Friday, January 27, 2012

Client Piece & SALE!

Winnie & Tulula's is having a pretty huge sale for 4 days only!! Feb 1-4.....every booth (including mine) will be discounted 20-50% off! I already purchased a buffet for half off from another vendor that I'll be redoing! Love, love.....

And finally, a client piece is finished - one more to go. This sweet little dresser was just dyin' to be green.



And green she became. (No staging shots here, keepin' it for realz.....)




I always get a little nervous painting for people. I wonder will they like this? or that? or is this distressed too much? or too little? To be honest, it's easier for me to create what I want, and people just buy if they like. Hopefully, this will be exactly what my client was imagining it would be~



Friday, January 20, 2012

Scary Day

It almost felt surreal.

I got a call from Grace's school today. I was teaching, and my principal told me that "something" had happened to Grace and I needed to go check it out. I was cool. Calm. This wasn't my first call to the nurse's office. We've had our share of sick kids, fevers, throw up days, and even one huge knot on a forehead from bumping into a pole......but I never expected this kind of news.

"Grace had a seizure today, we think," the nurse stated. Grace was sitting in the secretary's chair, weak looking, but smiling - playing Angry Birds on an iPad.

A what?? A look of incredulousness washed over my face. Seizure? What in the world? My Grace is perfectly healthy...heck, she has been off the percentile chart in growth since birth.

I ran to talk to her PE coach, who was there when it happened, and he gave me the play by play. I gotta say, I was still in an okay frame of mind, until he said, "She twitched for about 5 or 6 seconds....her shoe even came off." That was it. I stormed out of the gym, headed back to the office. I vividly remember having a strong, emotional conversation with Satan that went like this, "Get back! Hands off, Satan! She is NOT yours to play with. Get behind MY Lord!" I'm not quite sure why this was my first response. It could possibly be that I've been preparing myself for the battles he might begin to wage because we've committed to a mission opportunity this summer as a family.

I immediately called my hubs, who met me in the parking lot in less than 3 minutes with a furrowed brow (his worry comes out with vengeance). The drive was long and one pervading thought was of my own mother....and her brain tumor....I tried to push those away. There were several phone calls to friends, doctors, family, and other people who we thought might could offer us any information on what could be wrong. One hour later, we were at the Tyler ER. A battery of tests run - CATscan, blood sample, urine samples, EKG's....all turned out fine.

A wonderful, wonderful doctor at the ER (plus a phone consult from our own family doctor), both were sure this was a common occurence in children. Grace's story of what happened correlated perfectly. It's called the vasovagal part of the brain. In adults, it's one small section that acts as a "shut down/restart" button for the brain whenever there is severe trauma or heightened bodily stressors (anxiety, nervousness, etc). In children, their entire brain is pretty much one big vasovagal. So even small stressors or pain, can cause fainting....and fainting can have twitching, uncontrollable bladders, etc.....during the process.

Grace, as she relayed what happened, was playing with the ball in a stuffy, warm gym. She had only eaten a granola bar that morning and it was about to be lunch, so she was hungry. She tripped and hit her knee on the gym floor, which she said really hurt. When she got up, she felt dizzy. The coach told her to sit down. When she sat, she fainted on the floor and had body twitches. She awoke groggy, but was fine after food and rest.

Needless to say, I was thankful to be living in a country where our medical needs can be attended to with relative ease. I was so thankful to have Grace healthy. In that brief moment, I felt just a miniscule fraction of what parents feel when they watch their babies suffer through terrible diseases....battling day after day....I cannot imagine. Or to be a parent who loses a child without the luxury of one moment more.

My heart is saddened for all those cases. I rest it all in the hands of our Lord, who has already embraced those sweet children in His arms forever.


Monday, January 16, 2012

2011 Year in Review

January. Always a time for me to sit back and reflect on what the past year did to my soul.

2011. First of all, I started a furniture refurbishing biz. "Goin' with the Flo" opened in April '11 at our local antique store, and I surprised myself with the fact that it hasn't done too shabby! It was a steep learning curve with pricing, marketing, etc. It's hard work, requires lots of time, but....afterall....it's been a blessing because it began with an even more soul-searching quest - saying "yes" to Uganda. (nice segway into the soul part....)

I didn't want to go at first. Then I said yes, and I worried. Constantly. Would the plane crash? Would I be left swirling in the massive ocean or die from the plane breaking up? Would my hubby mourn my loss or would he take my life insurance money, marry momma #2, and get gone? (just kiddin') But seriously, safety was a huge concern of mine. In fact, it overshadowed the reason why I said 'yes' to begin with - God told me to - and it turned out to be just what God thinks worrying is - useless.

I went. I saw. I came back ashamed, jubilant, and depressed all at the same time (is that mix of emotion possible?) Uganda struck a chord in me that needed to be played. It hasn't left my heart much at all these past months.......

The girls. Growing. Like. Weeds.
Sophie - about to turn 3 in four days. She is laughter personified. Her vocabulary has pretty much doubled in just the past month, and lucky me, we've found a skill she's really good at - cleaning up. For some odd reason, my wildest daughter excels at cleaning a room. She can do it like nobody's business......
Grace - halfway through her 2nd grade year. She reads on a 4.0 book level, has mastered the art of eating without her two front teeth (yep, they are both gone!), and has challenged herself with camping trips out in the deeeeeeeeeeeep, electricless country. Also, she has shown me that Africa wasn't just a trip that I was supposed to go on. It was one she lived through me in her little 7 year old mind, and that was a blessing to me.

The hubs. Hmmmmm. Let me start by saying we are about to have our 10 year anniversary. Ten years. Amazing. These past couple years, through our trials of homes, moving, remodeling (twice), and living to tell the tales of home remodeling, have brought us to a new place. We realize we can work together. We like to work together, and goshdarnit, we like each other's ideas (most of the time). He's improved his own craft of woodworking and has finished a few custom client pieces that are really beautiful. And, about 5 years ago, he started running. Like Forrest Gump. Now he's taken it to a new level in trail racing and has done the insane - like 100k's, 50 k's, ....added few more marathons under his belt. Even though I sometimes growl when it comes to the time spent in training, I'm proud of his dedication......and for inspiring and helping others to do the same.

We've finished the remodeling process in our current home that we plan to live in for a looong time. Yes, I said it guys. We plan on staying here (insert your remarks, but we won't laugh). .........Funny thing is though. Plans are just plans. They can change, they might not. In 2012, our family is already getting prepared to undertake one of the biggest challenges we've faced in a while.....more on that to come. But I'll leave you with an excerpt from my journal the other night.....it pretty much sums up my hope for 2012. And beyond.

"Lord, let my family be about You - in whatever package that looks like. Give us peace knowing that our decisions are Your decisions. Shed our skin so that we look more like you and less like us."


Saturday, January 14, 2012

Marinating

There will come a day when my daughter is not fascinated by the old, weather beaten bird house on the side of the road. She will not pick it up. She will not want to fix its broken hinges. She will not want to take the time to splatter paint on it, and ask daddy to put it up again.


There will come a day when the little sister will not look up, wondering how sissy can reach so high, and wondering when she will ever grow that big.






I'm letting the flavor sink in, taking all the spices that life throws in the bag .....the good and the bad....hopeful that all will create something spectucular later, but knowing the importance of just lettting. it. sit. .....for a while.








Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Dum Dum



Yes. I AM a dum dum sometimes, but not when it comes to good music. I thought I'd share this for all those mommas out there that have sons (or daughters) who are constantly "plugged in" you know....that music blarin', you don't understand the lyrics, but what you can catch....you don't like. That momma group....

Anyone that knows me (yes, Jennifer Massingill) knows that I pretty much jam out in my car when I ride solo (which is rare). I be all like rollin' in my Corolla....doin' the snake in my drivers seat....fingers snappin'.....ok, not totally....but kind of. My hubs has been a longtime fan of Lecrae, a Christian rap artist, and I gotta admit, it took me a while to catch on, but now they are a fave.

Not only are they biblically sound in their lyrics, Lecrae's music is biblically challenging! This song "Dum Dum" is by Lecrae and Tadashii (both Christian rap groups) They rock. Suggest it to your teens as an alternative.......they probably won't even notice the difference.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Wed. January 18th! Worth the drive.....

I know I have a few local followers and 'lurkers' out there. If that's you, then I personally invite you to a night that will open your eyes and (possibly) make you long for the days of 'not knowing' because .....let's face it....those days were easier.

Wednesday, January 18th @ First Baptist Church Malakoff - 6pm.


Our town, through the grassroots marketing phenom called "facebook", logged enough votes to be one of the three towns (in AMERICA ya'll!), that Sixty Feet will visit. It'll be a night of testimonies, touching stories, and a showing of the film "Bereaved" based on the lives of the imprisoned children of Africa.

Come.


Sunday, January 1, 2012

A Bunch of Firsts!

This two week break is, sadly, almost over. I'll go back to teaching and look forward to spring break and summer break and any other break that allows me to hang with my children a bit longer. These past two weeks really were fun. And they were also full of firsts:


First Big Girl Room for Sophie (no crib!)

First On-Stage Performance in the Nutcracker for Grace
First Slumber Party for BOTH Grace & Sophie (isn't it so girly?)

I Heard that Sophers Hung Out at the Snack Area Most of the Night...


First Front Tooth Went Missing - Chalk Up Grace for $2!



2011 was a great year - bring on 2012!
Happy New Year!


 
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