Ask Me Wednesday!!

Happy Wednesday, Peeps!

Today was a good day. I slept in .... quite late, unbeknownst to me. I was using my iPod as my clock over night and woke up to see that it said 8:00. I thought, "Wow, I slept in till 8:00, that's great!".

Then my phone buzzed with a text message so I got up to read the message and discovered that it not 8:00 in the morning. It was actually ...... 10:00 a.m. YIKES!

I forgot to re-set the clock on my iPod from California time.

So I then had to go rushing out the door to get to work and get some stuff done.

I worked until 1:15 or so and then went to see "Public Enemy" with my friends J & C. I liked the movie ..... or maybe I just liked looking at Johnny Depp for 90 minutes. I'm not sure which, but who really cares? He's one fine looking man, though I prefer him as a drunk pirate.

I then went to the house to check on the ever-present painters. Things are looking quite good. They really are doing a good job, so while they are not speedy ..... that may be a good thing. I had wanted to take pictures but didn't have my camera with me. Not to worry ..... they will be coming.

I was supposed to go to Circle tonight, but feel like I'm playing catch-up from returning from the trip AND from not getting out of bed until 10:00 this morning.

Tomorrow I play my first tennis match in about 8 weeks or so (unless it gets rained out). I'm almost praying for rain because I'm not sure just how ugly my game will be after this long off of the court. I'm also a bit afraid of what it will do to my hip. Let's pray that it does ..... nothing.

I go to see my regular doctor tomorrow ...... I plan to talk to her about maybe doing something different with my meds for depression. In continuing to be honest with you .... I don't think the current meds are doing the job that they once were. Of course, it's difficult to tell what's effecting me from all of the medical crap that continues to bother me, and what's just grief and what's just depression.

There are no easy answers. Not at this point in my life anyway. The time for easy answers seems to have left me about 19 months ago.

Speaking of easy answers ..... it's time to answer some questions. Some are easy .... some are not. But I will give them all my best shot. And I continue to be grateful for you asking them .... it gives me something completely different to think about one day a week ..... and I love that.

So here we go .....

W asks:

You know I'm obsessed with your UPS deliveries! What are you getting?

W -- You, as always, crack me up. I did think of you as I was waiting for this guy. And the best thing is .... I was waiting for a delivery of wine. It seems that I joined a wine club late one night, after taking an Ambien. For those of you who take Ambien ... you know how dangerous it is to get on line once you have swallowed one of these pills.

But hey .... it's wine ..... so it can't be all that bad. I hope.

Leia asks:

Here is an AMW question, not only for you, but for all of your readers out there in your "peepdom" :)
Since you have mentioned in several of your blogs that macaroni & cheese is one of your favorites- would you (and your peeps) care to share your recipe(s)? Maybe we could start a comfort food recipe file! And, J, since I know that you often don't write your AMW post into the wee hrs of Wed night, and since your house is in a state, I totally understand if you would rather post the recipe at a different time :). I would start this off with one of my own...but I'm not sure Kraft would like that. :0
Thanks for posting the Texas sheet cake recipe.

Hi Leia .... yes, I am going to have to write down this recipe at a different time since things are a bit topsy turvy around here. But I think this is a great idea. Maybe once a week we could all post our favorite recipe. What do you think Peeps? Leia, remind me before next week and I'll find that recipe and post it.

My Mom asks:

So when did the painters finish??
They should have had that finished in plenty of time to get the house aired out before you got back! What slackers!!

You and Son #3 have been invited to spend the week with A & M. . .
and that leaves Son #2 . . .where??
(That can be my AMW question) I know he has brain cells that need to be protected also!

I think my Mom also asked if I bought anything in San Diego, and if so .... what?

Hi Mom!

The painters should finish this week. They are taking their time, which I guess is better than doing to too fast and messing up. They seem to be doing a very good job.

Son #2 is on a mission trip to help fix damage left behind from hurricane Ike last year. He spent his birthday (yesterday) jack hammering up a storm. What a gift.

As for the shopping question ....... C'mon Mom! Duhhhhhh! And I think you know what I bought .... as do most people who know me ...... a new hand bag, of course. :)

Amber asks:

My AMW question is- with 6 kids, how did you manage to give each one individual attention? Was jealousy an on going thing or did they not even notice since that was all they knew? And finally, did you usually go to the girls events and Jim do the boys, or did you guys constantly rotate? I have a 2yr old and pregnant with my 2nd and already nervous about giving them equal and individualized attention! I know, probably sounds crazy to you after having 6! Oh, and did you do hand me downs? If so, were the younger ones ok with that? Thanks so much! -

Hi Amber ..... I shall start with the easy question first ..... yes, indeed we did/do hand me downs. And were the younger ones OK with that? I'm not sure if they were or not .... that wasn't an issue for me. With 6 kids the motto was always (I think I've mentioned this before) .... "You get what you get."

As for individual attention .... that was difficult. When I could (and when Jim could) we would take just one child with us to run errands. We didn't really differentiate between the sexes .... until the girls were grown and on to college. Since then I've tried to spend every second I can with them when they're home. Sometimes the boys resent it, but ..... "you get what you get". I need "girl time" with them. Very much.

When my twin daughters were old enough to go to Mother's Day Out one day a week, Daughter #1 was in half day kindergarten. So that one day, every week, we'd take the two girls to MDO and that morning was just for her and me. Whatever she wanted to do. She was in afternoon kindergarten so we'd go to lunch or do whatever before I had to drop her off. She still remembers those days that were "hers" and hers alone.

We tried to take turns as much as we could, but no one child got as much attention and one-on-one-time as they wanted. They didn't seem to be too jealous .... that's just the way it was with a large family ..... it was all they knew.

I think they turned out OK ..... as will yours. :)

Anon asks:

This may be a tough question - and you don't have to answer- but do you think it is normal to be scared of the death of a loved one? I am a 22yr old newly wed, my husband is the same age and healthy, but with all the stuff on the news about people dieing in car accidents or anything sudden like that, I am terrified of losing him. Its not like I call him every 5 minutes or anything, I just feel like the thought is always in the back of my mind. Am I crazy?

My dear Anon,

No .... you are not crazy. I think that you are going through a trial that "the enemy" is leading you through. I think that Satan is at his happiest when we are at our least peaceful or joyous. And it's hard to feel peace and joy when we are constantly worried about our loved ones and their safety/security.

The world is a scary place .... and it seems to get scarier all of the time. You've asked one person who knows this for a fact and has experienced it. But ..... even though I have experienced the worst fear you could have ..... I would tell you that I would hope for you to be able to let go of this fear. It's no way to live. You cannot experience the joy that you have each day .... each moment that you are both here, if you fear the "what if". Each moment that you live in fear is a moment of victory for him. Please don't give him one more moment.

There are no guarantees .... none at all. So rather than live with the "what ifs" ..... live in the now.

Plan and live your life as if you have forever. For all you know .... you do. Grab hold of each moment .... the good and the bad .... and squeeze every last drop out of it. You won't regret it.

You will, however, regret every moment you lived in fear and so didn't find the joy in those moments.

You are at the beginning of a wonderful journey. No one knows how long this journey will last, but grab hold of it and live it for all it's worth. And ... at the end of that journey .... no matter when it is .... you will have no regrets.

You are blessed. Your husband is blessed.

Enjoy every moment and never take then for granted.

And as an aside ..... stop watching the news.

:)

OK,Peeps ..... thanks again.

Have a great evening and a wonderful Thursday.

:)