Random Sunday Stuff

Last night at 11pm, I was getting ready for bed and decided to put some things to mail by my purse. I walked out of my bedroom (barefoot) and into the family room, dropped off my items and walked back to the door of my room where I found the thing, mere inches away from where my bare feet had been seconds before. Yep, the thing from Tuesday night had reappeared. This time I wasn't going to let it get away! There is a mini-battle in which I tried to tell the thing that I wasn't trying to hurt it, just wanted it out of the house and during which the thing put up a good fight. I won. Yes!

Today a friend spoke at her church, so after worship at my church I headed over to hers. I'm really glad I did for many different reasons but suffice it to say, my friend did an excellent job. It was nice to be a worshipper...not a lead worshipper, just a worshipper.

After church I had to go shopping to get undergarments to wear under this on Saturday. Lil Bro is getting married. If I don't eat for the rest of the week, the dress may actually look good on. Of course now I'm craving everything sweet I could possibly eat. Lovely. And while we're on the dress subject, self tanners should be kept away from me. I always end up splotchy. Hopefully it wears off by Saturday.

In happy news, by this time next week I will be officially on vacation with a house to myself, a computer at the ready and time to begin writing the book that God keeps talking to me about. Let a new journey begin!

Friday Five--Apple style

Singing Owl over at RevGalBlogPals says:

It's a Johnny Appleseed Friday Five

Raise your hand if you know that today is Johnny Appleseed Day!

September 26, 1774 was his birthday. "Johnny Appleseed" (John Chapman) is one of America's great legends. He was a nurseryman who started out planting trees in western New York and Pennsylvania, but he was among those who were captivated by the movement west across the continent.

As Johnny traveled west (at that time, the "West" was places like Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois) he planted apple trees and sold trees to settlers. With every apple tree that was planted, the legend grew. A devout Christian, he was known to preach during his travels. According to legend, Johny Appleseed led a simple life and wanted little. He rarely accepted money and often donated any money he received to churches or charities. He planted hundreds of orchards, considering it his service to humankind. There is some link between Johny Appleseed and very early Arbor Day celebrations.

So, in honor of this interesting fellow, let's get on with the questions!

1. What is your favorite apple dish? (BIG BONUS points if you share the recipe.)--Mmmm, caramel apple pie. The recipe goes like this: find your nearest Costco and purchase!

2. Have you ever planted a tree? If so was there a special reason or occasion you can tell us about?--I've planted a lemon tree just because I like lemons. But when I was little, a friend gave me a little tree in a little pot that we planted and now it's a big tree in the big ground. It's got be close to 30 years old now! (Yo Momma will correct me if I'm wrong).

3. Does the idea of roaming around the countryside (preaching or otherwise) appeal to you? Why or why not?--I like roaming around places, seeing new sites, history, etc. I've always wanted to travel here or there and experience life from different vantage points. Gosh, that sounds very appealing right now...time for the next question!

4. Who is a favorite "historical legend" of yours? --I am a child of the Disney era...I love the story of Robin Hood. Though only if it's a fox and a bear. :)

5. Johnny Appleseed was said to sing to keep up his spirits as he traveled the roads of the west. Do you have a song that comes when you are trying to be cheerful, or is there something else that you often do? --There is always a song running through my head! Always! One that's pretty consistent for me is "Carry You" by Amy Grant (surprise, surprise!). It's my constant reminder that I'm not on this journey alone, very comforting and uplifting. Does that count?

Adventures of the night

At 1:20am I realized that the scratching noises that I thought were coming from outside my window, were actually coming from somewhere in my room. Last time I heard that sound a random potato bug had found it's way in the house and into my room. Lovely. This time though it wasn't a potato bug...it was something a little more sinister. The thing** got away from me before I could remove it to another preferable place...like outside! Not cool. So at 1:20 this morning I was cleaning, getting shoes, dirty clothes, etc. off the floor so that the thing would not surprise me when I picked something up. I was pretty sure that I had it cornered in one particular area but getting it out of that place could have created quite a racket and I didn't want to wake the whole household up last night. So I decided to just trust that I had sufficiently cornered it. Yeah, bad idea.


I was awake. Wide awake. I couldn't turn my back on that side of the room. So I turned on the TV. And was awake. There is nothing on at between 2 and 3:30 in the morning but infomercials, bad sitcoms, news that freaks me out even more than the thing in my room, oh and the occasional televangelist. Yippee.

At 3:30am (still awake) I heard the unmistakable beeping of a big truck backing up in the neighborhood. Curious. Then I heard the sirens. Hmm. I sniffed the air and didn't smell smoke, looked outside couldn't see anything and got my laptop out to check our local fire website. As the computer was waking up, the sirens got closer. It was 3:30am in our sleepy little neighborhood. No one is driving around a lot but still the sirens kept going. Again and again. By the time the truck made it up the hill and to the neighbors house I was wondering where is it written that at 3:30am in a sleepy little neighborhood the rescue vehicle must use their sirens to alert everyone in the neighborhood that they are coming up the hill...slowly. I prayed for the neighbor who was having a medical emergency, turned off the computer and tried to go back to sleep...which finally happened around 5am.

Of course I had to be up at 7am. I cautiously exited my bed, raced through a shower and got ready for my day because I had made plans to go meet K at 8 for coffee. I am a really good friend and I had a really BIG coffee.

I had something going on until 1:45 this afternoon, but believe me as soon as I could, I hightailed it back home. I couldn't get the thought of the thing out of my head. So at 2pm when Yo Momma and Papa Bear arrived at home they found me in my room with a shovel and garbage can pulling things off of shelves and attempting to find the thing. Yo Momma, ever the helpful Momma, joined in while Papa Bear made really bad jokes about my needing a shovel to clean out my room. Yeah, he's lovely.

We moved everything, I mean everything, in my room and the thing was no where to be found. it has escaped somewhere within the house. Which doesn't make me any less freaked out...I think I'm going to start wearing my work boots around the house.

**I would post a picture of the thing but I don't want that image in my head anymore and I don't want to name it because, ew, so for those who are curious start thinking astrological signs and you'll figure it out.

More birthday celebrations...

Tonight the worship team surprised me by gathering for dinner together in a mini-celebration of my birth. It was very nice, unexpected and appreciated.

Last night was dinner at my house with some fun people. Train Guy decided that I needed a dinosaur cake for my birthday, so he and Grammy B. made one. It came out quite well, don't you think.

Adventure Boy was especially excited about the cake...in fact he didn't want to stop with just one little piece. At one point after pointing and saying "Cake! Cake!" for many unheeded moments, he looked at the cake and said "I want cake!". He may not be stringing sentences together all the time, but when it comes to things he wants, Adventure Boy is pretty clear!

And then there's Yo Momma. A year ago we were in a quilt shop and I expressed my lack of appreciation for quilts made out of those things called yo-yo's. Really, they aren't my thing and I guess I was pretty vocal about my desire never to have a quilt made of yo-yo's. Didn't say anything about a clown though. Yo Momma has a good sense of humor.

So, my birthday is officially over, my 34th year has officially begun and I'm blessed beyond words with some amazing friends and a fabulous family!

You say it's your birthday...

it's my birthday too! I officially turned 34 at 6 something this morning. Yippee! The only thing that is freaking me out has more to do with feeling like life is going to change this year and I'm not really sure how...but then again I never know what's really going to happen in life so I'll let that go.

Anyway, awhile back I told K that what I wanted for my birthday was a spa day. A day to get a pedicure, have a facial, lunch out and whatever else to feel pampered for a day. That day came yesterday because, well, I have a job that requires me to work on Sunday's. K, Meg, Lora and I started with coffee, went for pedicures, had a yummy lunch by the sea, wandered in a bookshop, went for facials, back for more coffee and ended with this movie:

It was a lovely day! Thanks ladies!

Today Yo Momma has something up her sleeve, so I'm sure there will be a couple of surprises and then tonight Adventure Boy, Train Guy, K and N will be over for dinner. I think maybe G.G. too. I'm feeling loved, appreciated and happy today.

Fall Equinox Friday Five

Songbird over at RevGalBlogPals says:

It's that time of year, at least north of the equator. The windows are still open, but the darned furnace comes on early in the morning. My husband went out for a walk after an early supper and came home in full darkness. And yes, where we live, leaves are beginning to turn.

As this vivid season begins, tell us five favorite things about fall:


1) A fragrance--I love the smell of cinnamon and apples. Always brings a smile to my face.


2) A color--We don't get a whole lot of leaves changing colors here in sunny, mild California, but there are a few. One in particular has leaves that turn a beautiful red-orange...that's my favorite color of fall.


3) An item of clothing--Black sweatpants. I'm wearing them now. Comfy, stretchy, warm and they look good...of course they are getting worn out and I need a new pair but they don't make them anymore. :(


4) An activity--I don't do it very often, but I love going pumpkin hunting. I like wandering through the pumpkin patch picking and choosing just the right pumpkin. I don't love gutting the pumpkin though...yuck!


5) A special day--Technically it's not in the fall, it's the last day of summer...my birthday! It means that fall is just a day away!

My new favorite site

I'm way behind the times I'm sure, but this is my new favorite site.

And this is now sitting on my desk.

Though my desk doesn't look like that at.all. It was my one big purchase in Shakespeare Land. I'm very happy with it...and the youth kids like the jelly belly's that are currently filling the cup!

Um...yeah

Last week the keyboard on my work computer all of a sudden stopped working. Being the technogeek-wannabe that I am, I wiggled a few cords and it started working! Yea!

Today in the middle of trying to make a purchase at the $100 store online, my keyboard went out again. In the process of wiggling the cords I managed to hit the power cord which of course sent work computer into failure mode. Work computer flashed off and then on again. It started up with this message

"Keyboard Auxiliary Failure: Press F1 to continue or F2 to enter set-up". Being the great rule follower that I am, I pressed F1...wait for it, wait for it, yeah. If the keyboard is failing pressing F1 or F2 isn't going to help.

Technogeek-wannabe just got an F. But in my defense the really Technogeek people who wrote the program that put that message up either have a really good sense of humor or they weren't thinking very well either.

Hair and pictures

Is it possible to actually feel hair turning gray? I swear I just felt more hair turn gray just a few seconds ago. There it goes again! Yes, my stress level is high. No, I don't want to blog about it. Instead I will show you a few pictures.

This is a picture of Mr. K's house in Pearlington when we left in March.

This is the picture I received over the weekend.

This is a picture of the front yellow house last December.

This is what it looked like from the backyard this weekend. The water isn't supposed to be there.

Praying for Pearlington, Galveston, Houston and all the places that Ike unleashed his fury.

My favorite line from today's newspaper:

"Police cracked down on a drum circle that has become a weekly tradition but, recently, has drawn complaints that participants are using drugs, blocking the parking lot and playing badly."

Forget the drugs and blocking traffic, it's the playing badly that really brought the police out! HA!

Pondering...

Every Wednesday our church has a program called Snack Time for children from Kindergarten to 5th grade. It's an abbreviated version of Vacation Bible School, with crafts, snacks, singing, bible lessons, games and more. I just heard one little girl running down the stairs yell back to her friends "Hurry up, we're going to miss Snack Time!".

Wednesday night the High School group meets. We've been off the last couple of weeks for a much needed break...on my part anyway. Both weeks I've received a text messages from one of the teenagers asking "Is there youth group tonight?". I talked with his mom this afternoon and she said he was up late last night doing his chores because if he didn't get them done he couldn't come to youth group tonight.

Today I received an email from a friend asking "Is R.A.W. ever coming back?" R.A.W. stands for "Real Authentic Worship" in my world, NOT the Wrestling program on TV but a small group gathering in which we sing, read scripture and pray. Some would call it a worship service but without a sermon. (We're looking at starting back up in October, BTW.)

Right now I'm pondering what makes these things so meaningful to each specific person that they are so excited and eager to return? I'm also wondering if they would be so excited about coming to a worship service on a Sunday morning? Or is there something different about these times, and if there is, what is it? I'm pondering the disconnect between young adults and formal Sunday Morning/Saturday Night Church. I guess this is my day for pondering.

Presbymeme II

Presbyterian Gal tagged me for the Presbymeme II last week when I was on vacation and not really focused on blogging (except for a little storm watching and ranting). But I'm back home and ready to answer the questions! Here's the rules:

• In about 25 words each, answer the five questions below.
  
• Tag 3 Presbyterian bloggers and send them a note to let them know they were tagged.


• Be sure to link to this original post.

1) What is your favorite faith-based hymn, song or chorus?

It's a combo Hymn-Praise Song...Take My Life (and let it be consecrated Lord to Thee) with a chorus by Chris Tomlin. Super combo of older and newer.

2) What was the context, content and/or topic of the last sermon that truly touched, convicted, inspired, challenged, comforted and/or otherwise moved you?
No matter where you find yourself, no matter what you are doing, God is calling you to shine where you are. In all situations, shine where you are.

3) If you could have all Presbyterians read just one of your previous posts, what would it be and why?
This one. It talks about one of the issues that I hear about the most in the church (worship music) and my experience with how God can use music to reach us...featuring above named song.


4) What are three PC(USA) flavored blogs you read on a regular basis?

Just three? Presbyterian Gal, Cheesehead in Paradise, and Yeah, but Houdini didn't have these hips. There are a lot more though.


5) If the PC(USA) were a movie, what would it be and why?

This one...

Only 25 words? New (stepmom) vs. Established (mom) and how they figure out how to work together for the good of the the children and how they had to learn from each other in order for each to survive. Maybe it's more my hope for the PC(USA).

Okay so I don't know many who haven't done this meme so I'm gonna say if you are in the PC(USA) and you haven't done this yet consider yourself tagged!

Political Ranting

Yo Momma and I are in Oregon getting a little culture this week...just think Shakespeare. We've seen a couple of great plays, eaten at our favorite restaurant, walked through the town, walked through the park, relaxed on our balcony with our books and we've been watching a little news too...which is never a good thing because I get myself all worked up and then Yo Momma has to listen to me steam for awhile. I've been steaming all day though and think maybe it's time to let a little of that steam out...I don't normally talk politics (with anyone outside my family and very close friends) so this may be a once in a blog time thing.

As a citizen of the United States of America who will be voting in the next election, I hope that I will be given all or as much information as possible about any candidate to make an informed and wise decision on my elected officials. I do not care if that candidate is male or female, Caucasian, Hispanic, African American, Asian or of any other ethnic group nor if they are Republican, Democrat, Independent, Green Party, Libertarian or what. I want to know their history, their values, their ideals and dreams. I want to know about their family life, their stance of many different issues and what experience they have had. I want to know what drives them, what makes them tick, what motivates them and most certainly how they may react in a tough situation. Most of all I want to know if they are going to be above board or if they are going to be sneaky and hateful (though I tend to believe that at some level all politicians are sneaky). If any public official has a problem with that then maybe they should rethink their day job.

Okay, rant on political issues now over. Thanks for reading.

Sighs of relief

From the news on the Pearlington Blog there is less damage than originally suspected. Check it out here for yourself http://www,pearlington.blogspot.com

Yo Momma and I were talking today and there are two things we can do right away #1 send clean-up buckets to PDA and #2 start sending gift cards to Ben so that they can buy whatever supplies they need. Lowes or Home Depot. If you want to get one and send it my way I'll combine them all and send them to Ben...any amount is greatly appreciated!

In the meantime I'm going to enjoy my vacation and breathe a little easier...and figure out what my response is to the Presbymeme II that I just got tagged for! Thanks PG! :)

Storm watch Day 1

The news right now is that 100 homes in Pearlington have flooded. I've added a link to the Pearlington blog to my blogroll, so feel free to go there for the most updated information. I'll update when I hear again from Tom.

Watching from the road...