A Couch Hangover

I admit it.  I had a little too much couch last night, and now I am paying the price.  Cranky, tired, and all kinked up.  Well, let's just say it's not how I envisioned starting off this day.  Actually I didn't exactly envision a slumber party on the couch either, but some things can not be avoided. 

So no, I didn't get in a fight with my husband sending me to my tortuous demise.  Believe it or not, I got kicked out of my bed by none other than my middle son.  I know, I know, Everybody knows how much I hate having kids in my bed, but this was a special circumstance.  See, I decided to stay up a little later than normal (which is sadly becoming the norm) to catch up on a couple of my shows.  I'm pretty sure the coffee I had around 4:00 in the afternoon was the culprit of that poor decision.  Anyways, around 11:30, Blake starting crying, only it sounded a bit off.  It didn't take me long to figure out that this was going to be a rough night.  As I reached down to tuck him in and calm him down, I immediately noticed the heat radiating from his head.  Yep, it was going to be one of those nights. About the time I got him calmed down and back to sleep, I heard Madison stirring.  "Ah, she'll go back to sleep," I thought.  And I made my way downstairs to turn off the lights and then head to bed.  Guess what?  She didn't quiet down and Blake was back to crying as well.  I managed to get them both calmed down and was making my way to the stairs when Blake started up again.   I'm at that point where all I want to do is close my eyes, and it was beginning to look like there would be no rest for the weary.  But that's my job, right? 

At this point, Blake had a pretty rough fever, and Madison was on the stir again.  So I did the only thing I could do at the time.  I picked him up and took him to Daddy in bed before heading back to deal with Madison.  By 1:30, there was silence in the house, minus the various levels of snoring coming from my three little bears.  Finally, I could get some sleep.  I head up stairs, throw on my sweats and start to climb in bed.  But there's a Blake sleeping soundly on my pillow. 

So, do you see now how I ended up cranky, tired, and all kinked up?  It's what I'm calling a couch hangover.  It should be a really fun day.  Just so you know, Blake woke up this morning with no fever, but we'll stay quarantined just in case. 

Wow, you'd think I would have written about the myriad of other things that I have happened since I last blogged, but that's what's on my mind.  Fair enough!

Living in the Rut

Still no mentor, but then again, sitting around hoping one will show up on my doorstep is probably not the best strategy.  What else is going on?  I think this is problem, why my personal blog falls to the wayside.  I spend so much of my time pouring myself into my other blogs, whether it's regarding politics or mommyhood.  I manage four blogs and one website, on top of organizing meetups for More than Moms, attending events for Team Whisler, and oh yeah, being a mom to three wonderful children.  Let's not forget the most important things, being a wife and a child of God.  Most of the time, I feel like a complete failure in all of these areas.  I'm sure it's just the enemy attacking my self-worth. Lucky for him, he certainly knows where my buttons are and wastes no time going for the jugular. I find myself getting in these ruts from time to time, where I turn myself inward and allow laziness and procrastination to overcome me.  Guess where I've been the last couple of weeks?  Yep, in said rut.  I have recognized a correlation between my spiritual life and these dips in my psyche. It's almost as if I've gone into hiding.  Does that sound silly?  Who am I hiding from? My family? My husband? My responsibilities? God himself?  I have no idea, but my best guess would be my Heavenly Father.  Why though?  Why would I run away from someone who knows me and still loves me without condition?  Don't look at me.  If I had the answer, I wouldn't be working it through it with you.

I have been proud of one area though.  Lately, my house is cleaned everyday.  If you know me, then you know how hard this is for me.  It's the one area of my life that is completely defeating.  I clean one area, move on to the next, then come back and find the first area a mess again.  But in the last couple of weeks, I've managed to make sure the house is neat and clean by the time Neil gets home. Granted, it might be 5 minutes before he walks in the door, but the point is that it's done, and it makes me a better wife (and by extension, mom).

If you think about it, pray that I can get back in the grove of things, especially in my relationship with God.  I don't like being ineffective and unproductive.  I could use the support.  Hope my next post comes sooner than two weeks.  That's just ridiculous, right? 

All Hallow's Eve

Whew, what a busy day, but such super fun as well.  It started off with the Fusion Fall Potluck at Patapsco Valley State Park.  We rented a pavilion, set up several activities for kids and adults, brought various dishes to share, and had an all around great time.  I'm pretty sure we may have just started a tradition.  Whether it will be a once a year affair or every other month, I'm definitely seeing potlucks as a part of our growing community.  With little to no budget, smorgasbord dining is the way to go. 

We borrowed the small moon bounce from Grace which the kids loved even more than the brand new playground beckoning in the background.  But the most fun of all, both for the kids and the parents, was the hay pile hide & seek, where we scattered tons of candy throughout a pile of hay.  On your mark, get set, go...and they were off, sifting through the hay to find whatever pieces of candy they could.  Given the amount of kids there versus the amount of candy, they all walked away with more than generous amounts of sweet yumminess.  They didn't even need to trick or treat, but of course, since Owen had been talking about it all week, we had to go.

Our neighborhood association decided to host a Safe & Spooktacular Halloween event.  We set up two tents on two corners in the neighborhood, decorated them with spooky lights and decor, added some music, cider, cookies, treat bags, and some beer & wine.  Voila, we had ourselves "the gathering place."  Neil and I took turns manning the booth while the better half took the boys trick or treating.  We actually met lots of our neighbors, even discovered that one had already had her baby (like two weeks ago, good one, Hillary).  One neighbor with a 9 week old little boy joined More than Moms and even came to Stroller Brigade with us this morning.  Two events, two successes.  Of course, by the end of the night, both Neil and I were 100% exhausted.  I was glad for the extra hour of sleep, at least in theory, since my kids woke up an hour early (or on time by their internal clocks).  Yep, I still hate daylight savings. 

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty stinking fantabulous Halloween, for both us and the kids.  Owen decided to be Spiderman...for like an entire week.  He literally wore the costume out.  In fact, come Sunday morning, it found itself to the trashcan.  Really, it crawled across the floor and climbed into the can all by itself.  Blake was a snake, not because he decided to be one, but because I found it at a yard sale for like $2.  It was funny, because his tail would drag along the ground behind him, and given the wet circumstances of the evening, it was nasty by the end, to say the least. Madison made for the cutest cow ever.  At first I thought she'd be a fairy since I found these cutsy mini-wings, but considering she spends most of her time on her back, I wasn't sure how to pull that off.  The cow costume was already in my arsenal and just happened to fit her, so "moo" it was.  Totally meant to stop by CFA for our free chicken of the day, but time just got away from us. 

Sometimes It Pays To Be Early

...And to have an Old Navy card for that point.  Here's the deal, literally speaking.  Old Navy does this thing called Stuff & Save for it's card members.  Normally, you save 20% off anything you can stuff into a bag.  Lately, they've even been giving you a free reuseable bag (how ecofriendly of them).  Well, this time, my stuff & save invite comes in the mail, only this time it's for 30% off.  I marked the date on my calendar that it started and put the card in my wallet.  I really didn't read much else or think anything about it.  My iPod alerted my Thursday night that the sale started the next day.  After browsing over my schedule for the day, I decided the best time to go would be before Owen's class Halloween party, basically right as it opened. 

As I walked in the store with 3 kids, I noticed a woman standing there waiting to greet me.  "Hhmm, that's odd," I thought, "I guess they're upping they're customer service tactics."  The the lady speaks, "Do you have an Old Navy card?"

"Yep, sure do," I replied, "I'm here to use my Stuff & Save."

"Well, you're #46. Here's your free bag & 50% off coupon."

50% off?  I felt like I just won the lottery.  Come the think of it, I vaguely remember reading that a certain number of people would get a higher percentage rate, but since I'm rarely able to to get any where when I want to, I just ignored it.  Turns out, trying to squeeze in a "quick" run to Old Navy with three kids was the best decision I made that day.  It sort of went down hill from there.

From that point, I felt like I was on Super Market Sweep.  I'm grabbing here and snatching there, shoving anything that would fit any of the 5 human beings in my house into the bag and moving on.  Then I saw it.  The sign said, "Extra 50% off all clearance."  Oh man, I had just walked into an oasis of good deals, plus I got to add my 50% off coupon to it.  Mostly I bought for the kids, $.50 shirts here, $.27 flip flops there.  It was seriously a paradise.  It didn't even bother me that my 4 year old was running around wreaking havoc through out the store.

All in all, I got over $500 worth of clothes & accessories for $100.  Not too shabby, huh?  Lesson learned, always be early!  Now if only I could convince my kids of this.   

Job Description: Mentor

During my quiet time this morning, it dawned on me that I might be in need of a mentor. Way back in the day, when I was young and living in Georgia, I prayed for three years for a mentor.  It wasn't until right before we moved that I realized I already had one in my boss and friend, Tammy.  She taught me about being a woman of God in the real world, especially considering I was fresh out of college when I met her.  It was the first time in my spiritual life that I wasn't living in a bubble.  College was great, people constantly asking me about my relationship with God, evangelism being a central part of my daily life, and of course, having all the time in the world to pursue my passions.  Real life wasn't so generous, even working for a church, and this was before I had kids. 

Fast forward 6 years or so.  Now I have three kids, and three brand new ministries, new church plant, political campaign, and a mom's group.  Managing the laundry, keeping the kids clean and fed, and somehow managing to maintain a relationship with my husband are hard enough, but finding balance in all the other areas of my life is presenting quite the dilemma.  So I'm thinking it's time for a mentor, but where would I find one of those.  Perhaps there is someone already in my life willing to step into role, or maybe I need someone new, someone who might not be connected to everything else.  I don't have the answer, but this morning, I started praying for someone who is spritually more mature and ready to take me on. 

Of course, it's not only the new stuff that I feel I need a little help with, it's the baggage as well.  I realize I haven't found full closure with the camp thing yet either.  Lately, I've been avoiding God, not intentionally, but it's certainly an issue.  It's like I want to spend time with him, but something is causing me to look the other way.  Even though I know that it was time to move on and can easily see the bigger picture (He certainly made it clear enough), I'm still struggling with the emotion of it all.  I'm having a hard time letting go, and I know that there are still some difficult conversations yet to come.  Why is it harder to avoid issues sometimes then face them head on?  It's easier to bury myself in all things new instead of processing the pain, but without fully walking through the valley, I'll never reach the other side, right?  So I've decided to walk down this road.  I just don't want to do it alone.  Shocking, right? 

If you know of anyone up for the job, willing to take on a stubborn, highly independent basket of mush, such as myself, just let me know.  In the meantime, I covet your prayers. 

O's First School Field Trip

Beside the fact that I left the stroller at home and had to report to carrying Madison around all morning, I'd say Owen's first field trip was a raging success.  We all met up at Clark's Ellioak Farm for a day of animals, mazes, hay rides, and pumpkins. 

Blake was in a snit most of the morning, but Owen seemed to heartily enjoy himself, bouncing from animal to animal, engaging with his friends, and deciding every pumpkin in the patch was his absolute favorite. Madison enjoyed being passed from person to person.  Sometimes she reminds me so much of Owen as a baby, so I guess I know what to look forward to. 

We started out at the petting zoo.  Man, have you been to this place?  The goats pratically snap the food out of your hand.  They're like my kids at dinner time, like they've never been fed before.  We also saw sheep, who apparently don't like carrots, a miniature cow, pigs, donkeys, an emu, chickens, horses, and probably some more that I can't remember.

After the over eager animals, we loaded up on the tractor trailor and away we went on our hay ride, which was lacking hay, but whatever.  Regardless, Owen had a blast, sitting up at the front with his classmates, completely ignoring his mom.  I'm guessing it's a glimpse of what is to come.

The hayless tractor dropped us off at the "pumpkin patch," which was really quite a dissappointment.  Basically they had dropped a truckload of small pumpkins onto a field.  Larriland is a far better farm, just saying.  Blake & Owen spent about 2 seconds picking out a pumpkin and then the next five exchanging it one after another.  Finally, with Mommy's help, they narrowed it down.  While I went to put the pumpkins in the car and change Madison's very wet diaper, the boys joined the rest of the class in the Pine Tree Maze.  By the time I got back, there was no finding them in that thing, so I hung out with a couple other moms at the entrance. 

From there we crawled into the car and headed off to BJs.  Yes, it was lunch time, and yes, I must have been delusional to think that this was in any a way a good idea.  I figured I throw the boys in one of those car carts, get them a hot dog and some chips and they'd be good while I picked up some household necessities with my free 60 day membership.  The plan did work...for about 15 minutes.  Of course they decided to break down about two aisles from the checkout lane.  I felt so close to becoming the "walmart mom", it wasn't even funny.  Seriously!  But we made it out alive, got home, and stuck the kids in front of the TV while I unloaded the car.  Why are you judging me?  Like you've never done that.

All in all, it was a good day.  I can't believe my boy is old enough to even go on his first field trip.  I feel a song coming on..."memories, memories."

The Case of the Missing Ipod Touch...Solved

Thankfully, I am writing this in an utterly blissful state.  I have a clean house, spic and span literally, and my Ipod in my hand (well laying beside me actually), but just 20 minutes ago, I was convinced it was gone forever.

Every morning at the Pennington house is a downward spiral into chaos (hence the name of the blog), and yesterday was no different; rushing around attempting to get all three kids ready, bags packed, lunches made, and myself put together enough to make it to the gym.  I thought, as I climbed into the van coffee in hand, that everything and everyone was along for the ride as well, including my brand new Ipod Touch (early Christmas present from my hubby).  Turns out when I reached into my coat pocket to pull out my Ipod, it wasn't there.  Oh well, I must have just left it at home.  Of course, as per usual, I fill my morning schedule will all sorts of stuff, and don't return until after lunch.  I get the kids down for a nap and go in seach for my missing item.  Time passes and I begin to realize this may not be as simple as I thought.  All the "usual suspects" seem to be Ipod-less.   Before I totally freak out, I decide to check with the boys.  However, it's a new toy, and they simply stare blankly at me.  I tried, "have you seen mommy's little computer?"  Blake pipes up, "upstairs."  So I follow him up to my room where he kindly points our the regular computer.  Duh, Hillary.  Time was running out, and I had to get ready for my first EVER campaign kick-off for Steve Whisler.  I had decided that Tuesday would consist of a top to bottom search of the house.  Dang it, I was determined to find it.

The event was awesome, by the way, but I'll post that to the PVRC blog later.  This post is about my beloved iPod.  I know it's retarded, but it's amazing how quickly it became an essential part of my life.  Anyways, this morning, I sprang up out of bed, made my coffee (keeping an ever watchful eye out for the missing object), had my quiet time, where I'm sad to say I actually prayed for God to help me find it, and got to work.  Literally, I worked from 8 am until Neil got home looking in every crack and crevice along the way.  Good news is that I also cleaned as I went.  I thought this would go over better with the hubby.  By the time Neil got home, I'd cleaned every room in the house and had managed to find some missing jewelry, an old checkbook, a lost croc of Blake's, and several random pieces to games we thought were lost causes...but no iPod.  This was not exactly the news I wanted to give Neil, but sadly it's all I could do.  Luckily for me, he was more focused on the cleanliness than the think, shiny, expensive piece of equipment that seemed to have vanished into thin air.

When we got home from Chick-fil-A, Neil joined the search.  We even missed watching NCIS.  He was combing the bedroom and I was down in the basement canvasing Mat's old room, the guest bedroom, and once again, the laundry room (praying I didn't somehow wash it). About 9 pm, Neil comes downstairs and says he's giving up.  Yeah, I'd basically given up myself.  I grabbed my computer and headed up the stairs to blog about my sad, missing iPod Touch.  As I approached the top of the stairs, I saw it, sitting there on the kitchen table, glaring up at me.  To myself I thought, "Please don't tell me that was sitting there the entire time."

"You FOUND IT?!?!  Where was it," as I rushed back down the stairs and through my arms around my mystery solving, dignity saving husband.  "Please don't say you found it somewhere stupid!"

"I found it somewhere stupid," said Neil.

"Where?  Come on, tell me!"

"I don't know, I kind of like this whole missing iPod thing.  I come home to a spotless house."

"Seriously, where did you find it?"

"In my coat pocket hanging in the closet."

WHAT?  How in the world did it end up there?  I haven't worn it recently.  The only thing we could gather is that Blake was playing with it, as Owen's story goes, and he must have put it the pocket before I hung it up this afternoon.  Weird.  Why didn't I think to check there when I was cleaning?  Either way, it's found and I am absolutely exstatic.

Time now to go write up a post about the Whisler Campaign Kick-Off.  I can't believe I literally blew off everything, my blogs, twitter, phone calls, email, tv shows...everything, just to find an iPod.  I think I might have a codependency habit.

Couldn't Resist: Thought Of My Dad

From a friend of my dads, William, who is fighting cancer and is ademantly opposed to Obamacare. Just so you know, if my dad were still around, he’d be ademantly opposed as well. I honestly could not imagine what his last weeks/days would have been under this plan. Would some panel of government paid hack doctors have told my stepmom and I to just say goodbye and been done with it? His battle would have looked much different and ended much earlier if the government was in charge of his care. It’s our duty to not only protect ourselves, but to protect our parents and grandparents from being told when and how they should die. My dad, David Foster, died with dignity, surrounded by people who loved him and supported him. His life, his battle continues today in the war on cancer. People still read his blog entries, and in them, they find hope, encouragement, and even humor that inspires them to keep fighting.




Now it’s our turn to fight. The Democrats are preparing a nuclear option that will literally stampede right over our opinions and desires. We need to let them know that the consequence of this action will be the end of their reign of power. Though I would love for that to happen, the end of the reign, not the nuclear option, I’m not willing to stake my kid’s and grandparents quality of life on it. Are you?

At The Center of It All

A little over a month ago, I was still sitting on the fence debating whether or not to dibble dabble in local politics.  Now, not only do I regularly and solely (for now) update the PVRC blog, I am also the Communications Director for the Whisler for County Council campaign.  I know, right?  Crazy!  Some people say that Christian's shouldn't be involved in politics, and to be honest, I think this is what kept me on the fence for so long.  Well that and the fact that 98% of my time was taken up by my roles as mom and camp director.  It's still weird to me how quickly it all changed, almost as if the hole left by camp was immediately in by other things, mostly More than Moms and politics. And I can't take credit for any of it, which is a good thing.  It was too fast and too specific to be any of my doing.  The last time I remember the tiles falling into place like this was when I started camp.  God has made it clear that he is all up in the stuff in my life.  Actually, I can barely keep up.

It hasn't been an easy road though.  When life is on fast forward, it takes me a while to figure out a schedule, a routine that fits our life.  And without structure, life is more like spaghetti junction (shout out to Atlanta) then a well oiled machine.  It's taken me time to figure out how to juggle these different roles.  There are so many of them.  My time with God has been sporatic at best, not because I don't want to, but more because I'm still figuring this all out.  This morning, I drug my butt out of bed at 6:00 am, got a shower, made my coffee, and spent time in the Word.  It felt so good, so refreshing.  I realized that in these new endeavors, time with God is a crucial necessity.  Satan wants me to be distracted, caught up in all the newness and excitement that I forget the why behind it all.  To that I say, "Get thee behind me Satan," at least for today.  Tomorrow will bring with it a whole new set of struggles. Heck, ten minutes from now will bring a whole new set of struggles.  But at least for now, my mind is centered on the prize, focused on the goal, on Him who has given me life, purpose, and direction.  "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 27:4

If you think about it, ask me if each day if I spent time with God.  Man, I miss those days back at Georgia College when I could run into a friend in SAGA (the Cafeteria) and they would ask about my quiet time.  What accountability! And if you happen to be praying and you think of me, could you pray for the different hats I wear, as a wife, a mom, a mom's group organizer, a communications director, a church planter, and a community association VP?  Just pray that at the center of all of that stands the One who created it all.

Team Building and Brainstorming

Thanks to my fantabulous husband, I was able to join most of our children's ministry team (missed you Betsy) at a small conference, put on by Group Publishing, in Nothern VA this weekend (sorry Aunt Marsha, I didn't have my car so I couldn't visit).  It was sad to leave Neil and the boys behind (okay, not so much), but I had to forge ahead and figure out this thing called children's ministry.

You might think that camp ministry is quite similar to children's and to some extent it is, but my role it in all is completely different.  At camp, we get to put the cheesiness aside and focus on the fun in life, knowing that Christ will shine through it.  Camp is more of an outreach ministry, where CM is primarily focused on believers.  But as a consultant, I'm enjoying the idea of not being required to have all the answers, to lead the vision, or even to make any decisions.  How great is it that my purpose is to give advice? I'm so good at that, whether people want it or not.  However, it doesn't stop there.  Amy, Clare, and Katy happen to be my some of my closest friends, and this ministry, overall, happens to directly affect my three beautiful children.  So, yeah, I have a little more invested, and I have to be careful how I give the advice considering I'd like to keep my frienships in the end. 

The conference was profitable, a good value for the buck.  Of course, the most important take-away for me, for a deeper bond in the team.  I'm starting to see that we're moving beyond friendship, into the arena of healthy working relationships.  Plus, we found a children's Bible that didn't skew the word of God. Score! And we made a final decision on interim curriculum, which is huge. Not only did we make a decision, but we each understood the why behind the decision.  All in all, we were on the same page.  How often can you say that about any new found team. 

Wouldn't you know, though, that I didn't take a single picture?  I'm really getting frustrated with myself.  I take my camera everywhere and rarely snap a shot.  Seriously!

Much will come of this time together, I just know it.  We have our normal team meeting this coming Tuesday, so you guys can pray for innovative ideas and solid decisions moving forward. 

Wow, I really do have a lot going on lately.  Between More than Moms, the Whisler Campaign (did I tell you guys that I'm going to be doing communications for the entire campaign? well, I'll wait till it's official and then I'll post something), Fusion Church Plant, and the neighborhood association (or and did I mention that I'm also a mom of three kids), I feel absolutely stretched in every which way and, at the same time, completely invigorated.  Sometimes I feel like I'm playing a game of "connect the dots."  I'm not sure what God is doing, but somehow, it's all connected.  Neil said to me the other night, "I can't wait to see where you'll be in 20 years."  I'm excited to look back and go, "Oh, that's what God was doing."  Glad you guys are along for the ride...totally wished I had pics from the conference.