Not really.  It's just a recap of my week.  As I'm sitting here typing this out, I'm thinking about the homonyms:  week and weak.  Sometimes those words are synonymous as well.  Sometimes I have those weeks that leave me weak.  Or maybe it's my weaknesses that make my weeks  -- well, weak.  Have I lost you completely?  It makes sense to me.  Ultimately, what God is teaching me these days is that I am weak.  My week and my weaknesses need His strength.  Thank heaven He is faithful and generous!  Maybe someone else needs this verse, too:

What I've shared so far might lead one to believe I had a rough week.  I didn't.  This week was nice.  Let's review.

Sunday:  The girls and I didn't make it to morning services.  I can't tell you exactly why, but we stayed home.  I think my reasoning was something like "It's going to be one of those mornings when everyone rushes and fights and I end up yelling..."  No excuse.  I should have fought through it.  My old friend Tonya posted on Facebook that afternoon that she basically had a rough morning but tackled it and was richly blessed as she sat in the service and sang praise and worship music and met God there.  Lesson learned -- this is a prime example of my weakness in action. 

Monday:  We started the last week of school before Thanksgiving break.  My students turned in their 3rd independent novel project of the year -- book report cubes.  This always sounds like such a good idea until I have 130 boxes of various sizes piled in my classroom.  It is sort of festive, though.  Next year I believe I'll ask the kids to include a small gift for me inside each one.  ; )  At this point in the week, we thought Jamie was headed to Texas with work for two weeks and would miss Thanksgiving.  Thankfully, plans changed and he gets to stay home and work here.

Tuesday:  Molly had asked me last week about trying out a hip-hop class.  Because she has spina bifida, there are a couple of reasons that this just sends me into anxiety.  1.  She's almost 11 and I don't know where I'm going to find a beginner class that's compatible with her age and 2. her bladder/bowel issues always act up at the most inopportune times.  Well, I asked our dance teacher at AHS to recommend someone and she put me in touch with a small Christian studio nearby.  I watched a recital video on Facebook and decided this would be a good match for Molls.  I called; Molly was excited; reality kicked in later.  Molly became very upset on the way to Van Buren -- said her tummy hurt.  Cried.  It was hard for me to know whether her tears were for a real stomach ache or for her nervousness about the class.  She decided not to go.  I reassured her that it was fine; she can try again another time.  It's hard to watch her try to be brave and find something new and fun to do, but to ultimately give in because she's scared.  It turns out waiting was the right thing to do -- her stomach ache ended up causing major problems by the time we arrived home.

Once that was settled, Jamie and I ran to Fort Smith.  At this point the Texas trip was still on and he needed a few things for an extended stay.  It was so wonderful to spend a couple of hours running around by ourselves.  (Parker needed to restore herself to our good graces, so babysitting helped her out there.)

Wednesday:  Not much to report.  We skipped church because we thought Jamie was leaving for 2 weeks Friday morning and we wanted to spend some time together. 

Thursday:  This evening alone deserves its own blog post.  Picture it:  (that's my throwback to Sophia from the Golden Girls)...house as messy as it's ever been...every surface of kitchen counter covered...clean laundry waiting to be folded on the table...living room in COMPLETE disarray...knock on the door...dog and Lilah go nuts -- VISITORS!  It was fine, really.  It was probably an actual answer to prayer.  A couple from the church the girls and I have been visiting came to visit and invite Jamie and I to their Sunday school class.  When one asks God to open doors and plant seeds so that one's spouse might desire to attend church with one, one should perhaps consider asking that He answer this when one's house is clean.  : )  Had those visitors been anyone other my friend DeeAnn and her husband, Phil, I would have died a thousand deaths right there.  DeeAnn knows me pretty well and I'm surely going to invite her over for dessert when my house is clean!

Friday:  Thank-goodness-it's-Friday-and-Thanksgiving-break-begins!  I got my hair cut.  CUT!  I have grown it out for about 3 years and I just could stand it no longer.  I know that Jamie really prefers it to be longer, but it just hangs there or gets thrown into a ponytail.  So, the longest layer hits my shoulder now and I'm pretty much loving my new do.  The real test will come in about an hour when I've showered and I have to fix it myself...  My friend, Carole, wanted a picture, so I did the middle-school-girl-stands-in-front-of-mirror-thing.  Yeah...when you're 36 that just doesn't work.  But, because I can laugh at myself -- here goes!



I have never been one to "get my nails done" as we say around here.  I sort of have manly hands going on here.  Maybe I should consider it...  There's also a piece of toilet paper lying in the floor.  I just wanted to point that out as that might better help you visualize the condition of my house Thursday night.

Well, it's Saturday morning and I'm off to pick up our new fridge!  I really hope I can drive the truck back without losing my new appliance.  That would stink! 

Have a lovely weekend!  And, here's a shout-out to Baby Harrison!  Congrats Erin, Nathan, and Jillian -- you are blessed!