Mary Baldwin and VWIL

Here's proof that I actually did march in a platoon. I feel like I'm going to need more and more proof as I get older. I'm so much more the girly type these days. I'm marching in the platoon holding the flag at the 3:33 mark.

Face Painting in the Chilled Mississippi Night

Last night I helped out at my churches Trunk or Treat. I showed up way early because the girl who called me told me that people were meeting at around 5 to start setting up, only she didn't get there until 6:30 p.m.. How very nice! I ended up face painting from 6-9. Fortunately, I brought my jacket because it ended up getting down to 55 last night. Another girl doing face painting had shorts and tights on, I felt really sorry for her. It is a lot of fun. The kids normally already know exactly what they want or pick something simple that I suggest. When I show it to them in the mirror it is so rewarding to see their smile or their exclamation of "cool", "sweet", or "awesome". The parents normally try to get them to say thank you to me for doing the design, but to me the excitement in their voices and the smile on their face already tells me the thanks that I need.

How I ended up being involved with it all was: I volunteered about a month ago but somehow my name was lost until the night before, when they called me and asked me if I could still come. I almost thought I had escaped ;-) I love face painting but this was the third time this month. November normally is the month to get a little weary of the task. I'm sure next November I'll be reminding everyone "remember, I can do face painting!". Just I'll maybe wait until next November to do my reminding.

Everything for Two

It is so hard to remember to do everything for two. For instance, eating the proper amount of food each day, and the proper types of food so that I can get nutrients for two. Also yesterday, I decided to mow the grass and after finishing the front half, I decided to go ahead and finish the back. I was not operating for two but for one. I ended up getting ridiculously tired, overheated, and had a bad headache for the next 6 or so hours and even woke up in the middle of the night still with a headache. Fortunately this morning I woke up headache free. That's when I wanted to bang my head (if it hadn't been hurting so bad already) against a wall. Sometimes I think a headache is God hitting our head against the wall for us, so we get a good ole headache teaching us we over did it. Genius. I'm such a go getter and have always played it hard, so I'm really not used to just taking it easy. I guess I need to get used to it. Doing everything for two!

The Video Says It All

I painted this just thinking about the ocean, and how the oceans used to be ridden. Rustic were the days of old, and now you can scarcely see the natural beauty of plant life on beaches.

Days Carry On

It's positive that days continue without our consent. Even when I do not feel them pass they go. Really, that is a good thing. If I got stuck in a rut and so did the days then I don't think time would ever continue on. Thank goodness none of that depends upon me and my disposition. One day, I have a plan and energy and I get a lot done. The next, I'm completely helpess and the day passes like I was not a member of it. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with my moods resulting in either a listless me or a very odd scatterbrained me. I certainly wish I could predict my outlook a few days ahead of time. That way I could plan around the days I know that I can't seem to accomplish anything and then I could do all sorts of things on the days that I feel like I can do anything. This too shall pass, right? I read somewhere that some people don't get their energy or regular self back until after the wee one starts sleeping through the night. That's a long time! I will claim it to be not true. So today passes and that would be fine . . . if I could only remember the day.

What Can I Say?

The first day was fine. I found things around the house that needed doing and I washed the car that desperately needed it. That was a nice day. Sunday, I went to a new church, met some new people, and was invited over someone's house for lunch. After that, I went to a spouses get together. That was fun as well. So Sunday went buy fast and was painless. I found out from another spouse that James had made it overseas okay. Then Monday, I was planning to barricade myself in the house but another girl who lives down the street invited me out for a walk. I accepted because I needed to get a little exercise and get out of the house. That got my day started okay. I found the energy to get some more work done around the house. The living room doesn't have all the papers and clothes that it did before. The kitchen looks pretty good. Now it's Tuesday. James still hasn't called. I could bear it Sunday and Monday. I cannot bear it today. I don't know why he can't get a chance to call. For him it's almost Wednesday. Are they such narrow minded people that they cannot understand that a wife is sitting at home waiting for her husband to call her? Could they not give him one moment's time to pick up a phone and say hello, I love you, and goodbye? Shame on them for not thinking that through. Today was not a good day.

A New Light

I responded to a blog comment today on another page that reminded me of how I need to daily put my life in new light. My light gets stale even after one day. Even though I intend to be positive, I end up thinking the worst time and time again. Not only that, just tweeking your thoughts can change your situation so completely. When we look at things and think of them as curses or mess ups, we will hate our situations and our actions. However, sometimes situations in the right light can be blessings and opportunities. Also, if you are painting a painting, and you mess up, then you have created an opportunity to experiment or elaborate. On the canvas, a mistake is never truly a mistake. So it is with life. Our lives are canvases. If we look at them as random splotches of paint that seem to be splattered on a meaningless surface, we can loose focus on the big pictures. The big picture is that there is a painting being formed! Each splatter, each splot is a beautiful collage of life. Enjoy your splotches today!

Butterfly Beauty

I saw Vicki's picture of a butterfly so I felt inspired to put a few pictures that I took as well. If I can figure out how to get them on here . . .

The Little Spider

I was cleaning one night after my husband went to bed and I encountered a spider. Of course, this spider was not of the normal size, it was quite a large spider when considered in the general context of our small abode. Then again, it was just over an inch body wise and its legs were just less than two inches. But I was so scared and discombobulated, that I knew I must put the problem on hold and consult my spider expert, my husband. Though he was in a deep sleep, I awoke him and spoke to him of my problem, the “little” spider. He took a few moments, pulled together his strength, and went to relieve me of my problem. He removed the lid that I had used to cover up the spider in my escape and then whapped the spider with his sandal. I was relieved. I saw the spider was a large spider indeed, but I knew that I could have handled it, but I had wanted to rely on my husband to get me out of harm’s way.

We do the same thing with life. We encounter problems and circumstances that are just beyond our own reach and we sometimes think we can handle them. Then we realize that though we could face these problems on our own, we decide that we are not quite as “fierce” as we wanted to be in that situation. So we cower down, and we wait. What if we didn’t just cower, what if we asked for help? I know that God is waiting just like a husband would. He’s waiting just by our side, waiting for us to ask for his help. He doesn’t care that it’s just a “little spider”; He sincerely cares about our littlest dilemma. How amazing! I’m so ready to ask my husband for help, but I delay when it comes to our deliverer who wants to save me on a regular basis. I realize now that when I reach this situation that is just beyond my reach, and just farther than my comfort zone, Jesus is right there with sandal in hand ready to squish my little spider.

Delivery

For once in your life
Admit it
You’re not Mr. Hot,
Mr. Sly.
You slink and slither
Down a path all of glitter
But it’s not
As it seems
Isn’t that so?
You make silver seem like platinum
And brass seem like gold
It’s getting old
And the tarnish
Killed the shine
Find a corner
And go dwell there
For your work
It is done here
Because I know
And you know
That you’re a phony
An authentic
Bona fide
Fraud
I will write an expose
On you another day
But for now
This letter
Does the trick
It makes me feel on high
And I hope it makes you cry
So long
And if you don’t mind
I’ll watch you slink away

© 2003 Brooke S.

Five Quotes . . .

Terrie said...
ok a new tagThe TagJot down 5 of your favorite quotes from the various books you’ve read. If you don’t have the books with you now, Googling (Wikiquotes and the like) can be used to find them. Tag five people and acknowledge the person who tagged you.

Quote number one:
"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?" Anne of Green Gables

Quote number two:
"I may be strong-minded, but no one can say I'm out of my sphere now, for woman's special mission is supposed to be drying tears and bearing burdens." Little Women

Quote number three:
"Where, you tend a rose, my lad,A thistle cannot grow." The Secret Garden

Quote number four:
"You have plenty of courage, I am sure," answered Oz. "All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty." The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Quote number five:
" . . . I could easily forgive HIS pride, if he had not mortified MINE." Pride and Prejudice

Sugar and Spice

Sugar And Spice And Everything Nice

by Brooke S.

(this recipe is for husband everywhere in order to help them love their wives better)

1 cup of smiles in the morning
2 tablespoons of thoughtfulness during the day
2 cups of time in the evening
2 drops of doing what needs doing
1½ teaspoons of listening
4 hugs
2 kisses
1 ½ boxes of presents
Sprinkle of encouragement

Mix the teaspoons of listening with one tablespoon of thoughtfulness. Then take the other tablespoon of thoughtfulness and the cups of time, and mix it with the boxes of presents. Take the smiles, hugs, and kisses and knead them together (especially on her shoulders). Mix the listening and thoughtfulness and time and presents, with the smiles, hugs, and kisses (drop in the doing what needs doing too). Heat mixture with the fire of God, for 30 minutes each day (devotionals and the Bible will do). Do not leave sitting to cool down, serve while fresh and renewed. Make sure to sprinkle with a bit of encouragement and you’ll have the best Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

Substitutes:
Encouragement: Verbal praise; Verbal acknowledgment; Verbal discussion of activities; Written notes; Written praise; Surprise written notes; Interest in Sugar and Spice

Thoughtfulness: concern; comfort; caring; putting aside the me and accentuating the us; Never substitute a bad attitude for the thoughtfulness.

Time: Reading together; Playing board games; Walking together; Cleaning together; Cooking together; Holding each other; Poking each other; Occasionally chasing each other

Presents: Any little thing to do with Sugar and Spice; Not hard to find a substitute; Must be willing to mix with thoughtfulness and time

Listening: Means remembering all the ingredients that mix with Sugar and Spice; also means leaving out a few snails and puppy dog tails

Doing what needs doing: Boxes, Dishes, Sweeping, Participating in the fixing of lunch with the
Sugar and Spice; Includes daily requests

No substitute for smiles, hugs, and kisses.

Why not? Six quirks.

1. I cannot stand to have any hair in my bath water. Which is obviously really hard because when you wash your hair, your hair ends up in the water . . .

2. I can honestly say that I have way too many interests and therefore I hardly move forward in any of the things that I care about.

3. I'm lactose intolerant. If you give me a bowl of icecream, you may want to stand at a safe distance.

4. I am immobilized by clutter. I will literally become depressed and mope about if my house gets in too bad of shape.

5. I want to be a Country Music Singer. No, really.

6. I love seafood, and I hate scallops. I really want to like them, but everytime I try them I hate them. It's really rotten to want to like something and not.

How I Met My Husband

I am doing this at the suggestion of Sunday Scribblings. I haven't quite figured this whole blogspot thing out yet.

I was a freshman in college and I began to attend the Officer Christian Fellowship (OCF) meetings. They were a great influence on my life at the time because as most freshman in college I had so many different influences pulling me this way and that. For the first semester, I attended about every other meeting. Also, I started dating a sophomore from VMI. He was a spunky guy who really made me question a lot of things about my life. Of course, I was pretty happy to be dating a sophomore when I was only a freshman. But really my life was a rollercoaster during this time. I questioned my faith, my beliefs, and I really let down myself and a whole lot of other people. However, the one good things this guy ended up doing was that he introduced me to future husband.

One other VMI guy helped me out and paid for me to go on the OCF retreat in February. My boyfriend at the time wouldn't go. He waited outside with me as I waited to get on the bus to leave for the retreat. A rat (at VMI that's the freshmen) walked up and my boyfriend introduced me to him. He said this guy James was tutoring him in math. Of course, I was confused because I couldn't figure out why the freshman was tutoring my sophomore boyfriend. I brushed it off and said goodbye to my boyfriend and got on the bus.

I ended up sitting next to another friend of mine who was a senior at VMI. He was actually the student in charge of the OCF that year. We talked for a while and then he wanted to talk to a friend who was sitting a few rows ahead next to the window. So he switched with the guy next to him and so guess who ended up next to me? James. We talked the entire ride to Salt Water Springs. I figured I was okay hanging out with him because he knew I was dating the sophomore. The retreat began and we still ended up seeing a lot of each other. We played board games, talked, walked, and ended up seating near each other the entire retreat. By this time, I definitely thought he might have missed the fact that I was dating the sophomore. So I ended up getting one of my friends to give him the scoop later on, but he still wanted to be my friend. We exchanged IM screen names and talked all the time.

As you might guess, the sophomore and me didn't work out. He told me he was going to take some other girl to his Junior Ring Figure. So I told him he'd have to find another girlfriend. It took a while but James and I ended up beginning to date the following OCF retreat, and then we were engaged a few months before we graduated college. I guess in the end, I have the sophomore to thank for introducing me to my husband!

First Entry

So everyone has been trying to get me onto blogspot, so I figured I really ought to give in after so much prodding. Of course, this only applies to writing, I'm not so easily influenced in other things. I suppose on blogspot I can share my thoughts, some of my poetry, some of my writings, and also I am guessing that I'll be sharing a lot of the trials I will soon be facing with my husband going overseas soon. Thanks for reading the first of many blogs.