That's me. I have been sooooo wiped out this week. Just can't seem to pull myself together and get anything done, and the past few days I've been feeling pretty "puny," too, as my Grandmother would've said. Just weak and tired, sore throat and stuffy head. No actual sickness, just a severe case of the blahs. All I can figure is it's the aftermath of all the excitement of company-convention-more company. It all seems so pitiful. How could such things affect me so much?! I mean, it's not like I was doing anything strenuous! Just sitting up talking, playing games, laughing, teasing, taunting... The only real work I did was meal prep--once a day! Ha! Mom says it's because I never truly relax when people are around. (I might miss something, you know!) That's pretty pitiful, but I can only assume she's right! ANYWAY, that's the excuse I'm claiming for having not concluding my series of blogs. At the moment, blogging sounds better than doing the laundry I've been trying to get done for four days now (I'm averaging about a load a day... talk about pitiful!) or anything else constructive, so here I am!

Let's see... where was I? I think I left off with the trampoline pictures from last Sunday. ~sigh~ What great fun it was. :-) After the jumping party ended the folks started to load up one car at a time and drive away. It would have been depressing except I knew that some of them were scheduled to stay for at least a few more days. :-)

So the Smith's moved out and the Hays moved in. And, of course, we still had Brother Tim with us that night. James whipped out the projector and made everybody sit down and watch "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium." I can't decide what I think of that movie. There are some really fantastic one-liners in it, but the movie itself seems to drone on... and then drop off abruptly right at the end, leaving you thinking, "What?! No way--that's the end?!" I hate movies like that. Anyway, James thought the kids would enjoy it. When the movie ended and we put the kids to bed all of us adults sat down and played a rousing game of I Buy. I think it got a little late for Tim--he was acting rather tipsy by the end of the game. If I hadn't made the punch myself I would have wondered if it had been spiked. Ha! No, it was fun, but we were all wiped out by the time it was over.

The next morning James took Brother Tim to the airport while the rest of us slept in a bit. I got up long enough to say goodbye, but headed right back to bed when they walked out the door! Monday was the day we did lots of planning. We had a whole slew of electrical jobs lined out for Brother Dustin (he's a master electrician, so he says--though I was demanding to see his credentials by the end of the week. I'm still thinking about calling whoever gave him a license and having a serious talk with them... Ha!), so we basically spent the morning walking around the house, exploring all of the options, and watching Brother Dustin make a list of everything he would need to make us happy. The guys finally left for town and spent a good, oh, 6 or 8 hours shopping. That's what it seemed like, anyway! It was really a pretty slow day. We were all tired from Convention and having a hard time working up any gusto to accomplish much. I did manage to plan some meals and get a grocery list together.

Jamey and I loaded up all the kids in the afternoon and drove out to Wal-Mart in Edgewood to do some grocery shopping. We came home and threw some chicken in the oven for dinner. I think we at at 7-something that night. A little later than I had fed them the night before... which was way past regular dinner time! ~sigh~ I'm such a terrible hostess. Oh well. The chicken was good and I'm sure we appreciated it more than if we'd eaten at 5:00. Right??? :-)

That night we played a couple of games of Pictionary, Dustin & Jamey vs. James & Becki. We won the first game handily and were about to put it away until Brother Dustin started making lame excuses for their loss. I, of course, couldn't let it go at that, so Game 2 began immediately. This time we used the extra die--the one that tells you to draw with your "off" hand, with your eyes closed, using one continuous line without picking up your pencil, and so on. We won again. :-) And we discovered it was really much more fun playing with the wacky rules anyway. Especially when you win. Again. ;-)

Rats. I had every intention of making this one, great, glorious, long-winded post all about our week last week. I started writing this during nap-time today. Then James came home and sat down next to me. Don't know what it is, but I can't write with somebody sitting next to me. My brain totally freezes up unless I feel like I've got some privacy. Weird. Anyway, after a little while he said, "Why don't we load everybody up and go to Albuquerque to take care of some business?" I said, "Be...cause...I hate Albuquerque???" I guess that wasn't a good enough reason. We left at 5:00 and just now got home--at 10:00. I hate nights like that! But we did get a lot accomplished. Namely...

We went to the Cottonwood mall for the first time since we moved into this house 3 months ago. I haven't been to the Christopher & Banks up there for longer than that, so it was exciting all over again. So exciting that I walked out with two shirts and a sweater! They've got a ton of stuff on sale right now. :-) Our bigger reason for going to the mall, however, was... (insert drum roll here)... to get CELL PHONES!!! Can you believe it?! James & Rebekah Horne now have real, true-blue cell phones! Whoa!!! I'm still in shock. We've had that tempermental little TracFone for a few years now and just kept buying more time for it, but it was so unreliable that it was definitely time to do something different. With James being an Overseer and all, I think I finally convinced him that he needed a real phone so that people feel like he's available all the time and they don't have to wonder if the phone is on or if it's going to decide to work that day or not, or if will give us our messages that day, and so on. James still isn't very happy about it (he HATES cell phones), but he finally gave in. And I got a phone, to boot! I never counted on that one, but it's pretty exciting. I think. If I'll ever use it! Ha! Anyway, that's our big news of the night. We are now official cell phone owners. (I know a lot of you punk kids out there are DYING right now to think we've lived this long without them, but it IS possible to live--even happily--without them. Now you know. Still...I'm excited to have one! Feels like a new toy.) ;-)

We also went to Lowe's to get some more supplies for the kitchen project, but they didn't have what we needed. So we bought other stuff instead. There's always SOMETHING you need there, you know?! Now if only I can pull myself out of this slump and find some motivation, maybe we'll start getting some more things accomplished. I'd LOVE to get some things done between now and Regional Convention next month. I guess we'll have to wait and see how things go. Anyway...

I'll continue my story next time. I'm shot and gonna call it a night. ~sigh~ By the time I get a chance to write about last week I will have forgotten all of the great stuff I was going to say. I'm sure I'll remember the very most exciting event of the week though... no matter how desperately Brother Dustin may wish that I would forget it. ;-)

G'night!

~Bec~

What’s to say about Youth Convention?! Way too much to remember, that’s what! We had the Convention at our local church here in Albuquerque this year and it was a great blessing to our local members—it’s been ages since they’ve seen the church filled up like that and been able to host a good, old fashioned Church of God Convention! It really was wonderful.

Friday night featured (ha! That sounds so… cinematic or something!) messages by Brother Dustin Hays and Brother Tim Cox, both of whom did a really great job. There was a good, good spirit and we were all blessed and encouraged. Brother Tim wasn’t feeling very well, so James left pretty quick after service to bring him back to the house to get some rest. He was feeling sickly anyway and the two hour time change from Virginia didn’t help things much. When I left the church that night I found myself stopped at a red light next to Brother Dustin. What was I to do?! I had to challenge him. :-) Of course, we both drive mini-vans, so it doesn’t make for an extremely thrilling race. Brother Dustin did manage to peel out and fishtale a little bit off the line, so that was pretty cool. I don’t think we actually did anything illegal and we had the good sense (well, one of us did) to call it quits before things got too out of hand. ~sigh~ It was great. As for who won, well, Brother Dustin thinks he did. I, of course, know that I was just letting him feel that he was doing well before I overtook him at the end.

Unfortunately for poor Brother Tim, we only have a two bedroom house—and it was currently filled with my family and Jon’s family, adding up to four adults and eight children, not counting Tim. All I had left to offer him was the couch in the living room. He even found a poodle in his bed (literally IN his sleeping bag) the first night, but he handled it all like a trooper and saved all of his complaining for when he went home to Virginia. I assume that’s what happened anyway because he sure didn’t complain here! Jon & Em and I stayed up and visited for a little while that night, addressing the various character flaws we’re combating in our children right now… particularly my children! Ha! It’s usually very insightful to talk to (or rather listen to) Jon, and it’s always very entertaining. :-)

Saturday morning we threw some frozen cinnamon rolls in the oven and ran around crazily trying to get everybody ready to go. We horked down our breakfast and zoomed into town for the first session of the day. Brother Luis preached an outstanding message, as he always does. He’s becoming one of my most favoritest preachers to listen to. He’s got such a good spirit and is so very sincere. He truly feels what he is preaching. He’s always quite “churchy,” too, which is rare for most young ministers. Jon preached that morning, too, and had some really great points. ALL of the messages were so good throughout the weekend.

We had a pot-luck that day with lots of great food from the locals as well as the Hatch and Alamogordo folks. It was nice to be able to just stay there at the church and fellowship with everybody—and there was tons of food left over. We were actually able to bring home a bag of tamales! That NEVER happens (they’re always the first things to go), but there was so much other good food we actually got to enjoy them during that meal and beyond.

Saturday afternoon we had a Camp Boost by Sister Shuler… in a suit and a goatee. Weird. Brother Dustin seems to be the perfect fill-in guy, so he took over the job in the Shulers’ absence. Brother Sam Kaufman preached that afternoon and that’s always a highlight. For various reasons. ;-) He has become quite an excitable preacher in the past few years and I can’t help but chuckle over his “I’m just a teacher” claims in the beginning. It’s always especially great in our Conventions when everything is being interpreted into Spanish. Brother Sam has this thing about getting all wound up and either leaving his interpreter in the dust or yelling at them while he preaches. Ha! We decided to give poor Tayde a break this time and so Sister Coyazo translated for him. Sometimes she’d just quit trying to keep up with him and start amen-ing him until he took a breath. :-) Seriously, he preached a wonderful message, as always.

Saturday evening was undeniably the highlight of the entire Convention. Brother Chris Clarkson was on program to preach, but nobody knew until the very end if he’d be able to make it after being away from home so long due to his father’s funeral and such. Even if he did come, we didn’t know if he’d feel able to preach. He received a real blessing that morning though and felt led to say “a few words.” WOW. It was such a blessing—I can’t even begin to describe it. All of our hearts were just breaking with him in his pain, but the Word of God that he shared was just so very rich and meaningful—no doubt because he is presently right in the midst of what he was preaching about. He spoke about being an encouragement to one another in this race that we’re running (like the support their family has received during this difficult time), but that in the end, it’s your race to run and nobody can do it for you. The spirit of the Lord took over and several came to the altar and we had a marvelous time of prayer and worship and intercession. ~sigh~ It was glorious. I can’t remember if it was during that time (I think it was) or after it, when we went into our VLB march, when somebody felt led to grab the big church flag and begin waving it. Before it was all over three or four or five (?) different guys had all taken their turn with it as the blessings of God just poured down in the building. It really felt like I was 13 years old again at youth camp—that same freedom to pray and worship that I felt when I first received the Holy Ghost, and the feeling that you love God sooooo much that your heart could just burst. ~sigh~ It was just so wonderful.

We enjoyed a good VLB march that night and another good message by Brother Tim. One of the nights (they run together, you know) he preached about the weights that so easily beset us and he had several balls—a football, a basketball (right???) and a bowling ball—as illustrations of the trials we go through, the burdens we bear, the weights we endure and so on. We want to lay those things down at the altar and walk away with the things God wants us to bear—His yoke that is easy and His burden that is light.

James preached on Sunday morning, and Brother Tim again. My favorite part of the day, however, was Jon’s special song. HA! He’s such a nerd. He strongly dislikes singing specials and he just keeps getting put on program to sing at conventions. He tries to do something a little “worse” each time (he writes all of his own songs) in hopes that it will free him from having to sing next time around. It never works though. I can’t remember much about the song now except the line about being “a runnin’ fool” (our theme was on running the race) and so on. The very best thing though was when Sister Erika got up front afterwards and said, “I didn’t think it was that bad, Brother Jon—maybe you could sing it again!” Ha!

After everything ended on Sunday most of the crowd went to Panda Express for lunch. Filled that little joint up, we did! The most humorous thing that happened came in the form of Brother Dustin illustrating a certain form of “worship” for us. I think Sister Jamey and James and I were the only to witness it and it just wouldn’t come across right in written form (you’d have to SEE it to truly appreciate it!), but it still makes me laugh right out loud when I think of it! Ha! He is such a dork!!!

When we left Panda several folks (the Smiths, Hays, Wantuloks, Kaufmans, Brooks/Cliftons, Brother Tim… I think that’s all!) came up to see our house. :-) James had asked Brother Sam if he’d do a little house dedication ceremony for us. Ha! Ha! Ha! It’s another one of those things that just wouldn’t come out right on paper (or screen)—you just had to have been there. I’ll just say that it was very, very Sam and we all laughed a lot. ;-)

Everybody stayed and visited for a while, which made me so very, very happy. ~sigh~ People. Real, live people. At my very own house!!! And I love my house even more now. We had 12 or 14 adults all seated comfortably in the same room (living room/dining room) with plenty of room for more! Wa-Hoo! A company compatible house!!! Now if we only had more than two bedrooms and could keep more of them here overnight I would be beyond happy. :-)

The troop of kids (12, I think) all took turns (or not!) on the trampoline, but after a while it was time for the big people to take over. Brother Sam was the first on, so I ran and put some pj pants on so I could join him. We shooed all of the kids off and I set to “cracking” Sam. (One person is supposed to sit Indian style and hold onto his feet while the other tries to “crack” him from that position. It wasn’t too hard with Brother Sam!)

Just so you know, you have to click on these pictures to enlarge them if you want to enjoy them in their full glory. -- I love Brother Sam's expressions!!!

I can barely remember the beginning. It started with major house cleaning in preparation for COMPANY! Wa-Hoo! Real, live people at my very own house! ~sigh~ Life is so grand.

Emilee and the kids showed up Wednesday afternoon and we rarely saw the children from that moment on. They spent the vast majority of thier time outside running wild all over our little "mountain." James fixed his green chili enchilada thing and I fixed a "Smith" mexican dish (so named by Emilee) for dinner that night. I think we went to bed without a game or anything that night. Crazy.

Thursday was our work day at the church to get it ready for Convention. The kids played in the Sunday School room while James and Emilee and I worked on cleaning and rearranging the church. It looks soooooo much better now!

After finishing up there we went to KFC for lunch, where we assumed we were mistaken for a family of polygamists. James, two "wives" and eight small children, all arrayed in holiness garb. Ha! Some crazy lady stole our table (the kids were all sitting there, but all went to the drink machine at the same time--and she ran and sat there with her own crowd), then a few minutes later came and asked me if our baby was using the high chair. I turned around and looked at Zeke sitting in it at our table. "Um... yeah, he's sitting in it." ??? She then said something about our baby being a "big boy" and that being the only high chair in the restaurant. Had she been nicer I might have volunteered to hold Zeke and let her have the high chair, but this was the lady who just snatched our table (knowingly) and then was not-so-politely asking for the highchair, too. I assured her that we would bring the chair to her as soon as Ezekiel was finished with it. As we were getting ready to go the lady's baby fell off his chair and started crying and she came over and snatched the high chair (Emilee had just picked Zeke up) and took it to their table and slammed it down. Then they gathered their belongings and left. Didn't even use the chair, just had to make a point. Ha! Crazy people. Such are the likes of most of the folks in Albuquerque, I'm afraid. Desperately in need of God and really not so nice. It's sooooo different here in the mountains where we landed. Just 20 miles out of town, but folks are just so very friendly and helpful and obliging. It's wonderful! I have a hard time being a good Christian when I go to Albuquerque. Ha! What a terrible thing to say. I guess I should say that my sanctification is tested much more frequently. :-)

After lunch James went back to work at the church some more and Emilee and I tromped our eight children through Wal-Mart gathering up miscellaneous supplies to see us through the weekend, then Hobby Lobby to pick up some fabric so I could make a curtain to hang on the back of the piano that we'd moved up onto the stage at the church that morning. We went home and I made the curtain. That's about all I remember! That night Emilee and I ran out to Edgewood to go to Wal-Mart (twice in one day! Crazy!) and pick up a few groceries we'd forgotten on the previous trip. We also picked up a movie we were wanting to watch that night. ~sigh~ Ah, yes. A girl night at my very own house!!! It was GREAT. :-)

Friday was spent almost entirely in the kitchen in preparation for the pot-luck on Saturday. We made chocolate eclaire torte, dump cake (thanks, Em!), a three layer cake, a manderine orange jell-o thingie, a double batch of this noodly casserole thing, meatballs... hhmmm. And whatever else. James went to pick up Tim Cox from the airport, took him to the church and said, "I'm going to leave you here for a little while--I've gotta go get a toilet!" Ha! The toilet in the guest bathroom had been giving us fits, flushing only on rare occasions. We kept having to tighten and loosen something to have any chance at all--Emilee and I decided it would be much easier to have a switch installed on the wall so you could turn the toilet off and on each time you needed it! Anyway, we had told Brother Tim that we bought a house to remodel and hadn't gotten much done yet. I can only imagine what he thought when he heard that James was going to buy a toilet! He probably figured we had an outhouse for now or something. Ha! Ha!

Okay, I hate to cut it off there, but I think I'm done for the night. My brain feels fried. Next time I'll pick up where I left off and tell you all about Youth Convention. Until then, this OLD news will just have to do. :-)

Later!

~Rebekah~

I probably won't be blogging much in the next several days. I have COMPANY! Real, live company! And when I have company I would much rather be with them than with my computer. Em and the kids came today and it's already been GREAT! I'm so looking forward to their stay here and to a wonderful Convention. I'll be sure to tell you all about it... but probably not until the company clears out sometime late next week! :-)

We'll see.

We left Friday morning and headed to the booming metropolises of Springfield and Campo, Colorado. Wow. Campo must have all of... 150 people living there? We were told told that we would be staying in the parsonage across the street from the Baptist church, so that's where we went first. We moved into the kitchen (the house is vacant, but the locals had supplied it with air mattresses and blankets and juice and snacks and towels and all sorts of thoughtful things), then changed clothes and headed the 20 miles up to Springfield for the viewing.

Those things are never pleasant and, of course, there were lots of tears. Still, it was just so good to see all of the Clarksons and to just be with them. I felt so terrible that we couldn't be with them at the hospital this last week and it felt like a visit was long overdue. We were at the funeral home for a couple of hours, then we all headed over to Sister Clarkson's sister's house in Campo for dinner that all of the townsfolk had provided. (It is the most amazing and accomadating little town in the world--they were sooooooo friendly and generous and thoughtful!) The Lewis' were there and the Hays, along with our family and all of the Clarkson bunch... and perhaps some that I'm forgetting? I know this sounds terrible, but we had a wonderful time! I just can't begin to express how much better I feel after being with the Clarksons. Death is always such a cruel thing (at least our human minds struggle with that view of it) and it's not easy for anybody to deal with--and Clarksons seem to feel 10x what your average person would feel--and I've just been so worried about them and wondering how they were coping with all of this. But it's evident that God is showering them with His wonderful and amazing GRACE and although the road ahead is sure to be a difficult one, God is helping them and they're going to be alright.

After we visited for a while (and planned the funeral--in true last-minute Clarkson fashion! Ha!), we headed back to the parsonage where we stayed with the Hays and the Lewis'. The next morning we all got up and just hung out (and took turns with the ONE shower in the house--which was a blessing to have at all!) and then headed over to the church at 11:30 for the meal they had provided. We had a nice time of visiting and I was amazed (but really not surprised) and truly touched by the number of church folk who were able to attend. I think I counted 48 of them (not counting any Clarksons, of course) who came. That may not sound like a lot to those of you who aren't familiar with our region. We're rather small out here, and if you looked at a map it would help--because our AREA is NOT small! We had people come from as far as Andrews, Texas (380 miles = 7 hours), Alamogordo, New Mexico (405 miles = 8 hours) and Craig, Colorado (475 miles = 9 hours). God has blessed us with such beautiful unity out here and a deep love for one another--we're truly family. All of the people who had to sacrifice to be at this funeral considered it no sacrifice at all--it was never a consideration that they might NOT attend. It was beautiful. I'm continuously reminded of what God's Church is all about and sooooooo thankful to be a part of it.

The funeral started at 2:00. At least, that's when it was scheduled to start. I think it began late, but I'm not sure. The family had actually inteded to have Brother Clarkson's casket brought into the funeral LATE ("He was never on time during his life, it just wouldn't be right if he was early today..."), but I think the funeral director just couldn't bring himself to do that. :-) The funeral was very, very nice and Keven Lewis did a wonderful job officiating. My favorite part was when the three Clarkson boys all went up front together to talk about their Dad and share some memories. They stood there side by side, taking turns speaking while the others patted them on the shoulder and put their arms each other--it was just so very, very "Clarkson." The boys were just so close and truly bearing each other's grief, not concentrating on just their own. It was so neat. And it was great to see C.P. and Chad. Do keep them in your prayers. I don't know C.P.'s condition (he ACTS saved???), but Chad is most definitely not saved. God is certainly working on him though--and Chad will tell you as much--and he knows what he needs to do. His heart is tender right now and I know it would be worth it all to Brother Clarkson if his death meant the salvation of his sons. Please keep them in prayer.

After the funeral we all headed out to the cemetery for the windiest graveside service in the history of mankind. Good grief!!! James was in charge of that one and he was good to keep it short, but it was really nice, too. They had the Honor Guard there because of Brother Clarkson's time in the service years ago. That was soooo neat! It was a bunch of old retired men and they weren't "crisp" and perfectly in step, but their hearts were in it and you could tell it truly meant something to them. The gentleman that presented the flag to Sister Clarkson was crying as he spoke to her. It was so neat. (I've never seen any of this before except maybe on TV, so I thought it was beautiful!)

Afterward we went back to the church for the reception and visited for a couple more hours. During that time James decided that since we were this close (only 4 or 5 hours) to one of our churches we should probably stay over and make a church visit on Sunday. (We wouldn't have been able to make it home to Albuquerque for service anyway.) So we followed Dustin & Jamey Hays back to Colorado Springs and stayed the night with them. We got there at about midnight and stayed up visiting until 3:00!!! When we discovered it was that late (we had NO IDEA), we scooted ourselves off to bed right quick!

Dustin & Jamey cooked a nice breakast for us the next morning (I hope they don't expect the same treatment when they stay with us next week--I'm terrible about breakfast! Ha!) and we all got ready for their church service at 1:00. We enjoyed a good Sunday School lesson (I LOVED it since I'm always teaching the little ones and not able to be in big people SS class!), really good worship (I've never NOT been blessed by a song service led my Sister Karen--she just sort of draws the worship out of you, you know?!), and then James preached a message... but to be quite honest, I was so tired by that time that I retained very little of it! Hopefully the people who were smart enough to go to bed before 3:00 the night before got more out of it! Ha!

We went out to eat at the Mason Jar after lunch (James' favorite) and were slapped with an 18% gratuity on our bill! Can you believe that?! Actually, on DUSTIN'S bill, since he "won" and James forfeited the "I'm paying"-"No, I'm paying" war. (We'll make it up to him next week! Ha!)

We went back to the Hays house and just relaxed for the rest of the day. It was GREAT! It's just so nice to be able to fellowship. It seems like we've been able to do that so rarely up until recently and I'm loving it! It's so different being in Albuquerque. I miss Sam & Tammy something terrible and on an every day basis it gets pretty lonely as far as local fellowship. But it does seem like being here has enabled us to encounter the other church folk in the region more frequently, so that part is wonderful!

Yesterday morning we drug ourselves out of bed and were all loaded up and ready to leave at the break of 10:00. ;-) We drove over to Mardel--James has been having withdrawal--and there is NO good Christian bookstore in Albuquerque! We spent a lot of time and money there (!) and then decided to take Platte so we could eat lunch at Fargo's on our way out of town. The kids love it almost as much as James does. :-) It is really neat there and--I think we're the only ones in the world who think so, but--the pizza is good, too. It was fun.

We drove the 6 hours home and got unloaded last night. I started the laundry, but only had enough gusto for one load! That's the project today. Along with getting this gross house whipped into shape. James is going to be finishing up on the wall in the kitchen today, making it fully ready to be wallpapered. (The extra roll of wallpaper came while we were gone! Wa-Hoo!) I've got to concentrate on getting things CLEAN today--and the laundry and ironing done (haven't done it since James got home from Arizona!)--and if there's time (???) I would LOVE to get the rest of the kitchen wallpapered! Emilee and the kids will be coming tomorrow. I'm soooooo excited!!! COMPANY!!! I'm going to have COMPANY!!! Jon & Em for the weekend--along with Tim Cox who is coming as our last minute-emergency-fill-in-guest-speaker due to the Clarkson funeral and having to reschedule Youth Convention--and then Dustin & Jamey will be stayed part or all of next week so Dustin can work his electrical magic on our house. :-) That's three batches of company all in one big sweep! (If Tim Cox can truly qualify as a "batch" all alone! Ha!) I am just so, so, so, so, so excited! ~sigh~ Company. Life is grand. :-)

BUT, if I don't get busy on this house none of our company will want to stick around (!), so I'm going to go get busy. I just thought I'd be sure to get my priorities straight and blog first. :-)

~Rebekah~

We'll be leaving tomorrow morning for Colorado to be at Brother Clarkson's funeral. We will be back home sometime on Sunday. After that, I hope to get back into the groove of blogging again. :-)

Please continue to keep the Clarksons in your prayers--I know that they appreciate it more than you could ever know. God bless you!

Brother Clarkson's funeral is to take place this coming Saturday. The proceedings will begin at 11:30 a.m. with lunch at the Campo Baptist Church, service at 2:00 p.m., and burial will follow immediately at the Campo Cemetery with reception back at the Campo Baptist Church. Any gifts or cards can be sent to The Church of God at 602 Dodge St. Salida, CO 81201. (This is Sister Clarkson's current address.)

If you wish to send flowers, you may contact

in Springfield, Colorado at

Flowers may be sent to

in Springfield

Most of you already know, I'm sure, that Brother Clarkson passed away last night. His family is deeply grieved and need special prayer throughout this difficult time. They feel "lost" right now and desperately need all of the prayers they can get. The funeral is scheduled for this coming Saturday, the 26th, in Springfield, Colorado. I don't have any information on what funeral home will be handling the ceremony, but if you would like to contact Sister Clarkson or their son, Brother Chris, here are their addresses:

Gaylene Clarkson

602 Dodge Street

Salida, CO 81201

Chris & Shanda Clarkson

15927 W. Maui Lane

Surprise, AZ 85379

I'm sure the vast majority of you are already aware of the situation, but I wanted to request special prayer for Brother John Clarkson. For those who do not know him personally, he's the man who sends out the requests for the prayer chain that so many of you are a part of. He's also a minister and the pastor of our church in Salida, Colorado. This morning he suffered a massive stroke and is currently in critical condition in the hospital in Denver. His family is getting there as quickly as they can and the situation does not look good. He needs our prayers, Sister Clarkson needs our prayers, and their children need our prayers. His eldest son is saved, but as far as I know the two younger are not. I know that Brother Clarkson's greatest desire would be to see his entire family serving God. We are praying and trusting for his healing, but more than anything for the will of God to be done and for souls to be saved. Please join us!

That's me. If you're not up for a royally derpressing post then I suggest you look elsewhere. I'm not an easily depressed person and I'm afraid I'm not very sympathetic toward people who are inclined to be easily depressed. For that reason, I fully expect a host of rebukes and scoldings. Whatever you do, lend me no sympathy. I deserve none and I certainly desire none. A good slap will often accomplish what a kind word could never do. At least in my case. ;-)

~sigh~ I'm bored. Out...of...my...mind. Really--out of my mind. Like, I can't concentrate on anything. I've been trying for a couple of hours to come up with a Sunday School class for tomorrow and I still have nothing. How hard is it to find a craft to accompany God creating the land and plantlife?! For the average person it's not hard at all. For the person bored to distraction it is quite difficult. At least for this particular person bored to distraction on this particularly boring day. I've been through four books and scrolled through countless Internet pages only to realize in the end that I'd forgotten what I was even looking for... several times. Can't we just talk about God giving us "rest" tomorrow and call a nap time during Sunday School??? ~sigh~ No, that will never do. Especially not after we've had two good Sunday School classes in a row and I feel like the kids are actually starting to look forward to class. We're at the place where we might be able to grow a real bond with each other and get into a regular "this is an important part of my life" routine for them, you know? I don't wanna flop now! I'll have to pray some more and try again later. I fear this will be one of those up-'til-2:00am-trying-to-put-together-what-I-didn't-get-put-together-earlier kind of nights. Oooooh, I hate those. They used to be the norm for me on Saturdays, but I've been doing much, much better about planning things earlier. Until today. ~sigh~ And I feel like doing nothing.

It's the kind of day where you don't feel like doing any work and you don't feel like enjoying a "day off" either. There are things that should be done, so I can't justify doing the fun stuff at this point. It's been a long, long time since I've felt this way, but it's like I'm in a state of half-reality. Like my brain is foggy and everything seems like a dream. A really, really boring dream. I have so many jumbled up thoughts, but not deep ones. Just simple, unimportant, silly little things rolling loosely around in my mind. Like... I wish I could dance. (This one may get me in trouble! Ha) Always wished I could dance. Not AT a dance, just in the privacy of my very own home, you know? To actually flow with music and not stumble and bumble all over the place. Seems like it would be sooooo fun, but I'll never know. I wish I could write. I mean really write--like poetry that's truly inspired and enlightening. Not all that mumbo-jumbo poetry that's so "deep" you have no idea what it's talking about, I mean real poetry that has actual rhyme and rhythm and draws to a proper conclusion of the subject at hand. Oooooh, I wish I could sing. I've been listening to me lately and I really can't sing. I can usually carry a tune okay (but not always), but my voice is very weak and almost a little annoying. I'm thankful that God doesn't care--He enjoys hearing me sing with the voice He chose to give me, so there is comfort in that.

Oooooh. I just had a terrible revelation. I'm having a MELANCHOLY DAY!!! Yipes! Talk about depressing!!! I am a Phegmatic-Melancholy personality by nature, but the Phlegmatic is usually dominant enough to squash out any of the pathetic Melancholy woes and I stroll merrily along through life without enduring the sad and dark colors that a typical Melancholy seems to shade their lives with. All is usually happy and fun in my life, not sullen and gray. What an ugly way to live life! I can't imagine feeling like this every day. I would so much rather be a sarcastic, low-key Phlegmatic who takes great joy in the quirks of others than the one who provides the quirks for all of the other Phlegmatics to make fun of! Ha! Okay, at least now I feel hope. I know the solution...

So, all you Phlegmatics out there--WHERE ARE YOU?! I need you now!!! I desperately need a Phlegmatic to come and mock me out of all of my self-pity. I need somebody to tell me how pitiful I am in good, well-colored sarcasm, enough to paint a clear picture of the foolishness of my groveling and slap me back to reality and out of this stupid cloud of gloom. Ha! I can't believe I said that! "Cloud of gloom!" How Melancholy can you get?! That is soooooo pitiful! I think perhaps I'm slipping down into the depths of despair. My soul is anguishing in the darkened abyss of loneliness and there is no soul alive who my senses can revive. Ha! Ha! Ha! No, wait--I can do better. Oh, that I were never born! To never have entered this cruel world of pain and despondency! To be free from the chains of grief and woe that encompass my soul and to soar away, never to be seen or heard of again--this bitter world would be less troubled without my meaningless existance anyway... Ha! Ha! Ha! Okay, I think I healed myself. This is the first time I've laughed in hours now. My brain actually feels a little clearer, too. Maybe I'll be able to concentrate on Sunday School now! Wa-Hoo! ~sigh~ To think, all I needed was a little mockery. The solution is often so simple. *shaking head* Still, I will welcome all of the mockery and riducule any of you can dish out. It might help later on, just in case the chasm of hopelessness begins to tug at my spirits again. Ha! Ha! Ha! Really, let 'er fly. If I'm willing to publicly confess to embarrassing thoughts of loneliness and self-pity then I fully deserve and expect the proper derision that should naturally follow. Don't make me come up with all of it by myself. It might depress me again. ;-)

Sinking into the dismal gulf of dolefulness, hopelessly lost in wretchedness of spirit, with not the smallest hope of recovery... (HA! HA! HA!)

~Bummed Out Becki~

That's how today has turned out. Actually, I didn't accomplish any of the things I had intened to accomplish--but I did accomplish something that I didn't even know would be a possibility. :-)

We had breakfast and devotions today, as usual. The kids went out to play for a little while, so I headed to the garage in hopes of getting it straightened up a little bit. I had barely gotten started when I heard a truck out at the drive. I stepped outside and saw the UPS man drop a package over the gate. My wallpaper!!! I went and got it, intending to open it up and make sure it was the right stuff, then get right back to the garage job. Well... when I saw the wallpaper all else came to a screeching halt and I had to start right to work! This is the wallpaper I picked out to go in the kitchen to complement the freshly painted cabinets. The good news is: I LOVE IT! It is soooooo perfect. Exactly what I had envisioned--or maybe even better. The bad news is: I ran out. Oopsie. The repeat of the pattern is ever 20" or something like that, meaning that there is a lot of waste. You have lots of scraps from having to line the design up perfectly to the previous strip. In the end, I discovered that this paper is very forgiving and even if things aren't matched up it's hard to tell. :-) I matched everything perfectly in all of the places that matter, and then used all of the scrap pieces and patched them together above the cabinets (way up high--you'll never know) and behind the refrigerator. I'll have to order one more roll to finish things off, but that's okay. I can't go any farther until James re-builds the wall behind the sink for me anyway.

Sooooo... do you wanna see what it looks like so far??? Is everybody ready? Okay, all together now...

Nothing truly BIZARRE, just different. And I think I'm ready for James to come home. He's been gone for a week now and I think maybe we're all getting a little lonely for him. The only trouble is that he isn't scheduled to come home for another 5 days! ~sigh~ We'll have to find some things to keep us real busy until then!

Sam woke up crying several times last night. I think he wasn't feeling well, though all he ever complained of were growing pains. It made for a very sporadic night of sleep for me. At 7:15 I was awakened by Joe crying. He had thrown up in bed! ~Aaaarrrrggghhh!~ I HATE that! Luckily, it really wasn't too bad. Just a new pillowcase and shirt and he was fine. Except that he threw up another 4 or 5 times over the next few hours and couldn't seem to keep any food or liquid down at all. That's not a fun way to start the day. It kind of put a damper on everything, you know?! At 11:00 today I realized that all I had accomplished was making my bed, splitting some kindling and building a fire (the high is 44 degrees here today! Wow!), making oatmeal, and... maybe that was it! That's all I can remember.

We cleaned house a little bit, then had a very late devotion. Sam laid down in front of the fire and fell asleep and slept solid until I woke him up for us to go to the store. We headed down to Charlie's (the little mountain grocery store about 3 miles from here, owned by a cute little old man--Charlie, of course!) to get some of the bare necessities: milk, bread, soup, 7-Up for the sick-o and eggs. $13 later (!) we came back home and I fixed grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for the kids.

I made myself go out in the cold and finish up in the shed. It only took about 20 minutes, so that wasn't bad.

We had nap time, although nobody slept. I was surprised considering the fact that NONE of the kids have acted like they felt very good today. It's been a crazy weather day around here, too. It was cold when we woke up. (I've been keeping the thermostat on 60 and just building a fire to break the chill--but it was nice and warm the past few days and we haven't needed it.) So we've had a nice, cozy fire all day long. I LOVE that!!! I just LOVE it that I'm up in my little "log" home in the mountains and it's April and it's cold and I have a fire in the fireplace and I can look at it and feel it and smell it... ~sigh~ Life is grand. It started snowing two or three times today--really hard once--but then the sun would break through and it would be bright and sunny for a while before clouding over and snowing some more. Kinda crazy.

I made "Company Chicken" tonight. It's made pretty much like oven fried chicken, but with a few different spices and with soup poured over the top of it to bake. It was really good!

The boys are outside playing right now, before it gets dark. Joe never has acted sick today--except for the obvious symptoms this morning, that is. He was pale, but perky and wanting to eat as much as he could and wanting to be outside playing all day. Weird. I'm glad though.

It's getting close to 7:00, so I think I'm going to call the guys in for the night and maybe play some games with everybody before bedtime. Maybe I'll actually be able to put ME to bed early tonight! It always sounds so good, but I'm lousy at actually pulling it off. We'll see!

(As opposed to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly--get it?) But more on that in a minute.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Breakfast, devotions, school, and VLB prep for the most part. We left early for church so we'd have time to run by the library and pick up some new books. The kids have been itching to go for several days now and this was my first chance to get them there. Katie has already read 5 books since last night and Joe's not far behind. They're into those little kid-y chapter books now and loving 'em.

It's strange to prepare a VLB service for a congregation that is made up of yourself, your three small children, and two senior ladies! Ha! I shared some scriptures from Timothy and talked about how we can minister to younger people just as Paul ministered to Timothy--through warnings and exhortations. We just had a short little Bible study, then spent some time praying for the Youth Convention that will be held at our church here in Albuquerque next weekend--for the Convention as a whole, that every song and sermon and prayer would be anointed of God and that everyone would be blessed and encouraged by it, and also that young people from here in Albuquerque would come to the Convention and get SAVED! We have small children and we have older people and we have James and me. We are lacking in the youth department and it would totally transform the face of this local church if God would see fit to give us some teenagers who would sell out to Him and become dedicated church goers--and eventually members. We had a good prayer last night and intend to keep seeking God for souls (and young ones, in particular) in this area.

Today I faced The Big Nasty, as I've come to call it. It's a job I've been dreading and putting off for some time now, but I promised James I would have it done before he got home from Arizona. So today was the day! I went out to the shed this morning and cleaned it out--trash, junk, papers, dirt, grime and LOTS of spiderwebs and dead bugs. YUCK. The shed has been in this condition since we moved in--left nasty by the previous owner. Sadly it was only slightly worse than the house itself! Ha! Anyway, I had it all cleaned out by noon, so we took a lunch break before continuing.

After lunch I spent the whole afternoon "moving in" out there. All of our extra things (things that don't have a room yet--like the stuff for the boys' room, James' office and the den--none of these rooms exist around here yet, they're to be formed in the future) have been stacked and piled in the garage since we moved in, including all of the stuff that rightfully belongs in the shed. You know, tools, Christmas stuff, old baby stuff that we don't need anymore but James wants to keep "just in case," tools, ladders, coolers, tools, the ice cream maker, lawn chairs, Maurice (my beloved paint sprayer), have I mentioned tools? It was a dirty, nasty, smelly, sweaty, heavy job, but I was determined to get it all over with today. Unfortunately, it's the kind of job that, as you progress, seems to be mocking you and taking great joy in prolonging itself and stretching the misery out beyond the one day you had planned. ~sigh~ Actually, I might have had a chance at finishing up out there had things not gone awry. This is where the title comes in.

I heard a Katie scream--the real kind--and turned around to see her in a little pile just to the side of the trampoline, lifting her head up off of a rock. I felt that motherly surge of panic and went running to her, just sure that there was going to be blood everywhere. She was crying and screaming that Sam had pushed her off the trampoline. There was no blood, thank the Lord, but there was a tiny gash on her forehead, right in the middle of a HUGE knot that had already formed and was beginning to turn blue. I ushered everybody into the house and sent Sam to bed while I tended to Katie, cleaning her head and getting an ice pack for it. I then went and "tended" to Sam. I made him come and look at Katie's head and had a good talk with him, among other things. Along with his other punishments, he has been banned from the trampoline indefinitely.

All of the kids had been outside for hours and hours today (playing or helping me with the shed project) and they were all FILTHY. So I put the boys in one tub and Katie in the other, then suddenly realized that it's probably not wise to put a little girl who has just sustained a head injury into a tub of water and leave her alone! So I took a load of towels into the bathroom and folded them and put them away while Katie jabbered. No injury to her tongue, that's for sure! Ha!

I got all of the kids out of the tubs, but Joe was having some serious attitude issues. He was crying and blubbering like no 6 year old should ever do and I told him if he didn't stop he'd be sorry--and that part of his punishment would be going to bed with no dinner. I went back to check on Katie again and listened to Joe continue his blubbering in the other room. So in the end, Joe and Sam both got sent to bed an hour early and with no dinner. I don't recall ever sending kids to bed with no dinner before, but it seemed very appropriate tonight. (Just don't tell my Dad--he's already plenty mad at me because of Katie's injury. It was all my fault, you know--and, of course, I didn't tend to her properly afterwards. ~sigh~ You don't want to mess with his grandkids, let me tell you! Ha!) Joe was acting like a baby, so he was put to bed like a baby would be. Sam could have seriously injured his sister, just because he was being a creep, so it just seemed right to end his day, too!

It's all very sad, but it did give opportunity for the little knothead (I told her that's what we'll have to call her until the bulge in her forehead disappears! Ha!) and I to have some girl time! That very, very seldom happens around here so we snatched up the opportunity and ran with it. We split a Totino's pizza and a Vanilla Coke and watched a girl movie on the projector in my bedroom. :-) What fun!

I just put Kate to bed a few minutes ago and she's already out cold. But now Sam is awake and crying that he is growing pains. (He and Joe both have this problem on occasion, but they never say they HAVE growing pains, they say they ARE growing pains. Hhmmm... Ha!) I went and prayed with him and he should settle down and fall asleep again shortly.

And that's about all the excitement from around here. I haven't taken a picture in days now and it fills me with guilt. I didn't let James take the camera with him on his trip because then I wouldn't be able to take pictures of all the great stuff the kids and I would be doing while he was gone. So now he will have no BTI pictures--and I don't even have any great pictures from around here to make up for it! I did take a picture of Katie's big knot earlier, but considered it too graphic to blog. Ha! It's not THAT bad, but it does look pretty unpleasant. It looks like tomorrow I'll be duking it out with the shed again, but maybe after that I can find something picture-worthy to do with the kids. Assuming they don't all have to be sent to bed early or something! ~sigh~ I'm sure tomorrow will be better.

~The Mean Mom~

Not much, really. Things are going well here. We're officially home "alone" now that James AND Mom are gone. You can't ever be truly alone with 3 kids and a dog, but it's as close as I'll get for many years, probably!

I stayed up late on Saturday night preparing for Sunday School and my WMB service that was to be Sunday night. Sunday School went good again this week, PRAISE THE LORD, and the kids were actually asking, "What are we gonna do next Sunday???" Wow! What a turn around! Got to be God. Don't tell any of my students (!), but I don't even like teaching Sunday School. Not to say I'm bitter about having the job (ha!), but it's not something I'm naturally good at and it's always been a bit of a struggle for me to relate to kids other than my own. But I see the need--and what a great need there is with these kids who know so very little about God and the Bible!--and I've been praying that God will work things out and minister to their souls in our Sunday School time. He is answering those prayers and helping me to face this crazy class. This week I had ages 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, and 17. And they were all "with" me! Wa-Hoo!

The lady who was supposed to be in charge of service in James' absence wasn't at church yesterday (there was some miscommunication and we were totally unaware that she'd be gone) so after Sunday School I went ahead and taught the lesson that I had prepared for the WMB service that night. I talked about when Jesus went into the country of the Gadarenes and cast the devils out of the lunatic man that had beed living in the tombs... and the crazy people around there begged Jesus to LEAVE instead of STAY! They had tried to "help" the man on their own (but "no man could tame him" or even keep him controlled with chains), but to no avail. When Jesus brought the real answer, they wanted nothing to do with it. There are sooooo many people who would rather stick to their own failing ways instead of letting Jesus into "their" territory to do the job right! And the things they do to try to "fix" things only bring more bondage--like trying to keep the poor lunatic man controlled with chains. Crazy. But later on Jesus went into Gannesaret and immediately when the people heard he was there they ran throughout the country and found all the sick, lame, dumb and blind people they could and brought them to Jesus hoping that they'd get a chance to just touch the border of his clothes and receive healing. "And as many as touched him were made whole." That's the kind of person I want to be! Not like the first group who would rather flounder around with their own failing methods than let God do things the right way--He might do something they don't like, you know! (Like kill all of their pigs! What were those Gadarenes doing raising pigs anyway?! They couldn't even eat pork according to the law! Pigs aren't good for much of anything else, are they? They obviously already had rebellion in their hearts and they wanted nothing to do with Jesus who might require a change in them!) ANYWAY... I'm rambling, sorry.

I thought the "lesson" went really well and was soooooo thankful I had stayed up late to get it all finished up instead of banking on Sunday afternoon for the finishing touches. But immediately after service somebody (not a member) said something they were going to that just screamed of "Gadarene" philosophy! Ha! Maybe I'm the only one that got anything out of the lesson! Ha! Ha!

Last night we had prayer meeting (since my WMB service had already been used!) and although it was just the Faithful Few again (our family and the two older church ladies who are ALWAYS there), we had a wonderful, wonderful time of prayer. I so appreciate these ladies and their sincerity--and the burden that they bear for their loved ones and other lost souls. They truly cry out from the heart in their prayers and it helps to usher me into the presence of God with my own prayers. We had such a good, powerful time of prayer last night. I really needed it and I'm sooooo thankful for it.

We came home last night and did... nothing! And it's been pretty much the same story today. I just can't seem to get any motivation. And I think Mom has rubbed off on me. She gets sooooo much accomplished (THAT part didn't rub off, unfortunately!), but she's "a slow starter," as she puts it. In other words, although she may be up at 7:30 in the morning, she doesn't actually get involved in accomplishing anything until at least 11:00! From there she might work until midnight, but don't expect any early hours out of the lady, let me tell you! Well, I think it's catchy. Not the working late thing, just the starting slow thing. It's 9:40 right now and I'm just NOW starting to accomplish things today! Ha! I've done piddly little things, but none of the big projects I've been hoping to tackle. Every time I think of them I feel like just flopping on the couch instead! I haven't done that either though, so I don't know where the time has gone. I did manage to get the house all cleaned up and fix tuna casserole and peas for dinner (the kids were sooooooo excited--it's been months since we've had that and it's one of their favorites) and I've finally got some laundry going now. I'm hoping to work up some steam (while I'm typing?!) to get up and get busy ironing, too. I have a VLB service to prepare for tomorrow night and I'm totally blank on that. I used everything that God's been laying on my heart in the WMB service and now I'm fresh out! (I'm definitely a one-thing-at-a-time person when it comes to preparing lessons and such!) So say a prayer for God to give me something to share, please! I know I plan on having a special time of prayer for our upcoming Youth Convention... but that's about all I have planned right now!

~sigh~ I'd better go. My ironing awaits. Have a great night, all of you lousy non-commenters out there! Don't take offense--I'm a lousy non-commentor myself most of the time. ;-)

~Bec~

It feels kinda good!

The past two weeks have been GREAT. A crazy, chaotic, hard-working kind of great, but great nonetheless. I was sure to have the house all cleaned up and all of the laundry and ironing done before Mom came and it's a good thing! There was very little time for such things once she arrived!

We spent the first two days (yes, that's correct--TWO DAYS) wallpapering the great room. Who could've known it would take so long?! It is much, much more difficult to hang horizontal wallpaper than vertical, that's for sure! We worked the whole first day on ONE WALL. The good part of our slow progress is that it gave James a reality check and I know that he mentally chopped down the list of things he was hoping to see accomplished while Mom was here! Ha!

Friday and Saturday were spent working on the kitchen cabinets--cleaning, painting, taping, painting some more, polyurethaning (3 coats)--and all of the same to the front door to match. (I LOVE IT!!!) There is lots and lots of work when you decide to go with a three color combo job on bevelled edged doors. But in the end, it's worth it! :-) Mom spent a total of probably 8 hours working just on the front door!!! She's not sure THAT was worth it, but I am. After all, she did all the work and I get to keep the door! Ha!

Sunday was our "day of rest" and we REALLY needed it by then! --Oh, I forgot to mention that I also whipped up 6 batches of strawberry jam one afternoon. YUM! There is just nothing better in the whole world! Anyway, we enjoyed a good Sunday morning service (Sunday School went quite well--even with ages 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, and 17 present!) James was sure to work Mom in all of our church services, playing and singing LOTS. It was SUCH a blessing to have her here! That afternoon we went out to eat somewhere (???), then came home and had time for a much needed nap before our evening service.

Monday was more work on the cabinets. Tuesday was our "day off." We did some running around to antique stores and such, then into Albuquerque to eat at Casa de Fiesta for lunch. Yum! Oh! HA! I almost forgot! It was soooooo great! There was this Spanish guy there with a guitar going around to all of the tables, playing and singing. He seemed to especially like singing to Mom and we laughed sooooo hard! James was "interpreting" his Spanish songs. "The hair so white, so white it glows; the wrinkles so deep... Oh, the many colors of her jumper... Oh, holy bun lady..." and so on. HA! Mom was so embarrassed and it was just way too funny. I really wish I would've had my camera so we could remember our little singing friend forever. :-)

After lunch James dropped Mom and me off at Lowes while he took the kids home for a nap and got ready for Church. About three hours later he picked us up (enough time for us to find the PERFECT wallpaper for the kitchen and find several other things to remember--hopefully--for other parts of the house as we go along) and we went to CPMA service. Another good one!

That night Mom and I stayed up late, thinking it was our last night together. We had managed to sneak in a few short games here and there throughout all of the working, so that was nice, and we had fun on our "last" night. The next day, of course, we discovered Mom wouldn't be leaving! We came home and were able to finish up on the kitchen cabinets (at long last!) and get them HUNG that night! Wa-Hoo!!! After a week of mess and chaos all over the house it felt TERRIFIC to finally have that done!

Thursday was the day James left for his big trip. He wanted to take us out for lunch before he left, so we drove to Albuquerque in separate cars. We had lunch, said our goodbyes ("Goodbye, Bec--be good while I'm gone!" Ha!), then he headed for Hatch and the rest of us went to pick Hershey up from the groomers. I won't go into all of the gory details, but that crazy lady charged me $50!!!! I was sooooooo upset. The price she quoted me on the phone was much lower than what she actually charged, plus the EXTRA she charged because "he bites." ?!?!? HERSHEY?! He's NEVER bitten a groomer before. The meanest he ever gets is nipping at the kids--the little I-want-you-to-know-I-don't-like-what-you're-doing thing. He's never actually BITTEN anyone, just given those little "warnings." I almost refused to pay, but I didn't want to cause any more friction than was already there, so I just coughed it up. I couldn't help but tell the lady though that I'm used to paying $22 and was just stunned by the price. (I still am!!!) THAT'S JUST WRONG!!!

Anyway, we took our dog with the $50 dumb-looking haircut and ran to Hobby Lobby--AGAIN! I don't know if we were there 3 or 4 different times, but I'm getting to know the place real well! Ha! We had to go to Wal-Mart for a few things, so we didn't get home until about 5:00, I think. That's the night we watched Pride and Prejudice on the projector. Fun!

Yesterday was a total waste. I mean, it was a nice, relaxing day, but we accomplished absolutely nothing! That's not totally true, I guess. I did get all of the laundry done (I was trying to hold off until Mom left, but the "extra" days with her pushed it over the edge! Ha!) and vacuumed the whole house. But that's it! Still... even though we felt lazy, it was kind of nice to not work ourselves to death like we had been before! We played a few games with the kids before putting them to bed last night, then Mom and I played one last game before turning in.

This morning we got up at 3:00 (I laid in bed 'til 3:30) to take Mom to the airport. Katie was already up and dressed--all ready to go!!! Weird kid! I don't know how or why or when she woke up (she said she thinks it was 2-something!), but she was rarin' to go! The boys woke up rather well when the time came, too, so that was great! I was fully anticipating crabby kids, but they were all fine. We drove Mom to the airport and said our goodbyes AGAIN, then came home and promptly sent everybody back to bed (it was 5:30) and slept soundly until James called and woke us up at 9:00!

James is having a GREAT time in Hatch. The Revival is going great and there have been lots of people and some brand new visitors. And, of course, he's really been enjoying the time with the folks there. Today James baptized one girl in a very, very cold Rio Grande (!), went back to the motel to change clothes, and was headed back to their bon fire/outside service where the same girl will be joining the Church tonight! How exciting!!! Praise the Lord!!!

Today the kids and I tried to get back to normal a little bit. School, housework and Sunday School prep until the crazy night/morning caught up with me at about 3:15 and I promptly declared nap time. I was out in no time, only to be awakened a second time today by a phone call from James! (He said he's going to try again late tonight and see if he can make it an even three! Ha! Jerk.) I got up and took a shower, loaded up the kids and headed to Wal-Mart out in Edgewood. We had some serious grocery shopping to do, as well as pick up a few supplies for Sunday School tomorrow.

We came home, I threw the boys in one tub and Katie in the other, got all the groceries put away, whipped up a nutritious meal of fish sticks, mac-n-cheese, and french fries, and let the kids watch Larry Boy "on the wall." Put 'em to bed and here I am! But I'm 5 minutes past my "limit." I was going to quit at 9:00 to get working on my WMB service for tomorrow night, so I'd best be going! But there you have it--the run-down of my life these past two weeks or so! I'll back way up now and post just a couple of pictures I failed to post before...

Easter picture! (Notice Joe's tie--and Sam's lack of one. Not to mention Sam's shirt being buttoned CROOKED. For some reason unbeknownst to their mother (so don't ask!) they made it through the WHOLE DAY like that without ever being fixed! Ha!)

Okay!!! Here are some "BEFORE" pictures -- these were taken before I painted the ceiling and before we installed the new light fixtures...

And here are some "DURING" pictures...