Friday Chillin' at the Sbux

Mmmmmm…a quad-shot Grande Pumpkin Spice latte to start the day. Wait, let me rephrase that…mmmmmm…a quad-shot Grande Pumpkin Spice latte, at 6:30am, not having to worry about getting shorties ready for school, and just relaxing and worrying about myself this Friday morning. Man, what a nice present. Thank you B, for giving me this morning to just worry about myself. A chance to go to work with nothing else taking away my energies to start the day.

I love seeing my children in the morning, don’t get me wrong, but there are days where (since they’re human), they choose to wake up with moods and attitudes that are not becoming. As we all do, they have mornings where they do NOT want to get up, and want to stay in bed all day. Lately, that has been more and more the routine, rather than the exception. I started to not like waking up with them, and started to loathe the experience. I started to see how when Belinda works, she has to leave super early, thus missing out on all the “fun” with the children. I envy that alone time she has. The time to only have to worry about yourself in the morning, when you yourself are tired and achy, and not feeling the best, but still only having to worry about yourself. Not having to feed three children, get one (sometimes two) dressed, making sure they have everything ready for the day, making sure they have homework done, making sure that all they need for the day is in their backpacks, taking them to school, and taking them to daycare.

So, here I am, sitting in the Starbucks on FM1960, finishing up my QS-GPS latte. I just finished the book “Come Thirsty” by Max Lucado. Max has such a way with words some times. His book “He Chose The Nails” was an AMAZING book, and partly why I keep reading some of his books. He’s had a couple that I just couldn’t finish because I wasn’t feeling them, but this latest one was really good. Don’t know if it’s because of how I’ve felt lately with my walk, or if it truly is that good in general, but right now I’ll say that I’d recommend it to anyone who feels like I do. That you are wanting so much more that where you’re at now. That you want to FEEL God’s love, and not just to know He loves you. Feelings of unworthiness, and that you’re of no use to Him because of your past, or because of your lack of putting in work to know God. He’s not going to just come into your life and make you never suffer again. No. But He will come into your life more and more as you seek Him, and be faithful to make positive the things we go through. Max put that into perspective SO well in this book. It started out really well, getting you hooked, then started to drift a bit, but then the last 3/4th of the book was great!

Can there be any more of a relaxing environment than a Starbucks? The smells, the music (some times, otherwise, put on the Zen-tunes), the furniture (the one in Des Moines has better, but I like it here too), the colors, the lighting, the mood, and even the staff most days. B thinks I’m out there when I talk about certain conversations being “coffee talk” or a “Starbucks conversation”, because it the environment itself just leads you to talk easily. I don’t know of a place besides complete isolation in some mountain camp or something with B (or Stan, Doug, Kris, or Nick) and a Bible, that is more relaxing and enviting. It just calms me. Right now, I am breathing easy, my heartbeat is slow and rhythmic, and my body feels peaceful. Maybe it’s the extra shot to my Grande latte, since I usually only get three instead of the experimental fourth this time. Maybe my body is going into shock? Heck, maybe it’s my new socks I’m wearing? HA! Whatever it is, it feels nice.

Right now it’s 7:50am. I’ve been here for an hour and twenty minutes. The music has some how flipped to the Doors, and while I don’t mind the Doors, it’s not “coffee shop music” to me, so out comes the Zen, and my newest cd…WOW Gospel 2007. It’s been too long since I’ve listened to some good gospel that’s not Kirk Franklin. I used to buy many gospel cd’s, but basically stopped a few years ago after not really liking many that were out there besides the greatest of all time, Kirk Franklin. Other top acts that I’d obtain a cd of would be Fred Hammond, Donald Lawrence, Donnie McClurkin, and Byron Cage just to name a few. Since it had been a while, I figured it would be a good time to get the usually quintisential collection of the WOW series, because they usually have it down pat. I haven’t listened to the whole double-disc yet, but so far it’s on point most of the way through the first cd. So if you’d like some good old Gospel praise and worship music, pick it up. Yeah, I’ll go that far and say it right now. Be blessed by it!

Speaking of gospel music, there’s a few cats that have came onto the scene lately that I’m really diggin’ their new singles and can’t wait to hear their cd’s when they come out. Ty Tribbett is one, and J. Moss is the other. Ty Tribbett (and his choir who I can’t remember their name at the moment) has a song called “Victory” that while not the best I’ve heard, has a GREAT hook that makes me see a lot of promise in what could be. I see in him a Kirk Franklin sort, but with a better voice. However, as with the G.O.A.T. that Kirk Franklin is, I don’t know if anyone will ever pass him as the greatest. Just as no one will ever pass Jordan as the greatest in basketball. I know every generation has their “greatest”, but seriously, MJ and KF are just that good. Back to the music. J. Moss, has been on a few Kirk songs, and has put out a cd a year or two ago that I didn’t pick up, but his new cd from the samples I’ve heard, have me really geeked to check out what God is doing with him.

Thanks to all of you who responded when I polled my “readers” of their site visit frequency. I love that I have some people who I didn’t know where reading this blog. Feel free to link my blog to any friends of yours that you feel would like to read any of the stuff I put out here. I love writing on here when I have the writer’s block removed from my temporal lobe. Maybe it’s the “quad” speaking through me and helping me to get all ADD up in herrrrrr, but I know it’s satisfying to me, to say the least, when I can get on and write as much as I did today. Even if it is all over the place. There’s so much I could go on and on about right now.

B is doing well with our pregnancy. It’s getting closer and closer, and it seems to me (not her, I know) that this pregnancy is flying by. Maybe it’s because I’ve been so busy at work that the days seem to just fly by themselves, thus making the nights go by fast as well, but it’s just going by fast. Thank God for the clean bill of health she received with her diabetes test! God is so good, ya’ll. We recently found out that B can’t get short-term disability during her pregnancy because of a paper filing error on our part, but with the loss of paying for a sitter during her time off, and with me putting my student loans on hold while she’s out, that will equal just about what she would have gotten for her ST-disability. How awesome is that? The kids are doing great as well. Braden is Braden…a goofball monkey that just cracks us up. A is A…growing up too fast, too smart for his own good, reading at a FIFTH grade level while only being in second grade, but then giving us glimpses that he still is just eight years old. J is J…cute, happy, and content one minute, then trying to take over the Alpha Female role the next! HA! Check this out though…last night she came home and gave us a note from her teacher, stating that she’s been nominated to the school’s talented and gifted program! How awesome is that?! At home she likes to play the “I don’t know” card, which recently made me think that either she really has some learning problems, or is just doing it for attention, and now I see it’s an attention thing. But still, I’m so proud of her! She tries to play it off like it’s no big deal, but I caught her a few times last night where you could just see her heart smile through her chest because she was so proud of herself. YOU GO, J!!! YOU GO!!! Mom and Dad are so proud of you!

Well, just looking at the clock, it’s 8:15am, which means I think it’s time to close up shop here at the “Spa de Starbucks”, and head on into work for a day of “fun”. It’s been crazy-go-nuts at the office lately, with a HUGE network problem going on yesterday, that I pray it just stay quiet for today thru the weekend, and then if it has to, pick back up on Monday.

I pray you all have a great weekend. May you not have that much to do and can relax and get the rest you all need.

Thanks again, B, for letting me have this morning to myself. I love you.

God Bless,
E