Mindless Monday

Good Monday morning!

Except for the daily instructions (CONTEST! and NEW THING!), Mindless Monday is really a picture-story of my weekend. I LOVE picture-stories. They are so much easier for me to understand than ALL WORD stories. Sad, but true.

CONTEST! CONTEST! CONTEST! - This is my 996th post for A Simple Life. The countdown continues!

The Contest will be simple. The rules are as follows:

Beginning today, leave your NAME followed by the word "CONTEST" in the Comment Section of A Simple Life, e-mail me (mfaulkner1306@charter.net) or go to my Facebook page.

You can enter the Contest ONCE A DAY (each and every day including Saturdays AND Sundays) until Thursday, August 30 at midnight. (Your name could be put into the drawing bowl a total of 4 times between now and Thursday, August 30!)

I will write my 1,000th post Friday morning, August 31.

I will draw from a HUGE BOWL of names, and a winner will be announced the morning of Friday, August 31.

The winner will receive a $15 Gift Certificate to one of the following restaurants:

1. Another Broken Egg
2. Original Pancake House
3. Olexa's
4. Lucia's Italian Restaurant in Helena

It will be Winner's Choice!

If you win and you live somewhere other than Alabama, you will win a $15 VISA Gift Card!

"May the odds be ever in your favor!"

(I'm going to be saying that for the next 4 POSTS!)

NEW THING! NEW THING! NEW THING! - I'm going to post one of my favorite posts each day from the past four years until August 31.

50 IS NIFTY... AND OTHER URBAN MYTHS - Originally Posted August 25, 2011

Today is the LAST DAY I will be in my 40s. The LAST DAY!

This was a difficult decade for me. Very difficult. But I learned a lot. I leaned on God more and more... not less and less. I lived one day at a time. Oh. And I made a list of things I observed along the way. (You know I made a list!)

1. When I turned 40, my kids were 4, 7 and 10. They were so little. When I turn 50 tomorrow they will be 14, 17 and 20. They are now SO big. Heavy, heavy sigh.

2. When I turned 40, we were planning our first ever trip to Disney. It... was... magical! This year, we spent several days in the middle of a lake on a houseboat. It... was... peaceful! (Who knew "peaceful" would one day win over "magical?")

3. When I turned 40, Mikie was healthy... I was healthy... and all three of my kiddos were healthy. Ten years later, one of my children has been diagnosed with a chronic illness, and I don't take the word "healthy" for granted any longer.

4. When I turned 40, I had never experienced the grief of losing someone unexpectedly who was extremely close to me. As I turn 50 tomorrow, I am still dealing and living with that grief on a daily basis.

5. When I turned 40, all of my family lived under the same roof. When I turn 50 tomorrow, one of my three kids has been living on campus nine months a year (not counting weekends)... and I am surviving and thriving. (And so is he!)

6. When I turned 40, my hair was a lovely shade of auburn. Tomorrow when I turn 50 (and forevermore), my hair will be a lovely shade of auburn.

7. When I turned 40, most of "me" was still in the vicinity of where it was supposed to be. When I turn 50 tomorrow, I will have to admit gravity has taken a toll, but thanks to Spanx, I will hoist everything back in place for the majority of the day!

8. When I turned 40, I mourned the fact I didn't have "just one more baby." When I turn 50 tomorrow, I will be so thankful for the three I have, and I will dedicate the next decade to "finishing what I started."

9. When I turned 40, I didn't think I could love Mikie any more than I did at that moment in time. On the threshold of turning 50 tomorrow, I realize I was wrong.

10. When I turned 40, Mikie and the kids took me out to eat and to a movie. My favorite thing in the whole wide world. Ten years later... Mikie is taking me out to eat and to a movie. My favorite thing in the whole wide world! (Oh. And I'm having a family party with the kids, etc. Saturday night! I didn't want you to think I was leaving them out!)

Ten years ago, I would have said, "I can't wait to see what the next decade brings." I am older and wiser now. Today I will simply say, "Thank you, Lord, for today." Yep. I'll say that... and I'll try to find all the joy "today" has to offer.

RANDOMNESS #1 - I am officially IN my 50s. Although I told you Friday I would post my ponderings in list-form of the last year, today's post is SO full, I think I'm going to wait until tomorrow.

Feel free to take it up with the "Author of the Blog" if you have any complaints. I hear she's pretty easy to talk to!

RANDOMNESS #2 - I call this picture-story "Austin's Last First Moving Day to JSU."

Austin has a reversible black and gray comforter with matching gray sheets... and a black throw pillow... and a matching JSU sweatshirt blanket... which is supposed to be folded neatly at the foot of his bed.

Austin PREFERS his camo sheets Melia's family bought him as a gift last year because of several reasons... the main one being he likes camo.

The sheets do not match anything else in his room, but The Boy likes what The Boy likes, and I understand that concept!

You're right. You're right. When the bed is totally made up, you cannot tell he has non-matching camo sheets.

Other than last Friday, I don't think the bed will EVER be totally made up again!

This is Austin's FAVORITE room decoration. Melia made it for him last year, and he loves it.

And I love the sweet verse in the middle of the frame. Perfect.

I took one last picture of Austin looking out his dorm window. He has had four different rooms in four different years, and I'm hoping he'll have his happiest memories in this room.

I don't have a picture of his room totally finished because with EVERYONE moving into Sparkman Hall at the same time, people were lined up to use the elevators. Austin and I walked up eight flights of stairs with a load of cleaning supplies and X-Box equipment.

While I sanitized, Austin made two more trips down and up, down and up for bedding and other necessities.

He made the uber-wise decision to wait until all the extra people (parents, grandparents, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc.) left the dorm at 5:00 p.m. to move in his recliner, television, bookcase/television stand, etc.

I'll see if he'll take a few "finished" pictures this week so you won't think his room is drab and depressing. (I'll need to see those, too. I don't want to think his room is drab and depressing, either.)

RANDOMNESS #3 - This picture-story is entitled "Roxie's First Ever Volleyball Tournament as a Sophomore." (In case you didn't know, I'm really good at coming up with the catchy titles.)

It's a gift, I think.

We won our first match (9:30 a.m.), so we were pretty excited about the rest of the day.

And, yes. There is a ball somewhere in the vicinity of Roxie's outstretched hands. I'm good, but I don't always have time to get a ball in EVERY picture.

This wasn't a "volleyball" action shot as much as a "ponytail" action shot. Use your imagination. You can almost hear the "swish!"

And then there is the obligatory "clapping and yelling" motivational picture.

Maybe Roxie could be a motivational speaker when she grows up. She can certainly make you listen!

Our school volleyball team is full of very pretty young ladies... and Kaitlyn is one of them!

And Kennedy and Kirsten are two more. (If you haven't noticed, we have a lot of girls with "K" names.) A lot!

This is what always happens. I take a group picture... and then everyone's PHONE takes a group picture.

Casey, Kennedy and Baleigh are ready for action. (If they were standing closer together, they would look like Charlie's Angels, I think.)

I LOVE "We just won a game!" pictures.

You can almost hear the squealing, can't you?

Our next game is this Thursday night, and I have a feeling I'll have many more "We just won a game!" pictures Friday morning.

I just know it!

RANDOMNESS #4 - Do you want to guess the name of this little picture-story? Do you? Okay. "The Enchanting Belinda Turns 51." Simple and to the point.

My niece, Katie, ALWAYS makes my birthday cake. An unexpected beach trip came up with some of Katie's friends, and being the BEST AUNT EVER, I wanted her to enjoy her friends and the beach... just this once.

That left my sister, Bev, in charge of the cake. Bev, who just had knee surgery. Bev, who is still unpacking boxes after moving into her house after a tornado destroyed the old one. Bev, who doesn't bake cakes quite like Katie.

This is my birthday cake from last year.

Can you see the difference? Can you?

This was Katie's last beach trip on my birthday... EVER!

I'll finish my birthday "picture-story" tomorrow. I'm going to be late for Body Pump!

Have a terrific Monday. I'll be back tomorrow with my "ponderings," Randomness, pictures, a Recipe and more.

Take care, and I'll talk to you in the morning.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda