Sisters, Stellan, Surgeries, Shiny Sinks, and Sunshine

To say that I have been neglecting my blog in an understatement! Excuses seem to flow forth like a rushing river, but they are still mere excuses. Nothing more, nothing less. So I will give you the "short version" of the latest goings-on in our chaotic as of late household.

SISTERS

Yes, I have four of them, but as of this past weekend, I now have THREE MORE! "The Amazing Race" pretty much sums up SBC's 2009 Ladies' Retreat. All I can say is "Wow!" What an amazing time with amazing ladies. My new sisters, Lori, Jenny, and Michelle, are some of the most phenomenal women I have met and I look forward to sharing and learning with them as we continue on our own Amazing Races. Each one of us is different in complimentary ways, but these differences seem to intertwine into the makings of a beautiful friendship. They are truly kindred spirits. Together we laughed, cried, prayed, and ATE CRICKETS. That's right! We ate crickets! But eating those little critters earned us 3rd place in the Amazing Race! I would be remiss if I claimed we did not hesitate, but we had come so far that there was no turning back. I am so proud of Jenny, who confessed earlier in the week that she was terrified of eating strange things! Here is a visual for those of you who may not believe me:

STELLAN

For those of you following the story of MckMama and her little Stellan, you know that they have a long road ahead of them. This remarkable woman has impacted thousands upon thousands of bloggers and mommies around the world (including this one!) as evidenced by this news story.

Please continue to pray for them and the rest of her Many Small Children (who all have the flu). To follow her blog, click here.


SURGERIES

Part of my "excuse" for being behind in blogging, is that I've been preparing to have sinus surgery. This is nothing new to WGH and me, as this is my third surgery in 10 years. This go around, I will undergo a submucosal resection which will reduce the size of things in my nose called turbinates, and functional endoscopic sinus surgery which will flush out the built up gunk in my frontal sinuses (the forehead area). Fun stuff right?! The surgery is scheduled for April 7th, at 8:30 am. Please pray for me (obviously) but also WGH as he tends to all the "mommy things" that I normally handle!

SHINY SINKS

Even though I am a little behind on my FLYing, I still maintain a shiny sink (see picture below!). Much to my pleasant surprise, WGH even kept the sink shiny for me while I was off eating crickets (see SISTERS above)! Life seems to be getting easier on the FlyLady program. Areas of my home which haven't seen the light of day in quite some time (the proof is here) are now not only functional, but aesthetically pleasing. They seem to call to me, "Danielle, come work on that scrapbook page here!" or "Danielle, that vase of flowers would look great over there!"

Okay, so maybe my desk and dresser aren't communicating to me on a deeper level, but I certainly am drawn to maintain their natural (aka clean & clutter free) beauty!

My plan is to post the after pictures of these areas before my surgery, but as WGH reminded me as I'm writing this, "You sure have been chasing a lot of butterflies here lately." Well, duh! For now, bask in the glow that emanates from my gloriously shiny sink!

Lori, if you read this, I still am interested in being FLY accountable with you, but can't seem to leave comments on your blog. If anyone else is interested, please leave a comment and we'll try to find a date to start fresh all together!

SUNSHINE

We're about to go get some! If the weather is as fabulous at your home as it is here, go outside and chase some butterflies!