The Amber Necklace I Received from Healing Hazel

New bloggers, like myself, endeavor to get their blogs noticed by reputable entities, such as publishers. However, since there are only so many publishers out there and so many bloggers, it’s difficult for a new blogger to gain the attention of a publisher, particularly if their blog has only a few email subscribers, Facebook Likes and Twitter Followers. Thus, many new bloggers hope and pray for some “sign from the Heavens”  that their writing is worthy of attention. That first sign often comes in a request for a product review.

Several weeks ago that “sign from the Heavens” finally came for MIP. I was contacted by Sophie Langlois at Healing Hazel, to review one of Healing Hazel’s amber necklaces. I am honored and humbled to do that for them. I received a very attractive all-amber necklace the next week in the mail. I have been wearing the necklace daily for approximately a week now.

Warning: Get your favorite beverage first.

At my little church in my little town, we have an on-again, off-again Sunday night Women’s Bible Study. We are a rather odd collection of souls, ranging in age from 20 to the 70+ “zone”. Some of us are die-hard pew occupants; some of us rarely darken the door because of busy schedules during the week. If I had to guess, some of us think conservatively and some of us are quite liberal. Some of us really want to chew on The Word and some of us are so tired that we just want to be bottle-fed anything spiritual. Some of us never miss a session; some of us come only intermittently at best. But, one thing is true of all of us.

We care about each other. A lot.

I now consider these women, young and old alike, my spiritual mentors. They each give me something unique. One makes me laugh when I get too serious.

Book Club Lovers: Go here to see the September 2014 MIP Book Club Selection! The MIP reading plan begins next Monday!

Children of the Day Reflections: Living Proof Ministries, Beth Moore’s organization, has given me permission to blog about my journey through Beth Moore’s newest study on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians each Wednesday, so get ready for the first reflection this Wednesday!

My first product review will be up on MIP this coming Friday! I have been asked to review a product for the first time. This is basically “Blogger Nirvana” and a big step forward for MIP, so please take a moment to read the blog Friday.

Top Mommy Blog Update: Because of the Top Mommy Blog status, I have been nominated for a Liebster Award, an award given to new, small blogs! So, thank you for clicking on that Top Mommy Blog button to the right of this post. You can click once a day and every click brings good things (like all of the above)  for the blog and for my writing career, so please keep clicking!

The September Book Club Selection is up! It’s a NOVEL! Go here to learn the details!

Good morning, Book Club Fans! This month’s book, by Gary Keller (Yes, one of the founders of that huge realty company named Keller-Williams!), first made it onto my “radar screen” when I was making out my Amazon.com Christmas wish list last year. I am a sucker for intriguing titles and thus, I put it on my wish list. Thankfully, my brother gave it to me for Christmas! But, true to nature, I just got around to reading it this summer.

I wish I had read it sooner.

If you’re not sure what you’re supposed to be doing with yourself while on this planet or you’re incredibly dissatisfied with your current life, this book will crystallize what you should be doing and help you figure out how to do it.

Not only that, it will also help you figure out how to do it better than anyone else. And yet, the concepts in this book are remarkably simple to adopt into your everyday life.

In my tiny town we have no Target. We barely have department stores–the ones we have are “economy-sized”. And trendy clothes stores are few and far between. There is no Container Store, to my dismay. And we live in a college town, where the college grows by leaps and bounds each year. To add to my annual shopping misery, we happen to be the county seat for our rural county. Thus, back-to-school shoppers abound at pretty much one store–Walmart. To go to Walmart at this time of year is to invite oneself to a demolition derby of human beings. I learned a loooooooooooooong time ago that one should not get between a mother and the last wide-ruled 3-subject spiral notebook in the joint.

While I can largely avoid the school supply aisle now that my kids are all past adolescence, one college student remains. And if you think it’s painful to shop for 3 elementary or junior high school students at this time of year, wait until you see what a college student now requires!

Have you found a new page for MIP yet? This is today’s version of “Where’s Waldo?”

For just about the entire 30 + years I have been married to the hubby, he has been on the road for business reasons. This may seem crazy to the rest of the married world, but we actually enjoy living like this. Yes, we enjoy it. Here’s why:

1. My kitchen is pretty much tidy on the weekdays because he cooks enough that I can just heat up leftovers for a week. I don’t think the man knows how to cook for less than a military regiment.

2. It’s quiet while he’s away. When he’s home, there is the NFL Channel or the Food Channel or Fixer-Upper or some other weird channel on our TVs and the man hasn’t figured out where the down arrow is for the volume control. Which brings me to # 3…

3. I get to use the remote control all by myself on the weekdays. I am convinced he thinks I don’t know how to use it properly simply because I choose to watch one channel for more than 30 seconds at a time.

A chart from 101.5 WBNQ in Bloomington, IL has been making the rounds on Facebook lately. It is the inspiration for today’s post. Read below and see if this sounds like anyone you know:

At my house you might as well just replace First with my oldest’s name; Middle with the daughter’s name and Last with my youngest’s name. So, that got me to thinking…What would the world look like if my 3 ran the world? Here are my suspicions:

1. We would be the most organized world ever. That oldest child of mine has been alphabetizing the sizable video collection for eons….voluntarily. The middle child would know the value of a color-coded planning system. The youngest would make it much more creative and fun (much to the annoyance of his brother and sister).

2. We would be a compassionate world, where the most desperate would know they have a friend who will help them overcome their obstacles. The middle child has always seen every person as a valued friend or future friend. Even my strict oldest seems to find time for the down and out.

Book Club Lovers: There’s 11 days left until the Slow Reader Friday post of The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. The chapters are not tough to read, so jump on in if you haven’t started reading yet!

Top Mommy Blog Update: MIP is now in the top 15% of all the blogs on Top Mommy Blogs! Click on the Top Mommy Blogs button to the right of this post if you like what you find here. Thanks, my dear readers, for all of your help with this!

Women of Faith: I am taking a group of 15 women with me to the Dallas Women of Faith conference on Sept. 19th and 20th. See Patsy Clairmont, Sheila Walsh, Anita Renfroe, Nichole Nordeman, Christine Caine, Priscilla Shirer, Matthew West and more! Tickets cost $ 79 and a hotel room (Holiday Inn Express) is $ 60 plus tax/per night, double occupancy. An optional box lunch from Jason’s Deli is $ 12.00. Email me here for further details, if you’re interested.

Good morning, Word Lovers and Happy Birthday, Hubby, wherever you are! 🙂

Last week’s Word of the Week (WOW) was diktat. Merriam-Webster Online describes diktat as: a harsh settlement unilaterally imposed or a decree or order. That’s pretty much how my offspring would say the house ran when they were younger–settlements harshly imposed by Mom or Dad or both! 

Today’s WOW is cadge. Here are my guesses for cadge: cadge: (ˈkaj) 1. a cadet’s badge 2. a badger catch 3. an Ivan Rodriguez catch (That’s just for you, DSL!)

What are your guesses for cadge? Send me an email here to let me know about them.

Wednesday’s Post: If The Offspring Ruled the World…

You Might Also Like: Word of the Week: diktat; Word of the Week: toxophilite; Word of the Week: bricolage; Word of the Week: spume; and Word of the Week: kickshaw

Book Club Lovers: I am recommending The One Thing by Gary Keller to business people, relatives and friends. Start reading it today, if you haven’t already!

Top Mommy Blog Update: MIP is currently # 6 in the “Everything Else” category! Thank you, my faithful readers! If you like this post, please click on the Top Mommy Blog “button” to the right of this post. Thanks again! I adore you ALL!

Note: Special thanks to fellow Mom Blogger, Natasha J at the Tiny Tots Adventure blog for the inspiration for this post!

It has long been my mantra that NO ONE ever talks about parent abuse, aka the ways our children and teens are such professionals at knowing exactly what “buttons” to push to irritate the stuffing out of us. I don’t condone child abuse, but I sure understand how it happens.

I once remember putting the oldest back in his crib screaming at the top of his lungs and walking out of his room late at night because nothing I was doing to console him was working and my sleep-deprived nerves were fraying like a 14 year old pair of cutoffs. It was either deposit him back into his crib or shake the living tar out of him. Since I knew the latter might land me in prison (where I might be able to get some uninterrupted sleep…hmmm), I had to walk away and find my brain again. (That only took 78 minutes.)

I thought that was the worst part of parenting. I was wrong. Potty-training was worse. Thus, since my 3 had me so well-abused by the time they hit puberty, I started learning how to retaliate or at least dream of ways I could torture them. It allowed me to survive having 3 teenagers at once. So, here are my Top 10 Ways to Get Even with a Teenager:

10. Cut their iPod/iPhone charging cords in half when they’re at school. Tell them the mice chewed it in half, thinking it was part of the leftover marshmallows in their room.

9. Say you’re taking them to the new sci-fi movie and then actually take them to a barber who specializes in bowl cuts.

8. Remove the window “apparel” from their room in the middle of the night and then put a spotlight outside their bedroom window, pointing toward their beds.

7. Put a note under their pillow in tiny writing that says, “I’m the tooth fairy and your teeth are so vile. I want a full refund. You owe me $ 40.00. (That includes interest.)”

6. Take their favorite stuffed animal to school and ask the school secretary to page them to pick up “Binky Bear” from the main office.

5. Wear a t-shirt with a baby picture on it labeled with, “Taking applications for who dates this handsome guy/girl.”

4. Remove their cell phone, computer, TV, iPod, video game console, and video games from their room and have a garage sale with those items with a 5 am start time the next day.

3. Post the homework that DIDN’T yield an A on your refrigerator and then invite all of their friends over for a surprise party.

2. Put a large, pink, lavender-scented air freshener in your son’s car (Hang it from the rear view mirror.) and his sweaty gym locker clothes in his sister’s car the night before the prom.

1. Not only hug them, but plant a big one on their cheeks, wearing 12-hour red lipstick. Do this in front of the varsity quarterback/head cheerleader.

Bwahahahaha.

Suggestions? Additions? Submit them below.

Monday’s Post: Do you need a diktat?

You Might Also Like: What My Purse Says About Me; The Odd Days of August; and Lessons Learned from Buying 3 Homes