My last summer tomato

Tomatoes and I have had a thing since I was 10. Every summer I would wait anxiously for the first red tomato. It seemed like it always took FOREVER for the first green tomatoes to ripen into big beautiful juicy tomatoes. But ripen they did! With salt in hand, I would lean over the sink and eat one of those tomatoes like an apple. Over the winter, I always kind of forgot that those tomatoes do not taste like real tomatoes. The first bite of a summer tomato reminded me what real tomatoes are. This year, I grew my own tomatoes for the first time. Today, I picked my last summer tomato off of the vine. Goodbye summer tomatoes, its been a good year!

New, small things

Today, three new things were randomly and surprisingly welcomed into my life.

1. Sporkle...more trivia games than you can imagine. There's thoughtful stuff...literature and history, and there's fun stuff...game show hosts names and the celebrity movie chain beginning and ending with (of course) Kevin Bacon. Its a good way to waste an hour while not feeling totally terrible about yourself because you are exercising your brain.

2. Kung Pao Chicken Sauce...I LOVE all kinds of food. Now that I am being healthy again, I can make Kung Pao chicken from home without (some) of the fat.

3. Last but not least, I was strolling down the organic aisle in the grocery store when a bright colorful shelf of toothbrushes caught my eye. They just made me happy, so I settled on turquoise. Not only is it beautiful, in color and in its arched-back design, but it is also made from recycled materials. I feel so environmentally responsible.

Today I am thankful for new, small things.

my birthday week and other fun things

I am thankful for several things today...

1. It is my Birthday week. I am a HUGE fan of my birthday. Its the only day where I feel like its okay for everything to be about me. All week there will be Happy Birthdays when I go to small group and Impact and work and parents and friends. I get all giddy just thinking about it.

2. Jack likes bones. A lot. They keep him busy which means I can get stuff done. Plus he's a really cute chewer. He smacks.

3. My ridiculously inexpensive boots (the ones I wrote about last week) came in today. Thank you Jerry the UPS man. Now I have to think of a cute outfit so I can wear them tomorrow.

4. I get to go to bed earlier tonight than normal. I need sleep.

Refill please

I have hesitated to bring the topic of jesus into this blog so soon because...a lot of people don't like Christians. They have adverse reaction just to the word. I think we have all been hurt by one at some point in our lives (we are only human) or we have been judged by one (something we shouldn't be doing) or we have known a holier-than-thou Christian who turned out to have a major sin secret. Truthfully, I didn't want you to judge me before you figured out that I was an ok person and quit reading this right off the bat. Its time to come out of the closet...I am a Christian.

Tonight I went to hear a speaker at a church in Little Rock, Priscilla Shirer. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the building was that everyone had a big smile on their face. No one looked grouchy that there were no doughnuts out front or free coffee. There was a place where you could buy coffee...fancy frappacinos and EVERYTHING. Even more impressive was the fact that there were tables for different service opportunities and missions out front. And people brought donations. Pretty cool. The worship team was GREAT. And I just don't have enough great things to say about Priscilla's sermon. Before this starts sounding like a book report, I'm going to get to the point. The message was something that I needed...a refresher and encourager for the week ahead. Sometimes you forget to make time for yourself...to do something that "refills" your spirit. I know that when that happens to me, everything irritates me, I start getting really negative, I feel panicky and I just want to quit everything good that I have started. I am so glad that I took the time to go and spent time with God so He could refill me. Only He knows what I need and can actually give it to me.

And icing on the cake...I went with a group of fun women, we got free muffins at Mimi's Cafe and they served strawberry popsicles after church was over. Today I am thankful for "refills".

spontaneous lunches with unexpected guests

Today was one of those days that I just wanted to relax. So, I planned a little tv watching (got bored pretty fast), some weedeating (ran out of string right after I started), some reading (which was going well until...) I got really hungry. It was noon. I thought I could drive through somewhere and then go to Hastings and read, but there was just nothing that really sounded good to me. Then I remembered there is a new cafe here that I haven't tried yet..but its not a drivethru kind of place. Then I had a brilliant idea...I could go in and sit down (by myself...something I don't do ever) AND read my book at the same time. Perfect. So I park, go in, order a delicious salad, and start to read my book when some friends walk in that I don't ever see unless its at church. We talked across the restaurant for a while and then decided that we could just sit at the same table. So we did. It was fun...Roy Beth and Johnathan...thanks.

More Jack...

Today I'm sharing another picture of Jack...he's just so dang cute.

Gratitude journal-my five for the day

Inspired by Oprah years ago, I used to keep a gratitude journal. Everyday I would write five things I was thankful for that day. No matter how crummy I thought my day was, I could always find five things...even it they were 1. This day is over 2. The sleep I'm about to have is going to be awesome! etc. etc. This week has been long and the death of a friend's husband kind of makes me short on big things to be thankful for, however, there is always something to be grateful for...so my top five list today is

1. People are willing to help. It amazes me when people are called upon to help someone, they rise to the occasion. Selflessly.

2. Baked lays. For a girl watching what she eats, hasn't had anything that tastes like anything to eat this week, those baked lays are tasty little morsels.

3. Grey's Anatomy is back on! I missed those people.

4. Prayer. I am grateful that I have a God that is concerned with what concerns me. Prayer is always a resting place for me...a lap to climb up in at the end of the day and be comforted.

5. This sleep I'm about to have...its gonna be amazing :)