- Wednesday night Opinionated Friend, YL GalPal and I went out really late. Really, really late. Saw a movie and then drove YL GalPal to the airport...at 3 in the morning. It was fun to hang out with them, a good movie and a good reminder that I am SO not 20 anymore! Getting home at 5am meant getting about 4 hours of sleep. At one point the next day I was sitting at work and my eyes were crossing I was so tired. Would do it again...but with that cup of coffee at 11pm. :)
- Friday I went to leave the house in the afternoon. I had taken the morning to just breathe before focusing on writing the final paper for my final class for my Certificate in Youth Ministry. Housemates had left earlier in the day, so I locked the front door and headed to the garage...and found the garage door locked. There's no direct access to the house from the garage, so the garage entry door is outside the house. There's a lock on that door. It was locked. I peered through the windows and saw that the main garage door was down. My car was inside the garage. Are you tracking with me? It gets better. Inside the locked garage was my locked car with (drumroll please) my house keys safely tucked away inside. Yep. Locked out of the garage, locked out the house. Nice. I rescued my car but not without practicing some stealth moves. Fun.
- Friday night instead of heading to shop as originally thought I joined Yo Momma, G.G. and Fab Friend B for dinner and a movie. Good food, good conversation and a really silly movie. Yeah, nice end to the day.
- Saturday Yo Momma and I braved the crowds at the mall and went shopping. We have this Black Tie thing to attend in, oh 22 days and, well, my idea of getting dressed up is a nice pair of jeans and a pretty shirt. Not gonna work. In the first 2 hours I found a beautiful top that was over 75% off. YES! Yo Momma found her business attire (that's one of the nights) but decided against the dress that was so tight it left NO room to the imagination. We laughed a lot!
- And today, today I finished that paper. Tomorrow it's time to focus on Youth Sunday, songs for VBS at neighboring church and revamping my job description. Life goes on.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Life
In dot form:
Monday, May 24, 2010
Passwords
This Internet age is requiring me to think
way too hard about the passwords I make.
There's passwords for emails
passwords for blogs
passwords for bank accounts
passwords for my job.
There's a password to log on to the computer
there's a password for the internet
a password for the website
a password for the copier...wait that's actually two.
It's no wonder when I go to log on someplace
I pause halfway through and ask, now which one is this?
My fingers know just how to type them in
but my brain, oh my brain is just swimming with them.
way too hard about the passwords I make.
There's passwords for emails
passwords for blogs
passwords for bank accounts
passwords for my job.
There's a password to log on to the computer
there's a password for the internet
a password for the website
a password for the copier...wait that's actually two.
It's no wonder when I go to log on someplace
I pause halfway through and ask, now which one is this?
My fingers know just how to type them in
but my brain, oh my brain is just swimming with them.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Finding hope
I've been spending a lot of time with "young adults" lately...those out of high school, maybe in college, maybe not, mostly without kids and generally under the age of 30. It's part of the change in my job in the last few months as we seek to help the young adults who graduate out of the youth program to remain connected to their faith. We have gathered every other Sunday or so and have been reading through a book on faith. It's been fascinating to listen to the conversation, to participate in the conversations without feeling the need to lead them anywhere. Awesome.
What I've come to appreciate is that they are all there, not because someone is forcing them to be there or because they feel obligated but because they genuinely want to gather, talk and explore faith. We aren't all on the same page but there is a mutual respect and understanding that we are there to encourage and not condemn, to listen but not argue, to learn from each other and not be dominated by one personality. It's been so refreshing to be a part of this group.
Lately, in conversations about faith with "adults" (those not categorized by the definition) I've found that there has been more complaining rather than encouraging, more arguing rather than listening, more dominating than mutual respect. With maturity and a longer lived life comes more experience and a jaded view of life and God. There's less hope, more well, more sarcasm for lack of the word I'm looking for. I've gotten to the point that I try to avoid the subject of faith with some in my life because I just don't want to hear it anymore. Really. I get that there is discontent, that life is hard, that God doesn't make sense at times but seriously, I believe that there is always hope.
So, I've decided that I'm gonna just hang out more with those in the "young adult" group and soak in their voices. I will listen to their views, talk about God and faith and soak in the hope that underlies the words that they are saying. In the meantime, I will be hopeful that those in that other group will influenced by these voices and find hope in faith and God again.
What I've come to appreciate is that they are all there, not because someone is forcing them to be there or because they feel obligated but because they genuinely want to gather, talk and explore faith. We aren't all on the same page but there is a mutual respect and understanding that we are there to encourage and not condemn, to listen but not argue, to learn from each other and not be dominated by one personality. It's been so refreshing to be a part of this group.
Lately, in conversations about faith with "adults" (those not categorized by the definition) I've found that there has been more complaining rather than encouraging, more arguing rather than listening, more dominating than mutual respect. With maturity and a longer lived life comes more experience and a jaded view of life and God. There's less hope, more well, more sarcasm for lack of the word I'm looking for. I've gotten to the point that I try to avoid the subject of faith with some in my life because I just don't want to hear it anymore. Really. I get that there is discontent, that life is hard, that God doesn't make sense at times but seriously, I believe that there is always hope.
So, I've decided that I'm gonna just hang out more with those in the "young adult" group and soak in their voices. I will listen to their views, talk about God and faith and soak in the hope that underlies the words that they are saying. In the meantime, I will be hopeful that those in that other group will influenced by these voices and find hope in faith and God again.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sob story
Sunday I had the urge to finally wash the months of dirt accumulated off the race car. So I grabbed a rag, a bucket and the hose and got started.
About halfway around the race car with one half of the race car a dingy grey and the other half a beautiful shiny silver, I started around the license plate holder...and proceeded to slice open one of my fingers on my right hand. Oh lordy. Blood, pain, blood. Yuck. I dropped the rag, stood up and started toward the house and then immediately stopped, turned around, grabbed the hose, washed the cut off, jammed my thumb against the cut to stop the bleeding and proceeded to finish washing the rest of the race car with my left hand. A mighty feat, I tell you, seeing as I'm very much right hand dominant...and that cut stung. I am woman, hear me roar.
Monday I got in the race car to head to work. It started up with a rumble, rumble, rumble that was much more pronounced than usual rumbles. The whole car shook like a bowl full of jelly...oh, sorry, mixing up stories. Anyway, it was a major shake and didn't sound great but, hey, I needed to get to work. Monday night about 6pm when I was finally ready to head home, I went out and started the race car it rumbled and died. Tried again. Rumble, die. Pushed my foot on the gas, rumble really loudly and fast! Made it to the top parking lot before it died again, this time locking up the power steering. I did what any strong woman would do...called Papa Bear. :) He came to my rescue but the poor race car sat in the church parking lot overnight.
Tuesday I called the mechanic. They were closed. Something about a bike tour being in SC and the whole downtown being a mess and something. Sure. Likely story. Appointment for Wednesday. Race car, again, has an overnight stay at church.
Today (Wednesday) I called for a tow truck. Which was actually quite funny. As I talked to the insurance people about getting a tow truck who told me that it could take up to 45 minutes for said truck to arrive, I was looking at the tow truck shop across the street from the church. Literally the 5 minute warning call came as I watched the truck pull out of their parking lot and into the church parking lot. The tow truck driving was hooking up the race car before I even made it out the door. It's a sad, sad thing, Internet, to watch one's lovely car be driven down the road by a tow truck. I'm much too attached I think.
The mechanic is keeping the race car overnight. Something about something about the starter and...okay, I didn't listen very closely. All I heard was "250 dollars". But he did say "it's a very nice car", I agree, and he also humored me and checked the fuel filter (which needed to be replaced and he did it, thank you). And tonight the race car is snugly tucked inside the mechanics shop...which is a huge step up from the church parking lot. Tomorrow I get to pay for that overnight stay. Sigh.
And that, my dear Internet friends, is my sob story of the day***. The End.
***Which isn't that awful, really, and in light of things that are happening in some of my friends lives, is kind of petty. Just had to qualify. I'm whining but it's more of a silly whine not a serious one. Life could be much worse and I fully realize it!
About halfway around the race car with one half of the race car a dingy grey and the other half a beautiful shiny silver, I started around the license plate holder...and proceeded to slice open one of my fingers on my right hand. Oh lordy. Blood, pain, blood. Yuck. I dropped the rag, stood up and started toward the house and then immediately stopped, turned around, grabbed the hose, washed the cut off, jammed my thumb against the cut to stop the bleeding and proceeded to finish washing the rest of the race car with my left hand. A mighty feat, I tell you, seeing as I'm very much right hand dominant...and that cut stung. I am woman, hear me roar.
Monday I got in the race car to head to work. It started up with a rumble, rumble, rumble that was much more pronounced than usual rumbles. The whole car shook like a bowl full of jelly...oh, sorry, mixing up stories. Anyway, it was a major shake and didn't sound great but, hey, I needed to get to work. Monday night about 6pm when I was finally ready to head home, I went out and started the race car it rumbled and died. Tried again. Rumble, die. Pushed my foot on the gas, rumble really loudly and fast! Made it to the top parking lot before it died again, this time locking up the power steering. I did what any strong woman would do...called Papa Bear. :) He came to my rescue but the poor race car sat in the church parking lot overnight.
Tuesday I called the mechanic. They were closed. Something about a bike tour being in SC and the whole downtown being a mess and something. Sure. Likely story. Appointment for Wednesday. Race car, again, has an overnight stay at church.
Today (Wednesday) I called for a tow truck. Which was actually quite funny. As I talked to the insurance people about getting a tow truck who told me that it could take up to 45 minutes for said truck to arrive, I was looking at the tow truck shop across the street from the church. Literally the 5 minute warning call came as I watched the truck pull out of their parking lot and into the church parking lot. The tow truck driving was hooking up the race car before I even made it out the door. It's a sad, sad thing, Internet, to watch one's lovely car be driven down the road by a tow truck. I'm much too attached I think.
The mechanic is keeping the race car overnight. Something about something about the starter and...okay, I didn't listen very closely. All I heard was "250 dollars". But he did say "it's a very nice car", I agree, and he also humored me and checked the fuel filter (which needed to be replaced and he did it, thank you). And tonight the race car is snugly tucked inside the mechanics shop...which is a huge step up from the church parking lot. Tomorrow I get to pay for that overnight stay. Sigh.
And that, my dear Internet friends, is my sob story of the day***. The End.
***Which isn't that awful, really, and in light of things that are happening in some of my friends lives, is kind of petty. Just had to qualify. I'm whining but it's more of a silly whine not a serious one. Life could be much worse and I fully realize it!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Happy Birthday Lil Bro!
Wasn't it only yesterday that you were this old?
Time flies! Soon we'll be taking pictures of your little one on the living room table!
Happy Birthday Lil Bro. I love ya!
Time flies! Soon we'll be taking pictures of your little one on the living room table!Happy Birthday Lil Bro. I love ya!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Things I know...
I know...
--I should have taken more days of study leave.
--that the nicest place to hang out is usually found on the last day of my study leave.
--that snow and convertibles don't mix well.
--that sometimes study leave means getting away from regular life and doesn't mean that anything "productive" or should I say measurable by others standards is happening.
--that things measurable by my standards are happening.
--the smell of pine trees in the Sierra's should be bottled.
--a smile from a baby makes me melt.
--sometimes the most spiritual moments take place in the oddest places and ways.
--when all I can do is stare out a window, my brain and soul are overworked and really, really tired.
--that coffee shops with good coffee and free wireless are awesome.
--I should have taken more days of study leave.
--I should have taken more days of study leave.
--that the nicest place to hang out is usually found on the last day of my study leave.
--that snow and convertibles don't mix well.
--that sometimes study leave means getting away from regular life and doesn't mean that anything "productive" or should I say measurable by others standards is happening.
--that things measurable by my standards are happening.
--the smell of pine trees in the Sierra's should be bottled.
--a smile from a baby makes me melt.
--sometimes the most spiritual moments take place in the oddest places and ways.
--when all I can do is stare out a window, my brain and soul are overworked and really, really tired.
--that coffee shops with good coffee and free wireless are awesome.
--I should have taken more days of study leave.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
What I should be doing...
What I should be doing right now is reading the book that I will expected to have some fabulous insight on tomorrow night for my second to last class meeting...what I am doing is blogging.
What I should be doing is putting my clothes in the dryer so they don't get all mildewy smelling (yes that is a technical term). What I am doing is blogging.
What I should be doing is printing out the two papers that I have written that are expected to be turned in tomorrow night. What I am doing is blogging.
What I should be doing is reading the other book that I get to do an oral presentation on Saturday. What I am doing is blogging.
What I should be doing is getting some sleep because I'm really kind of tired. What I am doing is blogging.
What I should be doing is packing my bag for my overnight stay in the big city for my last class tomorrow. What I am doing is blogging.
Blogging about nothing important, but blogging none the less. Why? Because I wear my procrastination queen crown proudly, people!
What I should be doing is putting my clothes in the dryer so they don't get all mildewy smelling (yes that is a technical term). What I am doing is blogging.
What I should be doing is printing out the two papers that I have written that are expected to be turned in tomorrow night. What I am doing is blogging.
What I should be doing is reading the other book that I get to do an oral presentation on Saturday. What I am doing is blogging.
What I should be doing is getting some sleep because I'm really kind of tired. What I am doing is blogging.
What I should be doing is packing my bag for my overnight stay in the big city for my last class tomorrow. What I am doing is blogging.
Blogging about nothing important, but blogging none the less. Why? Because I wear my procrastination queen crown proudly, people!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
He's growing up
Yesterday was Kid's Sunday at church. They took the ball and ran with it! Train Guy and Adventure Boy joined the group and played their instruments with pride amongst the verses of Psalm 150.
As the service ended, all the kids ran to the back of the sanctuary to greet people as they left church. Train Guy hesitated for a moment and then ran to the back...Adventure Boy refused to put his shoes on and wailed during the benediction because he wanted to join them but didn't want to do what he was told...love that boy.
Anyway, Train Guy can be a pretty shy guy at times, so for him to be shaking hands with people, in my estimation, was a big deal. So I said something to that affect and ya know what he said, "Actually it was really a lot of fun. I liked it." *Sigh* He's growing up.
As the service ended, all the kids ran to the back of the sanctuary to greet people as they left church. Train Guy hesitated for a moment and then ran to the back...Adventure Boy refused to put his shoes on and wailed during the benediction because he wanted to join them but didn't want to do what he was told...love that boy.
Anyway, Train Guy can be a pretty shy guy at times, so for him to be shaking hands with people, in my estimation, was a big deal. So I said something to that affect and ya know what he said, "Actually it was really a lot of fun. I liked it." *Sigh* He's growing up.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
A beautiful day
It was a beautiful day here. Just beautiful. After church I knew that I had to read a book...not usually a hardship for me but this one was for my LAST CLASS!!!!! Which makes it kind of a text book, but not really, which is hard for my mind to completely wrap around...I just have a hard time reading text books without zoning out. But seeing as how my last class is this coming weekend and I have three books to read, three papers to write and one oral presentation to prepare for (not to mention working 40 hours this week and still having a life or at least sleeping some), I had to read today. HAD to.
So I decided to grab lunch and head to the beach. Did I tell you that it's a beautiful day? Yeah. I forgot. Beautiful day + beach=way too many people and cars around. There was no parking my car overlooking the ocean and enjoying a comfy seat with the sea air and sound of the waves surrounding me. No. I wound up at home on the front deck with the sun on my legs and the breeze wafting over me, stirring the new wind chimes into melody.
I got my book read AND I got to go to a movie with friends...(Back-up plan...eh)...and I'm pretty sure that one of the tones the new wind chime makes is the "ding" an elevator makes when it reaches it's destination floor.
It was a beautiful day.
So I decided to grab lunch and head to the beach. Did I tell you that it's a beautiful day? Yeah. I forgot. Beautiful day + beach=way too many people and cars around. There was no parking my car overlooking the ocean and enjoying a comfy seat with the sea air and sound of the waves surrounding me. No. I wound up at home on the front deck with the sun on my legs and the breeze wafting over me, stirring the new wind chimes into melody.
I got my book read AND I got to go to a movie with friends...(Back-up plan...eh)...and I'm pretty sure that one of the tones the new wind chime makes is the "ding" an elevator makes when it reaches it's destination floor.
It was a beautiful day.
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