I’ve been doing a bit of reading on split-brain research and it has been fascinating.  Since Little does not have her Corpus Callosum, her left and right brain hemisphere’s operate independently and some of the articles go as far to say it’s as if she has two brains.  I am choosing to use this as the explanation for the conversation we had on the way to school Monday. . .

Out of the blue. . .
Little, “If all 10 of us die, God will take us to be with Him and make us alive again.   Right?”

Me, “All 10 of who?”

Little, “All 10 of my friends at school.”

Me, “Yes, the Bible says that those who trust in Jesus will come to life again and live with Him when they die.  But only those who trust Jesus.”

Little, “Do you like yours dipped in chocolate?”

Me, “Jesus? Friends? WHAT are you talking about?”

Little, “NO MOM! You don’t dip Jesus in chocolate, you dip ice cream.  Do you like your ice cream dipped in chocolate?”

Me, “I do like my ice cream dipped in chocolate.  Do YOU trust Jesus?”

Little, “Of course I do.”

Me, “What do you trust Him for?”

Little, “I trust Him to help me to obey you . . . and I trust him to pay for all my sins.”

Silence.
Me, sniffle.

There’s this thing floating around Facebook where you mark all the places you have been on the list of 100 they give you.  There’s a tagline that reads, “We think most people will have been to fewer than 9 of these 100 places to visit before you die.”  That’s nice.

So, I’ve been to 18 which, at least, allows me to “nyah-nyah” the Facebook people.  I’m going to look at the rest of the list as a reference for  future family vacations – we all know 2 special needs kids and a four year old would do GREAT climbing Ayers Rock!  I am eager to know how many places my dad can mark off (or, more easily, which couple he hasn’t been too).  Actually, my dad, brother, and friend Tammy – I am truly curious about these three.

Why don’t you all check out the list and let me know your tally.

1. Alamo San Antonio, Texas, USA
2. Alhambra Granada, Spain
3. Andros Island Bahamas
4. Angel Falls Venezuela
5. Angkor Wat Angkor, Cambodia
6. Atlantic City Boardwalk Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
7. Ayers Rock Australia
8. Big Ben London, England
9. Bora Bora Polynesia
10. British Museum London, England
11. Canals of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands
12. Cathedral of Seville Seville, Spain
13. Cave of Crystals Mexico
14. Christ the Redeemer Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
15. Cinque Terre National Park Italy
16. Colloseum Rome, Italy
17. Crater Lake National Park Oregon, USA
18. Dead Sea Israel/Jordan
19. Death Valley National Park California, USA
20. Devil’s Tower Wyoming, USA
21. Dome of the Rock Jerusalem, Israel
22. Easter Island Statues Polynesia
23. Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh, Scotland
24. Eiffel Tower Paris, France
25. Empire State Building New York City, New York, USA
26. Forbidden City Beijing, China
27. French Quarter New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
28. Galapagos Islands Ecuador
29. Gateway Arch St. Louis, Missouri, USA
30. Gettysburg Battlefield Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA
31. Glacier Bay Basin Alaska, USA
32. Glacier National Park Montana, USA
33. Glowworm Cave New Zealand
34. Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco, California, USA
35. Grand Canal Venice, Italy
36. Grand Canyon Arizona, USA
37. Grand Mosque in Mecca Saudi Arabia
38. Great Barrier Reef Queensland, Australia
39. Great Mosque of Córdoba Córdoba, Spain
40. Great Wall of China China
41. Hagia Sophia Istanbul, Turkey
42. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Hawaii, USA
43. Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood, Califonia, USA
44. Iguazu Falls Argentina and Brazil
45. Kiyomizu-dera Kyoto, Japan
46. Kremlin Moscow, Russia
47. Lake Titicaca Peru
48. Las Ramblas Barcelona, Spain
49. Las Vegas Strip Las Vegas, Nevada
50. Leaning Tower of Pisa Pisa, Italy
51. Louvre Museum Paris, France
52. Macchu Picchu Peru
53. Matterhorn Switzerland
54. Mayan Pyramids of Chichen Itza Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
55. Metropolitan Museum of Art New York City, New York, USA
56. Mount Everest Nepal
57. Mount Fuji Japan
58. Mount Kilimanjaro Tanzania
59. Mount Rushmore Keystone, South Dakota, USA
60. Napa Valley California, USA
61. Ngorongoro Crater Tanzania
62. Niagara Falls New York, USA
63. Notre Dame Cathedral Paris, France
64. Pacific Rim National Park British Columbia, Canada
65. Pebble Beaches of Nice Nice, France
66. Petra Jordan
67. Petronas Twin Towers Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
68. Portland Head Lighthouse Portland, Maine, USA
69. Puerta Del Sol Madrid, Spain
70. Pyramids of Giza Egypt
71. Redwood National Park California, USA
72. Rock of Gibraltar Gibraltar
73. Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado
74. Ruins of Athens Athens, Greece
75. Ruins of Pompeii Pompei, Italy
76. Sagrada Famila Barcelona, Spain
77. Sears Tower Chicago, Illlinois, USA
78. Sedlec Ossuary Czech Republic
79. Sistine Chapel Vatican City, Italy
80. Smithsonian Institution Washington, D.C., USA
81. Space Needle Seattle, Washington, USA
82. St. Peter’s Basilica Vatican City, Italy
83. Statue of Liberty New York City, New York, USA
84. Stonehenge Wiltshire County, England
85. Sydney Opera House Sydney, Australia
86. Taj Mahal Agra, India
87. Temple of the Golden Pavilion Kyoto, Japan
88. Teotihuacan Mexico
89. Tian Tan Buddha Hong Kong, China
90. Times Square New York City, New York, USA
91. Varanasi Uttar Pradesh, India
92. Victoria Falls Zimbabwe
93. Wailing Wall Jerusalem, Israel
94. Walt Disney World Resort Orlando, Florida
95. Washington Monument Washington, D.C., USA
96. White Cliffs of Dover Dover, England
97. White House Washington, D.C., USA
98. Winchester Cathedral Hampshire, England
99. Yosemite National Park California, USA
100. Zion National Park Utah, USA

Who knew a year ago,when we enrolled Little at Promise, that the service would extend to getting my pantry organized! There would, of course, be no way to know that and it actually sounds absurd so let me explain.

I called the school last week to ask about a project I am working on and spoke to the Head of School.  We chatted for a minute and then BAM, out of nowhere comes the unexpected accountability.  “I’m still waiting to see pictures of your organized pantry,” Meredith says.

OH, THAT’S RIGHT – Meredith reads The Blue Hutch.

So, Saturday the children and I set about the business of cleaning out the pantry.  KB helped take all the food OUT of the pantry.  Little helped me keep track of what was on the table waiting to be returned to the pantry (aka, “Little read the labels to me for an hour.”) Bubba helped by remaining uninterested!

I threw away three garbage bags of food and the oldest expiration date was Dec of 2002.  (GOOD GRIEF) I need to get some sugar, baking soda, and baking powder AND I need to be willing to purchase smaller packages so that we can actually use all the content before it goes bad.

So thank you, Promise/Meredith for the accountability! Here’s your anticipated photo AND the reminder that I still need to do the frig. . . wanna ask me about that at the end of the week?