Skunked!

Got to work this morning, got out of my car, coffee, keys and cell phone in hand and got a whiff of skunk. It's not unusual around here to smell that smell. With so much in my hands, I opened a different door than usual to the church, one that will stay open and not just close automatically. That's when the pungent skunk odor really knocked me back. Yuck.

The downstairs hallway, the upstairs hallway, the custodians closet and now my office all reek of skunk. Luckily the youth room seems to have been spared. It would be a perfect day to work from home...except it's Parent/Youth Night and I have to be here.

Candles lit, windows open, hoping the smell of skunk goes away.

Baby recap

So, as far as I am aware, baby craze 2009 has come to an end. They have all made their arrivals and are doing well. Thanks to the tiny little SD card I bought today, I can now show you all the pictures I've gotten of the precious ones without having to text them to Meg who would then email to me. Such a process to get pics off the phone but no more! Woo-hoo! Here's the recap:

This is Kylie, she was the first. I'm hoping that we get to meet face to face sometime but she has this trip to Hawaii with her parents and grandparents coming up and her social calendar is pretty full. She's a cutie!

Sammy came second. Such a great picture, such a happy guy! Sammy and I spent some time together a few days after he was born, which was lovely. I'm hoping that we can reconnect sometime later this month...if he's available. M & L, I'll be calling!

Colby was the third arrival, stubbornly waiting until after I had to go home to make his way into the world. (Yes, it's all about me, clearly!) If you can't tell by this picture, big brother Brody is pretty protective and happy he's here.Payten was the last one and probably the one you will see most around here. She gave us a little scare this week but has rebounded. She's looking pretty serious in this picture. Her Auntie B is having a little bit of a problem living so far away but pictures help!

Found

I've spent the last two days working on my office. It's been the same for a few years now and I got bored with it. A few years ago I painted one wall blue. Just one small wall. I went out and bought more paint to continue onto another wall and never got it done. So yesterday I decided it was painting day. I now have two blue walls.

In the process I moved the gigantic filing cabinet and cleaned behind it, finding CD's that had been lost, a picture that I really didn't miss and a never used phone cord. That started my cleaning, rearranging jag which has resulted in everything that could possibly be moved, being moved. The floor has been vacuumed, the bookshelves dusted, books rearranged, things taken to the thrift store and more never used phone cords have appeared. I really don't know where they came from but at last count there were 4.

Things collect in a Youth Directors office. I found copies of birth certificates from a trip to Mexico that was taken WAY before I started here (which reiterated what I thought when I first started and had to clean out my predecessor's office, when it's time for me to leave, I'm taking a week and going through everything that will be left behind. Someone new shouldn't have to deal with my junk.) Then there are the bags of fake Easter Grass that I bought one year on the advice of Songfriend who would put them in the bottom of his youth members sleeping bags. It sounded like good clean fun...never did it though. There are the 3.5inch floppy disks with worship songs on PowerPoint from the days after the slide projector and before MediaShout. Coffee beans from a fundraiser 5 Mississippi Trips ago, protective glasses from the Mexico 2005 trip and the folder with all the information from that trip. And let's not forget the aforementioned 4 never used phone cords. The garbage and recycling bins are my friends this week.

In other news, Papa Bear has started his own blog. He's political, opinionated and isn't afraid to talk about it, so if you're up for reading you can find him here. Just remember, I warned you.

Life's roads

It was in the summer before my 8th grade year that Jesus and I started our journey together in a more "formal" way. Growing up in the church, I knew God and I knew Jesus but that summer my faith became real, more potent, to use church language that summer I asked Jesus into my heart and life changed. It wasn't a huge change, I still was who I was but something was different. There was a peace, a confidence that I had because of my relationship with God that came from the inside out. Life with God felt right...life with God still feels right.

Over the years God and I have been through many ups and downs together. There have been times when everything has been great and times when I have been mad, mad, mad. God and Jesus have been those constant voices telling me when things are right, when things are wrong and when I've gone very astray. There was a time when I told God "No"...not to God being a part of my life but for my being a part of church life. God respected that and then drew me back in when the time was right. The roads that God, Jesus and I have traveled have been interesting and varied. There are some roads that I've tried to take that never seem to go anywhere and then the roads that God and Jesus lead me on that take me to places I never dreamed of going.

If God had followed the road that I thought I would be taking, I would be married with 3 kids, teaching Kindergarten somewhere. But the road that God had me traveled has me single, with so many kids of the heart it's hard to count them all, in Youth Ministry, constantly checking this website June through October and instantly on alert anytime the words "hurricane", "Katrina", "Mississippi", "NOLA" and "Pearlington" are said. And while I take no joy in the pain and heartache that Hurricane Katrina brought, I am grateful that in following the road that God had me on, I've been a part of bringing hope, joy and peace to the hearts of those that Katrina left in her wake 4 years ago.

It's not the road I would have taken, but I'm grateful to be on it.

Dots on a Wednesday

• G.G. and I enjoyed our time with Payten and fam. We also enjoyed our car ride together. We didn't enjoy the people in the hotel who woke us up three times in one night but the price was right!
• Something has died underneath the deck outside my window. It's really, really smelly. I thought about writing a poem to the dead thing under the deck but my funny side is hiding right now. Sorry, I know you all would have enjoyed it.
• I dropped my cellphone today...again. Beginning to think I should have gotten the warranty on it.
• I cannot get this out of my head. It's almost as bad as Meg's Get Frosty obsession. Almost.
• A couple weeks ago the router was upgraded at the church. The goal was to get the wireless signal a little better in my office. Wouldn't you know the day that I have a bunch of Internet work to do, the darn thing kept dropping the signal. I was thisclose to throwing a huge fit. That would have been a sight to see!
• I had something else that I was going to say but Papa Bear just interrupted the flow of my brain, so I'll leave you with these last two pictures of Payten, because I know you just have to see more! She wasn't so happy in this one. I love the little dimple in her chin. She was much more content here. (G.G. also had fun editing this pic.)

First meetings

G.G. and I made our way to Payten-land yesterday. First meetings are good.

She's got skinny, long feet and long fingers. I couldn't stop myself from taking this one. Lil Bro gave me a bad time about it but just look at that foot!Meg, this pic is just for you. What a face!

On the answering machine--update

The Pastor called me into his office today (yes, it's a Saturday, it was a church workday sprucing up the place, a job that never seems to end). Someone had called and left a message that went basically like this:

"Yeah, Hi. I go to the restaurant next door to the church. Yesterday I was there and wanted a glass of wine to go along with my food but they said they couldn't serve alcohol because the church is next door. I'm calling to see if there's something that you could do about that. They really need to serve wine with their food. So, hope there's something you can do to help them out and help me out. Thanks."

Ummmmm...couple of things here. #1, their being next door to a church doesn't seem to be the real issue. Rite Aid across the street sells alcohol and so does the liquor store next to that. I'm thinking a liquor license might not be what the owners want to get. #2. If you really need alcohol to eat the food at this establishment, I would find somewhere else to eat. Just sayin.

UPDATE: Songbird was right! CA code says:

23789.  (a) The department is specifically authorized to refuse the
issuance, other than renewal or ownership transfer, of any retail
license for premises located within the immediate vicinity of
churches and hospitals.