Weekend Catch-Up

I need to get off my feet, so here I am! I've been wanting to finish catching up my blog anyway.

Paul and Ben are gone right now on their overnight "13" trip. They took the camper up to Altoona last night and were hanging out at the campsite today. I believe right now they are at Incredible Pizza and then they will be attending the Harlem Globetrotters show later this evening.

The boys wanted tv dinners last night so I picked up a bunch of those and then made some cheesy Texas toast and fried some mozzarella sticks - all yummy stuff. But, apparently my stomach isn't as strong as it used to be. I couldn't handle all that junk food and barely ate anything! That's probably a mode of self-preservation the human body goes into as it ages - otherwise, we might eat ourselves into the grave by age 50. I would, anyway!

I had stopped at Blockbuster earlier in the day with David, so I watched "Aliens in the Attic" with the boys - pretty silly, but sort of cute movie. It's nothing I'll watch again, though. I told them I'd watch "UHF" (Weird Al) with them tonight. I'll probably be thinking "Aliens" was a creative masterpiece after I get done suffering through the inanity that Mr. Yankovich dishes up! I've actually seen "UHF" before - back when my brothers were teenagers and thought it was the most hilarious piece of comedy to come out of Hollywood.

I'm splurging and taking the boys to the Checkerboard tonight. Actually, I did that with Ben and David when Will went on his "13" trip, so I thought it would be nice to make it a tradition.

The boys and I ran to town this morning, Will driving our rumbly old Caravan. I had to go to the library and Hy-Vee. While I was there, I got a phone call from one of the moms in my Christian Moms of Boys (Yahoo group) group. We're such a tight-knit bunch and it was neat to hear her voice. Pam is from Arkansas and her voice is so Southern and just dripped with sugar. I was enjoying that when Pam commented, "I love your accent, Sarah!" Now that was news to me - I have an accent? I've heard it said that we Midwesterners talk "flat" sounding. I don't know. I assume it's the ideal because when I watch movies or the national news everyone sounds "normal" to me. But maybe I do - maybe we Iowans have a unique sound! At any rate, it just made my day to have Pam call - for no real reason, just to chat for a bit.

We got rid of our bricks today. Paul has unearthed hundreds as he's digging out the basement. There's many more than will be coming out too. The house was built on a brick foundation. He suggested I put them on Craig's List. So I posted them in the "Free" section. To my amazement, we got tons of phone calls! I had no idea bricks were such a hot commodity! One guy showed up today and I sent Will and David out to help him load them. And he paid them - he didn't have to do that. And about an hour later, another lady showed up and I had to tell her they were gone. But she exacted a promise from me to call her when the next load gets brought up, so I will. Maybe we should have tried to get some money out of them! They're old, though - like 160 years old! But I guess they have some use still.

I probably should snag a few, myself. I think I am actually going to grow some flowers this year. Now, I do still have the Black Thumb of Death attached to my hand, but I discovered something that may allow me to triumph in a gardening attempt this year. They now make roll-out flowers. You buy this mat and roll it out, water it, and presto - flowers start to grow! I saw it advertised in a magazine, but then I found some this week at Menards. I need shade flowers, though, so I'm going to stop in at Earl May's and see what they offer. I'm guessing this mat will eliminate or at least greatly reduce weeds amongst the flowers. I just know so little about gardening and my few attempts have been pitiful, at best. Nothing grows. Of course, I don't like to weed and I tend to forget about things like watering, which might have a direct impact on my lack of success. I'd like to put a row of flowers in front of the porch and then another alongside the side of the house. If these mats work like I am hoping, then next year I'll buy enough to put in front of my fence.

I saw something rueful the other day..."rueful" - I like that word! Anyway, we were on our way to Cedar Rapids and we saw this huge billboard: "Up Ahead - Lion's Den Adult Book Store." Now, is that truthful or what?! "Ironic" would be another good word for the name of that porn shop.

I made a video-viewing schedule for the boys this past week, assigning each boy two days a week where he gets to watch a YouTube or other video for 15 minutes - with prior parental approval. Ben wanted to know what Sundays were for, since I didn't have anyone assigned to that day. I informed him that Sundays were to be a "video-free" day. His face lit up and he said, "Sundays are 'free' video days?!" Uh, not quite, Ben!

Ok, I really do not mean to belabor the point about my body growing older. Twenty years from now I'll laugh at my 39 year old self and think, "You had it so good then!" But, it does seem like an awful lot of changes have come all at once for me. More than likely, some of that has been expedited by Sam's birth when I lost so much blood and then the stroke so soon afterwards. It takes a long time to recover from things like that. But anyway - here's another one: zits. I never had a problem with acne as a teenager - occasional zits, but never clusters or anything remotely disfiguring. By the time I was in my mid twenties, zits were a thing of the past. Very, very rarely did I ever get anything popping up on my skin. But for the past 6 months or so, it seems like I always have at least one painful pimple going on. It isn't cycle related - they can come any week of the month they want to. Of course, I can't let it sit there, so I mess with it, and then with my light skin, I have a dark or red spot for weeks as the skin heals. I know this is age related, but it's annoying! What's up with this?

Oh, and finally, something really sad: In addition to my Moms group, I belong to a Christian uterine rupture group. We don't have a whole lot of conversations, but we exist in order to provide healing to mothers who have had ruptures and also, to answer questions for expectant mothers who may be entertaining the idea of a VBAC (don't do it!). We do talk about things not rupture-related, though. We were so shocked last May when one of our moms informed us that her 9 year old son had been diagnosed with an aggressive malignant brain tumor. We've been praying for Jacob since then and following his ups and downs on their Caring Bridge site. Jacob lost his battle last Sunday morning and walked into the arms of Jesus', leaving his parents' arms empty. Oh, I just ache for them. I've had 3 nine year old boys now myself and they are one of the most delightful creatures around - all laughter, bug, ball, and video-game crazy, and have some of the tenderest hearts imaginable! To think of having one of those taken away makes my heart ache. So pray for the Taylor family if you think of it. They're hurting and I hurt for them, as well.

Well, I think I've rested my feet long enough. I need to throw together a salad for tomorrow's lunch and then I think I'll take off with the boys. Have a wonderful Sunday and week ahead!