A light at the end of the tunnel...

So, it's been a really long week. One that you couldn't pay me to repeat. Of course, it's ICC week, which basically means that I haven't seen Adam since last Monday morning for a couple of hours. So there's the single-parenting thing all week... that's no fun. I also worked 60 hours this week. I'm prone to exaggeration. This is not one. I worked 60 hours this week. The week of ICC. I clearly have some type of mental imbalance to allow this to happen.

A day didn't pass this week without some type of incident. Literally.

• Monday - saw Rachel spitting her dinner in the trash. At least she wasn't cutting her hair. Again.
• Tuesday - long day and late night at work and Tammy getting stuck watching my kids til 11:30 at night.
• Wednesday - two kids tantrum-ing themselves to sleep.
• Thursday - you name it. A virtual plethora of mind-numbing experiences meant to break my spirit until I laid on the floor like a pool of quivering jello.
• Friday - the honor and privilege of working a full 8.5 hour day, knowing that I would get to return at 10:30 that evening for a few more hours of setting up for an overnight event at work.
• Saturday - got to work at noon and didn't leave until 6:30am THE NEXT DAY. That brings us to...
• Sunday - blissfully peaceful so far. Trying to relax and regain my sanity after one of the worst weeks I've had in recent history.

Fortunately, I happen to have the best friend a person could have on the ENTIRE planet!! I was absolutely dreading this weekend. By the time Friday rolled around, I was in a mental hole I had dug for myself with no imaginable way of crawling out until the weekend was behind me. Leave it to Tam to find a way to pull me out of it. Just a couple of hours into my shift on Saturday, Allison wandered in the front door to deliver some of my favorite snacks - Cool Ranch Doritos, Ghiradelli caramel-filled chocolates and a (much-needed) DEW!! What a pick-me-up!! A handful of hours later, another delivery - homebaked chocolate, chocolate chunk cookies, Reese's peanut butter cups, a card, and a MOCHA from Seattle's Best!!! At that point, the other girls began to fight with me over Tammy. They were literally plotting ways to take her away from me. NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously - she IS the definition of the word friend in human flesh. Thoughtful, caring, concerned, sacrificial, loving, generous, trust-worthy, considerate, and the list goes on. I don't know how God saw fit to put her in my life, but I'll be the first to say that I couldn't do life without her. She's not just my best friend - she's a second mother to my kids, she holds me accountable and keeps me sane, she's a strong and passionate Christ-follower, and an all-around outstanding human being. Think I'm exaggerating? Then you don't know her. Anyone who does would quickly agree.

Thanks Tam. I just pray that someday I'm able to return the favor. What you probably saw as something small you were doing to brighten my day was SO much more than you even know. I don't deserve you.

Love, me

Get ready for a laugh...


disclaimer: if you are actually white and nerdy, i apologize for any hurt feelings. i mean no offense. then again, if you are white and nerdy, you may not realize why this is so funny. word.

Adam and I have been to two more concerts this year than we've been to in probably the last 5, or even 10. In fact, I can't really remember the last concert we went to before this year...with the exception of Def Leppard in 1991. Anyway, I digress...

In August, Adam and I made the quick trip to Chicago (btw, if you drive there on a Friday afternoon and take Stony Island, you're IN!! Took us about and hour and 15 minutes to get downtown - sweet!) to see Teddy Geiger. Little did I know just how popular this new, young musician (17 years old, to be exact) was with the teenage girls. Wow. Nothing like spending the evening with a few thousand teenagers, and being a couple out of only a handful that are old enough to sit in the bar, to make you feel ancient. A few thoughts streamed through my head at different points in the night, like: "I'm old enough to be his mother," (a very young, unmarried one, but still...), and "my son is only 10 years younger than that kid," and "He was born the year I graduated from high school." None of them were very pleasant thoughts, to be sure. You may be asking yourself, "Why would they go spend the evening with a bunch of screaming teenagers just to see this kid?" The answer is simple: he's an absolutely incredible - no, GIFTED, musician. I think back to myself at 17 years old, and compare my accomplishments (or lack thereof) to what he's doing and it just blows my mind. Talk about passion and purpose!

So that brings me to last night. Adam and I took the afternoon off work and drove down to Noblesville for the Sheryl Crow/John Mayer concert. We made a quick (or, according to Adam, not so quick) stop at Scrapbook Corner, grabbed dinner from Qdoba (yummy), and headed out to the middle of a cornfield, what they call Verizon Wireless Music Center (formerly Deer Creek), for the show. Adam paid for "premier parking" so we pulled up near the gate, parked and headed inside. Not only did he shell out the big bucks for parking, but he also got us seats in the pavillion (section F - dead center) rather than in the lawn. Man, does he spoil me!! We had excellent seats, perfect for snapping a few pictures that you can see HERE. Sheryl Crow was ok. She doesn't really do much for me. Apparently most of the others there agree with me because the crowd sat for most of her warm-up. (Sidenote: Imagine how strange it must be for her, a 40-something-year-old woman who's been in the business for as many years as she has, opening for this not-even-30-year-old rising star...)

John Mayer, on the other hand, was unbelieveable! Incredibly talented, FUNNY, and pretty humble, considering the position he's currently in. He's an amazing musician - I'm SO glad we got to see him in person. It was even worth the torturously long drive home on US31 - the worst roadtrip EVER!! (Especially since I wasn't the one driving us home at 2 in the morning! Thanks sweetie!)

So, I find myself with some time on my hands. A rarity lately. Three kids in school all day (Abby and Allison are at Kinderclub today to make up for missing on Monday), Rachel at dance lessons (thank you Daryl for the shuttle service), and Tyler down for a nap. I am alone. Odd.

I'm not the only one freaking out just a little at this strange Thursday occurrence. Take a look at what Tyler did with his free time this morning:

Poor kid. This is what happens when the last child of...well, basically 5, ends up with all the older ones out of the house and on their own. Now his hidden OCD tendencies are free to make an appearance without fear of criticism or being ostracized! haha

Now to make the most of this golden opportunity: crank up a little JT (new album next week! Woohooo!!) and do some long-overdue scrapbooking. I know, exactly what you would be doing, right?? ;)

What I Did Over Labor Day Weekend by Becky Callender

Thanks to Grandpa Horton and his expert planning and diagramming of my would-be-landscaping, we now have a beautiful assortment of shrubs in front of our house. Grandpa made a list, drew a picture, and took digital pictures of the shrubs I needed to buy (yes, he knows how ignorant I am in this area) all to make sure it turned out just the way we wanted it - and it did!
Mom and I went on Saturday to Varner's to pick out what we needed - I left with two Dwarf Alberta Spruce, two barberrys, three boxwoods and an ornamental grass. We brought them home and set them out where Grandpa said they should go and it looked incredible! And they weren't even in the ground yet!!

The planting began Sunday around noon. Mom helped me with placement and pulled A LOT of weeds while I did the rock moving, shoveling, planting and rock replacing. We put the ornamental grass in a pot next to the front door, and VIOLA - we were done in just a couple of hours!

We decided I needed another barberry on the other side of the front door, and I wanted some more ornamental grass for a couple of other spots in the yard, so back to Varner's we went - mom ended up with 4 mums - and I got my barberry (they were out of grass). I spent the rest of the day weeding the front of the house and trimming trees - all for the effect you see below. If only the backyard could be this easy...

Before

After

A waste of time? Maybe. Meaningless? Possibly. One of the most creative, fun and unusual methods of entertainment (and even exercise) I've ever seen... Absolutely.

The Treadmill Performance from the VMA's. Hang in there through the commercials and stuff - it's worth it. Trust me.