Just go....now!
Topic: Humor/memes
I was just over at Holy Mama's blog and she has a link to this incredibly hilarious video. You must click and watch all the way through. Amazing how much time some people have on their hands. After another look, I think this is a dance group....they have other videos, but I haven't reviewed them...yet.

Go now....

Super Food Saves the Day
Topic: People/Family stories
My friend Sally and her husband were visiting with us over breakfast this past week and we ladies fell to the topic of nutrition. (one of Sally's favorite topics and I learn a lot from her!) It's amazing how she and I can totally block out the 'blah blah blah' of our pastor type husbands and be in our own world, all while at the same table in a restaurant! Now, I'm sure it's all very noble conversation between the pastor types, but we ladies usually want to discuss the things of daily life, while the husbands are way up in the atmosphere discussing ideas, books and church know-how. So when she ordered blueberry topping for her french toast, we began talking about 'super foods'.

No, it's not about little blueberries and green apples wearing red capes and rescuing the downtrodden. Well, they don't wear capes anyway. ;) Sally's been reading the book Super Foods and I am going to order it from Amazon as soon as I can because it sounds very simple and practical. The ten most supreme of super foods are: apples, avacados, beans, blueberries, dark chocolate, kiwis, oats, spinach, walnuts and yogurt. Yum!

As far as my nutrition goes, I try to take my vitamins and have a variety of vegetables at meals and eat whole grains. I can't seem to 'get' or 'do' the more advanced nutrition planning and detoxing that I keep hearing about. I can't even handle super vitamins. I ordered some off the television that touted bunches of whole food nutrition and natural vitamins and minerals in each capsule only to feel ill all day, and burp 'vitamin' taste well into the afternoon. My system needs gentle and natural stuff. So when I began researching super foods, I felt instant relief and doability!

And while it is too far fetched of an idea to think of myself juicing whole foods, grinding my own grain or drinking grass juice (aaack); I CAN eat a handful of almonds (walnuts make my tongue go numb) instead of processed crackers, some blueberries or apple slices, and a spinach salad, into my lunch menu, eat yogurt and oats for breakfast, and buy some dark chocolate to nibble on instead of milk chocolate that I keep on hand (in a secret hiding place) for those times when a woman's gotta have chocolate or die. PLUS, guacamole!

I think I like super foods....and they are easy schmeazy! While doing some last minute grocery shopping this afternoon for the kids' school lunches, I also picked up some 100 percent whole wheat bread, blueberries, red grapes, green apples, garbonzo beans for making hummus, tomatoes and fresh spinach. No labels to even read, just simple, super foods. And my husband, who was at my side the whole time, didn't even know I was buying 'health food'!! (Hi Honey, you're so nice.....he even reads my blog, he's so nice!)

Now where did I hide that chocolate?

Life in Phoenix
Topic: People/Family stories


This is the little guy who lives on our front porch. He comes out at night and prowls about in search of bugs to eat! (and that is OK with me) When I look out at night and see him, I half expect him to stand up, put his front paws on his hips and talk to me about car insurance with an Aussie accent. (and I would LIKE it too!) But he doesn't. I came too close once and he ran like a spazz back into a crack in the wood.

Today I found out he is a dad....er, maybe she is a mom. Like I said, I haven't been able to get very close to it. ;) I was in my bathroom, doing bathroomy things, when I saw a mini gecko on the floor. I MEAN MINI. It was so small! The baby is only a little over an inch long and skinny, with the tiniest claws! If I could have gotten a picture of him, you would be oooing and awwing all over the place! He looks just like the picture above, but tiiiiiiiiiiny....just a wisp of a thing.

So....what would you do if you had a baby gecko in your bathroom? Yep, I ran to get my husband. He went in, shut the door behind him and tried to catch the little monster. I kept hearing him hit his hand against the wall or the floor, quietly making exclamations to himself, sometimes talking TO the gecko, encouraging him not to run. lol Once outside, he opened his fist to reveal the small fellow, who flew off like lightning into the gravel. Heeheehee.....what fun. He kept stopping and we kept touching him and off he'd go again. Finally we left him in peace to grow up to eat our crickets and cicadas.

Hmmmm I think I will have to turn on the light in the bathroom tonight when I make my night time treks!

UPDATE: There were spies among us as I typed this post. I found 2 more tiny geckos right above my head, on the window frame. The good husband was called in again and he found that if he poked them in just the right way, they jump right into his other hand. Yeeesh....I'm so glad he caught them! I'll probably still dream of tiny claws padding their way across my arm in the night! *shiver*

Pray for Israel
Topic: Prayer
...not that you haven't been, but this is a reminder to keep praying for Israel and the middle east. After our trip there last November, we have a really special place in our hearts for these people.

A wasted afternoon
Topic: Other
Busyness has taken over and I am so tired of running around in the car and waiting in lines! I took Emma and Bethany to register for high school last week....this week, it's been getting Bethany's car repaired, then registered and tested, etc etc....unpacking from going to the cabin, birthdays, teen girls' sleepover, new homeschool group meeting (went out for coffee til 11pm afterwards) visits from out of towners, an AZ Dback baseball game (thank you Mary Ann!) and errands. The one day I found to have some internet time, I have spent 2 hours looking at Gilmore Girl quotes and trying to figure out how to change things on my space.

Get. Priorities. Straight! Sheesh...

Well, it was entertaining, but definitely a waste of time. Things I could have actually spent time on this afternoon:

Oh, nevermind...but there are some pretty worthwhile things, I'm pretty sure.

I was going to join up with three blogging carnivals this week. I was going to look at window covering ideas for my bedroom. I was going to clean my bathroom and paint. Nuts...

Look for more interesting posts here by next week....I promise, I might, if I have time, okay, maybe the week after that.

I guess I am just wrung out dry this week....unlike Molly, who never runs out of vastly deep and interesting things to write about! Amazing! =)

Hope you're having a good week.

Reruns: Absolutely Commatose
Topic: People/Family stories
I posted this one about a year ago, when my oldest daughter was going off to college. So I"ll run it again in case it can encourage anyone who finds themselves with a chick about to hop the nest....





I have a hard time reading things that are not punctuated, capitalized, italicized to show me how to read and interpret the passage. A lot of people type their blogs or post on internet message boards and messengers in this style. Quite often I have to ask what the poster’s meaning is exactly. (Because I have to know)

Well I’ve come to a place in my life where I have looked down and seen the comma. I looked up comma usage on a grammar and language sight and believe me, you do not want me to post anything I read there, except for a few quotes that made me smile and chuckle as I read them. Basically a comma separates a sentence so it is more easily interpreted. It is usually applied orally by a slight pause mid-sentence….pause, take a breath, but don’t stop, there’s more. I was thinking this morning that a comma is just the word picture for what is happening in our family life right now.

My oldest daughter moved out of this house yesterday and here we are in the pause, taking a breath, waiting to see what happens next. We can feel the pause. It is a real thing, almost tangible. I felt it last night when walking down the hallway to go to bed. The lights were off, dishwasher was started, everyone was in bed…but not everyone. Hannah had moved out and her bed is not here anymore. (She has moved 30 miles away to share a mobile home with 3 other girls while going to college.) It was a strange, unpleasant feeling to know that I can’t have that peace of mind knowing that all my children are in bed and safe. One of them is out of the nest and off to fly solo now. I think it’s going to take a little more faith, a little more trusting God to go on past this comma and continue as a family. There is no way to prepare for such a day. I have been busy trying to be excited for Hannah and preparing her to live on her own, but now that it’s a reality I find myself unprepared and wanting some white out to blot that comma to Kingdom come! She came over today after church to use the internet and to see us, and I found myself trying to think of ways to prolong her visit….just like my mom used to do when I would drop by their house when I was in college. It used to drive me crazy! Now I understand….I want to hold on.

It’s not that I don’t trust Hannah…or that I don’t trust God to take care of her needs. This is a good thing. We’re excited for her to start her life and to be on her own….to see where God takes her in her life. It’s just that this changes things. It changes our family….we will have some redefining to do in our home and in our hearts. Soon, new habits and game plans will emerge and become a new kind of normal for us. But until then……gotta learn, gotta grow, let go and ….trust.


~~I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of the day taking it out.~~
— Oscar Wilde

~~And what does a comma do, a comma does nothing but make easy a thing that if you like it enough is easy enough without the comma. A long complicated sentence should force itself upon you, make you know yourself knowing it and the comma, well at the most a comma is a poor period that lets you stop and take a breath but if you want to take a breath you ought to know yourself that you want to take a breath. It is not like stopping altogether has something to do with going on, but taking a breath well you are always taking a breath and why emphasize one breath rather than another breath. Anyway that is the way I felt about it and I felt that about it very very strongly. And so I almost never used a comma. The longer, the more complicated the sentence the greater the number of the same kinds of words I had following one after another, the more the very more I had of them the more I felt the passionate need of their taking care of themselves by themselves and not helping them, and thereby enfeebling them by putting in a comma.
So that is the way I felt about punctuation in prose, in poetry it is a little different but more so …~~

— Gertrude Stein
from Lectures in America

Reruns: Divine Humor
Topic: Humor/memes
This is from way back, April 15, 2005...


A friend of mine recently showed me an internet video clip. We were talking about that creepy Burger King commercial with the guy in a king mask who looks into someone’s window, just staring at him, then the man he’s staring at starts getting this goofy smile on his face….weird! So he said there was a commercial that was taken off the air in Germany because people complained that they saw ghosts in it and heard backward talking. He said to listen carefully to hear it and lean close to see what he couldn’t make out but might be the ‘ghosts’. (this should have been my first clue…lean close, turn up the sound) lol Here is the clip: http://jordanslair.com/video/kfee.mpeg.

Well not to spoil the surprise for you, but at the end of the car commercial, a goblin jumps in front of the screen and does this crazy, scary scream and scares the bajeebers out of you! So naturally, I played the trick on my kids. I told them the story and showed them the clip, telling them I thought the supposed ghosts were just sun rays or fog or something, but to look closely at the trees. Well, they about hit the roof, my daughter Emma actually screamed and jumped off the couch. Ha! Gotcha! This was a few days ago.

Last night I was loading the video clip just to bother Emma again, who was sitting beside me on the couch. It takes about 5-10 minutes to fully load (on my old computer) and get ready to play on my computer, so I turned the laptop toward Emma and got up to go to my room…while I was in my room, my husband was talking to me about some things, then I went to the kitchen, then came back to sit on the couch. Do you think God has a sense of humor? I know He does. At the precise time that I was in mid-sit, that goblin jumped out and screamed. My head was at the same level as the speakers, I had totally forgotten that I had left it loading. I screamed and my feet slipped out from under me and I fell the rest of the way to the couch, half laughing, half choking on my Oreo, part peeing my pants!

Then, after that lovely display, I couldn’t stop laughing and choking….the girls were laughing and telling me how it served me right. And I guess it did. I am a practical joker at heart, but I don’t like it when I am the subject of a joke. And how did that happen just perfectly unless God set it up? Hmmmmmm?

Other proofs of God’s sense of humor: giraffes, monkeys, weird bugs and fish, pictures composed of precisely set stars in the sky, sneezes, weiner dogs, and west Texas. Besides, we are made in His image and even little toddlers have a sense of humor. Doesn’t it just make you smile to think of a baby laughing, of clouds in goofy shapes, of how dogs are so goofy and seem to understand you and communicate back with you? And what does smiling and laughter do for us? It lowers blood-pressure, relaxes us, puts us at ease with each other and makes the emotional and social ground level between people.

It’s a good thing that God gave us humor….and I enjoy it to the fullest. I love to find it every day in the world or in other people, even when they don’t realize they are cracking me up! Human nature, mixing up words while talking, being a clutz, facial expressions….these can all be FUNNY. I love it….and I’m starting to appreciate the little practical joke played on me last night. That was a good one….heh heh heh. My only problem is this: When someone plays a trick on you, you want to get them back! That is not an option in this case. *Drat*

Gone fishin'
Topic: Other
We are going to my sister's cabin for a couple of days. But I am post dating some old blog entries of mine while I'm gone.

Carnival of Beauty
Topic: Carnival entries
Sallie, at:

has the Carnival of Beauty back up and running.

This week's hostess is Iris. Please go to her blog, Sting My Heart, to see all the Carnival entries on the Beauty of Philippians. (my entry is the post below)

Practicing peace
Topic: Carnival entries




Early on in life, I chose a 'life verse'. This was prompted by a college Bible study group I was in....all of us so young and most so new at independence and at deciding how we would live this life as a Christian. We were fervent but lacked life experiences and depth. So when I chose Philippians 4:6-7, I had no idea how it was going to impact me and how it would eventually save my life as I clung to God's promise in those verses.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

I chose the verses because I had a tendency toward worrying and anxiety. In my inexperience, I had a very shallow idea of the Christian walk and the 'peace that transcends all understanding'. It was a selfish kind of peace that I desired....one that made me feel good, calm and secure. I memorized it. I would repeat it to myself on many occassions: when I was alone at night, when I was anxious over an upcoming test or event, and when I was thinking of the future. Let me just add here that God honored my shallow thinking. I had no idea the depths and nuances that His peace included, but I was wholeheartedly following Him and trying to live according to what Scripture said. So He did bless me as I learned to give my worries over to Him and asked Him for peace in my life. I thought it was a pretty good deal!

It wasn't until I was in my 30's and went through two mid-pregnancy miscarriages that I really had to cling to those verses for dear life. The depression, anger, guilt and grief that came into my life was more than I could bear alone. God was adding depth to my life.....and that is hard....not the good deal I had remembered from my early adult years when life was always pretty mild and calm. This was down in the trenches praying and crying out. I was desperate for Him. There is a worship song that always brings the tears of remembrance back when I sing it. (I think it is written by Michael W. Smith)

This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word spoken to me

And I I'm desperate for you
And I I'm I'm lost without you

That is how my prayers sounded at that time, although this song wasn't written then. Just small cries for God....help, I'm desperate, speak...and in the middle of crisis, I found God at a level that was more huge than I'd ever experienced. He surrounded me, carried me through that cloudy time and created a deeper love, a greater sympathy for people who suffer, an understanding of grief and depression.

And when I emerged from that....and it took quite a while....God showed me the next few verses in that passage.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

I had seen those verses before, but never put them together with God's promise about laying down anxiety and receiving peace. When I wanted to revert back into that depression and grief, I was always reminded to go back to those following verses about replacing the anxiety with good things in your head. 'Put it into practice,' it says.

Practice, practice, practice....it's not natural, it takes a lot of practice, but it does work.....

It's a promise!

Giving up control...
Topic: Carnival entries




C. S. Lewis said, "There are two kinds of people:
those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,'
and those to whom God says,
'All right, then, have it your way.'"

"Thy will be done."

When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He told them to have that attitude. Today we knock it out as one of our vain repetitions. We don't really think about or mean what we're saying. Would we really be praying that if we were obligated to mean it?

Give up control?

By assuming control, we are actually running out of control....God's control. I have seen it so many times in my own life. When I take the wheel and point it where I want to go, using human wisdom and knowledge, I throw God's compass out the window, disregarding God's wisdom and knowledge.

Ouch!

When my children were preschoolers, they each went through a stage that was very frustrating. It was the "I'll do it myself!" stage. Some of my 4 children went through that stage several times. It seems to take some longer to figure out that they need help, or as they get older, advice and direction. As parents, we get frustrated and anxious for them. We know they would be better off if they would listen to us, but some lessons are learned the hard way.
When children are babies, we expect them to go through that stage.

I was talking with one of my teenagers tonight, remembering times she or her sisters tried to do things themselves and made a huge mess for me. We got to laughing so hard about it, but at the time it happened, it was catastrophic to me! Once my youngest, Maggie, was playing after dinner. She sounded happy, so I continued to visit with my friend who was over for dinner. We were enjoying some nice after dinner talking, when my friend glanced into the kitchen. She looked horrified and amused at the same time. (Just TRY to duplicate a look like that…it’s impossible! It has to be spontaneous.) She just said, “Oh….Christie….look!” I didn’t want to, but my curiousity made me look. Maggie had pulled the honey pot down from the counter and was painting our very fuzzy, long haired poodle with it! She had wanted to try to use that wooden swirly honey dripping stick all evening at dinner and I wouldn’t let her do it by herself. We were horrified….we cleaned the dog and the baby at the same time in different tubs. Then we tackled the kitchen floor.

Another time, a different daughter (I won’t mention names, because after all, she was only 2) had been fiddling with her diaper all day. Being a natural escape artist from things like car seats, high chairs and cribs, she had now begun trying to find her way out of her diaper. So I used wide tape to hold the diaper on, then I put her in a one piece blanket sleeper and put her to bed for a nap. By the time I noticed the terrible, horrible, very bad smell coming down the hall, into the living room, it was WAY too late. Upon entering her room, I about gagged as she had painted very quietly for an extended time…I know this because it was EVERYWHERE! I spent hours cleaning first her, then her crib, toys, walls and carpet!

OK, no more stories. But the point is, that when we are babies, we try to do things for ourselves. Our parents are patient (or at least try!) with us and clean up our messes and we learn from it. But when we are older and can clean the poop from the crib railings or the honey from the dog, we are expected to fix the mess ourselves. A wise parent will insist on this. We let go and say, “All right then, have it your way. But you will be responsible for the consequences.” And we let them deal with it. A parent who bails a child out of every situation they get themselves into, using unwise judgment, only leads to very tall, very spoiled babies who look, on the outside, like adults.

God is the wisest of Fathers. He carries us, makes allowances for us even, when we are young in faith or in age. But if we don’t learn from it and grow, we may look like mature Christians, but we are really just very tall, very spoiled baby Christians. (Like the ones addressed in Hebrews 5:11-14.)

Silly how we think preschoolers are foolish to have to learn a lesson over and over again, when really, we haven't learned certain things very well ourselves. I wonder if God looks upon us as we do our children, shaking of the head, rolling eyes, sighing....or would He more likely respond with tears in His eyes as we willfully bypass His plans and purposes for our lives. The stakes are a little higher nowadays than they when we were young. God's will in almost every situation is to draw people to Himself, using us as His hands and feet. I wonder how many times I have stubbornly chosen my own will, only to have missed an opportunity to show someone Jesus.

Yikes...

Oh, God, please don't give up on me. I can be so stubborn, thinking the control I keep in certain areas of my life is harmless. Please do NOT let me do it my own way. I only want Your way....to know Your blessing, Your favor and Your will.

Thy will be done.

I'm thrifty! I'm grilling! I'm happy!
Topic: People/Family stories
I took my 2 teens shopping yesterday at a large thrift store here. They needed some clothes for starting high school in a few weeks, and I decided we could get more if we began at a thrift store.

I was right!

We found jeans, capris, t-shirts, and shorts. I even found a pair of Old Navy jeans, kaki capris and jean shorts for me. *yes*

My first stop upon entering the thrift store though, was the furniture/appliance section. Thinking I might find a cheap bread machine for my college daughter, instead my eyes found something I've been wanting for a few years now: a large George Foreman grill! Ten bucks...and I'm doing the happy thrift store shopper dance!

I had another shopper eyeing my grill and he even made a comment on what a find I had found...saying he had been looking for one of those. That is when I ducked behind a rack of clothes and hid my grill beneath my Old Navy jeans. And I made my girls keep their eye on my cart while I tried on some clothes too. I felt like those seagulls on Finding Nemo. "Mine....mine...mine, mine, mine." I just hope it works well after all this bragging...heh.

It didn't come with an instruction/recipe book or a drip tray, but I think I can manage. Any tips on cooking or recipes for the grill would be much appreciated!

Now I won't have to fire up the grill every time we want grilled chicken or burgers! Or brats, a panini, grilled veggies, garlic toast, steaks, fajitas.....wheeee! =)

Tea and scones
Topic: People/Family stories
We've had a busy week here, with 2 of my aunts visiting from Washington and Oregon. They are my mom's sisters and have been trying to get together every few years. They went to Hawaii several years ago and had a great time. This time the aunts came to Phoenix.....and there were many preparations, celebrations and events! So I haven't had time to blog. Yesterday, all the girls of the families went to tea. We met at a fancy tea house and had quiche or chicken salads in cucumber boats, tiny, fancy cookies and bread puddings, and an assortment of teas...iced and hot....and we tried it all I think. There were 11 of us, sampling and cackling the early afternoon away. Here are a few photos:

Choosing a tea cup

Maggie loved the heart shaped savory scones

Cousins and aunt

The sisters

My sisters

Lots of mugging for photos

I never did get any pictures of me, I guess.

After the dainty tea, we went shopping, visited at my sister's, and absolutely pigged out on Mexican food at her house that evening. Then we saw slides of their Alaskan trip!

This afternoon is registering for high school in the big city day, then church.

The crippled car for Bethany is now in Flagstaff and we will drive up to get it on Thursday.

UPDATE: A friend of ours passed away this morning in Williams after a long battle with cancer, so we'll be going up on Saturday for the funeral and getting the car....and maybe an afternoon wedding if we can make it.

Home coming
Topic: People/Family stories
Today began at 6:45am. Our friend the tree trimmer came by to trim up our tall, skinny palm trees in the back. When he was done, his assistant came in the house, asking for the kids to come out and help, quick! When they went out, Dave was hanging upside down on the rope anchored at the top of the tree. If he hadn't had a huge grin on his face, it may have scared us! lol Some of the neighbors were popping their heads over the fences to watch, laughing.

After a shower, Hannah (who is home for the weekend...yay!) and I went to the airport to pick up Bethany...who is home from her mission trip to Mississippi! Yay!! She was tired, dirty, sunburned and grouchy! But we claimed her and brought her home. They had gone to the airport last night at 2am to wait for their early departing flight, so they were all sooo tired. I'm sure the stories will start to flow by tomorrow. Thank you to Lanell, who lives an hour from the mission trip sight, who was ready to jump at a moment's notice in case Bethany needed anything. I'll tell you more about the trip another day....Bethany is unconscious on her bed presently.

My poor husband called last night. (he flew out Wed. to Oklahoma, where he was picking up a free car from his brother to bring to Bethany...yay!) But by Albequerque, the coolant needed replacing and then 5 miles later, replacing again, then it wouldn't start at all......yikes! After brainstorming, he called a friend from our former town, who has a brother in Albequerque. The brother was out of town, but he called another friend, who came to where Charles was, had his Triple A town the car to his own home, put Charles up for the night, fed him breakfast, helped him examine the car, then took him to a car rental place in the morning. He is almost home. I have to go meet him at the car rental return at the airport in about half an hour and bring the poor, tired preacher home! Our friend in our former town offered to drive out to Albequerque next week and bring the car home on his flatbed truck.

Life is a fiasco sometimes, but isn't it a blessed thing to have so many connections to so many other Christian people around the world!?

Thank you Lord for watching over my family as they were scattered about and serving You.....

Throwing stones is not nice....
Topic: People/Family stories
This looks like a typical Xray of my abdomen (minus the red arrow). A year after the birth of my first child, I began my journey with rolling stones. No, not the rock band, eww!!!....with kidney stones. Being very suseptible to kidney stones, every time I get dehydrated, I can expect to have a little tango with them. I have had 3 lithotripsy procedures in the past 18 years, about one every 5 years due to stones that were aggrivating and too large to pass. I am determined not to have to go through that again, as my right kidney is withered slightly and the doctor thinks it is from the lithotripsies. (Don't you feel sorry for me? I do! lol)

All this to say, I've been out of commission for a few days while my kidney decided to throw a stone. I even saved it. It's a big one (a little bigger than in this pic), but not the biggest I've had. I was going to take a picture of it, but when I showed it to Emma, she just about hurled, so I didn't take a picture of my own stone. I just looked for a picture online to show what it looks like. It's about the size of a pebble of aquarium gravel. OK, I know you're curious, so I'll tell you the biggest one yet, that I have passed on my own, looked like a watermelon seed. I know....ouch! With that one, I was about ready to rip the decrepit thing (meaning my kidney) out of my own body by hand if it had been possible. Usually, for me, they are not that painful....it just puts me in bed, lying on a heating pad, gulping water and ibuprofen.

People always look at me and say "Don't they have a medicine to prevent those???" Believe me, I've delved into it. So far the best medicine is gallons and gallons of water every week! Since I live in Phoenix, we hear a lot about dehydration. I was watching a news report about it a few weeks ago and the report said that at the first sign of thirst we feel or when our mouth or throats feel dry, we have let it go too far. It's very hard to drink the amount of water I need to keep stones from forming in this climate, but I am trying!

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 1 Corinthians 4:16-17

....and that you can count on.