always have, always will

This song always strikes me when I hear it. I guess I just identify with it so much. Tried to find a video out there in web-land but it's an oldie so I guess I'm outa luck there.

always have, always will - Avalon

Part of me is the prodigal
Part of me is the other brother
But I think the heart of me
Is somewhere between them
Some days I'm running wild
Some days we're reconciled
But I wonder all the while
Why you put up with me, when
I wrestle most days
To find ways to do as I please
I always have, I always will
you saved me once, You save me still
My longing heart, Your love alone can fill
You always have, always will
I was born with a wayward heart
Still I live with a restless spirit
My soul is so well worn
You'd think I'd have arrived by now
I'm caught in the trappings of
My search for lasting love
I've made mistakes enough
To last me a lifetime
I still slip, I still fall
But I'll always run back to You
I always have, I always will
you saved me once, You save me still
My longing heart, Your love alone can fill
You always have, always will
I'm gonna keep trusting You
I see what You've seen me through
I'm goin' where You have gone
I'm letting you lead me on
All my days...always and forever
Never far...never leave me never
Here I'll stay...ever love me ever
Here's my heart
I'll always love you
I always have, I always will
you saved me once, You save me still
My longing heart, Your love alone can fill
You always have, always will


Like I said I just identify with this. I'm always running back & forth trying to do it on my own & then running back to Him when I fall. And I always fall (lol) and He is ALWAYS there to catch me & set me on my feet again. I do get spanked from time to time. Ok ok, I'll be honest, yes I get spanked often. Are you happy now? Geez!

So do you identify with this song? If so how? Got any stories of getting spanked? I'd love to hear them...maybe you could blog about it & I'll link to you.

I'm all about being honest & admitting when I've screwed up or fallen on my big behind. Lately I have not been getting up to read my bible & pray. Chris & I read a chapter every night & pray before we go to sleep but that's no substitute for time alone in the Word. And guess what? I've been having lots of bad days - go figure! But do I get up the next day? Nope.

Another biggie of mine is not realizing that my kids are a blessing. Easy enough to say but on those bad days (and we have previously established that I've had a few of those) it's very hard to do. Why do I put myself first? Why do I tell them that I'm busy when it would only take a little more time to involve them in whatever I'm doing? Why do they make me so mad when they are just being kids? You can see my pattern.

So...wanna share?

And now for something completely different

I don't know what that title is about, it has nothing to do with what I'm blogging about here. Just a wild hair I guess.

A.N.Y.W.A.Y...

This is something that ticks me off. I'll wait for you to go read the story (if you even need to) & look at the top picture, you need to see it before I go on. You might want to click on that picture to get the full impact.

Does that look like a happy woman? I don't think so! The way I see it that's a clear (insert explative of your choice) #%$&-you look. (Sorry, that's not a very Christian thing to say but I'm going with my raw thoughts here) Now why on earth do they make the wives stand there next to the husband looser that just betrayed her & the entire state (or whatever)? I don't understand why she is expected to 'stand by your man' when clearly she'd rather be shooting darts at his picture or something of that nature. SO WRONG!!!

And what is in this idot's head. How could he think he would get away with it? I heard on All Things Considered yesterday that he virtually caught himself. After 9-11 he insisted that the software program which flags transactions for suspicious activity was made much stronger. It used to flag only transactions over 10,000 but now it looks for patterns of transactions that could be suspicious. He was doing exactly that, transfering the money in 2,000 incriments & got flagged. Ummm, whoops!! (to hear the story click here then click on listen now, it's quite interesting)

Sorry for going off on this but I'm just mad about it. It's not fair that she has to put on her game face & stand next to him when it's nothing but his fault. How embarasing.
PLEASE pray for his wife & kids. I'm sure they are in a huge amount of pain right now. And remember, as I clearly need to, look at the plank in your eye before you bug someone else about their speck (cringe).

I give up

Ok so reality is setting in & I am forced to face the fact that I will not be posting a list every day. This is a very me thing to do. Get all gung-ho on an idea & then after a week or so I fizzle out & feel guilty. But I've decided to change one thing...not guilt myself to death about it. I shall go on my merry way, skipping & carefree, free to be you and me... Ok not so much the skipping & carefree. I'm a mom for gosh sakes & we are required to worry! I will post lists again but only when the spirit moves me. That one a day thing was just too much like homework & I'm like, allergic to homework! I mean , geez, what was I thinking!?!

And now, for your watching pleasure...

Hope you enjoyed your trip down memory lane, I sure did!

I are a bookworm

Listie, listie, I've got a(nother) listie!

My father was a teacher for 35 years & most of those were spent as an elementary school librarian. I think the love of books might just be inherited because I was a born reader. From the time I read my first chapter book (Charlotte's Web I believe, at the age of about 5 or 6...with help) I have always had some kind of book going. I was the kid hiding with a flashlight under the covers...pretty much every night. I've been known to spend an entire Saturday in bed, reading a book from cover to cover, only getting up for bathroom breaks & food.

Therefore I give you...a list of (some of) my favorite books

1. Anne of Green Gables series. My grandmother gave these to me when I was a girl & I love them still. It's wonderful to pull one off the shelf & get lost in the world of Anne's adventures in beautiful PEI.

2. A Prayer for Owen Meany. This is one of the best stories I've ever read. However, I cannot recommend any of John Irving's other books. I read more of his after I finished A Prayer for Owen Meany and they were all vulgar, carnal books about sex & crazy relationships. Not great reading for a Christian person IMHO. Not a very good advertisement for this book I'm afraid, but it really is a good read.

3.Mistress Masham's repose. This is a wonderful story about a mistreated girl in England who encounters some leftover Lilliputians. Well written & with wonderful characters - a must read for any girl (young and old :)) who loves books.

4. Get out of That Pit. I love Beth Moore. She has some of the greatest Bible studies around & this book is no exception. Although not actually a bible study, it takes the reader on a healing journey. Anyone who has ever been in a dark place (and I think most of us have) will benefit from reading this book.

5. Lord of the Rings trilogy. Great writing, great characters, great story. Nuff said!

6. The Hobbit. See above :)

And some favorite authors

1. John Gresham
2. Anne Tyler
3. Michael Crighton
4. James Mitchner
5. L.M. Montgomery
6. Beth Moore

This is what I can think of for now. I remember many books I've read & loved but can't remember either title or author. This drives me nuts!! There is one especially I would love to find again...a coming of age story about best friends in a boarding school. One is jealous & ends up badly hurting his friend (named Phineas) by making him loose his balance on the limb of a tree. I read this in High School for an English class & if this jogs anyone's memory (Kate??) I would love to learn the author &/or title.

I wish I had more Christian fiction on this list but I've not had much opportunity to delve into that genre. Any recommendations would be welcomed.

Have a great Monday everybody!

Oops!

Dag nab it, I forgot to post a list yesterday - girrr!

Today has been a tough day...and it's only 2 pm...not good. I feel like that great children's book, Alexander and his terrible horrible no good very bad day.

So without further ado, my list-o-the-day is;
Reasons this has been a bad day (and what blessings I should have been seeing, but didn't)

1. Not enough sleep. Unfortunately, this is a recurring theme in my life.
Blessing I should see: Having a warm comfy bed to sleep in when so many don't even have a roof over their heads!

2. Waking up to my kids jumping (literally) on my bed & crashing onto me. Ok so I heard them come in but I wasn't expecting the great crash - omph!
Blessing I should see: That I didn't get hurt in the great crash. And I spoze I should be happy that none of the kids did either :)

3. Chris is working overtime today. This is the proverbial two edged sword. We desperately need the money but I hate missing out on time together. Plus having to deal with all 3 kids all day by myself. I've gotten very spoiled since Sam started school!
Blessing I should see: this is an easy one...the extra $$ - duh!! Oh and I guess the fact that his bosses like his work & need him to help get the job done.

4. It's a gloomy rainy day. I was going to take a walk with the kids & dog today but the gloomy skies are keeping us in. I guess I could drag us all out there & get wet but I can't walk fast enough with them to keep warm.
Blessing I should see: That our snow is melted & we have had weather warm enough to walk in this past week. And that we live in a walking friendly small town where we don't have to stick to the sidewalks. Heck, most of the town does not even have sidewalks!

5. The kids have been either grumpy, whining & fighting or manically running around yelling & screaming. There seems to be no middle ground today, it's one extreme or the other.
Blessing I should see: I have 3 normal, healthy kids.

6. The kids all screamed bloody murder when I announced they were all napping today. I mean, they sounded like I was going to rip off a limb or something, geez!
Blessing I should see: THEY ARE ALL ASLEEP RIGHT NOW...AT THE SAME TIME!!!

Things are looking up around here...at least for the next couple of hours...

And the sun just came out, yippee! Maybe we'll get that walk after all.

Have a fabulous weekend everybody :)

This is SO me!

The Recipe For ALANE

3 parts Vigor 2 parts Silliness 1 part Craftiness Splash of Impishness Finish off with an olive

What's" the Recipe for Your Personality?

Our house

The moment you've all been waiting for...my next list! (thunderous applause)
HA!

Projects needed on our 100+ year old house
1. All new windows (including slider door & side doors)
2. Front porch & steps torn out & replaced
3. Fence the yard
4. Tear down & replace original brick
5. Install stove insert to replace fireplace
6. New wiring
7. New flooring downstairs
8. Restore original flooring upstairs
9. Repair plaster on staircase wall

Desired/dream remodels & projects
1. Paint & decorate all downstairs rooms
2. Convert extra bedroom upstairs to a bathroom
3. Tear out & replace (very badly done) enclosed back porch
4. Convert back porch to laundry room/pantry
5. Extend downstairs bath into old laundry area - install tub, new shower stall, toilet & sink/vanity
6. Add banister to front porch & railings for steps - add porch swing

I think that's it. At least that's all I can think of for now. We lovingly refer to this place as our lifetime project...which we hope it will be. I love it because of all it's possibilities & I hate it cos we'll be working on it forever!! It really is a wonderful house & we hope to be here for a long time. I'll include a very good pic taken by my Dad...he's our family photographer & a dang good one.

It's the red house - you can't really see it all, it's partly shaded by the tree. The spire you see is our town's beautiful Catholic church, we have a great view of the steeple from a window in our living room. I posted another pictue of it here, with Sam in the foreground - you can kind of see Eli in the upper left on the lawn.

~~~~~~~~~~

Update on Sam's lying/sneaking issue. He's gotten much better. I started giving him snacks with more protein & it's seemed to make a difference. I guess the poor guy was just starving...he had bad leg pains the week before so it's my bad I spoze. Now if I could just keep them from fighting...yeah right!

Have a wonderful day y'all!