Linking Up With The Gypsy

Type for five minutes flat without editing on one topic. Today, that topic is Friend:

Go

My friends, the girl in the PNW and the other girl currently living in Vegas, keep me company all day long. I like it. Tonight, the southern most friend sent news that her contractions were getting closer together. Now, normally we group text, the three of us, and it's all a lot of nonsense (which I am clearly a fan of) but this is real news. After I get off of work, I check in with them only to find they have left me the present of no less than 50 texts. usually more like 75. Can you even imagine how many we will generate if one of this tri-fecta is in labor!!? I am only slightly excited.

That's a lie I just made up myself. So, friend. Right now. I ode to you and your new little peanut. We will be praying. I will be sleeping restlessly. I will be dying to know if my baby birthday guess was right. (I chose the last week of April). Word to your mother.

Stop.

Greedy Grip

My friends, Erin and Dan-O, once had a toddler. She is old now, but when she was an itty bitty sly thing she sneaked into the kitchen garbage can, where she confiscated a few stale Whoppers I threw away. When I caught her, she gripped her chubby little hands around those candies as if they were her last melons for the next million, billion years. I tried prying those puny fists open, but she gripped harder and screamed, "DON'T TAKE IT!! I NEEEED IT!" To that I cracked up laughing and had to call in reinforcements, because as it turns out, toddlers saving candy from the trash are infinitely stronger than me. This true story took place more than 15 years ago, but I think of it often when I begin to get the greedy grip.

We have been doing all of this back to school shopping. I really do love spending money. I love picking out school supplies. I love finding smokin' deals at thrift stores and dollar stores and re-purposing the oddest treasures into greatness. After two days of straight shopping, I left my body and viewed myself as the adult watching the toddler give a handful of Whoppers a new lease on life. I took stock and heard myself screaming, "I NEEEED IT!" Aren't you a little old for that behavior? Why yes. Yes I am.

Also, I am too aware of people who hurt and need and would really like some food. I have not taught my kids to be patient for things or earn them or choose the essentials so we have left over to give away. Oh, don't get me wrong. I wrote to God in my prayer journal this morning asking him for opportunities to give. He may have asked what in the world do I have left to give? There is a chance I had no answer. There is also a chance I made a disappointed face and felt like a schmuck.
Just look away. I can't take it.

 Now, I will be using this experience as a life lesson for my children. Not only confessing what I got caught up in, but I will also be asking them what in the world can we do about this now? Lots actually. But we will come up with a plan together. Then I will pray that they will not grow until next school year, so we can really get our money's worth. :/

And NOW, you may be asking yourself what this picture of Samuel has to do with anything. I will tell you. Nothing. It has nothing to do with anything at anytime, but you needed to see it. And, you are welcome. Someone give this kid his own show. No script needed. This picture was taken while he patiently waited for his cousin, Raine, to finish trying on her jeans. We just looked over, and there he was, on the couch at Children's Place, with the bib he picked out, and the face he knew only a mother could love. He wore it anyway, and here we are today. One step closer to having our own show.

I am thankful for that face and second chances.
 

Ode To The Natalie Rose

There's a girl I know
She carries a glow
every day, about her

It's not just a light
It's honest and bright
every day, about her

The patience it takes
new life, high stakes
every day, about her

A season to wait
Trust in God's fate
every day, about her

In honor of my new friend Natalie Rose, in honor of anyone who has been asked to wait an indefinite amount of time while God works everything out in a way that only he can, I dedicate this poem. But mostly to The Natalie Rose.

Waiting is painful. Sometimes it even transfers over to physical pain. I get tense during the day, and I don't even realize it. Then, I go to lay down at night, and instead of melting into my covers and settling into my pillow, I find I can't release the tension. It hurts. I realize I have been clenching my teeth. I realize I have given myself a headache, dull and ever-lingering in the base o my neck. Then I get super frustrated with myself for being such a doubter through my pain.

I am choosing. I am choosing to focus on my list of everything for which I am grateful. Not grateful because I have accomplished them. Things that are amazing because they are true gifts and blessings to me. Things I couldn't have made or picked for myself or done better.

A husband who loves me most.

Five kids when I thought we would have none at one point.

A house that not only holds up a roof to keep me warm but that is super cute.

Coffee around every corner.

Writing. I am so thankful for writing.

Music. It helps me learn. It mellows me. It wakes me up.

It's Thursday. Be thankful. Make a list of what you are thankful for so the waiting isn't quite so rough.

Mug Swap

Sometimes you find people randomly in your life, so you KNOW God wanted you to know them. I have recently made a friend on Instagram. I love that app. I love watching my New Zealand friend's pregnant belly grow. I love seeing what my Florida chef friend made for breakfast because it's not eggs with her, it's artwork. I love that I get to share pictures of my kids with my dad even though he is techno-slow. But today I mostly love that my new friend Rachel and I met because God wanted me to know people out there get me.
Since moving here, I have had my doubts that I will ever have a friend. I have an unbelievable group of girls Here, Here, and Here, plus some other girls who don't keep or update their blogs. WHA!? I know. Maybe I don't totally get them. HA.
So, in honor of awesome bloggers, of women, of meeting new friends across the country only to find you look similar, act similar, and make mock of others similarly, I am participating in the Mug Swap. Bonn Bonn is hosting a coffee mug swap that will connect you with a possible kindred spirit- aka someone else who would wound others for coffee if it came down to it. Come on! Take a chance and click