I almost forgot again.

Thankfully something jogged my memory a little earlier and I was able to whip up this little zinger.

There once was a girl named Corrina
She was loved in most every arena
Sweet tempered and coy
Only one thing annoyed
For she laughed like a wild hyena

Now...if my dear friend Corrina happens to read this blog today...please be assured this is no reflection on you. Yes, you inspire me, but not to criticize your laugh. You, of all people, have a great, great laugh. I have always enjoyed your laugh. I just had to have something to rhyme with your name and that's the best I could do. My other option was something like "breath like Purina" but I felt that would be even worse.

Tomorrow is our 11th anniversary. We will be going out on a date tonight and probably going to bed early. We were both up terribly late last night. Kris had to work and didn't get in until after 2 I think. I honestly don't remember. I stayed up for a long time as well, just because I like to, but after 1:00 I figured I should probably get some sleep. Saturday nights are also bad for being out late because of early church services, so tonight is our opportunity for celebrating. I'm looking forward to it.

Me...not the newspaper. I took a drive today and took some of these photos of the wonderful scenery. Now...to be honest these were actually taken in Kentucky but they could just as easily have been in any of the rural areas surrounding Nashville and for the purposes of my point...they are just fine.

When I passed this tobacco barn, complete with tobacco hanging from the rafters my emotions went all fizzy and I felt myself getting ready to erupt with nostalgia. It struck me that though I have no connection with tobacco growing or the process involved in turning it into cigars, these barns and fields and the smell of tobacco firing have become a part of what I consider home. As of September of this year I have officially been a resident of Tennessee for over half of my life. Most of my adult memories are here. And though the sweetness of midnight snowfalls, vast cornfields stretched over dark soil and the twisting streams and countless lakes of Michigan still hold great sway in me, I am realizing my heart yearns almost equally for the small barns, the mild winters and the rolling hills of Tennessee.

I think today would have been better off without me. I don't think the best of me woke up this morning and is probably somewhere still buried under the sheet and two quilts I used to keep all of me warm last night.

Maybe it was because I woke up about four times in the night because my kids were cold (taking your pajamas off will do that in November), or scared or just crying in their sleep. Maybe it's because I couldn't get past the weird buzzing noise I kept hearing but was too tired to investigate. Maybe it was just that there was still a drizzle this morning and it wasn't enough rain to enjoy, but it wasn't enough dry to make use of. I don't know what it was, but it seemed to engulf me today and smothered my usable self.

I was able to function enough to do some laundry and make dinner tonight. Once the boys were in bed I made a batch of cookies. Cookies are redemptive things. My mood is so much better that I'm going to save some for tomorrow and share them with the boys.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:

It was Solomon and not the Byrds that first brought these words to us, but I'm so glad they sang them because it's what hit my mind this morning as I was driving Owen to school. "To everything, turn! turn! turn! There is a season, turn! turn! turn! and a time for every purpose under heaven."

As I'm singing and imagining the harmony along with it, I was struck by the wonder of these words. So often I feel like there just isn't enough time for everything. I don't have time to do A because B and C are more important, and D is just ridiculous because E is a requirement from Owen's school, and F is not urgent but it will have to be done sometime because if I don't do it G will never happen. And though H has to be done for survival purposes, I can't do it without doing A.

You know what I'm talking about.

I realized that these words have to be true because...they're in the Bible. And I happen to be one of those people who believes the Bible is chock full of truth and nothing else. Some people would say inerrant. And if these words are true then there really is "a time for every purpose under heaven." Now that doesn't mean I have time to do everything, but it does mean there will be a time for everything, and I really like that. I think sometimes I get stressed because I feel like I'm going to miss something or neglect something or really blow it because I didn't assign the time for something. The truth is, God has already assigned the time for things and my job is to fall in line with His assignments. If I've blown it, it's probably because I made the appointment and He didn't.

Anyway...maybe I'm the only one who finds this helpful, but it really made me feel good this morning. I am not running out of time, I'm just running through it. There will be more time tomorrow and the next day unless of course the rapture happens, in which case I'll be leaving my list behind for someone else to check off.

It just struck me that it's time for limerick Friday. I can't believe I've not thought of it before now.

It's been another beautiful Autumn day and I've "wasted" a few moments gazing at the yellow shower of leaves in the back yard. Rain this morning brought a lot of them down and the following cold will bring that brittle factor to loosen them up good.

As I am just now getting into the swing of things I'll give you a limerick I used for the Ladies Night of Laughter (LNOL).

There once was girl named Loraine
She would sing bout the sun and the rain
Her voice was as clear
As the bells that you hear
But her pitch was as sharp as a pain

My character in the show that night was that of a Certified Limericist Folk Singer named Maple Leaf and I would sing a limerick between segments of the show. This limerick is best when heard in musical form. I tried very hard to sing as clearly and smoothly as I could for the first four lines and then came on strong with some sharp notes when I sang the fifth line about pitch.

So...I'm keeping this one short. I need to make the boys dinner and get them all ready for a babysitter. Kris is working late tonight and I have a LNOL viewing party to go to.