Sallie Belle, this one's for you!

     Tonight at Cooking Club, my friend said she was hoping my company would hurry up and leave so I could get back to my blog! Ha! So Sallie Belle...I came home tonight, after leaving you fine ladies, put that fussing baby in her chic nursery and sat down at the kitchen table {not that we have another table, just thought I'd clarify, it's not the patio one}to let my brain flow.
     It's been a fast, long, emotional week. We stayed home for the majority of the week. The weather has been perfect, so we've been outside. We opened all the windows and have let the breeze come through. By Wednesday, Taylor's eyes were so puffy and mucus filled that I called nurse Grace over to confirm that it was in fact allergies and that he didn't have lice or a brain tumor because he won't stop scratching his head. You know, as one observer pointed out at playgroup this week, his itching head could be coming from all the hair. I haven't been able to take him to get his hair cut for the last 2 months. Can't imagine why, but none the less, 3 weeks ago I did have to cut off a 1 inch rat tail that he had grown. I'm afraid had I waited any longer it might have looked like we were trying to bring the mullet back in style. At one time I had convinced Jim that the $10 I spent on the electric clippers at Walmart were going to pay for themselves with just one child's haircut, but after butchering the kid's poor head one too many times, he's sure hair cuttery is not for me! I'm sorry, I just don't understand sideburns and I seem to mess them up every time.
     ANYWAY....I'm rambling. Back to my point. This week was Jim's last full week working with the American Family Association as their National Affairs Correspondent for OneNewsNow.com. He has worked with them for 10 years and this past year Jim was approached about getting into finance stuff. If I've learned one thing in marriage, it's that guys need a challenge and wives should support this need. He is now a Financial Advisor for Modern Woodmen of America. {Woodmen...apparently I don't speak very well and some of my friends have been wondering why Jim is all of sudden working for Modern Woman!} It's a complete career change. I'm just glad he didn't switch from a real super expensive degree, like medicine or biochemical engineering! Our decision to leave the AFA and AFR came with much prayer. There's no one thing that made him just want to leave and find another job, in fact, he has been working for MWA since October of last year and had every intention of just doing it on the side to supplement our income and my Hobby Lobby addiction. But after being away from the office for an entire week when Carrie Ann was born, he realized he didn't miss his job. He hadn't turned the news on once, and it felt good to not know what was going on in the world of politics.  Sitting in a cubicle all day, submerged in the culture war can be draining. Then come home to 3 small kids knowing that the world isn't getting any better. We love the AFA and AFR. He's not saying he's retiring his notepad and headset forever, just for now. The door's still open, but for now, he needs a change and a challenge and this is where God has led him, and thus, providing for his family. 
     For me, right now, it's relief. One reason my posts have been sparse is because he has been gone a lot, working during the day and having evening appointments, by 8 p.m., when the house is quiet, {or should be}I'm too tired to think, let alone deal with Blogger's picture posting problems. So I've had to choose, blog or sleep or spend time with Jim. You'd be surprised to know that I have only gone to Hobby Lobby twice in the last 2 months! Yep! I'm too tired to deal with the drama and it's not like I can do anything with anything right now anyway...any smart functioning brain cells I had left are being used to feed Carrie Ann, who has taken a hiatus from a bottle. So I'm tired. And forgetful. I found the unopened power bill yesterday. Asked when March 30th was. Called the power company to explain why it was late and wondering if by chance I had paid it unknowingly. The lady at Tombigbee Electric told me not to blame it on the baby. Guess they have heard that line a few times!
     Two really great things happening right now is that, one, my hair hasn't fallen out this time. Upon examining family photos of myself from previous periods after births, I've noticed a very noticeable missing patch of hair on my head. Don't go scouring my blog for those pics, they aren't on here. They are on Facebook. So I've been dreading that awful hormonal effect all pregnancy. My bangs aren't intentional people, just a result of that curly headed Andrew! And the second really great thing, is that when my memory starts getting bad, I know it's because I'm distracted and flustered. I can't focus on Bible Study or crafts or even blogging. When that happens, my time with the Lord gets better. I am forced to remove distractions. I have to focus on focusing. When I feel like I am hanging on by the seat of my pants, I know that all I have is God. I grab hold of him and His Word. When I can't wrap my mind around the requests I need to bring to the Lord, Scripture fills in the gaps. When I wake up in the morning and my thoughts go immediately to time, tasks, dust, food, planning.... I remember Scripture...it's not much, but it's enough. Each rare moment that I have alone, in quiet, when I can think of something other than myself and the kids and Jim, I force myself to zone in. Because, let's face it people, if you aren't in fellowship with God, then you are going to fall apart completely, and you will begin to make irrational decisions and then it's all downhill from there, it's inevitable.
     So tonight I took Carrie Ann to Cooking Club and Jim took the boys to the Hot Air Balloon Festival. I think he went grudgingly and it wasn't his first choice of things to do tonight, but I kind of thrust it on him. I had purchased the tickets earlier thinking how much fun it would be!!! Forgetting that I had plans already. I love festivals, but Jim would rather play in the yard, so it was more of my thing than his, but I really didn't want to miss CC. Tomorrow morning I will sleep in while Jim goes to run a 5K. Then I'll take the boys over to the airstrip to watch the hot air balloon race take off. Then, then, then!!! I'm so excited...I'm going to go to my first Zumba class. Going to look like an idiot, but I've got to shake these last few pregnancy inches and Dancing with the Stars has me all interested! I'm sure you will be able to read about it here!
     Salllie  Belle, I hope this has quenched your appetite for a Lemonade post! Love you girl! I keep wondering, trying to remember, what in the world did I do with all my free time when I only had one child!