Author: Big Mama

Big Boo Cast: Episode where we shop for purses

Good news!

Sophie and I recorded a new podcast yesterday afternoon. I can’t even imagine your excitement.

You just need to prepare yourself that we actually shop for purses during this one.

You can click here to listen. Or here. You can even listen right here.

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes.
Fashion Friday: Edition because basics are good

This is going to be quick because it took me longer than usual to find things and then I procrastinated some more and, long story short, I am a terrible time manager.

But I did manage to find a few things.

1. casa del sol global dress

This falls in a category of a dress that I wouldn’t wear as a dress. But I think it would look really great paired with white jeans as a tunic.

2. one for the books knit cardigan

I think this is really pretty and would work as a great thing to throw on over a tank or a t-shirt.

3. gap fluid tank

I’ve had my eye on this for a while. It’s great to wear alone with shorts or jeans during the summer and under sweaters or jackets all year round.

4. knit lace tee

I was looking around on the internet as I tend to do on Thursday evenings and thinking to myself that I would love to find a good lace t-shirt. And then, suddenly, there it was before me. Like a fashion miracle.

This can be dressed up with black pants for the office or worn with jeans out to dinner or with shorts on the weekend. It’s very versatile.

5. j.crew clare cardigan

Listen. I believe I’ve stated before that I am not really a cardigan person. But I always think they look nice on other people. And this one from J.Crew comes in a bunch of great colors and is on sale for only $20.

6. j.crew layering v-neck tee

Here’s another great deal. These t-shirts also come in a ton of colors and are on sale for $14.50. It’s a great way to add a little color to basic outfits.

7. face the breeze top

I cannot get this picture to work and it’s late and, well, serenity now. But this top is really great. It’s a black and cream stripe with crocheted detail on the side.

8. keep me v-neck tee

I realize I’ve featured these tees a bunch of times, but they’re on sale at Zappos in several different colors. I cannot express how much I love them. They are the softest thing ever and I love that they’re long enough that I could even throw them on over my swimsuit this summer as a coverup.

9. pleated stripe flounce skirt

I’ve been on a serious hunt for a good shorter skirt for summer. I have an orange one I bought at Gap like 100 years ago that is on its last legs and I will mourn for it when I have to finally toss it because it’s so easy to put on all summer long.

This skirt isn’t as good as my orange one, but it does have potential.

10. black & turquoise pendant necklace

I’ve been meaning to feature this for the last few weeks because it catches my eye every time I see it. I love the black and turquoise together and it would be a great pop to any outfit.

And that’s it for today.

See? Quick.

Have a good Friday.
Beware the roaming band of lunchbox thieves

Yesterday morning I woke up and poured Caroline a bowl of cereal and then began to make her lunch. The making of the lunch has become an increasingly tedious task ever since she declared she is tired of sandwiches. There are only so many other options in lieu of a sandwich and I don’t know why she has to mess with history and basic science.

And so while I threw some peanut butter and crackers together along with some blueberries and anything else I could find in a package in the pantry, Caroline walked into the kitchen and laid her head down on the counter and announced her stomach didn’t feel good at all.

So I found myself on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, she’s not one to necessarily fake an illness. But on the other hand, I think having a day off on Monday gave her a taste of the good life and she wasn’t necessarily thrilled to come home with a bunch homework on Tuesday. Not to mention, she’d also lost her second lunchbox in a three week time period, which led P and I to have a discussion with her about personal responsibility and caused her to wail, “Great, now I’ll be the girl with the brown paper bag at school.”

Fortunately, P drove her up to the school on Tuesday evening just to make sure she hadn’t overlooked her lunchbox while leaving the playground as opposed to her theory that someone is “STEALING people’s lunch boxes at school”. Yes. Because why wouldn’t a band of thieves want to steal containers full of leaked remnants of pineapple juice and four stale Doritos?

In what she declared to be a MIRACLE, her lunchbox was indeed sitting on a bench on the playground. So perhaps the thieves just ate those four stale Doritos and put the lunchbox back where they found it.

But back to yesterday morning because I have wandered. She said her stomach was bothering her and she couldn’t risk the humiliation of throwing up at school. And, listen, I get that. I have thrown up publicly a few times in my life and it’s never an experience that leaves you feeling good about yourself. So I gave her a Pepto-Bismol and told her we could wait and see if it made her feel better and then just get to school late. In the meantime, we headed to the couch where I suggested she lay down and I began to check email and other important things like the stock market and perhaps – okay fine – I was totally checking out What Kate Wore because Kate and William are in the middle of their New Zealand tour with Baby George who is just the cutest and, frankly, I can’t get enough. I may have even watched some video feeds of them getting off the plane.

Anyway, after about ten minutes of lying on the couch, Caroline asked if she could go get her Kindle and read and I pulled the classic mom maneuver and said, “Well, if you don’t feel good enough for school then you probably just need to lie still on the couch and close your eyes”. Lo and behold, in what was our second miracle in a 24 hour period (the lunchbox being returned by the thieves being the first) Caroline decided about five minutes later that she could manage to make it through a day of school. I’m not sure if it’s because the medicine kicked in or the realization that she was in for a day chock full o’ boredom.

Thankfully she made it through the day at school without incident and even requested Luby’s for dinner after soccer practice. Nothing says full recovery like the LuAnn with fried fish with tartar sauce and macaroni and cheese.

One more thought from the day because at this point there’s no use in pretending this isn’t just a bunch of discombobulated observations, and really this next part is almost like a word problem. As I was driving to pick up Caroline and her friends from soccer around 7:15 last night, I passed by a house and noticed a girl who appeared to be in her late teens or early twenties wearing a bathing suit and talking to someone on her front porch. And I had a moment of envy where I wondered when the last time was that I had enough free time to be in my bathing suit on my front porch on a school night at 7:15.

Then I remembered that I am forty-three, so the bigger question is probably when was the last time I would have been willing to stand on my front porch in my bathing suit while cars drove by?

And the answer is somewhere around 1992. Which just happens to coincide with the last time I had enough free time to be in my swimsuit at 7:15 on a school night.

Problem solved.
In case maybe you have a book club or something

Here’s the official update on stomach plague 2014:

Caroline went back to school yesterday.

P ate a whole bag of chili-cheese Fritos.

I spent the day feeling queasy and out of sorts.

What I’m saying is that one out of the three of us appear to have escaped unscathed. Because, let’s be honest, chili-cheese Fritos are a bold gastronomic choice on even the best days. Meanwhile, Caroline and I are both in the weird middle place when you’re recovering from a stomach illness and kind of want to eat but can’t figure out what sounds good and then you end up eating a brown sugar Pop-tart which leads to regret and chewing peppermint gum to get the taste out of your mouth.

And since I can’t really deal with the thought of cooking real food because of all the smells and such, I made P a grilled chicken salad for dinner. And Caroline and I agreed that maybe a nice breakfast taco with just eggs might sound good, but then she changed her mind and asked me to make deviled eggs. But then she couldn’t eat them and finally settled on a piece of toast with some peanut butter.

The point is that we’re living in dark culinary times over here. It’s hard to get back on the horse that threw you.

In other news that’s completely non-related, several of you have emailed and mentioned that you are reading The Antelope in the Living Room in a book club or a Sunday School class or something along those lines and have asked if there are any discussion questions available.

The answer is yes.

One of my favorite emails was from a friend of mine who told me her Couples’ Sunday School class chose to use the book as a small group study to encourage everyone in their marriage. I loved that because it’s always been my hope for Antelope, that in the midst of the funny and the silly and the absurd there would be moments that cause us to reflect on our marriages and appreciate the person we’re married to and that marriage is worth the fight.

So here are some questions that you can feel free to use however you want. Please ignore the fact that I refer to myself in third person in some of the questions. It was either that or the term “the author” and I couldn’t take myself seriously enough to write that.

I hope you find this useful and/or helpful.

And the good news is you can still order The Antelope in the Living Room for less than $10 here on Barnes & Noble or here on Amazon or here at Walmart.

Antelope Discussion Questions

1. In Chapter 1, Melanie mentions that she’d always envisioned a Christmas wedding but ended up getting married in August. How did your own wedding day differ from what you thought it might be?

2. Have you seen ways in your own life that marriage tends to amplify whatever insecurities you have? Have you looked for your husband or job or anything to complete you in some way?

3. Do you remember the first time you met your spouse? What stands out in your mind?

4. Have you ever made a list of qualities you want in your future spouse? What things did you include that ended up not being as important as you originally thought?

5. What are some things in your life that you feel like you’re waiting on right now? Do you agree that we’re all waiting on something, no matter where we are in life?

6. In Chapter 4, Melanie mentions a list of celebrities she’d be friends with if they ever met. Do you have a list?

7. Do you remember things you found out about your spouse after you got married that you didn’t necessarily know beforehand?

8. What was the first fight of your newlywed days?

9. In Chapter 7, Melanie discusses finances. Do you have a budget you stick to every month?

10. Has God ever called you to take a step of faith with your finances or career? What was it? How did you handle it? Did you see him provide in ways you couldn’t have imagined?

11. What was the worst home improvement challenge you’ve ever taken on? Was it worth it in the long run?

12. Do you agree that it’s sometimes our job to be our spouse’s cheerleader? When was a time that you encouraged your husband or helped them through something they were going through?

13. How did having your first child affect your marriage? Did it change the dynamic in ways you weren’t expecting?

14. In your marriage do you feel that challenges you’ve faced have brought you closer together or caused you to drift apart? How do you work together to meet trials that come up?

15. Do you and your husband share any hobbies? What are some common interests you have?

16. What are some challenges you’ve faced with your in-laws? Have you seen ways they have influenced things in your marriage? How do you deal with this?

17. In Chapter 21, Melanie tells of a time she needed to share some things with Perry from her past. Has there been a time that you’ve experienced this kind of grace and forgiveness? How did it affect you?

18. Have you ever thought about the legacy of your marriage and what it means to future generations? Has there been a time you’ve decided to stick with it even though part of you wants to walk away?

19. When you look at your spouse, what do you see? What are the qualities he has that you value even though you may have not even realized when you first married him?

20. Melanie uses The Antelope in the Living Room as six words that sum up her marriage. What are six words you’d use to describe your marriage? Do those six words change depending on the day?
It’s a book giveaway!

Today I want to introduce you to my friend Jeannie Cunnion. As long as the term “friend” can include someone I haven’t actually met in real life. There are some things you can just tell by a phone conversation.

Jeannie has a new book out today called Parenting the Wholehearted Child: Captivating Your Child’s Heart with God’s Extravagant Grace. And, listen, I’m not one to recommend a lot of parenting books. Mainly because I don’t read many (or any) parenting books. But this one is different because I love Jeannie’s message.

Here’s the description of the book:

Your kids aren’t perfect. And you don’t have to be either.
Are you exhausted from the pressure to be a perfect parent raising perfect children in this imperfect world? Do you ever wonder, ‘How did these precious children get stuck with a parent like me?’ If so, let these grace-drenched pages saturate your heart with God’s unfailing love while also equipping you to be a vessel of God’s unconditional love to your children.
With authenticity, conviction, and a lively sense of humor, Jeannie guides you on a transformative journey into raising wholehearted—not perfect—children, who live from the freedom found in being wholeheartedly loved (and liked!) by God.
Parenting the Wholehearted Child equips you with biblical wisdom and practical ideas to teach your children that they are fully accepted by God, not because of anything they do or don’t do but because of everything Jesus has already done for them.
Woven throughout the book is the good news that it is God’s extravagant grace—not your perfect performance—that transforms the hearts of children.

You can find out more about Jeannie by checking out her blog here.

And, even better, today I have the chance to give away two copies of her new book. All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a comment on this post. One comment per person please. I’ll leave comments open until Wednesday at noon and then draw two winners at random.
That ticking you hear is my stomach

You always hear that life turns on a dime. Or maybe you don’t always hear that. Maybe it’s just me. And maybe when you account for inflation and the economy and such, life now turns on a quarter. Or a silver dollar. I don’t know.

The point is that I spent Friday in Chicago. Sophie and I had a day of meetings at Tyndale where we discussed various book business and future books and writer’s block and all manner of things like that. I suggested, based on my recent research of bestselling books at Barnes & Noble, that perhaps my next book should be entitled “Barley & Me: The Story of A Dog Who Fought in World War II, Died, Went to Heaven and Lived to Tell About it”.

(No one seemed to feel like this was the best idea.)

Then at 3:30 on Friday afternoon, a car picked me up and delivered me to the airport. I called P once I arrived and confirmed that my flight was scheduled to leave on time since he and Caroline were planning to pick me up once I arrived home in San Antonio.

I had about an hour before my flight boarded so I bought a parfait at Red Mango because I love their yogurt and granola and have been despondent since the one here in town suddenly went out of business. And I called Gulley and texted with Sophie until it was time to get in my position as Boarding Group B. Thankfully, I was B5. There was a time that being in Boarding Group B felt like defeat but now Southwest Airlines has gotten so tricky with all their upgrades that I’ve accepted it’s basically impossible to be in the A Boarding Group without spending an extra $12.50 and I refuse to do that on a matter of principle.

Anyway, as I was boarding the plane I texted P to ask where he and Caroline decided to eat dinner because I wanted to live vicariously through their Friday night Mexican food experience since my dinner was going to be the aforementioned Red Mango parfait and a tiny bag of peanuts. All of a sudden my phone rang and it was P calling to inform me that Caroline had just thrown up, but they weren’t sure if it was a bug or maybe just a one time thing.

And with that limited information, I had to turn off my phone and spend the next two and a half hours wondering what fresh hell might be waiting for me at home. The upside was I had downloaded the entire first season of The Mindy Project to watch on the plane ride and it kept me thoroughly entertained. I have no idea why I’d never watched it before considering my love of Mindy Kaling, but I’m glad it’s now in my life.

As soon as the plane landed, I turned on my phone and texted P who confirmed that Caroline was indeed in the throes of a bad stomach bug and had thrown up multiple times. So I called Bops and he came to pick me up from the airport and drove me to make a quick stop at Walgreens to pick up Gatorade and Sprite.

When I walked in the back door, Caroline was sitting on the couch next to P and looking fairly pitiful. I checked to see if she was okay for the time being and decided to take a quick shower to wash the plane off me. By the time I got out, she had thrown up again and gotten it all over her. This led to a flurry of bleach wipes and running to the laundry room and shuttling her to the shower.

And so it was that life turned on a dime. One minute I’m in Chicago at a business meeting eating Sour Patch Kids (Yes, I requested that they have Sour Patch Kids on hand because I felt that it conveys an unspoken message that I am both fancy and sophisticated.) and the next think I know I’m cleaning throw up off my child and the bathroom tile.

Thus was our vomitous weekend. Caroline was sick on and off until 4 a.m. Saturday morning. She ended up missing a soccer game and, more devastatingly, her best friend’s birthday party. There were tears and sorrow and a lot of questioning why she couldn’t have gotten sick on a Wednesday. P and I did our best to console her but there’s just not a bright side when you’re ten and missing a party you’ve looked forward to for the last month.

She seemed to be a little better by Saturday evening, but then got sick again on Sunday morning. And as of this writing, P and I are sitting here on the couch both feeling a little bit like bombs that might go off at any time. In fact, I didn’t feel that hungry for dinner and was tempted to eat a bowl of Cheerios but opted not to because I don’t want Cheerios to be dead to me in the case they might be the last thing I eat before the stomach bug sets in. But it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s in our head after all the trauma we’ve experienced over the last 48 hours.

Tick tock. Tick tock.