Monday, Monday

Here's a picture of the boys in the pool at our recent hotel stay.

Well, let's see - what is new today? I'm cleaning up the house because we have a salesman coming over tonight - oh joy! We went to the Home Show Sat. night and Paul got to talking with a guy that puts foil in attics as an extra layer of insulation. I know that is something he is interested in. I know he won't pay someone else to do it, though! So the poor salesman is going to be wasting his time, as I am in cleaning up my house.

While we were at the show, we ran into our old pastor and his wife. They do a lot of engraving/laser type work and show their wares at various shows. But it never once occurred to me that they might be there. So that was a pleasant surprise. While we were there, Evelyn told us they had just gotten word that an elderly lady from our old church had taken a fall that day and was at the ER. I thought that was too bad - old people can take a long time to recover from falls.

Well, we got home that night and Paul found a voice mail on his phone from Evelyn (our former pastor's wife). This lady who had fallen had taken a turn for the worse. Her brain was swelling and she wasn't expected to make it. Wow! All from a fall, no less. So today I got a phone call from my friend Stephanie (and I was deeply appreciative of the phone call), who told me, "Wilma has gone Home." Now, my first thought was, "Hey! That's great! - must have been a lot of nothing." But Stephanie was sniffling so I quickly deduced she meant Home-Home, as in Heaven-Home. Just another example of why I'm not real fond of euphemisms for death. You die, ok? You don't pass away, you don't pass on - you die. But I digress. I could write a blog on that topic alone. I just may someday! So, anyway, it's kind of sad. Wilma lived a full life and now she's reunited with her husband. So, really it's only sad for those left behind who loved her. My heart is a little sore today. Paul is toying with the idea of going out to Council Bluffs for the funeral. I guess we'll have to see what his work schedule is this week.

Hmmm...now how to segue from that into something else?! My denim shirt died - will that work? This was my oldest piece of clothing. I remember buying it from Penneys in 2002 for $5 on a clearance rack. Over the years it had washed itself into the softest denim and I loved wearing it. I took it out the other night and discovered a big rip across the back of one of the sleeves. It must have been so worn that it caught on something in the washer and ripped. Bummer! I don't even know if denim shirts are in style any longer. I'll have to do some looking around.

We watched the BEST movie Friday night - "Despicable Me." I loved, loved, loved it! Will had an all-nighter youth activity at church and David was at a slumber party, so I bought some nicer pizzas and rented this movie, per Ben's request. I could watch it again, it was so good!

Sam is getting closer to getting potty trained. In the last week he has started taking himself to the bathroom. And when I do suggest that it's time to go, a lot of the times he refuses to let me come with him, insisting that he will take care of things by himself - and he does! I'm impressed! I've even gotten him to have two "poopies" on the toilet in the past couple of weeks. Now, to make this happen, I have to sit on a little stool between his legs and sing to him in order for him to relax enough to go. I think that for the rest of his life, he's going to associate the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "My God is So Big!" with having bowel movements. That's really sad! And I find myself a little sad, even, that this era is coming to an end. The zipper on Sam's diaper bag broke last weekend so I ordered him a new one this week (ebags.com - neat, neat bag website! - and cheaper, too, than other sites!) and I realized that this will be his last diaper bag. Wah-h-h! I'm nuts, aren't I? I should be happy he's almost bowel-independent!

I'm starting to get really excited about my latest FW piece. I loved how it turned out. These characters that I made were so real to me! My friend Kristi suggested that I may want to turn this piece into a book. I don't know. It's a period piece, which makes me nervous. There's so much more to mess up when you're writing about an era in which you never lived. I'm getting some nice comments and they all caught what I was trying to convey, which was the fact that beauty can still be found, even in the midst of extreme trials. So, I am anxious for Thurs. to arrive, to see what the judges thought.

Well, off to do some more cleaning to impress a salesman...I'm pathetic.