The Blind Side

As you know yesterday was Chad's b-day.  We always try to do something fun on our b-days.  It doesn't have to cost a lot, but jsut do someting that we enjoy.  Chad and I decided to see a movie last night, and it was a good one.  Our church moved Wednesday evening service to Tuesday for this week because of Thanksgiving.  We decided to hit a late showing of the movie, which is great because no one is there.  Also, we left the little man with my 'rents.  I just don't think a 21 month old is quite ready for a 2 hour movie that starts after bedtime.

On to the movie.  "The Blind Side" is based on the true story of Michael Oher.  If you're a frequent reader then you know how much we like football, sepecially college ball, and even more especially, SEC football.  Michael Oher is a young man that grew up on the wrong side of the Memphis tracks.  Through much begging and pleading of a friend's father and the school's football coach, Michael was able to get into a private Christian school.  Through a serious of events Michael caught the eye of quintessential southern mom Leigh Anne Touhy.  Her and her husband befriended Michael, took him in to their home, and raised him as their son.  Eventually Michael was allowed to play football on the school's team.  After learning the ropes he became the start of the team, and was in time noticed by college recruiters.  Michael was recruited by Ole Miss(too bad Alabama couldn't get him, sigh).  In this year's NFL draft Michael was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round draft picks.  There are a lot more details to the story, including some controversaries that were in time eliminated.

It was a great movie and definitely worth a watch in my opinion.  It's just too bad he didn't play for Alabama.

Drumroll Please.........................

Today is Chad's B-Day.  He's 29.  Not 29 and holding, just 29 for the first time.  I always love that he's older than me.  It makes for great teasing.

Happy Birthday to my best friend, love of my life, and the one that brings out the best parts of me.  I'm thankful for the day God created you, and then for the day the He gave you to me.  I hope your b-day is great, wonderful, and fun.

Coulda....Shoulda....Woulda

It's been one month today since we said both hello and goodbye to Johanna.  In some ways it has flown by.  But most of the time I feel like I am standing still, just watching the world go by.  It's a strange feeling.

I woke up this morning with this thought on my mind.  If Johanna had been a normal, healthy little girl, what would my days be like?  They would be filled with changing diapers, making and washing bottles, changing clothes, giving baths, rocking her to sleep, and changing more diapers.  We would have been going through a serious amount of diapers since Clayton is still in diapers.  Instead today I'm going to buy groceries, make a lasagna for dinner, and then read.  Clayton is hanging out with his Mawmaw(Chad's mom) and Aunt Jamie today.

I hesitated to put this next part on here, but for the sake of transparency I might as well share.  I also, and I guess selfishly, wondered if anybody else besides Chad and me would remember that she would have been a whole month old today.  I don't say that to try to get anyone to feel sorry for me, or for anyone to think that I've been forgotten.  That's not the case at all.  It was just a thought I had.  I was just wondering who Johanna had touched, and if they remembered her today.  Even though my little girl is in Heaven now, I'm still a Mom.  And Mom's miss their babies when they aren't around.  I miss Clayton right now, and he's only about 2 miles away.

OK, enough bemusings about coulda, shoulda, woulda.  God has been very gracious to me. Even with Johanna, He gave me more than I could have ever dreamed with her.  I am one of the fortunate T18 Moms that got to hold and cuddle my baby before the Lord took her with Him.  So, even on the strange days(it's not a hard day, just a strange one) I am blessed.  I have my salvation, and that provides me with the privilege of spending eternity in Heaven with my JoJo, worshipping and praising our Lord together.

And somebody special(not me) has a b-day tomorrow.  Check back in tomorrow, and we'll embarass them.

Let the Games Begin

I absolutely love Christmas.  I do wait until the day after Thanksgiving to put up my tree and other decorations.  And since that day is just a week away, I'm getting really excited about decorating everything.  I think it's a lot of fun.

Clayton will be 2 in February, so I'm thinking that this Christmas will be even more exciting than last years.  Last year he was just excited to tear paper and not get in trouble for it. 

After much begging on my part, Chad and I decided to get him a kitchen for Christmas.  Clayton loves to help and play when I'm cooking or messing around in the kitchen.  Our kitchen is really big and laid out kinda funny, so we have plenty of room in our kitchen for one of the smaller toy kitchens.  I have been looking for the best deal for about a month now.  A certain store(which shall remain unnamed because I don't want to offend anyone) put out their before Thanksgiving sales.  To my glee, there was a coupon(YAY!!) for $20 off a play kitchen.  I saved the ad and the coupon.  I didn't buy immediately, because I wanted to wait until after the Black-Friday ads came out to see if any other stores were going to have one cheaper than this particular store.  After all the stores that sell toys put out their ads, I determined that this store was going to have the best deal, and I should go ahead and get the kitchen and mark that huge item off of my Christmas list.  Here's where the fun begins.

Tuesday evening, Mom, a friend, and myself went to Hickory to get the kitchen and a few other things.  After much searching I enlisted the help of a rather unhelpful associate.  He couldn't find the kitchen.  In fact, he didn't even know what I was talking about.  Maybe he works in automotive and was just filling in for the toy department that day.  Anyway, after I showed him the add and explained again what I needed, and that no a pink wooden kitchen just wouldn't work for a little boy, then he had an epiphany an knew what I needed.  He looked it up on his little scanner gun thingy, and wouldn't you know they were out of stock.  But, I was told that they would be getting a toy truck shipment that very night, and I could call back in the morning to see if the kitchen was in stock.

I called back on Wednesday.  I first talked to someone in customer service that again had no idea what I was talking about.  After explaining the entire situation again she tells me that the toy truck doesn't even come in until Friday.  Growl!!  I asked to speak to the manager, not because I was upset or angry, but I just wanted to know if they would honor my coupon if that precious kitchen didn't come in before their coupon expired.  The manager ever so politely tells me that they can't issue a rain check, and they will not honor a coupon after the expiration date, even if it is their fault the toy isn't in stock.  I was told to order the kitchen online.  I looked online, and it isn't an online item.  Way to go customer service.

I called back to the Hickory store this morning.  I get to speak to another very, shall we say, helpful, customer service associate and I ask her if the kitchen has come in.  And once again I had to explain the entire story in detail.  After she asks me what the item number is, and I tell her that I have no idea what the item number is.  And hello, why would I know the item number of a plastic kitchen just off the top of my head?  I work for a surgeon, not Fisher Price.  She proceeds to put me on hold...............forever.  When she comes back on the phone, she tells me that no they don't have it, but that the Gastonia store does.  Would I like their number?  Why yes I would.

I call Gastonia, and get another customer service rep. Who hires these people anyway?  They have 4 kitchens in stock as of 9:15 this morning.  Fantastic. I ask them to put one on hold for me, and I will be there late this afternoon to pick it up.  Fail.  They apparently can't put a hold on toys this time of year.  Are you kidding me?  I bit my tongue, and said that I would be there anyway this evening with my coupon in hand to buy that kitchen. 

Who knew that Christmas shopping for a 21 month old would be this stressful.  What's it gonna be like in 10 years when he want the newest Nintendo that hey only made 4 of for the entire southeast?

Just Thinking

Yesterday, Chad and I went to Johanna's grave for the first time since her funeral.  It was a surreal experience in a lot of ways.  The casket spray was still lying on the ground so I picked it up and threw it away.  Then, I replaced it with a dozen fresh mini orange roses.  I also noticed that her temporary marker had already been placed.  I don't know what I was expecting, but it had her name and birth/death date on it.

I have always enjoyed walking through a cemetery and reading the headstones.  I think you can learn a lot about how a family feels about their loved ones by what they chose for their headstone.  After we finished at Jo's grave site we stopped by their office to ask about the requirements for getting a headstone.  The lady gave Chad some pamplets and the basic information. 

I know that only my daughter's physical body is placed there on the side of the road across from the rock quarry, but in some way it made me feel closer to her to be there.  I guess since her funeral was the last "thing" we did for her, then its just nice to be near that place.  I don't want to spend a lot of time at her grave because I want her life to be about life, and not about death.  But to me there is a calm and a peace found in a cemetery.  I have always felt that, and I don't really know why. 

Yesterday, in the cemetery, the Lord gave me renewed calm and peace about Jo's life and her ultimate homegoing.  I still don't know all the He has planned for me and all the ways that He will use her life to reach other people.  But, I'm so thankful He chose Johanna for our family.  I can now honestly say that I would do all of this again.  I'm grateful that He chose me to be her Mom.

Ladies Conference 2009

It's shameless plug time.

Our church is hosting a "There is a Fountain" ladies conference extravaganza 1/15/10 and 1/16/10.  It's incredibly inexpensive(cheap) at $25 per ticket.  This price includes a snazzy boxed lunch on Saturday(and a drink too).  If you've ever been to a ladies conference then you know that $25 is ultra cheap.  We still have tickets available if you haven't been able to get yours just yet.

Carol Kent is our keynote speaker.  Ms. Kent has written several books, and has an amazing story to tell of God's grace, mercy, love, and peace.  You can find out more about Carol Kent by googling(that's a great word) her or go to her website: carolkent.org We also have other speakers and so much more lined up for that weekend.

My church is located in the large thriving metropolis of Lenoir, NC.  That's about an hour west of Charlotte, NC.  If you live within driving distance and are at all interested, shoot me an email and I can hook you up with all of the deets. 

Thanks for letting me do a shameless plug.

Blah, Blah, Blah

Yes, I am still around.  I know you were wondering.  I just feel like I've been incredibly busy.  I've not really been, but when you still require a lot of rest then alittle seems like a lot.  I don't really have anything exciting to tell or say today.

So, I think I'll go start dinner now.  Maybe tomorrow I'll have something worth blogging about.