.....And Now, For Your Stop Light Entertainment.....

Okay, Kellee, this is for you.

The other day some friends and I were talking about my blog. Someone else overheard us, asked me what a blog was and I told him it was kind of like an Internet 'diary', where I write random thoughts, stories, adventures and opinions to whomever wants to see them. We laughed about how a person's blog posting hopefully is not going to be as private as a diary entry, but that got me thinking......What would be something that I could divulge to anyone who happens to land on "A Rainey Kind of Day" that is not necessarily my usual type of posting but not too embarrassing? I came up with this:

Every one who knows me well knows that there are a few things I do EVERY day, other than what every person does daily. They are, in no particular order, drink strong coffee, drive great distances with at least 1 moody person in the back seat, pick lots of yellow dog hair off of my clothes, make sure EVERYONE in our house takes ALL of their medications!!!!!!, sit still for 30 seconds and think "OMG - this is my life", tell Astro to get out of the garbage, pray to God to get through the next hour, thank God for getting me through the last hour, wipe Astro's muddy paws even though the other 2 dogs are perfectly clean, tell Astro it's a darn good thing he's so cute, dance and sing. Today I'm going to focus on the last 2- dancing and singing.

I love to sing. I sing every day, to every song I hear (except rap - me and rap - they don't jive, man). See what I mean. I don't even have the lingo down correctly. Anyways, I don't think I'm capable of just listening to a song. I HAVE to sing it. Even if I don't know it. Once you've sung in choir long enough and are familiar with music you can tell pretty much tell what notes/key changes are coming up next. I love my singing and God loves my singing. My children used to love my singing when they were under the age of 10. Nothing calmed them down more than me singing to them.

The only problem is that my voice is only a so-so kind of voice. I'm fine to sing in a big choir, and once in a while I can surprise myself and realize that I've sung something well, but for the most part, I'm just a marginal singer. Now this is hard for me to admit. Okay, okay, stop your laughing! Admit? What's to admit, you say? You've known this all along, you say? What's hard for me is that I'm used to only doing the things I do well. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, in case you haven't noticed. :) I LOVE singing so much I'm willing to lay my flaws out for everyone to hear just so I can sing. If I really got bold, I would love to take voice lessons, but I might have to take a sip of tequila (oops, not tequila - remember Sept. 1983) coconut rum to sing by myself in front of a voice teacher. Only my husband and children have to listen to me sing because they love me and wouldn't be able to find anything in the pantry, have matching socks, know where the stamps are, or when it's time to go to the dentist without me. If they don't let me sing, I walk! I mean it!!! I pretend I don't see the eye rolling.

So, I've confessed the singing part to you, well most of it, but as you can imagine, along with singing comes dancing. My passion for dancing is just about as strong as it is for singing. You can't have 1 without the other in my book. That's why I love the Joyful Noise choir. I get to sing AND dance with a bunch of little ones who don't complain about my lack of talent and the other leaders don't say anything because they are my friends and wouldn't hurt my feelings. It's the best of both worlds. The other place where I do most of my singing and dancing is in my car. Yup, in the car. I carry a large variety of music with me, everything from Alan Jackson to Enya, Aerosmith to Josh Groban, Phil Collins to Christian music, classical to Buddy Holly to Andrew Lloyd Webber music. Right now, I'm on a movie soundtrack kick. I go back and forth between Mamma Mia, Hairspray and Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat (we have the video production w/ Donny Osmand as Joseph). You tell me how I'm supposed to sing these songs without dancing!!! Yea, uh huh, just try it yourself and see if you're successful. You really can do a fair amount of moving around as you drive and still be safe. Obviously I don't move my feet, but you can move your shoulders, hips and hiney, make hand gestures (not the rude kind - the ones that go along with the ones from the movie, you silly willys) and of course the head and neck. Remember, I am half Egyptian.

So, while you drive down the road and see other drivers talking on their cell phones, eating, putting on makeup, picking their noses (only men do this, because women know that people can still see you), shaving, etc... you can find me belting out "Good Morning Baltimore" or "I Can Hear the Bells" from Hairspray and doing as many of the motions as I can (and still be safe!). When I get to a stop light, baby watch out 'cause there are no holds barred. I'm performing full force and I don't care who's watching. I could totally see myself on some stage somewhere. Maybe not Broadway. Maybe not even Tomball Theatre but hey, in my head, I'm awesome!

So, this is my sad but true diary/blog confession. Now you know the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Sadly, God did not bless me with the talent that I think I'm supposed to have, but the older I get, the less I care what others think. My friends and family love me for who I am, I can laugh at my self and as for the rest of 'em..........well, I'll have to save those words for my real diary!

Beth, the Plagiarizer - I Should be Ashamed, but I'm Not!

I don't have to think of a clever post today. My friend, Hilary, did it for me in her post titled "I Get Knocked Down .....". ! Click here and you'll understand.

Go ahead, I'll wait!

She wrote exactly how I think and feel, and she got a video embedded in probably 1/4 of the time it takes me to do it. This explains why she's one of my best friends.

Hey, I remember that Chumbawumba video......I was probably living in Austin, had even bigger hair than I have now, wearing lots of eyeshadow and mascara (big in the '80's), leggings (it's okay, I was much thinner) and flats. If it was my freshman year, I was probably drinking and then throwing up somewhere. Hey, I threw up in some of the best places Austin had to offer. That's what happens when you don't drink in high school and you don't know about Everclear, or Long Island Iced Teas or mixing the two on the same night. I can't drink margaritas to this very day because of a baaaaaad night in Sept. 1983. That's the first and last time I EVER had tequila. If I even get the slightest of whiffs of tequila I'm instantly transported back to The Castillian dorm, 14th floor (I think). Ugh, I think my stomach just did a flip flop just typing about it.

Okay, ......... how did I get from our woes of 2008 to my tequila adventure of 1983. That's what happens to you when you're under stress and you've had a year like Hilary's and mine. Oh my goodness, I'm in sad shape. Pass the Tums, please.

Bye Bye 2008! Glad to See You Go!

Happy New Year! The Raineys started out 2009 just the way we hope the year goes ...... peaceful, relaxed and happy. Rick and I slept in while the kids were entertaining themselves with their Christmas goodies (I can't say 'toys' anymore). Rick made a great breakfast and coffee and we puttered around with no real agenda. It was great.

Josh's favorite gift was Guitar Hero for his Wii system. He's really good on the guitar and now the drums, although I can only do the guitar so far. Today we broke out the microphone. So, while Josh was the drummer I tried my hand at being the lead singer. Rick was our audience and I guess I must have done a pretty good job because Rick took off his shirt, flung it over his head and then threw it at me. Wow, having a groupie is a mighty awesome thing!

A miracle occurred and we can now see the floor in Lauren's room. She's working very hard and is just about finished. Oh my, it's been 9 months in the making (or should I say 'messing') so I'm impressed that she did it in 1 week. Hey, when Lauren sets her mind to something, it's going to get done and you better just get out of the way.

We've had a great Christmas, filled with down time and busy time; being at home and visiting; being on our own and being surrounded by friends and family. Most of all it was a chance for us to regroup as a family of 4, settle our minds and bodies and remind ourselves of what is REALLY important to us in life. Now our goal is to make 2009 the best we can, regardless of the circumstances. Lord knows we all get thrown curve balls but it's how well we catch them that really matters.

The song that our children's choir will sing in January is called "Trust in the Lord" and it's one of my favorites. My family, in their kind way of laughing at my Kindergarten ways, chuckles at me when I practice my Joyful Noise songs because I'm doing the choreography (shout out to you, Hilary) as I sing and, of course, I have to put a lot of expression into my voice and motions to convey that to the kids. The song is based on my favorite scripture, although I'm far from a scripture quoting person. These words just seem to sum up what's happened to me, to our family, and I choose to have faith and trust in God, knowing that He has a plan. I don't know what those plans are (they look like stinky curve balls to me!) but He knows better and I will know why eventually. I really do trust in the Lord and will continue to in 2009. Will you?

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Have You Ever Vacuumed Concrete?

So, last night I found myself in a cleaning mood. Yea, I don't know what happened to me. I must be coming down with something. So, I started to vacuum and made my way towards our dining room. In I go, and as I was half way finished I started thinking about the fact that I was vacuuming concrete? Why, you might ask? Well, one of our precious pets decided that our dining room carpet was a lovely place to have a potty break when she had been inside too long, before we came home to let her out. That, over time, spells (or should I say 'smells') yuck. So, one Sunday afternoon I went to children's choir practice. When I came home, Rick had torn out the carpet and padding in sheer frustration. Hence, the concrete floor.

The only problem with that is he tore it out over a year ago. Yup, and with no plan or savings towards a new floor in mind. With 2 kids in private school, one of which is therapeutic, there's not a lot of extra cash floating around here these days. Every time we seem to have money saved up for the flooring here comes a car repair bill, a big dentist bill or a vet bill for a sick, stray black kitten that just happened to wander into our yard, I swear!

So, we have a concrete floor and tell ourselves that our friends and family will still love us even if we have a concrete floor, right by the front door, next to our nice foyer, for every one to see as they walk into our home! Yea, uh huh.

This past week I was at my friend Cindy's house. She and her hubby, Andy, have their own business, work from their home and are raising 2 little kids. They just bought a gorgeous sectional couch that is so comfy to sit on. The only problem is their family room isn't big enough to hold it so it's split, with one half on each side of the room. They will only be in their current house for a little while longer and so the sectional will fit in their new home. In fact, they have a few other things in the house that they want to keep for their new place but it's packed into this one for now. Plus, Cindy LOVES to sell things on Craig's List so she has her old sofa and chair still in the house to keep safe until she sells it online. I couldn't help but laugh out loud as we worked around couches and boxes while fixing lunch and chuckle about how different our lives are than what I thought grown up life would be.

Go back to the spring of 1987 in Austin, TX. Cindy and I are students at UT and in her apartment. We're sitting on the couch that she is now trying to sell on Craig's List (it's real suede and in great shape!). Cindy and Andy are getting married in June of '87 and I know that Rick is going to ask me to marry him some time soon (he did on New Year's Eve of '87). We think we're pretty grown up, for the most part, and fairly mature. We read Bride magazine, Cindy paints her beautiful long nails, I learn new ways to put on eye shadow and we talk about our wonderful guys. We have visions of houses and dream careers, living near a park and meeting there as we raise our babies in family bliss.

Now, here we are 21 years later - I'm vacuuming tumbleweeds of dog hair off of my concrete floor just before I run out the door to pick up my children from their therapeutic school that we can't afford to drive into Houston rush hour traffic to get to someone's (mine or their's) psychologist appointment while Cindy cooks a meal, while walking around a couch in her kitchen, answering her cell phone from women in tube tops that shouldn't be wearing tube tops (I'll explain in a minute), checking her computer to see if a potential tenant has any felonies, helping 1 child with her homework while listening to her 4 year old having a fit because she won't let him go into the garage and see all of his Christmas presents!

How does that song go .....

Okay, I promised I'd explain the women in tube tops. Cindy and Andy are in the rehab (construction, not detox) and real estate business. They own homes and apartments in Houston, as well as some apartments in Galveston. People still trying to recover from Hurricane Ike are looking to rent the ones in Galveston, with help from FEMA. Some of these people, according to Cindy, do happen to fall into the butt crack, tube top wearing, missing some teeth category and I heard some interesting stories the other day. I told 'ya, I wanna be a Toys R Us Kid. I bet some days Rick, Cindy and Andy do too!

A Christmas Questionnaire

I'm borrowing this idea from Beth Moore's LPM website! Here we go...

1. Fresh or Fake Tree: Well, we always had a fresh tree growning up, but then when Rick and I had our own tree we got an artificial one. It bit the dust a while back and so for the last 3-4 years we've had a real tree and I'm so glad we're back to the real thing, baby! Real is always better than fake!!!!!

2. Favorite Ornament: Oooooo, there are so many cute ones the kids have made. I guess the ones that the kids made out of their handprints when they were in Mother's Day Out at our church are my favorite. I can't believe they were ever that tiny.

3. Favorite Christmas Song: That's an easy one. Actually, it's not a song, it's a whole album to be exact. Yes, I said ALBUM and it looks like this....

I don't think I'm capable of putting up a Christmas tree and decorating it without this music playing. Seriously!

4. Favorite Tradition: Susie and I always got new nightgowns on Christmas Eve and I do that with my kids too. When we get home from Christmas Eve service, the kids then get on their new jammies. Josh even goes along with it as long as I find him cool looking pajamas. After that, they each get to open 1 and only 1 present! Then, we all cuddle up on the couch and read The Night Before Christmas. I think we'll start a new tradition this year of reading the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible, as well.

5. Favorite Gift Ever Received: You know, I can't really remember. I know I've gotten some wonderful things in my life but the things I remember are the gifts I've given. The Christmas of 2003, when Lauren was 20 mths old was so special because she was really into everything she got. She loved her cozy coop car, her Little Tyke's kitchen and immediately started cooking for her new baby doll. I loved hiding bikes in the Bivens' garage (our neighbors) until Christmas Eve and then seeing Josh fly down the street in bare feet and his pajamas. Those are my favorite gifts.

6. Favorite Christmas Meal: Turkey, mashed potatoes, rutabagas, stuffing made with roasted chestnuts, some type of green veggie (for a variety of color on the plate, you know), gravy, cranberries, etc...

7. Favorite Christmas Cookie: We used to make all kinds of cookies with my mom when we were little, like shortbread, chocolate macaroons, 2 different kinds of Egyptian cookies from my father's family recipes (I can't spell either of them - one sounds like the noise you make when you throw up; the other one sounds phonetically like 'co-nah-fah') and rumballs. We would roll them in different coatings like red or green colored sugar, coconut or ground nuts. Now that I'm an adult and have the recipe for rumballs I know why my mom didn't let us eat too many of those RUMballs!!!

8. Favorite Place to Be: Wow, that's a hard one for me right now. This will be the first Christmas that will just be me, Rick and the kids. To me, holidays are all about having massive amounts of family coming and going and people sleeping everywhere. As a kid it was a blast and I loved every minute of it. But, times change, people move and things happen. So, we'll have our own time with our own traditions and maybe this year we'll be less frantic and more into what Christmas is really about - the birth of Jesus!

9. Favorite Memory: Ummmm, too many to list. Of course, there are lots from when I was little, like when we had so many family members at our house I had to sleep with my parents and I kept them up all night because I heard Santa and his reindeer on the roof. Really, I did!! Then, another year, Susie and I were thrilled because we both got the Chrissy dolls we wanted - you know, that doll that was as big as me and when you pulled on her short pony tail her hair grew long and then when you pushed her belly button her hair sucked back into her head again. Then, fast forward about 25-30 years and you have the joy of watching toddlers Lauren and Josh opening presents, having wrapping paper stick to their faces because of all of the candy canes they were eating, all while they were yelling about what Santa brought them. To those of you who have known us for a long time- remember when Josh was little and whenever he talked with enthusiasm this vein bulged out of his neck!! Can't you just picture him saying "How did Santa know I wanted Thomas the Train and Percy and Sir Topham Hat!" in that hoarse little voice and that big blue vein! What a sight.

10. Favorite Christmas Movie: Christmas was when The Sound of Music would come on TV and I still love that movie to this day. I think I can still sing the words to every song, and maybe even a few of the motions or two. I totally embarrass Lauren and Josh when I do this, even in our own home. I love all of the claymation movies like Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolph (with Mr. Heat Miser & Mr. Snow Miser) - Remember this...

and don't forget Santa Claus is Coming to Town or Little Drummer Boy. However, my favorite is The Grinch. I love the dog, especially when the Grinch puts the antlers on him and he teeters over until the Grinch saws off most of the antlers. Too cute! I first saw it on TV when I was in the hospital after just getting my tonsils out. Back then it only came on once a year and if you missed it, oh well, too bad, so sad! Ahhhh, these youngin's have noooo idea how good they have it.

So, email me your answers to this questionnaire so I can take a peek into your holiday traditions. I wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. Take care!

Beth's version of Life 101

Well, no news is bad news for the Rainey family. That's why you don't hear from me for a while. I save all my boo-hooing for my family and close friends!!! Anyways, I've been feeling a bit better lately and have been thinking about getting back to posting a message soon. These are the things I want to pass along from what I've learned over the past few months:

-you really can't change people; I knew this but lately I've been put through the wringer learning this AGAIN

-nothing is more important than taking care of yourself; if you don't do that you can't help anyone and it catches up with you eventually

-don't be afraid to look at the repeated things in your life that are your stumbling blocks; they're there to teach you a lesson; God didn't send them but He didn't remove them either!

-while you deal with your stumbling blocks don't forget to count your blessings, no matter how small they are; they are all around you and are not just a coincidence

-hang tight to the people who REALLY lift you up, help you, are there for you when you need them; let them help you because you'll have your turn to pay it forward later

-God does not punish us or put us through hard times on purpose; He is a loving God who I know is always there for me; I may not know the plans He has for my life or that of my family but he's got our backs and I have to trust; that's what faith really is


-this world is full of people who say they are one thing and show who they really are; look at people's actions, trust your intuitions and listen CAREFULLY to what they say and DON'T say

-no one can tell me who I am or what I'm supposed to be or do; that's my job and I'll take that into my own hands, thank you very much!!!

With all that said, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving (American style, for all my Canadian friends and relatives). Be safe, eat just the right amount of everything so that it brings on that great nap-a-comin' feeling, without the I-feel-kinda-sick-feeling and do at least one thing that really brings a smile to your face. Oh, and one last thing........ Go Texas Longhorns! Hook 'Em!

P.S. None of these statements are written with Rick in mind, by the way. Yes, we are still married and he is my knight with a Texan drawl!!

Honey, Full Alert...It says "Rainey" on Caller ID!!!!!

So, are you wondering if I've been blown out to sea? After all, I did refer to the hurricane as Ike Shmike. Nah, most of you know by now that when there's a gap in my postings it usually means that my parents have been up to their usual antics, which means crisis mode for Susie and I. Yup, here we go again. But.............. this is not the format to talk about my *$%&! No, on my blog I just use sarcasm to vent my frustrations and purge a bit of the *$%& that keeps building up. Just watch out though and screen your caller ID. I might try and call you for moral support!!

On a serious note, at this time I am ever so grateful for my family, friends and church family that continue to support and lift me and my family up during these past 3-5 very difficult years. I would never have gotten through without you all. You mean the world to me.

Oh yah, can't forget my therapist and my psychiatrist!!! Mental health is good!