We call it the hot blanket

If you're cold, you have to fight for it.

If you're sick, you're entitled to it.

If you're mom, you trump all and get it anytime you want.

We call it the Hot Blanket.

It's a heated throw blanket only big enough for ONE. Actually it's slightly too small for one, unless you're under 5 feet tall (and I just barely make the cut). Plug it in and select from 3 temperatures -- LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH. I prefer Medium.

It was a gift a couple of years ago from my guy. He's generally comfortable in our 59 degree winter house (well, it feels like it anyway) and I am usually wearing a sweatshirt, 2 pair of socks and earmuffs. Only once did I wear earmuffs. I have my limits. He bought me a hot blanket probably to shut me up.

We all love to curl up with the hot blanket and watch a movie or something -- but only one person at a time can enjoy its comfort.

Thankfully since it's technically mine, I can have it whenever I want EVEN IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY COZIED UP IN IT. UH-HUH.

Kid Two has been under it all weekend long. He's puny. And I'm generous.

The hot blanket is on my list of reasons to get a generator in case my electricity ever goes out for long.

That's all I've got today. It was a long weekend. :)

I Guess I'll Never Be a Skier

I've tried. Really tried.

to ski, that is.

I am not a good skier.

And 9 weeks after my last attempt, I still have proof.

-

We went to Colorado over the Christmas break - as you can see from all these little pictures on my blog. Happy, happy, snow, snow, a family ski trip, here we go.

-

I ski green runs.

I am violent in my resolve to ski ONLY green.

Green is supposed to be the slowest.

I am supposed to be better after 5 ski trips, lessons, short skis and "helpful tips" from everyone I know.

-

whatever. some things are just not my bag.

-

The day we tackle the mountain I am careful to have good hair and wear lipstick - because it is important to look presentable when you're flagging down a medic on the slopes. And in case he didn't think I am cute, I tuck a $20 bill into my coat. Just in case.

-

My stomach turns as I get on the chair lift, knowing 13.5 minutes and 1500 feet later I will most likely fall off trying to "STAND UP NOW" with my poles as the sign instructs.

-

My fears did not disappoint, I fell. And jammed my pole in the chair guard to fully stop the lift.

At least Chad's whole family was there to see it live. mmm-hmmm, self esteem builder for sure.

-

On my first run down I get that "this isn't going to end well" feeling. I am passed by my sister-in-law, Kid One, Kid Two, and Houston cousins One, Two and Three. It is a happy moment - if you're into humiliation. Only my husband who is (for his own safety) obligated to stay with me and my father in law who is not as young as me but clearly a better skier.

-

Is it time for hot chocolate? I want off of this ride.

-

I attempt to ski down the mountain but I take a janky fall landing my skis and poles in a yard sale formation in the snow.

_

I cry. Because I am faced with the realization this is only the FIRST run down and I still have 2 more days of this. And I cry because my knee hurts. BAD. And since I'm not really tough at all but I want to give the illusion I am, I ski more. The Invisible Me kicks off one ski and races down the hill to prove to them I am not a baby.

-

To make a long story stupid, I limp around the cabin for the rest of the trip. I cringe at night with pain when I try to sleep (and I secretly swear off skiing for the rest of my days.)

-

4 weeks later my doctor says nothing is broken. 4 weeks after the doctor's xray and I'm still complaining. Coming up on 9 weeks after my incident and I still get out of bed with an uncontrollable grimmace at how clumsy and foolish this injury is. I'm no doctor, but something tells me I should be over this by now.

f

You know what? I will probably go skiing again. Not because anything inside me craves the rush of wind on my face as I ski roll down the mountain, but because the Foxy Mr. is an incredible skier and he loves it. And because I love him, I'll give it another whirl. I know he's kind of proud that I try, I would love him to be proud that I can actually make it down the mountain without crying.

--

Is there anything you don't really like but you'll do it because your spouse likes it?

Evolution is dumb: The proof

In a discussion about God creating the earth, nine year old Kid Two asked me about evolution. He knew it was absurd but he couldn't defend his reasons well. Today he must have figured it out because this was one of the first things he said when he got home from school,

...

Mom, here's the deal. Of COURSE God made people and we didn't come from apes. If you look at a monkey for like... you're whole life, and never take your eyes off... well, it STILL won't have a human. No matter what.

Amen, little buddy.

If it looks like a dust bunny, and flutters like a dust bunny, chances are...

uh-huh, it probably IS a dust bunny.

...

...BUT, the things I found lurking under my furniture were more like dust mammoths, and I promise one of them even talked back when I kicked it.

...

Why I was so shocked to find that much household "debris" under chairs and beds and along baseboards is a mystery, because I seriously don't remember the last time I moved a bed to vacuum underneath. shhhh. Don't tell my mother that!

...

We gently wiped down all the dust infested items and brought them to the new house. Nice and clean. You can't even tell that just 48 hours ago I could write "I [heart] Chad H" in the dust with my finger. Clean as a whistle.

...

In this moving experience I have been in prayer about a lot of things -- because I have a LOT of things going on in my life at the moment. I was expecting the Father to help a sister out on a problem here and there but He first started with all the dust on the furniture of my heart.

...

Oh seriously, let's just call it what it is. Sin.

...

Apparently I've been collecting some dust, I mean sin along the way. At first I didn't notice it but when it got so thick around my heart that I could write my name in it, I started to take notice.

...

No, I didn't do any of the "bad" stuff. ha/ha. It was the tiny things that, left unattended, multiplies and gets bigger until you need something better than Pledge to clean it.

...

Thank you Father, for wiping away worry, pride, selfishness, false securities and a lot of other dust bunnies clouding my view.

...

When is the last time you cleared out some dust bunnies around your heart?

Playing Along With Natalie's Whatev' Weekend Post

Natalie has a Whatev' Weekend Post. It's the weekend and I'm pressed for time but I do have a little whatevah for you...

Name this tune...

Do you know it? I know a couple of you childhood friends have it your brains from our junior high days.
...
Whatev.
...

6-5-4-5-6-6-6
5-5-5
6-9-9
6-5-4-5-6-6-6-6-5-5-6-5-4

Our Move

I've received lots of questions about our move from Facebook friends. Here's the skinny on the Heineckes. Next week when I really return to my bloggy love, I'm going to share with you some lessons learned from packing. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

..

This fall we decided to sell our house in an attempt to "beat the potential downward turn in the market." Eventually we'd like to get a house a little bigger for our family but we're not risky enough to chance having 2 house payments. Knowing the current economy could possibly produce lower home values we decided it was time to sell, save and wait for a good deal. A steal. A bargain. A home appointed by the King.

..

We are moving into a rental we own, literally a few blocks away in another neighborhood. The house is smaller and older and that's okay. We're trading our pond view for a view of Santa Fe avenue from the back yard. And you know what? I AM VERY EXCITED. EXCITED TO WAIT AND SEE WHERE GOD TAKES US NEXT. Maybe it will be in the next 45 days, 6 months or even years. It is hard to wait on the Lord sometimes but so much worse to wish you had.

..

This has been an excellent lesson for me in trusting the foxy Mr. in financial decisions like this. Let's just say I wasn't too chipper the first time he suggested the idea of downsizing. He has shown amazing leadership in our home and really cast the vision for the boys who have genuinely allowed the Lord to change their hearts too on the situation.

..

As a family we've prayed for and praised Him for the buyer of our current house, thanked God for our rental and now we are praying for His direction for our future...where ever that may be.

..

So, as I grout tile, wash the floors, clean grody showers and knock wasp nests from my new front porch, I pray the Father continues to teach our family about the joy of delighting ourselves in Him. May He be ALL we ever need.

..

The move will be completed this weekend. Yee-haw!

..

Thanks to Pastor JT for doing some of the handywork. He doesn't have a blog so I'll plug Mrs. Pastor JT. :)

..

Next week, my lessons...

Calvin Miller - think about it

This quote came to mind today from a book I read about 7 years ago. Into the Depths of God, by Calvin Miller. Let it sink into your brain today.

...

"If you love the quiet retreat that you create in order to meet God, you may not love God at all but only the pointless discipline of quietness. If you love the literature of the saints more than you desire to emulate their holiness, you are too much the captive of your reading and not the servant of your Lord. If you seem to talk a lot about prayer but pray very little, you are seeking only a godly mysique and not God himself. God is never honored by our sterile fascination with him."

...

There have been seasons in life when I talk a lot about prayer. And there are seasons in life when I'm so completely entrenched in communication with my Father that little needs to be spoken aloud.