Happy Black Friday Ya’ll!  I know I didn’t post a great Thanksgiving post but to admit to it…well we’re traveling a lot this month!  So ya’ll have to settle for a previous post where I present the three C’s of Black Friday.  I wrote this in December of 2009 and I think it still applies to today.  This Black Friday is the first in a long time that I’ve actually been able to go Black Friday shopping with other women.  Namely my sister and mom who are Black Friday Experts.  I’m looking forward to the visiting and the shopping!

While visiting family, I convinced my in-laws and Mark that it would be a great idea if they watched our kids while Mark and I got up early and went shopping.  By early, I mean 4:00 a.m.  However, Ceili Rain thought it would be fun to get us up at 2:30.  Now, in our time where we actually live it was more like 3:30 so we gained an hour, right?  Whatever, it was early and cold and Mark and I didn’t have coats…but we trudged out anyway (in borrowed coats).  We hit McDonald’s then to Sears and then to KMart.  We sat in the K-Mart parking lot for about 30 minutes waiting on the store to open and watching the people in line freeze.  Then we watched them walk in and got in the line when it started moving.  We’re lazy like that.  Because we waited I couldn’t get one of the things on my list but that’s not a big deal.

While we were waiting we developed the Three C’s of Black Friday.

1.  Comraderie:  This is where you meet new people (usually in the checkout line or trying to find a product marked on the advertisement).  You smile and are warm and friendly to people you probably never would have talked to on any other given day.  In Mark’s case it’s where he got “the nod” from several other husbands who had been woken up too early and did not have enough coffee (and I think Mark believes there is no such thing for that early in the morning) to get them fully enthralled with the Black Friday event.  This is also where one person admires another person’s Christmas sweater and discusses the fine art of Santa placement to jingle bells(that may run into the last C).  Or, since it was Alabama vs. Auburn day, where you say, “Roll Tide” to every Bama fan that passes.
2.  Competition:  You’re at the end of the bicycle aisle and there’s only one $10 bike left.  You look at it and then straight ahead and see another customer eyeing the same bike.  And this is where the competition begins.  There are no rules in the Competition part of Black Friday.  No blood, no foul or if you can get out of there before store security finds you.  To get what you want you can bump carts, push, shove, scream, punch, or fake an illness to distract so your partner can grab.  All bets are off if you have to enter this “C” of Black Friday.
3.  Crazy:  Now seriously, you knew this was coming.  One day out of the whole years where you get up (or just don’t go to sleep) to get the “absolute best deals of the season.”  People have to be a little crazy to do this.  You’ve got your “elf” crazy people who are dressed in red and green from head (including the elf hat or reindeer antlers and flashing nose) to toe (elf shoes).  Then there are those who, like we heard about on the radio, just didn’t go to sleep Thanksgiving night and went to a late movie and then out shopping.  It can also include my “crazy” cousins who had Taco Bell and pizza for breakfast (because that was what was open in the food court…sorry for using you guys but it works for this category).  Or you can be as crazy as us, who, since our child wouldn’t sleep, woke up the in-laws to take care of them while we rushed out into the bitter cold to buy a drill and a couple of presents (and seriously, I got some tennis shoes and some shirts but we really only bought a couple of presents).  And the lines to check out…insanely crazy.

I know this post is two weeks past Black Friday but, if you remember, how’d you make out?  We did get some good deals on a few gifts and some things I needed (maternity shirts half off…Alabama shirts that are now starting to be too small for me but I’m determined to wear one in January…oh yeah).  Mark also told me we could have added more C’s and other letters but I kept it short and simple.  Don’t want to bore you or anything.

I posted a link to this article on Facebook.  It concerns mostly Southern Baptists, but I’m sure it’s relevant to all churches.  It was very interesting in how it presented each of the family-driven ministries.  Here’s a quote:

Why, then, does this new emphasis on family ministry also present a potential problem? Simply this: In many cases, churches are focusing on family ministry as a reaction to dismal retention statistics. It has been repeatedly reported over the past few years that somewhere between 65% and 94% of churched youth drop out of church before their sophomore year of college.[3] As a result, many congregations are shifting their ministry models not because of convictions that have grown from a seedbed of sustained scriptural and theological reflection. Instead, what motivates them is the supposed crisis of abysmal retention rates-a crisis that they plan to solve by launching a series of family ministry programs. Their focus on family ministry is a pragmatic reaction rooted in a desire for numbers with no standard by which to judge the results other than an increasing number of warm bodies.[4]

Want to read more???  Go here.  The article really explains what some churches are doing…not to try and increase numbers, but to actually worship in more of a Biblical model.

And, if you’re curious, our church seems to be more family-based.  We have age-segregated activities but parents are never (ever) discouraged from participating.  In fact, it’s a given that they will participate and help out (as will most of the adults in the church).  It’s also expected that the children will sit through worship and actively participate in it (even singing “Only a Boy Named David” in the middle of the sermon).  It’s also a given that the children will participate in adult activities, such as care group and visitation and, of course, worship.

Anyway, it’s a very well written article and might help some people (who are still scratching their heads) to understand the kind of church we’re attending (and why).

(Did I use the parenthesis enough?  It’s either that or the…)

Fourteen years ago today, I was nervously looking out my front door awaiting my prom date…which happened to be my first date with Mark. I feel like it was yesterday (and a few kids ago) when I saw him walking up to my door in his tux and with a dozen flowers.  I was so nervous and when I saw him I got even more nervous.  He was unbelievably handsome.  I had wanted to date him for several months but he thought I was weird until about a month before prom.  I think it was mostly because I stopped pursuing him and allowed him to pursue me…if he wanted.  I was not sure what to expect out of a date I had waited for for so long. 

Anyway, I knew after that night, that I would marry him.  He was a wonderful gentleman.  Not many juniors in high school would want to go on a first date to a prom AND with all of her crazy friends to eat.  He managed though and now…it’s been fourteen years since our first date. 

I love him more every day! (I would put a picture of our first date up here but have no clue where the pictures are…ugh).

Mark has a very high stress job.  He works so hard that I am just in awe of how much he has to use his brain power and muscle power and…

Okay, seriously, I called him last week one morning and he was very brief and in a hurry.  The reason being he had to go to training.  Gasoline Powered Industrial Cart Training.  That would be golf cart driving class to you and me! 

It seems that someone at an entirely different area of the country but who worked in a facility like where Mark works decided to play around with a golf cart (excuse me, gasoline powered industrial cart) and tipped it over causing injuries to the person riding with him (and that person possibly was the reason the cart tipped over).  So the higher ups decided that since there was no previous Gasoline Powered Industrial Cart Training, there should be…and suspended all Gasoline Powered Industrial Cart usage until after training.  Poor workers had to walk everywhere.  Tragic, I know.

I am happy to say that my hard working husband (all jokes aside, he is that) passed his written test with flying colors (he was worried…okay, no, he wasn’t) and is now awaiting a time when he may take a driver’s test for the Gasoline Powered Industrial Cart.  And then, and only then, he will be able to drive his golf cart.

At least he can add something else to his resume!

They’re coming to our area on Saturday! So, if you live near us, then you need to get your tickets for the concert!

If you don’t know who Go Fish is, then you haven’t been reading my blog long. They are awesome. My kids love their music and so do we. Not only do their songs re-enforce what we are teaching our kids but they are also fun to listen to. Well, Party Like a Preschooler really just teaches them how to act silly…but “Everybody do the crazy dance!”

Check them out here. Then let me know if you’ll be in the area and I’ll tell ya where to get tickets! It’s only $5 a person so it’s waaaaayyyyy cheaper than going to see Thomas or The Wiggles!

I’m into things rocking today. I told Mark about the dentist telling me about putting sealants on the kids adult molars to help with preventing cavities and asked if he could check to see if insurance covered it. It does. So I said, “We’re rockin’ the sealants!” I don’t know what’s gotten into me…

Oh, back to the story…

We passed a friend and his daughter a couple of weeks ago as we were coming to church for Awana. They were walking. The daughter looked at her daddy and said, “Daddy, they’ve got a fancy car.”

When the friend told us, I just pulled out, “Awww yeah, we’re rockin’ the van!” Mark got a kick out of that one.

While at the homeschool convention this weekend, Mark and I decided to skip the evening festivities in lew of going out on a date. We found a casual dining place to take the poop covered sling and baby. It turned out to be real casual and a lot of fun. It was a former gas station that had been converted into a burger place. We ate in the garage. Mark said the burger was great. And did I have a camera?? Of course not.

For dessert, we stopped at a bakery two doors down. They were just getting ready to play some jazz. We ate a really nasty brownie, drank some wonderful lemonade, and listened to some beautiful music. We also got some sweet comments on our sweet baby in the sling. While we were sitting there, another patron came up and asked if we had seen the tribute and pointed to three picture frames at the back of the bakery. As we left, we ddecided to see who they were paying tribute to. I was Barack Obama. Mark and I chuckled and continued on out the door. We didn’t read it all, but Mark caught the words “To our modern day Solomon.” Mark didn’t feel too hopeful about that statment since ultimately Solomon disobeyed God and led his country to destruction. I pointed out that he had several wives and concubines…hmmm.

Oh, I just typed this whole post while feeding Ceili Rain…I’m talented at one handed pecking. That’ll come in handy if I ever lose a hand.

Woohoo! There is a new couple that has been visiting our church and came to our Sunday school class. I was talking with them afterwards with three of the fab five while Mark pulled the van around.

The wife knew how many kids I had so she was telling her husband. His eyes got big.

“Wow! You don’t look that old.”

Ahhh! That was so nice. Now I know why I dyed my grays!

He was very impressed that they were six and under. And then when they found out that Zoe was just six, they were very surprised. Zoe was the same height as their eight year old. As we were leaving, Zoe said, “Mama, people always say I’m tall.”

I never realize how tall she is until she’s up next to someone who is a few years older and she’s close to their height. She and her cousin, who is 9, can wear the same clothes (although they are a tiny bit shorter on my niece)!