Feel free to skip this post completely. I can’t imagine that it will be worth your time. It’s 4:00 pm on Friday, and we need to head out the door here in about 20 minutes. I don’t have our stuff packed for our over-nighter, Nina’s still napping, the girls will be home any second, and whew! I won’t have time tonight/tomorrow to post, and I can’t bear the thought of missing a swirly saturday.

~~I had the BEST day with Kim and Amy. We just talked and talked and talked for over 5 hours. I learned all kinds of things I never knew about them. We talked about Miss Abigail and all the lives she’s touched the past few weeks and months. We talked about how we met our husbands. We talked about teaching and writing and motherhood. Then we made Gabe put on his headphones so we could talk about (ahem). It was just a really, really sweet day.

~~Then I hurry-scurried all around, trying to get ready to go. I am not a good hurry-scurrier.

~~Amy has lots of restaurant gift cards from people lovin’ on her and Billy and Abigail. She treated us all to Pei Wei. Are you kidding me??

~~I’m really excited to see what God has in store for this weekend.

~~God gave me a big ol’ kick in the pants this morning. He used my husband to administer the kicking. I never enjoy this while it’s happening. Yet I always look back on it with a huge sigh of relief and thankfulness. I was told point blank that I needed to get over myself and start thinking about how my attitude was affecting our family. Then Gabe left for Donuts for Dad with Ava. I got on the floor and bawled, confessing to God that my pity party was an idol I was holding on to. I asked God to help me believe that I could let it go and be fine. And I kid you not–I could physically feeling the weight being lifted off my shoulders. No looking back.

–I love you, Gabe. I love you, God. Wow.

~~I’ve got to go, or I’d keep on rambling. Have a wonderful weekend, friends! Heart you to bits!

~~Just got home from 12 hours in the car/at the funeral home. Up in 5ish hours to go speak. Praise the Lord for being my strength when I’m all out.

~~Please continue to pray for Gabe’s family. The viewing/funeral was a neat time of celebration of Andi’s life. Gabe and I didn’t know her that well, but it was hard to see the people who loved her most missing her so much. Her mom, Aunt Sis, and step-dad, Uncle Gary, are just so precious to us. And Gary’s three daughters, Andi’s step-sisters, just cried and cried. They’ve been Andi’s sisters for the past 22 years.

~~Tug did a beautiful job sharing the gospel of Christ at the funeral service. Praise You, Lord.

~~At one point (between the two viewing times), I was sitting on a couch across the room from the casket. Aunt Sis pulled up a chair, sat down by Andi, leaned in close and just talked to her. I lost it. I pictured myself in that chair with one of my baby girls in that casket, and the wave of grief that washed over me about took my breath away. Yet tonight, I returned to my home with my girlies all safe and snug in their beds. Oh, God. Wrap your arms tightly around Aunt Sis tonight. Love on her. Comfort her.

~~I just can’t imagine. And I’m ready for heaven.

~~Praying for God to be glorified tomorrow as I speak to women about not comparing ourselves to/judging one another. I’m tired, I’m sad, my shipment of Is That All He Thinks About? didn’t come (I’m all out), I don’t feel like leaving Gabe and the girls all day. Please pray that God will allow me to rise above my circumstances and bless some sweet women I’ve never met. I know He will. He’s awesome like that.

~~Have a stellar Saturday, sisters!

Hi there. It’s actually Friday afternoon, but I’ll be off with some girly-friends Saturday morning, so here we go.

~~Just got back from the zoo with my friends Colleen and Anne Marie. I hadn’t seen them in over a year, and it was sooooo good to reconnect. We had 9 kiddos 8 and under–the oldest 8 are girls. Fun times! The kids were great, and the animals were on their best behavior. Except for the huge male gorilla who kept running up and banging his fists on the glass, trying to scare little kids. It worked.

~~This weather is so gorgeous I could cry. Thank you, Jesus!

~~We got a “package” from Marathon Pipe Line, LLC this week. I was kind of excited. See, long story short–we moved here in July 2006. When we moved in, we had 2 huge evergreens against our back fence and the entire fence line behind our neighborhood was lined with trees. Less than 2 months later, MPLLLC came plowing through and cut down every tree in their path. Oh, the horror. I cried. No more “it feels like we live in a woods, even though we’re really in a subdivision.” We were left bare and naked and exposed and treeless. I’m still not really over it. So, when I get this package, I’m thinking, “Maybe this is some belated monetary compensation for violating us and our home.” The first paragraph of the letter– On behalf of Marathon Pipe Line, LLC, please accept the enclosed notepad and magnet as our gift to you. You have received these items because you live on or adjacent to property on which Marathon Pipe Line, LLC operates an underground pipeline. A notepad. A magnet. So help me. If you could see the rage that is boiling up within my soul.

~~Breathe, Marla, breathe.

~~I did receive something delightful in the mail that same day. An anonymous letter and a piece of plastic. The letter–Dear Marla, Despite my support of being a bargain shopper, I still think you deserve something nice. So, here ya go. Hope you have a better week! P.S. I’m a bargain shopper too. I got this on eBay. The balance on the card is $21.68. The plastic–Victoria’s Secret. Thank you, you little stinker, whoever you are!

–Natalie wrote a review of Is That All He Thinks About? on her blog this week. Thanks, Natalie! I had someone (a married woman) tell me once that she was giving up you-know-what for Lent. Ahem. Nice try, friend. Methinks that maybe you should go buy Is That All He Thinks About? for Lent instead.

~~That’s all I’ve got time for today, friends! Have a wonderful weekend!

~~At what point do these posts switch to volume two? Is there volume/issue protocol I should know about? Or should I wallow in my ignorance and make my own rules? Such tough choices.

~~Today was not a good day painwise. I invented a hands-free ice pack for my neck though, so that was a positive. You take some ice, wrap it in a wet washcloth, put it in a baggie, stuff it in one of your hubby’s tube socks, put it in the freezer, then position it on your neck, tie it in the front and try not to choke. And I’m so thankful that I saved my daughters’ teething toys. For most of the day, I was holding either a frozen frog, duck or caterpillar up to different parts of my face.

~~I’m ready to pray for healing now.

~~Livi was counting her money in the hallway tonight. She has more money than anyone in our family ($30+). Nina was watching her, then made a grab for some bills. Livi: No, Nina! Nina: My teacher says we share! Gabe (piping in from the bedroom): … because we care! Nina: No, we don’t care. We just share. I have taught my children well.

~~Gabe, my blogmaster, was looking at some blog stats yesterday. “You should look at these,” he said. “Why?” “You can see which posts got the most traffic, then you can write about that stuff more often.” “Nah, that’s okay.” “What’s this post about ‘anomaly’? It got a ton of visitors.” I grin.  “Yeah, that would be the time I admitted that I buy my underwear from the thrift store and caused an uproar.”

~~I’m a little discouraged that the Expecting books I promised a list of bloggers haven’t been sent out yet. It’s been over a month. The good news? The publisher ran out of them and had to do a 2nd printing. So, that’s exciting. So far, my 2nd and 4th books are doing well and my 1st  and 3rd? Not as hot. I would love to break the cycle with #5. But #5 is already giving me fits, and no one has even agreed to publish it yet (and I haven’t written it). If you’re interested in reviewing any of my books on your blog, e-mail me. I can’t guarantee you a free book, but there’s a good chance.

~~Is this swirly enough yet? Am I jumping from topic to topic sufficiently? Hmm…

~~Dr. James Dobson retired from Focus on the Family today. I just spent some time browsing a couple blogs that released the news. The comments were laced with spewing venom. Regardless of how you feel about him personally, no one deserves to have such vile, hateful things said about him. In some of the comments, it was blatantly obvious that the real object of the person’s intense hatred was none other than Jesus Christ. I’m not saying James Dobson got it all right, but he was passionate about the gospel of Christ and the sanctity of human life. Am I being persecuted for my faith? If not, maybe I’m not doing such a hot job of sharing it.

~~Working on our taxes. Maybe that’s what caused my headache.

~~Speaking of, my ear and teeth feel like they’re going to explode. That’s my cue. See you tomorrow with another edition (volume, issue) of word sabbath! I can’t decide whether to post pics of all of us in various stages of pain and sickness, or…

~~You don’t want to miss this one! Happy Saturday, all!

~~p.s. I just previewed my post and was AGHAST when I realized I left out the SWIRLIES! And I did it last week too!! Why did no one tell me?! Were you all whispering and giggling about it behind my back all week long? Oh, the horror.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~p.p.s. I might have gone the teensiest bit overboard.

I believe I said yesterday that Swirly Saturday would not disappoint. In the future, I should probably not count my chickens before they hatch. Remind me, would you? Speaking of CHIKIN, we have a winner of the Chick-fil-A gift card! Thank you, random.org.

55

Timestamp: 2009-02-21 04:50:31 UTC

The winner is…Missy! The Missy who left a comment at 1:22pm and likes nuggets, waffle fries and Diet Dr. Pepper! (I’ll e-mail you, Missy.) Three of you commented twice, so I deleted your 2nd comment. Nice try though, Conny, Shannon and Jamie!

And now for the winners of From Blushing Bride to Wedded Wife…funny story on this one. So, Random picks the winners for me, and I have to laugh.

39
35

Timestamp: 2009-02-21 04:51:37 UTC

#35 is Denise! I’ll give you your book at church tomorrow, friend!

And #39 is Nixie! Who lives in the Land Down Under and didn’t even mean to enter the drawing. So I got on facebook (at midnight my time) and we had a little chat, Nix and I. I was laughing so hard I was crying. The girl is a regular hoot. We met online a couple years ago and have yet to meet face to face, but we chat on the phone and Skype now and again, and my word, she’s a trip. Love her to bits. So, she generously offered to give up her book. “It’s okay. You can give it to an American.” (She’s British.) “But I want you to still tell people I won!” she said, then proceeded to type one obnoxious thing after another. Things like, “I’m a winner! I’m so cool! I’m not a loser! I’m so great!” Okay, so maybe you had to be there, but I was rolling. Rolling, I tell you.

So… let’s find us an American to win the book!

24

Timestamp: 2009-02-21 05:06:55 UTC

Ginger Vann, that’s you! E-mail me your address, and we’re good to go! And actually, you don’t have to be an American. A U.S. address will suffice.

Whew. This give-away stuff is wearing me out. I can’t even remember what else I was going to talk about. I usually jot notes throughout the week on a small legal pad. All I’m seeing here are the words “rainbow face.” Ah, yes…

So, I ran out of concealer this week–the kind for zits and the under-eye kind too. I didn’t want to spend a fortune, so I headed straight for the NYC part of the make-up section at Target. I ended up getting those tubes of concealer that look like clown make-up–1 green, 1 yellow. So, I’m putting them on the other morning, and I couldn’t remember which color was for red blemishes and which was for dark undereye circles. So I guessed. Wrong. I put the yellow on the red spots and the green under my eyes, and I wish I would’ve taken a picture, because I looked like a clown. Streaks of orange, purple, green all over my face. I know how they go now. And the effect is stunning. Feel free to interpret the word stunning however you see fit.

And that, my friends, is what I call an Anything-But-Disappointing Swirly Saturday post! Unless, of course, you didn’t happen to be one of the three (four! Nixie!) winners. And don’t care about my cosmetics comedy of errors.

Can I interest you in a photo of my children?

Here’s a pic from our frigid trip to the zoo on President’s Day:

Happy Saturday, friends! May your day be swirled with all the things that delight you! (I’m waiting for Hallmark to call me.)