Rick and Bubba's Guide to the Almost Nearly Perfect Marriage

Do you have the perfect marriage?

No?

Neither do I.

Neither do Rick and Sherri or Bubba and Betty.

They do have an "almost nearly perfect" marriage though. What does the almost nearly perfect marriage look like? Well, there is a lot of laughter mixed with some forgiveness.



Rick and Bubba are not know-it-all geniuses, they each have a real marriage and their stories about their marriages will make you laugh while giving you insights on your marriage.

Included are

• "Rules of Engagement for Women" and "Rules of Engagement for Men"
• "Top 10 Worst Ways to say, 'I'm Sorry'"
• "Top 10 Reasons Some Husbands Don't Pick Up After Themselves"
• The Book of Blame

While there is a lot of laughter and jokes, there are also some real gems of insight:

Show us a good marriage, and we'll show you a union of two good forgivers. In fact, one reason the divorce rate is so high, especially among christians, is that many of us have forgotten how to forgive.

And

Men want to be their wife's hero. Yet many wives find it easier to love, feed or clothe their husbands than to show them respect.

This is not a dry dull book on how to improve your marriage. I would even say if your marriage is having trouble, this is probably not the book you need. But is is a fun book to read.

I have to confess I had never heard of Rick and Bubba before.

I never heard their radio show, never saw their website, nothing. I really wish I had listened to the CD that was included with the book first, because I would have had a better idea what I was listening to. As stupid as it sounds, I was not expecting a couple of guys I might run into at the feed store, or at a gathering of Hubbies co-workers, or at church. These guys are totally down to earth, but without getting into the muck.

Some comedians seem to think that the dirtier you get or the fouler the language the better of a comedian you are. These guys are funny without doing that. This is something I would be comfortable listening to with the kids or my parents.

Plus, it gave me the opportunity to see the guy's side and a chance to see my marriage in a new light.

I am really glad I chose this book as my first reveiw for Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers.

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I try to leave my family out of my blog, well except the kids and Hubby. But sometimes . . .

Ok, right now my dad is really struggling in his battle again cancer. I would appreciate prayer (and I will leave it at that. I know they are less not completely comfortable with me posting a whole lot).

Because of this, I can't be left alone with my own thoughts or I cry. I love my Daddy and I hate this for him. I can't do anything for him except pray and I hate that I can't fix it. And yes I know it is God's hands but the very human side of me still wants it fixed the way I want it fixed. Now. or yesterday.

So I am distracting myself from thinking by reading and listening to lectures and teaching my kids and doing every thing I can to not allow my thoughts to run free. Which makes it hard to write anything.

Awards

When I first heard about blogging, I thought it was an incredibly stupid idea - putting private stuff out on the internet for anyone to see. Then I started reading some blogs and this itching compulsion to write took over.

And so I started a blog, only I didn't really know what I was doing and eventually moved those contents over here. Almost a year ago I started blogging fairly frequently - usually at least once a week - and have made some amazing friends both nearby and across the world.

So the other day I won 2 blog awards and I need to pass them on. This is harder to do than you might realize. I tried to choose blogs that fit the guidelines of the rules, but also choose ones that do post fairly often - usually at least once a week - and haven't been on an extended bloggy break.

Anyway, the first award is . . .



The Honest Scrap Award given to me by Jules at Enjoying the Story. Thank you so much! I would turn around and give it back to you, but I don't think you would appreciate it.

Here's the rules:

In accepting this award, I need to do the following:
1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.
2) Share "ten honest things" about myself.
3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4) Tell those 7 people that they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving

Ok, for my Ten Honest Things...

1. I am a night owl. No really. If I go to bed before midnight, I am sick.


2. I am not a very good friend because it is really hard for me to pick up the phone and call someone. I hate to be an interruption or a pest so I rarely call.


3. I am not a picky eater but I hate cole slaw. Seriously. I get queasy at the name and if I smell it or think about it I can feel the gag reflex.


4. I don't mind dogs, I just don't like being licked. or jumped on. or barked at. I am really more of a cat person.


5. I can make balloon animals.


6. I used to be able to read in the car with no problem. Now as an adult though, I get car sick.


7. I would rather read than watch tv. All the same, I watch entirely too much TV.


8. I don't have a problem with most creepy-crawlies. I used to catch lizards and horney toads (horned toads/lizards for those of you outside the state of Texas.) I find a lot of the insect world facinating, especially dragonflies, damselflies, preying mantis and walking sticks.


9. I am scared by crickets and grasshoppers. I know, out of all the insects I happen to be afraid of the one that scares fewer people.


10. My Daddy made sure that I had essential skills like being able to clean a fish and change a tire before I left home. He did not, however, inform me about changing the oil - or having it changed.

And now for the blogs I pass this award on to:

1. Kim at Thoughts by Kim


2. Jenn at From the Desk of a Princess


3. Catherine at The Picket Fence


4. Kim at The Misadventures of Mub


5. FroggyMama at Lifting my Eyes


6. Melanie at Four Squares


7. Jennifer at For Such a Time as This

And the next award is . . .



The rules of the "One Lovely Blog Award" are: accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award. Thank you so much Kim! I really do appreciate it.

1. Brenda at The Family Revised


2. Evonne at Wholesome Learning


3. Firefly at Flickers of a Faithful Firefly


4. Beth at An Instrument 4 His Glory


5. Collette at Jesus Loves Mums


6. Calista at Can I get a Witness?


7. Heather at Not a DIY life


8. Cheryl at Adventures of a Somewhat Crunchy Mama


9. Amy Beth at Ministry So Fabulous


10. Grateful for Grace at Grateful for Grace


11. Heidi and Patty atAdding Zest to your Nest


12. Joy at The Five J's


13. Amy at Mom's Toolbox


14. Amanda at Garibay Soup


15. Tyler at Titus 2:3-5

Of random particles and souls

Years ago I worked at the local hospital and while it was hard work, I enjoyed it. Well, I enjoyed it as much as I could given an extreme fear of needles. No I wasn't a nurse but a nurse aid (I would take blood pressure, temperature, run food trays, run errands for the nurses).

I have some funny stories from there - as well as from before when I worked at a nursing home. There are also some sad stories, some heartbreaking things.

One elderly man that I will always remember because of what I saw. I couldn't really give you a description of him other than tall and thin, I don't remember his name or why he was there. He fell while in the hospital and so an x-ray was ordered to see if he had broken his hip.

I was helping the x-ray tech with the portable x-ray and was watching the patients face during the actual x-ray. All of a sudden he was not there.

He was still breathing, his eyes were still open, his pulse was normal but some change had gone over his face. I couldn't describe it then and I still can't say what it was now.

After the x-ray tech left, I went and spoke to the nurse. I told her that his vitals were ok, but I had seen something happen and I didn't know what it was. She immediately went to check on him and while she was in there, he coded.

He died that night. I believe that he died peacefully - when his soul slipped away - when he wasn't there. The CPR that followed battered his body, but he was gone.

He is one of the reasons I can't fathom the random particle evolution theory. He had a soul - random particles don't have a soul. Atheists think that only the simpleminded believe in intelligent design. I think they are unobservant.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalms 19:1

The prayer of a child

Yesterday, Junior asked if I felt better and if my teeth still hurt. When I complained that yes they did, his face fell.

"I prayed that God would make you feel better and make your teeth stop hurting. I guess He said no."

Oh my! My baby boy prayed for me! That did me some good.

So I told him that God always answers prayers, sometimes He says yes, sometimes no and sometimes not yet. He looked a little confused so I went on, "It's like when you ask for candy, sometimes I say yes. If it is before lunchtime, I say not yet - you have to eat lunch first. If you just had some sugary treat then I say no." His face cleared as he understood what I was saying and felt better.

This morning he asked how I was doing and I was able to tell him I was feeling better, which was good because he had prayed again last night.

Is it Monday yet?

Why does everything seem to come at once? Last week we had nothing going on - which was good because I was miserable from antibiotic #2.

Oh, did I forget to mention that antibiotic #1 didn't work? Yes, I had one pill left and was still running a fever. I didn't go to medical school or anything but I think that means it wasn't working.

So I called the Dr and they called me in some new & different antibiotic - also ridiculously expensive but anyway. This lovely antibiotic made me nauseated all week and gave everything a metallic taste. A freakishly strong metallic taste.

So since I felt so bad, very little got accomplished last week.

So it was a good thing that stuff was all piled on this week instead of last, right?

Well, except that I just started antibiotic #3 today. Yep. #3 The ridiculously expensive antibiotic didn't do it. I felt better while on it but 2 days after my last dose my teeth started hurting again. And it didn't feel hot outside - since it is roughly the temperature of the surface of the sun, I suspected a fever.

So I get the fun of a new antibiotic plus a crazy busy week.

Yeah me! Homeschool co-op, 4-H, church, Taekwondo, Homeschool back to school meeting, church, snacks for our Bible study class in addition to all the usual stuff.

And I discover that I use "so" entirely too much.

Now I am going to see if I can see some meteors because I am tired of whining.

Rock of Ages - the musical

Ok, I have a confession. Sometimes I skim read and jump to conclusions. When I saw that I could review Rock of Ages for One2One network I leapt at the chance. How cool to review a musical based on hymns.

Or not.

Because that is not what this Rock of Ages is. Boy do I feel dumb. For those of you like me, Rock of Ages is the new five time Tony nominated Broadway musical starring American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis. It is set in 1987 on the Sunset Strip in a club where a small-town girl meets a big-city dreamer and they fall in love to some of the greatest metal songs of the 80's. It is told through the hits of Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and more.

These are songs I remembered from Jr high (even though I wasn't a metal head). Some of these I haven't heard in 20 years so I really enjoyed listening to it.





Here is the tracklist:

Just Like Paradise / Nothin' But A Good Time
Sister Christian
We Built This City / Too Much Time On My Hands
I Wanna Rock
We're Not Gonna Take It
Heaven/More Than Words / To Be With You
Waiting For A Girl Like You
Wanted Dead Or Alive
I Want To Know What Love Is
C** On Feel The Noize / We're Not Gonna Take It (Reprise)
Harden My Heart / Shadows Of The Night
Here I Go Again
The Final Countdown
Any Way You Want It / I Wanna Rock (Reprise)
High Enough
I Hate Myself For Loving You / Heat Of The Moment
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Can't Fight This Feeling
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Oh Sherrie
The Search Is Over
Don't Stop Believin'

I really enjoyed it. I could see myself continuing to listen to it except it does have some non-family friendly bits and I am usually with my littles. There are things I don't want to explain yet to them. Like what a strip club is.

I have recommended it to some friends but just those that don't spend all their time with kids (or have older kids).

Some added info:

Making of Soundtrack video

Link to buy album

Just so you know, I get no payment of any sort for the review. I do get the CD but that is only so I can do the review. These are my thoughts and opinions on the CD. I also get no payment of any kind if you chose to buy the disk.

I heart our new dentist

And so does Junior.

He has had a bit of an absolute terror of them ever since he was tortured when he was 4. His first trip to the dentist they found 5 cavities and so we needed to go back and have them filled. Now the dentist office is a kind-of scary place anyway without Mom telling you it will hurt. So mom didn't mention possible probable pain discomfort. Mom certainly didn't mention numbing stuff or to tell the dentist if it hurts because duh that's a big clue that it will hurt. That dentist (and many others) have a rule about not letting mom go back with the kids because sometimes mom causes more problems than she helps.

So an oblivious 4 year old went back to be tortured get his teeth worked on.

Ok I need to let you know that there are 2 schools of thought when it comes to children's dentistry. One is that you don't ever numb the kid unless it is an incredibly deep cavity because the numbing shot hurts. The other is that you always numb the poor kid because sometimes the drilling hurts even when it shouldn't.

I grew up with a dentist who follows the always-numb policy and so I never knew there was any other way. Yes, the shot hurt but I always thought it was so cool because it just felt weird afterward.

So back to Junior's traumatic visit, the torturer dentist did the 4 teeth and then got partway through the 5th and had to stop because Junior was fighting him. He recommended a pediatric dentist because Junior was being a difficult case.

I took one look at my white-faced tear-streaked little boy and knew this had been an awful visit.

We left and I told Junior we would do whatever he wanted, we could go by Sonic, go to the zoo, or just go home. He decided that Sonic and the zoo sounded pretty good so we did that and he perked up.

Later I got to thinking about it and I realized he hadn't played with his face at all. You know how after you have been numbed it feels strange to poke your cheek - he hadn't done that.

So I asked him if the dentist had given him anything that made his mouth feel weird.

Nope.

So that dentist had the nerve to act like my child was being a brat for objecting to being hurt!?!

Needless to say, we haven't been back to that dentist. Junior went to a pediatric dentist to get that tooth finished - and they found another cavity the first had missed. But he still gets a panicked look on his face when we talk about him going to the dentist.

So today he went to the dentist that the rest of us have been going to since we quit going to the torturer the other dentist. He was scared but I was allowed to go back with him. As the visit went on, he got more comfortable and talkative. He even looked at me at one point and said "I'm not scared anymore. You can go to where you wait."

He even giggled while the hygienist was polishing his teeth.

He left the dentist with a smile on his face, a goody bag in his hand, and thrilled to have no cavities.

I heart our new dentist.

Saturday sum up

Day 3 on antibiotics -

I still feel like something the cat dragged in the cat would leave outside. I am still running a fever, still have off and on chills, still am curl up and nap exhausted.

Now though I can tell that I have a sinus infection because I have alot of drainage, headaches and my teeth hurt.

Which makes me irritable.

Fun times.

I have more to say but since I am a bit cranky all I will say is . . .

The end.