Liz's World

Ok, it’s all done…

lizreeves — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:46:35 +0000

I went to the blogger site to work on transferring a little of the old blog over & realized that the whole thing IS there after all. Since there will be no transfer time needed & it’s all there already, I’m going to go ahead and move effective NOW.

I’m just going to scrap this week’s worth of posts because it’s only 1 week’s worth. No great loss.

And so, without further adieu, delete THIS site’s link & save THIS ONE: http://liz-ourblessedfamily.blogspot.com/ I’m outta here……

I think I have decided…

lizreeves — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:17:59 +0000

Ok…here’s the thing.

I was a little worried about having to manually move everything from the old site over to this site. Talk about time consuming. But now, AOL/blogger have done it for me. Well, mostly. It got hung at Sept ’06, so while it’s mostly all there, I’ll still have to go back & manually move over about 6 months worth of posts. That will be chore enough, but I’ll get it done. And since I only have about a week’s worth of posts here, it would be easy enough to move them all over to the blogger site as well.

SO…… in the meantime, I’m going to post here for my regular blogging. Once I get it all copied over to the blogger site, I’ll let you know & I’ll make the move. Again. Twice in a week’s time. Sorry about the hassle, guys, but hopefully I can make the move once & for all and be done with it.

Well, shoot

lizreeves — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:24:30 +0000

Today I got an email from AOL stating that AOL Journals (my old blog site) has paired with blogger.com to transfer all AOL journals over to their site for free. It was a matter of a few clicks to get it all transferred. It’s working on it right now. There was no “warning” that they might do this, so I went ahead & found this site last week. Now I’m wondering whether I should go ahead & switch to blogger or stay with wordpress. I’m stumped.

Oh wow!

lizreeves — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:13:55 +0000

If you ever read my blog at all, you’ll know that the majority of posts are made after 11:00 pm. In fact, many of them are made at 12-1am. I’m a nightowl. That’s just who I am. But last night, wow…I must’ve been exhausted & didn’t even realize it. I crashed at 10:00. I was actually on here about to post but decided that I was getting drowsy so I went to lay across my bed. I had NO intention of going to sleep…just felt like I’d rest for a minute. Next thing I know, it’s 11:30 & Larry’s climbing into bed, asking me to move over (since I’m laying sideways across the bed). I got up, put on my PJs, pulled my hair up & brushed my teeth & layed back down….and slept til nearly 7am! Wow. That’s 9 hours. I didn’t know I had it in me. I must’ve needed it though.

Transferring old posts to this site

lizreeves — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:51:16 +0000

In the coming weeks, I’m going to go to the old blog site & transfer over some of the “biggie” posts. Things that I got tons of comments on or things that I feel like are really important issues for people to understand about me that they may not know if they haven’t read my old blog.

If you were a reader on the old site & would like to see a particular post (or 2 or 3….) moved over here, please point those posts out to me. I’m going to start at Feb 14, 2006 (when I started the other site & work through the entire thing….all 2 1/2 years worth. oy….) I see some very late nights ahead.

Kandice tagged me!

lizreeves — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:55:21 +0000

Twenty Questions Survey

1. How has blogging changed your life?
I’m not sure if blogging as exactly changed my life, but I do love blogging. I like to talk & write, so blogging is the natural answer to that. Right?

2. What do you do before bedtime?
you’re looking at it. This is my end of the day, winding-down, make me sleepy ritual.

3.If you could do it all over, would you get married again?
Absolutely!

4. What is the city of your dreams and why?
Larry & I talk about retiring to Gilmer, TX, but who knows if that’ll actually happen or not. In the meantime, I guess my “dream” city would be the one I live in now. I like where I live.

5. Are you an introvert or extrovert?
I’m a good mix of the two, I believe. I don’t like to speak in front of a group, no matter how large or small that group is, UNLESS I know each & every one of those people in the group personally…in which case speaking to them all is not a big deal b/c I’m just talking to my friends. I don’t like to be in the spotlight. I much prefer to do the “backstage” work & let someone else show off their skills and wisdom on stage. Of course, we all like a pat on the back now & then, but as a general rule, I would prefer to stay hidden & just help out w/ the “star” of the show.

So….I guess that maks me mostly an introvert, huh?

6. Do you trust easily?
yes. Probably too easily.

7. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
For the last 9 days I’ve been unhappy that Larry was in Romania. NOW I am very happy again! He’s home!!!!!

8. Is being tagged fun?
Really haven’t thought about whether or not it’s fun.

9. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head?
The one playing on Kandice’s blog!

10. What is your best quality?
I don’t know. Let me know what you think.

11. “If [you] had a million dollars” — what would you do?
pay off debt, sink a bunch into a college fund for the kids’ future, build a new house with all the things I want in a house.

12. What’s better to give or to receive?
depends. Sometimes I prefer to give…something I like to get.

13. What were your parents going to name you if you’d been born the opposite gender?
I think my mom’s said I was going to be “Lucas” (Luke) if I’d been a boy.

14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
Kandice is an awesome friend who I’ve known since (I think?) about 1999.

15. What’s your favorite household appliance?
microwave or toaster—we use them EVERY day.

16. What websites do you visit daily?
blogs of a bunch of friends

17. What are you eating for dinner tomorrow night?
tomorrow? I don’t know. Ask me then.

18. Name a book character you’ve crushed on. I have just started reading again recently…

I can’t say that I’ve EVER had a crush on a book character.

19. What do you like for breakfast?

cereal, pancakes, biscuits……depends on the day.
20. I am going to tag….anyone who wants to play along!

What a great day!

lizreeves — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:13:23 +0000

This morning, the kids & I got up, had breakfast & ready to go to the grocery store. You may remember last week’s grocery store w/ the kids post, so you’ll understand why I was not exactly looking forward to this. As I was getting dressed, I heard Savannah & Samuel arguing over something. The two of them butt heads constantly and almost always it boils down to one of two things. Either Savannah’s being bossy or Samuel’s being a pest. I suppose those are typical brother/sister things, but they seem to escalate into yelling matches pretty quick around here, throwing out “I wish you were never born” & mean things like that over dumb little things like who gets to hold the remote. This morning, while I was getting dressed & they started yelling at each other, I sent them to their rooms while I considered how I wanted to handle it. After all, we had to get out the door to the grocery store & I wanted them to behave & tolerate each other in the store…not just right that moment. I said a quick prayer, finished getting dressed & then went in to deal with them. Our conversation went like this:

Me: You two, come in here & sit on Savannah’s bed. I want to talk to you.

Me: Ok, I have a rule for you to follow during this conversation. You may not speak outloud. You must whisper. If you talk outloud or begin to yell, I’m going to make you hold hands while we talk. (snicker, snicker)

[They agreed to the 'terms' and we began to discuss what happened. Apparently Samuel was in the living room listening to his church choir CD on the TV (in the DVD player). He was practicing the hand motions to the song he was listening to when Savannah came in & asked him if she could watch TV. This would've required him to turn off his music & take it to his bedroom to listen to it. Rather than answering her, he ignored her & kept practicing. Savannah asked repeatedly & then went over & muted the TV to get his attention. He screamed at her for doing this & it went downhill from there. After discussing who did what wrong, we continued our conversation---in whispers.]

Me: Ok, so now that we’ve got that out of the way, I want to remind you two of something. You need to remember that in life, friends and boyfriends/girlfriends are going to come & go. Friends move away sometimes. You may change churches. We might move to some other town. Who knows? The point is…there are only 2 things in your life that aren’t going to change. Do you know what those are?

Savannnah: God and…..

Samuel: ….your siblings?

Me: Well, yes. God & your family. No matter what happens outside the front door of our house, the only people you can REALLY count on, the only ones that won’t change & aren’t going anywhere are your family members & God. So you need to make sure that you treat each other kindly so that you can be close friends all throughout life. When the two of you argue & fight, you each have a habit of being really MEAN to each other….saying things like “I wish you had never been born” or “I hate you”. Do you REALLY feel that way about your brother/sister?

Savannah: well, no…

Samuel: no

Me: Ok, then you know what? God tells us in the Bible that if we are having a hard time with someone, we should pray for them. So right now, I want the two of you to turn & face each other on the bed. Now, I want each one of you to say a 2 sentence prayer FOR your brother/sister. If you’re praying for one another, I have a feeling that it’s going to be really hard to be nasty & ugly to each other.

[each one of the kids offered a short prayer for the other & then looked at me like 'now what?']

Me: We’re going to go to the store now. Do you know what is going to happen if you behave the way you did last week?

Both: No….what?

Me: I’m going to stop in the middle of the aisle, make you kiss each other on the cheek & then walk through the store with your arm around each other. (silent giggles) You *better* act right. You know how you’re supposed to behave & I’m not going to put up with y’all argue with each other in the middle of the store.

Both: Yes m’am.

Whew….and that was all before 10am.

We went to the store & very successfully selected our groceries. (Yes!!!) While in the store, we encountered a little elderly lady who was demonstrating a new product–a type of Kleenex with lotion. She offered the kids & I several free samples in a little package. We thanked her & began to walk away. She stopped us & continued to “sell us” on her product. In doing so, she said “They feel good when you rub them on your feet.” Huh? I asked her to repeat that one & she picked up the package & pointed to a sentence on the back. This is what it looked like.

She read that sentence on the package to me as if to justify her foot-rubbing claim — “feels good to FEET”. Clearly, she couldn’t see that it actually said “feel” not “feet”. The kids & I all saw her mistake, but (thankfully!) they did not correct her. I was proud that they were respectful & didn’t correct an old lady about her Kleenex ideas. We’ve joked about rubbing Kleenex on our feet all day long.

After we got home from the store, put up groceries & ate lunch, it was time to decorate the van for Larry’s arrival home!!!! I hope that you can see the pictures & read what each window says. It was sunny when I took the pics & there was a reflection on the windows.

This first one says “Bullet is back!”. Bullet is the nickname our senior pastor gave Larry when he first went to work at the church. He earned this nickname because he is an ex-cop.

This is the back window:

The driver’s side of the van looks like this. It says “We missed you!” with lots of asterisks.

The driver & passenger windows have a big heart & our name underneath.

The kids made posters to welcome home their daddy, too. They look like this.

At about 3:00, he called me from the church van to tell me they were ON THE WAY home from the airport! Hooray! We arrived at the church at 4:30 to pick him up & parked the car so that he’d see the writing when he pulled up. The first van arrived about 10 minutes before his group & parked RIGHT BEHIND my van. I had to ask them to move so Larry could see the writing when he got there. I mean, after all, we wrote on the van so that he could see it when he pulled up….and if they were parked there, he wouldn’t see it.

When he arrived, he was met by three excited little ones bearing signs and one very happy wife! Samuel took this lovely picture of us after Larry stuck his suitcase into the back of our van. Really…could we take a more flattering picture? LOL!

The wind was blowing, Larry’s EXHAUSTED & wasn’t really in the mood for a picture at the moment. Oh yes…it was indeed a precious moment. ha ha! Seriously though, he was NOT as serious & aggrivated as he appears in this picture. Truth be told, he is so jet-lagged that I am not entirely sure he even REMEMBERS taking this picture.

We took him to Applebee’s for supper where he was not able to finish his meal because his stomach was upset. Poor guy. He’s so out of whack that his whole body doesn’t know which way is up. We figured out that he’d been awake for roughly 45 hours by the time he arrived home today. I’m hoping that, with a couple days of decent sleep, he’ll be feeling better. He tried to watch TV for a little while after we got home & got him unpacked, but he couldn’t stay awake. It’s 10:00pm now and the poor thing has been crashed for a little while already.

The kids had a million questions for him at supper & loved looking at the Romanian money he brought home. I was intrigued by it, too. But me….I’m just happy to have him HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

procrastinate much?

lizreeves — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 04:37:02 +0000

Larry left Friday Sept 26. There were 2 or 3 baskets of laundry in my bedroom floor when he left. Those last couple days before he left, we were pretty busy trying to get him prepared to leave, packing & going back and forth to the church a few dozen times for meetings & loading the vans & all.

I’ve stayed BUSYYYYYY with the kids every single night that he’s been gone. Until tonight. Of course, those 2 or 3 baskets have multiplied.

It’s 11:35pm now. I’m waiting to hear that Larry’s plane landed safely in Amsterdam (should be there about midnight). In the meantime, I’m streaming kvne.com & folding laundry.

All 10 loads.

yuck!

He’s on the way home!!!!!!!!!!!!

lizreeves — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:27:56 +0000

At 4pm (our time), Larry boarded the bus to start home! I’m so stinkin’ excited! They’ll drive for 4 hours to Bucharest where they’ll go through customs & wait for their flight. They’ll fly from Bucharest to Amsterdam, then have a layover before boarding another plane bound for DALLAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It lands tomorrow afternoon. Once they get through US customs, find their luggage & drive home, I fully suspect it’ll be early evening.

Thank you for reading my emails, patting me on the back, praying for me & reading all of Larry’s emails that I shared all week. I hope I didn’t drive you all crazy!

Tonight, I’m going to fold all the laundry (trust me, that’ll take half the night!).

Tomorrow will be Operation Clean Up to make sure the house is ready for Daddy’s arrival. I’m going to try to work in a trip to the grocery store, too, so that Daddy doesn’t come home to bare cupboards. The kids are in the living room working on “Welcome Home” posters right now. Before we leave to go pick him up tomorrow, we have shoe polish to decorate the car windows with. Yahoo!!!!

Can ya tell we’re a little wound up & ready to see Larry over here?

Well, wouldn’t ya know it…

lizreeves — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:25:32 +0000

This morning, I drove up at work & parked right beside the van. I decided that, before I even went in, I’d quickly run over & check the battery connections like Daddy suggested. But in a “what the heck?” moment, I decided to see if I could crank it. And wouldn’t you know it….it cranked right up! ::sigh:: I turned it off & tried a 2nd time. Boom…it cranked again. Dang goofy van.

So this afternoon, before I left work, I tried one last time & it cranked again. I drove immediately to my friend’s house & picked her up, went back & got the van & drove it home. THANK YOU KRISTI!

On our way back to her house, I looked back & realized something. One of the interior lights was on! Apparently the battery connections weren’t loose. The light had killed my battery! Ugh!

I’m thankful that it was nothing more than a dead battery, irritated that one of the kids left a light on, grateful for good friends who will help me out in a jam…and THRILLED that I didn’t spend an arm & a leg hiring a tow truck to come drag my dead van elsewhere for costly & unnecessary repairs.