…this morning as I was getting ready for the day…but I have been at the computer a while now and can’t remember most of them.

It would be pretty bad if I needed a recorder with me through the day to remind myself of things I wanted to post, wouldn’t it? I do have a file on my computer where I jot ideas for posts, but nothing portable.

Oh, well…if it is important it will come back to me.

(I find myself saying that all too much these days!!)

It has been that kind of morning — a lot of thoughts flying around and I need to sit down and make a game plan for the week. Last week was a blur of busy-ness and then sickness, and I feel like I am coming out of a fog and need to get my bearings. I am feeling much better now (thanks for praying!) Jim made it home safely but feels a little draggy with zipping back and forth around the globe last week, plus he is either coming down with what I had or perhaps all the different things he ate (fish stomach soup and eel, to name a couple) are catching up with him (I am glad I did not go on this trip — I don’t think I could have eaten much of what was there and wouldn’t have wanted to offend.) We enjoyed looking at the photos he took, watching some videos of the trip, and hearing his stories Saturday night — plus exploring the things he brought back! (More on that Friday!)

I CANNOT believe we’re past the middle of November already. It took me a while to get into autumn, but now it seems to be flying too fast. Jim and I were discussing Thanksgiving plans yesterday and whether we wanted to get the Christmas tree that weekend. We don’t usually — that seems too soon to both of us — but everyone will be here and out of school/off work (except maybe Jason — he just started at Subway) — so that may be the best time.

Then Jason asked if he could spend Christmas with his girlfriend in OK because that is the only time during their Christmas break her mother has off work. I was thinking this would likely be his last Christmas at home…but now it will be his first one away. 😦 Of course, all parents know this kind of thing is coming…but it is still sad. His girlfriend has been with us last Thanksgiving and will be this one, too, so I guess it’s our turn — the first of many….:(

I’d better change the subject!

One thing I did want to mention was a couple of contests and giveaways.

I saw at Linda’s 2nd Cup of Coffee (LOVE the coffee dispenser in her header!) that another coffee-loving Linda at Mocha with Linda is giving away several books over the next few weeks. If you read here regularly, you know I am a book lover, and I know many of you are as well, so feel free to click the button and check it out.

Then the ladies at 5 Minutes For Mom are always up to something, and this time it is a series of giveaways from now through Nov. 25 with several big prizes along the way, including a Wi-Fi Epson Artisan 800 Printer and a $100.00 gift card to Sears. Click this button as well to find out more. I have my eye on a couple of things already! Despite the blog name, I don’t think you have to be a mom to enter.

And with forgetting half of what I was going to say, I still managed a long wordy post. 😳 Have a good day!

…that my husband has been in China for the last eight days.

I didn’t want any cyber-stalkers to get any ideas. But he is in US airspace even now on his way home.

He is on a board that has to do with textile fiber standards, along with people from several other companies, and they had a conference there. He works with the color aspects and gave a presentation on that — a 2-hour presentation because it had to be translated as he spoke. He said it went well, but we haven’t had much chance to talk about it all. Thankfully he has been able to call almost every day. His cell phone worked to call here, but a couple of times I tried to call him and couldn’t get through.

To give you a little window into his world, here is the description of his presentation:

The session will focus on color communication and the SAE standards that govern automotive color measurement and observation for automotive interiors. [He] will review the practical application of how color is approved at North American OEMs. The future of color computer-aided design and world-wide communication will also be discussed.

We’ve gotten kind of used to him coming and going through the week, but to be gone that long, that far away, and over a weekend has been a little tougher. We’ll be glad to have him home.

I had plans for a really productive week, but with having a bad cold the first part of the week and some kind of stomach bug the last two days, expect for missions conference and laundry I haven’t done much.

I have had about eight crackers and a few bites of applesauce over the last two days and have had to stay within a few steps from the bathroom, even after taking the maximum amount of Pepto Bismol caplets yesterday. I switched to Immodium, and whether that kicked in or whatever this is has run its course or the Lord answered prayer — likely a combination of all of the above — God can answer prayer through those other things as well as directly healing — I seem to be over the worst of it. I hope. No one else in the family has it, thankfully, and I hope they don’t get it. We did eat out Wed. night at a pizza place — I had a salad and no one else did, so I am wondering if something I ate there had an effect or if it is just a bug.

I know Jeremy is due to leave the nest soon, and I am not looking forward to that, but I have been so thankful this week he has been here to take Jesse to school and run a few errands for me.

Daytime television is a vast wasteland. I’ve tried to veg out with the TV a little, but there is not much worth watching in the daytime! I have gotten some reading done and slept a good bit this morning and feel a little fresher now. So hopefully all is on the mend.

I caught a cold a few days ago and felt really bleah Saturday. Better now. Some.

Dontcha hate it when you blow your nose and gunk comes out of your eye?

Why doesn’t someone invent a self-cleaning refrigerator?

My husband was away this weekend. We’re used to his coming and going through the week, but weekends seem a little forlorn without him.

Our church is having a missions conference this week — great stuff so far.

One of the missionaries is the patriarch of this family, and I am loving their CDs!!

On to bed — to sleep, perchance to breathe.

Actually breathing isn’t so much a problem — drippiness is — but I just liked the way that sounded. 🙂

I mentioned a couple of times recently (here and here) Texas Toast, and Lynn asked me what it was.

It’s really just regular bread cut thicker than usual, called Texas Toast, I suppose, because of the cliche that everything is bigger in Texas. Ours is almost gone, as you can tell.

Here I laid it beside regular bread to compare. I’ve only seen it as white bread, never whole wheat or lite or any other of the myriad varieties of regular bread. It’s usually not on the racks with the other breads but either on a table near there or in the grocery bakery.

Melli said she had only seen it with garlic butter on it. I’ve seen it that way, too, but usually laid out on a tray. Zaxby’s serves it as toast (with just the right amount of butter and toasting. Scrumptious!) And I think Sonic’s serves it as the bread in their toaster sandwiches, but I’ve never tried one. Unfortunately we don’t have a Sonic’s near here (but I want one!!)

It makes for really good cinnamon toast!

• The other day I was in the grocery store and kept hearing a mother telling her little son, “Walker, don’t touch that,” “Walker, come here,” etc. Finally I heard her say, “Walker, don’t run!” I thought, “That must be why she named him Walker.” Heh, heh.

• It’s cold this morning! I turned on the furnace for the first time this season.

• If you want to see some really intriguing pictures, go see ivman. Some are probably “doctored,” but many just happened to catch the right angle at the right moment. Here are a couple of my favorites:

• Jesse made the JV basketball teaming for the first time after trying out three years in a row. I guess I have to go to basketball games now. 🙂 We used to go all the time just for something to do — but I have plenty to do these days! I’m happy for him. He’s thrilled. We talked a little bit last night about expectations: soreness and hard work at practice (even though he’s skinny he’s not really in shape, and he knows that and knows to expect work on that) and the fact that, though athletics can teach a lot of good life lessons, they can also get people riled up and not to take it personally if someone seems harsh or even yells.

• Cinnamon toast made with Texas toast is really good.

• I woke up feeling not so great this morning — not good because I have a busy week ahead! After getting Jesse off to school I lazed around for a little while and just got up again to try and eat something a little while ago..

• I go back tomorrow to get the root canal finished. I was thinking that since the dentist drilled everything out last time, all he’d have to do this time is fill it back in, so it should be pretty simple. But he put temporary filling in last time, so I guess he will have to drill all that back out. Augh! Well, anyway, after this is over with I shouldn’t have to see him for a long time. I hope.

• I guess dentists probably need to feel pretty secure about themselves to go into a profession where no one really likes coming to see them! It’s not a good profession for anyone with an inferiority complex.

• I’m off to read a few blogs and then dig in to my work for the day. Have a good day!

Well, I survived the root canal. 😀 It’s not too bad once they actually get started. While the drilling is going on I keep my eyes closed (because once a piece of something that was being drilled got between my eyelid and eyeball — very painful! And I don’t really want to see the instruments) and think through hymns. It’s the anticipation all morning that gets to me most. No matter how much I remind myself that the Lord has everything under control and everything will be ok, my body still reacts nervously. But look what the Lord gave me in Daily Light this morning:

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3.

I had forgotten this was a 2-part procedure, though. I have to go back next week for the permanent filling. But I think that should be easy.

The left side of my face is still numb — great fun when drinking something! I think I’ll go rustle up some soup for lunch.

I wanted to share this cute video of clay stop motion chess that I saw over at The Common Room. This was especially fun for us because Jesse is currently working on this music in his piano practice. Stay with it — it gets more and more interesting as it goes along.

(If you have trouble seeing the video, you can find it here.)

Is anyone getting sick of hearing about my silly tooth/jaw pain? I’m sorry. I know there are people who have much greater trials.

But it hurts.

I saw the dentist today, who took an x-ray and said I have an infection at the root of a tooth that has a crown on it (how it got there, I don’t know). So I was given a prescription for antibiotics and pain meds and scheduled for a root canal next week.

(Gulp!)

I should be able to use the same crown afterward. And though I dread the procedure, I am looking forward to never having this tooth cause me pain again.

The dentist thinks the pain and discomfort from over the weekend may have been this infection brewing. I hope that’s all it was. I guess if that pain is still there after all of this, we’ll explore other possibilities.

Meanwhile I am anxiously awaiting getting the pain med prescription filled to see if it works better than ibuprofen. Hopefully it won’t have any side effects or make me loopy.

Meanwhile I need to go rustle up dinner for the troops. Tooth pain is good for diets — I really don’t feel like eating!!

Whew!

Yesterday was one of my busiest days in a long time, preceded by a busy week last week.

Last week our ladies’ group newsletter/booklet (we never know quite what to call it) was due and takes the better part of the week, but I love it. Often I would like to lay aside other things I am involved in and just do that.

Usually there is a week between that coming out and the monthly ladies’ meeting, but we had to move the meeting up due to a conflict which I didn’t find out about til last week. It was a “work” meeting making some cards for our missionaries (I’m thinking I’ll show some of them on Thursday when Kelli hosts a time for doing that) which entailed some shopping for supplies, and we didn’t have a hostess, so I needed to supply refreshments, plus all that is usually involved in getting ready for a meeting. I was on my feet for the better part of the day (let’s just say I could never be a cashier or a waitress!) It was a fun meeting, but I am wiped out.

Not complaining — just “keepin’ it real.” 🙂

So today I gave myself permission to crash. I took a nap. I am almost caught up on my Bloglines. I played Scrabble and Word Twist on Facebook. I did get a little work done. But mostly I’m just vegging.

Every time I thought about posting today I could not come up with anything articulate. Or anything inarticulate for that matter. 🙂

But I am sure I’ll be rejuvenated by tomorrow!

• Melli has a marvelous plan for our next presidential election. (Melli for president!!)

• Having kids of dating age, a link at Amy’s Humble Musing about “only half facetious” dating rules caught my eye. Here are a couple of examples:

11. Never marry a man who lets you take the initiative in everything. You want a jellyfish, maybe? You want Burt Lancaster instead.

12. Never marry a woman who never lets you take the initiative in anything. You want a porcupine, maybe? You want Maureen O’Hara instead.

• I don’t remember where I saw the link, but I might try this idea when reading through some of the shorter epistles. In my “reading through the Bible but necessarily in a year” plan, I am in II Corinthians right now, coming to some of the shorter epistles that are all too easy to just zip through. They are so meaty, and to amble through some of them in one reading and then just go on to the next one the next day leaves me feeling like I am not getting as much as I could out of them, and I have been wanting to take more time to absorb them. (By the way, with this and the link just above it, I am only familiar with these particular posts. I haven’t read anything else so therefore I can’t endorse the entire site — it may be fine, but as with any link, use your own discernment.)

• Kim at Life In the 10/40 Window guest-posted here today about a missionary wife’s perspective in adjusting to the field. It’s an excellent article not only for a window into a missionary’s adjustment but also for dealing with any major life changes. I like this summation:

I think that we do others a disservice when we hide behind a mask and pretend that everything is o.k. We are human and we will struggle. We can help someone else through the struggle, if we are willing to humble ourselves and be transparent. God knows that we are dust (Ps. 103:14)! How marvelous that He still chooses to use us!

In the craft department:

• A spiffy redo for an oatmeal box.
• How to stain linens with tea so they’ll look antique-ish (or at least off-white). I have always wanted to know how to do that.
• Felt donuts.
• Creative gift wraps.
• Kelli at There Is No Place Like Home has been posting card-making tutorials on Thursdays and now invites other bloggers to share their links to their own home-made cards. The thing I love about Kelli’s cards is that they are relatively simple, but so creative. I hope to join in soon.

Finally, a couple of LOL Cats funnies: