As to win the prize

I feel like I’ve been running a marathon.

Not that I’ve ever run a marathon. I’ve run a mile, albeit several, several years ago. I used to run a mile every day in 7^th grade. I hated every minute of it, and yet I was always proud at the end that I did it. I ran a mile. Better yet, I ran a mile and I wasn’t last. I wasn’t even close to last. Feels good.

I’ve even run a mile and a half. Did I ever run two miles? I don’t think so. But I remember running that mile and a half. Oh, dear Lord, I did NOT think I could make it those two extra laps. Are you kidding me? I couldn’t do it. That last lap was torture. I had a stitch in my side, I was hot and sweaty, I couldn’t breathe, I was thirsty, and I was tired. But I did it, of course. Because if you can run a mile, you can generally run a mile and a half.

Now, I understand that a mile and a half is nowhere near a marathon. So maybe I should say I feel like I’ve been running a mile and a half. Because I can do a mile, no problem. A mile? I’ve been doing a mile for years now. Kids? No problem. 50,000 words in 30 days? Piece of cake. School on top of it all? Okay, that’s stepping it up, but it’s still doable.

Now throw a full-time job on top of it, and you’re pushing it. Have the husband go back to school, too, and we’re into those two extra laps. We may even be up to two miles by now. And you know what? It’s doable. Because if you can run a mile, you can run a mile and a half. And if you can run a mile and a half, you can run two.

But, Lord, I’m tired. I’m thirsty. Sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe and I’ve got a stitch in my side.

But I can see that finish line coming up. I can see it.

Classes for spring 2010 posted, and I know that for my final semester—my final semester—I will be taking Creative Writing: Prose and World Literature. Once more, I have professors I’ve had before, and I am interested in the subject matter. I will graduate in eight months. That’s still a while, but it’s only about one more lap.

One more lap. I can do that.

Did I mention I *heart* projects?

As if my posts here and here weren't enough to convince you how much I love projects, here's another one.

Noah's room is very bright. This is lovely and all for daytime play, but isn't so great for Saturday morning sleeping in. I've wanted to get curtains for his room for just about as long as the boy has been alive, but just never did. Curtains are friggin' expensive. So the boy has gone curtain-less.

Until I recently had a brainstorm (it does happen every once in a while). See, we had these light-khaki-colored cotton duck curtains in our living room when we lived in Tyler.


They were great at blocking the neighbor's view into our picture window. But when we moved to Waco, we didn't have anywhere to put them. Sure, we could have put them in our current living room, but the curtain rods don't suit our present living room window configuration, so they went into our bedroom. And, well, curtain rods are friggin' expensive. Besides, we didn't really want curtains in the living room. They messed up the vibe. So, the curtains sat on a shelf in our closet for five years. Wait, six years. Geez.

Until the recent brainstorm. One day I was contemplating the curtain dilemma and suddenly thought, why not dye the light-khaki-colored curtains? Brilliant! One trip to Jo-Ann, $15, and about 3 hours later, voila! Kelly green curtains that uncannily matched Noah's kelly green canvas bins. Does it get any better? No, it does not.


(The color is a little off. Whereas before this room got lots of sunlight, the curtains have made it darker, and I had a hard time getting good lighting. In real life, it's a great kelly green).

And then the kelly-green-colored curtains sat on Noah's dresser for two or three months until I could find some reasonably priced curtain rods. I considered finials and all, especially since Pottery Barn Kids had some stinking cute, glow-in-the-dark star finials. But PBK is a little out of my budget range, and besides, they no longer carry those finials. Instead, I went with the traditional, cheap curtain rods, with a twist. They're brown and have mini-finials. Say that five times fast: mini-finials, mini-finials, mini-finials...

And so, the curtains are now hung and Noah's room is completely finished and decorated.


Well, okay, not really. See, I only bought enough dye for four curtains because I thought I was going to just hang one per window. But that didn't look right, so I had to do the traditional two curtains per window. I need to buy more dye so I can do two more curtains. But at least I don't have to buy more curtains!

And, yeah, so we haven't quite finished the wall where we closed in the door to the living room. And it turns out, Noah has this thing for superheroes, hence the Transformers poster that just does NOT go with the star theme.

And, in the interest of full disclosure, you should know there are Spider-Man sheets under the quilt. But at least he'll sleep longer in them on Saturday morning!

Praise God!

Andrea is pregnant!

Psalm 113

Who Is like the Lord Our God?

Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised!
The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!
Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!