My husband has been dealing with a stubborn kidney stone since MONDAY. He's been in so much pain and so sick with this. It's been a very rough week on him. 

Yesterday, when I asked how he felt, he said, "I have a headache."

Our 6 year old  daughter gasped, "OH, no!  He's got a kidney stone in his BRAIN!!!!!!!"

Time to cover biology, ya think?

Last year while waiting in a REALLY LONG line at the curriculum fair, I spied one of Todd Wilson's  homeschool cartoon books. Because I was trying to stifle laughter,  I was in tears by the time I reached the register and I know EVERYONE in line thought I was sick, or something worse!

I couldn't wait to share this with my friends, and--being conservative Baptists with KJV pre-millenial tendencies [golly, kinda makes it sound like a neurosis!]--we all got a huge kick out of the Rapture cartoon. 

Fast forward from last summer to this week. My pal Rebecca calls me and tells me between choking laughs,"I've found jean jumper Heaven! This store has denim jumpers everywhere!"

So guess where I'm shopping tomorrow? After all, I've got to get my denim trail Rapture-ready! 

I am so blessed to have great friends who love the Lord Jesus. Cindy is the sweetest, most humble woman I know. Rebekah is so kind, so Christ-honoring in all her ways, and such a wonderful refreshing person to be around. Jennifer is the smartest gal I know. And there's only one word for Kasey---awesome! These women challenge me to keep focused on Christ, to look to Scripture for my answers---they are speed-dial support group that   "...I thank  my God upon every remembrance of...." (Philippians 1:3). 

My pal Kasey over at her brand new blog Southern Fried has a great post---"The Drama Demon".  Great read!  My guess is we all know someone like that--or we've been that! YIKES!

Jennifer sent me a very interesting article yesterday called  "Homeschoolers Threaten Our Cultural Comfort."

Rebekah sent me a link to a blog that looks like one with which I could spend some quality and quantity time---- www.moneysavingmom.com .

ENJOY!

It's been difficult finding maternity fashions that are modest---in coverage, price, and style. Let's just say I'm not a gal that can wear bell-bottom maternity pants.  So last week I pulled out my sewing patterns to make some more clothes. My daughter is interested in all things crafty, so she came to where I was working and offered some comments.

"Mom, are these the patterns for your ETERNITY clothes?"  My son had to leave the room so he wouldn't laugh in his sister's face.

As calmly as possible I answered, "I sure hope not, honey. "

My dear friend Gail celebrated a birthday yesterday and as a celebration of our unique friendship, I threw her a birthday wake!  We had black armbands, funeral flowers, sang funeral songs instead of happy brithday, and mourned over a black beach towel with a chalk body outline. Yeah, I know it's tacky, but by now readers of Doehill ought to expect that from me!

We had presents of prunes, baby blankets [for her second childhood], depends, and humorous "over-the-hill" cards. It was so funny because no one is lesss "over the hill" than Gail. She is a woman of many surprises--she loves trips, snorkeling, antique shopping, catering, and rummage sales. She is one of the smartest and funniest and most gracious people I know--and the first friend I made at our church many years ago.

Here's to you Gail---you are one in a million!

Here's something I found from Eva over at One Room Schoolhouse. I just want to know one thing--did the person who wrote this interview my friends and family?  She's posting some really good stuff, there, too about politics and having the mind of Christ. 

What Gin Means

You are deeply philosophical and thoughtful. You tend to analyze every aspect of your life. You are intuitive, brilliant, and quite introverted. You value your time alone. Often times, you are grumpy with other people. You don't appreciate them trying to interfere in your affairs. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

That paranoia and jealous part hit way too close to home.......and if my friends leave comments I'll suspect ulterior motives [just kidding!] That wise part made me grin too....

When you have company over, do you "go that extra little mile"  to clean and and get ready? Well, I have. Here's some of the things I do to make my guests feel special.

I arrange the plants so that the sample paint swatches on the dining room wall aren't as obvious in the room known to friends as my "Joseph-coat-of-many-colors-dining-room".

I move the Christmas tree box out of the way so that my company won't trip over it. 

And, last but not least, I get out James' big old C-clamp and attach it to the cabinet panel under the sink  hoping that THIS time the Liquid Nails works....

Gee, isn't that how everyone gets ready for company?

Last year I was shopping the curriculum fair using my list, my method, and my budget. And then I found it. THE SPLURGE ITEM...

.The Official Book of Homeschooling Cartoons Volume 1.  Some smart cookie placed these in a stack near his register so Moms in line could peruse them. After that I took the kids to McDonald's for lunch and we sat in the car, kids eating, mom belly laughing.

This book tickled me so much that I took it to church with me to share with homeschool mom friends there. My non-homeschool mom friends didn't get it.   I'm still chuckling about the denim jumper/Rapture cartoon. And the Defcon 4 Homeschool alert. Oh, and the Dueling Homeschoolers....Needless to say, I'm a fan now.

The books are too funny and so's the author's website.  Scoot on over to read the article, "Top 10 Things Not To Say To your Wife in The Last Week Of Pregnancy".  Spit-on-The-Screen Funny.

I just got this from the Jan Brett email list--click title for more info:

Jan Brett's Friends Free School or LibraryVisit Contest

      Everyone may enter!   ....   Prizes will be drawn at random from all of the correct entries and will be announced on May 12th, 2008.  There will be a Grand Prize school or library visit, 2nd to 50th prizes of a copy of THE THREE SNOW BEARS and 51th to100th prizes of an autographed Jan Brett poster.
      Home school students are welcome to enter, but please use your local library for the address for your entry so that all students may share in the free prizes.
      Please limit your total entries to 1,000 per school or library.  Thanks.

I've already emailed our local librarian about this! Just visit the link above, participate in the "matching quiz" and you can enter.