Yuck!

Never eat jalapeno jelly and cream cheese on crackers....BAAAAAD things will happen!! And I lay down my life in the midst of a GIANT crustacean.

I Can't Sleep

I have coughing prob-a-lems and can't sleep. Oh and my right arm feels like a log. I feel like Rachelle's description of sleeplessness. I sat straight up in bed and started looking around.

My Big, Fat Mouth

Sometimes I wish I could learn to keep my mouth shut. I keep getting in trouble for the things I say. BAD BAD Allyson!

Blackberry Pickin' and Snakes

No I didn't start going to a snake charmer church. Today, Gabby Hayes came to fix the light in our bedroom and do some more muddin'. Then I cleaned the whole house. I looked out the window and saw the next door neighbor leaning over the fence and taking blackberries off my blackberry bush. I think I caught her off guard. Anyway, it reminded me that I should go pick my blackberries (before everyone else did or they all rotted). So I went out in my flip-flops (said in an Uncle Bobby accent) and picked a gallon or so of blackberries. There are still a ton on the bush. I got my hands purple and very torn up with thorns. (My daddy's got the other glove). Anyway, I took Rodney to practice and went shopping. That was my day. Oh forgot to mention the snake. Rodney went to mow the lawn and after the lawnmower broke and completely ate itself, Rodney found a snake that was like three feet long. He touched its back with a stick and its tail buzzed, but I'm sure it wasn't a rattler...I hope. Anyway, it crawled into Terresa's backyard. Oh well.

Pray

Well, Rodney and I went to our first staff meeting today at church. We were quite surprised at all the politics and arguments, but I guess this is normal in church leadership. Overall, we love our church and our pastor, and we stand behind both. Anyway, Mom and Dad, we have a more urgent prayer request. Darlene called today to tell me that her son, who is in Iraq, has somehow contracted a case of smallpox. Please pray for his health and safety. Darlene has really had several blows this year, so I worry about her. Her mother died a few months ago, and the family all fought over the details, which added to the stress for her. Anyway, we are doing well today. Your favorite local handyman is coming back tomorrow to do more "muddin," then he is going to paint the next day. They are not going to replace our screen door until next spring...I wish Mom and Dad were still here to boss Gabby Hayes around. More would get done. Oh well.

Meep

Poor Julianne is still sick, I think I've narrowed it down to the strawberries, though. She was fine all day, then I fed her some strawberries at dinner and she got sick again last night. She had eaten strawberries both other times she got sick too. Poor baby. Rachelle, Lurp is the word I made up. I insist. Lerp is something about larvae...ewwwww. I remember making it up, and maybe there are other forms of the word out there, but I explained my etymology...how it came about. Someone probably made it up before I did, but I remember changing the word lurk and laughing about lurp. It could also be sort of descended from Learch on the Adams family because he kind of lurped around didn't he?

Rainy Day

It's been raining all day, and I don't think we've seen any in many moons. I have enjoyed it, except it got really cold. We even had to turn on the heat for a little while. This morning was kind of a pukefest. Our cat threw up everywhere and so did Julianne...in her bed. So, after we got her bathed and all her stuff in the laundry and disinfected...we went to church! The rest of the day was not so bad. I got to watch Rodney play the drums...he's good. Our worship leader is leaving after next week, so we will miss their family a lot. Their boys are good friends with ours. This means too that Rodney will be leading worship, which I think will be good for him. Mom and Dad, pray for Darlene's son, he's in Iraq for a tour. She is worried. We both got teared up talking about it this morning. All day we've been playing SIMS 2 on PS2. Julianne has been sleeping most of the day, but was very cuddly when she was awake...we enjoy her so much. Rodney's mom is coming it two weeks. We will have a good time. Rodney says she's a meticulous housekeeper...I hope she doesn't cry when she sees our house.

Thoughts on a Saturday morning

I don't quite feel like cleaning the house yet...big surprise, Mom?? Julianne and Rodney are still sleeping. Yes, it's 10:30 almost. They are late sleepers. I found Rodney's old senior yearbook from high school in the closet. Of course I read all of the little notes people wrote on the front and back pages. I was very impressed that several people said that they were proud of the way he stood up for his faith. Rodney went to a public school, so I don't know how many Christian friends he had, but that is a pretty good testimony to me. I also saw his football picture and track. He was a hurdler. Someone wrote that he was proof that white men could jump. I never realized how good he was at hurdling until that birthday party at our next-door-neighbors house when Mom and Dad were here. He went over the fence to get a ball we'd hit over into our yard. When he came back over the fence, he hurdled it. I couldn't believe my eyes. He must have cleared it by about two feet! (I think you got like 3 feet of air that time. Can I try it?) When he came over to me, he told me he was trying to impress me. It worked! I've watched him play football too, and he's really good at that too. Of course his old bouncy ball knee injury acts up every once in awhile (oh wait, that's Dad...Rodney's knee injury might actually be from football!!). All this to say, while Rodney does a lot of things well...especially singing and playing music...the thing he does best in the world is love our Savior and then his family. Rodney is the protector of my heart and has loved me even through my horrible bouts of PMDD!! (and we all know how bad those can be!) I know I wax eloquent sometimes when it comes to him, but when I think of all that we've been through together (and we'll have only been together two years this December!) and how strong we've become through our trials, I can only love him more and more every day. Okay, I've said my piece...piece...uhh...Hand me another piece of that pumpkin pie...Thank ya, Thank ya vera much.

VBS is Over!!!

AHHHHH...time to sit back and relax. VBS wore us out somethin' turrible! All I can remember of VBS when I was little is Rachelle, Ryan, and me asking Joel Slaughter to come to VBS. Then Rachelle told him that if he brushed his teeth we would give him candy...Of course we had other brilliant ideas...like asking the show "Newton's Apple" "Why are your fingernails hard?" When we placed the letter to Newton's Apple in the mailbox, we turned on tv to see if our question had come on yet. Anyway, we are glad to be done with VBS, and spend more time with each other and our children. I am working on an article for the paper about some 2.5 million dollar home. When I found out that I would have to pay five dollars to tour the home, I wanted to know if they would be reimbursing me on my paycheck...what a ripoff or a gyp as Grandma Stromberg would say. Maybe if I tell them I am writing for the paper they will gimme a discount. And yes, Ryan, a lot of people cannot say "Chevrolet" but I can say "DITHSTCOUMNT"! Okay, I am signing off for tonight. Thanks for reading my ramblings.