THAT woman.

Something occurred to me Sunday night during my trip to the grocery store. I had a flash back from when I was a newlywed. Remember now, that I got married at the tender age of eighteen. So wise (or so I thought) in the ways of the world! I remember going grocery shopping and feeling oh so grown up. I would march into the store, arm-in-arm with my hot husband and buy all kinds of unhealthy, expensive things. If we wanted chips and dip for supper, that's what we'd have. I loved that WE were in charge. Money was no object back then, so we got whatever we wanted. And it was fun.

But. No matter where we shopped, or the time of day we chose to go, there was always THAT WOMAN in the store. You know who I mean. The woman who marched into the store armed with her grocery list, her pencil, and oh yes...her coupon book. We always seemed to meet up with THAT WOMAN on every aisle. We'd round the corner needing ketchup and there she'd be. Taking up more than her share of the aisle while she critically looked at the different ketchup choices, squinted at her grocery list, and rifled through her coupon book. On every aisle. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little. But you get the picture. It seemed that we were doomed to follow her throughout the store. And then, somehow, we always wound up behind her in the check out line, where she watched the cashier like a hawk to make sure she didn't get over-charged and that all of her "deals" rang up correctly. Finally, just when we thought she was out of our hair, she would whip out her coupons. Her many, many, coupons. By the time she finally got out of her way, Chris and I would be smirking and rolling our eyes. How we scoffed!

What a shock to realize that I am now THAT WOMAN. Seriously. I am. And I'm not ashamed! I take great pride in the ability to feed our family of 4 for around $60 per week. And that's with all of our diet restrictions, too. The fact is, I feel downright naked if I go into Kroger without 1) my Kroger Plus card, 2) my grocery list, 3) my copy of the store flyer, and 4) my coupon book. Thanks to the wisdom of my baby sister, I am now an annoying, anal, coupon-clipping, bargain-hunting, price-comparing grocery shopper. I used to be self-conscious about it. Then I realized how much money we're saving.

Not to sound snooty or anything, but we spend way less than some of my friends who use convenience foods (Hamburger Helper, those boxed chicken dinners, etc). I had a conversation with a friend the other day who spends $150 per week on groceries for her family of 4. Wow. I told her what I usually spent and she didn't believe me. She asked if we ate only rabbit food. Ahem...NO! I explained that the kids have food sensitivities that required us to eat fresh, natural foods. And that, with the help of coupons and a little extra time price-comparing and menu-planning, I can indeed feed us all good, nutritious food for $60 per week. And I couldn't be more proud. So there.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

My sweet husband did NOT offer to take the children to their respective schools this morning to give me a little break.

While over at my parents house yesterday afternoon, I certainly did NOT just assume that my mother had finished reading the new Karen Kingsbury book and swipe it for myself. And when I finish reading it tomorrow, I will NOT simply return it back to its original spot and hope no one notices.

My husband is NOT going on of town next weekend. He also will NOT be gone for Mother's Day. And, since I am such a supportive, Christian wife who does all she can to help her man succeed in his ministry, I am NOT insanely disappointed that I will not be treated like a queen this Mom's Day. Nope, NOT ME!

My family has been TV-free for over a year now, and we have no regrets about out decision. I don't miss it one bit. So, I did NOT ask my sister to Tivo the Oprah episode with Kirstie Alley as the guest. And I am NOT really looking forward to watching it.

I love myself and think I have no faults. So I definitely did NOT discover something about myself while grocery shopping yesterday. Something that I'll post about later in the week.

School is out in three...count 'em...THREE weeks. I am NOT even more excited about this than my kids are.

And lastly...I did NOT just type up an entire Not Me! Monday post that is all about MY shenanigans instead of those of my lovely children!

Weight Watchers is Not for Nine Year Olds

It seems that Shaun has been copying me on the sly. While I've been losing weight at Weight Watchers on purpose, he's been losing weight, too. Only while NOT sitting in on WW meetings. And not on purpose, either.

Shaun has always been a little below average in the weight department. Its been an on-going struggle to get him to eat and eat well. I think this is to be expected when his medications are taken into consideration. So a few weeks ago when I had to tighten the elastic in his adjustable-waist shorts, I didn't think anything about it. Then I had to tighten another pair of shorts. Then yesterday he put on another pair and they simply fell off. THEN, he spent the night with my parents last night. I picked him up this morning and my mom informed me that she was "shocked" by how thin and bony he is. I took a good look at him and saw that she was right. Every rib can be counted. He looks like he's starving. How could I not have noticed this? I know I see him every day, but when I really took the time to look, I was shocked, too.

Shaun weighed 61 pounds at his check-up about a month ago. Today his weight is 52 pounds. Woah. I normally would chalk a weight loss for him up to his meds, but we've weaned him off of the one that suppressed his appetite. I am proud to say that now he is only being medicated for ADHD and Epilepsy. So why the weight loss? Needless to say, I'll be calling the doctor first thing Monday morning. In the mean time, I'll be shoving food at him anytime I get the chance.

And, most importantly, I'll be coveting prayers.

"The poop's riding, too!"

Jordan actually said these words to me tonight. We had been playing outside. Well, truthfully, he was playing. I was reading a book and watching to make sure he stayed in the yard. I glanced up from my book and saw him squatting down over the basket on the back of his tricycle. Yep, he pooped right in there. Of course I screamed and yelled for him to stop, but it was too late. He pulled up his undies and shorts and hopped back on his trike. He peddled back across the yard to me and said "The poop's riding, too. The poop's riding, too." Over and over.

He's a strange one, that child of mine.

Yes, he was punished. And no, this isn't the first time he's put his poop somewhere it doesn't belong.

2.2 and What to Do?

... pounds down this week! That makes 4.2 in 2 weeks. Not as much as I'd like, but still not that bad. This week's gonna be tougher. Several cookouts and dinners out in restaurants. I really think I'll be okay, though. It feels sooo good to finally have some progress. The progress feels a lot better than eating a hotdog!

I wonder if the 15 minutes I spent restraining Jordan during his temper tantrum can count as activity points. I certainly did work up a sweat.

I'm trying to decide what to do at church tonight. Its the last Wednesday, which is my Wednesday off from Kidpak. I usually work in my three year old class on these Wednesdays because last Wednesdays are theme nights and extra help is usually needed. And I sure could use a few more hours on my check. I'm tempted to go upstairs for the service instead. Its been a while since I've been to a Wednesday night service at Free Chapel. They're the best. I think its because all of the "Jesus Junkies" are there. You know what I mean. The folks who are really SERIOUS about their walks with God. Whatever the reason, He always shows up on Wednesday nights. What to do, what to do?

Not Me! Moday

I decided to do a Not Me! Monday post tonight, in honor of Stellan's release from the hospital. Here's to you, MckMama! Oh, if you aren't familiar with MckMama and her remarkable son Stellan, you can visit her blog at www.mycharmingkids.net

Here we go:

I did NOT become seriously addicted to MckMama's blog during Stellans's hospital stay. Seriously, I have two kids. I have no time to continously Twitter and run upstairs to check for updates. Nope, Not Me!

I am NOT ecstatic that Stellan got to go HOME today. (Or at least that he was discharged from the hospital today. He won't fly home until tomorrow).

I did NOT receive a miraculous phone call from an old friend last night that is a direct answer to my prayers and fasting.

I strive to mold my children into mild-mannered, easy-going kids. That said, Jordan did NOT have a melt down because he had to carry his book bag into preschool this morning. No way, no son of mine!

Shaun did NOT get his homework finished on the way home from physical therapy today. The homework did NOT include both math and spelling, and he did NOT finish it all by himself without me having to prompt and remind him to stay on task a million times.

I am NOT deliriously happy that we only have 4 more weeks of school and I am NOT counting the days until Shaun never has to go back there again. NOT ME!

I did NOT join Weight Watchers. And I did NOT lose 2 pounds my first week.

There ya have it...there's what I didn't do all week long. Its so great to be Not Me-ing again!

I'm so amazed...

...at what God is doing right now. I mean, I'm blown away. It started last night. Actually, I guess it really started in January. Chris and I participated in the 21 Day Daniel Fast with our church. This was our second year fasting, and we had a huge "Fasting Hit List" that included our children, our country, our marriage, our finances, etc. Mostly the same things we had fasted for the previous year. One new thing was that God had led us to fast for several of our friends who were either not Christians or who had gotten away from God. So we fasted and were waiting patiently for some results. This was in January 2009.

Fast forward to last night, April 26th. An old friend calls our house and wants to know where Chris is. I explain that Chris is out of town but tell him how glad I am to hear from him, how I miss him, etc, and prepare to make some small talk. He kind of interrupts me and says "I looked for you guys this morning". I say "Oh really? Where". His answer: at church. Wow. That answer was unexpected, to say the least. While I'm still in shock, he starts saying that he's been trying to get in touch with us for 3 days, that he's going through some terrible stuff and that he realizes that its time to turn his life around. And he came to church. And: HE JUST HAPPENS TO BE ONE OF THE FRIENDS WE TARGETED ON THE FAST! Oh man. I start to cry myself. I begin to tell him how Chris and I have been praying for him. How we fasted for this exact thing! And he said he needed it. That he needs it now more than ever. And that he needs Chris and I to pray for him and be there for him and to hold him accountable. Wow, wow, wow.

Everything's not all peachy, though. He's going through some serious trials. His family is in jeopardy. He's feeling a ton of guilt. But he knows that God can fix all of this, and I know He can, too.

I love this guy. He was one of my closest friends. In fact, when I got pregnant with Shaun, he was the first person I told. Chris grew up with him. He was in our wedding. The only thing missing to make him perfect is God...and he's getting there!

Obviously, he still needs major prayers. Obviously I'm not going to post his name, so just pray for my friend...God'll know who you mean! Pray that God sends the right people to him...pray for the chains of the past to be broken...pray for that his family is knit back together...pray for all negative influences to stay away from him.

God is so good! I'm amazed! And I absolutely cannot wait to see what happens next!