Another Day, Another Box Of Kleenex

So I was hoping the deluge of rain would help my allergies and sinus issues. Not so much. I know I’m being a whiner, but I seriously can’t remember when I felt this bad from this kind of crud. Maybe when we lived in Texas and the Cedar trees were wreaking havoc? Maybe.

Yesterday at our first MOPS meeting of the semester, Michelle Duggar was our speaker. She lives in our area and I’ve met their family before on several different occasions. We’re not like BFFs or anything, but I’ve been around them quite a few times over the past several years. (Grandma Duggar (Mary) actually taught my 7th grade Sunday School class. She was so kind to me and it meant the world to an insecure 7th grade girl who’d just moved and had no friends. My 7th grade self would’ve never told her that. But my 30-something self would love to have a chance to hug her neck and tell her just that. Maybe one day.)

The film crew from TLC was there with them, and we all had to sign waivers. On the waiver, they asked you to write a detailed description of yourself and what you were wearing. It would’ve helped to have known if a man or a woman would be reading these, because seriously, it would make a difference in how I would write it. Girls just know the difference between fuchsia and soft pink and coral and guys are all, “pink is pink.”

Anyway, I decided to write my description for a man and it went something like this: “Medium length brown hair, silver dangly earrings, pink patterned shirt, dark jeans.” I could’ve also written, “sounds like a man due to allergies” but I decided to leave that off. Hopefully if I make any of the show’s footage, it’ll just be my picture and not my voice. I know you always sound different to yourself on video, but I definitely do not want to hear what my allergy-man-voice sounds like. Maybe I’ll get lucky and it’ll just be the back of my head. I’d hate to think that I fixed the back of my hair for nothing.

Mrs. Duggar (I feel weird calling her Michelle for some reason) is always wonderful to listen to. She’s open and transparent about their family and how and why they’ve chosen to raise their children as they have. She never demeans others for not making the same choices they have, but encourages you to raise your family as the Lord has directed you. She’s very encouraging, mostly because you find out she’s a regular person who doesn’t have all the answers and makes mistakes. And she gets tired and frustrated and weary of the normal craziness that happens in life. But her perspective is different because she chooses to find joy in whatever situation she’s in. Pretty much the person you see on TV is really the person I’ve always known her to be in real life.

After MOPS, Caedmon and I had a healthy lunch of Taco Bell and he finally went down for a nap. Then it was up and to our church’s north campus in the rain to hear Husband speak to the Students. It’s been a while since he’s preached, but he stepped right back into it and never missed a beat. He did a great job.

Then it was home to watch the special Veto/Eviction episode of Big Brother. **SPOILER ALERT** I was sad for Britney. I was really hoping she could pull off the Veto and stay in the house. Now I’m rooting for Lane, although if he’s final two with Hayden, I think Hayden will win. I’m looking forward to finding out tonight who was the first part of the HOH competition and seeing part two. Next week is the finale. I’m planning on having some friends come over to watch it. It’s always better with friends…that you know aren’t going to kick you out of the house.

So now I’m off to use my Neti Pot again (although at this point a fire hose is still not out of the question) and exhaust another half box of Kleenex trying to clear this crud out of my head. Sounds fun, huh? I should’ve bought stock in Kleenex.