Category Archives: Stuff I Actually Think

Music on a Monday // Best TV Themes from the 1960s and 1970s

November 4, 20135 Songs I am Singing, 6 Looking Back // Memories!, 9 TV & Movies/Books & Entertainment, Stuff I Actually Think1960s TV shows, best TV theme songs of the 1960s, Best TV theme songs of the 1970s, brady bunch, growing up in the 1960s, growing up in the 1970s, i love lucy, new girl, partridge family, rockford files, that girl, the courtship of eddie's father, the monkees, theme songs of the 1960s, TV Theme Songs, TV theme songs of the 1970sJeanie

TV Themes really are woven into our musical-brains in a unique way. They signal certain years and seasons of our lives with distinct and focused clarity. If we loved the show, the theme probably added to it. When we heard it coming on, we ran from the kitchen with our popcorn and Pepsi in hand, it’s time, our hearts beating faster. **Smile.

In these days of Tivo and Apple TV, Netflix and Hulu-Plus, we watch whole seasons in a week or two, treating shows more like a mini-series than episodic TV, and if you watch more than one episode at a time, it does become monotonous to hear many of the themes over and over. But if the theme actually adds to the fun or the intrigue or the feel of the show, then I must insist on experiencing the song again and again.

Like with Mad Men: the musical theme is a must. It sets a sexy tone of intrigue whether I am marathoning or just fitting one episode into my evening. When the grandbebes are here, they beg to watch Gilligan’s Island over and over and the song is key to the slapstick fun!

I want my own theme song

Wouldn’t that just be fun? If, right before you arrived to meet your friend for coffee at Starbucks, or as you were coming down the stairs in the morning, a song started playing – a song that captured your essence and impish sweetness and set the tone for a special half-hour with you? I want that, dangit! I want to be wearing a yellow dress, just sort of gliding through life and have the world break forth in song in my wake. Hahahahaha! I laugh, but I may not actually kidding…*ahem

I sat down with a pen and wrote a quick list of some of my favorite TV theme songs from my growing up years. It is one of the fastest lists I have ever made. I had to keep crossing things off to keep the list from being my top FIFTY favs to just being 20…or so. ;)

A Spotify Playlist follows.

BEST TV THEMES from the 1960s and 1970s (in my humble opinion) ~ In no particular order…

Brady Bunch. Well, I mean, if you were going to have a blended family, how wonderful for every single person to be so cute, looking at each other sweetly from blue boxes. The Brady Bunch was a social-landscape-changing show, and like many shows of the time, told the whole background setting in the 30-40 second theme song. Hilarious! “Here’s the story of a lovely lady,” sing along with me now!
Partridge Family. OMYGOODNESS!!! Have you never read this blog before? This is THE quintessential show of my childhood and really – the theme of my life in its’ entirety, is it not??? Everybody – let’s SING!

“Hello, world, here’s the song that we’re singin’
C’mon get happy!
A whole lot of lovin’ is what we’ll be bringin’
We’ll make you happy!

We had a dream we’d go travelin’ together,
We’d spread a little love and then we’d keep movin’ on.
Somethin’ always happens whenever we’re together
We get a happy feelin’ when we’re singing a song.

Trav’lin’ along there’s a song that we’re singin’
C’mon get happy!
A Whole lot of lovin’ is what we’ll be bringin’
We’ll make you happy!
We’ll make you happy!
We’ll make you happy!”
Rockford Files. Instrumental. It was really my dad’s show. But the song charted on pop stations and is an earthy, sexy, adventurous, upbeat, ornery-cool song. Mike Post won a Grammy for best instrumental arrangement in 1975. Can’t sing to it, but can love me some James Garner – and those cute answering machine messages he’d leave for his creditors!
Happy Days. This show just took the early 70s by storm. It was set in the late 50s-to-early 1960s with Poodle skirts and saddle shoes and the Fonz. I recall my mom totally not getting the appeal, as she had “already lived through that era” and was glad it was over. But the jukebox and the bobby-soxer were the rage and this show was just the thing! Thumbs-up, “Aaaaayyyyy!”
Andy Griffith Show. The whistle. It was one of the earliest shows of my memory. I watched it with my mom while she’d be ironing clothes and she always whistled along. She taught me how when I was 3 or 4. But I can’t do it now. What’s up with that?
The Beverly Hillbillies. A little Bluegrass, here. Just such a fun song to sing, and again, one of those that gave you the whole back story in a theme song. Genius! “Come and listen to a story ’bout a man named Jed…”
Gomer Pyle, USMC. This one didn’t have words, either, but what a rousing, fun intro that made you want to watch Gomer smile that big, goofy smile and stand at attention in an attention-getting way and say, “Well, goll-ll-ll-ll-y!”
I Love Lucy. Who wouldn’t love Lucy? Partly why I always wanted to have red hair.
Perry Mason. Those eyes ~ and the broadest shoulders on TV ever! I LOVE a man in a well-cut suit and tie. Don Draper does it best these days (besides Dave, of course), but Perry was my man. I still think about becoming a lawyer and shaming people into a confession!
Sesame Street. This show came on when I was all of about 10 and I just remember thinking, “How wonderful that the little children have such a cool show they can watch now.” Secretly, I wished I could, too, because of this TV theme song which got lots of play on the pop stations in its early days.
The Dick Van Dyke Show. Perfect example of an instrumental TV theme that absolutely captured the fun and sophistication of the cast and characters and everything about this show. It really has to be one of the greatest ensemble casts with more talent per square-minute than almost any other, ever. It was beautiful, it was funny, and this song was the platform for the genius performances. SO good!
Batman. It had words. Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na Batman!
The Love Boat. In one hour, all your romantic problems could be fixed on the high seas. “Love exciting and new, come aboard. We’re expecting you…” I came aboard every Saturday night for 4 years. :)
The Monkees. Now this one is weird. Because I love the theme, but the actual show was totally beyond me, really. I wasn’t in tune to the humor, but I watched because I thought if I kept trying, I’d get there. But I loved their songs. Still do.
I Dream of Jeanie. Well. Don’t make me explain why I had to like this one.
Welcome Back, Kotter. A teacher returns to teach at his old school after his dreams had been his ticket out. John Travolta = Vinnie Barbarino. Good song. Cute Vinnie.
The Patty Duke Show. See what I mean? Not only did Patty Duke get to have her own theme song, she got to be 2 different characters. Ok. That’s it! Now I want my own theme song AND I want to be able to have more than one personality! But both – engaging and wonderful!
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. Well, mid-century-modern cool, period. Seeing a dad as a friend was foreign to me, but I was very impressed at how Bill Bixby did it. I think it changed American perceptions about dads. The images during the theme song (not to mention those voice-over low-key conversations between a boy and his dad ) are undeniably strong.
Green Acres. “Green Acres is the place to be. Farm living is the life for me!” I could not have sang that better myself! I get Mr. Oliver Wendell Douglas. I get him. Now where is my version of that house and farm and cast of silly characters, including a pig named Arnold? Where, I ask you?
My Three Sons. This theme song also has a particular visual I could not NOT watch! It is so scaled-back hip, animated line-drawing cool! HAD to watch it whenever I could!

I recall quite a few shows for a girl with no TV at home from the mid-60s until the World Series of 1971, huh?

Bonus info…THESE two shows (also my favs)…

UNO:::The Mary Tyler Moore Show, “Who can turn the world on with her smile?” I wanted to grow up and wear the outfits she was wearing and “take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile,” and toss my hat into the air in the middle of the city just like Mary. The great strength of this show was an incredible supporting cast, strong characters and how it visually captured changing times. Great lyrics, warmth, memory-making, fun-to-sing! One of the best ever ~ and the one that sparked me thinking about TV themes because this actually could be a theme song for my great niece, Emilee. :)

DOS:::That Girl! (Marlo Thomas) I loved this show, but Marlo carried most of it. She did have the amazing Donald (her TV boyfriend), but her supporting cast didn’t do enough for her, I don’t think. “She’s everything that every girl should be….That girl!”

have led to today’s:

Uno + Dos + Tres = ::: New Girl starring Zoey Daschenal. This is one of my fav TV show themes ever, really! “Who’s that girl? Who’s that girl? ~~It’s me~~!” Oops, “It’s Jess!” Well, I mean – I was wishing for some props like these and ya know: my own theme song.

Here is a YouTube playlist of all three openings. That Girl ~ Mary Tyler Moore Show ~ New Girl. Do I need to submit any further evidence of the need for a personal theme song? It ensures good lighting at all times, a fabulous wardrobe, and hats and good hair days, together or on their own. *sigh….

The MAIN problem I had was when I went to create this playlist on Spotify…

I saw so many other shows with great themes, too. Like Room 222, which I think I wrote a whole blog post about a few years back. Of course you cannot deny the power of Gilligan’s Island to make. you. crazy!!! I hate it, but the theme song is catchy. There was Hawaii 5-0, Bewitched (which I wasn’t supposed to like because of witches), and Family Affair, not to mention The Munsters…and so many more!

Many of these are not actually the original, but this is a fun, happy, good-memory kind of playlist, anyway!

What were your favorite TV themes? Do you have 20 or 50-some like me?

Best Thought

November 2, 20131 Christ is All, Stuff I Actually ThinkJeanie

The best is yet to be.

“Then I realized that my heart was bitter,

and I was all torn up inside.

I was so foolish and ignorant—

I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.

Yet I still belong to you;

you hold my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,

leading me to a glorious destiny.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

I desire you more than anything on earth.

My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,

but God remains the strength of my heart;

he is mine forever.” –Ps. 73.21-24 nlt

A glorious destiny – It IS a wonderful thought!

It’s a Skill, Like Anything

October 30, 20132 Mi Familia, 4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, 6 Looking Back // Memories!, Stuff I Actually Thinkdeveloping skills, homemaking, housekeeping, skilledJeanie

Houzz had the BEST article today (by Alison Hodgson, my FAV writer there). It’s about “How to Build Your Housekeeping Muscle,” but honestly – it is just a great perspective on how to develop your abilities at anything you might find perplexing.

She shares an example of a man who has loaned lots of money to friends and relatives over the years and how he isn’t bothered by it because he just sees himself as some one who is really good at saving money, as in “skilled at it.” His viewpoint took something we usually judge others about and turns not being very good at handling money from being some irreparable character flaw (the writer’s profound revelation about this totally hit me) in them as people ~ to something we can, with a little effort, actually become skilled in ~ whether that includes housekeeping, or managing a budget well, or making new friends, or good communication, getting fit or whatever it is that perhaps has been pointed out to us as being a weakness or imperfection calling our very value into question.

While we are often quick to judge other people harshly for what we see as a major character impairment, a proof of a lack of development in who they should be as a person (#don’taskmehowIknow), maybe they are just good people who have not yet developed skills in certain areas – just. like. us.

I won’t tell on myself, but…

My mom was the most “distracted” housekeeper on the planet, which drove my perfectionist dad up the proverbial wall and caused him to rule the roost by making endless, demanding lists of to-do for every member of the family. Even after I was married, and moved hundreds of miles away, when we came for a visit, I was given a list! OH-Yes, he did! :) It’s an honor for me now, to get to be helpful to my parents, but in my early 20s I was probably pretty incredulous. Haha.

Now, my dad is known to be highly competent and get-things-done-well NOW! and I like that. He is a high-capacity leader, a pastor trusted for high-impact ministry and church growth. But my mom is also known ~ as the woman who makes him bearable. She is without guile in any way, so loving and non-judgemental. She can make a lifelong-wholly-devoted friend from the most snarky and committed enemy.

There were church ladies and relatives who judged my mom’s housekeeping as inferior, but her character: above reproach. There is not a person in the world who doesn’t want to be around her because of how she cheers them on and showers them with love. Over time, she learned to follow my dad’s “guidance” and keeps a lovely home. But she wasn’t born that way and she is in NO WAY deficient in her character!

Source: here

It is interesting, I think, how we like to compare some one else’s weakness in skill against our own strength as though it automatically makes them flawed. Or we do it to ourselves, thinking, “I wish I weren’t so awful at ______,” feeling doomed forever by some label (“I’m the messy one,” or “I’m the one who can’t do _____,” or “I’m the clumsy one,” etc).

So, the article:: This was just so thought-provoking to me, I wanted to thank Alison Hodgson and share it here. Hope it gets you thinking, too, and giving yourself and others GRACE and great hope for the future. Just simple tips to follow to get the skill you need to strengthen the area you feel condemned about, housekeeping or whatever else.

How to Build Your Housekeeping Muscle

It is never too late to become the person you might have been…or to develop a skill that will help you to the end!

Your character is fine, you’re no villain or person of lack and nonsense. You just need to adjust a bit. Read these great tips! Get hope!

A Reprint of my 2010 Halloween Tirade

October 28, 20131 Christ is All, 2 Mi Familia, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, Stuff I Actually Thinkchristians and halloween, halloweenJeanie

Reprinted from my blog originally posted October 29, 2010 {{HERE}}

“I Loathe, Despise & Abominate Halloween” BUT wait: I LOVE the trick-or-treaters!!!

This is my nearly-2000-word {highly-opinionated} essay (w/no pictures) on WHY I hate Halloween~

I don’t hate little kids, all cute and dressed up coming to my door with an open bag. That actually requires a lot of trust in this day and age and I look at it as a chance to bless the little children, a chance to be a nice neighbor. Trick-or-treating does not bother me, really, because the kids (young kids only, please – you kids that are old enough to work – go buy your own dang candy) are just excited to get to wear a costume and eat more candy than they should. I hate, literally loath, despise and abominate Halloween, but maybe for reasons different than you’d imagine…

The Horror of Retail {mwa, mwa, mwa….}

For 5 years I ran a retail party store. Halloween was the BIG ONE. It drove our sales for the year and I had to be number one (I just HAD TO!…and was!!, ok – strike that last prideful statement), so can you imagine my deep loathing for both milking-Halloween-for-all-it-was-worth for the money we could rake in and just hating the symbols that have come to represent it all? I set everything and worked my head off (can you say 90+ hours a week during the evil-season??) to sell to people who would purchase useless styro-headstones, “bloody” goblets and giant fuzzy spiders. Fog machines were the biggest rip-off and anything witchy-skeletony-or-ghoulish you could add double-D batteries to so it would light up or make some horrific noise were big sellers.

And then there were the costumes. We sold all those crappy costumes plus face paint and fake blood, stitches, etc.

And people would FILL those carts and spend hundreds of dollars. I both loved racking up the sales AND I disrespected seeing people waste that much money on something like Halloween, a “holiday” that really celebrates nothing that means eternal anything to me.

The worst part though? The company “encouraged” (read: forced) us to “dress up” – the whole month of October! It is fun for like, three days. The other 28, not so much. I have been a nun, a gypsy, a bunch of grapes. There were platinum blond wigs, Cleopatra headdresses and hot pink beehives. I was never “evil,” just dressed, all the while managing a hopping Halloween staff, chasing shoplifters, receiving Christmas and trying to make that transition as fast as humanly possible and just gritting my green-hick-farmer teeth to get through.

Suffice it to say I had more Halloween than I ever wanted and enough to last 37 people a lifetime. Yuck.

The Great Halloween Debate

And to top it off, I have spent almost a lifetime in the middle of the great Halloween debate: Is it OK for Christians to Participate?? OR Is it an evil-pagan holiday dedicated to devil-worship that we should avoid at all costs? I gotta tell you, I DO wish to avoid it all costs, but not for spiritual reasons, necessarily because the devil doesn’t own my days – not any of them. Dare I say I think it falls under the Romans 14 directive for disputable matters?…I do. Let the stoning begin…

Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so!

This year my home church decided not to have the Halloween alternative they usually have. And nobody knows quite what to do.

When I was growing up (in my very Christian, very strict Pentecostal preacher’s home), our parents let us trick-or-treat. In retrospect, that seems crazy. I couldn’t cut my hair, wear make-up or listen to the radio, at least “legally”, but I got to trick-or-treat. Strange. The church hadn’t been super-sensitized to the meanings and origins of the day back then. They still really thought it was just kids dressing up and getting lots of candy. And even after it became a “test of righteousness” in Christian circles, the churches my dad pastored still usually offered an alternative like a “Harvest Fest” with fall activities and the kiddos dressing up. I remember church bulletins reminding everyone that no “ghosts, ghouls or goblins” were allowed to attend, but costumes were welcomed.

Dave’s family was an absolutely-not Halloween family. I was from the use-the-opportunity-to-witness stream. My earliest memories are of my mom explaining to me that I had to do a “trick” to get a “treat,” and wow, was I ever willing! My trick was always to sing a song of some sort and since we didn’t do secular music, my song always had something to do with Jesus. The first year I could sing it all, I did – at every. single. house. “…for the Bible tells me so.” Deep breath, the person tries to give me candy, I whip my bag away from them , my mom reminds me, and whale on, “Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!…” They were prisoners to the end. But I would not take that candy until I had witnessed of the Lord’s love the full way through.

Pagan Roots

It seems H’ween has its roots in pagan Celtic festivals, the Druids dancing around bonfires and offering sacrifices to the spirit world for the harvest. So actually – having a church “Harvest Festival” is not an improvement on Halloween, necessarily. During the ancient pagan fetsival, Candy Corn would begin to fall from the sky, just kidding…just checking to see if you are still reading. ;p Haha.

In the 8th century, the Pope moved All Saint’s Day to November 1, so October 31st became “All Hallows Eve” and most people think he did it to claim the 31st back for Christians, which frankly, I applaud. What I bind on earth is bound both here and in heaven. We do have some authority in Jesus’ Name, people!

I digress.

So, then there is a biblical scripture-storm that erupts annually against having any part. One of the scriptures often cited is Ephesians 5.7-12 NLT:

7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. 12 It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.

Or, there is Deuteronomy 18.10-12 NLT

For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, 11 or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you.

And there are lots of other verses that are used to promote total abstinence from any type of Halloween participation. And they are important scriptures with definite guidelines for what we should and shouldn’t be participating in. But I honestly don’t see them saying “Little kids dressing up and trick-or-treating is anti-scriptural.” I just don’t. My grandbebes, who will dress as Nacho Libre or a Strawberry or as princesses or Batman this year? They will NOT be calling forth spirits of the dead or hosting seances. We will not sacrifice them as burnt offerings. They will NOT participate in drunken parties and godlessness of that sort and I will teach them to speak up for righteousness through their vote as citizens and to protect the helpless and feed the hungry. That is how they are being raised. They are being raised to be who God created them to be (light!) and to do what God has ordained for them to do and to fulfill their destiny for God in their generation. Period!

The devil doesn’t get my grandbebes. I truly and humbly do not see trick-or-treating as the step into a dark realm. If anything, I see it as “Hallowed,” like the old Pope wanted it to be because he went to enemy’s camp and took back what was stolen (know that song? Don’t make me sing it here!). My days are the LORD’S. All of them! And it is a great time to show our babies the difference between light and darkness by not worshipping death, not giving in to demonic influence and avoiding rebelliousness (which is as the sin of witchcraft and rarely gets corrected in Christendom).

Renunciation.

You know what, though? If you came from an occultic background where you used the 31st as part of demon worship and you have walked away from it being born into Christ and you have renounced that past – by all means, don’t participate. It holds something for you it doesn’t for me. Don’t be enslaved into any bondage you have been delivered from again! I would stand with you in that, and I mean that! Or if you just have a strong conviction that you don’t want your family to participate, because to you, it seems like being part of an agreement with the world, part of this godless generation and you’d rather make a stand here – then make that stand. I support you in that, but Romans 14, again {“disputable matters”}…

Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.

Figure it out. Study it through. Pray. Ask the Lord. Listen. And be obedient there and let’s not let a disputable matter polarize us as Christians, or get us fighting one another in scriptural-sword fighting. Because? Then the stupid-head devil wins. Geesh, people – it is when he breaks our unity that we are trashed – not when some low-level demon flies around a room impressing the idiots who want that sort of thing. RESIST HIM, seriously. He HAS to flee!

I loathe, despise and abominate* Halloween because of how it separates us and causes holier-then-thou crap and we make each other the enemy instead of THE enemy. And I hate all the blackness and darkness because I am of the Light, but oh, by the way, I shine ever so much more brightly in the dark places. I say kick-him-in-the-butt and bless the little children when they come to your door: give the best candy, the biggest smile, the greatest encouragement and give ’em a God-bless-you, because that actually is within your power to do. Heaven will hear and attend to your blessing! May His will be done on earth as it is in heaven! On Halloween, even!

‘Nuff said.

*In the book version of Meet Me in St Louis, the sisters show their distaste for things by saying “I hate, loathe, despise and abominate {fill-in-the-blank}”. I think it is used a time or two in the Judy Garland movie, too. It is a fav family quote.

“Live as people of light!”

RT @ pastormark via ryan may: “If you’re one of those Christians who is going to give out tracts for Halloween, also give enough candy to make a kid a diabetic!” Haha!

So this Thursday, October 31, 2013? I stand by it. The devil can’t have that day or that night in my life, my neighborhood or in my family! We are a holy people redeemed by the LORD!

OH, and…if you’d like to be really super missional this year (have they been talking to my mother???), THIS SITE has tons of ways to redeem Halloween and makie it a teaching and being-a-nice-Christian kind of thing!

To the mommies knee deep in kids and all they bring with them

October 28, 20132 Mi Familia, Stuff I Actually Thinkencouragement for mommies, parenting, titus 2Jeanie

In case I forgot to tell you~

Just in case I forgot to mention, now that my own kids are grown and I see the whole child-bearing/rearing years through misty-rose-colored glasses and tell you how my children were always cute, so sweet, and just always behaved – yes, well, in case I forget to tell you, while you’re mopping up spilled milk and changing the 37th diaper of the day and refereeing sibling spats (which sometimes accounts for 87.682% of your waking hours) and experiencing the inevitable law of physics which proves that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich will always, will always fall onto the kitchen floor with both pb and j splatting directly onto said floor, *splat*, and oh-my-goodness, nooooo-as you’re grabbing the craft scissors from big sister who just lopped off a handful of baby sister’s hair while little brother is throwing his cars into the toilet ~ yes, in case I might have forgotten to mention…

Well, I just thought that maybe a 50-something who is {way} past where you are (pregnant or w/newborn, pregnant and w/newborn, toddlers, pre-schoolers, school-kids, etc~ in the house // yes, YOU, 20 or 30-something mommy) ~ maybe I could give you a few random encouragements for today? Pull up a chair and let me just tell you…wait – ok, keep running, I’ll talk while you manage everything in the known universe!

You will make it.

You can do this! Those kids are going to bring you joy you never thought possible, but the joy will be amazingly-over-the-top sweet because they will also have challenged you beyond your limits and you’ll have wept from deepest places in worry or anxiety and there will be things that happen that you cannot control or fix and somewhere along the line most certainly you will have believed you are the worst mother in the world. Yes, there will be those days. Days when you think you are the worst mother and days when you actually are – a momster. Don’t ask me how I know. Really, please don’t ask.

I promise you this:

Your kids are perfectly normal. Or at least a reasonable variation of normal.

God chose you, yes YOU to mommy the one(s) in your nest. It wasn’t a mistake, not for you or for the child(ren). You are the best woman for the job!

Yes, any vital life lesson will have to be taught an average of 2387 times – in. a. row. That is just the average. There is nothing wrong with Junior. He just needs the steady, disciplined, day-in and day-out guidance which will finally sink in. And before you go thinking he must be defective to take so long in the learning, just think about some of the things God has had to teach you – over and over and over again. See?

One day they’ll dress themselves (ready or not). Sooner than you think the schedule can have more flexibility to it. There’ll come a time when all the consistency and effort and strength you have exerted today, this past week, the last few months will just morph into an easy rhythm of life and living (at least briefly).

One day the word “no” will start to evaporate from the minute by minute – from the kiddos and you. There’ll come a time of yes!, I promise!

Hey, remember the 80s? Me, neither. I look fairly sane, though, don’t I?

Listen, I always say, “I raised 5 kids and I lived to tell it.” I mean, I had 5 babies in less than 7 years and can barely remember the early 80s {{don’t try this at home}} and I can remember being tired, just bone-tired and sometimes overwhelmed to the point of asking God what on earth He was thinking entrusting me with these little people. I’d never have made it through without help and compassion from friends. I am so thankful for the “cloud of witnesses” that waved me on and gave advice or didn’t dare, but were proof I could be the mommy God thought I could be. My mom did it and supported me. Miss Faye from church who just so happened to have 4 daughters and 1 son like me (except hers were teenagers by then) was such an example, teaching me how to just relax and trust God and LOVE them, which covers a multitude of sins. So thankful for women who showed the way.

Don’t go it alone. get in a group for encouragement. Find an older mom at church who can cheer you to the finish line she just got to not too long ago. Because btw, Titus 2 already set a good example for that, we “olders” are supposed to teach you “youngers.” :) It is a major honor for me to get to impart from the experiences I’ve lived through. It isn’t always easy to ask for advice and lots of times, we think we are beyond the advice of a previous generation, having found a better way, but I think you’ll find, if you open your heart, that your experiences and challenges are not so different from what some one my age or even older went through with their kids. Partake of the wisdom available!

By looking at [the older women], the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. Titus 2.4

ALL mommies have felt inadequate at times, ~rushed, overwhelmed, overworked, unheard, unseen, unloving, raggedy. All of us have felt like and probably been, at one point or another, the worst mom on the block. It usually happens just before a glory moment when all the kids are clean at once and cuddling with you and you have that moment of Wow-I was born for this. Those few seconds get us through, don’t they?

Remember:

The days are long, but the years are short. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Take a deep breath (especially if it seems like one of those really looooong days), and think about where you want to see each child in three or four years, what kind of human being you will have hoped you’ve raised. And for that dream, which will quickly come to pass, keep at it! Keep loving them and teaching them and raising them well and praying over them and saying the same things again and again if you must because it is the steady consistency of your message that will give them safety and disciplined hearts and minds and turn them into amazingly resourceful human beings who will change their world and bless nations!

And – in spite of us, sometimes, they just go right on ahead and turn out beautifully, as if deep inside, they knew what we were trying to do. And they loved us for it and they became all God intended anyway. I have proof of this {{aforementioned babies now 27-34 years old}}!

I am cheering you on! If you’ve got ’em, raise ’em & love ’em – like nobody else can!

And in the cuteness category, Tara sent me this the other day and if you still need more hope for the journey, take it from Kid President: the secret to changing the world? – MOMS!!!

Have you checked out Stef’s blog yet? She is a young mom who is writing amazing stuff {HERE}! I wish I’d have been as smart when my kids were that little!

The three-inch universe

October 26, 20132 Mi Familia, 6 Looking Back // Memories!, Stuff I Actually ThinkJeanie

I grew up with Cardinal red pulsing through my veins. The St. Louis Cardinals mean summer and October baseball.

They are in the World Series again. The sky was bluer than blue today. The leaves on the trees were at the zenith of their dazzling autumn colors in the briliant light of the blazing sun.

And the Cards are up 2-1 in the series. Tonights’ win was weird (on an obstruction call), but we’ll take it.

WIN, St. Louis, win!

The. End. sniff

October 17, 20134 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, 5 Songs I am Singing, Stuff I Actually Thinkbounty, end of garden season, gardening, harvest, seasons change, the way we were, tomatoesJeanie

I pulled the proverbial plug. I gathered up, from their toasty little covering (Dave was heat-lamping them) the remaining 84 or so Beefsteak, Heirloom and Early Girl tomatoes (not to mention the couple hundred cherries) and threw the plants into the barrel to be hauled away today. I carried in bunches of tomatillas (probably threw away 3 times more), a pot full of green beans, 5 or 6 zucchinis, and a few dozen assorted peppers – not including the Serranos – another couple dozen of those, which I will directly give to my son-in-law, Ryan – do not pass go, do not collect $200. Those things are wicked hot! Out with them!

What? It isn’t still summer?

The size of a cereal bowl!

Poor, poor little garden. The beefsteaks were shocked it wasn’t the very middle of summer, I can tell from their behemoth size. They had no idea how protected they’d been.

My counter was already heavy-laden with ripening tomatoes at every stage. Now, if I wanted, I could do Fried Green Tomatoes and even found this very interesting recipe on Pinterest this morning, as if some fellow pinner knew I might need it:

How perfectly appropriate!

I like them red, and juicy and tangy and tart and real so I tend not to go in to the fried-green thing and opt for sneaking a couple of apples into their midst to get some quick ripening. But I am rather inspired to try {this recipe} based on that image alone!

The kale and onions and garlic chives and Chinese Cabbage are still puttering along, with chamomile and some potted annuals, but for the most part, I pulled the incredible-fruitful plants out of the earth and ended a very nice summer garden in anticipation of a cold-turn, possible rain turning to {SNOW} flurries…tonight. Ugh.

Thank-you, garden, for a lovely, long and sweet summer. Thank-you for still trying into the fall. And God bless you for the lovely bounty I shall still enjoy for the next few days, maybe weeks. So perfectly delicious.

“It’s the laughter we will remember, whenever we remember the way we were…”

I will always remember you, Garden 2013. I really will.

The Familia in Fall

October 15, 20132 Mi Familia, 4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, Stuff I Actually Thinkfall activities, family, mi familiaJeanie

Everybody is so busy. I actually do KNOW every one of these {extremely cool} people, I do. But wowzers – getting together these fast-paced fall days is missing from my life. :(

Tredessa is 31+ weeks in her pregnancy.

I just got to attend Birth Classes with Ryan and Dessa over the weekend. Babying is so much fun. I wish I weren’t too old to have another one (yes, shhhhh, I did say it, but don’t tell anyone). Haha. Baby shower preparations are underway as we all get ready for the arrival of Evangeline Lilly, “Eva.”

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Tristan recently released 2 drumming videos. He is so talented. I love the drumming AND the video editing. He did these in Stormie’s basement, also cool.

This one will put this song in your head. Fair warning!

Steph {www.maydae.com} has been featured on the Etsy home page and in some Etsy treasuries recently.

Steph has an eye for vintage and unique with an expertise in thrifting. Everybody wants her secrets, which she shares at her blog. Oh, and she just went over 400 sales in her Etsy shop!

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Emilee {my very great-niece} was on Channel 9 News from Estes Park. She shows up at about 1:07 in the video. I could not quit thinking of the old Mary Tyler Moore theme from her 70s TV show, “Who can turn the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? Well it’s you girl and you should know it…” That so fits Em!

PLAY HERE (I just realized she is on their still shot, too!)

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Rocky and Jovan are just getting back into their home, even though the repairs continue and the basement is now an empty shell. There will be a benefit/worship night for them in early November. Every single person I know should be there! SAVE THE DATE: November 8!

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CallBack Theater is doing another Christmas production. Dave has been putting the finishing touches on the script and I know I’ll be hearing carols soon, as he begins gathering props and making plans.

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The Powers fam left for Ireland today. Ireland!

I cannot wait to hear Hunter’s Irish accent when he returns, as he always enjoys trying on dialects. Won’t my little O’Hunter and O’Malakai be the cutest kids there? They are there for {THIS}.

Stephanie took this picture in Kai’s bedroom recently. It captures reality! Beautiful reality! Life on the floor with toys and two boys!

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I get to meet Baby Blake when Stormie and I fly to Chicago to meet up with Elise-the-Niece in a few weeks, then go to see the parentals.

Is he not just the handsomest little guy ever?

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And? It is flipping cold here – what is up with that???

That is Simply Detritus

October 13, 20139 TV & Movies/Books & Entertainment, Stuff I Actually Thinkdenver broncos, footballJeanie

That was TOO close {insert lots of Christian-style cussing here}! I don’t actually like football and don’t wish to watch it ever, anyway, and especially don’t want to see it when the Broncos are going to freaking scare me to death.

Whew! Thank goodness they finally won.

Gavin thought it was very interesting and curious that our coffee table once belonged to a Jacksonville Jaguar football player. Though when he owned it, it was very heavy, dark wood with gold paint gilding on it. It’s heavy-duty, for sure. I need a football player to move it for me.

Eclectic Family Room

detritus: waste or debris of any kind // as in // “All that bungling-fumbling-fingered playing was such a detritus of talent and ball-handling.

That doesn’t really work, does, it? Haha. So much for the word of the day.

Hunter is 9 on the 9th!

October 9, 20132 Mi Familia, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, Stuff I Actually Thinkbirthday blessing, grandbebes, hunterJeanie

Hi-ya, Hunter-Magoo! Happy Birthday today to a boy who has been surprising me and making me smile since that Saturday morning you were born 9 years ago. You absolutely messed up my work day – because back then, I never took one off, and when I emerged from a meeting and was told: Uh, you have a grandson, I thought I was being punked or something!

But I wasn’t. I was deliriously excited and shaky rushing to buy flowers for your mommy and trying to get to the hospital. And oh-so-tiny you were. And so mysterious, too – born to two gorgeous blond-haired, blue-eyed people, there you were with that shock of black hair – THREE weeks early! See? **Surprise!**

WARNING: Lots and lots of pictures that make your Nonna go “Aaaaaawwwwwwwwww“

I know I get all gooey on you and it makes you a little crazy. But it is because I just adore you with my whole, entire heart, ya know? You’ve been The Little Prince and my “widdle guy.” I have tickled your little M & M toes and watched them graduate to being ‘Tootsie Rolls’ haha. You’ve gone from this short, tiny kid with the big-thinking brain to become my almost-double-digits man-child, a boy who thinks like he’s grown, a boy cut out for important things.

So, on the occasion of your 9th birthday, Hunter-Magoo, I just wanted to tell you that I love you. I respect your insight into he things of God and I love how much you love and care for your baby brother. I praise God for giving you a brother because you soooooo wanted a brother and that makes me happy that He saw that and blessed you. I admire what a good son you have grown up to be, how honoring you are of your parents and it makes me so happy to see what a great fun-making, playmate you are with your younger cousins. They always have so much fun following you with all your great ideas! Your are handsome on the outside because of all the goodness and love on the inside.

Now that you’re old enough, I can tell you all the secrets of our family universe and answer any questions you have. I can give you grown-up advice and still cuddle you in the mornings when you stay over. I love your gentleness, I admire your attention to making sure I get plenty of love and affection when you’re around and having you in the room always always always makes me happy. I am so proud of you, HP. You’re a good boy and becoming an amazing young man.

I guess I should share a picture of you as my big-guy.

Spirit Week at Hunter’s school. He got to be “70s.” Makes me smile! :)

Happy Birthday, my man-child. Your Nonna loves you to infinity and beyond!

Oh, and in other fun news, Hunter is not only 9 on the 9th, but his baby brother, Kai, is 9 months today, too. On the 9th! How cool is that?

UPDATE 10-10-13: Today his mommy blogged this, it is amazing! http://www.powersadoptionstory.blogspot.com/2013/10/hunter-adopted-brother.html