Month: September 2006

  • I will sing a new song

    I’m tired. I had a long work week last week and nothing makes me feel more rundown than days of sitting through meeting after meeting. I don’t really talk about my job here and I won’t go into any detail because 1. it’s not that interesting and 2. if by chance someone who works with me were to stumble onto it, I don’t want to say anything incriminating. So I’m like Sydney Bristow, that part of my life will remain a mystery, we’ll just say I work at a bank.

    Anyway, there has been some behind the scenes drama at the bank over the last few weeks and I have chosen to take the high ground and keep my mouth shut. This is not easy for me because there is ALOT I’d like to say. My point is that with all the drama going on combined with having to spend three days with all the other bank employees, I am mentally exhausted.

    The whole thing is really like junior high school, but with better clothes.

    So in the midst of all this unrest at the bank, I have been spending some time in prayer trying to figure out how to handle everything. There seems to be a fine line between defending yourself and bringing someone down. I’ve needed a little guidance. And God, since He is faithful has made the truth known without me having to say anything.

    This morning as I was reading the Bible, I came to Psalm 40 and really the whole thing is amazing. David had far greater troubles than I will most likely ever face and a whole kingdom depending on him, but the incredible dependence he always placed in God never ceases to inspire me.

    I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.
    He lifted me out of the slimy pit
    out of the mud and mire;
    he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.
    He put a new song in my mouth
    a hymn of praise to our God.
    Do not withhold your mercy
    from me, O Lord;
    may your love and your truth
    always protect me.
    Psalm 40: 1-3,11

  • I will sing a new song

    I’m tired. I had a long work week last week and nothing makes me feel more rundown than days of sitting through meeting after meeting. I don’t really talk about my job here and I won’t go into any detail because 1. it’s not that interesting and 2. if by chance someone who works with me were to stumble onto it, I don’t want to say anything incriminating. So I’m like Sydney Bristow, that part of my life will remain a mystery, we’ll just say I work at a bank.

    Anyway, there has been some behind the scenes drama at the bank over the last few weeks and I have chosen to take the high ground and keep my mouth shut. This is not easy for me because there is ALOT I’d like to say. My point is that with all the drama going on combined with having to spend three days with all the other bank employees, I am mentally exhausted.

    The whole thing is really like junior high school, but with better clothes.

    So in the midst of all this unrest at the bank, I have been spending some time in prayer trying to figure out how to handle everything. There seems to be a fine line between defending yourself and bringing someone down. I’ve needed a little guidance. And God, since He is faithful has made the truth known without me having to say anything.

    This morning as I was reading the Bible, I came to Psalm 40 and really the whole thing is amazing. David had far greater troubles than I will most likely ever face and a whole kingdom depending on him, but the incredible dependence he always placed in God never ceases to inspire me.

    I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.
    He lifted me out of the slimy pit
    out of the mud and mire;
    he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.
    He put a new song in my mouth
    a hymn of praise to our God.
    Do not withhold your mercy
    from me, O Lord;
    may your love and your truth
    always protect me.
    Psalm 40: 1-3,11

  • Fall into Reading


    I am a little late with my list for the Fall book challenge hosted by Katrina at Callipidder Days. As some of y’all who read Big Mama on a regular basis know, I have had technical difficulties this week. I’ve also struggled with my list because I’m not necessarily a planner (and by not necessarily, I mean not at all).

    I read constantly, but usually what I read is determined by what looks good at Borders on any given day. Also, if someone recommends a book they just love, I tend to drop everything else and pick up that book. Except for when Gulley recommended The Secret Life of Bees and I told her I had no desire to read it. A year later I am halfway through it and I love it. I was telling Gulley what a great book it was and she said “Yeah, I know. I told you that a year ago.” My only defense is that I had an 18 month old at the time and was quickly losing my grasp on my sanity. So with those disclaimers, here are the books I intend to read this fall in no particular order. Y’all will notice I lean heavily on the side of fiction.

    1. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

    2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (recommended by Toni, who I think is a great writer and also loves some of my other favorite books)

    3. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (mentioned by both Toni and Barb)

    4. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

    5. The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian (I’ve read parts of this, but it’s a work in progress as are my parenting skills)

    6. Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner

    7. Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin

    8. Something by Francine Rivers since I loved Redeeming Love. Any thoughts?

    9. I’m leaving the 9 spot open because I never know what I’m going to come across. If y’all have any suggestions, I’m always up for them.

    Happy Fall!

  • Because I know y’all enjoy the silliness

    This may become a new feature at Big Mama where I just randomly list whatever number of various things are currently on my mind. It will be like Thursday 13 except not. I could design a cute little graphic for it and call it Saturday 7 or Wednesday 4, except I have limited computer skills and don’t know how to create graphics. So here you go.

    1. P is still sleeping in his goggles that he’s been wearing since his Lasik. They are almost as big as the glasses he wore when we started dating.

    2. Caroline was wearing her new black boots with her Elmo underwear the other night and I told her they looked really good especially with the Elmo underwear and she said “Yes, especially since I just tee-teed in them.”

    3. While at my meetings this week, I discovered another problem with fall fashion. I saw a woman wearing skinny black pants with flats. Is she super trendy or has she been wearing that for the last 15 years and now it’s finally back in style? By the way, I won’t be purchasing any black skinny pants. I paid $44.00 for them back in 1991 and will NOT be giving Gap any more of my money to repeat this trend just because they put Audrey Hepburn on their commercials to try to convince us it’s okay. It’s not.

    4. P said that Caroline told someone “Adios” yesterday and then last night she counted to five in Spanish. She hasn’t learned that from me, so hats off to Dora the Explorer and her adventure loving cousin Diego.

    5. Grey’s Anatomy (and I can’t overstate this) was the best hour of T.V. this week beyond a shadow of a doubt, although Emmitt Smith and his smooth moves on Dancing with the Stars was a close second.

    6. Reason #4598 that I love my friends. After reading my post on Amy Grant, Gulley surprised me with this.

    It is great. If you have ever loved Amy Grant, I highly recommend it. Thanks Gulley for many things, but this was so sweet.

    7. Two weeks into Caroline’s school year, we already had homework. She came home with this in her backpack.

    It came with instructions attached that explained that “together” she and I were supposed to make it look like her and to reflect her interests. Seriously. Her teachers apparently completely underestimated that she might have a mother with a little bit of OCD who may or may not start to twitch a little bit when glue gets everywhere. I made the dress, the hair and the shoes, but I did let her put the red glitter on the shoes and glue on the hair and the eyes. She also told me what she wanted her person to wear, so that’s the outfit we (I) made. Here she is.

    Since it had to reflect not only her sense of style, but also her interests, notice that she is holding a bug in one hand and a piece of candy in the other. Hello, I am a mother who feeds my child a steady diet of candy while letting her play with bugs that may or may not be poisonous. Do y’all think they’re still going to let me help with the Halloween party? Debatable.

  • Home is where my heart is

    When my plane finally touched down late this afternoon, I had never been so glad to be home. I love my people and I don’t like being away from them, no matter how fun it may be to sit in a small, windowless room in a hotel for three days.

    I was waiting by the curb for P to pick me up and when I saw his truck come around the corner, my heart flipped just a little bit. I jumped in and there was Caroline sitting there holding a beautiful pot filled with snapdragons saying, “Here’s your treat, Mama. We missed you so much. Did you bring me some dubble bum (bubble gum)?” And at that moment my heart was so full that I’d have given her a 1,000 packs of Bubblicious if I’d had it. There is no place like home. There are no people like the people you love.

  • Oh wireless connection, how I’ve missed thee

    If y’all heard a huge sigh of relief about an hour and a half ago, it was the sound of me not only getting my laptop back but being able to connect to the wireless connection at the hotel. Y’all can’t imagine what I have been through.

    I arrived in the Dallas area yesterday at 4:00 pm and was told to turn my laptop in at the door on my way in so that they could add system “upgrades”. Umm, I’m sorry, did you say hand over my laptop?

    Yes, yes they did.

    So I sat laptopless (I just made that up) in my hotel room for 3 hours until finally Hite came and rescued me. We met our friend Jen at a great Mexican restaurant and were able to really catch up and laugh for a few hours. It is safe to say that was the highlight of this trip.

    I get back to my hotel room around 10:00 last night and that’s when I discovered the TV Internet. It is hands down the most inefficient way to be online that has ever existed, but I was desperate. After holding one arm out at a ninety degree angle to balance a keyboard on a chair with a pillow on it to hold the keyboard at the perfect range to actually work, I managed to type out my two previous posts as my cry for help. I wish I were kidding when I say it took me about 20 minutes to get each one written. It seems like you should get some sort of better quality for something that takes that much time.

    This morning I was reunited with my laptop for what could be the most mind numbing bit of computer system training in the history of the free world. They tried to spice it up with little games and riddles, but really? Really? Can you make sitting in a windowless room in the basement of a hotel for 8 1/2 hours fun? Because if you can, I’d like to meet you.

    We finally finished our long day and had to go straight to a mandatory dinner. I’m telling y’all these people have no sense of anything that is important. As if confiscating my laptop wasn’t enough, they caused me to miss the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy. I can’t say any more about that or I may cry.

    Oh I know I’ll watch it tomorrow on my DVR but it’s not the same. If I had been home I could’ve opened up a bag of Sour Patch Kids and spent a little time with McDreamy, McVet, and the gang. It was truly painful to look at the time and know that there was no way I was going to be back to the hotel in time to watch and I KNOW pain because I currently have braces on my teeth.

    The only consolation is that when I finally got back to my room at 8:51 (oh cruel fate), I was able to get a wireless connection for the bargain basement price of $9.95 (I don’t even want to think about what I’d have been willing to pay) and here I am. The problem with corporate America is that they don’t always appreciate what is really important…like that I have a blog that maybe six people are waiting to read and Grey’s Anatomy.