Excuses, Excuses

Word of the Post
Today's word is: despondent
/de*spond"ent/ adjective
Without or almost without hope; heartsick.
He was unable to fight back, having been beaten down for the last time. He was despondent, failing even to try once more.
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I have been working on a secret plan. I could tell you what it is, but then I would have to kill you. And that would be opposite of what my secret plan involves. "I shouldn't have told you that." (Hagrid, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (should have been Philosopher's) Stone) Suffice it to say that I am on the cusp of a Revolution! The 4th of July has inspired me to do, instead of wishing I had done.

I have a song for that title... but I can't remember all the words. I remember that it said that the Devil supplies excuses if we choose to disobey. I will have to look that up in my old song collection folder. This is summer, and many people I know have recently been camping. I used to go to camp in Colorado. I was there for a week as a Camper, and have been there for two of the three available weeks as a Counselor. End of July, and early August, and I get camp-sick. Something I would love to do someday is to convince several of the college aged kids here to go there, and promote Oklahoma Christian University as an option for continuing education, and bring more kids closer to God in those mountains. I used to love going to camp. I got the opportunity to show the kids and myself that God doesn't want you to ride the apron strings to church, He wants YOU to come to Him on your own. I learned a lot about study and teaching at that camp. I applied to college because of that camp, and when I came to college, I met my DH. If money were no object, I would buy the camp and run it today. I have always felt that I was closer to God in the mountains. No, not because I was on a higher elevation, but because I was away from "civilization" and "clamor". It was always so peaceful there. River (where I was baptized) to swim, mountain to hike, field to wander in the darkness, few signs of industry. Most importantly, God's people were there, showing me how to be closer to Him, teaching me that "church" isn't all about the building, but the people in it. I have not often felt that peace. I miss it.

While I have been absent from blogging, I have been babysitting occasionally. For the past two weeks and one more coming, I have watched a little boy from across the street. I am sure that some of our lawnmower swapping will pay for the service of watching the kiddo. He likes coming to my house, because it is different. I am glad that he likes me, because otherwise this could have been a complete disaster. I am happy to let him watch Veggie Tales and Pixar Movies. I am an Auntie. Although not his Auntie, I feel it my job to spoil children at my house. He is happy to have the spoiling.

I also have watched my niece some these past few weeks. Sis-in-law had to work, and had to see the Dr. for a checkup on her progressing pregnancy. So I got to watch Jelly Bean. She is growing up so fast, and is now so conversational! It is tough to remember that she is not yet two. She acts 3 or 4 most of the time. My mom (no relation to Jelly Bean) says the more I talk about my niece, the more she remembers about me as a kid. One of mom's friends once commented to mom that I was "two going on twenty-two" because I was conversational with adults and bigger kids at such a young age. For any of you moms out there, write down the cute stuff your kids do and say, as soon as you can. Keep it in a journal book. It becomes a valuable tool to remember (blackmail) your children's youth.

This last time Jelly Bean came over, she was very sly. She looked at me with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, and she told me, "I'll be right back!" And then she walked across the living room to the (don't worry it was locked!) front door. She reached up and wiggled the door handle. Then she stretched up higher, and wiggled the deadbolt handle. Then, she wiggled the door handle again. When this little show was over, she walked back across the room. She was grinning the whole time, so I decided to play along. I said to her, "I am glad to see you back. What did you do while you were away?" She said simply, as if I hadn't seen her do it, "I locked the door."

Jelly Bean tried to play the game with Mommy last week. Jelly Bean asked for some Fruit Snacks. She was told that she would have to eat dinner first, which was almost ready, and she could have Fruit Snacks after dinner. She went away to play for a while, and later came back with a stuffed Snoopy. Jelly Bean then said, "Snoopy wants Fruit Snacks." Sneaky. Sharp as a tack, that one is.

DH and I went out on a double date on Tuesday this week, with a couple who was child-free for a while. They have a boy who is around 12 and a girl who is almost 2. They have recently started coming to our church, and we decided to get to know them better, so we asked them to come to the movies with us. We all are so easy to get along with, it takes one of us to just make a decision for everyone. First, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, called Habaneros. We had a great time getting to know one another.

Next, we took them to our favorite little coffee shop. If you are ever in Oklahoma City area, look up Vintage Timeless Coffee. It is on the corner of NW 150th and Western. They have a really yummy specialty drink called a Smooffee (smoothie/coffee). They even have a drive thru, to help you keep up with your busy schedule. They are open 6 am to 9 pm. I think I converted another family to their comfy atmosphere.

Finally, we went to a late showing of Evan Almighty. I was worried that this movie might be as blasphemous as its forerunner, Bruce Almighty, but I was pleasantly surprised. There were no foul words, no sexually overtoned jokes, and not even any foolish portrayal of God or the Bible. While he did look funny dressing in the bedsheets God gave him, and the facial hair was a bit too much of a sight gag, Evan seemed to be a nice guy. He was even very careful NOT to swear when he smashed his thumb with the hammer. I was sad to see that he didn't know if they had a Bible in their house... but he did find it, and he did read it. More than I can say about the rest of Hollywood, right?

After a lazy, sleep-in morning on Independence Day, DH and I went to see Ratatouille. Another great, clean, fun movie. I don't recall any swear words here, either. There were some loud noises: Shattering glass as a rat breaks through with a book, much yelling over a rat in the kitchen and pots and pans and knives flying all over the room. Jelly Bean doesn't like loud noises, so I bet her family will wait for the DVD and the volume control, but it is clean enough for her to see now. This is another movie on my "to buy" list. I think we have all of the Pixar films so far. We have not yet been disappointed.

"Time's fun when you're having flies." ~ Kermit the Frog