Grammar and a Giveaway

I have a pet peeve. It's name is bad grammar.

Did you catch that I had not only one, but TWO mistakes in that last sentence? I should have said, "Its name is Bad Grammar."

My little pet isn't so little. Seems I'm not the only one who has this problem. That's okay...there is enough of it to go around. Alot.

HAHAHA! I did it again! A...lot. TWO WORDS PUH-LEEEZE! And that's not bad grammar, it's just my way of saying, "PUH-LEEEZE!"

I have wanted to do a post about it for a while, but one of my favorite bloggers, Richella, beat me to the punch. She is actually doing a whole series of posts about it. Be still my heart.

Not only is she teaching the world how to use grammar correctly, she is also teaching us why it should matter to us. In our "Idk my bff Jill" society, her lessons are sorely needed.

As much of a grammar snob as I sound, I actually posted a question for her. I had a good reason. See, she's having a cool giveaway to anyone who leaves a grammar question or pet peeve in the comment section. You'll have to find my comment to see what I asked. I'm mean like that.

Well, not actually, since I'm telling you to go over there and enter yourself. I could just keep it all to myself. It's a good thing Sound Man didn't hear about it or he would keep it to hisself.

AAAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!

That is the one that gets under my skin the most. Hisself. I made the mistake of telling Kiddo that, so he proceeded to say it every chance he got. Ick.

Sorry...something shiny grabbed my attention. Visit Richella at Imparting Grace and enter for your chance to win. But hurry...the giveaway is only open until Wednesday night!

Grateful

For those of you who gave such encouraging words on my last post, I am so grateful. When I wrote that, I was in the beginning stages of some relationship drama that is not going away any time soon. I was so angry that I only had two options: to throw a heck of a temper tantrum (which I sort of did on the phone to my precious, patient husband), or to turn to God's Word and beg His help.

I don't have to beg for His help, though. He readily gives it. Not only does He give it to me through His perfect Word, but He also gives it to me through my precious family and friends.

My sister (who is also involved in the situation) has already begun the forgiving process and in doing so, teaches me that I must begin. My Sweet Sound Man has shown infinite patience with me and my tantrum throwing. He also reminds me (as many of you did) that not forgiving someone only hurts ME, not the person I am angry with. He has responded with wisdom and patience, and for that I am so very grateful.

My friends who know about the situation, while completely understanding my anger and agree with my position, also admonished me to let go. They know it will be a process, but I will benefit so much more if I do. I thank the Lord for them almost daily, and that's when there is no drama going on!

Choosing to forgive is my only life-giving option. So, do I choose to stay bound in my situation, never to grow in Christ and let the root of bitterness take hold?

No...I choose life. I will forgive.

Above all else, guard your heart,

for it is the wellspring of life.

Proverbs 4:23

Angry

Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 29:11
A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.

Ephesians 4:25-27 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Colossians 3:8
But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

James 1:19-20
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Lord Jesus...You gave these commands...You will also give me the strength I need to let my anger go. I know that unforgiveness hurts no one but myself. Help me be part of the solution, not an addition to the problem.

100 Hearts on Etsy!

I just looked at who has my Etsy shop listed as a favorite and realized I just hit 100! WOO HOO!

I just loaded more cross tassels this morning and will be adding one more Easter egg tassel (with the ca-yute bunnies on it...it's my last one!) later. Nest tassels are next on my list to load, as well.

In celebration of my 100 hearts, I'm giving each Butterfly Genes Reader free shipping if you mention my blog in your checkout note. You MUST tell me you read it here or I won't know you get the free shipping! I will refund your shipping charge ASAP.

For those of you who heart my shop, or subscribe to (or follow) my blog, THANK YOU! Your support means the world to me!

Now Buying Stock in Raid...

As a general rule, I do not particularly care for bugs. Especially the stinging kind. PARTICULARLY the stinging kind. As a child I had many episodes (okay, three or four) of being stung, and I really don't want to repeat them. Then there was the time I was pregnant with Kiddo and we were leaving Piney (our former vacation spot) when a huge, fanged, rabid wasp stung me for no reason, causing so much anxiety that I had to call Kat and ask her to call her doctor friend to make sure wasp stings can't affect pregnancy. No, I'm not physically allergic to stings, but psychologically...they don't make an EpiPen big enough.

So, Sunday morning I'm on Praise Team. Our Worship Pastor, Brent, is singing his heart out on Jeff Johnson's updated version of the old hymn, "O Glorious Day." Suddenly, from the middle of the darkened sanctuary, a wasp decides his shirtsleeve looks like a good place to land. We all watched as the wasp slowly descended and alighted on his goldenrod colored shirt. Our Pastor Rick had been stung while he was preaching a few months ago, so we were aware that these puppies don't play around.

Well, he got through the song, seemingly oblivious to the despicable insect on his person. The wasp flew off for a few seconds, then came back just as he was strumming the last chord, landing on his ring as his hand came up in the air from the guitar. He left his hand suspended until the last strains of music died down, then said, "Am I scaring you? 'Cause he's scaring me!" And flicked the wasp onto the floor, where I hoped he squashed it.

See, I was the next person to go down on the front stage right where he had been. So, as I'm walking past him I squeakily whispered, "Did you kill it?" Well, no, he hadn't. It had flown away before he had the chance to.

I started the song with no problems. Until the second verse. Here comes mean Mr. Wasp. I see him coming at me from the corner of my eye as I'm TRYING to worship. The demon wasp would have none of it. He lands right on the front of my jacket...while I am singing. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't be as calm about it as Brent was. He told us later that he knew the whole time that that stupid bug was there on his sleeve. Well, I just couldn't be that collected.

I looked down at the wasp and, still clinging to the microphone in one hand, took my other hand and swatted it on the floor. Then, still trying to sing, did a little dance trying to step on the thing to rid us of his menace. Nope. The wasp won and flew off. I prayed HARD that he wouldn't come back.

Evidently the Lord felt like I needed to learn a lesson in humility this morning, because the wasp came back. Landing on my jacket in the very same spot as before. This time I couldn't hold it together and swatted and danced and apologized all in the course of three seconds. Again, the wasp was faster than I was and flew off.

But I kept singing. I was determined I was not going to let that cursed bug mess up my love song to the Lord. I sang stronger than ever and finally finished the song, albeit with a knot in my stomach.

As I walked into the sanctuary for second service I noticed it was markedly chillier in there, and I wondered why they turned the temperature down. Then it hit me. Warmer air stirs wasps up. I didn't care if I had to wear a parka if it meant I didn't have to deal with that wasp again.

And, thankfully, second service went off without a hitch. Hopefully they'll do some searching and find the nest. We have such a big sanctuary that it will not be easy.

Maybe I'll just carry a bottle of Raid with me to church from now on.

Homemade Pizza Night!

Last Saturday night every single member of my little family was in my little kitchen. That includes two adult humans, one tween human, and three canines who think they're humans. It was a feat, let me say. But the smells that were emanating from that one room were enough to keep us all in there for a while, at least.

Kiddo and I go to classes at our church on Tuesdays. I usually go to a Bible study class, and he goes to classes designed for homeschoolers. We really enjoy it and it gives both of us a break from each other. However, this term I am helping with one of the homeschool classes taught by my friend Lisa. Kiddo is, of course, in one of the classes (we split them into 4-5 grades and 6-8 grades). The book we're using, The Science Chef, is really a neat book if you want your kids to get interested in cooking.

Each week Lisa gives the kids experiments and recipes that correspond with that week's lesson. Last week we talked about why bread rises and what role yeast plays in bread, etc, etc. One of the recipes was for pizza dough, and since we already had planned on having homemade pizza Saturday night it was perfect timing for us.

We were each in charge of one element of the meal. Sound Man was in charge of toppings, sauteing onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms as well as cooking sausage; I was in charge of the pizza sauce (recipe coming in a minute); Kiddo was in charge of the crust. Homemade crust at that.He did great, even kneading it the way Lisa had shown the kids, even if it wasn't exactly the way I do it. I kept telling myself "Don't get in the way, don't get in the way...let him do it his way!" He measured, stirred, kneaded, and then pressed the finished product into our stoneware baker. LOVE that thing!Can you tell I love Pampered Chef products? The bowl, the spoon, the baker, the roller, they all came from P.C! (And NO, I wasn't compensated by P.C. I just honestly love their products! Plus, I was a consultant for three years when Kiddo was tee-niney.)

Sorry, random thought. Anyway, after the crust was rolled out, I spooned the sauce on, then Sound Man did his magic with the toppings, finishing it off with pepperoni and Italian blend cheese. Can I tell you this pizza was sooooooooooo good?I'm so glad it turned out well. I think if it hadn't Kiddo's interest in the kitchen would have gone downhill. Hopefully it will just grow as the class goes on.Alrighty, here are the recipes for both the pizza dough and sauce. Super, super easy for both.

Basic Pizza Dough
(Makes enough for one 12 inch pizza or eight slices)

1 cup warm water (between 100 and 110 degrees F)
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp oil
2 to 3 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour

In a large bowl add yeast to water and stir. Add sugar, salt and oil to water and stir well. Add flour to bowl in small amounts and stir after each addition. Add just enough flour so the dough is not sticking in clumps to your hands or the bowl.

Knead dough 2-3 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Let dough rest 5-10 minutes before rolling out on pizza stone or pan, or press into baker for deep dish pizza.

Pizza Sauce

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 tomato, seeded and coarsely pureed (actually what I did was just chop it to smithereens with my Pampered Chef food chopper. It was as good as pureed!)
1 tsp oregano
1 clove garlic, minced (again, I just used my Pampered Chef garlic press...LOVE that thing!)
1/4 tsp paprika
scant 1/4 tsp salt

Blend together and spread over pizza crust. YUMMY!

Hope you like it as much as we did!

Linked up at Jen's Tasty Tuesday post this week!

I've Done It Again...

Yesterday the three of us (me, Sound Man, Kiddo) were lounging around the living room after a busy day at church. Kiddo had just put some food down for Jonathan (who is Jonathan, you ask? Well, here's a hint:)

...and we were eating lunch. I had gotten a little chilly and had my Mimmie's afghan (do y'all call crocheted blankets "afghans" or is that just a Southern thing?) on my lap. When I finished my lunch (yummy leftover homemade pizza that the three of us had a blast making Saturday night...post coming later this week) I got up to take my plate or whatever it was in the kitchen.

What happened next is kind of a blur. I'm sure you know where this is going if you've read my blog for any length of time. I stepped around the recliner where I had been sitting, and the next thing I knew I was flat face down on the floor. I lay there for a minute, not sure exactly what happened, and wondering if I was bleeding because there was liquid smeared on the floor and my arms.

Sound Man said one second I was there, the next I wasn't. I had landed on our concrete floor and from the crashing sound that came afterwards, had broken every dish in a five house radius. He jumped up to check on me and said when I wasn't moving it scared him. The first thing he said was, "What hurts?"

Well, for one thing, it wasn't blood on me and the floor, it was Diet Coke. I had one in my hand and evidently it splattered all over the place when I fell. Second, I was lying so still because I was trying to figure out what in blue blazes had just happened. So, my response to Sound Man's question was a very dignified, "I have no idea what happened!" He probably thought it was my brain that hurt.

He said my feet got tangled up in the afghan and then to add to that, I stepped on Jonathan's bowl, which made me lose my balance. How BOTH of my feet ended out from under me is still a mystery to both of us.

I'm okay, save for a few bruises on my left side. Evidently I didn't fall completely flat. And I'm really, really sore. Even more sore than when I had my infamous Atlanta fall. The only real casualty (besides the Diet Coke...sniff sniff) was one of my cheap but pretty Walmart special "Holiday Time" white bowls that came 4 for $5. Not a whole kitchen of dishes like I originally thought, just the one bowl I had been carrying. Dang it. They probably won't sell those this year. Oh, well. Better a pretty bowl than my pretty face. Whatever that means.

My status on Facebook today says, "Heathahlee has done it again. I need to be a professional faller downer."

Fo' realz.

Easter Tassels on the way!

Been loading bunny tassels (I already had some made that I had not not yet loaded on Etsy), and I can't wait to work on some cross tassels (I found some beautifully designed crosses Saturday), and oh, the fringe I discovered this weekend! I can't wait to show you!

Loss and Life

Did Joannie Rochette of Canada steal your heart last night like she did mine?

I had actually thought a lot about this post even before her beautiful skate last night. I have been thinking a lot about loss. Not just the loss of a loved one, but the loss of a dream, the loss of status (for lack of a better term), the loss of a marriage, the loss of control.

It's not easy. As I sit writing this my mother is in our guest room resting after her chemo treatment yesterday. She is weaker. The loss of the vibrant mother I once had is the most heart wrenching experience I've had. She is so frail...something she has never been until cancer stole her strength from her.

I'm not the only one who is suffering. My brother-in-law's beloved cousin has not been given long to live. I have a friend whose father's battle with cancer is in its last days. I have another friend whose marriage is on the brink of crumbling. Another friend has already experienced that devastation and now faces life alone. My husband has suffered loss recently, as well; nothing I will go into, but he puts on a strong front for me, while I "take up offenses" and want to open up a can of you-know-what on the offender.

During times like these it is so easy to forget the good things. Last night, after Joannie skated, the entire stadium gave her a standing ovation. The Reuters article tells the story:

"The crowd roared when Rochette landed her opening triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, they hollered when she nailed her triple flip, they cheered when she performed her fast paced circular step sequence full of staccato movements and then they leapt to their feet when she held her final pose.

She smiled beautifully into the camera as she stood still for a few seconds with both hands on her hip, and perhaps feeling the embrace of 12,000 pairs of arms wrap around her, she finally crumbled into tears as dozens of bouquets started to rain down on the ice."

She had an entire continent (and maybe more) on her side. Even before I watched last night I thought something similar about the losses we face every day. We cannot make it on our own. Not only do we need Jesus, who offers the Ultimate comfort and support, but we have to have someone or someones pouring life into us. I'm so blessed to say I have many people who do that for me every day, not the least of which is my precious husband.

My friends Kathy, Lisa, Kim, Loretta, Donya, Robbie...all of these women have had such a part of lifting me up when life gets hard. Just yesterday a precious friend of mine handed me the cutest little leopard print bag and said, "Open it!" Inside was a Malco movie gift card that had enough on it for two adult movie tickets, two cokes, and a popcorn for Sound Man and me to split between us. I think she knows how much that meant to me.

I pray that when this season is over...hopefully before that...I am able to give life back to someone else who is facing loss. Father, open my eyes to see those hurting around me. Give me Your words of encouragement so that they know they aren't going through this alone. Forgive me for being so self-centered. You gave Your Son to give us life. I want to live (and share) this life more abundantly.

My Current Favorite Commercial

Also known as...

"WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

It gets me EVERY. TIME.

*sniff*

Working on...

Tassels...

School...

Getting over being sick...

Be back soon...

Well, This Was Unexpected...

Five-fifteen in the morning. I am dead-to-the-world asleep. The phone rings. Of course I expect it to be my step-dad telling me he's taken my mom to the hospital or something. No, nothing like that. This is the conversation that ensued:

Me: (very groggily) Hello?
Father-in-Law: Are y'all up?
Me: Um...No?
FIL: Well, you need to get up and look out the window.
Me: Um...okay...Sound Man, look out the window.
Sound Man: (also very groggily) WHA..? WHY?
Me: Your dad said to.
Sound Man: (after getting up and looking out the window) HOLY CR*P! THERE'S THREE INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND!
FIL: Well, just thought you'd want to know. Y'all be careful.

After which we both get up and laugh our tails off that the Memphis area was totally caught off guard. I mean, usually, they start a week in advance of a slight chance of flurries warning us, which in turn causes every crazy person in the tri-state area to head to MY Wal-mart for bread and milk, which of course means that everything else will be out when I'm doing my normal grocery shopping.

This...this was just crazy. They had mentioned last night that we might get some sleet, but no one made a big deal about it that I knew of. Maybe it was all overshadowed by last night's game. What game, you ask? If you have to ask, I'm not going to be the one to explain it to you.

Anyway, by the time Kiddo and I got up, there was 5 1/2 inches of snow. How do I know? Well, we are very scientific around here:

See? No, you probably can't. But trust me. That ruler went all the way to 5 1/2 inches. By the time this picture was taken, this was the only undisturbed spot in the yard. I do have three dogs, not to mention a 10-year-old boy.

Sound Man took this picture when he let the dogs out about 5:30. I love it because it shows all three dogs with it pouring snow. You can tell how much Jonathan loves it. He cracked me up with all the shenanigans he did while we were out there later.

My sweet boy with my big dog. They love each other, they do. And did I mention Jonathan also loves snow?

Windi and Shadow, however, tolerate it. Shadow more so than Windi.

Shadow taking a turn in the white stuff.

Windi is too prissy (not to mention short) to enjoy being in 5 1/2 inches of snow. This is where she liked to stay. On the patio. Poor baby tried her best to go potty, but she couldn't find a spot in the yard where the snow wasn't half way up to her head. She eventually was able to. Bless her 13-year-old heart.

Have I said that Jonathan LOVES snow? He and Kiddo got into a snowball fight, and this pic shows him trying to get the "ball" out of Kiddo's hands:

Here's Kiddo and Jonathan playing in the snow. I love it when Jonathan growls like that. He sounds so ferocious. And I suppose he would really be if something were really doing harm to one of us, but here he's just playing.

After we brought the dogs in, Kiddo took the sled out to the front to see if our neighbor's kids wanted to ride.

I think that lasted all of three minutes. That sled is heavy! It was built about 25 years ago by an old family friend, and it's still in great condition. Probably because it never gets used!

Well, Kiddo is now inside, warmed up, drinking decaf coffee(yes, coffee...he likes it...go figure) and eating lunch. I am watching what little birds I'm attracting to the yard with the meager fare I put out for them (I was not prepared and only had thistle...sad times). I am taking the day to get caught up on laundry even though I still have much too much of a word that looks a lot like snow but ends with "t" instead of "w" and a headache that WILL. NOT. GO. AWAY.

Maybe if I just spend the day blogging with all of you it will magically go away. Now that's a good idea!

Please Stand By...

While this blogger has technical difficulties. Okay, maybe not technical, but sinusal. Or something like that.

I woke up Friday morning with the WORST sore throat and sinus headache. Normally, I'd jump up and call the doctor and get a sinus cocktail shot the same day. Well, the only problem with that is that Friday happened to be the day that our entire county shut down because a major ice storm was heading our way.

So, I had to wait until Monday. Ugh. Double ugh. But, I finally was able to go get my beloved shot and cough medicine and Z-pack and I'm a happy, although not quite completely healthy, camper.

When I feel like it, I will get to my pics of the beautiful, if disruptive, ice storm. To be so damaging, that stuff is so absolutely gorgeous. I can say that because I didn't have any damage to my trees or house. Other folks around the Memphis area weren't so lucky, having trees fall on their houses, branches fall through roofs, and other very not-beautiful things. I'm sure they wouldn't think the images I have are beautiful, but maybe you will.

Here's an image that makes me smile...and at the time warmed my heart. My big ol' puppy dog knew I wasn't feeling good and allowed me to snuggle with him just a minute...and only a minute. Right after this pic was taken he decided he had enough snuggle time with Momma. Oh, well...I take what I can get.

Okay, I have to go take my antibiotic now. *sssnnniiifff*

My New Glasses

It's been a while since I've had new glasses. Like 12 years. I'm not kidding.

In 1997 Sound Man worked for a company that had a line of eyeglasses that you could use for safety glasses and still look fashionable...particularly helpful if you worked in an industry that required you to wear them all day long. You could wear them instead of the really clunky, ugly safety glasses.

Anyway, they had some frames they were discontinuing and would be free to us if we got the lenses through this part of the company. The lenses were going to be either free or way cheap, too (I can't remember which at the moment...it WAS almost 13 years ago, after all). The only thing was, they had to be safety lenses. So they had these permanent little marks at the top that all safety glasses have to have, making me think there was always a smudge at the top of my glasses.

My point. What was my point? Oh yeah! So, I mostly wear my contacts. I have ever since I started wearing them in 7th grade. I never really needed a new pair of glasses since my prescription really didn't change much over the years. Well, my prescription my not have changed, but fashion certainly did.

I felt like I couldn't NOT wear my contacts out in public. My glasses were that out of style. I didn't have the freedom to just not stick my finger in my eye every morning. Not that I mind sticking my finger in my eye, but I'm just sayin'.

So, in a spur of the moment kind of thing, instead of getting contacts with my eye exam this year, I got what I've wanted for years...NEW GLASSES!

Here's what my old ones look like...

Don't you love my expression? That's the way I felt every time I wore these things. Notice the lovely way the color is peeling off the frame. Ugh.

And HERE'S my new glasses!

I LURVE THEM!

Sound Man couldn't wait for me to get them. I texted him a picture when I was trying them on and he couldn't wait for them to come in. He says they're sexy. I think he's crazy. But I love him for thinking it anyway.

Oh, and as a side note...don't you LOVE my toile shower curtain? Why I decided to take these pics in the bathroom I'm not sure but I'm glad I did so you can see it!

Anyway, just wanted to share my good fortune with you. My glasses and I are now going to go see what's going on on Facebook. Ha ha! Get it? SEE what's going on?

Nevermind.

What I Love About Sundays

Okay, so it's Tuesday. But I love Sundays so much I decided to write about them. It's my blog. I can do that.

What spurred me on to do this was this past Sunday. It was a typical Sunday for the three of us, and I realized how much I lurve our Sundays. From start to finish. Even though I have to wake up before dawn. Here's why.

First, the before dawn part. On the weekends we have the entire worship team singing (we alternate between just having a Praise Team and having the full Worship Team) we have to be there at 7:00 a.m. Yes. Seven. A. M. Did you know I'm NOT a morning person? Have you ever tried to sing at 7 o'clock in the morning? Vocal warm-ups are my friend. Ugh.

But you know what? There's no group of people I'd rather hang out with at that time of the morning.

Sundays also mean sausage biscuits and Praise Team practice. You know, when you're really, really hungry...I mean, so hungry you'd think a gum wrapper would taste good, a homemade sausage biscuit from the church's little cafe is the best. thing. ever. And it really is. So every week, I get one and head to P.T. practice and hang with some of my favorite peeps in the world.

This is not all of them by far. We alternate P.T. members, so this room is full of a different crew every week. And I heart them all. After eating and chatting and laughing our heads off at one another (usually Jae or Kevin), then we get down to the neety greety (as Nacho would say) and work on the next week's songs.

Then there's church itself. If I'm directing choir, like I was this week, this is the view the congregation sees of me.

Not. Pretty. Oh, well. I love doing it anyway.

After either eating at Casa Mexicana (our favorite Mexican restaurant) with our friends Jeff and Lisa, or heading home to eat lunch, I soooo look forward to the next part of my Sunday: a delicious nap. I truly believe that Sunday naps are the best naps there are.

Several years ago (okay, more than a decade ago, but who's counting?) we stopped having church on Sunday night so our people could spend the evening with family or have small group that night. For years our small group met on Sunday night, but now we moved to another night of the week and I loooooooove it. We get to hang out in our pj's and do little or nothing and watch "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and football.

Sound Man snapped a few pics of Kiddo building quietly (not something he's known for...LOL!) with his Legos...

Oops! Got caught!

He is quite the engineer!

And then we wind down our day and head to bed. After making sure we have read the funnies. I mean, Sunday is just not Sunday without the Sunday funnies, right? Oh, and for those of you not familiar with that word, that would be the "comics."

So that's what I love about Sundays. Man, just sitting here typing all of this made me want it to be Sunday again!

What's your favorite day of the week?