Lily helped make brownies the other day. I have been wanting to let her help me in the kitchen, but I was scared to attempt it by myself. Turns out there was nothing to worry about. She was so happy to be helping that she didn't try to move around on the countertop like I thought she would. It was messy, of course, but there was no danger of falling... So I'm going to try to do this more often with her when I'm cooking. We'll see how that goes.Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Helping in the Kitchen
Lily helped make brownies the other day. I have been wanting to let her help me in the kitchen, but I was scared to attempt it by myself. Turns out there was nothing to worry about. She was so happy to be helping that she didn't try to move around on the countertop like I thought she would. It was messy, of course, but there was no danger of falling... So I'm going to try to do this more often with her when I'm cooking. We'll see how that goes.
Symphony
We went to see the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night. It was the only free concert they will do all season, so we were glad we got there early! It was held outdoors, in Town Square, so we took a picnic dinner, spread out a blanket, and enjoyed the evening. The weather was remarkably nice! Lily loved the music. She danced during most of the pieces, and always clapped when they finished. Getting her to stay close to us was a challenge, but that was no surprise. 
The evening reminded me a lot of the Starlight Music Series concerts we attended in College Station that first summer in Texas, when we'd been here about a year. It was so much fun! (Katie, remember the night the concert was rained out!?)
The evening reminded me a lot of the Starlight Music Series concerts we attended in College Station that first summer in Texas, when we'd been here about a year. It was so much fun! (Katie, remember the night the concert was rained out!?) Here's a tiny clip of Lily swaying with the music and then taking off. She's basically running now. Walking didn't last long! I don't know what happened when the video was uploading, it was supposed to be longer than this; but I'm sure Grandmas and Grandpas will still enjoy it, even if it's only 3 seconds.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Meal Ministry Success is a Lesson in Faith
The Meal Ministry did a great job with the funeral reception today! Everything worked out just fine, and there was plenty of food - enough that we were able to send extra home with the family, which they were very grateful for. I learned a few things that I'm sure will come in handy in the future, but really the whole thing went very smoothly. I felt so inept at the outset of preparing for this reception, but it quickly became quite clear to me that God had it under control and just wanted me to follow. He had already done the work of inspiring volunteers to serve - all I had to do was give them the opportunity. Funny how things work out so well when we trust Him.
Our church used the month of July to seek God's direction. As a church, as families, and as individuals, we spent the month in prayer, asking God to show us the way. We prayed for direction in all sorts of matters, but the point was that we were not asking for God's blessing on our own plans, but that we were asking Him to lead us so that we would do things according to HIS plan. I prayed those prayers, and I thought and thought and thought about how I would KNOW when he was leading me. I knew He would provide direction, but I wanted to know HOW. How was He going to let me know what the plan was?
I think this funeral reception today was but a small portion of my lesson. God doesn't want me to know all the details, He just wants me to have an open heart. He wants me to LET Him lead me. I can't fully explain how I came to that conclusion, but I did. And I think that's the point.
Certain of what we do not see. I am absolutely certain that God has a plan for my life, and I want to follow Him.
Our church used the month of July to seek God's direction. As a church, as families, and as individuals, we spent the month in prayer, asking God to show us the way. We prayed for direction in all sorts of matters, but the point was that we were not asking for God's blessing on our own plans, but that we were asking Him to lead us so that we would do things according to HIS plan. I prayed those prayers, and I thought and thought and thought about how I would KNOW when he was leading me. I knew He would provide direction, but I wanted to know HOW. How was He going to let me know what the plan was?
I think this funeral reception today was but a small portion of my lesson. God doesn't want me to know all the details, He just wants me to have an open heart. He wants me to LET Him lead me. I can't fully explain how I came to that conclusion, but I did. And I think that's the point.
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Certain of what we do not see. I am absolutely certain that God has a plan for my life, and I want to follow Him.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Jessie Rambling
Sometimes I just feel like blogging about little things going on in my life... So if you're only here for stories about Lily, you'll want to stop reading this post after the next paragraph. :)
I think she said it! Lily was copying everything I said this afternoon, so I said, "I love you!" And she said, "Ah wuvvy..." I think she meant, "I love you, too, Mommy!"
We've had a busy couple of days of cleaning around here, so I was feeling kind of cooped up and tired when Lily said that this afternoon. Perfect timing, and a perfect way to prepare me for a very busy evening of Meal Ministry work. For the first time, our team has been asked to provide food for a funeral reception. It's a lot different from the type of meals we typically provide, so I've had to plan and prepare a little more than usual before seeking volunteers. I am praying that our ministry will be able to bless this family with a nice reception following the funeral.
I paid our electricity bill today. Don't ask me how much it was. You really don't want to know, because if you hear the number you might have a heart attack. But that's not what's significant about my paying the bill. The significance is, we won! After a week-long battle with our REP (utility company), they finally corrected the rate on our account. And when I say battle, I mean it. They were trying to charge us over a penny more per kWh than what we had contracted, and they basically insisted that because their system showed that we locked in on 6/20, that meant that the paperwork I held in my hand, dated the 16th, didn't matter. I faxed them my proof (well actually Natalie did - thanks Nat!), but they denied my dispute. Twice. They clearly were not actually looking at the documents I faxed them. We were seriously gearing up to file a dispute with the Public Utility Commission. But as a last-ditch effort, Dusty called them one more time. After I had been told numerous times that it was not possible to be transferred to someone in Operations who is able to make a decision (and the people in Operations are not able to make outbound calls), Dusty was almost immediately transferred, and the representative actually reviewed the account! Then the call was somehow disconnected, but the representative completed the review and called ME to let me know that the account had been fixed, a credit had been issued, and the problem would not recur. Amazing. I truly believe Dusty was successful simply because he's a man. I was never once rude or discourteous to the representatives I spoke with. I requested the very same things that Dusty did, but with drastically different responses. But it all worked out ok in the end. Well, hopefully. If the rate is wrong on the next bill I'm not even going to try to fix it, I'll just ask Dusty to call them.
My doctor prescribed another medication for my blood pressure. I'm still taking Procardia, but he added Metoprolol. I was taking Metoprolol when I was discharged from the hospital after Lily was born, but it was one of the several drugs they weaned me away from as my blood pressure "normalized." This medicine has to be taken at night because it can slow the heart rate. I've been taking it for about a week, and I have to say, it seems to be working! My blood pressure yesterday was 113/72! If you've ever talked to me much about my blood pressure, you know these numbers are really quite remarkable for me. And I think the slower heart rate might be helping me sleep at night - added bonus!
I think she said it! Lily was copying everything I said this afternoon, so I said, "I love you!" And she said, "Ah wuvvy..." I think she meant, "I love you, too, Mommy!"
We've had a busy couple of days of cleaning around here, so I was feeling kind of cooped up and tired when Lily said that this afternoon. Perfect timing, and a perfect way to prepare me for a very busy evening of Meal Ministry work. For the first time, our team has been asked to provide food for a funeral reception. It's a lot different from the type of meals we typically provide, so I've had to plan and prepare a little more than usual before seeking volunteers. I am praying that our ministry will be able to bless this family with a nice reception following the funeral.
I paid our electricity bill today. Don't ask me how much it was. You really don't want to know, because if you hear the number you might have a heart attack. But that's not what's significant about my paying the bill. The significance is, we won! After a week-long battle with our REP (utility company), they finally corrected the rate on our account. And when I say battle, I mean it. They were trying to charge us over a penny more per kWh than what we had contracted, and they basically insisted that because their system showed that we locked in on 6/20, that meant that the paperwork I held in my hand, dated the 16th, didn't matter. I faxed them my proof (well actually Natalie did - thanks Nat!), but they denied my dispute. Twice. They clearly were not actually looking at the documents I faxed them. We were seriously gearing up to file a dispute with the Public Utility Commission. But as a last-ditch effort, Dusty called them one more time. After I had been told numerous times that it was not possible to be transferred to someone in Operations who is able to make a decision (and the people in Operations are not able to make outbound calls), Dusty was almost immediately transferred, and the representative actually reviewed the account! Then the call was somehow disconnected, but the representative completed the review and called ME to let me know that the account had been fixed, a credit had been issued, and the problem would not recur. Amazing. I truly believe Dusty was successful simply because he's a man. I was never once rude or discourteous to the representatives I spoke with. I requested the very same things that Dusty did, but with drastically different responses. But it all worked out ok in the end. Well, hopefully. If the rate is wrong on the next bill I'm not even going to try to fix it, I'll just ask Dusty to call them.
My doctor prescribed another medication for my blood pressure. I'm still taking Procardia, but he added Metoprolol. I was taking Metoprolol when I was discharged from the hospital after Lily was born, but it was one of the several drugs they weaned me away from as my blood pressure "normalized." This medicine has to be taken at night because it can slow the heart rate. I've been taking it for about a week, and I have to say, it seems to be working! My blood pressure yesterday was 113/72! If you've ever talked to me much about my blood pressure, you know these numbers are really quite remarkable for me. And I think the slower heart rate might be helping me sleep at night - added bonus!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
My Gas Range
My oven was leaking gas, so we were faced with a dilemma... A) Buy a nice, new stove that would be something I would pick out if I had my choice; B) Find something less expensive that doesn't have to last toooo long because we plan to remodel the kitchen eventually; or C) Pay someone basically what the range is worth to have them fix it.
Bear in mind that the range was brand new when we moved into our house two years ago. That would make a person want to just fix the stove and keep it, since it's not even that old, right? Not this stove! Oh my goodness, I've never seen a range like mine before. It has two pilot lights under the stovetop that are always burning. The oven temperature is off by 50 degrees. It only has one oven rack. By looking at it, you can just see that it is not very high quality. Nevertheless, it has produced many wonderful meals in the past two years (if I may say so myself!). So while it is not the greatest gas range in the world, it certainly does the job.
We chose option B! We found a great deal on a used gas range, and I couldn't be happier. For the same price as it was going to cost to repair the old one, we got a much nicer gas range. There's a window in the oven door, TWO oven racks, the temperature is only off by about 30 or 40 degrees (lol), the burners are nicer, the knobs are nicer, there's a clock with a timer, and there is NO pilot light always burning! (It's not self-cleaning, but I'll keep that on my wish list for when the kitchen gets remodeled someday.) Sometimes things really do work out nicely! I'll spare you the pictures of my new oven. It's probably not that exciting to the rest of you, just me.
There was some serious frustration with installing this new oven of mine, but Dusty came to the rescue. Thank you, Honey, I love you!
Bear in mind that the range was brand new when we moved into our house two years ago. That would make a person want to just fix the stove and keep it, since it's not even that old, right? Not this stove! Oh my goodness, I've never seen a range like mine before. It has two pilot lights under the stovetop that are always burning. The oven temperature is off by 50 degrees. It only has one oven rack. By looking at it, you can just see that it is not very high quality. Nevertheless, it has produced many wonderful meals in the past two years (if I may say so myself!). So while it is not the greatest gas range in the world, it certainly does the job.
We chose option B! We found a great deal on a used gas range, and I couldn't be happier. For the same price as it was going to cost to repair the old one, we got a much nicer gas range. There's a window in the oven door, TWO oven racks, the temperature is only off by about 30 or 40 degrees (lol), the burners are nicer, the knobs are nicer, there's a clock with a timer, and there is NO pilot light always burning! (It's not self-cleaning, but I'll keep that on my wish list for when the kitchen gets remodeled someday.) Sometimes things really do work out nicely! I'll spare you the pictures of my new oven. It's probably not that exciting to the rest of you, just me.
There was some serious frustration with installing this new oven of mine, but Dusty came to the rescue. Thank you, Honey, I love you!
Brazos Bend State Park
I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! We had a busy couple of days full of fun birthday parties, and then on Monday we headed to Brazos Bend State Park. The park is only about 15 miles from home, and we've been wanting to visit for awhile.
We had a picnic in the shade and then checked out the nature center, where we got to pet a baby alligator, just 11 days old. The alligator was born in the park, but the nest was near a predator, so park staff brought the babies into the nature center to protect them. We also saw a presentation on snakes in our state, which was very interesting. Texas has more varieties of snakes than any other state, and some of them are venomous. Lily got antsy before we learned how to identify the last of the four venomous snakes, so I think I'll just plan on staying away from all snakes, just in case! We finished our trip by walking along one of the trails, keeping our eyes open for alligators. We hoped to see one from a distance, but they must have been trying to stay cool since it was mid-afternoon by that time. We had a great day in the park!
Some Cute Pictures
Lily's been riding in her big-girl car seat for a few weeks now. She likes to look out the window and say hi to the cars that pass by.
Cute outfit!
Bikini Baby - Check out that belly!
Big girl sitting on the bottom step like Mommy does.
I was trying to get Lily to smile for a picture, so I stuck my tongue out. This is what happened.
So excited at the spray park!
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