October 28, 2004
Evening Mad Lib
This evening I busted out the Mad Libs again because Bob and I were too tired to do anything else. The best line of the night came out of one entitled "My Music Lesson." The line that made me laugh was "Teacher says I'm a natural tissue box and have a good musical buttcheek." Seriously, we didn't contrive that one, its true.
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Can you tongue fold?
Here I am doing my best im-sheep-anation of a little lamb folding its tongue.
Caleb got this lamb as a baptism gift from Grandpa and Grandma Wiegers. On Sunday night my parents, Bob and I were hanging out trying to keep our eyes open because we were all tired from the busy weekend. We had fun doing some madlibs (remember madlibs? they are great!) and were in a wacky mood. I noticed how this lamb is folding its tongue, not something everyone can do, so we all started folding our tongues. Bob pulls out the camera and voila, me trying to im-sheep-anate this lamb's expression. Everytime my dad looked at the picture he would laugh so hard. So did I nail her or what?!
These were my other attempts to look like her, but my dad and Bob thought they didn't quite capture her expression like the first one. :)
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Good days and bad days
For the past several years I've struggled off and on with what life looks like having a chronic disease. I never really figured it out, and no surprise, I still haven't. Everyday is different and I usually don't know what to expect. Somedays I push myself too hard and pay for it the next couple. But often its worth it because the days I push myself are the ones I spend with people.
Today has been a hard one. Thursdays are my "day in" unofficially. I go to the chiro on Monday, meet with a friend on Tuesday mornings, go to mom's group on Wed mornings and usually by Thursdays I need a break. I wake up knowing I have to take it easy and try to have the day go smoothly. But this morning, someone forgot to tell Caleb that its regroup day. It was a bit of a rough morning and I got frustrated with him. But after his nap things got better.
Though while he was napping my mom called. She works for a hospice program in St. Louis and told me that one of their nurses was stranded here in Chattanooga with her 3 year old son. Apparantly her car broke down on Sunday and she's been at a hotel out at hamilton place all week without a car. She called her boss in tears yesterday because she was so frustrated and lonely. So my mom wanted me to call her to see how she is.
My first reaction??? "What on my day off? No way!" Yes isn't that hospitable of me? I was so defensive, my excuses mounting up in my head, "But I'm exhausted and I'm hurting a lot today. I can't help this woman. What if I call and she wants me to come pick her up and take her somewhere? I don't want her stuck at my house when I'm not feeling good. Plus I can't even leave the house, its Thursday Mom, don't you know?" But deep down I knew that if I were the one stranded in a strange town I'd want someone to call me. Then mom said something about being Jesus to this woman. This was exactly what I did and didn't want to hear. I knew this, yet I didn't want to hear it. But the truth was that this was an opportunity to reach out to someone else, yet I was stuck hardly allowing myself to see beyond my own circumstances.
I wish I could say that once I realized these things I joyfully ran to the phone to call this woman. I did call her, but more out of guilt than out of the joy for being able to love her in her frustrating situation. As it turns out she got the bad news last night that her engine needs to be replaced. So she rented a car and drove through the evening and night to get home. She thanked me for calling and I said that I hoped her car situation would work out soon. It was such an easy thing to call her, yet my heart was so hesitant, too caught up in myself and my day to want to be bothered. Hardly ever does such an easy and obvious chance to show someone else love come into my day. I hope next time my heart won't be so rebellious to being used by God. Even if it is a bad day.
So there are good days and there are bad days, but its every day that God calls me to live as his child. Its taken many years of struggle to realize that I can't wait till I feel all better to be used of God. He wants to use me when I'm well and when I'm hurting. And to be truthful, I think its the times when I'm hurting that I see him work the most.
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October 27, 2004
The Whooch
Many of you have probably met our little white fluff ball named Katie. She's a ton of fun and really keeps us laughing most of the time. We got her 2 and a half years ago when I was home sick a lot and wanted a companion. Bob never grew up with dogs, so he wasn't too sure, but I really wanted one so he gave in. But he loves her now and understands better how attached we can all get to the little creatures that run around our house.
Well Bob and I are into nicknames. Maybe I am and Bob goes along with me, I don't know. Katie's nickname is "The Whooch", or "Whoocher" we call her this more than we use her real name. I think the whooch fits her better because of all her quirks. She really has us trained to give her treats. At night when its time to go outside before we go to bed, she'll go into the laundry room and then come right back in because she knows she's getting a treat. We give in and then send her out to really go potty.
She's also good at understanding what we say. 
She doesn't do the normal "sit," "rollover" but she knows what we mean when we say "go get the squirrel whooch." We can be sitting in the living room and say this and she'll tear out of the room headed straight for the back door. Out she goes bounding after the squirrel looking more like a bunny rabbit hopping through the yard than a dog. Sometimes I'll tell her to get the squirrel when there isn't one and she'll spend the next ten minutes combing the yard looking for it. Its quite hilarious. Because of her obsession with squirrels she loves to sit on the back porch peeking out of the door waiting for that unsuspecting tree rat to run through our yard. She'll spend hours surveying her domain and we get such a kick out of it.
She's so entertaining and really a part of our family. I thought that once Caleb came along I really wouldn't care about spending much time with her, but I'm still so attached to her. She does great with Caleb and enjoys licking his little feet, but knows she's not allowed to lick his face.
I can't wait to see the two of them running around together when Caleb is older. I'm sure they will keep us laughing all of the time. So I'm thankful for Katie, the whoocher, even though she is just a cute pile of dirt, as Bob says.
Posted by michellew at 01:57 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 26, 2004
hello blogland
Well I've done it. I now officially have a blog. I've been reading blogs ever since Bob started using his more, but now am starting my own. For so long I didn't want a blog because I wasn't sure I'd ever update it. But I've been inspired by Lynn Perkins, Katie Knutson, and Rebecca Tredway's blogs. They are all moms and find time to blog and actually think about their days. I'm seeing more now that it is so easy to just try to get through days without thinking about them much. But that's not what I want, and I'm sure that's not what God wants. So here I am blogland, ready or not, get ready for some completely random thoughts to come your way from the Wiegers house. (though you already get some of those from Bob)
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