Ryley Stories of Various Shapes and Sizes

In the shortage of blogging time, I have started keeping a Word document of bullet-pointed things I don't want to forget...specifically "Ryley Stories." I think I've collected enough to constitute a post. :-) I guess I just don't remember being as witty, perceptive, and put-together when I was five and a half years old. She constantly amazes us. I think she takes after her daddy.

1. The other day, Juliet was jumping up on Ryley and attempting to bite her chin (because it is so delicious). Ryley, of course, started screaming and jumping around, which just got Juliet even more excited. I heard the commotion, but I guess I'm starting to tune it out....you have to understand that this happens 5 to 10 times a day, and it's usually Ryley's fault for taunting her. But Ryan, on the other hand, being the attentive father that he is, ran into the room, swept Juliet up into his arms, and took her out into the backyard. Ryley stood there with a renewed feeling of safety, smiled, and said, "I like it when Daddy saves me!"

2. Ok. So Ryley brings home lots and lots of crafts and papers and schoolwork. Some is worth saving, and I cram it into a drawer in our office filing cabinet. But there's a lot of it that....well....our house is just not big enough for all of it. And Ryley is a scavenger and keeper of random things. One look at her room will tell you that. Everything has a use. She learned about recycling at school, so even an empty water bottle can be stuffed into an empty chips bag and, voila, it's a baby inside its blanket! I want to say, "Ryley, we're not Mary and Laura Ingalls. You have real dolls." But back to my point....When Ryley isn't looking, I have been known to just toss the lesser impressive artwork. She never misses it, and I keep the good stuff, so I think it's fine. Except that the other day, as I was taking out a bag of kitchen trash, Ryley spotted her piece of red construction paper.

Ryley: "Oh no! That's the paper from Continent Day at school!"
Me: "Oh, is it? I'm sorry, Ryley. I must have thrown it away by accident."
Ryley: "Didn't you see the stamps?"
Me: "No, I must not have turned it over. I just saw the back of the paper."
Ryley: "Yeah, you wouldn't throw it away on purpose."
Me: "Right."
Ryley: "'Cause you're a nice mommy, and only mean mommies throw away their little girls' papers."
Me: silence....
Ryley: "Some mommies are like, 'I don't like my little girl, so I think I will throw away her paper,' but you are not like that, and you just did it by accident."

3. As we drove home from school, Ryley was telling me jokes, and we were having a fun time. But after awhile, it started to get kind of old, and I told her we needed to calm down a little. She told a couple more jokes, and absentmindedly, I did a little fake laugh in response.

Ryley: "Why do you laugh that way?"
Me: "Laugh like what?"
Ryley: "When you laugh like that it makes me think you don't really think it's that funny."

4. I went into Ryley's room to wake her up a couple of days ago. As we talked, she yawned, and I made a comment that she was still sleepy.

Ryley: "Oh, that wasn't a yawn; I was just stretching my lips."

5. Last week I was given the opportunity to interview some visiting pastors' wives for future feature articles in our ladies' magazine. I bought a new dress for the event, and I dug out some shoes I haven't worn since pre-Ryley. All day long I received compliments and whistles from the most unlikely of places. For being 31 and overweight, I must admit that it felt good to look good. :-) At the end of the day, I went to pick up Ryley at school, and she didn't see me at first. Finally, I got her attention.

Ryley: "Oh, Mommy, you look fancy! I didn't know it was you!"

5. Yesterday morning, Ryan took Ryley to school. They had this conversation:

Ryley: "Daddy, do you know everything about birds?"
Ryan: "Birds? No, not everything."
Ryley: "Do you know some things?"
Ryan: "Yeah."
Ryley: "Why don't you tell me some things about birds..."
Ryan: "Well, what do you want to know?"
Ryley: "Oh, whatever. Just surprise me."

6. This morning, Ryan was sitting at the laptop in the kitchen, when Ryley came bounding down the stairs yelling for him.

Ryan: "Ryley, I'm right here."
Ryley: "Oh, Mommy just wanted to know where you were. But as long as you're down here, I want breakfast."

A few minutes later, Ryley sat at the table eating while Ryan resumed his computer work.
Ryley: "Daddy?" Why don't you tell me more about birds..."



It's been a busy few weeks. I feel really behind on things at work, and yet I know that I am working my butt off. It's just not ever enough. I enjoy my work and feel like I'm owning it more and more. But gosh, my job is hard!!!! So we hired an admin assistant named Leahh to help me full time, and it should help.

This week, Leahh attended the same training here in Denver that my bosses and I attended in Houston back in October. Back when I attended the training, I really connected with our trainer, Mary. She and I hit it off, and I have called her for customer support several times in the last few months. Apparently the friendly feeling is mutual...Leahh says that Mary is continually mentioning me during the sessions, referring to problems I found in the programs, referring to excellent questions I had, etc. (in Leahh's words: "Well, Joy this, and Joy that"). So Leahh texted me throughout the day today wanting to know if I was going to stop by. Honestly, I feel like such a legend has been built up about me that I didn't want to ruin it for all the trainees! After all that was said about my awesomeness, let the mystery that is Joy remain just that...a mystery. ;-) It's not like I'm dissing Mary; she is coming to our office to give us some personalized training for approximately three hours tomorrow.

Also, I wasn't sure if I should mention this, but we are undergoing fertility treatment this month. It's a lot of work -- doctor's appointments, giving myself shots, going in for blood draws, etc. The thing is, my doctor (because she is so wonderful) is helping us out with this one, cutting our costs by 75 percent. What we have had to pay has been astronomical. If it doesn't work this month, we will be referred to a fertility specialist, and we will probably have to wait a few months to save up more money. We would really appreciate all the prayer we can get....for the drug to do what it is designed to do and then for my body to do what it is designed to do. We know that God is the author of all life, and that He is the one ultimately in control. I have adopted Romans 8:11 as my scripture for this: “The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in (me).”

When you put it that way, anything is possible. :-)