because everyone should blog on their birthday...

31. Thirty-one. Seems ominously closer to 40 than 30 did.

On a random note, I am loving the power that facebook has to remind even my kindergarten teacher that today is my birthday! My narcissism is b.e.s.i.d.e. itself! I've got to quit using that word, I'm really not narcissistic. Most days, anyway. I just like to be wished happy birthday!

So...a few days ago my dryer decided to go on strike. For no reason at all other than it was just done with me. We think the fix will be a 9 dollar fuse, so the laugh is really on the dryer. Anyway. All of this led me to the laundromat today. I was almost forced to sell a kidney to pay for it. Seriously, laundromat owners are ROLLING in it! I break out in hives just thinking about how much I paid to wash a little laundry.

Cool thing happened there. An older(ish) lady walked in and began to vent her frustration with her current landlord. There was a lot of cursing and gnashing of teeth, but I finally got her to take a breath and was able to share with her details of a project we have at 7 Hills called the Ficasso project. It is a Hud-funded program that assists people who are in danger of losing their housing and provides them with short-term assistance with rent and utility bills.
I was really worried I would offend her by mentioning it to her. But. She hugged me and wept. Literally wept.
She must have told me 42 times that I was a "blessing from God". And then proceeded to punctuate that blessing with several curses. I loved her instantly.

I was reminded again today of how blessed I am to work in a field that I am passionate about. I was also reminded how closely His eye is on the sparrow.

Now I know why the dyer gave up for no apparent reason. There is no such thing as no apparent reason.

what a week

VBS was this week. So were about 12 monsoons. Not a great combination. For different reasons than you'd think.
For example, my children turn into wall climbing, destructive little hellions when it rains more than a couple days in a row.
Who am I kidding, it doesn't take rain to turn them to hellions. Pretty sure it's in their dna.
Anywho.
Take my irritation with my own children, then put me in charge of like 12 other children. That I have to be nice to. Cause it's church. Not a pretty picture.
To put one more straw on that already sagging camel's back, I didn't get to go to work this week because of Ryan's work schedule. (not blaming him, btw) People, I need time away from my kids. It keeps me from being committed. And we all know how short a trip crazy is for me anyway.

Man it feels good to complain. I'm pretty decent at it, no?

A few more confessions

Today, when the kids were fighting for the 287th time, I did nothing to stop it. And by fighting, I mean punching, kicking, the works. Mostly it was Finley. You gotta watch out for that one, she will cut you.

I let them run around the house naked because it just wasn't worth the fight. It was, however, worth it when a neighbor came to the door and all three of them ran up to say hi. Still naked.

I let them watch A LOT more t.v. than they usually do. Now I'm hooked on icarly. Seriously, I added it to the dvr. The shame.

There are still a few hours left in this day, I'm sure I will add a couple more "mother of the year" moments before it's over.

Or maybe I'll just break out the "sleepy vitamins".