the break is over

well, after a week and a half of no routine whatsoever, we will be trying to get back to normal (or a new normal!) tomorrow. it's time. vacation time is so anticipated and so enjoyed but there is something good about routine. everyone gets the proper rest and eats at the proper times and we are all much nicer to one another. i haven't been to bed before 1 for the last 2 weeks so i am going to have to train myself to go to bed a bit earlier again. i am not remotely tired right now. so strange. it is almost midnight and not even tired. it has been good to hear from sara matheney and janice eicholtz since beginning my blogging again. we are so blessed (most of the time) to live in a technological age where it is so easy to maintain relationships of those you love while living 600 miles apart!
i still have not gotten my christmas stuff down! this is, by far, the longest i have gone with it up. i am my momma's daughter (as my frriend jenni was blogging). when christmas is over its time for it all to come down. our situation was different this year becouse we went in to visit family on christmas day, so i did not have time to get it down before we left. when we returned we had our good friend, stephen lamb, with us for the new year. he left this evening, so tomorrow will be my first real opportunity to get it done. i'm really looking forward to having a non cluttered feeling.
several years ago (sept. '03) i had a calling from God (yes, it really was a calling!) to purge our home of unnecessary, unused things. i called it my spiritual cleansing! sandy hummel joined me for a yard sale where we made REALLY good money and bought my computer with my earnings. it turned out to be a huge blessing all around because (though i had no idea at the time) we moved to dallas just 5 months later. i have felt that similar feeling recently. a calling from God for more simlicity. i plan to first find the things that are appropriate for giving away. my sister, leslie, is having a baby in july and i have many things to pass along. we will not be needing them anymore. what remains i am going to start a short term ebay business. if you happen to be searching ebay in the near future and you come across summerflylady as a seller, you have found me (and my Junk!).
we enjoyed spending a couple of days with stephen. bless his heart, he had a rough time with his airline (continental). he was supposed to leave nashville saturday at 2:30. the plane he was on was not able to pull in its landing gear after take off. so it was not able to fly to houston. it weighed too much to land it back down on the ground in nashville so that they could change planes so they flew around in circles for an hour and a half, then landed, changed planes and on their way nearly 2 hours later than intended. he arrived in houston five minutes before his connecting flight was supposed to leave and did not make it in time to board. the next plane to dallas (since it was new years eve) was not leaving until 9 pm. he talks the lady at the check in desk into giving him some food vouchers so he can eat dinner. finally, he boards the plane and arrives in dallas at 10pm where the airport wing his plane is connected to is on lock down for some reason and they are not allowed to get off the plane for several minutes. once off the plane (while some idiot thought he would be funny and pull the fire alarm) he proceeds to get his bags. only one made it. the big one with all of his necessities was lost somewhere out there in airport land. he reported it to the baggage claim office and informed them he was not going home but staying in town for several days. he gave them his cell mumber and aske them to call him when his luggage was located. the next morning it was found, but instead of calling him, they flew it to abilene and closed his case out of the computer where there is no record of his request. he spent the better part of sunday on the phone with different people trying to locate his luggage and get someone to admit they had messed everything up and apologize. they had been giving him the run around all day long. finally around 11:30pm after he had gone to bed someone called to let him know it was on its way back to dallas and would be delivered to him, here at our house, first thing in the morning. his confidence in them was slim, but sure enough, at 6 am there was a knock on our door and a gentleman delivered his luggage. everything was still in it and all was ok. very frustrating. i have to say, he was very patient with them, but stayed on top of them to make sure he got it back. we enjoyed the day and then took him to visit his aunt and uncle who live in grapevine this afternoon. while he was here, we did manage to solve all the world's problems and get in a few games of mexican train. its so amazing to think back to when he was a kid in our youth group when we had first begun ministry. now he is such a close friend.
oh, i almost forgot to let you all know. i decided to start the new year off with a new hairdo. it is different from what i have ever done. i like it. i may go back and more cut off. it is still considered medium length. i will try to get a picture of myself posted as well as some pictures of our wonderful christmas. thanks mom and dad. i used the money you gave me for a new beginning with a wash, cut, style and eyebrow wax!
love you all, blog family,
summer