On The Road Again

Josh and I are off bright and early tomorrow morning for a soccer tournament in Kansas. I finally got this video from the Austin tournament where he scored kicking a corner kick. I think it is pretty coolio!

A friend of ours told us to send it to ESPN so I plan to do that on Monday. I'll let you know if you should watch for it!

Enjoy! Oh - and have a great weekend!

B.

Goodbye Norman Gentle and Other Stuff

Any American Idol fans out there??? Is anyone watching?

Every Thursday night - or whichever night is the second night of AI - we watch both shows on the DVR. I totally can't watch one and then have to wait a whole 24 hours before I know the results. Also, we're all home together after 7:30 on Thursday nights so it works well.

Finally, last night, we saw the end of Nick Mitchell aka Norman Gentle. Get off that stage already. I'm telling you, I was yelling at the judges every time they put him through to the next round. And, if Josh says one more time "He can kinda sing" I'm going to pinch him on the ear! This morning, as I was AGAIN painting, I heard the dj on Air1 say "I'm sorry to see him go. The world needs to laugh especially right now."

No. No. No. AI is not for laughing - it is for singing! If people want to laugh at something on tv, just turn on some re-runs of Frasier - the funniest sitcom EVAH!! - or Reba. Now that show can make you chuckle.

My problem with Norman/Nick is prolly that my sweet, little Patrick really does have a nice voice. Maybe he isn't ready for AI, but N/N certainly didn't deserve to go that far!

Rant over.

In other AI news, Roman said to us last night, "If I ever decide to audition for AI and you really think I stink, please, PLEASE tell me before Simon does." Will do. But I'm SURE she's the next American Idol!!
Now on to a bit of random-ness. This ceiling fan is in our study and our bedroom. The fan and the light run from a remote control. (cool, huh?) For the whole entire time we've lived here, I have complained about the amount of light that these put out. Seriously, at night in our bedroom, it was like having a night light on. When I turn on the light - I want a bunch of light, KWIM?

The other day, Cutest Boy was messing with the remote and, for some reason, kept holding down the button that turns it on and off. IT MADE THE LIGHT BRIGHTER!!! It is now like a regular light fixture with the regular amount of light coming out of it!

So glad I'll get to enjoy that for the next 12 days!! Really, I'll gladly give that up for my new digs!

B.

Scratch That!

The Cutest Boy just informed me last night that it is 13, I repeat, 13 days until moving day!!!!!!!!

Could you hear the "thunk" sound made as I hit the floor after fainting from that bit of news?? Just breathe, right? It's only 3 less days to pack, paint, clean, repair, remove, gather, toss, save all the belongings of the residents of this house.

I can do this. I'm gonna need a list...

:)

So here's the moving story. Let me just get this part out of the way first: yes, we did just move into this house 1 and 1/2 years ago. yes, it is possible that we have lost our minds.

We built our last house about 7 years ago. It was a great house in a great neighborhood on an acre of land. Perfect place to raise our family and spend the rest of our lives. Or so we thought. We had the misfortune of choosing a builder who was a complete and total CRIMINAL. At the sheetrock stage, he had fled the state with $30K of our money so we took over the process ourselves. We contracted everything we couldn't do ourselves but ended up doing some seriously hard work on that home - with the help of our wonderful friends who blessed us beyond our imaginations with the work they did on our home. It was a trying time for us. We had prayed about that house and really felt the Lord would honor his promise. And, He did. It just cost us financially - but we made it work. We spent 5 1/2 wonderful years in that house.

And, then, it happened. I knew I was a house divided. I realized I didn't want to divide any of my time away from my family by working at the hospital. It didn't matter what hours I worked, I was always missing something with the fam and I was miserable. For me to quit working, we had to downsize and Richard and I were completely willing to do that. Our family had always been our priority. I just need to say right here that the Lord truly blessed me with a husband who puts his family first and always makes sure that my needs are met. (I love you, Cutest Boy!) So we sold that house.

And moved here. And here has just never felt like home. It's a beautiful home - the nicest I've ever lived in. The neighborhood is just OK. I don't know my neighbors. There aren't very many kids - only 1 girl a few years older than Roman. She doesn't have anyone to just run outside and play with. And my kids love to be outside playing.

The straw that broke the camel's back: Our backyard neighbor - who have the only girl and their son plays with Josh frequently - was outside a while back. I said "Hi ____!" (don't want to put in his name!) He said, "What was your name again?"

What???? Seriously??? I put the For Sale sign in the yard that night!!!

Actually, there was a very specific house in a very specific neighborhood that we wanted. It's only about 2 miles from where we are now and it's right next door to some very special friends of ours - friends who were our neighbors in the first neighborhood we lived in when we moved to this town! Their daughter was 2 weeks old when we met them. She just turned 13 and Roman considers her to be one of her bffs! Some things changed at Richard's firm and we knew we could make the move.

Sold our house in 30 days - definitely a God-thing in this day, right? The house we wanted was still available and here we are doing all those things listed above. Oh, and still going out of town to soccer tournaments and activities every night of the week.

Oh well. Sleep is overrated, right?

B.

Killz is my friend

I {heart} blogging. I really do. And I so enjoy reading the blogs of old friends and new friends that I've only met through blogging. I just wish I could find a way to do that while I'm driving since that seems to be the only "down" time I have these days!

Real life gets in the way sometimes.

That's what's happening to me right now. I've got schtuff. And lots of it. All good. But still schtuff.

Let me just start with my usual random non-sense that I love to talk about!! Remember Josh's Celtic room from a few posts back? I'm painting it. There's no way I would even think about painting it without using Killz first - unless I was going with a solid black. Not happening.
This is the black frame I painted around his Celtic flag. I was sure there was no hope for covering that, right?

After the first coat.

Then after the second coat. Presto! Don't you think paint will now cover everything? I hope so because I am so over painting anymore Killz onto those walls. It smells like cat pee. ewwww gross!!

So what am I doing besides painting you ask?

Moving.

That's right. Moving. In 16 days. I'll post about that soon. For reals.

But for now - for posterity - here's the bullet of what the Wrights have been doing:

• Josh scored a 20 on the ACT. Yes he is a 7th grader. Full scholarships here we - I mean he - comes!! woo hoo!! I feel completely confident that his smarticle dna comes from me. He is part of a program from Duke University to advance him academically blah, blah, blah. Whatev. I like it!
  
• 
  Roman's soccer team won their indoor league. And they were playing in the boys' division. Girls rule. Boys drool.
• 
  Josh and I are headed to Wichita for a soccer tournament this weekend. Richard and Roman will stay here because she is in a local tournament.
• 
  I've listened to the soundtrack of HSM3 a bazillion times while painting. It's good stuff. Plus everything else is packed.
• 
  Pastor Craig is doing a series called THe Vow - a marriage series. Of course, Cutest Boy and I don't "need" it but it sure has been fun!! *wink*
• 
  Josh's team, which is a B team, tied the A team last night in a scrimmage. Black is the new green. Just sayin'!!
• 
  I had bunco Monday night. Talk about refreshing my soul. Love those girls!
• 
  Facebook. After many prompts from my friends I simply got on and looked at the site. I guess somehow - through the magic of the internet - it signed me up. Now I'm getting messages from people I haven't heard from in 20 years!!! HOW DO THEY FIND ME SO EASILY???? Is there a delete button?? I know it will suck me into the vortex and I will never fix dinner or do laundry again...aaaaaaaaagh!!

That's all I got. Dishwasher repair man - who looks like Brad Pitt - is on his way to my house. No worries - this isn't Wisteria Lane! tee hee.

B.

Happy Birthday CBOTB!

Today is the Cutest Boy's birthday. I'm sure he won't mind if I tell you he's 42. (His mom just called to say he's 42 years and 8 minutes!!!) I've only known him for 15 and 1/2 of those years but I wanted to tell you my favorite things about this man o' mine:

• I love it that he is quick to laugh - and sometimes if he laughs real hard, a little snort will slip out!
• He knows the words and artist of every song EVAH!!!
• He is a great dad and has been since I met him.
• Soccer was just starting as a school sport when he was in high school - he's always played and he's still a phenomenal player!
• He is a human GPS system.
• He's got a cute tushy. (that's right. I said it.)
• I believe he can do anything and can solve any problem.
• He always puts his family first - which is why he goes to work at 5 a.m. during busy season so he doesn't have to work late and miss family time.
• I know he would do ANYTHING for me.
• He is perfect for me.

I love you, Mr. Wright! Happy Birthday!

B.

So Not a Seamstress

First of all - WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CUTE BLOG LAYOUT???? I sign on and find a plain, non-cute background. This will have to wait until later for a complete and thorough investigation!

Roman recently read "Sign of the Beaver" in literature. In the story, the boy gets left alone (for a long time, I guess!) and has to make himself some new pants out of his sheets. So, Roman has an assignment to do the same.

Many moons ago, Roman sweetly said to me "Will you teach me how to sew?" to which I replied, "Have you met me????" because I don't sew.

I hot glue. I safety pin. I tape.

Yes, this goes for buttons, rips, etc. If it cannot be fixed with the above, I throw away.

So this was a project that struck a little bit of fear into my heart. The directions seemed pretty simple: Lay a pair of your own pants on the sheet/material. Cut generously around them and sew with a simple stitch - the name of which completely escapes me right now. Then cut some slits around the waist and thread rope through them to hold them up.

Sounds good so far, right? I can do this.

Except I obviously cannot.

We went to Hancocks and got this cute material because all of our sheets are of the non-cute variety. Roman really did most of the work. We followed the directions and she sewed for at least an hour doing some stitch that I think I might have invented. It was going well. Until she tried to put them on. And they would not go over her hips.

That's when I saw the little "tip" at the bottom of the page that said to "make sure you cut straight up instead of following the lines of your own pants." I guess that would have prevented the non-fitting issue she had.

These are the pants. Aren't they cute? She even has green frog slippers she was going to wear with them.

This is a picture of the hole that quickly appeared because of - I can only guess here - a lack of sewing knowledge. And the picture below is what the seam looked like once we turned them right side out. Yes, amazingly enough, I did know to sew with the right sides together!!!

Roman was such a good sport about it. Her class had a fashion show and she just tied her pants to her front and modeled them that way. And - good news! She wasn't the only one whose pants didn't fit for the same reason!! Yay!!

Note to self: Next time there's sewing involved, take Tonya up on her offer to call in her MIL to do the sewing!!!

B.

Great Truths

Great truths that little children have learned:

**No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
**When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
**If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
**Never ask your 3-year-old brother to hold a tomato.
**You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
**Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
**Never hold a Dust Buster and a cat at the same time.
**You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
**Don't wear polka dot underwear under white shorts.
**The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.

These crack me up every time they come around to my inbox. Hope they make you giggle just a little. Remember, laughing is good exercise - it's like jogging on the inside!

B.

Craigslist...

...what a BRILLIANT idea!!! Whoever Craig is - I salute you and your brilliance! Wowzers.

I think I've mentioned before that Josh's room is painted kelly green because of his love of being a Celtic soccer player. One of the jerseys they wear is horizontally striped green and white and it is called the hoops jersey. Josh wanted his room hoop striped. The whole room. I finally talked him into just one wall being painted that way.

This is that wall. The black border around the celtic flag is painted on.

This is a life-sized Ronaldinho - a player on Barcelona FC. Isn't he shocking to look at when you walk down the hall?? Took me some time to get used to him!

The wall that Josh's closet is on is painted metallic silver. It has nothing to do with his soccer team - he just wanted a silver wall thrown in the mix!!

Back to the title of this post. Josh has really outgrown his bunkbeds and is ready for something different. So we decided to sell them on Craigslist.

We are Craigslist rookies. We listed the Mustang on there and it is still sitting in the garage!! Not those bunkbeds. Guess how long it took to sell them?

5 minutes. Literally.

And, within 15 minutes, we had 4 people wanting to drive to our house to get them RIGHT THEN!

We sold them to a sweet young couple who drove down from God's country, Stillwater, this afternoon to get them. But it left us with 2 burning questions:

1.) Should we have sold them for more $$? and

2.) What else can we sell????

I just might have a new addiction. Look out cats and children - you might end up listed on Craigslist!!

bwahahaha

B.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Ahhh......the day of love. Just like I say at Mother's Day - it's always Valentine's Day in my house! So corny, right? But, so true!

Do you get some good stuff from the man in your life? I can't wait to hear.

Poor Cutest Boy...it's holidays like this that send him into a cold sweat and make him break out in hives. I really don't **think** I put pressure on him about gift giving but you would think it was life or death. He did so well at Christmas - but there were many years of "interesting" things, KWIM? Like a labrador retriever calendar and a golf umbrella. (I wasn't golfing much at the time!) How many years does it take to remember to just buy chocolate and lots of it????

I love that man. He adds so much to my life everyday that there's not much more I need!


These are the cookies-on-a-stick Roman made for her class. Aren't they cute? She did a great job and it was fun to give something so original. They were really easy - after the first batch. Yikes!

The cookie mold makes 6 cookies at a time. We filled each mold to the top. Roman even asked "Don't they expand when they cook?" Well, they did. A lot. We had to trim those 6 down to size!! But once she iced them - they were sa-weet!

We're off to an indoor soccer game and then taking Josh and his friend, Zach, out to dinner to celebrate Josh's straight-A report card from a few weeks ago. I'm not one to try to eat at a restaurant on Valentine's weekend so it may end up being the drive thru at BK!

B.

Tornados in February???

Only in Oklahoma, right? Thank you all my long-distance friends for checking on us. We are fine. Some of my old stomping grounds are not.

It feels like some kind of tornado has hit my life. I cannot find time to get on the computer to type up a post. These are the things I need to be doing right now:

Grading Roman's math
Making out a deposit for training fees (part of my little job with the soccer club)
Finishing Valentine cookies for Roman's party
Putting away stamping stuff that's everywhere from my stamp day
Cleaning the disaster area called a kitchen - destroyed in the process of making above-mentioned cookies
Taking some ibuprofen for the killer headache all that is giving me!

Back soon to catch up,

B.

Baptism Bash

I have been DYING to get on this 'puter and tell you all about something huge we got to be a part of yesterday. It was a Baptism Bash at Life Church where 200 - yep, you heard me, 200 people got baptized. (or bap-i-tized as Patrick and Brandon used to say when they were little!)

Let me just tell you this,first. Every service, when Pastor Craig is finished on the big screen, the pastor of our campus, Pastor Trevor, finishes up. He does the follow-up to the presentation of the gospel - what I would usually call an altar call but it's not a come-down-the-aisle kind of thing. Anyway...he just has people raise their hand where they are sitting if they are ready for salvation. If someone raises their hand, he says something like "I see you. God sees you." or "God bless you in the back" - something that acknowledges that he knows they have raised their hand. Of course, my head is bowed and my eyes are closed and it always seems like there are a lot of people that receive Jesus each time we're there.

So, I started to be a little like "Really? Are there that many every time? Is he just saying that so if someone else is hesitating they won't feel alone and go ahead and raise their hand? Does he just want us to think there are a lot?" I know, I know...I am a doubting Thomas to the core sometimes. Well, you know what I did next, right? Yesterday............I peeked!! (My heart is racing right now cuz I feel terribly guilty about it!!!) But, there really were that many people raising their hand!!! I was just like Thomas and stuck my hand right in His side and **shazam** it was the real thing.

When Pastor Trevor said they would be baptizing 200 in the blue pool set up right there in the auditorium, I knew we had to be there. It really was amazing to see people and know that the water wasn't changing them, but they had already met and been changed by Jesus and they were showing the WORLD!!

And there was every type of person going in and out of that pool: black, white, asian, hispanic, young, old, couples, singles, poor, wealthy, men, women, pierced, tatooed. So powerful. Now they all have something life-changing in common.

Who knows what happens next for all those people. LC seems to do all the right things to disciple new believers but I know not all 200 of those peeps will stick around. So I pray for them - that Jesus truly invaded their hearts and captured every part of them and where ever they end up, they continue to grow and learn more about their Savior.

I'm sure someone prayed that prayer over me 25+ years ago. I sometimes chose the path that was wide and well-travelled with people making the same bad decisions I was, but the Lord always brought me back. For that, I am grateful.

Whoever finds God, finds life.

B.

Lyrics For My Soul

I know I've said this before, but music speaks to me in huge ways. And, sometimes the lyrics to a song can just blow me away because it seems to fit my life so perfectly. That's just what happened yesterday when I REALLY listened to the words of this song. Then I started thinking about some of my bloggy friends and readers who seem to struggle with the same things I do.

So, this song is for all of you. Here are a few of the lyrics. You've prolly heard the song, if not, google this chick, Francesca Battistelli, and listen on the internet. She's good.

Free To Be Me

Got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
Perfection is my enemy.
On my own I'm so clumsy
But on your shoulders, I can see
I'm free to be me.

Hope you all have a wonderful day of rest and that the Lord renews your sweet souls today. I saw a sign at a church that read "You know you're getting older when it takes longer to rest than it did to get tired." True dat!

B.

Josh-The-Amazing-12-Year-Old

This is what you get when you try to take pictures of JTATYO right now. Nothing but a bunch of goofiness!! Cute - but goofy!

Tuesday night he was inducted into the Junior National Honor Society. Ahhhh.....cute AND smart! But, you would think we were trying to slide bamboo shoots under his fingernails when he had to wear khaki pants and non-athletic shoes!!

I love that boy!

B.

And The Award Goes To...

Looky what Linda gave me!! It's a blog award. No, she doesn't think I'm a pig or that my nose looks like 2 eyes staring at her. At least, I don't *think* she does! (wink)

She thinks I'm funny! How about that?!?

Thanks, Linda. I {heart} you, too!

B. - asking, "Does this blog make me look fat?"

Beverly's Big Budget Challenge

If you don't know this already, the Cutest Boy on the Block is a CPA. Not a tax guy. An audit guy. He has been "financially responsible" since I met him - always a good steward with what the Lord has blessed us with. I love this about him. But, this means

I LIVE ON A BUDGET.

Always have. Always will.

Lucky for him, I'm really OK with that. I am not a high-maintenance kind of girl. I don't get my nails done. I carry faux Coach bags. $5 flip flops from Old Navy suit me just fine. Get the picture? This is my most favorite jacket of all time.

It is super faded. The pocket is ripped. The pull on the zipper is gone making it very difficult to zip up. The edges are frayed. But I wear it like it was brand new!

I think it's easy for me to live on a budget because I like a challenge. I am more than just a little competitive - even with myself. (That is so lame, I know.)

So, the President and Vice-President of Budgeting at the Wright house (CBOTB and moi) had a little meeting at the beginning of January and it went something like this:

Pres: We (meaning the VP) seem to be spending more money lately.

VP: (indignantly) What??? That can't be. I don't go anywhere. I don't do anything. I don't buy anything. Just show me where the money's going.

Word of advice: never, never, never say this to an auditor.

So, we get out all our receipts for the past several months and put them in their categories - all the standards with grocery and miscellaneous aka the-category-that-kills-your-budget. There were more than a few from Ross and my favorite drive-thru car wash. (That place just makes me happy!) But, the one that really made me crazy was our grocery budget!!

Now you may have noticed the cost of everything has gone up at the grocery store. But, for our family of 4, we were spending way too much money. And I know exactly why: because I do not like grocery shopping. I would rather eat lima beans and kiss a frog than do it. I used to plan my menus for 10-12 days and shop BIG for that but I eventually dwindled to one big trip a month. That led to the budget-busting "run to the store real quick" for a few things that would always include a few things that we didn't really need. (the latest issue of Southern Living and Mint Milanos would fall into this category.)

Seeing how much we were spending just put a bee in my bonnett. It is my j.o.b. to do the best I can for my family when it comes towhat we spend on groceries. Here comes the fighter in me - the eye of the tiger, rising up to the challenge of ...oops! too much guitar hero!

These are the changes I've made: $150 per week to include anything you buy at walmart like cleaning stuff, soap, etc. I plan my menu for 7 days only. We eat out one time a week as a family which has it's own budget category - woo hoo! No extra trips to the store.

We did so well in January. Very satisfying. I yelled - to no one in particular as the house was empty - "I win. I win. I am the champion." But then the Super Bowl came and I let the CBOTB go the store for snacks. Aye yi yi. Let me just say that grilled cheese and lots of pasta are on the menu this week!!

Over and out,

B. is for budgeter

Nasal Rinsing, Part Deux

Isn't she lovely? Her hair is nicely pulled back. The bottle is perfectly perpendicular to the sink. She even has a semi-smile on her lips. You can almost hear what she's thinking: "Get ready to run, boogies."

This is not even close to what I look like when I rinse. It ain't purdy when I do it. But that's not what I need to tell you in this all-encompassing consumer report!

I came. I rinsed. I'm hooked.

When I started rinsing a few weeks ago, see that post here, (I know. I know. There wasn't a link. Fooled ya! You know I don't know how to do that stuff! tee hee) Anyway, when I started, I thought maybe I could tell a little difference. I used to be extremely boogery. (is that a word???) So, I was less boogery after the rinsing started. When I went to Tulsa last week, I was out of distilled water and it was way too icy to be making any random stops to get some so I decided to just do without it.

Big mistake. Huge.

I came home and I was completely boogery again. I could tell a huge difference! With rinsing, I'm less boogery and I don't sneeze as much which is good for the ol' stress incontinence issue I'll be working on next! I haven't taken Claritin since I started. woo hoo!!!


So, Lisa M, you have not let me down yet and my nose and I thank you! You are da bomb, baby!

My next report for you is "How long can you leave a container of blackberries in the cabinet where you stuffed them because you needed to hide them quickly and then you forgot about them and now they have a huge{ish} amount of mold on them?" The answer: way less than 2 weeks. Don't try this experiment at home.

B. - the un-boogery

Michael Phelps and my husband are on drugs!

Have you seen the headline about MP?? There's a big ol' picture of him on the Fox News website smoking pot from a bong!! I thought about posting it here but it truly disgusts me so I decided to just talk bad about him instead. Not really about the talking bad part. I'm sure his mom whomped him upside the head enough for the both of us. Shame on you, MP.

But on the other hand...........the Cutest Boy on the Block took some drugs last night that absolutely snowed him under!!! (and that made me giggle just a little, teeny, tiny bit!!) He's been suffering with some terrible neck/shoulder pain for quite some time. He, being the typical man, wouldn't take the time to see a doctor so me, being the typical, compassionate, loving nurse/wife told him to "suck it up cupcake" if you're not going to get it treated. (Seriously, I did medicate him, change his pillow, yada yada yada, before I told him to s.i.u.c!)

Now, the Cutest Boy is not, I repeat not, a doctor. He has seen enough of ER and the surgery channel to THINK he is a doctor sometimes. He was determined that he needed an MRI and nothing else and didn't want to "spend weeks seeing a bunch of different doctors and trying a bunch of stuff." (Notice the use of the medical term "stuff.") Well, the doctor x-rayed him and did order an MRI and did order physical therapy and gave him a script for a muscle relaxer. (I so knew what was coming with this one!!) He took his first one last night and was acting like a drunk within 15 minutes!! Thankfully, he had gone right to bed when it started working but until he fell asleep, he was feeling a little "something." I did get a good laugh but, of course, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't grab my camera and use the video function to capture all the fun!!

He does feel much better today but is refusing to take any more Zanaflex!! I don't think I have to worry about him using a bong any time soon!!!

bwahaha

B.