FOR SHAME! Popcorn ceilings and Formica counter-tops!

Recently my hunny had a major back surgery which kind of forced us to buy a king size bed.  We had been sleeping on a queen for years, but I was afraid of kicking him in the back, so we scraped some cash together, my mom helped us a little, we bit the bullet and got the bed.  Since I bought it off the floor I got $1000 off but getting it home in the back of our  1990  F-150 truck, flapping in the breeze, is another blog for another day:)  



To be quite honest with you I LOVE the king size bed. 

 It is heavenly! 

But it got me fired up about the rest of my house and major improvements that we need.  I looked up at my popcorn 

ceilings, and down and my Formica counter-tops, and heaved an enormous SIGH.

Any self respecting home decor specialist would run screaming ANATHEMA!

Or TSK TSK  me until they are blue in the face...

Popcorn ceilings and formica counter-tops are so last year they reek of 1960.  You know, when the Brady Bunch had that hip house with both. 

Oh yaaaa.... Alice used to scrub that formica countertop til it shined!

Thinking about this immediately put me into a WHAT-IN-THE-CAT-HAIR frenzy of gnashing my teeth and wringing my hands. 

It's true 

My house needs a makeover.  

At best I call it shabby chic:)

In my mom's era, it was the friend who had a gas furnace instead of a hand fired wood furnace in the basement like she did.....

I don't think I have a friend who has popcorn ceilings OR formica counter-tops....Ladies?

A few months ago a good buddy of mine who is a 20-something was telling me about her sis who just bought a house.  

"They are getting some of it re-done before they move in, and getting rid of those god-AWFUL popcorn ceilings!"  

She is really nice, so I did NOT tell her to look up. (she was sitting in my kitchen:)

As I walked through Lowes, and gazed at all the sleek granite counter-tops, it dawned on me that I really don't care.  

I am good with my popcorn ceilings AND formica counter-tops. 

 I might just keep them until Jesus returns. 

Including my gamecock red chicken wire cupboards.

Actually I am almost certain in 10 years they will be all the rage.....

Sometimes I wonder what my women friends in Papua New Guinea, who live in grass huts would think about all this hullabaloo...What in the Cat hair?

When I get to Heaven, it seems to me we will ALL  have fabulous granite counter-tops and smooth as silk ceilings.... 

or better yet we just won't care.

Actually, I care much more about who is coming from Texas to visit me tomorrow!!

The evil cheap-butt? Or extravagant fool?

I admit it I am cheap-butt.

I prefer to call myself "thrifty".

I rarely buy anything at the grocery store or clothing stores for that matter-that is not on sale... big time.    If I have a double off coupon, I am filled with glee.  If it is a SUPER DOUBLE coupon, AND on sale, I chortle loudly in a fiendish way....rolling my fake mustache.

Do ya'll remember Snidley Whiplash?

 

 

 

Weirdo, I know, but I somehow fool myself into believing I have beat the system. Ya know, stuck it to "the man".

 

Being a missionary and living on a missionary income for the last 25 years helps my thriftiness.  I remember when we first came home from overseas I did not allow myself to buy things like garbage bags, using paper grocery bags  in my trash cans instead. I stopped short of re-using paper plates...

 

Yes I am a cheap butt.

 

Sometimes I am smug and judgmental of those I don't think are thrifty enough.  Besides being a cheap butt-

 

I guess I am also a dumb butt. 

 

 

 Because...

 

 I need to Thank my Jesus for the un-cheapness,

 

for the generosity

 

for the extravagance

 

of God's people who have supported financially the Sieges Wycliffe ministry sieges.org

 

 For the last 25 years.  Without them, Tim and I would be more than cheap butts, we would be destitute.

 

The last few months, we have been saving for a new vehicle that we know we desperately need. We just got word yesterday that an extravagant person who does not even know us ( a friend of a friend)  gave us a gift that put us over our goal. 

 

 

 

EXTRAVAGANCE

 

 

When is it ok?

 

We all know God wants us to be wise stewards of what He has given us.  I try to do that.  Last week Tim and I bought our FIRST EVER flat screen TV.  It seemed kind of extravagant to us, but decided it was time.  (Of course it was on clearance)  We only had to call Vizio 3 times to get it set up:)

 

 

 

 

 

It is OK to be extravagant when: 

 

1.God says so

2.Doing something nice for a friend or loved one, just because...

3.Buying "stuff"  for your new baby granddaughter:) 

 

 

 

God's precious love toward us is EXTRAVAGANT.

 

Go ahead, all you cheap butts out there-

 

 just for today:

 

 be a little more like HIM.

 

 

 

#God'sloveisextravagant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

HAND OVER THE THROW PILLOWS, and no one GETS HURT!

Throw pillows bring women much JOY.

Doesn't matter if you live in a dorm room, apartment, or house.   We females live for throw pillows. At a department store, we are drawn to them like flies to dog doo.  

No explanation.

It just is.

We buy them, display them, get irritated when someone messes up our scientific arrangement, 

AND they bring us JOY.     Lots of it.

Recently, I decided to adorn my 2 bare window seats in the living room and adjacent dining room.  

I am confessing this to only YOU, I bought 16 throw pillows in one day. 

 Luckily, they were all on sale, AND I got 60% off the sale price. I spent about $5 per pillow:)  As you probably already know, there are rules about shopping for throw pillows.

1.can't spend more than $10
2.always have to be on sale
3.must have a coupon
4.look for threads hanging to get 10% more off.

Nuff said about that.

I have visions of a gaggle of women storming the Stein Mart or Home Goods with their purses swinging, coupons flying, screaming :

  "HAND OVER THE THROW PILLOWS 

AND NO ONE GETS HURT!"

What in the Cat hair?

Yes, we women of all ages, starting about 16 years old to our death, love throw pillows.  

They bring us joy.

We are drawn to them.

Sometimes we obsess over them.

We relentlessly pursue them.


....Which makes me scratch my head sheepishly and wonder:

When is the last time I relentlessly pursued my Jesus? 

When is the last time I was relentlessly drawn to Him?

When is the last time my relationship with Him brought me immense JOY?

Pursue your relationship with your Jesus BIGGER  than you do with those ole throw pillows.  

With Passion

With Fervor

Relentlessly.

It will bring you endless JOY.

shaved eyebrows and dishwasher regurgitations

The other day I was contemplating the fact that when some things happen, we just simply don't know why.

We can ask

We can surmise

We can reason

We can try to explain

We can scratch our heads


But there are a few things in this scientific life, that cannot be explained away... 

Do ya'll remember Dave?  He is the autistic guy I hang out with daily.  (You can read about Dave in more depth in my post from last year "autism, titanic and upsidown world"- Jan 13, 2012) 


There are many things about  Dave, that cannot be explained.  And he can't explain them to me, since he is not very verbal, and has a hard time expressing himself.  About 2 times a year, Dave randomly shaves off his eyebrows. 

What in the ever loving cat hair? 

 His parents and I have tried to explain it: 

maybe they are itchy?  

maybe he is trying to look like one of his favorite villains in a movie? 

maybe he saw someone on the street like that? 

We just don't know. 


Likewise, about 2 times a year, my dishwasher has to throw up all over my floor.  



She just feels like it.

Each time my husband pulls her out and looks at her mechanics, finds nothing wrong, and pushes her back in. She works fine for 6 months, then pukes soapy water again.  

She doesn't even explain herself.



You know the guys on The Big Bang Theory?


They are forever explaining many scientific things that happen in our world. (they just can't seem to have any lasting relationships but that's a blog for another day)  I would like to see these fellas explain away the eyebrows and dishwasher stuff in my life:)

 I have come to the conclusion that I will NOT try to explain away these two fascinating phenomena.  

They just ARE

And that's OK

I take them as a gift from God, something we humans can't dissect, divide, or conquer.

What has God put in your life, good or bad that you just can't explain away? 

 That you just accept, with (some would say) blind faith?

Something that you have decided NOT to strive against, but  take at face value.

Maybe even a little sumthin your Jesus is teaching you, through it

 about YOU,  and how you are living THIS LIFE   He has given you.

Think about it the next time somebody you know shaves his or her eyebrows, or your dishwasher overflows.  

or anything else that gets you to say "what in the cathair?"

STOP

LOOK

LISTEN

ACCEPT

What He is showing you.  

You just might learn something.

About eyebrows

or dishwashers

or better yet: YOURSELF


"Look at the Nations and watch- and be utterly amazed.  For I am going to do something in YOUR days, that you would not believe , even if you were told."   Habakkuk 1:5



 

Harlem WHAT IN THE CAT HAIR Shake?

The Harlem Shake?

What in the Cat Hair?

When Evan told me Friday evening on skype that he had just gotten finished meeting with about 1000 other students in the middle of the campus at App State to do a 15 second dance i DID say "What in the Cathair, son?"


WHY?  

What are the meanings?  

How can we explain it?

Let's wring our hands excessively and examine this phenomena deeply......



I consider myself at least minimally aware of pop culture and what is going on, but this befuddled me, to say the least. So doing a little research....I think I figured it out.  

It is silly

just for fun,

no reasons

and anyone can do it.  


THAT  is the kind of stuff I LOVE:)  


Here is what Wikipedia had to say about it, dated a few days ago:

"The videos last 30-something seconds and feature an excerpt from the song "Harlem Shake" by electronic musician Baauer. Usually, a video begins with one person (often helmeted or masked) dancing to the song alone for 15 seconds, surrounded by other people not paying attention or unaware of the dancing individual. When the bass drops, the video switches to the entire crowd doing a crazy convulsive dance for the next 15 seconds... Also, in the second half of the video, people often wear  crazy outfits or costumes while wielding strange props."


OK sounds good to me, why not?



Go on to u-tube and you will find about 4000 different 

renditions of it....many claiming to be the first, Feb 

something of this year.


Here is the one my son was in just to give you a peek of

what all the college campuses, sports teams, office groups, 

and high schools are doing... just for fun.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK12pcRCu


The Washington Post, NY Times, and other fabulous publications are trying to figure it out... 

why is this so popular? What does it mean?  How will it affect the future of mankind??  What will be the significance in the annuls of history?  

They give lots of in-depth reasons:)

For me...  

I like it.  

It's fun.

That's it. 

What in the cathair is the meaning behind "the wave" at sports events?? 

Sometimes, on a dreary Monday morning, we all need a little fun, for absolutely NO good reason.

AND

I can't wait to see the first missionary Harlem Shake....

I think God will smile at that...He might even laugh out loud:)

Lastly, Our family has a great reason to do a Sieges rendition of the Harlem Shake.  We were blessed 3 weeks ago with a fabulous new life.  

Emelia Margaret Born Jan 27 in Waco, TX

Harlem Shake?

Let me at it!