The Nyes and the Restless

Clean

2009-09-01T12:31:00.005-05:00

I suck at blogging. My life is not very interesting. Ok. Let me think...if I'm not interesting, then who can I talk about.

Ah! Friend S.

Friend S found a website, flylady.com, and even though the website is pitiful for browsing, the info is fantastic. The concept of the website is to teach a person how to keep a clean house without having to do take eight hours on Saturday to clean. It's about daily routines that take a few minutes here and there and POOF, you have a clean house every day.

I visited friend S this weekend and her house was lovely, picked up, and clean. I asked her if she spent a lot of time getting ready for company, and she said she didn't have to do anything extra. Amazing! I'm sold!

I hope this weekend to bust a move on the bathrooms and start organizing my bedroom.

What tips can you share to help keep a clean home?

Friends

2009-08-11T10:48:00.010-05:00

Ben and I have a lot of friends. Well, they may not know we're friends, but we are.

Friends like Phil, James, Eric and Elton.

James is one our dearest friends. He was there throughout our dating years, the day after our engagement, and a part of our wedding ceremony. Oh, let me introduce you...Restless readers, this is James Taylor.

Ok, we may have never ACTUALLY met, but we call those special to us simply by their first names, as if we are long time friends.

Phil Collins makes us smile and drum the steering wheel and dashboard. Eric Clapton has provided many "Wonderful (To)night"s. (wink, wink) And Elton John makes Ben's tone deafness tolerable.

Besides musicians, we have tv friends too. George, Lenny or who we affectionately call Lens, Greg, and Jack.

George Costanza is from Seinfield who I find I have more and more in common. Lenny was the quick witted cop on Law & Order. R.I.P. Lens. Our recent favorite friend is Greg House. Or just House to you all but Greg to us...because we're friends. And Jack. Oh our sweet Jackie. Jackie who can't go anywhere without his (and our) friend Karen. You know, from Will and Grace? Love that show!

Who are your "friends"?

Old

2009-08-07T14:44:00.007-05:00

It finally happened. I got my first white hair.

I was at the beauty shop getting my hair highlighted and cut, and my hair dresser pointed out a curly hair among the wet, straight ones. I said,

"Is that white?"

"Yes, but I wasn't going to say anything."

She plucked it out of my scalp and gave it to me. There in my hands was this five-inch long, cork-screw, coarse white hair. I couldn't believe it. And to my amazement, I wasn't angry in the least. In fact, I was kind of proud of myself. Yep, my body can make white hairs now. Cool!

It felt like a rite of passage. I felt mature. I got a little excited thinking that someday I will have beautiful, white hair like my mom (even though she is blond these days.)

I held on to the hair throughout my appointment and even took it with me to show Ben afterward. He was not that impressed. He already has several white hairs around his temple that he's named "Suz 1", "Suz 2", "Suz 3"... you get the idea. Apparently, he thinks I caused them.

I don't think so buddy.

When did you get your first white hair?

Dirty

2009-07-29T23:30:00.010-05:00

Several months ago Murphy met the man, er, dog of her dreams. Champ is his name. He is an old Husky that lives next to my parents. He's gentle and kind and can deal with a little dog jumping constantly in his face.

The first time Murphy and Champ met, I truly think it was love at first sniff. Champ was enjoying a peaceful evening in his front lawn and when Murphy saw him, she stopped in her tracks. Then she darted over to him. (She clearly knows what she likes.) Champ, being the easy going dog that he is, stood up and welcomed her over. Then he began to wag his tail. A lot. Murphy started jumping on him and wanted so much to play, and Champ was ok with that but he needed to check something first, thus, the sniffing ensued. He sniffed and sniffed (you know, down there) and surprisingly, Murphy allowed it. But then horror struck and I learned my little girl is no longer a little girl anymore...she's a whore. Murphy was flopped on her back and letting a perfect stranger, although handsome, get all up in her business. I mean, she just lay there with a little smirk on her face oblivious to the fact that her MOTHER IS STANDING RIGHT OVER HERE!

Is your pet dirty?

Debt

2009-07-26T22:42:00.004-05:00

Debt. I hate that word. It makes me sick to my stomach. I used to be so ashamed that we had debt, but now I can actually admit it.

We have debt. There, I said it.

Besides our home, which is considered "good" debt, Ben and I have credit card debt and a school loan, which is considered "bad" or unsecured debt. I'm sure most of you reading this have debt too. If you don't, then congratulations! Keep doing what you're doing. If you do have debt, like me, please let me introduce you to the one who has brought me great hope in this area of my life...Dave Ramsey.

My co-worker shared her Dave Ramsey book with me called Financial Peace Revisited and in a matter of a week, it had changed my whole outlook on our finances. I finally have hope that we will be free of our debt in less than four years. That may seem like a long time to you, but I never thought there would be a day where we wouldn't be sending a check to the credit card company. Lately, I have been watching Dave Ramsey's show on The Fox Business Channel. I enjoy watching Suze Orman, but Dave brings a calmness and sensibility to his show that I love. He's been through bankruptcy himself so he knows exactly how his callers feel.

I'm the saver. I'm the one in our family that is in charge of the money. I have felt burdened for so long, and I would stay awake at night trying to figure out how we were going to get out of this mess. Ben is the spender. He's not a long term planner like me. I guess that's why we work so well together. I have prayed for many years about our debt. After reading Ramsey's book, I shared the concepts with Ben. To my surprise and relief, Ben was on board from the beginning. We have discussed our plan of action and have committed to making the necessary changes to fulfill our desire of being debt free.

Hope is so important in every area of life. I wanted to share my joy with all of you and encourage those of you that are in debt to read this book and to not feel guilty anymore. I know it's a long road ahead but we're going to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

What's bringing you hope these days?

Fear

2009-07-22T16:18:00.011-05:00

If you've been following this blog, thanks for coming back. If you are new, then welcome.

Here's a little glimpse into my world...

Sunday morning before church, Ben and I went to work out. (First of all, this is an answer to prayer for me. My husband actually wants to exercise. Amazing. It's been really fun, by the way.) Anywho, we came home and found Murphy on her usually perch: the living room couch. (She's so cute.) Ben went over to rub her tummy and he saw something on the floor. It looked like she decided to chew on the carpet some more. (She's finally leaving the puppy stage! knock on wood) But wait! Ben took a closer look and turned on the light...it was a dead bird! At this point you are thinking, "Okay, so it's a dead bird. My cat brings in dead mice all the time and it's no big deal." Well kids, for me, birds are my number one fear in life.

Heights, closed spaces, spiders...no matter. But BIRDS, I become a raging lunatic. Seriously. (As Ben nods his head in agreement.) As a child I was dive-bombed by a Mississippi Kite (a.k.a. Big Ass Hawk) four times in three years. The bird, or plane-like monster, did not just dive close to me, it hit me on the head as I was riding my bike. I'm not joking here. One time I even felt it's claws grab my hair. (I'm starting to tear up just writing this. More on my issue of crying another time.)

A couple of years ago, Ben and I were living in Dallas, and we were coming out our fitness center early one morning and there were a bunch of black birds in all the trees, which was normal. All of a sudden, they all flew out of the trees. All 500 of them! I immediately grabbed Ben's arm and sunk to the ground screaming. For real. (Insert Ben laughing in the background.) The lady walking by us must have thought I was crazy. No lady, just scared that Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds will actually happen to me. Why can't I be scared of clowns like everyone else?

What makes you melt to the ground?