Maxed Out

I’ve heard great things about this documentary – I doubt I’ll find it here, so you’re in the States, go see it and tell me what you think.

Here’s the trailer:

And here are scenes from the film:

Go here for a few more scenes.

 

Homemade, reusable dryer sheets

My apologies to my regular readers who just read this tip about a week ago. 

It’s been forever since I’ve contributed to Works for Me Wednesday, but I wanted to throw this out there, since it’s been so helpful for the past few weeks.

Groceries and household supplies are really expensive here, so I tried making my own dryer sheets (those are non-existent in this country). I read about this tip somewhere online, but I can’t find the link (so thanks, mystery person!). Pour equal parts fabric softener and water into a jar, shake, and add basic kitchen sponges cut in half. Squeeze out a sponge, throw it in the dryer, and walla – reusable dryer sheets. Just throw the sponges back in the jar when the load is done. Supposedly it takes forever to go through fabric softener this way.

I’ve been doing this for about two weeks now, and it’s worked beautifully!

 

a great quote for me right now

“Try to give your agenda to God. Keep saying, ‘Your will be done, not mine.’ Give every part of your heart and your time to God and let God tell you what to do, where to go, when and how to respond. God does not want you to destroy yourself. Exhaustion, burnout, and depression are not signs that you are doing God’s will. God is gentle and loving. God desires to give you a deep sense of safety in God’s love. Once you have allowed yourself to experience that love fully, you will be better able to discern who you are being sent to in God’s name.”

– Henri J. M. Nouwen

 

It’s looped the blogosphere a few times, but it’s still worth repeating

First Corinthians 13 – Christmas Version

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows,
strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,
but do not show love to my family,
I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen,
baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals and arranging
a beautifully adorned table at mealtime:
I’m just another cook.

If I work at a soup kitchen,
carol in the nursing home,
and give all that I have to charity;
but do not show love to my family,
it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels
and crocheted snowflakes,
attend a myriad of holiday parties
and sing in the choir’s cantata
but do not focus on Christ,
I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love does not envy another’s home
that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way,
but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love does not give only to those who are able
to give in return; but rejoices in giving
to those who cannot.

Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things, and endures all things.
Love never fails.

Video games will break,
pearl necklaces will be lost,
golf clubs will rust,
but giving the gift of love will endure.

-Author Unknown

 

Waves of change

We spent most of this weekend packing and sorting, and our place now officially looks more like Command Central than it does Home. I wondered what it would be like when this happened. I’m sad, in all honesty, but since it never felt like a permanent home anyway, it doesn’t feel like we’re digging up really deep roots. I think what’s hardest is that this is Chickpea’s first home, the only one she’s known, and she really has no idea that we’re about to leave it and not come back. I keep waiting for her to flip out because the couch is no longer at a 35-degree angle, or because that thing on the wall is gone, but she really doesn’t seem to care. I know it’s my emotional projection onto her… To her, home is wherever Kabob and I are. It’s a good reminder for me.

I really long for a plot of ground where I can sink my roots. Some of that is because I’ve moved 19 times in 11 years, but I know the real reason is that we all are longing for our True Home… This “thing” in me will not die until I’m with my Heavenly Father. Indeed, there are better things ahead than any we leave behind.

It’s one month and four days until we turn in our keys and live out of our spacious Honda Accord for a couple months. The unknown is so close I can taste it – I mean, I have no idea what life will be like in 6 weeks – and the part of me that thrives on change is giddy with excitement. But the scheduler in me, the mama, is a bit anxious. And I know to whom I must give that anxiety.

Elisabeth Elliot said it perfectly this morning…

“Today is moving day. There will be plenty of reason for fretting and stewing, impatience, and turbulence. I am one who seems to feel that unless I do things or unless they are done my way, they will not be done right, and the day will disintegrate. But I have been watching the sea – very turbulent this morning because of a tropical storm hundreds of miles away – and I remember Him whose word was enough to calm it. Speak that word to me today, dear Lord: peace. Let your calm spirit, through the many potentially rough minutes of this day, in every task, say to my soul, Be still. Even this day’s chaos, with all its clutter and exertion, will be ordered by your quiet power if my heart is subject to your word of peace. Thank You, Lord.”

So today, I’ll keep plowing at the World’s Most Insane To-Do List (I mean, how on earth do you decide which books leave the country with you?), Chickpea will keep on happily playing with her dolls and looking for me when she wants a drink of water, and Kabob will drive to his job sites while listening to the minor prophets on CD. He’ll come home, we’ll have dinner, try to raise more support, discuss what’s next on the list, and hit hard the pillows. Tomorrow morning will come, and He’ll still be there, faithful to give all we need to do what He’s called us to. This is all for Him, and He will provide.

 

My NOT To-Do List

Humble Musings has become one of my favorite blogs, and awhile ago Amy posted her thoughts about the eternal to-do list that naturally comes with having 5 kids, along with just being a wife and homemaker. She was asked “How do you do it all?” for the millionth time, and her response, in essence, was “I don’t.” Nobody does it ALL. If you have a beautiful garden, your carpets probably need cleaning. If you bake everything from scratch, your photo albums are probably behind on the times. If you teach Latin to your kids in your spare time, you probably don’t make your own soap. Things like that.

In response to that post, a few weeks ago Annie thought about the whole idea, too, about how God gives us the grace to do what He has given us – and nothing more. We get ourselves in the weeds when we assume He has asked us to take on something and He hasn’t, even if it’s good and honoring to Him. If in doing too much, we’re unable to do that which He HAS called us to, then the Body is missing what you bring to it.

So, that said, I’ve been thinking about my NOT to-do list ever since. And ironically, the busyness of life caused me to forget about it, until this morning. Here goes:

• Do not wear make-up and style my hair every day
• Do not grow my own vegetables (not that I could anyway)
• Do not iron clothes
• Do not bathe Tate every day
• Do not spend more than $10 for most birthday gifts
• Do not sign up to bring a meal to every single new mom from the church
• Do not try to eat only organic food
• Do not roast my own coffee (though Jim will have to teach us eventually)
• Do not buy brand new books
• Do not turn on the TV just for noise, or to “see what’s on”
• Do not schedule more than two weeknights with family events
• Do not shop out of boredom
• Do not agree to design another wedding invitation before finishing the one on my plate
• Do not sign up for nursery duty anymore because when we do, we are overcommitted
• Do not feel guilty about the above
• Do not post on my blog every day

Whew… That felt good. Today I’m going to think about what else not to do. I wish I could add Do not pay bills and Do not change diapers, but some things just have to be there, I suppose.

 

Summer Reading

On Saturday I went to the Literacy Austin Book Fest 2006 and came home with a plethora of booty. There were Golden Books for a quarter that I had long forgotten existed until I saw their cover – it amazes me how much of my childhood was defined and milestoned by books. I love that, and want the same for Tate. She’s on her way, seeing how all she wants to do is READ. She’ll read in the car, read at home in her little Tate-sized chair we found at Goodwill, and she’ll beg to be pulled into a lap in the rocking chair for story time. She loves going to the library for official story time. Yep, we’ve got a reader, and I couldn’t be happier. I got her several of those Golden Books, along with a few more about farm animals (her current pasttime is making animal sounds).

Anyway, like mother like daughter, I’ve amassed quite the summer reading collection. I tend to gravitate towards fiction in the summer, I suppose because the heat melts my brain and makes it incapable of the deep thinking required for more of the non-fiction I tend to read in the fall and winter. Nonetheless, here are a few books I hope to tackle this summer, and possibly into the fall as we head out and do our traveling…

• Anna Karenina – I’ve had it for a long time, but have never gotten around to finishing it.
• The Chronicles of Narnia (specifically books 3 and on) – my favorite writer, my favorite children’s literature.
• Three Junes – I’ve heard great things about this book, and I was psyched to find it for $1 at the Book Fest.
• The Pilot’s Wife – I don’t know much about this book, but I hear Anita Shreve is a great writer, and I’ve wanted to read her stuff. So when I saw this on Saturday, I snagged it. Hope it’s not too depressing.
• Confessions of a Shopaholic – for my totally brainless, shallow vacation reading, if I can even stand it. Normally this kind of reading totally doesn’t attract me, but it was $1, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. The title alone is ironic; in my life I almost NEED to be a better shopper and not feel guilty for buying things we really do need (like, say, diapers). I definitely want to get to the other books first.

So that’s on my nightstand so far, along with finishing Cresent & Star, which I almost have. I’ve thought about hitting the Book Fest again today, to see if there are any more juicy deals, but I don’t know. That’s like an alcoholic wandering into a bar just to see what’s on tap.

 

Toilets of the World

Apparently some guy has taken the time to photograph toilets he has visited around the world. I’m not one for toilet humor in the slightest, but I find it amusing that he would even think of doing this. I’ve been to some downright SCARY public bathrooms around the world, so I found it interesting where many of his photographs are from. Hmm.

I’ve been in many, many bathrooms where there are no seats attached to the porcelain bowl and where there is no flushing device; countless “Turkish toilets” (you squat over a hole) where when you flush, the entire floor floods with water which would include dousing the bottom of your pants; and there are plenty worldwide where – well, lets just say their cleanliness is indescribable. It’s important to always carry toilet paper with you (and hand sanitizer), because although many bathrooms provide toilet paper, sometimes it comes in the form of old newspaper strips.

I have a fond memory of visiting a friend’s home in Kosova, and I needed to use their outhouse. It was night, it was muddy, and there were frogs and bugs everywhere. There was no door to the outhouse, it was pitch black – so I couldn’t see if there was anything to jump and bite me on the butt, and best of all – I had an audience of old women laughing at the spectacle. But the funniest one I’ve ever seen (and I SO wish I had a photo of this) was in Kosova, up on a hill in the middle of nowhere. It looks like a typical outhouse with a curtain for a door, but when you pull back the curtain, there’s no hole – half of the floor is hanging off the edge of a cliff. They provided you with a pole to hang on to so that you could do your business off the edge. And I don’t know what was a bottom of that cliff. I am not making this up.

So now you know much more about me than you might have thought possible. Please still visit us when we move overseas. I promise we’ll have nice normal toilets in our home.

 

Stuff

For all you fellow young moms with young kids, this essay really encouraged me today. I know I struggle with ENJOYING my daughter and not just loving her, and Molly’s thoughts refreshed me this morning. Good stuff.

Barbara Curtis has a great list of children’s books that are, in her opinion, must-haves. The other links on the left are pretty good, too, about good children’s movies and music, and creative holiday ideas. As a mother of 12 (yikes!), she has plenty of experience to go around. I want all her books.

Cheryl has posted some cute photos of Chickpea and Mallory at the playground yesterday, for anyone who’s interested. I’m afraid we have one of those super-social, super-dominating children (don’t worry, I didn’t just discover this yesterday). She cut in front of Mallory several times to go down the slide, and out of nowhere, she plopped in the lap of an innocent seven-year-old looking girl sitting nearby. She was a total stranger. What the? Gotta nip these in the bud.

Have a great weekend!

 

Bad News for Liquid Candy

Soda sales are down in the U.S. for the first time in 20 years, and I personally think this is great news. I cut way back on soda back in 2004 (as in two or so a month), and I haven’t had any this year (well, except for the Rum & Coke that Brooke gave me), and I can’t say I miss it. In fact, I think it’s pretty gross, and liquid candy is an accurate description. Instead of sodas, “they” recommend up to 40 ounces of tea or coffee, and a little bit of alcohol. I’d drink my weight in any three of these before I touched soda, anyway. When you cut soda out of your diet, you soon realize how much it sweetens your taste levels, thus upping your sugar cravings – and when it’s gone, your sugar cravings decrease tenfold.

So I guess that’s my little soapbox for the day – I’ll now climb down now.