tissues, lots of them.

I have a full-blown cold right now. It is not fun and I am house-sitting/babysitting the Freeman kids for the week. I am enjoying that immensely but I need to feel good and energized to stay on top of taking care of a 11, 15, and 17 year old!

Pray that this cold will be short-lived and not an encouraging infection for the already present infection of absess in my system!

I heart CO

I came across this photo my friend Diana took and it made me miss Lake City. It made me miss the Mocha Moose, the best little mountain coffee joint ever. It made me miss Diana because of the goofy man in the middle of the picture that got his butt in the center of our photo and how I remember laughing about that with her. It really made me miss the cute blond, Silas, and all of the other little Hartman grandchildren as well as the Hartmans in general!

Not so fun Fridays....

So this morning was a lot more like a Mondayish morning than a Friday.

My pain medication makes me exhausted during waking hours and restless during the night. So frustrating! So I am up and down all night last night knowing that I am subbing for 7th grade in the morning and need to be pumped and rested.

I wake up at 7 and feel pretty sick, I think I am getting a cold, which is not good because the doctors have told me to stay ultra healthy in order to beat the infection and get the surgery underway...so there's that. So my throat is sore and my eyes are sore and I am contemplating calling in and seeing if they can get another sub. I decide since it is just a half day that it is worth toughing out and getting some pay out of it.

I jump in the shower and the next thing I know our door bell is clicking (it has always been broken, never rings, it clicks!). So I think surely my dad is home and will handle whatever this is, nope. Then I think well mom doesn't leave until 8 so she'll get it, nope she's already gone too. So I run to the door from the shower hair dripping, robe soaking wet, ego bruised because I slipped on the second flight of stairs trying to get down to the front door. I am met by, and I'm not kidding, like 6 men in their late 20s, early 30s who are here to re-roof our house. Awesome, they told us they would come on Saturday, but whatever they are gonna fix our hail-damaged roof. So I am out on the front lawn with them showing them where different things are and moving our cars one by one onto the grass.

Then I call my father--the superintendent where I sub--to tell him I'll be late because his roof is being surprised re-roofed that day. So I'm driving with one hand holding a coffee mug, the other holding my cell phone, then trying to put lipgloss on, and pin my hair back, and mess with the radio station all at once. I also realized that my mug of choice for the week--I tend to go through mug obsessed stages where I am really into one coffee mug that week and will wash it out and use it over and over that week and then get sick of it by Monday and start fresh--is blatantly a Christmas mug with trees and stars and Santa on it. I seriously had not noticed this up until Friday morning, I thought it just had painted things on it, so I guess I am just psychologically excited about the holidays.

I get to school and get signed in and head down the hall where I am hugged several times and greeted with "Mrs. Pritz!" "are you my sub?" "are you Mr. Pritz's daughter?" "are you Mr. Pritz's wife?". So my first hour has eighteen 7th grade boys half of them wearing football jerseys because it's game day. They were interesting, but fun, I had to work hard to keep them reigned in and focused especially since my sore throat is making my voice go fast.

I went home after lunch and couldn't stand the hammering, pounding, nailing, and ripping, and decided to head to Sapulpa's awesome coffee hangout Java Dave's. I am sitting here quietly drinking my soy latte and writing this therapeutic post. I think I might have to take a nap on this overstuffed couch.....

Ireland Revisited

The fall of my Junior year at JBU, which was the semester following my first trip to Northern Ireland, I talked to the students of the Chrisitian school held at my church about my experiences. I also shared with them my experiences ministering in the public schools there. To cap it all of we had Irish tea, scones, and other treats I made from my little Irish cookbook.


Well, they asked if I would come again and show the small group of students my pictures and talk some about the culture and traditions. I also decided to make Irish tea again and Pavlova. Pavlova is the yummy dessert that almost all of my host families made and something we particularly ate the first time I went when we were located in Belfast. I brought the recipe back with me and have made it several times for different occasions here at home. It is very fun to make and such a strange but delicious dessert! The kids really liked it and I enjoyed seeing my pictures again, watching our team DVD from Carryduff, and reminiscing about such an awesome experience I have been blessed to have!

Demo

Well I have decided to use some of my time at home now to redo my bathroom. When we first moved to our house when I was 9 the pastel shades and the heart and dove wallpaper was no big deal, but for the last 7 years or so I have wanted to rip it all apart. Sunday my mom and I along with Laurie and Jessie Freeman did just that. We really got a lot done in a short period, it was awesome, and I'm super excited to get it completely done.

My plan is to paint the walls purple, repaint all the cabinets white, do some funky stenciling or painting in the cut-outs in the cabinets, and get all new vintage looking or silver faucets and fixtures. Stay tuned for more bathroom develpments!

Meet Darby and Jessica

The Freeman family is very special and important to me. My mom and Mr. Freeman (Eric) were good friends during college at John Brown. Ironically they both ended up living with their families in the same small town in Oklahoma. Before the Freemans or the Pritzs either had kids they helped start a small church that started out as a family group and is still a very close knit community. I have been priveledged to be raised in this and so the Freeman family is like my family. They have four kids Joel (18), Darby (16), Dustin (14), and Jessica (11). We've been raised like siblings and now that I am home I spend many days a week with these dear people.

Joel recently started his freshman year at JBU and we are all very excited for the family legacy to continue. Darby has always been a dear little sister to me but as she gets older is becoming such a sweet friend (and she's beautiful too which means I beat up boys). Dustin has always been closer to my brothers but I love to embarass and tease him at any chance. Jessica is one of the most special relationships in my life and we have had a unique bond ever since she was about 2 months old. A defining part of my life was going through the awful battle of cancer when Jessica was diagnosed at age 3 with a very severe and rare form of cell cancer. But to God be the glory when Jessi celebrated 7 years cancer free this August and was released from Dr. checkups!!!

The girls and I have been creating a lot of fun memories since I've been home and I thought I would include a few pictures of our recent cooking adventures. It is always a challenge because Darby is Gluten intolerant and lactose intolerant so we have to get pretty creative! Stay tuned for stories from upcoming Freeman/Pritz adventures: Darby's birthday (Darby and Emily Day), I am staying with them for a week coming up while their parents go to Scotland, and Dustin's birthday will occur during this time and I am going to do it up big!

This is My Life

I was in Wal-Mart today just minding my own business doing self check-out, when three very scuzzy looky men walked by me. The next thing I know, I'm being repeatedly whistled at and becoming the recipient of one cat call.

Who does that? Who does that in Wal-Mart?

I guess I'm back home in small town Oklahoma.