the one where I realize I have too much to do to be posting right now...

On Fridays I link up with the Company Girls for a weekly bloggie chat.

Hi Girls--Diet Coke and cinnamon bread in hand, I'm ready to catch up with you. Here's a bit of my life since we last linked up:

1) Friday night we had our small group meeting for the first time in over a month. It was so good to be together with the "groupies" at our home. It was nutso leading up to the evening (read my mishaps of the weekend here), but so great to be together, I just had to blog about them on Tuesday.

2) We've had SNOW. We had a two hour school delay on Monday, schools were closed on Wednesday and Thursday. And today, another two hour delay. There is a new element to snow days at our house these days--and that is that my hubby's job now requires him to make the call on snow days for the private school he works at. That means if there is a chance of weather issues, he has to get up at 4 am and begin a several hour process of phone calls, decisions and notifying news agencies. He has been so tired from all the early mornings! The weather is supposed to improve for the weekend, and the sun is out this morning...

3) A few weeks ago I mentioned that we were excited to have a candidate for Senior Pastor in town for the weekend. I am thrilled to say that the church board decided to call him (offer him the job) and he has accepted! It's been 1o months without a pastor so far, and by the new year we will have a Senior Pastor again! I will have a boss, and our church will have a leader. We are so thankful!! God is good.

4) This weekend we are welcoming my in laws for a month long visit...they aren't staying with us, but we hope to see them often. This kids spent part of snow day #2 cleaning their rooms and today I'm going to try and catch up on some cleaning in preparation for their arrival. In my dream world, my home is in a constant state of clean...but in reality....not so much.

5) Confession: I'm a bit of a fuddy-duddy when it comes to Halloween. It is not my favorite holiday for a couple of personal reasons. I am not one who thinks about costumes for my kids way in advance...nor do I get into the whole scary-spooky thing. I do have an appreciation for all of the creativity that abounds at this time of year, but regardless, I procrastinate and am often scrambling for quick and easy costumes. SO, today (after school!) we are pulling together a costume for my daughter who has a costume party tonight. She is going to be an artist, at least we know that. I'll post a pic when we figure it out. And I suppose we should buy some candy...

6) Besides all of that, Bubba's 9th birthday is on Monday! His birthday party is next weekend and I have got to get invitations in the mail today. Hubby and I still need to decide what his gifts will be (he wants everything, so that should be easy) and shop for them before Monday.

Yikes! Lots to do...better get on with it...here I go! If all I have to do is stressing you out like it is me, you may need a laugh. Read a classic dawn story here--hope it makes you chuckle. Have a great Friday everyone!

it happened. seriously. to me.

So...my uber-talented friend Cathy just posted some B-E-A-utiful pictures on her blog from her recent trip to Clearwater Beach. Started me thinking about all the time we have spent there over the years. My hubby's folks live not-too-far from this beach in FL and we have visited many times. The kids both had their first beach days there. And you know, your first beach day is very important, even if you spend the whole day in a stroller under a blanket. And don't even know you were there.

Pickle at Clearwater Beach--1997

Anyway. It also got me thinking about one of the famous "dawn stories" in our family that took place at Clearwater Beach. I figured I would share it for your bloggie enjoyment. There is a wonderful restaurant at the beach called Frenchy's. (Yummmm...grouper sandwiches and buffalo shrimp. And apparently if you are so inclined, the she-crab soup is to die for. ) One day...in 1994 I believe...we were waiting outside for our table at Frenchy's. It was a lovely day, and my sister-in-law Deb and I were reclining on the sand and chatting while we waited. Our hubbies were playing frisbee or something a little ways off. I was leaning back, eyes closed, and enjoying the warmth of the sun on my face, listening to the waves and seagulls, smelling the salt water and suntan lotion. Aaaah...wish I was there now...

Frenchy's Rockaway Grill

I was talking (no surprise there) when all of a sudden I felt a glob of wet sand land in my mouth! I abruptly sat up to tell my hubby it wasn't funny to throw sand...and caught the look of absolute horror on Deb's face. Apparently it wasn't sand. Hubby hadn't thrown anything my way. Then the realization hit me...

Seagull poop. What had landed in my mouth was none other than seagull poop. SEAGULL POOP!!!!

I mean...what is the chance of that? My mouth isn't that big. What did I do, you ask? Spit! and again...Spit! Spit! Deb, being resourceful and trying not to throw up or laugh at me, handed me her daughter's baby bottle of diluted apple juice. I quickly filled my mouth, swished and spit a few more times. I am sure I made a bit of a scene.

Later at the table, as we awaited the arrival of our buffalo shrimp, my bro-in-law asked--so dawn, what did it taste like? I told him the only thing I remembered.

Warm. And gritty.

Groupies

Small Group, Growth Group, Community Group, Cell Group, Home Group. If your church is like mine and many others, it encourages deeper relationships and connectedness through smaller groups of people...whatever they call them.

We have participated in several groups over the years, and have grown and benefitted from all of them. Usually we have studied a book together, and prayed together and ate together (food is important). We have been a part of the groups that met weekly and those that met monthly; those that had a covenant together, and those that are more casual. We have been both half-hearted members and sometimes the leaders. We have had groups that have walked us through baby parenthood, celebrations, difficult decisions, depression, marriage issues, job loss and grief over the years. We have celebrated with others as they rejoiced and sat with group members struggling with infertility, with crisis, with emotional challenges, and with faith struggles.

I'll never forget the privilege of being with a friend from small group in the delivery room when she unexpectedly delivered twins at 24 weeks...while her husband was out of the country. It was intense--I was one of the only people to see her precious daughter alive. We prayed her little son through months in the NICU and on to a healthy strong life. We grieved and celebrated together over the years. And as we walked through our own NICU experience years later...that same couple (who we lived states away from at that point) were such an encouragement and practical help to us. They even sent us rolls of quarters for the hospital vending machines! We will always have a special place in our heart for Jack and Janet--and we wouldn't know them if it wasn't for small group.

There have been times when we haven't felt like being in a group, and still were. There were times when we weren't in a group at all and probably should have been. And there were times where we LOVED our group and still had weeks where we had to force ourselves to go. We were always glad we did.

We were created to be in community. We need it. Yet it isn't always easy to find. Last year, after we had a family crisis of sorts (that I affectionately call The Big Mess) we knew we needed support, and people to be connected with at a deeper level. Hubby and I talked about what we wanted and needed in a group at that point in our lives. We needed intimate relationships, we needed people we could be real with and who would be real back. We needed accountability, and prayer support, and we wanted to offer the same to others. We wanted people we could laugh with. Even though this phrase is overused, we wanted folks to "do life with". We didn't feel like we needed another Bible Study (we both had those types of groups). We needed some peeps, you know? So, we started our own group of folks we thought were looking for the same thing...

I affectionately call them the groupies. We are 6 couples (now 7) that meet bi-weekly at our home. We have been taking turns each telling our "story"--one a week and we haven't finished yet. I LOVE hearing how God has worked in people's lives. So many different paths, yet God has creatively called each one to Himself. We also share prayer requests. We are pretty open with each other...we have had group members struggling with some pretty tough stuff, and I SO appreciate how they are willing to let us in to pray and support. We also talk about unimportant stuff. There is lots of that. And laugh. I laugh so hard in this group. We have a hard time staying on track and I think it's safe to say some would think we are obnoxious. We don't care. We are able to be ourselves. We care about and for each other. We point each other to Christ. Isn't that what community is for?

Some of the groupie girls. Yup, taken the same day as the photo in this post, thanks for noticing. I need to take pics of our group!

I am so thankful today for our groupies. We just met this past Friday after illness had us take too long of a break...and we had a wonderful time. Obnoxious, yes. Laughter, yes. Tangential, yes. A God-story, yes. Community, YES. What a gift.

I'm unwrapping that gift over at Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky. Pop over to see what gifts others are unwrapping today.

Not Me! Monday

Today I am participating in Not Me! Monday inspired by McKmama's site, where we are brutally honest and live to tell about it. I'd like to tell you what I didn't do this weekend.

I did not procrastinate away too many hours doing nothing important Friday morning and leave all of my busy day stuff until the afternoon. Not me!

I did not go shopping for my sister and friend's birthdays on the day of and the day after said birthdays. Nope--not me, I plan ahead.

my sweet friend Beth, whose birthday I did not shop a day late for

I did not leave my house messy for a full week after our bout with swine flu--even though I was feeling better. I was not overwhelmed by the disaster left in the piggy's wake.

In the mad rush to get our house somewhat presentable for friends to come over Friday night (after I did not cause myself to be in a rush by the nothing-doing in the morning and did not leave my house a disaster for no good reason), I did not, I repeat did NOT, scoop up the mess and put it all in a rubbermaid tub in my bedroom rather than putting things away. I did not forget to run the dishwasher the night before and this did not cause me to take a bucket of dirty dishes upstairs and put them in my tub (a first, honestly!) right before friends came over. Not me! I am more together than that.

I did not tell our guests what I had done with the dishes. :) That would be embarrassing.

I did not laugh until my sides hurt with my friends on Friday night. I did not get such a kick out what some would describe as jr. high humor. Not me--I'm too mature.

On Sunday morning, I did not get to church (where I work) 10 minutes later than I require my teachers to be there--even though I planned to be there 45 minutes earlier. I did not try to make it seem like my daughter was solely responsible for my being late. That would be exaggerating. Not me.

I did not forget to take attendance, or make arrangements for the church's older kids to join in the missions children's church, or check on the nurseries cause my nursery director had a death in the family. Not me--I am on top of things.

I did not forget to refill my prescription until I was completely out of pills...necessitating a last minute trip to the store. While I was there, I did not buy tissue paper for my sister's gift on the way to her party because my storage room is so messy I couldn't get to the tissue paper I have there. Not me--that would be ridiculous.

Whew! I feel better now. As my 3 year old nephew says, "oh well, maybe next time".

What didn't you do this weekend???