First it was the remote.....

In general, I have a pretty good idea where stuff is around here. Maybe not the one "little gray colored Littlest Pet Shop cat that looks like a dog and is my very favorite" toy, but big things, like the mixer, the coffeepot, my crockpot I could not live without, my bed, the computer, you know, things like that.

So it started in July with the TV remote. Not 10 minutes after Roger and Rebecca left for WV on a mission trip early one Sat morning, the rest of us were going to watch TV. Only guess what, no remote to be found. Granted, we could have used the buttons at the bottom of the TV, but I don't even think you can change channels with those. So I call them on their phone and ask Rebecca where it is. Her answer? "Hehe! Remember last night when I was mad at you because you wouldn't let me stay up and watch TV? Well I hid the remote way far down in the sofa cushions."
Ok, remote found.

On Monday of the following week while they were still gone, Leah, Katie and I went out and about and to the movies. When we got home my cell phone was no where to be found. I looked all over, tried to call it to find it, etc. Gone. So then panic sets in and I know someone stole it from me or it fell out of my purse and they are using it to call China or something. In the process I learned that you can put a temporary disconnect on your phone so calls can't be made on it, which was the good news. Finally the next day I called the theatre and discovered that it was sitting there waiting for me. Whew! TYJ some honest person turned it in and no one called China!

The rest of that week got hairy with my uncle dying, Roger and Rebecca getting back, making a quick trip to Atlanta for the funeral, we have car trouble, and on Monday we take the girls to Bowling Green to meet up with his parents and send them home with them. Whew! (As a side note, in a matter of five days, poor Rebecca had been east to WV, south to Atlanta, and north to Kentucky. She was a trooper!)

So Tuesday, my first day at home, I decide to download pictures from the camera. On guess what! No camera to be found!! I tear the house apart, call Roger, call Rebecca, no where anywhere! Finally, the Lord opened my eyes to it and it was found buried under the last pile of stuff I had not looked in. Whew!


Now, it is my MP3 player. I love that guy! I use it a lot while scrapbooking to worship Jesus in song while I scrap (the best of both worlds!) and while I'm cleaning up at night downstairs and sometimes in my morning quiet time. BUT, not for the last four weeks or more. I don't remember exactly when it went MIA, but it seems like it has been forever. The last place I remember seeing it was here in the office when the girls were trying to listen to it, but the earbuds are too big. I know it came back from Atlanta, but did not make it to Owensboro, as I recall, the first weekend in August. Again, I have torn this house apart, the car apart, my bed apart, my scrapbook retreat apart, the desk apart, the area around the desk apart. There was at $2 reward out for it, but now it has increased to $3. I have told SoloHombre that if I can't find it I'm gonna have to get another one because I really miss this thing!

If you have any information leading to the recovery of the goods, please contact me. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Luke 15:8-10 (Holman Christian Standard Bible, pp by me)

The Parable of the Lost Gadgets

8 "Or what woman who has 10 technology gadgets, if she loses one gadget, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 When she finds it, she calls her women friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found the gadget I lost!' 10 I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels over one sinner who repents."


O:)
Melissa

Guess I've been tagged...

I got tagged by Kelley and Alicia, but I decided those lists were way too hard and serious, so I decided to do a meme which sounds easier and more fun anyway.


What were you doing 10 years ago?

1998 found us in Nashville and Knoxville. I started graduate school at UT that summer and moved there that fall (Roger stayed here in town.) Then, that fall, I got pregnant with Rebecca!

Favorite Snacks
Unfortunately, anything chocolate applies here, the darker the better. However I working on loving raw carrots and cauliflower just as much, but I haven't made too much progress in that department.

To Do List
Tonight, get my scrapbook stuff together for an all day crop (woo-hoo!) and go to bed as soon as possible. (It's already gonna be at least midnight I am sure....)
In general, get on a schedule and stick with it in reference to housework, iron my clothes more than once a quarter, paint Leah and Katie's bedroom, I'm sure at least 1000 things more!


Jobs I Have Had
Babysitter
Pretzal seller (Hot Sam pretzals in Indy!)
Cafeteria worker and media center worker at college
Customer Service with a health insurance company
Bank teller (very short lived!)
Library assistant at a school
Preschool teacher
Librarian at church

Places I Have Lived
Indianapolis, Indiana; Jefferson City, TN; Louisville, KY; Nashville, TN; Knoxville, TN; Spring Hill, TN

Bad Habits
Wasting time on the computer reading everyone's blogs
Not vacuuming enough
Not ironing enough
Hiding in my scrapbook room while the kids are running crazy

5 Random Things People May Not Know

My maternal side of the family has an island named after them near Charleston, SC.
I had a cousin who played for the Atlanta Braves.
My two oldest children were born on the same date, and the same date as their grandpa.
Everyone in my family has a freckle on one of their toes.
I really want red hair some day.

CDs I would want if stranded on an island
Michael W. Smith Worship and Worship Again
Soundtrack for My Fair Lady
Joel Hudson anything
Any praise and worship

What I’d Do if I Were a Billionaire
Go back to Thailand and get another celadon bowl like the one Katie accidently broke.
Make sure my girls college education is taken care of now.
Maybe get a cute little China girl like Susannah.
Buy a house in Wade's Grove just like Shelby's, but pay Heritage Elem a lot of money so my kids could still go there....
Help out Katie Askren to be able to help more kids.



That's about it. A lot of this you may have already known, but it's been fun for me. Now I gotta go!

O:)
Melissa

Lucky me (and lucky them)

On Monday, August 18 (also SoloHombere's bday, fyi) I had the extreme privilege of mailing four boxes stuffed full of books -- and some American goodies! -- to some new friends in Thailand! Let me back up....

For those of you who don't know me, my two favorite things besides Jesus and my family are scrapbooking and reading. (I am the also the church librarian at our church.) While in Thailand I got the chance to do scrapbooking with those precious ladies (read my TL blog about all that...) and on the very last day of the conference I found out they were in the process of starting a library with English Christian fiction and were just getting books where they could. Needless to say, it is very expensive to get books over there and they were just going to do what they could when they could with what they had. Well, the librarian in me just about burst when I thought about all the extra books we had sitting ar0und our library that I knew I had to get to them somehow. I got in touch with the person doing it and got a feel for what they were looking for. These English Christian fiction books are very valuable over there because the missionaries don't ever get to read books like that, mainly because they don't have them!

When I got back home and started checking about how to get the books to them, I realized it was going to cost over $150. I knew I could not pay that out of my pocket, but I knew I had to get the books over there. In June we had the opportunity to share about our trip at one of our ladies meetings and I just got brave and asked for the money, explaining what it was going for. That night I passed an envelop around and lo and behold I got over $215! Thank you Jesus!!! With the extra money I was able to send four boxes with about 60 books total and had room for some goodies like Goldfish, chocolate and Teddy Grahams.

It may take over a month to get there, but I can't wait to hear how God uses them! I'll let you know when I hear from them!

By the way, if you are interested in donating money for the mailing fund, please let me know at kidbook1@bellsouth.net . I would like to be able to send them a box every time I get another $50 to mail it.

O:)
Melissa

Where oh where have my little babies gone?

(Imagine another Melissa singing this, not me!)

On Wednesday the 13th my first "babies" turned 9 and 7. How can this be?!? On the left side is Rebecca, born in 1999 and in the middle is Leah, born 2001. To the far right is Rebecca, now 9 and Leah, now 7. They not only have the same birthday (just 2 years apart), but also share it with their grandpa, SH's dad. When we were at the hospital in 1999 and realized we were having Rebecca, we called him and said, "Well, you're gonna get an awesome birthday present today ~ your first granddaughter!" I'm not sure the drive from Owensboro was ever so quick as that day!

I love those girlies so much!

O:)
Melissa

The death of a dream and the birth of a new one

As the stories go, when I was a little girl and Uncle Dan was a little boy, one of my fondest memories was always in August of going to the Indiana State Fair. The fair was always open from early in the morning until late at night the entire run. I remember as small children getting up early and watching our favorite morning show live from the fair and we would always get so excited until it was our day to go to the fair.

As I remember it, my dad would get home early from work and we would head on over after the August heat had subsided some. We would always eat corndogs, we would always look at all the animals (I remember seeing a pig once that weighed as much as a car!), we would always look at all the pictures, quilts, cakes, you name it, we would always go to the Manufactures Building and look at all the booths and get tons of cool free stuff (now commonly referred to as junk as an adult), we would always ride the double ferris wheel, and the roller coaster that had a small car you rode up a tunnel of sorts, then came down round and round the tunnel and we always ate elephant ears at the end of the day. Aaah, childhood memories at their best...

When the Williamson County fair started up again in 2005, I could hardly wait to take my girls and open their eyes to all the excitement. Only guess what, it wasn't like I thought it would be. In their defense, it is only a county fair and it was the first time they had one in 50 years. Ok, I can give them a break. They did have a pretty cool ferris wheel, even if it wasn't a double one, and their corndogs were not so bad. And they even had elephant ears! But last night when we went, I made a very sad conclusion and decision. It all started when we went to get our supper of corndogs, nachos and water and the vendor told me it was $42.00! This is no lie! So we put back the nachos and got only 2 waters and instead paid $30. Again, no lie! After that things perked up some and we went through the Little Ones Farming Exhibit, saw some cool animals, including baby pigs that were 2 days old, and rode the ferris wheel (for $20). Then we rounded out the night with a funnel cake (no more elephant ears...). As we sat eating, I confessed, "Dear family, I think it is time I put to death my dream of making our fair experience as wonderful and priceless as the one I had growing up. It cannot compare, so we will just have to start our own new fair traditions, the ones you all will treasure forever and share with your children." It was a sad - more bittersweet, I guess - admittance, but I knew it was time. We all agreed it was ok to let the corndogs go and maybe try a big old turkey leg instead. But funnel cakes would certainly have to still be involved!

O:)
Melissa

God is so good!

There will probably be lots of posts from me with that title, but I just had to tell you about Saturday's GISG! (Uh oh, here I go with the exclamations again...)

GISG because:
1. I have the supreme privilege of being a Campbell and a Couty (and a Watts and a Daniell, but that is for another day). On Saturday we had a Couty reunion (SH's maternal side of the family) and I was blessed beyond measure to realize the Godly tradition my in-laws were raised in. And they passed that Godly tradition down to their boys. And now, we are all passing that Godly tradition, I hope!, down to our 13 children (total Campbells and Coutys). So many of my friends were not raised in that and still find it a challenge when they go home to explain to their kids why Grandma and Grandpa say things and do things that "just ain't fittin' " ....
2. Leah sprained her ankle on Thursday at the museum, but she is doing much better now and only limping slightly.
3. Most all of the brothers and families left Sat night to drive home about 9:00 and we all made it home safe and sound with no one driving falling asleep.
4. SH had left his car downtown (where he works) and luckily I remembered it at just the last minute as we were getting close to the exit. So even though it was 11:30ish at night, he still got his car and would not have to go get on Sunday or get a ride on Monday.
5. I made it driving that short distance home (about 35+ minutes) without falling asleep.

I just love that Jesus who not only created the world and takes care of all the "big" problems in the world, but also the little, seemingly unimportant, details of my little life. What is not to love?!?

If you don't know my Jesus, let me know and I'll be happy to tell you about Him!

O:)
Melissa

Happy Day

Hooray hooray it's a happy day! I finally finished my Thailand scrapbook! Whew! That is certainly my 2nd biggest scrapbooking undertaking yet!

Hooray hooray it's a happy day! I'm going to get my girls tonight! As much as they drive me crazy, it was too dang quiet around here with them gone!

Hope your day is happy!

O:)
Melissa

Ok, I just realized every sentence I wrote ended with an exclamation point. Hhm...