Actor, Jesus Lover, Quirky Mom (not in that order)
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The little forgotten monkey
So, I have 3 kids. I had a moment of extreme panic as I scrolled down my blog this morning and realized I've never written about one of them. Jacob. The middle child. The forgotten one. How could I forget him? Geez. He's so adorable. Here look right now before I forget I'm talking about him.
Actually, this is a rare photo of him. He hates having his pic taken. Usually the pics are more like this....
He's always been low maintenance. (Well, he's sorta going thru this high maintenance thing right now...we'll over look that.) But even as a baby...he didn't need much. Especially compared to his big bro! You know what they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease...Poor Jacob.
He was born with a six pack and giant calf muscles. I don't have an explanation for this. Though I'll take full credit. He didn't seem to mind posing for this pic....
One thing you may not know (how would you...I've told you nothing) is that Jacob is a phenomenal artist! He draws amazing pictures AND he can use tiny scraps of paper to make art. He made a boat and captain using a tiny post it note just this weekend. Like the one inch post its! Unfortunately, the boat sunk in a water droplet that condensated from my cup. 
He was so proud of that boat. I carried it around all day in my pj pocket. Then, tragedy struck.
He was so proud of that boat. I carried it around all day in my pj pocket. Then, tragedy struck.He's a superb soccer player. Like killer! Power leg and all! Kaboosh! All the coaches want him.
He's full blooded monkey. If he could, he'd do his homework swinging in a tree or on his head. He's never still, yet during school, he manages to sit in his desk quietly. I'd venture to say, his teachers would be shocked to know he's this active at home. I'm thinking he lets it all out at home! hooo hooo haaaa haaa!
Ok. My guilt trip is sorta gone. Not really. I'll pretty much have one for most my life over this kid. He's too good to be true. And I love him to pieces. Oh yeah. One day I totally stood him up for lunch. He called me from school. "It's okay mom. I can just buy." losermom.
Ah, Theater! Oh, and Giving Thanks.
Last week, I got to speak just prior to my kids' talent show. The auditorium was packed with parents who were there to see their children performing AND a special performance by 3 members of the Pentatonix! Here's a copy of my speech for those who've asked or give a rip. 
Good evening parents! I'm excited so many of you came out tonight to hear me speak! Word must really be getting out how engaging and motivational I am! In fact I WAS planning on singing the song POPULAR from the musical Wicked. You know..."Popular...You're gonna be popular! I'll teach you the proper poise when you talk to boys...."....But I just had some work done....not that kind of work! surgery! and my voice sounds yikes! Actually I think my kids were pretty relieved that I wasn't going to come out in full costume and sing. I can't figure that out. They were even high fiving?
I know you'd like me to move along quickly here since we have 33 acts and you're probably here to see just one of them. But I wanna share one thing with you tonight. We actually have a non controversial holiday coming up! It's amazing! Thanksgiving! Just go to Facebook and you can see what 738 of your closest personal friends are thankful for,
For the 3 of you adults in the room without Facebook accounts (that would be my husband and my inlaws) lots of people are posting daily what they are thankful for throughout the month of November. I think this is great for we all have many things and people to be grateful for. But I have to ask myself, am I remembering to thank the one true God for these many blessings? We teach our children to be "thankful", but do we remind them to actually bend their knees and thank the Creator God? I have a thankful heart, but I often forget to say the words to Jesus. So, I'm challenging myself and you to not just be thankful, but to GIVE thanks this Thanksgiving season. Well. And always.
We will now return to our Traci Thatcher for which I will give thanks if she talks reeeeaaaally fast so we can see our amazingly talented kids!
My kid is the cutest one...in the rainbow suspenders. They did So Long, Fairwell from "Sound of Music"! Big shout out to Shannon Mentesana and Melanie Saenz for choreographing!
Smackdown on the football field...by me
I want to tell you a story about my son. His name is Brad and he’s in 6th grade. I shared this with a group of ladies last week. So if you already heard it, sorry.
Last Tuesday night he was in a football game. He was up against a player 27 times his size. No really like 2X. Brad may look sweet and innocent, but let me tell you on the football field, he has quite a reputation for hitting pretty hard and being aggressive. This is GOOD in TEXAS football!
Well, apparently, this kid on the other team had had enough of Mr. Tiny Boy
beating the H - E - double hockey sticks outta him, so after the whistle blew…he decided to grab my son
by the helmet, whip him to the ground and start beating him up. Now,
it’s a good thing Mama Bear was busy chatting it up with the gal pals or I
mighta had to go find HIS mama.
Well,
let me tell you how my child responded. He did NOT retaliate at that time. He
got up, collected himself, and KEPT PLAYING the game.
Played probably one of the best games of his life! He chose to channel his
emotions in a healthy manner. By the way, the other kid got kicked out of game.
Heh heh heh!
I look at my sixth grader and wonder, WHOSE KID ARE YOU?
I’ll tell you. He’s the son of Jesus Christ. See in 3rd grade, Brad had no self-confidence. And certainly no self-control at home. He was being bullied at school and would hardly look you in the eye. Now, he has learned how to express his emotions in a healthy manner. I give God the glory for this. He used counseling and a class at our church called P.E.A.C.E. Out. It teaches kids how to deal with their God-given emotions in a healthy manner. Maybe we should offer that class for adults?....It has not been an easy process. I'm not gonna lie. But looking back, ohmygoodness! What a change!
In Ephesians 4:26, the Bible says, In your anger, do not sin. It doesn’t say “anger is a sin”. No way Jose. Jesus got angry. But he controlled it. And Jesus is teaching my little Brad to do the same.
Not saying my son is perfect by any means. Actually, that same morning he got ticked off about his shoes or something, can’t really remember and treated his sister badly. I keep reminding myself…Progress, not perfection. As long as we are in the process, the Father is pleased!
How do I express my emotions? They are normal. They are God-given. But that does not give me the right to fly off the handle any time I please. Even an elementary kid can learn that. So there is hope for us!
Stupid cheerleaders, Venus Williams, Rangers
I have an 80 yr old neck. Dang it! So it's high time I got it fixed. The 27th. My neurosurgeon is gonna fix my deformity (yeah, just found out abt that part...!), 3 blown out discs, bone spurs, add in a plate and some screws and make me as good as new! 13 yrs I've had this jacked up thing. I blame cheerleading. And those stupid girls (see below) who kept dropping me (no offense). I'm sure it had nothing to do with MY poor technique. Or my crappy gymnastics skills. NOOOOO! Or that car wreck (s).
There's a risk it could change my voice. Yikes. So pray for me. Cuz that's kinda like MY JOB! But like my Dallas voiceover agent, Julie Holman said "It certainly won’t alter your talent, delivery or the way you approach a script. And that is 90% of it." I like that! Actually pretty pumped about getting it fixed! Then...
Just when I thought I saw the light at the end of the tunnel...the end of the pain, the end of "I wanna chop off my freaking head and throw it out the window....I do the routine blood work for the upcoming surgery and guess what? I find out I've got an autoimmune disease. Um, ok. Great. Sjogrens Syndrome. How do you even SAY that? I have none of the symptoms except joint pain, fatigue, and no feeling in my hands and feet. Me and Venus Williams. (I hide it really well, unless you are my husband, then u get to hear about it). Like I told a friend earlier who asked...who really wants to hear anyone whine about their chronic pain? NO ONE! I will share this. I couldn't open up the freaking pain pill bottle the other day and I broke down crying. So yay. Now I get to go see a rheumatologist. My insurance co. loves me.
But I know WHY. 2 Cor. 1:4 "SO THAT" I can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort I myself received from God. So if you have chronic pain, lemme hear from you. I'd like to pass along the comfort I've received. :0) And let me tell you. It's been a lot of comfort!
Facing pain. Facing loss of potential jobs. Uncertainty about future. But guess what. I have total peace. And I mean that.
My life verses. Memorized when I was a kid. And said pretty much daily.
"Be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord." Phil. 4:6-7
Don't feel sorry for me. I don't want this to be what you think of when you see me. I'm still just same goofy me. Just with a big old scar across my neck. Eww. I hope it's not gross. Dr. said he'd put it on a wrinkle. Now where he's gonna find a wrinkle on this skinny tower of a neck I dunno?
Go Rangers!
From COAST to COAST
I can't even believe it! I officially have representation from COAST to COAST! A dream come true for me! From LA to New York to Florida, little old me, has voiceover rep across the USA! YEEHAW!
It would not be possible without my awesome NEW YORK agent Erik Sheppard who believes in me! He is amazingly supportive of my talents and abilities. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and say, is this for real? Am I really listed alongside talents such as Debi Derryberry my girl hero!...a.k.a. Jimmy Neutron), H-H-H Harlan Hogan, nicest guy ever John Taylor, DC freakin' Douglas, THE Elaine Clark? yesyesIam. OHMYGOSH! phew! Fan. Me. Now.
I'm pleased as punch and ready to kick some Asphalt in LA (and New York, Atlanta, Florida & we can't forget Big D!) GO me! And thank you Voice Talent Productions for the opportunity to make some serious cash! Now let's get this party started!
(ok, I admit. It was a lame attempt to draw traffic to my website and hear my demos!...baaahahahahaha!)
Side note...Happy Birthday Mom! I love you.
AND OHmyGOODholyGOSH! I got to meet ROB PAULSEN! He did his ROBPAULSENLIVE show in Dallas at beautiful Cake Mix Recording! Sooo wonderful. He kept breaking into his Carl voice to make me laugh during the show. heehee! It worked. I think Carl and I woulda been friends in elementary school. :0)
And just in case you didn't click on my website, and wanna hear my demos....here ya go!
Later tomaters. Oh, speaking of tomaters....Anyone got a connection with Phil Visher? I got a hankerin' to do some singing for Veggie Tales!
Bling, Goldilocks, Rob Bell
Some of you know this. Some of you don't. I got me some shiny new bling. Check it out! I'm so sexy.
I know, I know....are you EVER well? Apparently not. I had some complications after my pneumonia and ended up in the freaking hospital! Now I get the pleasure of a picc line in my arm and giving myself IV's 3x a day for 3 flippin' weeks. Lovely. No, not cumbersome or annoying AT ALL! It blends right in. In fact, they will hardly notice it at the on-camera audition on Monday...oh, wait, about that...sorry agent. They MIGHT notice they large tubes that permanently dangle from my arms.
But really I have had a outpouring of love from family and friends that is unbelievable. I can't imagine if I didn't have Christ in my life. I'd be alone. It's been depressing enough. At any given moment, I'll dissolve in a puddle of tears and that is with friends, family, Jesus. Thankful is where I am right now.
My rockstar husband. WOW. Burning the candle at both ends. Hang on, gotta flush the IV with heparin....That's totally normal right? And my lifegroup has been feeding my family so well that I think I've been replaced as the family chef. Oh dang.
Ok...so did you hear Goldilocks on the radio? She's selling mattresses for Sleep Experts! I gotta tell ya, that Christine Cook is just as nice in person as she sounds on the radio. I worked with the folks from Loomis Agency and they are friendly folks too! Haven't quite gotten out the thank you notes yet.....Anyhooo....
Emma learned to ride her bike WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS!!! GOOOOOOO EMMA!!!!!!!!! Daddy worked and worked and worked and worked and worked with her just like God works with us.
Oh, and in case missed it, Rob Bell is an idiot. Rob Bell doesn't teach the Bible. Answer the freaking questions. Here's what you should have said. God is all powerful AND cares deeply for Japan. Creation fell too with the sin of man. And you ARE a universalist. Man's response to Christ on earth is absolutely relevant and material. There is no speculation. You are leading many astray. I fear for you. Thank you James Reeves for your always insightful teaching. You are inspiring.
The hubby's family came in from CA and MS. I missed out. Look at all the sweet grandkids (minus one - Garner).
Look at all the sweet grandkids (minus one - Garner).One more bit of shameless self promotion...Fed Ex. Dennis Murphy did a fantastic job with this shoot. Remember the foot warmers....? Go check out my site and see the new pic I posted. I'd put it here but I'm getting lazy.
Brownies and Forrest Gump
Well, I got the dang flu from Barbie girl. Then it turned into stupid pneumonia. PnMOANya. DON'T WORRY, I'M NOT CONTAGIOUS the dr.said! soooooo...here I am....BORED out of my mind...."resting". Geez louise. I'm not good at resting. I have a list a mile long of things I need to do. BUT I've been warned, more like, threatened, guilted, no really, just coerced by my truest friends to really rest. They tell me I look frail, skinny, sick and not well. Soooooo....I'll rest. Truth be told I secretly like the skinny part cuz that means I can eat all the stuff the nice people have been bringing to my house!
I've gotten meals from 4 people! And they stretched out over like 7 meals! I'm not even kidding. And I know if I were to put a call out to my life group at church I'd have about 11 more meals. So I'm not going to because we have plenty. WOW am I blessed! Truly truly blessed.
In the meantime, we've put the BEIGE house on the market with a realtor. Restful, right? hahahahaha! If you wanna buy it click here! Buy our house! Anyway, it's clean. That's for sure. I can't wait to move into something smaller. I know that's weird. But Brad (my hubby) and I are both pumped. We want a little hut. Half our house payment will do just fine! Lots of good things you can do with that money you save.
I did sneak a little work in (my friends got mad at me). I did a political spot for Strong America Now! Strong America Now Not sure when the spot will air. But it'll be good even if I do say so my own self. Finally got to work alongside the talented John William Galt, who voiced LBJ in Forrest Gump. I got to voice multiple characters. And my "deep pneumonia voice" came in handy. Mike George, the brains behind Strong America Now is a smart guy who says "Together with modest spending cuts we can eliminate the deficit … with no new taxes." Hey, I'm game for that! He's a nice, smart grandpa with a really interesting plan! I got to meet him. I felt underdressed. Me...jeans, layered Target shirts, little Ross sweater with a hole, Chucks. Him...nice name brand (don't know what) suit with one of those little silk hankies in his coat. But he never made me feel underdressed. In fact, he even smiled a lot at me while I was recording. I like that. He's cool. He even tweets. Didn't ask him about too many political things because frankly, we were there to do the job and I didn't wanna waste the client's money. I "borrowed" their cool logo below. Looks good, eh?
He's cool. He even tweets. Didn't ask him about too many political things because frankly, we were there to do the job and I didn't wanna waste the client's money. I "borrowed" their cool logo below. Looks good, eh?Why the spacing looks weird on this blog, I dunno. But it might tax my "weakened state" to fix it. So, I'm not gonna!
Later tomaters!
Stinky pits, Cozy toes, Lil Elsie
My kid has the flu and strep. Anyone wanna come over? hahahahahah! My hands are kinda crusty from all the clorox wipees I've been using. Which reminds me...my friend uses them on her armpits when she's stinky. Interesting....
I forgot to mention I sang "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas". Glenda Peavey style...If you are lucky, I'll re-record it and post it here on my blog. I only mention that now because I cannot get the dang song out of my brain!
I got to do a cool print ad. It was outdoors. FFFF-ffff-freezing. 23 degrees! And I wore shoes with holes and no socks. BUT...the stylist and producer gave me the coolest ever little footie warmers that are shaped like your feet. We've all used the handwarmers, but did you know that they make em for your feet??? (http://warmers.com)
I gave a speech for some wonderful women getting a very special lifetime achievement award. I decided to speak on servant leadership. Think I surprised them when I told them the ultimate servant leader was Jesus Christ. Coulda heard a pin drop. Or is it pen? I dunno. But I think maybe I'll post my speech on facebook notes if you wanna be my "friend" then you can hear it. I thought it was brilliant even if I do say so my own self. Actually i can say that cuz really I asked God to help me write it. The women being honored were wonderful women. I was honored to introduce them.
Oh! My friends Tiffany (http://ticklemefuschia.blogspot.com/) and James (http://www.jamesmreeves.com) are in Kenya right now visiting a Compassion church that will be linked with our church. We recently sponsored a new cutie pie through Compassion (http://Compassion.com) that attends that church. Her name is Elsie and she's 7. She lives with her Grandma, which means her mom and dad probably have died of AIDS. My heart is overjoyed that Tiffany and James will be able to hug her and love on her this week. I hope to visit her this Fall, Lord willing.
Well, flu/strep girl is spazzing out for 'lack of attention'. She wants to perform "I'm a Barbie girl in my Barbie world" and I fully understand that you can't do that without a fully attentive audience.
Until next time.
Reality VO, Theater, Balls
Dang! It's been a LONG time since I blogged. Did you miss me?
Welp. I did a really great Christmas play. It was called "Do We Still Remember?" I almost forgot about it already! We rehearsed our butts off. Seriously. My butt is practically gone now. Here is the only picture I have to commemorate it. Don't worry, it's not of my butt.
There's some really exciting things happening in the voiceover community! 2 reality shows are coming up. One is called "Behind the Mic" produced by none other than my New York Agent, Erik Sheppard!!! WOOHOO! The other is called "America's Next Voice" or something like that. I can't really remember right now, but I blame that on the medication I'm taking. There's some hullabaloo behind there being 2 shows....don't know any inside information.
Speaking of medication, I almost had to have surgery since we talked. In fact if it weren't for my VO occupation, I would have had it right after Christmas! I have a really jacked up 60ish yr old neck. Have had for LOTS of years. Don't talk about it a lot cuz I don't want people always asking me "how's your neck?", "are you feeling okay"....blah blah blah... NO, I feel like CRAP (oooo! bad word!), move on! People are starving, or have cancer, or have lost babies....it's all about perspective. But anyhoo...The surgery would probably change my voice....so the neurosurgeon and neurologist want to put it off for as long as possible....so I'm on some new high powered meds. Some day, I'll have a neck that won't move, yay! And maybe I'll be "great BIG horsey voice". Hey...maybe I'll book more lil boy roles! And I'm a gamer so if you ask me to ride a roller coaster for an on camera role, I'm gonna do it (don't read this Dr. Hughes....)!
Random story. Emma (5) tells me she has balls. She is pretty gutsy!
Farewell Fuschia Fireplace
Farewell fabulous fuschia and silver fireplace.
Au revoir orange kitchen.
Peace out plaid paneled playroom!
That's right...we're boring up the Franklin abode....getting it dulled up for the next occupants....we're selling it.
If you've never been to the Franklin casa, sad for you. It's quite colorful. Yet tasteful (in my opinion). Thanks to my amazing friend, Laura. She takes God's beautiful colors and swishes em up and mixes em up and BAM! ahhhhhh! Seriously FUN HOUSE.
But now...dull house. Boring house. But I have a secret. My dining room is still silver. Silver's neutral, right?
We're downsizing. We have too much space. A dining room we don't use. Every kid has his own room. And a freaking play room. And our Compassion kids don't even have running water or a proper roof. What the heck? Here's a picture of the non-colorful type of house Wend lives in in Burkina Faso, and these kids seem to be having a great time playing hopscotch! So I'm not gonna complain. At all.
So for us. It's right. And we're excited! So don't worry. Our zebra couch is coming with us...and we have left over paint for the next joint.
Don't get me wrong...we're grateful for what we have. But even the kids agree...it's MORE that we need. "Let's move Mom and Dad. This place is bigger than what we need. Too much to take care of. Think how many kids we could help out." Now that's what I like to hear!