No Fainting Here

Crud.  I missed my "once a week" resolve.  BUT, if I post twice this week, that should still keep me on target for my 52 posts.  So, I'm not out!  Nope.

And, I have a good excuse.  This has been a super-crazy week.  Super-super crazy.

Ellie and I went to Vancouver.  And when I say "Ellie and I", I mean only Ellie and I.  To all the single parents out there, I tip my hat to you.  To all the single parents of special needs kids, I throw myself at your feet.  While everything went well, and we both came back alive, I have to admit that it was a challenging few days.  Pushing a stroller, loaded up with a walker, a kid, 2 backpacks, while pulling a suitcase...not for the faint of heart.  Renting a car, getting all the crap in the car, pacifying a very tired 5 year-old, and finding a hotel in a big, unfamiliar city....not for the faint of heart.  Packing a bag full of toys, snacks, and all of Ellie's "medical stuff", navigating our way to the hospital, and running with the stroller in the Vancouver rain....not for the faint of heart.  Four doctor/therapist appointments in one day, with a girl-with-a-cold....not for the faint of heart.

Good thing my heart isn't faint.

And good thing we had so many people praying for us.

And extra-good thing that all the news we received from the doctors was GREAT.  I'll post the deets later this week.  Right now, I've got TV to catch up on...

BC Children's Hospital helped me out by supplying lots of toy-entertainment while waiting for all our appointments!

My Valentine

I am not a mushy person. At all. When I see people gettin’ all lovey-dovey in public, I puke in my mouth. I can still remember “the single days”, when being in the presence of PDA-lovin’ couples made me want to scream and cry, all in one breath.

But, man. Sometimes you just gotta mush on the dude of your life, eh?

I have married THE.BEST.GUY.EVER. And, today, in celebration of Valentine’s Day, I’ll do some cyber lovin’ of Richie-Rich. Because he is THAT worthy.

I think what I love most about Richard is that he just lets me be me. He lets me figure things out at my own pace. He lets me make my stupid mistakes. He lets me dream. He lets me change my (our) plans. He just smiles and nods. And pays my tuition. It’s gotta frustrate him, being the “I’ve known what I’ve wanted to do with my life since I was 18” and “I’ve happily worked at the same company for the past 10 years, and can’t imagine ever switching careers” guy. But, though the eyes of his heart may be rolling, Richard never shows it outwardly. He just lets me do my thing and supports me through every decision.

I also love that we are in this marriage as equal partners. We’ve always been on the same page regarding this and Richard’s ALWAYS treated me as such. (Well, except when it comes to electronics. He doesn’t treat me as his equal then.) We talk things out. We decide things together. I can’t imagine it working any other way.

And, he shovels the driveway. In -40.

He is unparalleled as a dad. Wow. You would be awed. It’s almost too bad that we “only” have one kid, because Richard’s dad skills are so stellar. He is patient. He is gentle. He is fun. He is caring. He is stable. He’s Ellie’s rock. He is PRESENT. Richard is not a dad that’s only involved on Saturday afternoon. He is part of every aspect of Ellie’s life; just as much as I am. (Well, except for clothes-buying. I trump him on that one.) And, you know the aforementioned quality of loving-me-where-I-am? Well, that’s how Richard loves Ellie too. He just loves her because she’s Ellie. He doesn’t worry about the future or the things she can or can’t do. He just loves.

He does really nice stuff for me. Yesterday, when I got into the car after my work-day, there was a rose on my seat. When I started the car, I immediately realized that Richard had downloaded a MP3 of “Chrystie’s favorite tunes” and it was programmed to start with #3: “our song” from when we were dating. I came home to a home-made heart-shaped pizza. Those are nice things. Thoughtful things. Mushy things.

I’m in love. And I don’t care if the cyber world knows it!

The Message

Sometimes, to add a bit of spice to my spiritual life, I read The Message, instead of my “regular” NIV Bible. A little bit of Message is good for the soul.

For instance, today.

I am starting to stress about the house-selling situation (aren’t you amazed that it’s taken me THIS long to start worrying about it?!). We FINALLY have our new-house floor plan finished, so now my brain has room to panic about the selling of our existing home. I try to tell myself, as I dust every corner, and try to remember to put my bra in a not-so-public place, that the state of my Tupperware drawer is not going to cause someone to pass on buying our house. BUT, deep down, I think, “but, what if? What if one more scrub, one more sweep, one more swipe of Windex, will make the difference?” And, of course, that intensifies the already-overloaded self-induced pressure I feel.

So. I needed some calming today. To The Message I went!

Luke 21:14
“Make up your mind right now not to worry about it!”

I betcha that’s how God’s saying it too. Or, maybe something like this:

“Gee Whiz, Chrystie, get that burning fork out of your ying yang and calm down! I’ve got it all under control!”

It made me laugh. And it relaxed my soul.

So, today, I’m gonna make up my mind to not worry about it. And, in my little brain, there seems to be a lot of “its” to worry about. Thus, I’ve got a lot of mind-making to do.

Amen.

Pulling at Strings

Sitting.

Thinking.

Daydreaming.

Trying to come up with a blog post.

Not going so well.

It’s Tuesday, and in order to keep up with my 2011 resolution, I MUST blog today. But, my brain is blank. Probably because it’s saturated. I’ve got a lot of things going on these days. Applying to graduate school (you’d think that compiling a “Statement of Purpose” would be easy for a writer like me. Guess-freakin’-again!). House selling. House building. Singing in a church band. Being a youth leader. Trying to see my kid and husband more than an hour each day. Training for a marathon (:-)). Blogging (:-)).

There’s so much going on in my day-to-day life, that it’s hard to come up with a “Deep Thoughts with Chrystie” script.

So, maybe it’s a good day for a Top Five List?

But, geez Louise, that means coming up with a TOPIC for the Top Five List!

Hmmm…

Okay. How’s this for “interesting”:

Top Five Things About My Day So Far:

1) On our way to the Movement Centre this morning, Ellie read me her “Tangled” book. By “read”, I mean “telling me her own version of the story”. Apparently, Rapunzel’s mom was mean and bad because she didn’t go to church. I was laughing so hard that I opted to forego the theological discussion that was most likely warranted.

2) I’ve had 3 college students come up to my office this afternoon, just to say hi. I love that! Best part of my job, hands down.

3) I got to Costco 15 minutes before the doors opened this morning. So, I sat in my warm car and prayed. Prayed for people. Prayed for myself. Prayed that the house would sell. Prayed for wisdom. Prayed for a grateful heart. It was good for my soul.

4) I got into a warm(ish) car this morning, thanks to my Richie-Rich, who parked it in the garage overnight and made sure that Ellie’s stroller, walker and canes were in the trunk for me. Of course, he did this all at 10:00 last night, when the windchill was a balmy -45 degrees. Just so Ellie and I could start our day off without frostbite. That guy’s a keeper.

5) I had REAL cream in my TIMMY’S coffee. I’ve been trying to downgrade to (the much more healthy) milk in my (much less expensive) homemade coffee. But, today, I treated myself to a medium Timmy’s with CREAM, and it was SO, SO good.

Now, if only my graduate school application consisted of a Top Five List…