Happy, Sad, Happy, Sad...

[Double click the pic for a larger view!]


Happy

Well folks, today marks the 27th anniversary of wedded bliss with my adorable Mulletman. The celebrations have been rather anti-climactic thus far. I'm all puffy and swollen and high on prednisone and he's foggy on allergy meds.

He has to work a 12 hour shift today. So yesterday we went on a lunch date to my all time favorite local restaurant, Eric's. (Sorry, they're a small business with no web presence. Just trust me when I say they have a lovely atmosphere, wonderful food and terrific prices!) We sat in our classy, comfy chairs and stared at our menus and...well...that was pretty much it. ;-). I think the waitress had to come by 4 times before we finally gave her an order. After we ate we were both ready to just pick up the kids and go home, but we realized we'd only been gone an hour. What kind of date is that? So we set out for a rather numb amble through Goodwill and the Salvation Army and the pawn shop downtown.

Yes, I know. I have overwhelmed you with the excitement and romance.

Actually, we're planning on bugging out to a Bed and Breakfast in a week or two. I promise we'll be satisfyingly dewey eyed then. As it is, Mulletman left me a note on the bathroom mirror this morning:

To my sweet lady of 27 years,
Lord knows we've had our time of tears,
But those are eclipsed by times of joy and contentment,
And with you I will keep my commitment.

I love you,
Mulletman

*sniff* He's my honey!

*****************************************
Sad

Do you ever have one of those days where you write whole paragraphs about things that are on your heart and then read what you wrote and realize you shouldn't post it on your blog for the whole world to read? Yeah...I've hit the delete button a coupla times already.

Insert sad issue here.

*sigh*
*****************************************
Happy

Well, yesterday was the first day in over a week that my knees and feet weren't all swollen, so I was able to do all that romantic walking. Yippee! My bike is at the shop being tuned up so I can ride the rubber off the tires as soon as I get it back. I've still been able to do squats if I do them early in the morning before I took the prednisone and I've been working my abs and back and doing push-ups. No aerobics, though. Like I said, yesterday was the first day I could really walk at all. Besides that, the prednisone makes me very foggy and dizzy and high - not safe for bike riding or treadmilling!

Nonetheless, I go to the lowest dose starting tomorrow, so things should be rapidly improving. Training WILL proceed!

Training for what? Huh? Hey...where have you been? I'm going to be riding in the Trek Across Maine to raise money for the American Lung Association; 180 miles in three days in June.

My asthma has been particularly bad now that the weather is warming up. I don't know about you, but I am rather fond of, ya know BREATHING and all. I'd be THRILLED if the ALA found ways to prevent asthma or to treat it more effectively. You can help by sending money. See those two links on the top of my sidebar? Click, Donate, Pat Yourself on the back. That's all there is to it!

Your U.S. donation is tax deductable and you'll be helping thousands of wheezers like me!

********************************************
Sad

We've a really sad situation here that needs your prayers: A young family - the H's. Mr. H is 26, his wife 24. They have 3 children ages 2 years, 4 years, and 1 month. There was an accident where Mr. H laid the baby on the bed while he went to take care of an issue with the other two children. The baby rolled off the bed and hit his head sustaining serious head trauma.

The baby has (praise God!) recovered and is apparently going to be fine. However, Mr. H has to go to court under the suspicion of abuse - They're saying he "purposely dropped the child".

Now...when Scout was a wee one - 7 months old, I laid him on the changing table for a new diaper. Unfortunately, I was missing something needed for the change. I took two steps away from the baby to quickly grab what I needed and PLOP, he immediately rolled off the dresser onto the floor.

To make a long story short, a ten second lapse in mommy smarts resulted in me having a baby with a broken leg! I was horrified at what I'd done and the guilt was unimaginable. Fortunately, our doctor was kind and compassionate and was quick to recognize that making a mistake was not the same as being abusive or neglectful!

So please pray for Mr. H - for truth to be born out and for for mercy to be shown - because it gets worse: Wednesday Mrs. H was driving in her car on the way to see her little ones and was killed in a car wreck.

Folks 'round here are reeling. Our church family has been praying earnestly for the baby and for Mr. H's case, then this news about the mom... I can't even fathom what Mr. H is going through and - oh gracious - those poor little ones who are now motherless and have a daddy who is temporarily "unavailable" to them.

It's all just SO sad!

********************************************
Happy (and frustrated)

This is precisely why I collect THESE.

[Gah! Blogger! You are making me angry! For whatever reason, I can't embed the video here.]

It's worth it. Go see it.


*********************************************
Sad

I can't get this blog looking like I want it...Keep checking back!

*********************************************
Happy

27 years! Woot!

Brain Drivel

Greetings, O Patient Ones! I have returned.

I think.

Even as I type this I am twitching because my free Saturday is only half free.

Remember how I was filling in as a sub for one of the janitors at our church? She was supposed to be back to work this week, but Monday she slipped on the treacherous ice and fell right on the incision from her carpal tunnel surgery, so I was on for one more week.

I never want to see a public toilet again - at least not to CLEAN it.

I was going to clean the youth building on Friday so as to all of my Saturday free, but it was not possible. All the teens spent Friday night there for a part of their 30 Hour Famine and aren't planning to clear out of the building until 1pm. That's when my mom and I will swoop in to scrub and polish and mop and vacuum and restock and play ping-pong.

I have actually enjoyed my stint as church janitor in some ways, but more than anything I have been reminded how very blessed I am to be able to NOT work. I love being a SAHM. I do NOT love working outside my home.

Not even for money.

******************************
I get a new fridge Tuesday. Whoo-Hoo!!!!! The old one is a 1999 Frigidaire and it is unequivocally the worst loser of a fridge I've ever had the misfortune to rot food in. I will do the dance of joy when it is gone!!!

******************************
I always do our taxes myself and we have already received both our Federal and State tax returns while most of you have not even filed yet. Bwa-hah-hah-hah!

******************************
My Mom is next in line to move into Senior Housing. This is a wonderful thing because the apartment she is currently in is less than stellar (to put it mildly). This is stressful because it means ANOTHER move! Of course it won't be anywhere near as difficult as the last one. I hope.

******************************
I just bought a Diva Cup. (not that you really wanted to know that.) I'm sick of spending good money on paper "products" that just end up in the landfill. So there.

******************************
Other than my asthma (which is comparatively mild) none of us have been sick all winter long. (so far...yet) Praise the Lord!

******************************
Tis snowing
and blowing
cold and wintry

I long for Spring!
with robins
and flowers
and bike rides (mud splayed up my back!)

For now I have to settle
for more daylight and
occasional days of melting,
dripping eaves and
teasing warm winds
Followed by a deep freeze

O for some Maine-al Warming!

*****************************
Just this morning I figured out how to PERMANENTLY make the font bigger on all my internet browser screens. O my happy (old and not so groovy) eyeballs!

*****************************
Oh look, ANOTHER MEME! However, this one is very cool. It was designed by my dear internetty friend Heather (who is not Hannah). It's called:

Look at This Stuff. Isn't it Neat?

Here's the low-down according to Heather:

The "Look At This Stuff. Isn't It Neat?" Meme rules:

Find five things around your house that say something about the person you are and snap a picture of them.

Tell us about them.

Link back to me in your post so I can be all nosy.

Tag five (or more...or less...I'm easy like Sunday morning, my loves) folks via their comments and tell us who you tagged.

OK. It was hard to limit it to five, but here we go:



First I present you with my Bible. it says everything we need to know about God and His plan for mankind and frankly, it says quite a bit about moi as well.

In addition to the the obvious (I'm a sinner in need of a Savior), it also reveals many of my defining characteristics. First of all I am a visual learner. See all those colors? They tell you that I need things to be marked and underscored and highlighted and annotated in order to remember it. Couple that with my Biblical version of choice - New American Standard - and you will discern that I am a stickler for accuracy (the NAS is one of the more literal translations) and that I am one who likes to really dig in and study my Bible as opposed to just reading it.

I despise paraphrases and "modern" versions. To my mind they are nothing more than pap.



Aha, what could this be? Why it's my wonderful iMac on a lovely rolltop desk. And gee, what's that on the computer screen? Ooooohhhhh. It's Groovy's Ruminations!

I am a Mac lover and proud of it. See that monitor? That's my whole, entire, complete computer. No cumbersome towers, no monster size monitor that takes up all your desk space, just sweet, glorious, virus proof simplicity - and my iMac weighs less than most laptops!

Then there's the whole blogging thing. Groovy really digs blogging when she's not scrubbing church toilets!



Blue Phrogs: I collect 'em. You can read more about that and see more pics HERE.



I am a musician. I play percussion, sing, and play my Fender shortscale Mustang Bass. it's the perfect guitar for gals with little hands!



Then of course, Groovy loves to cook. I've been making wedding and party cakes for about a million years or so. I love to host big dinner parties and do oodles of baking and experiments in my great big, monstrously huge kitchen. It truly is a dream kitchen, in spite of its lack of state of the art equipment. I am very thankful to have it. The only thing I'm not crazy about is having to clean the floor!

Alrighty. Here's the place where I'm s'posed to tag five people. But folks, I'm too tired to run today, especially considering all that work I have to do this afternoon, so you all take this meme and run with it, K? I won't be able to catch anyone until my asthma simmers down and the snow melts a bit so I can ride my bike.

Speaking of bikes (I'da posted a pic of mine for the meme, but that woulda broke the rules because it would have been SIX pics) and asthma, Mulletman and I are in training to ride in the Trek Across Maine this June. We're raising money for the American Lung Association of Maine.

I'll be making a more extensive post on the subject Monday or Tuesday (God willing), but if you want to get a headstart on sending in your support or learning more about the Trek, you can find some great links in my sidebar.

Merry Christmas!!!!

And now comes the mad dash to finish getting ready for Monday! (Mulletman pulls a 12-hour shift on the 25th, so our Christmas celebration is on Christmas Eve this year.)

While I'm busy dashing about, I'd like to share our family Christmas letter with you all. It's weird how much all you invisible people mean to me - kinda like my stable of invisible horses back in third grade except you folks send cards and gifts and pray for me and laugh at my jokes and make me feel loved.

Invisible horses pale in comparison.

********************************************
To You, From Groovy:

Dearest Friends, Acquaintances, and Internetherworld Comrades,

In the true spirit of Christmas cheer I contemplated sending you a rousing regalement of all the Groovy happenings in our household. However, it occurs to me that such a narration would be redundant because I've already elucidated these events on my blog at http://groovybell.blogspot.com/ which I am SURE that all of you read faithfully and thoroughly every day (cough!).

Therefore, in lieu of the usual Christmas letter of how brilliant my children are (though I assure you I would not exaggerate even one iota), I shall instead share with you many of the things that did NOT happen this year.

First of all, none of us have cancer, brain injuries, STDs, blindness, deafness, or broken limbs, and none of the younger clan members have heart problems. None of us suffers from autism, ADHD, or mental health issues.

We've had no house fires, car wrecks, or major catastrophes. Our house has not been repossessed and we have no debts other than our mortgage. Our cars have not had any major mechanical difficulties and my husband has not lost his job.

Our parents have not died or been admitted to hospitals or nursing homes, nor have they needed any in-home nursing care.

Our son the new soldier has NOT been sent overseas to war (yet).
(Scout)


Our eldest daughter has not grown disenchanted with her year-old marriage - in fact, quite the opposite!
( J-Man and Funsocksgirl)

The woodpeckers have not destroyed our siding and no squirrels are living in our attic or chimney. Our blueberry bushes have not died; neither has our poison ivy. ;-)

Our heating oil money has not run out, nor the money to fuel up our cars.

My internet service has not gone all wonky on me, nor has my fabulosa iMac. (Please, let's NOT discuss the camera…)

Our adorable little girls are not greedy, selfish, or mean and they do not fight or disobey (most of the time.)
(Silly-Head 6, Girly-Girl 8)


Our church has not collapsed into a frenzy of infighting or scandal or debt, nor have our leaders departed from the truth of God's Word.

"Global warming" has not stopped the New England seasons from seasoning nor the great Maine outdoors from being glorious.

My wonderful husband and I are neither distant, disgruntled nor divorced.
(Groovy and her Mulletman)

The sun has not stopped shining and the world has not stopped spinning.

In short, God has not forsaken us nor left us unblessed.

I hope and pray that as you recount all the many things that haven't happened to you and yours, you will praise God for His watch-care over you and that you will fully realize His love for you.

Merry Christmas to all you very groovy people!

In Christ's Love,
Sherry/Groovy




"Behold the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call Him Immanuel, " which translated means, "God with us." [Matthew 1:23]


***********************************************
In a final note, look what my dear friend Mammy bought me as a belated birthday gift for my Blue Phrog Collection:

(PHROG)

Isn't it awesome? He definitely lends some class to my roll top desk!

**********************************************

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!