good tidings!

We went to Woodland yesterday! O, what joy it was. I miss that church family. All my little kids that I used to keep are not so little anymore. My favorites don't even hardly remember me. That's kind of sad. I got to see Nicky V. among other wonderful, wonderful people. We spent the afternoon at Mrs. Les' house--my other home and our other mom. What wonderful conversations. And, I am so rarely first on the gossip train, and y'all may already know this, but Amy and Ben are engaged! I'm so excited for them. That's all I have for now. Tuan and I have a big errand to run today that is kind of top secret for now. (No, we are not pregnant) I did dream last night that I had twins at some point between May and now and spent the entire dream trying to do the math (of course it didn't work out!).

bargain of the week

I think I could start a website featuring all the bargains we stumble across. It's so fun. Yesterday Tuan and I went to Belk (formerly McRaes) because he was desperately in need of shorts. We walked out with four pairs of brand name shorts (like Columbia) for 32.00. One pair was 14.99 and all the rest averaged around 5.00 a pair. What a deal! I'm thinking about going to the other Belk in Jxn today to see if I can find some more. Tuan wears cargo shorts EVERY day and he is so hard on them--what with radios and carabiners of keys and all other sundry items he uses, that we are constantly buying shorts. This was definitely a boon. So, that was the Bargain of the week. I think this will be a new feature of the blog.

The Bargain/Dilemma of the Century

Oh dear, ethics . . . I went to Hudson's in Ridgeland today in search of Baby Formula and bargains--I found both. Oh, boy did I ever. They had several aisles "cram as much into a bag as possible and it's only $1. " Crazy, huh? I kind of zoomed through and found: 3 rolls of construction motif wallpaper border (for Johnny or Logan), a loveseat slipcover (for fabric), a Simpson's book and this random gorgeous piece of linen stuff. I also found (at other prices) 3 20.00 cans of formula and two boxes of nutrition bars. I went to check out and the cashier rang up all my "bag for $1" stuff as one bag and the grand total came to 24.00. Even at Hudson's thats a HUGE bargain. Well, as I was driving home, I looked at the receipt and something seemed funny. Then, when I got home, I started examining the "linen thingy" and found a Pottery Barn label in it--and a 199.00 price tag. Not only did the salesperson ring everything wrong, but I inadverdently bought a PB 80% off item as a "bag for $1." Without all the mistakes, my ticket should have been around $80.00. (not that I'd have bought the PB item at that price)
My dilemma: do I call Hudson's and tell the manager and ask what I should do? Or, do I say, "oh, the cashier made a mistake--my profit"? My sinful side wants the former, but my conscience is provoking me to the former. Being ethical is not fun.
On the other hand, we watched THE END OF THE SPEAR last night. It was one of the most moving movies I've ever seen. The way that the gospel was presented and the response of the Waidoni was just amazing. I'll not explain the plot, but there is one place where one of the Waidoni (who is unconverted) is angry at a fellow saved tribesman. He says, "why won't you go and spear our enemies!" Kimo replies (paraphrased) that God has said not to kill and he wants to walk the path that God's son walked. I covet that kind of faith--oh, may I desire to walk the way God's son walked. I suppose that is the answer to my dilemma right there.

whirl of gaeity and beautiful creepy houses

I tried to find an appropriate quote from "little town on the prairie" to begin this entry, but couldn't find the one I imagined was there. We have been busy in the best sort of way. We vacationed down around my family in Fla with the Nasekos Family and Jon and Christie Pearce. It was very, very fun to sleep a lot (Tuan needed it and I gladly joined in), to shop, eat out, and especially to have ready and willing baby-sitters (mom and grandmother). Tuan and I enjoyed our time of self-indulgence immensely and are now jumping back into life full throttle. We spread our vacation further out with a trip to Columbia to see his folks, then spent Saturday at Shuqualak, MS.
Much as my dear friend Micah once questioned why anyone would want to go to JCjC and hang out in Ellisville, anyone who has been through Shuqualak may wonder just why we would visit there (or want to for that matter). Well, the Parent of our dear friends Eric and Amanda bought a plantation--truly. It's an incredible place: acres of pastureland, woods, an incredible "big house" and a carriage house. They've just finished redoing the carriage house and are nowworking on the "big house." Big it truly is. I remember shortly after the family purchased it, a bunch of us had a "Pajama Pants Christmas Dance" out there and played hide and seek in it. Hide and seek in an empty old house with seven bedrooms, more baths than seven, dressing rooms, closets, a library, parlor and so forth makes for the creepiest and coolest game of H&S ever. I remember seeing someone's shadow on the wall as they ran to hide in the master bedroom closet and being totally unable to open the door and catch them. I just held it shut and called for someone to join me so I could find the hider not alone.
Amanda's parents are also using the land for cattle and as Eric toured us around, I learned lots about the geography and interesting cattle practices. Did you know that while Southern Baptists abhore "mash" and other liquors for personal consumption, they have not scruples giving it to their cows? I thought that was funny, but, I am being silly. Thanks so much to Eric and Amanda for a wonderful, wonderful day.