I'LL GIVE YOU A SOCK...IN THE HEAD!

I packed my entire backpack on Saturday for our 20 mile hike. However, I couldn't seem to find my wool socks that are a definite must on such a long trek. I thought that maybe I had misplaced them in my husbands sock drawer. Sure enough, there was a pair. I was certain they were mine. So I took them. Well....lets go back to my husband's childhood...lets say...about 20 years ago when the flannel shirts were a fad. Apparently, my husbands two sisters use to take his flannel shirts without asking. Taking his socks (on accident, I must emphasis) put him back to when he was a teenager! "Don't go in my drawers without asking! Why can't I have anything of my own? Where are your own socks?" Well, lets see..... I thought those were my socks because I took them. If I knew were my own were, I wouldn't have used yours! Duh! He kept pressing me...wanting to know where my wool socks were. "Why? Why do you want to know so bad," I replied with my jaw clenched tighter then Fort Knox. "Because I want to wear them on my hiking trip,"he replied! Did I miss the bus somewhere along this road of conversation? I can't wear his stuff, but he can wear mine? I'll give him a sock....in the head!

Surrender

I got a call Friday on my way to work. "Rochelle, they have a spot open at the Women's Retreat, if you want to go!" Well........let me think about that. No way! I'm really mad at God right now. I'm mad that my friend is gone. I'm mad that my other friend has cancer. I'm mad that my children are brats. I'm mad that I am overwhelmed. "Okay, let me see what I can work out," I say to my friend because I don't want to disappoint her. I knew that my husband would not want me to go and I also knew that we were shorthanded at work. Excuses, Excuses! So I knew, it was going to be impossible. I half heatedly asked my husband and my boss and without hesitation they both said, "GO!" Great....just great! Now, I'm committed. And you know what? God planned out every small detail. I ended up staying in a room all by myself, which is totally out of character for me! But such a blessing. I really got to take a good look at who I am and how God takes care of every small detail in our lives. I learned that I may not understand why things happen, but that I have a God that will hold me through it all, big and small.

Missing You!

My friend Shannan Wirt lost her battle with leukemia on March 5, 2009. Even though it has only been 5 days, it already seems like an eternity. I look back at time - only one year ago - and she didn't even know that she had this disease. It really puts life into perspective. I will miss so much about her - her love for my son, her generosity, her positive attitude, her beauty, her spunk, the way she would shave ice and put real lemon on top, how she got me to get into a dang swimsuit, and our intimate talks about husbands and children. Can someone please pinch me? Cloverdale is such a small town and I just know I'm going to run into her somewhere! It's really painful to lose a friend. I can't even seem to ask the question why anymore. I'm trusting that Gods timing is His own - although at this moment I'm not agreeing with His timing at all!

Four years ago, when I took the chance to introduce myself to her, I never thought that I would be standing up in front of hundreds of people, pouring my heart out at her memorial service. Whatever it is in your life....please....please.......take the chance........I promise, you'll be glad you did!

My Rock Star!

It's an inside joke between my friend Nina and I - you only make my blog if you have cancer! Well obviously she has cancer because she made my blog! October she was diagnosed with breast cancer, had a double mastectomy in January, and just started her chemo in February. Yesterday, her hair started to fall out. Well if it was me, I probably would have cried myself to sleep and then hid in a dark bomb shelter until my hair grew back! Nina? Oh no! Can't hold that girl down. She took advantage of the opportunity and made herself look like a rock star. She called me last night to tell me she got her hair cut and was going to stop by my work today to show me. When I walked out of my office and saw her face, I could see her strength and her confidence. When I saw her rock star hair, I was certain she was going to pull her electric guitar out of her back pocket and start singing something from White Snake! Cancer is not going to bring her down! She is going to kick its butt with flying colors! She is a true rock star in my eyes!

Dear Cancer

I never invited you into my life, but you came anyway. You bullied yourself right into my friend's body, like a thief in the night. Did you think you were going to steal her dignity away? Did you think that by making her body weak, you would destroy the strong independent woman that she is? Did you think by stripping away her hair upon her head and her lashes from her loving eyes that she would become less beautiful? Did you think by taking her voice away, that I would not know how much she loves those around her? Don't think for a minute that you have conquered. Don't think for a second that the children that are left behind won't be the ones to figure out the cure! Don't think that those that have been touched by her life won't love harder, love stronger, or love deeper. Don't think that even though we don't have any control, that God holds her in His hands!

LETS MAKE A DEAL

My name use to be Rochelle Hall...........not Monty Hall (from the old show Lets Make a Deal). But I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm always cutting a deal with someone in my life...husband, kids, and clients. Can I just say that clients are the worst! Especially in the insurance industry. Today, I got an email from someone who wanted a quote, but also wanted me to guarantee them (in writing...I might add) that their insurance will never go up! Okay first of all....what planet are you on! Would you like me to write it in blood? And when does anything ever go down in life? (I just thought of one thing...but I won't even go there!) Anyways.....back to the subject! Where do people think they can boss and bully others around by "making" them guarantee something? That is just not going to happen. Do you go to Safeway and demand a letter that the price of milk will never go up....or produce.....or the price of deli meat? The price is what it is! And the only reason why I'm telling this story is because a lot of people have been missing my blog writing and I had to think of something. Although, I am honored that so many people cared about my blog because I was feeling like no one was reading it! So thanks! And I want you to write me a letter guaranting that you will be my faithful blog reader forever! Now, that's a deal!

Kid Swap

As long as I've known my friend Vicki, which has been a mere 30 Years, she has always loved games. Whether it was a game show or a board game, Vicki has always been a die hard game player. I was venting to her the other day about parenting and how children don't grasp the idea of gratitude towards their parents. And then it hit Vicki - A Game Show called Kid Swap. Why don't we swap our children with other parents. The purpose? To slap our children into reality, that we truly are not as bad as they think we are. Although, there is a kicker to this game......they are placed in a third world country.....not in America. They will realize that life is not easy. Things just come easily here. For instance (which Vicki and I discussed with pains in our stomachs - from laughing so hard)........we will send our children to Uganda. Instead of playing the Wii - they will play.....Wii is poor! I swear it makes me laugh just writing about it.