Exceedingly Abundantly Beyond

Look who's home!   And look who's excited about it!   She's been here less than a day, but I can tell she's glad to be back!  She hardly left my side yesterday.  And been very obedient!  When she did get out, instead of making us chase her for half an hour, she just did a couple of laps and then came back in the house.  Really!? That's all ya got?  Well, all right, then... This is still a struggle for me.  It's no secret that I don't like dogs.  But she is rather endearing on her good days.  She is more like a child than I ever expected a dog to be.  She knows how to get on my good side, so that on the bad days, I don't totally wanna kill her!   I don't expect the extreme obedience to last forever.  But it was sure nice yesterday.  Especially when she went back in the house on her own!  It like when your child says, "I'm sorry mom! Whatever I did, I won't do it again! I'll be good, I promise!"  And then they...

Today was the day.  Today was it.  The first day of a commitment that I made to Derick last summer!  And it's a total let-down... Today Was the day that I planned to race in my first triathlon this season.  The Try Tri Triathlon at SIUE in Edwardsville, IL.  It was a short race.  150 yard swim (in an indoor pool!), 10 mile bike and 2 mile run.  I can do that.  I won't place, but I can do it.  And I could probably do it without walking.   Allyn came down with a fever on Friday night.  It didn't break until the middle of the night, last night.  But he is still coughing and snotty.  And Brody is coughing and snotty too.   So long, Try Tri... Maybe I'll see ya next time.  Actually, the race officials were very understanding.  Most race fees come with the disclaimer of "no refunds, no transfers".  Maybe that means transferring it to another person.  But, I emailed the last night and I am now registered ...

Lizzy's coming home.   *sigh* Derick's dog is coming home.   I don't even know what to write.  I got a phone call last night.  Her foster "mother" said that things weren't working out with Lizzy.  She said Lizzy wants to play with her dogs.  Her dogs are getting old and don't want to play.  Lizzy won't let up and it's causing fights between the dogs.   I have to admit, I had my reservations when we found a new home for her.  Not because of the family.  They are my friends and they are dog-lovers.  I knew that they would do their best to take care of her.  No, it was because of Lizzy's personality.  She has such a strong desire to be the Alpha.  I wasn't sure how it would work out with other dogs.   The problem is that this is a lose/lose situation.  Derick loves his dog and wants me to keep her.  I do not love the dog, nor do I want to keep her.  If I keep her and things continue the way they had b...

Can I renig on my previous post that bedtime is my favorite time of day?  Because it isn't.  Well, it is, but it isn't.  I love the peace that sleep brings, but that's when I miss Derick the most.  That's when I have time to sit and think about the fact that I have to go to bed alone.  I get to lay in the dark and think about all the things I have to do tomorrow, by myself.   *sigh* For Derick's benefit, I'll post about what happened this weekend. This happened. That is an email confirmation that I have officially lost my ever-loving mind!   No, actually it's an email confirmation that I signed up to do a triathlon next weekend.  It's short.  It's a super sprint.  Indoor pool swim.  Good way to start triathlon season.  If I survive, maybe I'll do more.  If I've already lost my mind, then I might as well! This happened. A spontaneous breakfast with just Aida and me.  I cut hair for a friend and her family last night an...

I still have Christmas lights on my house.  This is a picture of my house tonight.  It is a very windy, chilly night, and I ran out of toilet paper.  Not cool... not cool at all.  Anyway, I took Brody and ran to Hy-Vee to buy tp and this is what my house looked like when I came home.  I find Christmas lights to be such a comfort.  They're so welcoming!   I'm not a photographer, and this was shot with my phone.  I'm sure there are 101 ways to make this image look as awesome or better than it does in real life.  I'm just the makeup artist.   Or the porch decorator. This was one of the last major projects that Derick and I did together.  These lights were a major accomplishment for us.  He even made a special trip back to Lowe's when I accidentally stapled through the wire and half of the lights went out.  Oops!   If you've seen my FaceTime pictures of him that I have posted, you know that our conversations are very one-...

On a night like tonight, if Derick were home, we'd probably open the windows. We may not leave them open all night.  But the brisk air is refreshing.  My thermostat is set for the heat to come on at 65*.  Right now it is 70-ish in my house. With the temperature warm enough to keep the furnace turned off, Derick would open the upstairs windows, if he were here, and let the breeze blow through our bedroom.  Then he would pull me close and we would burrow ourselves deep under the covers.  And peace and sleep would engulf us.  Together.  Bedtime is my favorite time of day.  All the kids in bed, sleeping soundly.  No matter how crazy the day is, when everyone is in bed, it feels peaceful.  And we would finally have a little time to ourselves.  Tonight, the windows will stay closed.  And instead of his strong arms, it will be his old PT sweatshirt that will keep me warm.  Peace may engulf me.  Peace that passes all understa...

I skipped the gym today.  There is a spinning class that starts in 15 minutes that I had good intentions of going to.  *sigh*  I know all the right things to do while Derick is gone.  Its the actual "doing" part that trips me up! Is this a struggle for anyone else?  And its not just going to the gym, its every area of my life.     "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you."   I signed up to run a triathlon this summer.  I did it last year.  Signed up with a team and ended up running the whole thing by myself.  I didn't die, so why not do it again? I've had good intentions of signing up for about one a month while Derick is deployed.  But, so far, just one...  I really have a pretty good idea of what I need to do to train for it.  But there are some days that I just cannot force myself.   "The Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." Any excuse is a good one, right?!  I'm ti...