scramble!

my brain is a scramble. there are 3 or 4 posts i have all rolling around, and i've started a couple of them. but let's go with these abbreviated thoughts. :)

materialism. i thought i wasn't in it's clutches, but apparently i am. it's an insidious little mo'fo. (did i just offend you? i'm sorry - but you have to call a spade a spade.) the pergola for the deck leads to pulsating desire for new deck furniture. and new deck "decor". and patio lights. i am not buying any of it... i am going to fight off this hydra with every bone in my body. i refuse to let my life consist of my possessions. (luke 12:15)

kyra's formal. seriously - how wonderful is it to be 13 and lovely, with friends and a dress...shoes, hair & makeup...heading out to a big dance at a "fancy" hotel (all hotels are fancy when you're 13) for a long night of food and laughing and pretending to dance. obviously, some poor girl will end up in the bathroom crying, but that's part of the experience, too. hopefully it won't be kyra. if the pictures aren't too .... scary? grown up & alarming? ... i will post some for you. :)

new house. funny how i don't miss our old one. or even think about it. i think my heart had left that area a long, long time ago, and the house was really the last thing that kept us there. we are fully in our new life now, and it's achingly beautiful. our new little home, our people, our church, even my job ... it's like God dumped heaps and heaps of undeserved happiness all over us.

family. as in, extended. since moving, i have had a deep and sustained longing for my family. mom and dad, ben & kari, mark & tina, vince & emily... i miss them. we live so far from all of them that i am well accustomed to it, and i usually don't think twice about the distance. we are all in pretty good touch, and that's just the way it is. but lately, man. it's just not enough. i need them.

curtis told me last weekend that he's been with me (including dating) for half of my life. oh.my.gosh. for some reason that has really thrown me for a loop. maybe it's just that it makes me feel old? i can't shake it, though. weird.

thanks for letting me get that all out. :) ttyl