Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

OMG, I am losing my hair!

"Doris, don't be silly.  We are all losing hair all the time.  It's called 'shedding'.  It's one of the characteristics of being a Kung sister."


I know, we shed hair at a ridiculous rate.  I remember when we were living in Bellevue, our carpet was perpetually covered with our strands of departed hair.  I even told one of my college roommates how we could run our fingers in a circular motion over our carpet, and come up with a small tangle of long, black hair. I think she laughed only to disguise her extreme discomfort at the thought.  Heh heh.  I like to think of our hair as our secret power.

Tim complains about how much I shed, but I have to point out to him that my hair is long and black, and therefore seems to be everywhere.  His hair is short and blond, so it seems invisible, but I am pretty sure he sheds as much as I do.  But what I have going on here is unbelievable!  I am pretty sure it has something to do with postpartum hormone regulation, although I think it is interesting that it didn't happen with Evie.  With Evie, instead of losing hair, my hair started growing out very wavy, but only on one section of my head.  It was like one quarter of my hair decided to go late 80's for awhile.

About a month ago, I realized that my hair was starting to fall out at an amazing rate.  In the shower, every time I massaged my scalp, my hand would be covered in strands.  When I brushed my hair or was blow drying my hair, I was dropping them everywhere.  It seemed that all I needed to do was toss my hair and then there would be a loose strand floating down.  I thought, maybe this isn't as bad as I am thinking.

Last night, I found proof that I am not imagining things.  THERE IS A SMALL BALD PATCH ON MY HAIRLINE!!!  It is in an area to the side of my forehead where the hair is naturally thinner (but to us, naturally thinner might be normal to others), and there is NOTHING THERE.  I got anxious and started checking my head.  The hair on the back of head feels thinner.  My hair, when gathered up for a ponytail, is definitely lighter and less in mass.  IS MY HAIR GOING TO KEEP FALLING OUT UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT ANYWHERE?!

I asked around and some mamas have said their hair stopped falling out around 5 months or even 8 months postpartum.  At this rate, if I have to go one for a few more months, I will surely be bald.    Someone told me to eat more "stable fats" like cod liver oil (?).  Maybe I should invest in a wig?

It's a strange new world.  I have never imagined a world where I would be bald, but now that it is here, I guess I am going to take less showers to keep the hair I have.  And that's saying a lot, since I am now getting a shower in every 2 or 3 days. Philadelphia, watch out!  Greasy-haired mama coming your way!

Turning the other cheek on my birthday

No, my birthday was not as horrific as that title may imply. But it does encompass what I have experienced today, and I would like to share it with you both.
First off, let me not neglect to say 'THANK YOU' both for your birthday wishes for me!! I appreciate all the kinds words and cute cute cute pics!!!! I definitely have enjoyed the blogger birthday wishes!!! I had a wonderful birthday! Lon took me out to dinner and ice cream in Downtown Knoxvilles' Market Square and we just took our time walking around, perusing shops, Krutch Park and talking. It was a nice relaxing evening!
Earlier on my birthday, it was not such a great day. I feel as if I learned what it means in scripture to turn the other cheek. Never in my life do I think that I have put so much thought into my words and actions and prayed against the temptation to slander or show anger towards another person when they have done all of those towards me. Over the course these last few weeks, another teacher and I were not seeing eye to eye on an issue and I felt as if this person was saying and doing things that were manipulative and insulting to me and to Lon. I know that it takes a lot for me to get upset, I don't always take a stand for what I think and thus sometimes get taken advantage of. Lon has been talking me through this for weeks, helping me sort out what is wrong and right, push past my emotions to see truth, and encouraging me to stand up for what I think is right. When this disagreement came to a head tuesday morning, I put my foot down and tried unsuccessfully to explain my perspective. At the end of the work day, in return, I got a tongue lashing from this person: insults were hurled at me and towards Lon. I kept my mouth shut, trying to process all that was being yelled at me and not wanting to react in a way that was a result of anger. Once this person left, I immediately started crying and was full of frustration, anger and hurt. I wrote all of my defenses and responses to each of her accusations and insults angrily on paper - I had to get it out before driving home. I spent the rest of the evening crying and talking to Lon. Eventually, I realized that approaching this person the next day and spouting out all that I wrote would not be the best way to resolve this conversation. And even though, she hurt me deeply, it would not help the situation nor would it glorify God if I went to her, angrily yelled back at her my response to her accusations, pointed my finger at her and said something just to 'get back at her'. I had to discern the falsehood from her accusations, justify my position to her, show her how she wronged me and do all of this without anger or slander on my lips and without saying something that would give her an opportunity to be angry with me.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" Matt 5:9
"The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life" Prov 22:4
"Charm is decietful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised" Proverbs 31:30
These are verses that Lon shared with me and that I clung to as I thought and prayed about what I would say to her the morning of my birthday. God gave me grace to talk to her without anger, but with strength and humility - although it was very tempting to respond with anger! I thank God that I am a new creation, and that I can cling to him. I thank God that I can experience what it is to 'turn the other cheek' and to be a 'peacemaker', and feel peace in my heart before and after that act occurs, even though it was very hard to do so. In a work environment where work politics and gossip are evident, I am trying my best to not participate, and to be an example of godliness. It would be so much easier to just talk and laugh along with the others. It is hard when there seems to be no immediate reward. But, I know that I can cling to the truth that through these challenges,the Lord sees my hard work, my soul is being refined, I am an example to others - even though it may not be apparent to me now and that one day in heaven my hard work will be complete.

" Happy Birthday to you!!..."

Happy Birthday Sharon!

We hope you have a supercalifragilisticispialidotious 

Birthday today!

You are such a gift to us and we are SO grateful to God for you!

I am always humbled by your humility in seeking out counsel, your deep desire to seek the Lord and trust in him in ALL things, your love for your hubby and how you cherish him continually, and also how you love our little kiddi-poos.

You are such a GIFT and we are all aware of God's tremendous grace in your life!

We hope you have a very blessed day as you meditate on God's specific love for you!

Loveyou!

Ryan, Lillian, Ella Reese and Dean-o 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHARON!!!!

Happy Happy Birthday Sharon!!!!  We hope you have a wonderful day to celebrate THE GIFT THAT IS YOU!

We love you and cherish you and all that you are.  We thank God for giving us you to bless our lives and our hearts.

XOXOXOX!

Doris, Tim, Evie and Isaac

Oh wow, I want one of those ovens! 
I just picked up The Hiding Place but Corrie Ten Boon.  It is so awesome so far.  I have always wanted to read a bio on her life.
But try reading this book at the gym.  Which a lot of my reading gets done.
It is starting to get heavy...I hope to finish it soon.  It is a pretty fast read, and oh my is it inspiring!!!
nighty night.

The Last Book I Read

The last book I read was an excellent piece of good ole' fiction.  It's called "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold and there is a movie out based on this book.  I have been wanting to read a good book since I haven't had the time or energy to pick one up in the last six months.  So I got this one knocked out during feeding sessions with Isaac.  It's pretty good, a quick read.  I thought the author was really creative, and she writes well so it is easy to follow her flow.  Note:  It is rather gory in some parts because it is about a girl who is raped and killed, and then she follows how her family responds to her murder and learn to grow and forgive while she is adjusting to her afterlife in heaven.  It's not at all religious, and the way she describes heaven is…interesting.  I can't say I entirely agree but, hey, it's just fiction.

The next book I want to pick up is a toss-up between the Wealth Inequality Reader (a collection of essays about wealth inequality in this country) or Ambassadors of Reconciliation, a book written by my two great friends in California, Ched Myers and Elaine Enns.  It maps out the intersections in the New Testament between reconciliation and peacemaking.

I know, crazy choices, but I can't wait to read them.  I'll let you know what I think when I finish.  Or if I just ditch those choices and pick up another piece of fiction next.  

The Secret of my Success

Ahhh, my lovely Paduan sisters.  Let me teach you the ways of how to keep your sanity and still make a fabulous dinner…..

Okay, I am being stupid.  But seriously, making a ham/baking a turkey/whole chicken is not as hard as it sounds.  I figured all this out just this past year when I was comparing prices in the meat freezers at the grocery store.  You take the ham/turkey/chicken, defrost it, cover it with glaze/butter and herbs and then shove it in the oven.  You bake it at the recommended temp (look it up in a cookbook).  And the secret to a juicy ham/turkey/chicken is baking it to the right temperature, which you can determine thanks to a cheapo meat thermometer you can buy in the baking aisle at Kroger.  Another thing about baking a ham/turkey/chicken is that it is cost-efficient and meal-efficient.  That is, you pay less money for a whole turkey/chicken and ham than you would for a sliced, deboned, and skinned whatever, and you get more meat to last you a few more meals than just one.  A 6 or 7 lb. chicken can last us a few meals, or I can freeze some of the cooked meat for later, and then use the bones to make a chicken broth in my slow cooker (throw in tablespoon of vinegar into the water and you can draw out the calcium in the bones, making it calcium-rich, an added plus).  I usually also freeze the chicken broth too and pull it out when I need it for a soup base, etc.  Finally, the best part of doing all of this is that you get the maximum amount of meat, at the lowest cost, and it takes the least amount of time to prepare it.

Ahhhh, but there is more, More, MORE to learn!!

So, it just happens that my oven is ridiculous.  If you remember it, the thing is from the 1950's (a brand name that doesn't exist anymore), and the bottom bigger oven smokes so I am stuck with the smaller oven on top that only cooks on one side so you need to rotate your food or else it's just half-cooked.  But now, I have been liberated from my oven, thanks to Peggy and Ray.  Peggy saw the NuWave Oven on an infomercial and thought of me so she and Ray got it for us for Christmas.  I know it doesn't look like much, but OMG.  It's wunderbar!!

Ladies, you can stick a 7 lb. chicken in there that is FROZEN to the core, and it will be cooked, juicy and ready to eat within 3.5 hours.  I don't have to defrost it or anything.  It has something to do with the type of technology that is used.  And it is my dream come true.  They say you can cook anything in there, even dessert.  When Mom was here with me, she made muffins in that thing.  I haven't tried any desserts yet, and I so desperately wanted to try a pizza but all the pizzas I have are just a tad too big for it.  But I have made a turkey, whole chickens, hams, BBQ chicken thighs, pork chops, and baked veggies.  

And that, my people, is how I made a ham on Easter Sunday--the NuWave Oven and the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook I got when I was married.  

Now, if I only had a solution for keeping the house clean, laundry folded, and keeping the kids from crying at the same time.

Grow, grow grow!!

During Spring Break, my biggest goal was to garden, to add color and life to our drab grey house. Several hours upon hours and days later - after a slight farmers tan and with my arms being at least 10 shades darker than my legs, back aches, running away from the wood burrowing bees that torment my poor front porch, braving the afternoon heat and redoing the flower bed at the mailbox about four times..... I feel as if I have birthed a lovely creation! Hydrangea, pixie lilies, pansies, azaleas, rhododendrons, tomatoes, herbs and wildflowers... just thinking of the colors and scents and flavors brings a sigh of satisfaction to my lips! My daily ritual after stepping out my car from work has been to walk around to house to see what has bloomed, grown taller or died and if any birds have visited the bird feeder. The latest surprise today are the wildflowers breaking through the soil in the picture above!
I am thankful that God allows us the satisfaction of finding reward and satisfaction in our labor and that he created such a beautiful variety of plants and creatures for us to enjoy!

Not a Domestic Diva

First off, let me say that your last posts were HI-LAR-I-OUS!  Oh my...I think I laughed out loud on both your posts.  You girls are funny....Sharon, I will be sure to NOT read those books.  And Doris, your Ham making skills far surpass mine.  Send me your ham making directions?
Oh,..that makes me hungry.

So on with my post....
I said this to myself today.  "I am not a Domestic Diva" and I chuckled at the pairing of those two words.
For some reason being a "stay-at-home-mom" people think I preform wonderful and magical things inside my home.  And that all those things make my home tidy, neat, fragrant and clean.
Of course, I would LOVE my home to be all those things..and then some.
But truthfully, they are not! 
Instead here is what happens inside my home.
In the hurry of the day cleanliness and tidiness are usually pushed to the side.
....A side note:  When I say "hurry" I mean happenings which occur that put me in a state of hurry.  Like doing a bee line to take Dean to pee in the toilet because in the middle of changing him I tell him not to pee on me, and he does.  But just a little....  So I am doing that number Sandra Bullock did in "The Proposal" where she is scurrying around holding a puppy in the air.  Except, I am telling Dean to tell his pee pee to not come!  Sharon, that was for you!
And " hurry' also means dashing to save one of the children from being the victim of an unkind act, or wiping  down orange cheese puff fingers before the kids wipe their hand on my WHITE upholstered seats.  Or hurry also means getting ER a tissue because she has snot on her face and she has just told me that she wiped her nose on the carpet instead of getting a tissue...yuk!
....so back to my origianl thought.....
In the "hurry" of the day cleaniliness and tidiness are usually pushed to the side. 
For instance, today I chose to put on my flip flops in the house because bits of food and dirt were sticking to my feet.  I do not have time to sweep, but also I know that if I sweep now, more food WILL drop on the floor after lunch.  So why not wait till then?  And in the hurry of the day, dirty diapers are wrapped up, but never make it to it's intended destination because I am interrupted by another more important matter.  Scrabble pieces are left sprinkled throughout my living room because ER was making words with them, and Dean decided to throw them like confetti.  And so in on our way downstairs for naps I see the destruction but leave the mess because naps are more important right now then being able to complete a succeeful game of Scrabble later in my life. 

There it is folks.  That is what goes on inside my house.  And that is just the tip off the iceberg.
On top of that....I cannot bake anything from scratch but chocolate chip cookies. But that was more out of survival than anything.  Ryan breathes those things in, so we would have be broke if I kept buying cookie dough.
I have never made a Ham, or a Turkey.  Go ahead...gasp if you must!
I do not freeze meals or make home made bread or rolls.
My children are not clean and proper, nor do they sit still when told to.
My bathrooms and floors get cleaned when they need it, or if people are coming over.

So I am not a Domestic Diva.  I say it loud and proud!  I will even wear a button that claims it.
Truthfully, I do not want to be!  June Cleaver and Aunt Bee, away with you!  I will not succumb to such an idea of what a house wife or stay-at-home-mom is suppose to look like!  

Instead, I want to glorify God in all that goes on in the Prince home.   I want joy and peace to permeate our home like the fragrance of freshly baked breads and sweets.  I want training in the ways of God and encouragement to be the speech in our home that radiates from wall to wall instead of cleanliness and the smell of Pine-Sol.  I gladly confess that I have a home where children are being taught to follow Christ and are kept alive through some kind of nourishment.  A home where not a lot of things get done, but we all sure do have a lot of fun!
Where training and tickle fests are sometimes the priority over laundry or dishes.

But I say all of that, and yet at the same time I AM pursuing a home that is better managed, clean and where culinary skills are in training.  My home and meals will never be picture perfect.  In fact I do not want them to be!  But it sure is an adventure trying to learn how to do it all and do it with joy!  The journey is what I love.  The learning, the discovery, the funny stories of disaster....
Oh my what a colorful life I have!
Maybe one day I will serve a Ham as delicious and juicy as yours Doris....sigh.

I woke up and I am shocked.

So, I think I know what happened.  Since Easter Sunday, I have been in a bit of shock.  After the kids were in bed and I was hanging out with Tim that evening, I realized that I had two kids and I made a ham for dinner.

I made a beautiful ham, complete with the cloves pushed in all over the place and a homemade brown sugar and orange glaze.  Perfectly juicy, not the least bit dry.  And while making this ham for Easter dinner (one of the BIG dinners of the year, supposedly), I managed to put a baby to sleep, and keep a 3 year old entertained.  Two kids and a ham!  So domestic.  So June Cleaver-ish family.  So shocked and wondering how this happened.

I didn't know I was going to be doing this one day.  I had no idea I would have two children AND be able to make a wonderful ham for dinner on Easter Sunday.  Is that silly?  Only because I had no expectation that this would be the "normal" for me one day, Ms. Feminist/Anti-Establishment/Nonconformist/Fight THE MAN/Activist type.

I think I was shocked because I basically just woke up.  The last three months have been a complete and total haze, with newborn baby, sleeplessness, incessant sickness, being snowed in under 20+ inches of snow, and being stuck in the house during all that time.  Now, all things have been righted (snow is gone, illnesses gone, Isaac is doing better at 3.5 months, and I am sleeping more, YAY!) and it's like I just awakened to this reality of my life now. Much like how Spring has awakened new things to bloom, to experience new life and new things, embracing a new day by raising sleepy buds to the sunshine and opening petals to the long-awaited warmth, I am picking up crying children and soothing them, washing dirty diapers, wiping stinky bottoms and holding sleeping kids while their drool leaves a damp environment all over my chest and shoulders.  Wow!  Do I feel bad that this is my life?  No way, it's so new and I completely love it.

And the ham was very yummy, too.

I am not a teenager, I am not a teenager, I am not a teenager...

So, I feel like a total dork and almost don't want to tell anyone.. but have you two heard of the Twilight Series? You know, the four series book about a girl in a crazy love triangle with a vampire and wolf that tons of teenage girls are obsessed with? Ha ha!! I know - you are thinking "what"?!?! So, movies for the first two books have come out already - Allyson got me to watch the first (she is obsessed!) and the second the girls in my care group watched together at the dollar theater. Some of these girls convinced me to read the books. They are fat thick 600 or 800 page books.... So I started reading the third book two weeks ago... and as of today I am 3/4 of the way done with the fourth!!!! It is such a dorky sappy book - but the suspense is killing me - I NEED to know what happens!
So, just warning you - DO NOT pick up these books or watch the movies unless you have to know if Bella ends up with the vampire or the wolf OR if you feel like having a near death experience from laughing so hard at the sheer stupidity of the story that you lose air circulation.
If you are curious, I'll save you the time and tell you who wins in the end!!!
Ha ha!!
So, I really do read COOL books...
before these books, I read "The Secret Life of Bees". Awesome novel! Watching the movie was just not the same.... sigh....

Cutting the Ribbon

Hey sistas!
So this is the grand opening of this blog.
It is late on a sat night and I just picked this background out of sheer humor.  The gnome is funny to me right now.  Maybe I have hit the point of tired deliriousness.  Is that a word?  Deliriousness?
Doris you can correct me on that...I am sure I just made that word up.

So blog on girls!  Forge the way, burn a path, make a legacy.....however heroic or John Wayne I can sound.  in other words,...get your blog on!

By the way, we can totally change the name, how it looks, the buttoms I threw on the side bar.  Just let me know any ideas or thoughts.  Like I said, it is late and I am just plugging stuff in.
If you look at the tabs at the top, there are pages where we can make categories to separate from the blog.  We can make up to 10 pages.
All you do is go to POST, like you are wanting to post.  Then a tab shows up that says EDIT PAGES.  Click it and it should take you to how to create a page.  Voila!  Done. 
So if you think of anything you want to make a separate page, go for it!

Let me know what you think so far....

Love ya!
lil