Not Me Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


This past week....

I was not secretly thankful that one of our youth group kids ONLY brought beer to our house for Bible study last night... they have been known to bring other, even more illegal substances to church... I mean, seriously, they brought BEER to the youth pastor's house... (props to Sugarbear for his handling of this particular siutation).

I was not tempted to laugh when said youth replied "Apple Juice" when asked what was in the fast food cup he brought... as the substance in the cup had a good head of froth, and smelled like a brewery...

I did not hit the snooze button, like, 8 times this morning. I love my job and can't wait to get started in the morning, afterall... I would never be late like that just cause I wanted to spend a few extra minutes snuggling with my snoring husband instead of going to work...

I did not just leave the "hanging up" clothes just laying in a (neat!) pile in my closet floor this week, just because I hate anything to do with folding/putting away laundry, and I figured they would find hangers eventually... not me.

Happy Monday everyone!

"The Day"

Today is “The Day”…. If you have ever struggled with infertility, you know exactly what I mean… Today is the day that determines what kind of doctor’s appointment the next one will be… Today is not a good day for me. Since I like numbers, today is the 41st “The Day” I have experienced. I am tired of “The Day”. “The Day” stinks. So, here we are, facing the choice of moving on to the next, more invasive, more expensive treatment, as we are at the limit of the current treatment.

If this were happening several years ago, I would be struggling in a very different way. I would be fighting with my husband, I would be blaming myself, I would be very involved in the worldly process. Not now. Now this period of my life is becoming very much a spiritual process. I am not fighting with my husband; I am fighting with my faith. I am fighting with the temptation to give in to the horribly negative feelings that I can’t seem to get rid of. I am fighting the temptation to be a very bratty, petulant child of God. (Yeah, doesn’t work… didn’t work on my mother when I was a teenager; of course it’s not going to work on the Creator of the Universe and my inmost being… ).

So, in a fit of honesty, here I am, the Pastor’s wife, the Sunday School teacher, the choir member… and I am struggling with the very promises that are laid out in black and white in front of me on the pages of my Bible… not struggling to believe them… struggling to believe that they apply to me today. Tomorrow will be different, but today it’s hard to trust that this situation is part of things working for good. Today it is hard to consider any part of this trial with joy. Today I find it impossible to trade this wearisome burden for a lighter one.

In all of that, I must recognize all that God has given me, and be thankful. I am... even today... on "The Day"... somedays the 'poor me' fog just gets in the way...

Here’s to a lighter post for tomorrow:-) It is Not Me Monday, after all!

What Does It Say About Me?

In our church nursery, the walls in one room are painted in Noah's Ark murals. One has a rainbow... What does it say about me that it drives me absolutely bonkers that the rainbow colors are in the wrong order? Or that I sometimes think about how bonkers it drives me even when I'm not at church? Just wondering...

American Idol Time!

As if anyone especially cares about my running Idol commentary…. Here are my observations from tonight’s show! Feel free to agree, disagree, or even not to care…

1. What weird bird had to sacrifice its feathers for Paula’s outfit?
2. Michael Jackson… difficult stuff. Is anyone gonna brave Bad?
3. Lil Rounds- are high wasted pants flattering on anyone? That said… she’s got chops. I liked the way she added that jazzy, bluesy thing at the end.
4. Scott Macintyre- What is there not to like. I bet he’s a good neighbor. I like a guy that can play an instrument. Not bad… his mom looks so proud When Simon is right, he’s right…
5. Danny Gokey- ehhhh… not loving it… oh, that’s better… ahhh that’s way better…
6. Michael Sarver- Boring… The judges disagree…ok, maybe it wasn’t so boring.
7. Jasmine Murray- Awww She’s so pretty. Now this is boring… And she’s sharp, or flat… I think… And no matter if Jackson sang it first, it should be a written rule not to sing anything Mariah Carey has done…
8. Kris Allen- oh my… was it good? Was it awful? I don’t know, and now Simon is undressing Paula… scary. Chris is a cutie pie though.
9. Allison Iraheta - why is she singing in a furniture store? She’s got a Pink vibe going on… don’t know if I like it…
10. Anoop Desai- How many times will we here a joke about “Anoop Dog”? Beat It… interesting… one of my favorites… too bad the song is almost monotone…. Paula got booed… interesting…
11. Jorge Nunez- I’m noncommittal at the moment. It’s kind of shrill…
12. The Osbourne's Reloaded has to be a sign of the Apocolypse...
13. Megan Corkrey- This is kind of silly… there are much better songs… Simon is sooo right…
14. Adam Lambert- it takes a real man to wear periwinkle leather on national television… not to mention the necklaces… he hurts my head. But I’m inexplicably fascinated…
15. Matt Giraud- He looks like Justin Timberlake’s goofy second cousin…
16. Alexis Grace- I’ve been looking forward to her… let’s see what she does… She just might be my favorite, simply because she is kind of spunky.

Not Me Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week...
I did not spend a good portion of the day Saturday reading in bed and napping while leaving laundry and dishes to be done, simply because it's my only real off day in the week... not me.

I did not put a pan in the dishwasher without prewashing full well knowing that it wasn't going to get clean just because I didn't want to spend the time scrubbing it.

I did not have to fight the urge on Sunday to swat someone else's child on the behind while keeping the nursery because said child wouldn't stop being mean to other kids.

I most certainly did not sneak both puppies table scraps when I'm not supposed to, because I think that they feel it's unfair if I only gave one of them some...

Not Me Monday! (Or Tuesday?)

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not try to sneak this Not Me Monday in on Tuesday because I was too busy enjoying my alone time last night...not me.

My lunch today did not consist of a bag of chips and a Diet Pepsi because I was too wrapped up in work to stop and have a decent meal...definitely not me.

I did not suppliment said lunch with Green Apple Sour Straws... not me again.

Last night I did not let the Dachshund in the bed after I was given strict instructions not to, just because I was tired of hearing her whine and I imagined she was cold on the floor all by herself... not me, of course.

I most certainly did not make a slightly inappropriate joke during my doctor's appointment yesterday about my feelings regarding the frequency of certain testing... most certainly not me!

Welcome!

Welcome to Nichols Family Fun Time! I am a long-time “blurker” of some very excellent blogs, and I thought it high time I join in. For introductions- My name is Jennifer. I am married to Eric, aka Sugarbear. We have three pets. First there is Chica, the loyal pound puppy who devotes her life to sitting in Mommy’s lap. Second comes Ginger, the high-maintenance Dachshund. Third is Sergeant Death (Sugarbear’s doing, not mine), the house cat that hates my guts. We live outside of DFW, Texas where my husband is a Worship/Youth minister and I am a social worker. We have been married six wonderful years. Being youngin’s when we got married, we waited several years before we decided to start a family. We started trying three and a half years ago, and are currently in the middle of fertility treatments. Like most people, this is never somewhere I’d thought I’d ever be, the doctor’s visits every other week, the constant lab work, the multitude of total strangers seeing more of me than I’d ever think necessary… (TMI maybe? Oh well…) But, here I am. Part of the point of this blog is to share this experience, and hopefully one of these days share the experience of successful treatment. However, this will not be the sole purpose of my musing, or even the primary purpose for that matter, as life with Sugarbear contains many blog-worthy happenings. But, I know that God is allowing us to have this challenge for a reason, as painful as it is. Some days are good, others not so good. But, on good days and bad days the reality is that my God doesn’t change. He still promises beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair! How awesome is that?!?