New Kind of Normal

I'm reading a book that a friend gave me, that another friend told me about, which is a sequel to a book that a completely different friend gave to me a few years ago. (See all the people God uses to bring comfort to one person?)

The book I'm currently reading/devouring is called A New Kind of Normal by Carol Kent. She also wrote When I Lay My Isaac Down. I wrote a blog post about that book a long time ago and begged you to read it. Did you read it???

On the front cover of this book it says, "Hope-Filled Choices When Life Turns Upside Down"

How fitting right?

Well, she quoted a man in this book and I wanted to share it with you.

(Click on the Picture to make it bigger.)

For some reason if you can't read what's on the picture it says:

"When suffering shatters the carefully kept vase that is our lives, God stoops to pick up the pieces. But he doesn't put them back together as a restoration project patterned after our former selves. Instead, he sifts through the rubble and selects some of the shards as raw material for another project---a mosaic that tells the story of redemption." ~Ken Gire

I'm still trying to figure out what my "New Kind of Normal" is.

Coldplay - Fix You [Lyrics]

Randy has been singing this song to me lately.

I can't begin to explain how thankful I am for him.

These past 6 years we've been through the unthinkable.

He was the best possible Poppa for Miles.

Oh, how he loved Miles.

He took such great care of him.

He sat with Miles in the crook of his arm on the couch.

He supported me and encouraged me when it was tough with Miles.

Since Miles has died I've been a mess.

Randy has been so patient with me.

He's allowing me the precious gift of time to heal.

He doesn't get a pat on the back.

He doesn't have shoulders to cry on like I do.

Randy lost his son too.

Still, he has a business to run and a family to support.

There seems to be no rest for the weary.

Randy is trying to juggle work, money, his own grief and a crying wife.

It's a lot to juggle.

I just wanted you to know how amazing he is...even though he doesn't

really think he is. (That's part of his charm.)

Randy,

I'm so proud of you. I'm so thankful for you! Thank you for keeping on even though it's hard. Thank you for trying to "Fix Me." You're such a treasure to me.

Much Love,

Brandi

(One of Randy's favorite pictures of him and Miles.)

Crafty

On Wednesdays I have coffee at my Mother-in-law, Shirley's house. This morning she told me about something she saw and thought that I would like to make. It's a tiny apron for a bottle of soap. After coffee I came home and whipped one up out of scraps of material I already had. It's one of the cutest things I've ever made!

How adorable is this thing???

I made a real pocket on it so when Shirley takes her rings off to wash the dishes she can put the ring in the pocket. Anyway, I thought this came out so dang cute!

Jocie 4th Grade. Eyes...Where are the Eyes?

How Many Pictures Does It Take To Get The Eyes Open?

Take One

Nope

She's Trying

Eyes Are Open, But What Happened To the Mouth?

Where Are The Eyes?

Almost There!

Ahhhhhhh!!!!

Perfect! Good! Get In The Car!

3 Months

Today makes 3 months since Miles died. In many ways this month has been the hardest for me. The first days and months were a whirlwind and pretty foggy for me to try to remember. Everything was such a shock. The second month I was blessed enough to step away from everyday life and be out of town for most of the month. Of course I was still grieving and processing, but I was also distracted a lot. Month 3 slammed with me reality and deep sorrow. I've cried the month away. I've cried as hard as when Miles died. I've fiercely missed him. I've felt lost and empty.

Today though I've had an excitement brewing. Tomorrow the kids will go back to school. I will...I have no idea what I will be doing. I'm starting a new chapter tomorrow. I will be at home without any children. I'm not going to work. I'm not going to school. I'm not going to be taking care of anyone. Well, anyone but myself. I'm going to be....healing.

This week I finally started reading a book that a friend gave me right after Miles died. It's called "Within the Gates."

(The cover of my book looks different.) I couldn't read it when I first got it, but I picked it up this week, and it has brought me some comfort. It records a woman's vision of Heaven. It was written in the early 1900's. I don't know if it's all true. It sounds too good to be true, but Hey, that's what Heaven is right? The descriptions of Heaven are so beautiful, but even more than that the descriptions of Jesus' tender character have been what captured me. Even if it's not all true, which I'm not saying it is or it isn't...It helped me to think of Miles in Heaven more than just Miles not on Earth. Does that make sense?

Today I was looking through some pictures and I came across several pictures that I had taken in the last 6 months before he died. He looked really sick in them. When I've been thinking of "the Miles that I miss" I've thought about my precious smiling Miles. The truth was that he had to work really hard to be on this earth. He was so sick for so long. I don't usually think about how sick he was or how uncomfortable he probably was for a long time. He's not hurting anymore. He's not sick anymore.

I miss Miles more than I can begin to explain. However, at this time, at this moment...I'm happy for him.

(Oh, and thank you Marki for the book!)

Treasure Hunting

Today Randy and I had a few extra minutes to spare so we stopped by the Goodwill close to our house. I like stopping in there when I have extra time in-between places. You just never know what you will find. I stopped in today because I'm still looking for more vintage board games for my kitchen. I found a couple of games today for very cheap. However, that wasn't the treasure of the day.

While I'm there I usually check out the records to see what they have. Today I found a few that made me very happy! At 25 cents each these are always an exciting buy. I got the soundtrack album for the movie Starman. Do you remember that movie from the 80's? I actually got 4 soundtracks. One is from the American Tale. I remember as a kid that movie made me sad for my Mama even if she was just in the other room. I found a Dolly Parton album from the movie 9 to 5. My favorite though is from YENTL. I love me some Barbra Streisan! I would give up half my record collection for this soundtrack in particular! Have you ever seen YENTL? I love that movie! In the movie all she wants to do above anything else is to be able to study the Bible, but she's a Jewish woman and isn't permitted to read it herself so she dresses up like a boy and goes to seminary. Anyway, it gets complicated when she falls in love with a boy. Anywho...as excited as I was about the albums...it still wasn't the treasure of the day.

THIS IS THE TREASURE OF THE DAY!

I found these adorable-I know they were crocheted by a little old woman-pot holders! How cute are these? I saw them and I felt I HAD TO rescue them! They needed a home where they would be appreciated and used. They were all sold together for $2.89, but it had a Blue Tag on it so they were Half Off today! Believe me, they're even cuter in person. All that old lady-crocheted-fruity-crafty-goodness made me smile!

Sour Puss

I hate when the last thing I say to the kids at night is said with a Grumpy Face or a Grumpy Tone. It doesn't happen All the time, but it happens. I don't like ending the day with that.

My last words were not very nice. They're all still awake so I think I will go make those last words something sweeter.

How Am I Doing?

How am I doing?

Well, let's see...here's a picture of a plant that I, until recently had in my entry way:

I walked by it at least 50 times a day. For awhile I thought I would try to work on the plant to make it better. It wasn't completely dead, though obviously the plant had seen better days. Then I got tired of looking at it, and I didn't have the energy to nurse it back to health. So I did the only logical thing. I opened the backdoor, chunked it outside and the dog immediately ran to it and ate it. That's a good representation of how I'm doing.

Catching Up a Little

I feel like I need to put Something on here...

Well, VACATION WAS UH-MA-ZING!!!! I want to stay on vacation! I want to pack up right now and go back to where there's daily housekeeping, fresh seafood and days filled with things we Want to do instead of things we Have to do. (Yes I know how 3rd grader that sounds!)
We were on a 2 week vacation celebrating 15 years of marriage! Wow!
Here's a picture of the LoveBirds.




Next up...I'm OFFICIALLY A MOTHER OF A TEENAGER! I'm not sure how this is possible since I'm still so young. However, it's true. Joey turned 13 today. We're going to the drive-in movies later and I now have to pay adult prices for him. He now has a Facebook account. The rule on FB is that you have to be 13 so he's been excited about that. Before I was even awake today he wanted help making a FB account. I'm proud of him that he cares about the rules and waited. He's really an amazing kid. I'm so thankful that I'm starting out this Teenage Business with Joey!
How handsome is this kid????


What else...Oh, my husband got another tattoo when we were on vacation. He got a tattoo of an Indian shooting a Star.

It's a picture off of the Tootsie Pop suckers. It's something he really liked when he was a kid. (If you would like more details he would be happy to tell you about it. He likes telling the story.) However, I would like to tell you about his other tattoo and my matching one! Way back in the day after Randy and I KNEW we would be together forever...
We decided to get matching tattoos. Never mind the fact that I was only 16 and he was 18. We had only been together for 3 months, but like I said WE KNEW. (Oh, my gosh...I was only 3 years older than Joey is right now.) Please, Lord have mercy on me!

Anyway, we decided to get matching smiley face tattoos. Smiley Faces have been our logo every since. The deal was that I wasn't old enough to get a tattoo and there was No Way my Mom was going to give me permission. I know this because I asked and she said, "No Way." So, naturally what did we do? Randy went to his sister Sharon's house and made me a fake ID. No, I'm not kidding. He had gotten pretty good at making them for his friends in high school. Theirs all said they were 21. I'm sure it was so they could vote and such. Mine just said I was 18.

With my newly laminated ID I informed my Mom that I was going to go get the tattoo. She just laughed at me and we left. When I came back and I showed her she totally thought it was a joke! She told me to go wash it off. I told her that it was real and there was no washing it off. My response was, "I told you I was going. You didn't say anything!" Again, Lord, please have mercy on me!

I'm sure there's more to catch up on, but I've got to get ready for the Drive In. We're going to see Planet of the Apes and Captain America. It's only over 100 degrees so I'm sure it will be lovely. WHAT THE HECK IS WITH THE HEAT???