It's All About Me

I did something this afternoon that was very out of the ordinary. It was SELF indulgent, SELF centered, and SELFish ... and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I got a massage. I usually reserve this type of activity for when I'm on vacation, but I have been feeling a little stressed lately so it seemed like a good time to take advantage of a gift certificate that was given to me months ago.

Me stressed? Just a little bit. It always takes me a while to realize that I'm stressed. Probably because I spend so much of my time taking care of others (as most moms do) that I forget to focus on myself. It finally hit me last week when I took some time to think about my life at the moment: three young kids, back at work part time, full time mom, just had a baby, buying a new home, moving in less than one month, packing, needing to sell our current home, keeping the house clean everyday in case someone wants to see it, exhausted ... just to name a few.

So, today was my day ... well at least an hour of it was. My gift certificate was to Spa Lux at 91st and Memorial. I had never been there, but I promised myself that I will return. The staff was professional and the atmosphere was very relaxing. Once I got signed in, I was led down a dimly lit hallway and given a robe, and then I was shown to a dressing room. In the dressing room, you choose a locker to put your belongings in, and then you change into your robe and slippers. If you would like, they have a complimentary sauna and steam room that you can enjoy before or after your massage. I passed, but they did look nice. After I changed, I went out to the women's lounge where you sit on very nice furniture in a dimly lit room with a chandelier, waterfall, and calming music. Lets face it, I could have fallen asleep right there and no one had even laid a hand on me.

After about 5 minutes, my masseuse came to get me and led me to a private room. I chose the one hour Swedish (aka regular) massage and it was great. Had I paid for it, the cost would have been $75 so they are a little pricey, but well worth the money, especially if you take advantage of all of the extras that they provide (like the sauna and steam room).

When the hour was up, the girl started mumbling something to me. On second thought, she spoke very clearly, but it took me a few seconds to come out of my haze to hear that she was saying "your massage is over. Make sure you drink plenty of water in the next 24 hours." The real me told her thank you and that the massage was great, but the voice in my head was screaming "NO, NO. Just 5 more minutes. Just 5 more minutes of awesome massage. Just 5 more minutes of peaceful, calming music. Just 5 more minutes of no responsibility and no one saying mommy." Alas, it was over, but I shall return. After all, I made a promise to myself that I would go back and I don't break my promises.



If you are reading this and you're a man, then I would suggest that you get your wife/girlfriend a gift certificate to Spa Lux. Even if this means that you have to watch the kids for a few hours on a Saturday. I guarantee you that the woman who returns home will be very grateful!

If you are reading this and you're a women - STOP your busy life - and go get a massage. Make time for it and enjoy every moment of it. Or, feel free to print this blog and leave it laying around so that your husband/boyfriend will read this and possibly get you a gift certificate. :)

Temptation Rewarded

In a blog post on Tuesday, I said in the last sentence that "I felt really good about what I had done and I know that God will reward me ten fold for doing the right thing."

If you missed it, click here to read that post: http://morrisonlife.blogspot.com/2012/04/very-tempting.html



Ten Fold is described as:

• ten times as great or as much
• equal to or having 10 times as much or as many
• in tenfold measure; good deeds rewarded tenfold

As I prayed that night, I thanked God for blessing our finances and I specifically asked him to bless us ten fold for the $72.66 gift card that I had returned to CVS earlier that day. God and I have a pretty good relationship so I asked him to make this blessing obvious to me so that I would know right away that the blessing was from him. He knows that I can be impatient and forgetful so the quicker the answer the better. :) I knew that I would be looking for an amount around $726.60 ($72.60 x 10).

The next day, my answer came in a very unexpected way. We are buying a new home and we have applied for the 184 Native American FHA Loan. Part of this loan, requires us to appraise our new home AND our current home. The appraisal of our current home is to prove that we have a certain amount of equity built up in the house we are selling. The appraiser called me last week and said that he would be at the house on Tuesday at 12:45pm to do the appraisal. I was not going to be home so he said he would use his MLS code to access the key box and enter the home. A week later (this past Tuesday) we had still not received the appraisal report so I called the company. The woman who answered the phone assured me that the appraisal had been completed and that she was working on the report and that she would get it to the bank.

Just before 5pm on Wednesday, I received an email from the bank that our appraisal came in. Most appraisals, at least in our history, come out in even numbers, such as $???,000. The appraisal of our current home came out in the amount of $???,750. Why is that significant you ask? Because instead of ending in 000, it ended in $750, which is more than the $726.60 that I was looking for. Remember that whole ten fold thing. Amazing! I was completely blown away and in awe of God's power. Not only did the appraisal come in with that number on the end, but that number made the house appraise for exactly $750 more than we needed it to appraise for to be able to apply for the Native American Loan.

Here it from me folks ... GOD IS AWESOME! He still answers prayer if you just ask, and He's there waiting to reward you for your good deeds.

John 14:13-15: And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

A Little Mace Goes A Long Way - Trust Me!

Greg and I took the girls on a walk yesterday evening. While returning home, we came across a stray dog that got pretty close to us and made me uncomfortable. He was barking and the hair on his back was standing up. We kept walking without acknowledging him so he stopped following us and went on his way.

After we got the girls in bed, I went on a run. Lucky me, that dog was still hanging around. As I turned a corner, he came up behind me barking with his hair standing up again. I was a little nervous, but I kept running and he backed off. Before coming home that same route (there was no other way for me to get back) I stopped to walk in case I needed to regain some energy if he decided to chase me. While walking, I opened the mace that I was carrying to make sure it worked. After all, I run with it in case I see a stray dog, but I never actually checked to make sure it worked. I sprayed it behind me, but I didn't factor in the wind and I inhaled a little bit of it. Let me just say, a little bit of mace goes a long way. After some coughing and sneezing, I was back on my run home. Yes, I felt like a moron. Come on, who sprays mace in their own face?!

I turned the last corner and I was in the home stretch ...  and there he was. The dog. Right in the middle of the street. As soon as he saw me, he came at me full speed barking aggressively so I did what any normal person would do in that situation ... I got my mace ready and I braced for the attack. No, I didn't. I jumped my neighbors chain link fence. With my adrenaline rushing, I cleared it like I had jumped hurdles in high school. Well, not exactly, but I did make it over on my second try. The dog came up to the fence and continued to bark. My neighbor had just gone inside, but her back door was still open so I hollered at her. She came out and I told her what happened. We talked briefly and she let me go through her house and out her front door to finish my run home since the dog had continued on in the opposite direction.

What are the morals of this story:

• Always run with mace
• Never test your mace on a windy day
• Don't go on a run when you know there is a stray dog in the neighborhood

Very Tempting

1 Timothy 6:9 - "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction."


This week I was tempted. Not only was I tempted by money, but specifically in the form of the picture above. For those that know me, I'm a big couponer and I LOVE CVS! I get my best deals at CVS so when I was given the above gift card (free money and to a store that I love), I was faced with a big decision ... take it or leave it ...

After church on Sunday, we headed to CVS for some milk and other items. Greg dropped Lou and I off at the store, and he and the other girls went across the street to fill up my car with gas and to pick up lunch.

Lou and I got our items and went to check out. I handed the cashier my normal coupons along with a $4 check from Enfamil (for baby formula). The cashier was suppose to run the check in the amount of $4, but instead she ran it for the full transaction amount which messed up everything. I was very patient as she rescanned every item to "return" them so that we could start the transaction over. I could tell that she was getting frustrated with herself and the ever growing line behind me. She called for backup and then scanned my items for a third time so that I could "officially" check out. As I was about to leave, she handed me a gift card and told me to take it. I asked if she was sure, and she said yes. I didn't know what was on the gift card, but I assumed it may have been the $4 that I was suppose to get for the Enfamil check so I put it in my purse and left since Greg and the girls were back and waiting on us to get home and eat lunch.

After we ate and laid the girls down for a nap, I looked over my receipt and I noticed that the gift card had a balance of $72.66 (that could buy 3 tubs of formula or 10 packages of diapers or ...). I didn't understand. Upon further investigating, I realized that when the cashier "returned" my items, she put the balance (before coupons) on the gift card and gave it to me. Mind you, I never paid for these items the first time. Woohoo! Jackpot! I now had a gift card for $72.66 to my favorite store!

My excitement lasted .001 seconds. I knew the gift card had to go back. So, today, after I dropped off Bailey and Lou at preschool, Parker and I headed back to CVS. I asked for a manager when we got in the store. Thankfully, the manager I spoke to had worked on Sunday and she knew exactly what I was talking about. She said it was a huge fiasco and the cashier had been written up over it. I felt bad for the cashier, and the manager seemed very pleased that I came back to return the gift card. Sure, a small part of me wanted her to tell me to keep it, but she didn't ... darn it. I handed her the card and left to go home. I felt really good about what I had done and I know that God will reward me ten fold for doing the right thing.

Matthew 25:23 - His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.’

Seven Minutes

I was seven minutes late to work today. Thankfully I have a very understanding boss that cuts me a LOT of slack. I'm pretty sure that I would have been fired ... two kids ago ... if I worked anywhere else.

I don't like being late. I try very hard to be on time, but it rarely seems to work out these days. I don't want to use the excuse that I have three kids three and under, but that's my reality. And, that's why I try that much harder to be on time. Maybe I just want to prove a point that I can have three young kids and still get somewhere on time.

This morning, we were making good time. I mean really good time. Like "going to make it to work early" on time. Until Parker decided to eat her bottle slower than molasses. After 35 minutes of feeding her, I finally had to pack up the bottle and get ready to leave. I pushed the limit trying to let her finish, but I knew that I could still make it on time. I packed everything up and did one last sweep of the house since it could be shown at anytime today. We got in the car ... ugh ... I forgot that I need gas. I stopped on the way home from work yesterday, but the gas station was packed, so I left with every intention of going back after the girls went to bed. I forgot. So, we got gas, I dropped the girls off at my parents, and I made it to work seven minutes late. On the bright side, I got to spend seven more minutes with my girls this morning.

And what about proving my point and being on time, well, there's always tomorrow!