Amy Writes

A couple days ago, Eden had a fire drill in school. I forgot to warn her about fire drills. She hates loud noises, so my understanding is that she spent the duration of the fire drill buried in her teacher's side. Today, Eden's class had another kind of drill. According to Eden, it was a "Volcano Drill." She explained that instead of going outside, they got on the ground real close to the wall and tucked their heads between their knees. Seems like a bad idea to me - my instincts would tell me that in the event of volcanic eruption, you run like crazy. Although, really, a volcano in South Florida would likely symbol Jesus's arrival - so maybe on your knees is the place to be. Or maybe it was a tornado drill.

My cell phone has a very standard ring. "Bop ba-da-bop bop bop!" (or, for you pitch perfect readers, C-E-C-G-G-C). I chose it because it's not annoying. But when a very special, select few call or text me (though it seems to be seeping into the rest of my contact list for reasons unknown), I have a very non-standard ring. Several times a day, Billy rocks my phone to life and I get to sing along: You may be right! I may be crazy... OHHHH but it just may be a lunatic you're looking for! turn out the lights... It's been set like that for months and I have to confess, it still makes me smile. Every. Single. Time. It was quite possibly the happiest $1.99 I have ever spent. There are still times when I let it go to voice mail so the song will play through. I continue to answer the phone singing the next line. It doesn't seem to be getting old. Maybe that is a sign that I am?

Soon I will post about: 1. School 2. Spiritual Renewal 3. My book 4. Health care But for now, I leave you to ponder the absurdity of The Abstinence Thong.

***Addendum/Disclaimer/Clarification*** I am told this could be interpreted as me saying I don't have any friends. Not at all what I was saying!! God has blessed me with many wonderful, wonderful friends. I have friends who I know would do anything for me, and friends I can talk to on the phone for a really long time every night, and friends I can talk to every six months and still consider among my closest allies. I LOVE my friends. This post was just an observation that I seem to operate best with each of those friends, one at a time . On the rare occasions that I get to go out for a girls' night - the "girls" are not a given, whereas if I had a Group, one wouldn't have to ask with whom I spent the girls' night. It would be obvious: I was with my Group. I managed to learn a few things in middle school. For instance, I learned that adults liked me more than kids did. I learned that girls could be really, truly mean, but that I still really, really wanted to b

God knew we weren't entirely ready to start school. Tropical Storm Fay steps in to give us another day or two! Tropical Storm Fay also steps in to take over our Sunday while we make the necessary preparations. This becomes the day of "how much gasoline can we get, how much laundry can we do, how much can we eat out of our fridge and freezer, how much water can we freeze, how many grandmothers can we help, how close can we stack our porch furniture to the wall..." So, I'd better get moving. There's a storm front coming! (See, I've told you there's a Billy Joel lyric for every possible situation.)

Epcot, by Eden, Age 5 Shark Attack, by Eden, age 5.

50 minutes off pace. It occurred to me, sometime yesterday, that school is starting in one week. In one week, we will be responsible for presenting our princess - cleaned, fed, brushed, dressed, shod and packed - on the first of many, many school mornings that begin at 8:30 a.m. This, I decided, would require some preparation. Some practice. Especially after I read the latest Sheridan House publication about getting ready for school. Darn that Bob Barnes and his crazy wisdom about raising responsible kids. Here's what our ideal morning will look like: 6:00 - Mom at the gym 6:45 - Mom home, dressed & ready 7:00 - Everyone awake 7:05 - Breakfast as a family, with devotions 7:20 - Girls dressed, teeth brushed 7:30 - Practice piano 8:00 - Shoes on, line up at the door Here's what this morning looked like: 6:00 - Mom sound asleep 6:45 - Mom hits the snooze button for the 8th time 7:00 - Mom gets up because she has to take one of those pills in yesterday's post 7:05 - Mom

My kitchen counter, right now. And I am not sick.

Tuesday was kind of a break-down day for me. As in, on Tuesday, I had a breakdown. For reasons unknown, I had trouble starting a sentence without crying. Much less finishing one. Much like a two-year-old in need of a nap, everything was setting me off. And because I have trouble showing weakness, I get frustrated with myself when I can't pull it together. And when I get frustrated with myself...I cry more. So, I'm blubbering around the house on Tuesday morning, more or less unable to accomplish any daily tasks, with absolutely no reason to give for why. Maybe it was the inevitability of kindergarten. Maybe it was vacation re-entry. Maybe it was the usual - crumbling under perceived expectations. Whatever the case may have been, I did what any rational mom of 2 would do. I took the girls to Disney World. I probably should have just taken a nap. But I couldn't think of anything else that would satisfy my need to "reboot." I needed to be away, to spend time with the

God and I have this little game that we play. I think He calls it: Go Ahead, Make a Decision and Then See What Happens When I Change the Circumstances at The Last Minute. I am a notorious mind-changer. Mind-changing differs from wishy-washiness in that I say, affirmatively, what I am going to do. And then, usually at The Last Minute, I say that I am going to do the other thing. For example: I will stare at a restaurant menu and declare I am having the Grilled Chicken Salad. And then I will hear myself say to the server: "Bleu Cheese Burger and fries, please." It happened with my college choice. "I am definitely going out of state." And then..."Two bits, Four bits....all for the Gators..." It happened with getting married. "I am starting my career, somewhere exotic." Followed 4 months later by..."I do." It's happened with having kids and with nearly every vacation I've ever planned. I make a plan. God changes the circumstances.

Where I live, "People Like Us" don't send their children to public school. It was "never really an option for us." If I had a dollar for every time I'd actually thought or said "public school is not an option for us," we wouldn't think twice about writing the check for one of those private schools in which we'd planned to enroll our kids. In our "circles," the following unspoken rules are followed: 1. Private Christian school kids breed Private Christian school kids . It's the natural order of things. 2. Private Christian school kids who choose not to take out a second mortgage to pay for Private Christian school breed Homeschooled kids. It's the backup order of things. 3. Under no circumstances do Private school kids breed Public School kids . This phenomenon has no place in the order of things. I've never been clear about the reasons why Public School Is Not An Option, but I'm pretty sure the reasons include met

This is the body of an email I received from my church this week. (The typos are enough to get my blood simmering, but that's a blog for another day.) We have the opportunity to purchase the new Baptist Hymnal along with the orchestrations at a reduced introductory price, if you place our order prior to August 6th . For just $12.00 a book, you can dedicate a hymanl in memory of or in honor of friends, family, a favorite Sunday School Teacher , Pastor or anyone that has touched your life in a special way. You may also make a general donation towards the orchestrations or hymnal fund. We need to raise $4,800 to purchase the hymnals and $2,300 for the orchestrations and technical resources. Look for the table in the Parlor to place your dedication and/or donation. A few things to note: We have been at the church for 5 and a half years and the only time I have picked up a hymnal was to provide back support to a very pregnant belly. $4800 + $2300 = $7100 $7100 is enough to spons