NayNay72’s blog

UK girls, one in hospital

nobody@vox.com(NayNay72) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:28:48 -0700

I posted this on myspace too...just not enough time here in alabama to write a whole lot.

I must say, I feel pretty helpless today. Yesterday evening we left for Alabama...I'm here now. But this morning I learned that Madde is in the hospital suffering from dehydration. I love these girls so much and hate that I can't be there for her - a 19yr old so far away from her mom.

The girls and I are having so much fun together. Yesterday it took all day to get them squared away with a car. They bought a $400 car that looks very much like a $400 car! ha! While they were following me to the gas station the car quit in the middle of the road. The guys they bought it from were driving behind them and stopped to help when THEIR car died also! It was hysterical to see both these cars being pushed around the corner into the CVS parking lot!

At first we thought it might be the battery, so I asked these guys who were tripping over themselves trying to ask cool questions to the cool girls...anyway, I asked one of them what size engine was under the hood.

"Big. Definitely big. It was real heavy to push."

I almost peed my pants. So, when the guy at Advanced Auto asked me that same question, I answered, "Big." then commenced to laughing uncontrollably when poor Emily turned to look at me in embarassment because I said that.

Turns out the car didn't need a battery after all, one of the guy's friends ciphened all the gas out of it!

On someone else's computer...gotta run!

Peace out all!

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So...I'll be away for awhile!

nobody@vox.com(NayNay72) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:10:52 -0700

I leave for Alabama to see Stan's family tomorrow then we will go to Mississippi to see my family and our daughter and grandson. Wish I was already there and could just skip the long drive!

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Food Fight

nobody@vox.com(NayNay72) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:38:27 -0700

I loved watching Koko and Yavor interact with the kids last year. But nothing compares to the zany antics of the girls! My kitchen floor was covered in whipped cream that I had intended to use on strawberry shortcake. Instead there was an all out food fight between my daughter and Madde, then Emily joined in and it was great fun watching them (and staying out of reach)! The floor is still sticky, but I don't mind.

I also got to spend time with the girls when I went to pick them up last night at the restaurant/lounge. The girls bought me a drink and we talked for a good 45 minutes. Apparently Emily ran into a Christian mother on her sales calls and it brought her to tears. The woman asked if she could pray for her and as she did she hit on things that Emily said were "spot on". She then gave Emily the book The Case for Christ, written, if I'm not mistaken, by a lawyer who set out to disprove the deity of Christ only to prove it to himself in the end.

The Case for Christ (Pack of 6)

Lee Strobel

Emily seems intrigued by the book, having been raised by a father who said religion was for the weak and the belief in the existence of God was not rational. (Personally, I think what isn't rational is believing I am the product of a cosmic accident...) Emily is mischievious, so her plan, whether she converts to Christianity or not, is to announce to her dad that she has! I just shake my head and laugh!

We leave for Alabama on Thursday which is also the same day we will get our fourth student, Megan. Megan was born in the U.S. but raised in the U.K. I can't wait to meet her.

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Pic of our internationals

nobody@vox.com(NayNay72) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:37:44 -0700

Exchange Students

From left to right: Steve, Maddy, Annika, Dylan, and Emily

Yes, Maddy is THAT short!! Steve and Dylan stay in a neighboring town and came by this morning to pick up the girls.

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If you're a writer - watch this video

nobody@vox.com(NayNay72) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:02:30 -0700

Let me warn you - this guy doesn't miss a single cuss word. But he's "write" on the money. I put in about 3 hours a day writing and between half an hour to an hour a day looking for writing opps because gigs end and I don't want to have a week with nothing coming in. But what this guy is saying is what I face. I'm sorry to admit that in the beginning I undercut other writers with my too-cheap prices. I didn't understand the value of my craft...lesson learned.

Harlan Ellison -- Pay the Writer

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QotD: Childhood Memory

nobody@vox.com(NayNay72) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:58:46 -0700

What is a childhood memory that still haunts you?

In answer to this question I'll include an excerpt from my yet to be finished memoir Short of the Glory. This is from the chapter To Hell and Back. It takes place when I was eight years old and I have never forgotten it. I hope to show others the love of God is free...no gimmicks, no hoops to jump through, no not-to-be-found-in-your-Bible-anywhere "church bylaws".

Here goes:

A few months after my salvation experience we moved. We moved a lot when I was growing up. Mother would later say it was because my step-dad embezzled money from every employer. I think it’s because they were embarrassed in front of our neighbors for all the times he would beat her to a pulp. Besides, it didn’t take schools long to catch on that something was wrong and people would start asking questions. I think I must have switched schools sixteen times by the time I was eighteen!

The new trailer park we moved to was real fun because there were so many kids. I would hold “revivals” (a word I just despise now) under our singlewide trailer. Being a tomboy they usually took place while pushing our Matchbox cars through the dirt. I would tell the kids, usually boys, about Jesus and ask them if they wanted to get saved. They would repeat after me and we would finish playing with our cars. Nobody ever reacted the way I did and I found that strange. Maybe I was the strange one.

Stranger still was what would take place when the church lady would come by. She would stop over to see if I was coming to church on Sunday. Then she would give me gum. She would do this right in front of my friend Todd and his brother and sister. They would ask if they could have gum too. She would smile broadly and tell them, “Nope! Not unless you come to church!” As though this was a decision within their power to make. It was the first time I was ever disappointed in her. Over the years I would be disappointed in a lot of church people who sold God only to those who could afford him.

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The Fun Begins

nobody@vox.com(NayNay72) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:30:13 -0700

By 7am this morning the girls were chasing my daughter Laura around the house midst much squeeling and laughter. Then we dropped them off at a local diner for breakfast. They will leave there, separate, and begin a 12 hour day of knocking on doors trying to sell their reference books and learning CDs. In the meantime I will be on the lookout for 3 bicycles and a junk car for them. Their budget is $600...it should be a beaut!

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The Girls from the UK are here!

nobody@vox.com(NayNay72) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:21:38 -0700

I posted this on Myspace too...

I'm so excited that the girls made it in tonight! Adam (also from the UK), their leader, so to speak, brought them a little late (10:15) and looked absolutely exhausted. But it was good to see him too.

So, we have Emily, a brown haired beauty with a quick wit and proud of her German heritage; Cute Magdeline, from Ghana and who can't possibly stand 5' tall; and fair Anika with a definite Scandinavian backround.

At first glance...Emily is definitely the outspoken one of the bunch. Anika seemed to get along well with the kids and Magdeline...I just know she and Stan are going to be instant pals already!

As I write I can hear them giggling in the basement and I love it. Having girls is much different than having guys like we did last year, especially since there are three and a fourth on the way in a couple of weeks. But I do hope to see Yavor and Koko...they were sent to Colorado this year and we love that they stay in touch so well.

The girls did explain to me that Myspace is so outdated and that Facebook is where it is at...But Facebook makes me feel pretty old...I just can't wrap my blond brain around it!

I'll post more later. Tomorrow I'll be showing the girls where to shop for the cheapest groceries and they are pleased that we have nothing on our agenda after church so we can all get to know each other.

Peace!

Renee

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QotD: Family Dynamics

nobody@vox.com(NayNay72) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:36:43 -0700

What's the hardest part about the role you play in your family?

Being responsible to be a grown up when I feel like I'm only just figuring out who I am. I adore my husband and am amazed by my children. I just think I could have done a better job at the wife and mother thing had I waited a few years. On the other hand, they have played such a role in helping me discover the answers to "who am I?" or "What do I want to be when I grow up?" So, maybe that's just the guilty conscience of a super-mom-wife mentality that beats me up like that!

I did learn a valuable lesson over the last several years. My family functions best when I work at home. I don't juggle well. I have ADD tendencies which means I THINK I juggle well, you know, because I don't notice the balls I'm dropping. I'm very driven and when I work outside the home I lose sight of the people who are most important to me because I become the workplace go-to girl, putting in extra hours, being available at 11pm to pick up the boss's girlfriend when he gets arrested after a traffic stop...doesn't fit in well with our lifestyle.

At first I resented the demands they made on my time because I felt inhibited my career ambitions. I've met a lot of wives who struggle with those feelings. But that changed after a Beth Moore Bible study led by my friend Marla. Beth mentioned asking God to make her thrill at her husband's touch. I asked God to make me thrill at the sound of my children's voices. Sounds dumb, but I had started to dread the constant wants and needs they voiced. Less than a year later my pastor, Lucas, challenged me to lay down everything that I thought was "good". I was always involved in church and constantly feeling like I had to be doing. Another one of those things that left my family behind in the dust.

When I battled a year of sickness recently he even challenged me to take a Sabbath...from all things church. I thought he'd lost his mind. But after "skipping" church for three weeks --- I haven't been sick a day since. What I'm learning is that all my good intentions and ambition aren't necessarily fed by God. As a result my family is happier. I am happier. And because I laid down "works" I was able to flourish in my writing career that is really starting to pay off. All because I started being a human being instead of a human "doing". It feels pretty good, I must say!

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A Father's love

nobody@vox.com(NayNay72) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:28:46 -0700

I've always been intrigued by Team Hoyt. What a powerful message this guy sends to dads everywhere. His determination and incredible love for his son is evident in this video. He also tours doing speaking engagements.

Click and watch.

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8cf08faca5dd9ea45513

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