I'm Emotionally Drained

Jessica and Jeremiah - summer holiday, 2010

My nerves were completely shot after a judgment error on my part. It all started when I took my teenagers to the doctor. At first, it was just Jessica and me sitting in the waiting room. They were fully booked, but they still let us squeeze in and sit it out. While I was waiting, I got a call to say that my son was really sick and wanted to leave school. So, I picked him up while Jessica remained behind waiting and with their permission, brought Jeremiah also to the doctor’s. He’s our family doctor, so I was willing to wait instead of going somewhere else.

But my day didn’t go so smoothly. I bumped another car while parking my Micro Bus. It was in a pressure moment that I made a hasty decision and a bad one at that. I tried to forward park and forgetting about my long back end, swiped the front corner bumper of the parked car behind. Oops!

Our not-so-sexy family car, but it does the job

I need to stop and count my blessings. For one, my dear hubby handled the phone calls while I and the two kids continued waiting at the doctor’s. Our insurance is now handling it. The damage to our car was so minimal that we can hardly see the couple of scratches. The other car has some scratches and a slightly bent bumper.

Now it’s evening and I’m still emotionally drained. The kids both have a bad case of sinusitis, by the way. I hope your day has is going better.

Today I'm linking up with the Aloha Friday Hop. Don't forget to pop in tomorrow for the Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop hosted by me.

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7 Things About Me that You Probably Don’t Know

This Beautiful Blogger Award comes via Marge at Inside Out Cafe. She has an awesome blog with lots of helpful information. Go and check it out. I know you won't regret it!

In order to accept the award, I have to tell you 7 things about me and list 7 other bloggers who have inspired me and say why. If you would like the Beautiful Blogger Award, then follow the same steps and copy the icon and paste it in your post. Don't forget to add a link back to me. Go ahead and share in the fun!

Here are 7 things about me that you probably don't know:

1. For several years I’ve wanted Disney to make an animated version of the Sound of Music and for me to be the voice of Maria. I know, it’s a lofty thought, but I’ve loved the Sound of Music since my childhood and I do sing. I’m also part Austrian (my mother was a baroness by birth), so I feel a kinship to the von Trapp family.

2. I have 4 children, but my husband and I want 5. When I was a teenager, I wanted to adopt and I still do. This was inspired by my trip to Romania. I had heard a Romanian pastor tell about his childhood, how his mother had died and his father had left him to the care of the government. In 1998 I wrote a poem about Romania’s orphans and an English woman named Beverly who had worked among them.

3. My husband says that I talk to my 4-year-old like she’s a teenager and to my teenage kids and their friends like they are 4-year-olds.

4. I love reading. Some of my favorite books were written for children. Here are 4 award-winning children’s novels with important life-lessons: I am David (also known as North to Freedom), written in 1963 by Anne Holm; The Diddakoi, written in 1972 by Rumer Godden; Goodnight Mister Tom, written in 1981 by Michelle Magorian; The Wind Singer, written in 2000 by William Nicholson and is part of the Wind on Fire Trilogy.

5. My middle name is Allison and means “truthful warrior maid.”

6. Symbolic pictures or prophetic words that others have seen regarding me (and these people did not know my middle name or its meaning): a warrior, a battleship, a woman on a horse wielding two swords and slaying demons on either side, sweet custard (similar to vanilla pudding and yes, it is funny), an advocate standing between two pillars, a rainbow with a unique color not seen on earth, a beautiful butterfly and wherever it lands it brings sparkling colors out in others.

7. I had hoped that when I turned 30, it would be a magic age in my life ushering in new things. I am now 37 and still living in the same small town with very few real friendships (I need some kindred spirits!). The only big differences are that I privately recorded a CD (which did not open any doors for me), gave birth to my 4th child (she is absolutely adorable), moved into a bigger home (it even has a pool), and this year I stepped out and began my own blogs (I kind of went crazy and started 4 blogs and share a 5th one with my husband).

Here are 7 blogs that have inspired me:

The 1st 4 are lovely bloggers who I have met in my short blogging career and who have already extended a hand of friendship to me. The last 3 are beautiful blogs that encourage other blogging moms.

1. Women Walking in the Spirit of Christ
2. Shortybear’s Place
3. Great Family Fun
4. The Chic Stay at Home Mom
5. Far Above Rubies
6. Cindy Adkins’ Whimsical Musings
7. Denise in Bloom

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A Perfect Evening Gone Wrong

The night Amanda gave us a scare.

Last night I put Amanda to bed with one of the new books that she got for her birthday. It’s called Nursery Rhymes & Fairy Tales by Disney. She’s at that age where she loves to recite and sing nursery rhymes and so this book has come at a good time. A neat bonus to the book is that two pages of tiny Disney stickers are included.

Amanda’s evening seemed to have come to a perfect end. I took a photo last night so that I could share with you how happy and peaceful this moment was. It was only a few minutes later and the perfect moment changed into something like a scary movie. I had just gone to my room when Samantha called out to say that Amanda had left her bed (the two girls share a room). I looked down the dark passage and saw her heading the opposite direction. When she heard my voice, she turned around and came towards me. Immediately, I could see something was wrong, because there was a huge dark patch between her nose and mouth.

I quickly got her to my bathroom and in the light I could see that she was covered in blood. Besides what I had already observed on her face, I could now see that it was also on her hands, arms and nightgown. I called out to her dad with alarm, which upset her, but then I switched my tone and she calmed down. Her dad went to check out her bed while I cleaned her up. Her bedding was covered in blood too and some went on her new book, but it wiped off easily and the bedding went straight to the wash. Of course, I didn’t take a photo of that. It had been too unexpected.

None of my kids have ever had a nosebleed like that before, but just as quickly as it had started, it also stopped. Today she was fine without another incident. As they say, “Life happens” and there’s not always much we can do about it. An unexpected nosebleed reminds me that nothing in this life is perfect.

As a teenager, I read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and something he explained in there about perfection made a lot of sense to me. I had always had this strong need for things to be perfect. Lewis’ book points out that our understanding and desire for perfection comes from our inner knowing that perfection exists, but not on earth, which can frustrate those who are seeking it. Perfection is found in God and in His heavenly kingdom. One day He will make all things new – even our world – and that day I am waiting for with great expectation.

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