The C Word

I was in the fifth grade before I owned a pair of jeans. And the only reason I got them was because we were going to my Grandpa's dairy farm, and dresses were not allowed. Up to that point, I wore dresses all the time. Never climbed trees. Did not make mud pies. Hated when my parents announced that it was time for yard work. And never, ever, ever pulled the legs off of daddy long-leg spiders like my sister did.

Girly-girl to an extreme degree.

So it is no surprise that I have grown up to prefer the indoors and am not a fan of that four letter word:

C-A-M-P.

But leave it to the Girl Scouts to get us all out of our comfort zone... When the chance came up to "Cabin Camp" with ChellBell and all the other Moms and girls in our Troop, the answer had to be "Yes." So I packed my sleeping bag, sheets (for covering up the already-slept-on-by-God-knows-how-many-people mattress), towels, and bug spray and headed off to Sky Ranch.

And, honestly, we had a great time (besides the bunk beds and bugs and the general outdoors...). We packed so much into a short weekend, and ChellBell and I made some forever-remember-these-moments kind of memories, just laughing and having fun. We zip-lined, kayaked, went horseback riding, played in the lake, jumped off a trapeze into the swimming pool, went on a hike, built campfires, and ate s'mores.

Not bad for a Girly-girl, huh?!

The tag line of my blog has always been "finding extraordinary moments in an extra-ordinary life." Mission accomplished this weekend. And I bet if I look hard enough, I can find some pretty-cool moments every single day, buried into my very normal, ordinary life.

I'm challenging myself to find the extraordinary moments every single day in September and blog about them. Hmmm... I wonder what tomorrow will bring?!

Month-o-Love Day 24: It's for a Good Cause

Day 24: I heart...

Cookies

And a legitimate, totally-justified, no-guilt reason to eat them.  Like the Girl Scouts -- how can you say, "no" to the Girl Scouts (or "Brownie Scouts" in our case)?  We are eating cookies for a good cause!

While ChellBell and I were in Fort Worth for the weekend, Chris did us a favor and picked up 150 boxes of Girl Scout cookies that ChellBell sold for her troop this year.  It seemed like a lot to deliver until we subtracted the number of boxes that will never leave this house, because they were ordered specifically for our family's consumption.  Frightening!

I was at a Recruiter networking event tonight, and one lady whom I just met asked me what I was giving up for Lent.  So maybe I've been in a cave, but I kind of forgot that today was Fat Tuesday (heck, every Tuesday is Fat Tuesday for me nowdays, based on the size of pants I am now fitting into) and that Lent starts tomorrow.  

It's days like this that I am happy to worship in the Protestant, non-denominational, non-Lent-observing church.  Because I'm sure that God would call me to give up Girl Scout cookies, and I might have a really, really hard time with that.

So, if you are facing another Lenten season with Girl Scout cookies sitting on your counter, take solace in the fact that they freeze well.  (oooh, those Thin Mints are really good straight out of the freezer!).  Gotta dash, it's snack time!

LEAP-ish kind of year

Leap Frog

Lords a-leaping

Leapin' Lizards

Look before you leap

Leap of faith

It's Leap Year, so today is our extra day -- our freebie -- to enjoy the month of February just a little bit longer. While we're leaping, here are some things I am Leaping for Joy about today:

Our construction is finally finished, and besides a little bit of touch up paint, we are DONE with home improvement for a while. (And if you know me, you know that is a total lie, because I will always find something to improve upon around the house. My patience and pocketbook indicate, however, that it probably will not be on this scale for a long time).

The little dog has been behaving himself. Quite well, actually. He even gets to sleep on the bed with us now (one of Chris' great ideas -- couldn't resist that little face...). He is getting to roam the house while we're at work for the first time today. I'll let you know if we're still leaping for joy in about 9 hours.

There were extra boxes of Tag-a-longs, so I ordered four more.

Sweet times with sweet friends.

What are you leaping for joy about today?

Give Up or Give In

The girl scout cookies arrived about 3 hours ago (see ChellBell's BFF, Anne, hiding in the cases), and I already have a stomach ache from eating too many Tag-a-longs. I swore I would pace myself, but it was too much temptation. This is what happens when I have to wait an entire year for the smooth peanut-buttery-filled-crispy-cookie covered in chocolate with just that little bit of waxy aftertaste.

I put the other 3 boxes in the freezer for rationing purposes, along with 3 boxes of Thin Mints. But there is no lock on the freezer, so who's to say how long that will work.

Sheer willpower. It's a scary thing to be dependent upon. Especially during Girl Scout cookie season.

And whose great idea was it to deliver GS cookies during Lent? Not that I celebrate Lent (one selling point of being Protestant), but I do sympathize with my friends who felt God's call to give up sweets during this season and now just have to sit and stare at the 12 boxes of Samoas that they ordered before God's call came. And now day after day you are asking God if you heard his voice right, and maybe he asked you to give up beets during Lent, instead of sweets...

So you can either have a timely conversion to a Protestant church -- all the same benefits of salvation, with instant confession, less memorization, and no Lenten season. Or you can make space in the freezer for the cookies, and get through Lent with the satisfaction of knowing that even Thin Mints couldn't take you from God's instruction.

Give it some thought. In the meantime, I have a box of sweets beets to get started on.

I, I will survive...

ChellBell is six now, and when the doors to the first grade opened , the doors of ExtraCurricular Over-Involvement opened as well. Her weekly schedule involves two dance classes, cheerleading practice, and Brownies ("Brownie Scouts" as it has come to be known at our house). I had to decline her recent requests for a "vocal coach" (amusing, isn't it) and piano lessons, because these involve practice, and I don't know when we would fit that into our calendar. Self-admittedly, the over-involvement is my fault, but oh the guilt of not letting ChellBell go to cheerleading when there is a high probability that come time for a career choice, it could be down the professional cheerleading avenue -- would you want to be the one to squelch her dreams? Me either.

The one activity for which I am actually grateful is Brownies. It's like being a part of the bedrock of American culture, where they still vow to "serve God and my country". I remember my own brown beanie days like they were just yesterday, and ChellBell and I have had fun singing the Make New Friends song over and over (and over) again. The only thing about BrownieScouts that makes me a tad nervous is the discussion of an all-troop camp-out. Not being a camper myself (as Chris says about me, "it's camping if there's not a mint on her pillow"), the idea of going into the woods for survival training seems a bit unnecessary.

We have to ask, what exactly is "survival" in this day and age? What is the likelihood that we will be in a remote area rubbing sticks together to make fire and locating a stream to fill our canteens? Wouldn't you just dial the closest person on your cell phone or SMS a friend requesting a bottled water and some matches? Perhaps the idea of "survival" needs a facelift, a shift into the modern world if you will. Most definitely, we all need to be resourceful, but in a world of unrelinquishing connectivity, what tactics of resourcefulness should the BrownieScouts of the new generation be equipped with?

My idea of survival involves learning how to MapQuest directions to the nearest SuperWalmart if you are in an unfamiliar location. It's open 24 hours, and you can get an oil change, buy swim shoes, and pick up a pound of ground beef all at the same location.

Survival is being able to Google a Child's WonderWoman costume and overnight it to your house on Christmas Eve so that Santa doesn't end up being a total loser to the child who changes her Christmas Wish List two days before the Holiday.

Survival is having CrazyGlue on hand. It will fix an acrylic nail, put a heel back on a shoe, and fix, say, a broken vase when you accidentally break it at your sister's house and it is her favorite and she is upstairs and you panicked and needed a quick fix so she doesn't hate you.

Survival is having the #3 option after leaving a voicemail, where you can delete it and start over if you sounded like a complete moron.

So maybe these survival tactics aren't earth-shattering, but I've certainly been saved more times by these than by keeping flint on hand. But I do always keep some beef jerky and a box of GirlScout cookies in the car just in case...