What's on my nightstand ....

I have always gotten a kick out of my sweet friend Alicia's side bar "on our nightstands". She usually has one or two books listed that she and Derek are reading at the time. I can just imagine her nice, neat, orderly, uncluttered room with these few books resting on her nightstand with probably one lamp and nary a dust bunny in sight. And they are always deep, heavy, thoughtful, life-changing non-fiction books.

Mine, on the other hand, does not fit that description at all.


What's on my nightstand?

Serendipity by Cathy Marie Hake (current book club book I just finished tonight)
AAA Mexico book (dreaming of Mazatlan for our 20 year anniversary next year)
Royal Wedding People magazine
A journal Rebecca and I try to keep going back and forth (last entry, before EAsia, and it is apparently my turn since it is on my nightstand)
Jesus Calling by Sara Young (yes, He is calling from way down stack one)
More Joy for the Journey : a Woman's book of Joyful Promises (would probably be more joyful if it moved closer up)
Family of Value by John Rosemond (a library donation that sounded good...)
Who is my Shelter? by Neta Jackson (Yada Yada House of Hope Book 4 that I couldn't hardly want for, arrived late February)
Things Pondered by Beth Moore (Mom gave it to me and I know if it moves to my bookshelf who knows when I will read it .... no comment)
Simple Deceit by Nancy Mehl (Harmony Series Book 2 I couldn't wait to read, probably arrived in January ... apparently there is another one coming out next month ...)
The Missional Mom by Helen Lee (heard her on the radio and knew I had to get her book as soon as it came out .... January)
5 Conversations You Must Have with your Daughter by Vicki Courtney (I have 3 daughters and I love Vicki so figured this was a must have ...)
8 Great Dates for Moms and Daughters by Dannah Gresh ( see above ... Christmas gift I couldn't wait to get my hands on ... )

.... and other miscellaneous items like pens, post it notes, my book light, ponytail holders and clips, bookmarks, lotion, picture frame (of one daughter), clock, phone, but no lamp. Luckily it is on the wall since there is no room for it. And yes, a fair amount of dust bunnies.

Although I did just finish reading Serendipity tonight, the other books are often not touched because I want to read them all NOW!!! How can I decide which one to read now??? And heaven forbid I move them to the bookcases (see Things Pondered above).

What's a crazy bibliomaniac like me to do??? Well, go to BAM!! (my fav store, next to Kohl's and Target) and buy some more that are on sale!!!

O:)
Melissa

EAsia, the beginning

EAsia, oh EAsia, where do I begin? You were a dark, cloudy, rainy, yucky place at first to me. All I could see and feel was uncertainty, headache pain, nervousness, excitedness, sleepiness!, dampness and dreariness. I was advised about what EAsia would be like, but my ears did not listen. I’d been to Thailand and it is Asia and I loved Thailand so I’d love EAsia, right? I could handle EAsia, right? No. Thailand is not EAsia. Not by a long stretch except that it takes 100 years on an airplane to get to either place. And the people have the same skin coloring. Other than that, nothing is the same.

My ears heard there would be squatty potties, and I giggled at the thought. I did not understand that would be my only option for the most part when we were out. My ears heard it would be hot, or maybe cold, but dress in layers, and all I heard was hot. I did not understand that it would be cold. I saw the weather say it would rain at least the first three days. I did not understand it was a cold, drizzly rain. Or that it would last all week. I heard the beds would be hard, but that ended up being the least of my worries. I did not hear about the lack of toilet paper or paper towels or napkins.

BUT! What my ears and my heart heard was that there were mkids who never get to see and talk English with other white kids (besides their siblings) who needed childcare so that their parents (who hardly see or talk English with white people themselves!) could “conference” together. My ears and my heart heard there were villages that the O family worked in and they needed help with checking the health of the children. I could do that! I could go to the other side of the planet and love on kids. That is a specialty of mine. And I could take my daughter, who also loves to help others. God graciously provided the money, so we boarded the many planes to get there and headed to the other side of the planet.

How the flu was a sweet Jesus kiss

(These pictures were taken at their Christmas parties at school.)

Don't get my wrong, I love my sweet Rebecca Jo. But lately, in preparation for our big trip to East Asia, we have been spending A LOT of time together. My other little monkeys were getting a bit jealous and I wanted to spend time with them too. I kept thinking of ways to hang out with just them, but time and money were not our friends in that regard.

Then, they got sick. Now, luckily it was not a full blown, nasty, throw up, complete lethargic kind of sick, but sick enough to take both to the doctor on Tuesday. And guess what, FLU x 2. Oh joy! (sarcastic at this point) I'm thinking I feel bad for them, but man NO WAY can Rebecca and I get the flu two weeks out of our trip. And I don't even want to think that because that sounds just like the devil would like to do! So after beating the devil up in prayer about this and kicking his caboodle right out of our house over that, we settled into a routine.

Rebecca and I got started on Tamiflu ourselves, she was banned from anywhere near their room, and Leah Lou and Katie Roo were sequestered to their room. Luckily they room together in the bonus room so there was plenty of room to move around, watch TV and movies, play games, etc. Sheets were changed and washed every night, baths were given every day and Lysol was sprayed generously. They have a table in their room too, so meals were brought up and their little medicine cups were lined up according to the ailment of the moment: Benedryl, Tamiflu, Ibuprofen, Mucinex, Delsym, Zithormax, etc. After lunch they would settled in their beds and watch a movie, and take a nap. Sometimes really long naps!

As the week wore on, I'd think, ok, maybe Katie can go back today, or maybe Leah by Friday, but they were both home all the was through Thursday. By Friday I was sure Katie would be ok at school, but Leah was still coughing here sweet little yellow head off. So, at 8:00 Friday morning, I decided Katie was good for school, at least until lunch, and Leah was back to the doctor That visit thankfully revealed that her cough was just her asthma bit that just flares up about once a year and was not contagious any more!

After the doctor visit on Friday, we headed over the WalMart to get craft and snack supplies for our trip. Let me just tell you, Leah was the perfect person I needed with me for that. My little me kept me on track and organized and helped me think through some challenges that were presented over pudding colors how many marshmallows were in a bag.

As we were driving back to get Katie, it occurred to me what a sweet Jesus kiss this week had been. Yes, it was hard for me to get done what I needed to get done being nurse and waitress and maid. Yes, Leah did miss four days of school and is spending her whole weekend on homework. But you know what, I got my sweet, special time with my girls. I got a whole week with them where we all got along and everyone was happy (besides the fights we had about yucky medicine...). That was my sweet Jesus kiss.

I am happy to report that all are well now and I believe we are just down to some occasional Benedryl and Delsym. Neither Rebecca or I are showing signs of flu symptoms. I have let Leah and Katie out of their rooms and can finally put that Lysol can away.

Thank you Jesus for always showing up where I don't expect you!

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33

The Throne of God

This morning, I found myself at the Throne of God. Now, some of you may question that, and the skeptic in me does a little too. But when you have been there, you know it. And you are changed.

The past week or two I have been in a real funk. Lots of migraines, emotionally and physically a wreck due to various things. Just feeling like I can't ever catch up. So this morning when I was up at my usual time of 4:45 (I have three rounds of breakfast to get through by 7:30 and still need some coffee and time with Jesus to start my day), I was in pain again. So tired, so frustrated, so yuck. Again. So I just got out my Bible and all my little books I use in the morning and laid my head down on them.

(As a little background, I am in the middle of Beth Moore's study, "Here and Now", about Revelation and we have been studying most recently the Throne of God in detail, so it was fresh in my mind. See Rev. 4.)

I started praying again, but aiming for praising Him. Trying to imagine me at His Throne. I imagined myself at His feet, near the sea of glass, with the four living creatures around, the rainbow behind Him, the 24 elders...and I could totally see myself there. I could almost feel Him rubbing my back, reminding me that it was going to be OK. I could hear the wings of the living creatures....and it was amazingly comforting!!! And I specifically remember not being afraid.

Before I knew it, round one of breakfast was about to come down and I was "on duty" once again. But the peace I had after that, and the rest of my day, has been amazing. Otherworldly. No words can describe. But I was there. And I can't wait to go back.

What about you? Have YOU ever been to the Throne of God?

O:)
Melissa

Summer School/Camp

I started this summer certain that we would be "in control" of the laziness, chaos, whining and fussing that usually goes on for those long 2 months by developing the really fun Campbell Summer Camp for my girls. At first they were very excited about the rules and cool activities. That lasted about 2 weeks. I quit my teaching job so we all flunked. No one learned the books of the Bible, we did not get a head start on Bible Drill, we did not do any art projects, go bowling enough, learn about the fruits of the Spirit, or write enough in our journals.

BUT!!! One thing we did do was read tons and tons of books! Part of the draw to that was probably the fact that my kids love to read. Part was probably also that when they read they earned sticks which they could trade in for screen time. So, there was considerable less TV watching this summer! Most of the sticks were used for computer games, and the Wii was free. (as in, no sticks necessary). We did several different accounting things, but the only two rules were that it had to be books you had never read before and no book could be written down on more than one place. Also, the books had to be at or near their reading level. No super easy books to finish fast. In fact, you had to read 50 pages for each stick.

How many books did we read? I don't have an exact number, but they each read 10 books for a free t-shirt, 10 b00ks for a free book at Borders, and 8 books for a free book at Barnes and Noble. We also did a Book Bingo, where each girl was challenged to read 19 different books in various categories for prizes and fun little outings. The categories included sports non-fiction, historical fiction, several award books, just for fun, series book, etc. Leah was the only who actually finished all 19 of those with Katie a close second and Rebecca not far behind for 3rd.

Plus, remember this? Our A to Z Challenge? Well, just this week before school started we finished the task, with very little cheating.

Below I present to you, our Author and Title A to Z reading list.

Authors

Anderson, Laurie
Bunting, Eve
Cleary, Beverly
DuPrau, Jeanne
Emmett, Jonathan
Flournoy, Valerie
Green, Jacqueline Dembar
Holm, Matthew & Jennifer
Ives, Penny
Johnson, Linda L.
Kirk, Daniel
Lucado, Max
Meadows, Daisy
Nolen, Jerdine
Osborne, Mary Pope
Pham, Leuyen
Quattlebaun, Mary
Rue, Nancy
Dr. Seuss
Taylor, Theodore
Urban, Linda
Vaes, Alain
Wikles, Angela
X. J. Kennedey (cheater here...)
Yolen, Jane
Ziefert, Harriet

Title

All the World
Beautiful Ballerinas
Candlelight for Rebecca
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Ella's Big Chance
Falling Up
Giant Pandas
Hooway for Wodney Wat
If Peas tasted like Candy
Jessi's Secret Language
Kristi Yamaguchi
Library Mouse
Mind your own Business, Kristy!
Nothing's Fair in 5th Grade
Gentle Giant Octopus (cheater....)
A Penguin Story
Whatley's Quest (cheater...)
Running Out of Time
Scrambled Eggs Super!
The Three Wishes
Unite or die
V is for Volunteer
What to do about Alice
eXtreme Weather (cheater...)
You can'd see a Dod at the Zoo
Zoobreak


If you are interested in reading things like this, let me know and I'll be happy to share with you more details! Happy Reading!!

O:)
Melissa

Not so dead.....

The good news is our new computer arrived right on schedule and I am happy to be back working at home. The bad news is, now I am up at 11:00 pm *just because I can be* working and playing on it. I am wondering if I can set those parental controls on my user too!

O:)
Melissa

Dead dead dead

Luckily that does not apply to me or any family members, but it does apply to my faithful computer who is like a family member to us. He provided us with so much useful information and help that I have not even realized how much a part of our family he had become. Well, about a week or so ago, he breathed his last breath. I knew things weren't looking good for him, being 5 years old and all, but I guess I just wasn't reading the signs. The next thing I know the girls are fussing for me to "come fix the computer" only to discover their method of making it "work" was flipping the surge protector off and on.

Off he goes to the BigDogs for help. They call a day later and say, it's dead and they will try to save what they can. They then call back only moments later and say, sorry, it's all gone.

ALL GONE!!!

I keep telling myself it's a clean way to start over and we'll just go with that. Then I start thinking of everything that I had on there, like cool scrapbook layouts, a lot of my recipes, lots of church library stuff, sermons I downloaded (and paid for!), fonts and other cool scrapbooking things I paid for, oh yeah, and that little thing called Quicken!, etc.... However, there were no pictures on there (I think!) because I am manic about those. They go to CD and Snapfish.

So now my local library and I are good friends (I visit once daily!) and Roger has been so kind to bring his laptop home every night. Just the other night, we finally got around to deciding on a new computer. Let me present my soon to be new family member: The Dell Inspirion 570 MT! I really wanted the cool plum purple custom color, but decided the new 18.5" monitor and finally having Microsoft Office and Home were more important. We also ordered an extra flash drive that will hold a ton of stuff to use for download EVERY NIGHT, if I have anything to say about it! Easier than using CDs and DVDs. Hopefully it should arrive in arrive in about a week or so and I will be back amongst the land of computer junkie again.

Until then, it will be a while before I can post here again. I'm still addicted to FB and e-mail, but can only get to it about 2x a day...how dreadful!!!! But somehow I have made it. Hope to write soon on my new friend!

O:)
Melissa