Random Muses of Megret

I have to admit, January is probably close to being my least favorite month of the year, except for the fact that it's right before February (i.e., Valentine's Day) and it also has my grandmother's birthday at the end of it. There just seems to be an unending stream of gray, dreary, bitterly cold days in January, and for that reason (combined with the post-Christmas letdown so common now), I would just rather skip it and go on into red-and-pink month. Yet there is this one thing that I absolutely love about January. ....this little part of nature, the world outside, that makes me still love this particular month. Every afternoon, about 4:00 or maybe a little later, there comes a swarm of mystery birds out of hiding. They perch high in the tops of certain trees, where they proceed to not just sing, but....how do I say it.....screech? No, that sounds like it would be offensive to the ear. It is not chortling like a robin does, but it is not as ear-piercing as a hawk or o...

Ken and I spent the weekend catching up on lost time. That is, actually enjoying ourselves and friends, as well as family. We also got some more work done on the house, and got the leaves out of our yard (thanks to his dad's mac-daddy John Deere mower and bagger). Flyers flew....out of our for-sale sign info box, that is. We started out with 30 last week....we're down to less than five. Great news. Now...if we can just get some visitors from them. We have our first "looker" tomorrow morning. The hard part is that they called and said "anywhere between 9:30 and 11am." Do they know what that means when you have a toddler? That means your entire life gets shifted around and turned topsy-turvy. I keep reminding myself that this first one may be "THE one," though, and that makes it all worth the trouble. Right now I'm debating what to do before bed. I want to go to bed NOW, but I'm afraid that I can't. I ate too many cookies with ...

Thanks to Ken for this fun diversion for the day. Four jobs I've had: 1. Cashier and hostess at Butterbean's, a local meat-and-three restaurant 2. Ladies and lingerie department associate at Upton's department store 3. Nanny to three (rich, bratty) kids for the summer after my freshman year in college 4. Legal assistant in a large law firm, specializing in the areas of tax and corporate law Four movies I can watch over and over: 1. Garden State (one of my newest favorites) 2. Steel Magnolias (when I need a "good cry," whatever in the heck that's supposed to mean!) 3. Jesus of Nazareth 4. Holiday (with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant) Four places I've lived: 1. Greensboro, N.C. 2. Fuquay-Varina, N.C. 3. Ft. Polk, LA 4. Clemson, S.C. Four T.V. shows I love: 1. LOST 2. The Cosby Show 3. Mad About You 4. Three's Company Four places I've vacationed: 1. Galveston Island, TX 2. Outer Banks, NC 3. Daytona Beach, FL 4. Wilmington, NC F...

So, yesterday was a perfect day. Splendid, I mean, in every way. That is, until I began rushing around at 5:20pm to get ready to go to a "spa night" with some friends of mine. Clumsily, I grabbed seven bottles of nail polish and carried them into my tiled bathroom. In slow motion, a bottle of lilac plummetted from my fingers and landed on the tile....glass shattered, lilac splatters going everywhere. Long story short, I was able to clean it off of my shoes....my velveteen pants (brand new)? Well, the color's out, but a stiffness remains to the fabric. My bathroom rug was ruined (thank goodness I was planning on replacing it anyway after we moved). So was an ivory-colored hand towel that I stupidly used in an instant to wipe up the mess, the panic of the episode temporarily rendering me inable to make wise decisions. I cleaned the floor, my pants, and the grout within my tile with acetone. I scrubbed and scrubbed. I tossed the soaked towel and the tried-to-be-salva...

I'm not one for these weekly games on my blog, but I just couldn't resist this time around. I'm giving you my top 10 favorite things right now. Think of me as Oprah, except for the fact that I'm considered just a middle class citizen AND the fact that I can't afford to buy all of you readers every one of these things to take home with you after the show. Enjoy nonetheless. Maybe it will inspire you to try something new. MEG'S TOP TEN FAVORITE THINGS ON THE PLANET (RIGHT NOW) 10. A book entitled "A Writer's Book of Days." Ken gave it to me for Christmas this year. It's a book chock-full of writing prompts. Not cheesy, off-the-wall, romance-novel-resembling topics, but deep, makes-you-really-think topics. There's a topic per day, plus inspiration for the whole week. It's my new nightcap. 9. Hallmark stores.....all of them. Everything inside of them. I can get lost, I mean physically and mentally lost, amid those rows of greet...

As glad as I am to have it finally official, it sure is hard seeing that "for sale" sign in front of our house, right on the corner by the road. It was a rainy, dreary day yesterday (that description doesn't really do it justice), and it was nearly dusk when the big red truck showed up with our sign in the back. I sat on the loveseat limply and watched as they staked it into the grass, placing advertising pamphlets in the info box, wiping off the debris and extra water, and driving off, leaving its blue and white starkness evident in twilight's gray hues. Funny how you wish for something and hope for something...even dream for something....but the moment it starts to happen (or at least the moment you take a step forward), you get a split second case of cold feet. We're still moving, don't get me wrong....we are simply out of room (or will be once baby arrives). It's just harder than I thought it'd be. Even though this is the fourth house we've...

....Today started off on a bit of a bad note, and I'm sort of uninspired to write anything this morning. Perhaps I will feel more up to it later on....or most definitely, tomorrow. I'll be back soon....

Ken and I dined at a small yet elegant Italian restaurant last night. We waited 40 minutes for a table. We waited 5 minutes to get our drinks. We waited 10 more to get our bread. We finally got our food soonafter, and oh, my....it was, in a word, DI-viiiine. We sit. We chat. We smile. We watch the others dining near us. We look at our watch. We start to wonder whether or not we can still make it to the showing of the movie we want to see, let alone have time for a stop at Starbucks. We smile again. We discuss past friends, past houses, past cars. In the peak of these nostalgic conversations, Ken suddenly looks over at me. "Do you know who I REALLY miss?" he asked me simply. "No. Who?" (Pause.) "Our waitress." We burst into laughter, making the others near us nervously glance downward and behind themselves to see why the clatter. I'm so glad we still have so much fun together. That will never end, as long as either of us has anything to ...

So, I was in a local bookstore yesterday, just passing time. I stopped and looked at the kids' "special interest/education" section. I found a book that I pulled out because it had a cutesy and interesting title. In it, there were a series of cartoon images of a cat and rabbit having a conversation. About what, you ask? Heaven. Whether or not it exists. Where it is. It went something like this: "Do you think there's a heaven up there?" "Um, I think so." "Do you think I will go there one day?" "I don't know. Tell you what. If you go, then I'm sure I'm going, too." I paraphrased, of course, but this was the basic synopsis of this book meant for small children. Did this clear anything up? Nope. In fact, I don't see why this wouldn't confuse a small child even more . It's more and more evident how much people are desperately searching for truth and for hope.

- To have a "Phantom of the Opera"-themed party. Fancy hors d'ouvres, music from the score, and everybody donning a masquerade of their choosing. The artistry, the artistry..... - To be the person who names paint chip colors. I think I've said it before, on a topic of "dream jobs" on this blog....but still. It never ceases to come to mind when I think this way. I, the adjective-loving-fool that I am, would feel right at home in this profession. - To be able to communicate with a monkey or gorilla using sign language. I have no idea what you'd actually say once you were faced with him or her (hey...how're those bananas today?...), but still, it'd be really neato. - To design my own clothing line. Not the off-the-top Paris runway fashions that, in any Smalltown, USA, would make traffic stop and people stare. I'm talking about just everyday GOOD clothes. Fits to a T, colors that accentuate and not detract, fabrics that don't shrin...

The more we look into this particular house we're interested in, the more questions arise. Will she take our offer? Does she like us, enough to let us purchase her house full of memories? (It is for sale by owner, in case you didn't know.) Can we find enough furniture to fill it? Will our current house be able to sell in time to move in before the baby's born? Will we have time to do the interior improvements before baby, too? Are there too many stairs in this house (for toddlers, I mean)? Will anybody come see us anymore since we'll be a little farther out? These floodgates of "what ifs" have opened, and I intend to stop them. If this is the house that God intended us to inhabit, then He will allow the doors to open so that we can walk right into the foyer and call it home. If we are supposed to raise our two kids there, from now on up through the time they leave for college, then it will happen. If we are supposed to sell this house soon, it will ...

Last night, I had plans. I had plans to do oh-so-many things after I put Gardner to bed at 7. I was so excited about getting a head start on my task list for today. Suddenly, though, at 7:05pm, it hit me. I was TIRED. Not just a little tired....but wiped OUT. 100%, totally fatigued. It was hard to even walk I was so tired. Part of this can be explained by first trimester stuff, but it was mainly due to the fact that I'd not slept well the night before and I had done way too much during the afternoon and early evening. I was paying for it. So, I did something uncharacteristic for me....VERY uncharacteristic for me. I put on my pajamas before 7:30 and I crawled into bed. I sat and read for a long time in the Bible, passages that I love to read over and over and never tire of, ever. I read it leisurely, not with an intended purpose of checking off my to-do list, or even to find some deep, hidden meaning within its words. I simply let God's Word speak softly to me, and ...

....the very moment you announce outloud (even if it's just to your spouse or your mom) that you're going to put your house on the market, things start to fall apart. It's almost as if your house KNOWS what you're about to do to it. It's retaliating by giving you numerous, sudden handyman jobs to undertake. Case in point: I walked in last night to see this sight in my closet (see left). Now, you have to understand. I've used this closet for three years. I've hung the exact same amount of stuff on these racks ever since we moved in. Most amazingly, I even cleaned out this closet recently and got rid of things I didn't wear anymore, which would obviously lessen the weight on its support braces. There was just no good reason why the braces would have worked loose and fallen three feet to the floor NOW, without warning. You see what I mean. It's like the house has feelings.

So....I've been hearing SO many things about this particular Christian author/speaker named John Piper. He's not a sugarcoated man, that's for sure. I hear quotes left and right from his mouth every week. I have to admit that I figured he was one of those bandwagons that everybody jumps on for a while and then slowly falls back off of.....so, I didn't put too much emphasis on him when it came to my "books to read" list. I just found out this week, though, that he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Suddenly that book he wrote called "Don't Waste Your Life", which is sitting to my left right now, takes on a whole new meaning. Hm. What he writes, he practices.....or at least, he will have to now. Hm. I think I will finally pick it up today and start reading. My Southern fiction anthology can wait till later.

So, we're having very unseasonable temperatures this week where we live. Mom said the official name of it is the "January thaw," and it often happens annually. I guess it's something I forget about from one year to the next.....because it always takes me by surprise and makes me giddy. I woke up to the sound of birds chortling outside our window at 6:30 am. I swear, I had to remind myself that it was still the dead of winter and not mid-April by the way they sung so sweetly. I love it, I really do. I hate it that the little birds have to go through this confusing part of the winter every year, though. Both them and my tea bushes, with blossoms bursting already, have no idea that we still have a good chance of snow or ice again before Old Man Winter is done with us. Still, I cannot believe it's January 12th and I am going to dress for a 70-degree day. I have loaded up my iPod and I'm ready to head outside....to do anything....go anywhere. I don't kn...

Here is a photo of Gardner's new sibling: Baby Wilson

So, I am a lover of books. Anybody that's known me anywhere from age, oh, seven up until now knows that. By far my biggest "book phase" was in late elementary school into middle school. At a time when nothing else filled my free time but homework, every second I had open was spent with my nose stuck within the pages of a book. I have read all genres. I started out loving the classics....A Cricket in Times Square. Stuart Little. Strawberry Girl. The Little House series. I began to develop a weird fascination with death when I hit my preteen years, and so I read those cheesy groups of paperbacks about young teenagers who were battling cancer (I believe the titles were something to the effect of, "Six Months to Live"). I got into the whole Babysitters Club club....picking my favorite character and trying so hard to be like her in real life. Then came the years of having no time to read except that which was required of us for school. I was introduced to ...

I have been on iTunes a lot this weekend, just passing time by downloading some songs I've been wanting. In the process, I stumbled across many a song which made me literally shudder when I read the title, or if I didn't recognize it, when I played the sample clip. ("Oh....THAT song. Uggghhh.....") Let's have some fun today with bad music. Feel free to answer these questions in my comment secition, or post your answers on your own blog (please leave me a link). 1. Name three songs that never fail to make you change the station. - "Photograph" by Nickelback - "Gold Digger" by Kanye West - Anything....anything.....by Gloria Estefan 2. Name three artists that you wished you'd never heard. - Eminem - Rob Thomas - Ashlee Simpson 3. Name three albums that you wished you'd never bought after getting them home. - "A Rush of Blood to the Head" - Col...

Ken and I decided to ban television-oriented entertainment and instead run to the old-fashioned manner of amusement....a family game night. We broke open Ken's new box of Monopoly and dealt, rolled, and betted our way into a frenzy. Oh, my goodness. Funny how when you don't play a game like this in, oh, fifteen years, you forget the roles (as in, "I have no remaining shred of memory regarding how to play this game"....none of this, "I think I can remember... let's just remember as we go.") Also, funny how you don't realize how intensely competitive you are until you get head to head with your opponent....namely, your beloved spouse. We started off feeling sorry for each other whenever we had to hand over rent or payments. By the end, we were slapping dollar bills to keep from throwing them, and obscene (well, not really) comments could be heard muttered from our mouths, ever so subtly. What a great way to spend an evening. What a great way to te...

I don't know exactly who you are, where you were going, or why you were so late for whatever it is you were going to do. I don't know what kind of upbringing you had, what kind of parental relationship you've left behind, what kind of husband or boyfriend you are, or what kind of father you are (if you are one). I don't know what you ate last night, and I don't know why you chose what you chose to wear today that was evidently making you itch in inappropriate places. I don't know why you are close to 35 years old but yet you chose to act this morning as if you were a newly hatched 17-year-old behind the wheel. I stopped to turn into a drive which is so narrow that only one car can come in and out at a time (why, I've always wondered....I always envisioned a problem). There was a car sitting there waiting to come out, and so I stopped to let him out in front of me so I could then turn in. (Note: My turn signal WAS on.) I was intentionally being nice, a...

So, I heard about this link that was on Joshua's blog yesterday. Absolutely amazing, though not 100% accurate, it takes an uploaded photo of yourself (or anyone else) and matches you to the celebrities who most resemble you. Try it. Mine came back with everything from Audrey Hepburn to Hillary Duff. I don't know whether to be honored, laugh, or cry.

After giving this some considerable thought, I have narrowed down my list of this year's New Year's Resolutions (I capitalize because of the magnitude of this commitment). Here they are, in no certain order. - I will read more. I know everybody says this, and I have every year since I learned to read, I think. But I'm serious this time. And I have books sitting here beside me to prove it (as well as in every bureau drawer and on every tabletop throughout my house). I am even planning a trip to the library tomorrow....I haven't been since October. - I will not worry as much. This is a chronic condition, but I plan to overcome it with God's help. I am going to be the one, for a change, who is cool as a cucumber. This will come in handy as we near the sale of this house, the purchase of our next house, and the birth of our 2nd child. Whew. - I will grow my hair out. I am tired of having short hair. I feel older. I feel too Mommy-like. I hope that these pre...

....that I love thunderstorms that occur during unexpected times of the year. We had a thunderstorm or two a few days after Christmas. I was sitting here, minding my own business, when suddenly the room became dark enough to require lights in the daytime. A boom shook the house, and I thought it couldn't possibly be thunder. I looked out the window, expecting to see a car in flames or a man holding a giant bazooka in the road. Nope. It had to be thunder. That huge thunderhead of a cloud told me so right then. They are forecasting a chance for more storms tonight and tomorrow. I can't wait. It's like a mini preview to summer. A little way that God can say to us, "See? You just never know what I will do next. You never know what to expect!"