Update

It is Friday and Jeff's parents are here so I will be brief. I did get to jog/walk.
Here are the results.
2.58 miles in 32:31 For some of you this is what we call "walking" for me it was a pretty good time.

Here I Go. . .

So, I thought I would tell you in this blog how I woke up to a bed full of urine and diarrhea and no it wasn't mine. :) But really?!?! No one wants to read about diarrhea and urine soaked kids' sheets. Out of the three readers I have, half of you probably already have these type of things at your own home, so I will spare you the details of my day. Instead I will talk about a new book and all my fears. Much better, right?

So this book is the funniest book I have read in a long time. I laugh aloud when I read it. I love it!

If you read my blog you will know that I posted a short blip about how I was going to run a half marathon May 7, 2011. It was short for several reasons. First, I have made such remarks before that I was going to do something big and let's face it. . .didn't. Second, I think I didn't want to draw too much attention as I wouldn't want people to ask me about it. Even Jeff looked at me like I was crazy when I told him. Let's face it, I am a slightly overweight mother of 3, that barely has time to do any exercise let along hours of jogging/walking. And yes I use jogging as what I do is not really running at all.

However, after reading part of this book, I am writing a new post about my intentions. The fact that I am already registered for this race is some more motivation as well. I will be running the Indiana Mini. Why they call it a mini I do not know. 13.1 miles is NO mini to me. But I will be joined by two other crazy people, Katy, my sister and my father, who happens to be turning 60 on the day of the race itself.

I have discovered there a a few things that keep me from just doing it, as Nike would say. Well one big thing. FEAR. Here are my fears put out there for you all to see. First, I am slow, and when I mean slow, I mean the turtle from the turtle and the hare could probably lap me twice. Second, I am overweight and as we know, running involves carrying your own body weight, which really sucks. Sometimes I feel like I am carrying an extra toddler with me. I am afraid of failure, I am afraid of blisters on my feet, I am afraid that people driving down Houghton will mock at me from their cars as I am desperately panting away. I am afraid that people will want to run with me (more on this later), I will run with them, and then they will internally think, "Poor girl, I hope she makes it" or "Poor girl doesn't stand a chance." I am sure there are others but that is what comes to mind right now.

The book, along with others tell you when you are going to do this to tell EVERYONE! That is one way you can't get out of it. Motivation by guilt that if you have told everyone you know that then you would feel like a complete idiot backing out.

So this past week I have had two wonderful women say they'd run with me. And I have a fear of them both (no offense to you lovely ladies if you read this). I am new at this. One even asked me to run the short leg of the P.F. Changs relay. My fear is that I will slow her down. That she is going to do the 8.4 miles faster than I can run the 4.7. The other wonderful lady just finished a triathlon. So. . . now you see what my life is like. But like I read in a another blog this week, I just have to put my big girl panties on and do it. And maybe, just maybe, my fear will get smaller and so will the size of my panties.

Wordless Wednesday

I am tired today, and a friend said she loves when I post pictures. . so here you go! Today is picture Wednesday!

Story Time with Curious George at UA
Sweet kiddos

First Haircut: he was the only one out of the 3 to not scream as though his head was also being cut off with his hair.



Sean took this picture. . . He loves these crocs. And thus he should as there is a huge purchase/return/purchase/return story with them.



Ahhh, my sweet girl.
(For the record, the boys are sweet too, but in a boy way!)

They are here. . .

YES!!! You probably will think this is a silly blog, but I do not care. THEY ARE HERE!!! Not babies, not puppies, not family, but our new Maytag Bravos washer and dryer. I could not be more excited.

The previous ones have left our home. They had a 10 year run, but we had fixed the washer about 4 times, the front was held on by zip ties and I had to use the spin cycle twice to actually drain water from the tub. The dryer was doing better, but still needed to be turned on via a wrench. Needless to say we finally decided to put them out to pasture.

So, we have these amazing friends that moved to MI and I am not saying amazing just because they hooked us up, but because they are an amazing family. Well, we were blessed with a favorable price due to his generous work discount. (As I type this I hope I am not getting him in trouble.) But it was AWESOME!!

So here they are. . .our new babies. Well, my new babies.

Jeff said to me after they arrived. "So, are you going to always be doing laundry?" (That was his secret hope.) And I replied with the honest truth that I might do well for the first week, maybe even two, but who are we kidding, laundry is not my strong point, along with many other domestic chores. And let's face it, until the machines actually fold and put the laundry away themselves, it will probably be the same old, same old around here very soon.

Sean's Funny comment

As we are walking through Walmart we pass the lingerie section & these are the precious boys' words.
"MOM, Look BLUE BOOBS!!!"
And yes he is our little one with no volume control. I think I heard some chuckles a few aisles away.
:) Have a wonderful day!

Funny Comment

So as I was making dinner tonight this was the "funny".

L: Mommy how come daddy never cooks dinner?

Therein is the funny comment for the night. I am too exhausted for more.

Can you please pass the Shame?

This is what dictionary.com has to say about shame:
n.
1. a painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc. done by oneself or another
2. a condition of humiliating disgrace or disrepute
3. something that brings censure or reproach

Here is shame in its verb form:
1. to cause to feel shame, make ashamed
2. to drive force, etc. through shame
3. to cover with ignominy or reproach

I have titled this the way I do because there is no shortage of shame going around. In fact we don't even have to look past ourselves to find it. However, even if you don't heap it upon yourself, chances are there is someone or more than one readily available to heap it on for you.

For years, I feel that the christian community (& I know I am generalizing) has readily put shame and guilt in our back pockets to motivate people to or back to God. Funny thing. . .GOD DOESN'T NEED OUR HELP! Yes, I used caps because that is how strongly I believe this. Shame is straight from the pits of hell. Now don't get me wrong, there is a thing called conviction. To quote dictionary.com again, conviction is a fixed or firm belief. So, how often do we as a society convict someone for just being a rotten individual. We don't. They are convicted for a specific thing. From a Beth Moore study, I learned this very truth. The over all crummy feeling we get is not from God, God is very specific about something. And His goal is not for us to crawl into the shadows and feel horrible, it is to come into the light to be renewed.

For years I have struggled with shame, from my bad choices, from things I have said, from doing the "wrong" things as a parent. I also wonder how many times I have knowingly or unknowingly shamed another in my ungraceful words or actions.

I have been convicted about one thing over the past several years and that is about how to truly live a grace filled life. In this I have been set free from the ugly shame and guilt and have learned that I am being refined day after day. I don't subscribe to the philosophy that God won't use me until he is done working on me. That is preposterous to me! If so, I would not be used until I was dead, right?!?! So I hope that in this post you will find some freedom. Some relief, knowing that freedom is much better than shame. "For there is NO condemnation in Christ" Romans 8:1

So now when someone asks you for a big helping of shame you can kindly say, no thank you!

Oh and I accepted a challenge to blog everyday in Nov. As you can see I have already failed. . I have chosen no shame or guilt with the fact I have already failed at day three. HA! :)