Proverbs 11:2 says, When pride comes then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. You're not kidding! But sometimes it sure can be hard to bite your tongue and show that humility. Especially when you know you are right.

Tuesday, September 13, 1988, began just like any other day. But I would soon discover that it wouldn't be that way for long!

A whimsical observation of sounds in a restaurant.

When I turned 40, I told my husband that he’s had 18 pretty slack years in terns of my maintenance. From that moment on, it was going to be costly in both time and money. I was turning “high-maintenance”. Well, that lasted about a month. Problem is, I just don’t mind wearing my favorite comfy clothes and cutting my own nails.... and I’m just too cheap to have my hair done and re-done and done again. I like how it feels to be “high-maintenance”, but it’s just so much work.

When four kids stuck in a van for hours get into an argument and the argument consists of “those are beaver dams” and “no they aren’t”, a mom can get awfully tired - after an hour or two. This mom did. We were camping at Green Lake which is a beautiful place that would never take you to the edge of sanity and yet, I felt my sanity slipping every so quietly over that edge.

I didn't venture out much this Christmas, but when I did, I was two for two with insults from kiddos.

A few years ago, my two small sons and I moved into our new home. We were all very excited. This was a move that we had anticipated for quite some time as it promised to be the end of some problematic issues for us.

At times I think of that voice – no, in fact I hear it! I think I’m Seymour, and that voice? It belongs to the piece of me that wants, more! Don’t get me wrong I love the sound of Barry White’s voice – its so convincing and I do want to please him, and, and, and… its never enough. “Feeding” the want never really meets the hunger pains and never quite delivers on that promise of a more fulfilling existence.

Little poem about traffic

Last summer money was tight around the Schillinger household because of some expensive home improvement projects – we were building a deck, fencing a couple of acres of land and converting our damp, plain cement basement into an entertainment room. The net result was no money to take a vacation. So we decided instead to take a long weekend in Tulsa, only a few hours away from our home. Still, we didn’t have any money to do that. I was opposed to charging the $500 or so that our long weekend in Tulsa would cost and then paying it off in the fall when we had recuperated from all the home projects, but it looked like that was the only choice. (Although, I guess we could have gone primitive camping!) Then one day, I overheard a conversation about the nation’s longest/largest garage sale “Bargains Galore on 64.” For three days in August, on an approximately 150-mile stretch of Highway 64, there is one huge garage sale. People from all over the south come to Arkansas for this event. In years past, we’d always been on vacation during that week in August and had not personally experienced Bargains Galore. From what I overheard, a person could make a lot of money in those three days.

I used to have a motto when it came to cleaning the house: "Don't sweat the small stuff; Just vacuum it up." But I soon learned that's not such a good idea!

When I was younger, a long, long- long time ago, I used to dream of being a princess and my prince would come and rescue me, he would hand me all my fantasies in a yellow basket and he would silently work in the midnight hour to ensure I have sweet dreams while I slept. Yes, he had that sort of power, that magical being with kisses and safety. Little did I know in life, there is no such thing, instead you are lucky to find a man who would be willing to work anywhere especially at a midnight hour and even more blessed if you found a man who would have a clue as to where to purchase a yellow basket.