I started watching sports in junior high so I could have something to talk to the boys about. Some things never change.

I picked some teams and got hooked. Soon I didn’t need to watch so I’d have something to say in homeroom; now I actually watched for my own enjoyment.

My favorite sport was college basketball. March Madness, baby! I could even watch college football on Bowl days and enjoy that. But I didn’t often get behind any professional sports outside of baseball as background noise during a Sunday afternoon nap or the NFL for the Superbowl.

Well, I’ve been converted by the boys one more time. A couple of years ago my husband asked me if I wanted an entry in his fantasy football league. He promised it would be easy and I could do it without even watching the games – kind of like filling out a bracket for March Madness based on which team had the best mascot…it is just good, clean fun.

But I couldn’t stop there. Oh, no. I started watching a game here and there just to see how “my guys” performed. Then I got to know the players and their stories and their teams. And then I was hooked again. This week was the opening of the NFL season and I was actually looking forward to it…it was a happy thought for me. Crazy.

Someday I’m going to write a feature on why women should play this kind of game for the sake of their marriages! It’s so much fun, and now when Dan wants to watch a football game I actually want to keep an eye on the tv, too. I’m sure there are a million and one things we could do to learn to enjoy one another more, but this week you might want to jump into something just for the sake of your relationship with someone else…you might find a surprising new enjoyment in your life!

Falling in Love!

Rebecca’s blog called Wonders Never Cease is a Rare Find and great fun! She devotes each day to a new Wonder of the World and cheers her readers with silly puns and quirky images that reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary things of life. I always smile when I read her posts. Today she is having a blog party and we’re all invited. Check out her blog for more Wonders-ful fun!

So, in case all the fun made you forget what I said before: Today’s Wonder of the World is …..

Falling in Love!

Now, it is pretty easy to fall in love with this:

Or even this:

And I found it pretty easy to fall in love with this guy:

The tall one, of course, although I think I’d fall in love with the little one pretty quickly, too. Notice Dan is on a missions trip in this pic. He went as a musician and ended up painting rafters for a week. He loved every minute of it … and now you know why it was so easy to fall in love with him!

Being able to fall in love is a gift. Sure, one that we abuse, but a gift nonetheless. I know young women who always fall in love with the wrong kind of guy. I know men who fall in love with the wrong parts of women (for instance, the parts that tend to change over time and leave him wondering WHAT it was he fell in love with in the first place!). I know people who fall in and out of love so quickly you would think they were this guy (or one of his saavy friends):

But the greatest thing about the ability to fall in love is that it can help you be a Rare Rock! I’ve said before that falling in love is not as mystical as it appears. Falling in love is the result of making decisions toward a person and those decisions turning your emotions toward the object of your thoughts. As unromantic as this sounds, I think you could fall in love with almost anyone. And that is the blessing and the curse!

The curse: I could fall in love with a jerk! The blessing: I can fall in love with that guy I married who is acting like a jerk! No one is perfect and sometimes we all need an extra dose of love to keep us connected. I can fall in love with my teenager who is “acting the fool,” as a friend would say. I can fall in love with my best friend who has a mildly neurotic dark side. Falling in love is a gift and a truly wonderful Wonder of the World!

Thanks, Rebecca, for the party! Enjoy this song, friends – it says it WAY better than I do.

I’m all over it this morning! Last week I started teaching. This week I also start learning again. As Dan was getting dressed today he said, “That warrants such and such.” And I said, “Actually, that explains such and such. A warrant …” Then he stopped listening and said, “Yeah, I think you’re ready for class!”

That’s right, people, it’s time to put on the School Face!

How does a 1 year-old girl know to love baby dolls instead of trucks? My baby, Macy Cheri, turned 1 last week and her gift was a perfectly pink baby doll. It isn’t that Macy isn’t exposed to other toys; we have a boy in the house, too. She just loves babies. It is such a reminder of the way God created women.

I realize that not all women may feel this nurturing spirit. I remember wondering if I had what it took to be a great mom. As a single person I sort of fell into such a pattern of caring for my own needs and enjoying my freedoms that I even began to wonder if I was meant to be a mother. I found out I was long before it actually happened.

I took a job as a teacher’s assistant the year I graduated from Bible College. The things I started to do in that job made me realize there was a nurturer inside of me that must have been dying to get out! I recognized it  the moment I scooped up a four year-old with a bloody mouth knowing that she was going to ruin my new shirt. I recognized it the instant I heard myself calling my students honey and sweetheart. I recognized it the day I walked out of an out-of-town shopping mall with only a bag of new books for my students in my hands. And I recognized it the night I cried watching them all sing at the right time during their music concert. I saw the nurturer in me over and over again.

There are a lot of ways to discipline the selfishness out of yourself, but having kids must be one of the most rewarding. I think a lot of single women worry that they won’t know what to do with a baby, but I’ve always found the nurturing grace ready when I need it. Just look how natural it is for Macy and hear me sing-songing, “Love the baby!”

You know I want to talk about Miley, right? But I won’t. Not today. You know I want to relate her recent controversy to my post about small decisions, right. But I won’t. Not today.

My son Jesse is on an early vacation to his grandparent’s house for the week. We miss him, but the girls and I try to use the time for some extra girly extravaganzas. Last night after bath time, I painted the girls’ nails while we fast-forwarded through American Idol. I will also not talk about that. Not today. My daughters’ fabulous aunt bought them the purple polish and they had literally been waiting WEEKS for me to finally let them wear it.

There are few things in this world more difficult than painting tiny, wiggly toenails! But we did it and fingers, too. Ada was so proud of her look that she started planning her outfit for the next day in a matching hue. She’s 4.

You all know Claire. Because of her CP, she has to be careful what kind of shoes she wears and this is an constant source of frustration for her. Her favorite pair of “clocky” shoes (black patent leather – I think her nickname for them must come from the sound they make on the floor) were deemed unsuitable by her physical therapist because of the raised heel. If you could see the face I got EVERY MORNING when we had that discussion!

So, even though I am almost always prepared for Claire to be upset about what kind of shoes she is going to wear each day, I was not prepared for what she said this morning. Walking into my bathroom in her bare feet, she asked me if she could wear flip-flops today. Simple answer: no, flip-flops are against dress code at school and they always rub a blister on your heel. Claire looked down at her skinny toes with sparkly purple tips, “Aw, man! My polish is going to get rubbed off!”

What pains we will go to for the sake of fashion! And it starts so young! (But don’t forget, I am NOT talking about Miley today.)

This is what I’ve been doing lately:

That’s me listening to an online lecture from my fabulous English professor (I’m not being sarcastic about that – I love her!). Notice the crazy hair, the intense eyes, oh… and the baby slobber on my shoulder. With research papers looming, this is the view of me that my computer sees most often right now.

This is Claire:

I think my computer might like seeing her a little more often!

This Tag came from Anne of Good Girl Lit. I’ve seen it on a few other blogs and thought, that’s kind of cute – I hope no one sends it to me. And then Anne picked me and I was like, oh, how sweet! I’m one of her blog friends! Then the remorse hits. I don’t have enough blog friends to send this Tag on. I have all the same friends as Serenity.

But, anyway, here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Since I use my laptop all over the house, I waited until I got to my room to put this Tag in action. On my bedside table is Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. This is one of the most famous books on writing. I’m still trying to find the time to read it all, but I’ve enjoyed it so far.

Page 123 is in a chapter called “Jealousy.” You should know that Lamott is sarcastic and brutally honest. I love her style. In this instance, she is writing about what will happen to you, a writer, when your friend, also a writer, finds success. It is hilarious in a sadly true kind of way:

You are going to have a number of days in a row where you hate everyone and don’t believe in anything. If you do know the author whose turn it is, he or she will inevitably say that it will be your turn next, which is what the bride always says to you at each successive wedding, while you grow older and more decayed. It can wreak just the tiniest bit of havoc with your self-esteem to find that you are hoping for small bad things to happen to this friend –for, say, her head to blow up.

See what I mean, you laugh to yourself thinking, that’s outrageous, and then you think, and kind of true. Humanity. Thank God for Jesus (as one of my friends used to say).

If you are reading this and you have a blog, you are tagged! That means you Lori and Andrea and Amy B. (And now don’t you feel like I just put a chain letter in your hands? You know bad things will happen if you don’t send it on. Which means I’m doomed!)