More of the Random

-I am as tired as I ever remember being (other than when we had newborns in the house). Caleb has been waking up at 3am almost every night for weeks now. I have no idea what is going on, and he usually does not stay awake very long, but he always comes in to wake me up and sometimes there is musical beds going on (Caleb ends up in my comfy, soft bed, and I end up in his not as comfy, not as soft bed). I have been yawning HUGE, deep yawns all day, and I might be asleep before the kids tonight (especially if they keep getting out of their beds, like they are at this very moment, and not sleeping).

-This is why I can only write in list style. I am not firing on all cylinders.

-Caleb is obsessed with and also terrified of two things recently: 1) exploding buildings and 2) meteors. Today in the elevator he asked me TWICE if I thought they had exploded a building today. I told him somewhere in the world they probably did. We were at a mall the other day, and he saw a man with a whistle (probably directing traffic outside), and he was scared to death they were about to explode the building we were in. I do not know where this has come from, but it probably has something to do with the not sleeping.

-I got my haircut today. It has been 6 months since I had it cut last, mostly because it's really difficult for me to trust people to cut my curly hair. It isn't the same as cutting straight hair, even thought most hairdressers treat it the same.

-I went in for a trim (cut off the dead ends), and ended up with probably 4 inches gone. I guess it's a good thing I've been growing it out and had plenty of inches to spare. It's less almost-middle-of-my-back and more slightly-below-my-shoulder length now. :-)

-It looks great, but I haven't fixed it myself yet and everyone knows that's the true test of a good haircut.

-The hairdresser didn't comment at all on all the gray hairs!

-AND she thought I was a student (which is why she looked at me funny when I said I have two small children). She said my face looks young.

-Apparently she did not see the deep, dark, sleep-deprived circles under my eyes.

-Maybe she needs glasses.

-And my 5-year-old needs to quit acting like a 6-month-old and SLEEP already.

-And now I have to go see why my kids (who should be sleeping) are in the bathroom flushing the toilet and laughing. Nothing good can come of this.

Brain Dump

I should be going to bed, but my brain won't shut off, so I thought I'd come write down all the thoughts on my mind. My friend, Andrea, calls this a brain dump, and she just did one herself. Warning: This will be random.

-Christmas is probably the time I miss my family the most. I love having our little family together and having less stress involved in the entire holiday experience, but I miss seeing my extended family and celebrating the traditions we have. We're making new traditions and memories here, though, that will be part of our family history from now on.

-I love my kids. They are so funny sometimes! Caleb told me today, "Someday I'll be taller than Daddy. That will be on Friday." I don't know where he gets this stuff.

-Caleb is doing great with learning to read. He's really picking it up, but he hates doing it. I have to set the timer for 10 minutes for our "learning to read" time, and that's about all he'll give me. But he can read several little readers on his own, so I guess we're doing good. It's so cool to see him learning!

-Some kid was pounding on Caleb last week at an indoor playground I took them to. He was a good head shorter than Caleb and "meaner than a snake" (that's some good Texas lingo there!). He had been chasing my boys and kicking at them and kind of slapping at them, but when he cornered Caleb and began punching him I stepped in (like any good Texas mama would do!). I told him to stop hitting and kicking (I have no idea what adult was there with him because I never saw them). Every time he would start to do something to Caleb, he would look over to see if I was watching (I was), and he would stop. Seriously, people, discipline goes a long way. And kids need it!

-I love my prayer journal and how it keeps me organized about my prayers (and actually remembering to pray for people I've told I would!). You can find my favorite one here (a GREAT Christmas gift!): http://www.amazon.com/Prayers-My-Heart-Debbie-Williams/dp/1582295581/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292250922&sr=8-1

-I don't know why I didn't bring my Willow Tree Nativity with me. I miss it. :-( We only brought one small box of Christmas decorations since we weren't sure what size apartment we'd have.

-We have Lego's everywhere. (which I love)

-We also have books everywhere. (also love) (It's really amazing how many boxes of books I left in storage in Texas.)

-I've still been doing my Scripture Memory, but I haven't been blogging about it. I'll do an end-of-the-year catch-up post on that soon.

-I am still amazed how much my boys think potty talk and noises are hilarious. It starts early. They already laugh at the sound a ketchup bottle makes when you squeeze it. It's only downhill from here.

-I have this feeling that God is preparing us for something big (us being our family). I don't have any idea what it is, but I just feel an anticipation about something. I'll let you know if I ever figure out what it is. ;-)

-I am so excited to be counting down the weeks until we're on Texas soil and I'm spending time with my sister and nieces and mom and dad and grandmothers and...everyone else!

-I am also excited about the fact that the weather will be cooler there than it is here. I have almost no clothing for cool weather, but, thankfully, I have friends who do! I'm not sure my arms will know what to do being covered up. And my feet will surely go into shock when they have to wear shoes and socks. I've worn flip flops every day for the past 18 months.

-Can you believe we've lived in Singapore for 18 months, 1 week, and 2 days? Crazy.

-Apparently I forgot to tell my mom that our contract here in Singapore had been officially extended. Oops. ;-)

-I was surprised when I took a spiritual gifts analysis recently to find out my "greatest" spiritual gift is showing mercy. After thinking about it, it completely makes sense. My husband just thought I was a bleeding heart, and now I tell him all the time, "IT'S MY GIFT!" :-)

-I really do have a heart for the hurting, especially orphans. I feel like that might be a bigger part of my life in the future. Again, not sure how. Still listening.

-People ask me all the time if we are going to have any more children. They are just curious, and that is totally fine. My answer is always, "I don't know." It's definitely something we're praying about. So, if you were wondering, there's your answer. Only God knows. Literally.

-Caleb is finally to the age where I can read chapters of some easy books to him, and I am loving it! We read Beverly Cleary's Two Times the Fun last week, and today we started Roald Dahl's Danny the Champion of the World. I can't wait to be able to read The Chronicles of Narnia and loads of other books to my boys. Their attention spans are growing, so it won't be too many years before they are ready for that.

-We're having fun each night doing our Advent Jesse Tree. The boys love taking turns putting the ornaments on our tree. And I love going through God's story of redemption during this season of Advent, from creation to the birth of His Son, sent to this earth to rescue us from our sins. It's so cool how everything in the Bible fits together!

-Church last Sunday was amazing. The full combined choirs from the English, Filipino, and Indonesian congregations together was stunning. A wonderful Christmas celebration! Our church has 51 nations represented, and it is so cool to experience that!

Ok, I think that's about all the random stuff I can pour out of my brain. Maybe I can sleep now. :-)

8 Weeks Post-Surgery Update

Today marks 8 weeks since I fractured my ankle and had surgery to repair it. I can't believe it's been that long; it really has gone by quickly, which is most definitely a testament to the grace of God.

I had 6 weeks of crutches and walking on one leg only, then two weeks of being able to stand on two legs and slowly "load weight" onto my right ankle. Today is the first day I can walk on two legs. I would be more excited about this, but it HURTS!! It's quite a slow process, this healing thing. :-)

Today I had to go to the bank, and while someone watched the boys, I went by myself. As I was walking from the bank to the grocery store, a lady came up behind me and said, "I recognized you by your crutches and your backpack." :-) I sort of recognized her, but had to ask her name (she didn't know my name, either). Apparently she goes to our church because she was headed to the Ladies Retreat today. Good to know I'm recognizable these days! I am so grateful for my little backpack purse that my parents and sister gave me, since it's the only way I can carry around the things I need while I'm out.

My parents arrive in Singapore in LESS THAN TWO DAYS!!! I cannot tell you how excited we are to see them! I haven't said much about it in the last few weeks because the whole thing has been up in the air since my grandmother fell a couple of weeks ago and broke her pelvis. She lives with my parents, and my mom was not sure they would be able to leave her. My Nana is in a skilled nursing facility right now until she can walk well enough to return home. My mom's cousin, Kathy, graciously offered to drive down from Missouri and stay with my Nana while my parents are here! This is such an answer to our prayers because my Nana and Kathy have a great relationship, and my Nana feels comfortable with her. Thank you, Kathy and Jim! We love you so much and are so grateful you have allowed Mom and Dad to come and see us!! What a blessing!

So, starting Sunday and for the next 12 days, we will be soaking up every second of time with my parents. It will be so fun to see Singapore through their eyes. There are so many things that are normal to us now that I know will seem very different to them. We are going to have lots of fun. I rented a wheelchair to be able to have more freedom to go places that require more walking. Singapore is really not wheelchair-friendly (or stroller-friendly, for that matter), so I'll still be using my crutches quite often. Just getting out today I had to navigate probably 15 steps, and that was just in a short distance and not going to the second level of a building or anything. I'm always amazed at how many stairs there are in this country. ;-)

And here's how my kids amused themselves this morning...by watching the laundry in the machine.

I'm So Fond of Lists

because my brain isn't firing on all cylinders. Levi got up at 6:15 this morning, and by 7:30 both of my boys were in time-out for fighting/bickering/stealing each other's toys/being mean. *deep breath*

Here are my thoughts for the day, otherwise known as "this week's version of totally unrelated thoughts":

1) My friend, Euvah, who I only know on Facebook because we haven't had the pleasure of meeting in person yet (she's from Louisiana but lives here in Singapore now) said the funniest thing today that I could totally relate to: "Anyone know where I can get some me sized clothes on the barbie sized island?" So true. I've gone down a size in clothing since we moved here (yippeee!), but sizes here are UK sizes, so on the tag it looks like I actually went up 2 sizes. Mind games, I tell ya.

2) I am giddy-excited about going to Thailand on Friday. (Have I said that yet??) Seeing old friends, eating authentic Thai food, being in a place I love so much...can't wait.

3) Levi has started to give "real" kisses on the cheek. He presses his lips to your cheek, then clicks his tongue to make the "kissing noise." It's so cute, and I try to get him to do it as often as possible.

4) I would really like to write more. My friend (in real life!), Dana, is going to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and I would love to participate, but I'm not sure I have a novel in me. I love to write and want to do more of it, but I just don't have the creativity for novel-writing. I tried to think of some ideas and do a little research, but I just can't seem to come up with anything interesting. I really enjoy reading novels, but I don't think I'm a novel writer. We'll see.

5) I've been trying to find Caleb some pajamas and haven't had much luck. Even when I ask people who've lived here for a while they can't seem to tell me where I can buy affordable pajamas. I looked at some in Levi's size the other day and they were S$50. I'm not paying that for pajamas. My mom looked at Target back home but they don't have summertime pajamas anymore.

6) The stores here actually change their wardrobes for seasons, even though we don't have seasons. Right now you can buy a sweater. It will be in the high 80s here today with about 187% humidity, and well, pretty much every day forever. Maybe the low 90s, too, if we're lucky. It does dip into the 70s at night, though. Might need a light jacket for that.

7) I'm trying to think of a cold place to visit that isn't too far from here. We won't be going back to the States until next June and it will be HOT in Texas and New Mexico then. It's bizarre for it to be the middle of October and the weather has not changed much. I'll be reporting the same thing at Thanksgiving and Christmas, by the way. Suggestions for cooler weather locations are welcome.

8) I'm pretty sure this list proves why I can't write a novel. I apparently don't do prose well. I don't think anyone wants to read a 175-page list.

The Singapore Post Office, Take Two

So, after I ranted on here about SingPost and my lost package, I got a really nice email from a lady at their corporate offices. She had read my post and wanted me to know that they were sorry I was having trouble locating the package and wanted to help me. After sending her the necessary information, I received emails from two more people at SingPost and two phone calls.

At the end of all those conversations, my package had still not been located, but I was thankful that several people had tried.

Then today it showed up at my door! I have no idea where it's been, since the original date they wrote on the box was 14 August, but I'm thankful to have received it!

Ew.Ew.Ew.

Justin just interrupted my defensive driving to call me to the kitchen because he found a BLACK WIDOW SPIDER in our bag of grapes.

Everone now...*shudder* I confirmed it was a black widow (female, in fact!), and we looked it up online to find out if there might be another one or babies lurking nearby.

Wait, it gets better. He took the bag outside to kill the spider and saw a snake on the sidewalk. You'd think we were living on a farm or something.

Gross. Gross. Gross.

I'm so glad he found it and not me.

Wow Online

I love the Wow compilation CDs. There's a new one out...Wow Hits 1. It's FULL of amazing Christian songs:

• All the World
• Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
• East to West
• Everything Glorious
• Give Me Words to Speak
• Give Until There's Nothing Left
• Give You Glory
• God in Me
• Here's My Life
• I'll Stay
• I'm for You
• I'm Not Who I Was
• In Wonder
• Love Is Here
• Miracle of the Moment
• Older I Get
• So Great
• Tunnel
• You Are Everything

Just sharing! Check it out here.

It's Gotta Come Out

I went to see the surgeon yesterday. Apparently the HIDA scan showed that my gall bladder does not squeeze like it should. So, I'm going to be scheduling surgery in the next couple of weeks. He said as long as they are able to do it laproscopicaly, there are no restrictions on activity, and I should be back to normal in a week. I'll just be glad to have the pain gone!

Not breastfeeding Levi for over 2 days actually went well. He took great to the bottle, and, amazingly, I had enough milk saved up to last those two days. He is VERY happy to have his mommy feeding him again, though! ;-)

Caleb is at Grandma's house today (we're heading there tonight), so I have lots of time to get things done today. Off to shower while Levi naps!

How Fast Do You Type?

This was fun!

93 words

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