry, changes diapers, gets the kids bathed, dressed, in bed, etc. i stopped feeling guilty and trying to stop her a long time ago. when she says she likes to help, she means it...who am i to get in the way of that?!

anyway...i've had something to blog about for a while. i've hesitated to mention them but these things weigh heavily on me...so here goes...

there are four people (families) that i think about and pray for everyday:

1. frank bingham
2. angie & joe zurovec
3. vanessa lucio
4. brady sullivan

here's why (reader's digest versions):

1. frank lost his wife, his daughter (4), and his son (2) while on a spur-of-the-moment hot chocolate run to downtown denver in november 2006. his wife, becca, was a dear college friend of my friend, michelle wheeler. the kids were in their strollers, each being pushed by a parent, when a drunk driver ran a red light and hit all four of them. the kids died immediatly, becca several hours later, and frank was seriously injured.
2. angie and joe are friends of mine who lost their 2-year old son mark to drowning on august 10th, 2008.
2. vanessa, also a friend, whose husband, devin, was shot and killed by a co-worker on october 13, 2008. vanessa found out a week after his death that she was pregnant with their son. "baby devin" was born this summer.
4. brady sullivan is someone that i do not know personally. i was FBing when someone posted his blog. i didn't intend on reading over a years worth of blogs...but i couldn't help it. brady's wife, sarah, was diagnosed with breast cancer last february and began chemo. she was pregnant with their first child who was born three weeks premature in early september 2009. shortly after the baby was born, sarah began having convulsions, etc and never recovered. she was declared brain dead and taken off life support just days short of her 29th birthday. their daughter, chloe, is now a little over a month old.

so...i have a difficult time knowing what to pray for because...what do i pray for?! i could go on for days telling you what these people have meant to the way i conduct myself, my worldview, my faith. my heart is broken for them. perhaps now that i've taken the lid off this cookie jar i could share my thoughts in later posts.

if you'd like more info on angie and brady, here are their blogs:

bandssullivan.blogspot.com
missingmarkallen.blogspot.com

so...here's my hope:

Isaiah 65:17-25 (New Living Translation)
17 “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
18 Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more.
20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young!
21 In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
22 Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses and confiscate their vineyards. For my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.
23 They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the Lord, and their children, too, will be blessed.
24 I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. But the snakes will eat dust. In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

it's 5:47 now. time to:

1. drink a cupocoff
2. turn on the state controlled media
3. rejoice in my daily activities (even the laundry and diapering)!
4. rejoice in my most excellent husband and precious kiddles!