Things I'm thinking on Tuesday

• I worked 9 and 10 hour days all the time at my previous job.  Working 9 and 10 hour days and commuting 2 1/2 hours is much harder. (I went to both jobs today, thus the longer commute.)
• I would like there to be more re-runs of Big Bang Theory, especially at 2am when I can't sleep.
• I would like there to be less pollen and other junk in the air so that I can breathe, so that I can sleep at 2am.
• Everyone should have a car stalker.  I forced myself to take the bus yesterday just because I knew my car stalker might possibly stop by and leave notes of love.
• Everyone should actually know who their car stalker is so that when the wind whips through and takes all but two of the pink post-it notes on their car, they can then text the car stalker and whine...and get a picture of what was there.
• I bought my car stalker super sticky post-it notes.  Call me needy.
• I've listened to the radio on the mornings I drive to work and love, love, love the DJ's on the local country station.  I do not love, love, love hearing the same.stinkin'.songs.every.morning.  I'm about done with radio for awhile.
• I am not done with audiobooks.  Especially fiction audiobooks.  I keep trying to listen to non-fiction but I miss half of what is said most of the time, I just can't focus.  Where as the fiction audiobooks I gobble right up.  What is with that?
• I do wish, however, that the actress who read this particular fiction audiobook I am listening to right now would not have tried to imitate a male voice.  It's more annoying than entertaining.  Oh well.
• It's 9pm and my eyes are burning.  Sleep is beckoning.  My daily routine has changed but my night-owl tendencies are battling said routine.  *Sigh*.
• And that is what I am thinking on a Tuesday.  Thrilling.

Oh yes, it's Tuesday

Randomness abounds in my brain today.  Want proof?  Here goes:

• Why, oh why, do people insist on calling the roundness of a pregnant woman's tummy a "baby bump".  Totally dumb phrase.  I'm ready for it be gone.
• Same with the phrase "baby daddy".  Use it and I automatically take points off.
• Lionel Richie songs from the 80's are just fine.  Lionel Richie songs from the 80's redone by Lionel Richie and Country Singers are not fine.
• The 2 inch circle of flesh that was ripped off my heel by my new, cute shoes last week make it impossible to wear any of my go-to-the-office type shoes with heels.  Good thing I have the other new cute shoes without heels.  
• I'm pretty sure that God or the universe (pick one) keeps trying to remind me that I'm NOT the business wear type girl.  The new, cute shoe fiasco was one reminder.  The fuzzy sweater remnants getting all over my black blazer this morning is another.  I already feel like I'm faking it in this new job, do I really need clothes and shoe hassles as well?
• The driver's seat incident of two weeks ago has rendered me reliant on the generosity of Papa Bear and Yo Momma.  I've been driving whatever car they can do without.  Like I don't, already, owe them enough.
• HOWEVER!  The driver seat incident of two weeks ago may soon be over thanks to Papa Bear (who is doing the work) and Pastor Bruce at New Church. Pastor Bruce is a salvage yard aficionado.  He found a new/used seat for me today.  Yay!  Such a blessing.
• I leave for Joplin, Missouri on Saturday for a week of Tornado Relief work with New Church youth.  I'm excited, can't believe it's here already and feeling like I'm cheating on Pearlington a little.

My lunch break is officially over...so enough blogging for now!  Back to work!

A dotty Tuesday post

• Left my cell phone sitting on a chair at home.  Realized it as I was heading out of town for work.  Oh well.
• Florescent lighting really highlights the grey (gray?) in hair.  I do not like it.  No man to wash out of my hair...gonna wash the grey (gray?) right out.
• Survived my first rainy day commute.  I am not a fan.  If I didn't have appointments or meetings before or after work this week, I would be taking the bus.  
• Ben deserves Courtney and Courtney deserves Ben.  Lindzi dodged a bullet.
• This office building that I'm in is interesting.  There are random groups that come in to use the conference rooms every week.  Yesterday was the four guys with the one tall blond woman.  The guys were drooling.  It was such a cliche.  She was nice, though.
• Guys talk really, really loud when they are trying to impress a woman.  The walls are thin, gentlemen, tone it down!
• The pants I am wearing today are too big at the waist.  I believe this is their last day of work.
• Speaking of work, I had better get to it!  Hope your day is great!

Dots

• I have a hard time feeling sorry for myself.  As in, I may be going through tough stuff, but I am always extremely aware that there are people in the world that have life tougher than I do and they aren't whining on a blog.  That said, I'm finding life tough right now.  That's my whine.
• Last weekend Yo Momma and I volunteered to help spruce up a Conference Center.  It's a Presbyterian Conference Center.  There were about 35 people there.  35 Christian people, mostly Presbyterian, who loved Jesus, loved serving and were just awesome.  I've never been a big camp person, but last weekend made me want to work for that Conference Center.  I started getting ideas about programs they could do and ways they could reach out to Pastors and Youth Pastors and churches and...yeah, got a little creative.  My favorite, favorite moment, though was when I was sharing with a couple, in their 70's I think, about where my life is right now.  I said something to the effect of "God was clear that it was time to move on.  I'm just waiting for God to make it clear as to what to move on to."  The woman, J, looked at me and said "She will."  HA!  Just awesome.
• Last night Opinionated Friend and two other ministry minded women and I went to dinner together.  At one point one I looked at each of these women and was amazed at how God intertwines our lives together.  All four of us have been or are currently in Youth Ministry and in pretty big leadership positions.  It was good to look around the table and be reminded that God been at work and continues to work, not just in this community but in our lives and in our friendship.
• That whole statement above, is a good reminder for me as well.  God intertwines lives and works.  Even when I'm feeling pretty crappy, God is still at work.  Even when I doubt that God is hearing my pleas, my rants, my fears, my doubts, my hesitant acceptance of the moment, God is still at work.  I can't help but wish that God would work faster.  Sigh.
• I took a dream class in college.  At the last second, I found that I needed one or two units to graduate, so I took the first class that I could that met on the weekend.  Dream Interpretation is what I think it was.  I'm wishing, these days, that I had paid a whole lot more attention in that class.  Been having some crazy, strange dreams lately.  For example, the other night I had a dream that I was at home with Papa Bear and Yo Momma.  Papa Bear comes up and says "Did you see the goose and the monkey outside?"  To which I go to sliding glass doors and peer out, spying some people with a monkey and a goose.  All of a sudden, the monkey turns into 5 angry gorillas which see me at the window and start racing up the hill towards the house.  In a moment of panic I turned to Papa Bear and say "Did you close the front door."  And Papa Bear starts meandering towards the stairs saying "No.  But the monkey can't get through the screen door."  Those were some angry gorillas and I knew better, so I grabbed a chair to defend myself...and that is when I woke myself up.  Yep, some crazy dreams I've been having lately!  (And I can probably interpret that one a little.)

I think that's about all I've got tonight.

Dots of life

• This morning I took Adventure Boy and Creative Guy to soccer camp.  I had the windows rolled down a little but the interior of the car was warming up due to the bright ball of light that has been insistent on being around the last few days.  Adventure Boy piped up from the back "It's getting hot in here.  Roll up the windows."  My reply: "If I roll up the windows the car will only get warmer."  "NO," was Adventure Boy's response, "it will cool down."  Thus said the child who has known air conditioning in vehicles his whole life.
• Last night was Messy Night at the church.  My last messy night as youth director.  It was good.  I especially enjoyed the power washer that we had to clean up the mess afterwards.  The job that usually takes 2 hours, took just a little over one.  Nice.
• Tonight was Bible Study with the Young Adults and High School youth.  It was relaxed, filled with laughter and good discussions.  This is what I will miss about my job.
• For a long while our household has been having a little bit of a struggle with the newspaper delivery person.  Namely, getting the newspaper delivered, correction, the RIGHT newspaper delivered.  A couple of weeks ago Papa Bear was actually swearing into the phone, albeit it was the automated answering system at the newspaper but he was still swearing.  I've been picking up the paper this last week and what an adventure it has been!  We got the correct paper two days, wrong paper one day, wrong paper and correct paper the next, wrong paper the next day, two day's worth of copies of the right paper and today, well, today I finally just started laughing.  We got not one, but two papers, both of the them different, neither of them the paper we subscribe too.  They were for the correct day though!  I think I'm going to pray for the newspaper delivery person. 
• I don't care how old I get, I hope to never outgrow animated movies.  Excited to see Cars II and the new Winnie the Pooh movie this summer!
• Currently reading Ashley Judd's book, All That is Bitter and Sweet.  My celebrity gawker side is being satisfied with the glimpse into her life and my God centered helping soul is resonating with her experiences in helping others.  And I'm only a few chapters in!

That's all for now!  Nighty-nite!

Running through my brain

• It's Sunday and I'm preparing for a Safe Church Training in just a half hour. In other words, in a half hour I will be leading a group of people in a discussion on Child Abuse awareness and how we can keep kids safe at our church. Doesn't matter how many times I watch the videos, I still get a little sick to my stomach every time.
• In about a month I am heading to Galveston, Texas with some folks from the church and another church group to do Hurricane Ike relief work there. A part of me feels like I'm cheating on Pearlington.
• Two weeks from today I get to give the morning message aka sermon at the church. For some reason this clip keeps running through my head. It may work it's way into my sermon...at least one part of the line..."but I can't help it!" :)
  
• We had a smattering of snow Saturday morning. I woke in time to see some flakes fall from the sky to the ground. It's a big deal here. Last time I remember snow at our house, I was in the 6th grade. That was a while ago folks!
• This weekend is Quilt Fair Weekend for Yo Momma. We went out yesterday and spent a few hours wandering around the displays. Yo Momma has a quilt on display. I am amazed at how much time and thought is put into the quilts...some are amazingly beautiful. I decided, though, that I'm not much for the 'artistic' quilts. Give me something pretty traditional and I will be just fine...though none of those yo-yo quilts!!

That's all for now!

Life

In dot form:

• 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.
  

Mon-dots

• Train Guy and Adventure Boy spent the weekend with me. Two nights before they arrived, I was watching some show on TV and said to God as I feel asleep, if I ever get married and get pregnant, I want twins. I rescind that statement. I may even rescind the whole kids thing. NOT that Train Guy and Adventure Boy are wonderful, they are, I just like sleep way too much. My "mom radar" was in high gear all weekend. We had a great time, went to the big zoo, played, had movie night, did a project together and more. My warm fuzzy moment of the weekend was Sunday morning, as I was leaving for church and the boys were hanging in my bed watching cartoons. Yo Momma had volunteered to take them to church later, so I gathered my things and said "Goodbye, see you in an hour and a half, love you!" Adventure Boy looked at me said "love you too". Agh, heart melting!
• The lack of sleep will not stop me from having them spend the night again. It was fun and it was really good for K and N to get away. My next sleepover will be Miss Payten, if Lil Bro and New Sis are serious. It is fun to be with them and wonderful to send them home! :)
  
• The Olympics aren't helping with the whole sleep thing either. Why do they insist on putting the ice skating on late at night? My eyes feel gritty every morning.
• And speaking of Olympics, what is the deal with curling? I can not figure that sport out. I've been getting sucked in every morning as I get ready to leave. I think I know why they use the brooms and I FINALLY understood why they call it curling (that happened this morning) but what I don't get is how it's scored. I just don't get it.
• And for the record, I'm still not happy with the ice skating TV commentators. Whatever they have to say could wait until after the performance is done. I'm looking forward to the night where all the skaters perform just for the sake of performing just so I can watch them and listen to their music without interruptions.
  
• This afternoon I got a strange email. Local TV station person asking me to call them. I thought maybe it was false and then I got home and there was a message on the answering machine from the same person. Curious. Will keep you informed!
  

Things going through my mind today

• Friends are good. Especially friends who don't mind if the lava cake one bakes is more lava-y than cake.
• Speaking of cakes...I watch those TV shows that have the cake dudes on them. I like them but something is bugging me. Do rice crispy treats count as cake? I see an awful lot of "cakes" made out of rice crispy treats. I get that it's a whole art form thing and that cake can't do some of the things they want, but does that make it cake or a big marshmallow cereal treat?
• One thing that always bugs me about the Olympics is the constant commentary from the so-called experts. Just hush already!!!!
• Speaking of the Olympics. Friday night we had an Olympic opening ceremony party with the young adult cake. I made cupcake torches, cake in ice cream cones. They kind of spilled over the edges and weren't perfect, which seemed fitting as things had gotten off to a less than stellar start to the Olympics. Then there was the mechanical failure with lighting the Olympic flame and, well, my torch cupcakes seemed pretty appropriate!
• I've been working on choosing music for Sunday mornings worship weeks in advance. We have a huge list of songs to choose from and I try not to repeat songs too often. I'm often amazed at how God weaves the songs together, even when I'm not fully aware of what's happening. Tonight we rehearsed for next Sunday. The first set of songs weave together so well, I can't believe it. Not just in the matter of the key and tempo but in theme. If it goes along well with the sermon on Sunday, well then God really is awesome! :)
• Many times Monday night rehearsals are a kind of therapy for me. Tonight especially. Music soothes my soul.
• I've been a church-girl my whole life but lately I'm really struggling with church. Lots of emotions and thoughts twirling through my head and many reasons for that struggle. Not sure I'm ready to share just needed to write those words down.
• Going back to Mississippi in 36 days. YES!!!!!
• There are a stack of books by my bed that I want to read. None of them, however are the fluff kind of book that my mind can handle. Lots of big thinking books, nothing fluffy. Bummer.
• Not that I should be reading books right now anyway! Time for bed. Nighty-night.
  

My day

Today I wrote the following list for R-Girl...

My Day:
7:45-11:45 church (with Mississippi meeting in the middle)
12:30-2pm Young Adult Group
2:15-4pm Finish decorating Train Guy's birthday cake (a garbage truck)
4:15-6:30pm Church Christmas Celebration
6:30pm-8pm Train Guy's birthday pizza dinner

Here's what I remember about today:

• Opening the door to the church for the custodian who forgot his keys to the church at home, who only had 15 minutes to spend cleaning.
• Walking into the church only to see that those who had rehearsed the day before for the Christmas Celebration had not bothered to return the Sanctuary to it's natural state for the worship service. Lovely.
  
• Keyboardist showing up 15 minutes before church started 'cuz the roads between her house and church were closed...glad she kept trying!
• Having everyone in the worship service take a deep breath in and exhale out all the rush of the morning...it just felt right.
• The prayer of Church Member A as he prayed for the Mississippi Team. I got teary. And Church Doc's prayer for the team to stay healthy. :)
• Laughing around a table with Young Adults, sharing a meal and stories.
• My aching feet and back.
• Singing O Holy Night with a room full of people who were not hesitant to sing. I would have closed my eyes and reveled in the moment but I couldn't remember the chords to the song! Not so good when you're playing guitar.
• The moment of pure harmonious bliss at the close of the Worship Team's special song...sweet.
• The smile on Train Guy's face when he really saw his garbage truck cake (picture to come sometime). Worth all the worry.
• Lil Bitty...enuf said. (Her mom will understand.)
  

But I have to say, the moment that I cherish the most today came in the form of an email that said "Are we ready? RCA". Yes, Ben, I'm ready...only 4 more days.

Things running through my head...

• Two phrases making me crazy..."You know" and "right?", as in "I just made this statement and want you to agree with me so I'll say 'right' afterwards." I want to scream..."No I don't know and I think you're wrong!".
• Yo Momma and I attended Big Church Meeting Saturday. I enjoyed several things about the morning but left feeling a little sad. During the course of Big Church Meeting a Pastor commented that Big Church isn't doing a great job "handing down our faith". I wanted to yell out AMEN!!! That was something that was evident the moment I entered the room. There were three of us there that looked to be 35 and younger...some 40 somethings and a lot 50 and over. Big Church Meeting ended with a presentation on how we can be healthier, as in physically healthier, not church healthier. I sat their thinking that the Church is focusing on some things, that though they are important, should take a back seat to the big elephant in the room...the Church universal isn't doing such a great job of handing down faith.
• The countdown to Mississippi is on. 25 days until I'm on a plane heading towards Pearlington. Prayer Warriors and financial sponsors still needed. Sponsors should head to this site www.ca2ms.blogspot.com for team information and sponsor information!
• Speaking of the Mississippi trip, there are 5 of us that will be spending Christmas in Mississippi. I'm looking forward to Shrimp Scampi for Christmas Eve dinner...yum, yum, yum...and a walk on the on Christmas Day.
  
• Sunday the Young Adult group went to lunch together down by the Yacht Harbor. We were sitting at a restaurant's outside patio, enjoying the sun and the heat coming from the outdoor heater that another table had requested. There were birds all over the place and one seagull decided that it needed a resting spot...and choose the top of the outdoor heater. It took about a second for the heat to register on it's feet and that bird shot off the heater and swooped down to the harbor below, feet first. I feel bad for the bird but it was pretty amusing at the same time. As was Sir Joe's reaction. I don't think I've seen someone laugh like that in a long time.
  
• Why is it that the weeks that are short on workdays are the ones filled with the most stuff to do? And the most interruptions? Back to work for me!
  

Wrap-up of the day

It's really early in the morning or late at night, depending on how you look at it. I've been away from the hotel a full 15 hours. There was a lot packed into that time. Here's just a glimpse:

• Heard from 3 young people who have started groups that give to others or are taking a stand on issues. Very, very impressive, enlightening, encouraging and cool. Just cool.
• Worshipped with a children's choir from Africa. If I can get the video, church on Sunday will be worshipping with them as well. I'm making an executive decision as the worship leader...so there.
• Watched an amazing performer bring a story to life that left the whole room in tears. And that was all within two hours.
• Had lunch at the ESPNzone and watched the 49ers lose in the last seconds of the game...but had a yummy salad.
• Participated in a workshop focusing on how we connect with God throughout the day in the moments that we have...good stuff. Did you know that chocolate and prayer go together? They do.
• Enjoyed a caramel frappacino that tasted like caramel corn. Yum.
• Listened to a discussion about youth revolutionizing the world. It was co-led by a guy who was an atheist, has come to Christianity while working in DC. He has worked for some pretty high mucky-mucks including the Obama campaign. There are a lot of things that I still need to review from that session. I thought I was going to walk away from the conference without buying any cd's or DVD's...not gonna happen.
• Had dinner with other Presbyterian Youth Workers, including someone that I had gone to a class with a couple year ago. Good conversation and I came away with some new resources, plus after the expensive meals in this town, it was nice to have a free dinner! Thanks PC(USA)!
• Tonight we heard from the woman the Lifetime movie, Homeless to Harvard, was based on. I appreciated hearing her perspective on life...it made me think about what I take for granted and what I assume.
• And then, Jon-boy and I hung out and listened to Todd T.'s favorite band in the whole wide world...Lost and Found. Slinky! We also laughed until we couldn't breathe with the Skit Guys. A long but good day.

I've got a bunch of questions running through my head but I also have this little rant that must come out right now. Walking by the hand-out table, where all the extra hand-outs from the workshops wind up, I found this beauty called the Pure Freedom Fashion Challenge. I read through it, it makes sense. I don't like seeing bra straps, shorts that are to short, pants that are too low, I get it. However, it's really frustrating to hear people say "the youth shouldn't wear x, y or z" and then turn around to see the youth workers wearing x, y and z. Where do we think they get it from? It's just annoying. All weekend I've been hearing "youth look up to you!"...so why don't we get that they look at everything? Okay, rant over for now. It's time to sleep! More tomorrow!

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.)

The stuff in my head

No pictures from Messy Night...I didn't get around to getting them off the camera today, so y'all will just have to wait (Yo Momma). Random stuff floating through my head tonight so you'll get some dots.

• Went to Costco yesterday for supplies for messy night...cake fight! Got in line, there were plenty of cashiers and no really long lines but that didn't stop the lady who got in line behind me from coming within a hairs inch of my backside with her cart. The person in front of me would move ahead an inch, I would move an inch, the lady behind would move an inch and a half. Geesh! I was good and didn't glare at her...it was hard.
• Reading the book "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" which is about punctuation. Which is making me hyper-sensitive about my punctuation. Should it be hairs or hair's or hairs'? AAAAHHHH!!!
• All day Wednesday I kept getting whiffs of jello, which, seeing as how I was wearing the same pants as the day before when I had made jello, made sense. All day today I've been getting whiffs of cake, which, seeing as how it was plastered into my hair last night, made sense.
• At a meeting tonight someone made a comment about someone else that was so dead on true it made me laugh, but was also sad; they haven't known the other person for that long. It's kind of scary at how quickly our personality traits become visible to other people. Okay, don't want to think about that.
• K and I got pedicures today. I like having pretty toes.
• What happened to June?
• Went out last night (after messy night and yes, I showered before going out to the movies) with Opinionated Friend and 3 others to see "The Proposal". So good. So, so good. Got home at midnight but totally worth it! Happy Birthday O.F.!
• August 20th, I'm so excited about August 20th!
• Papa Bear made a comment to me last week in fun that went awry; it touched a sore spot I didn't know was there. I've been thinking about that all week. Specifically, when did my self-worth get attached to how busy I am? Why do I take pride in the fact that my calendar is full to overflowing? Why, when I am actually taking down time, do I feel guilty about the down time? By the way, Papa Bear, I'm sorry for growling.
• In my next life I want to be creative enough to be a really good cake decorator. It just looks like fun! (watching ace of cakes as I type)
  
• Baby #2 is due soon. Woo-hoo! Come on, baby, get here all ready!
• This post is getting way long and it's time to end...
• Good night!
  

Random Tuesday Dots

• Today at VBS we did a do-wap version of "I Like Banana's" (and if you've ever been in youth or children's ministry you know what song I'm talking about). It was so funny to watch the faces of the adults as we sang! Pure joy. I think the kids liked it too.
• Randomly in the middle of one of the songs the lyrics to Silent Night went up on the screen. Ummmm....no.
• R-girl and I took the race car down to Costco for our annual Community Dinner shopping expedition. It's always amazing to see how well we can #1 pack the cart and #2 pack the car. The guy at the checkout was very impressed with our packing abilities. He even commented that he didn't do as great of a job as we had. Seeing as how it's his job, I think he'll get some practice. The first time we did this there were 4 of us with all the food...if you've ever been in a Mustang Convertible you know there isn't a lot of space in the back seat or the trunk. R-girl was relegated to the back seat with hot dog buns on her lap that time. Memories.
• Today's newspaper has a story about the opening of an I-HOP in town. It was packed on opening day. Not sure what that says about local eateries.
• Opinionated Friend bought coffee this morning for me (VBS is at her church this week). I got her call as I was pulling into the church parking lot from getting, you guessed it, coffee! We coordinated for tomorrow.
• Just posted on the Mississippi blog www.ca2ms.blogspot.com about housing in Mississippi. Hat tip to Yo Momma for the info.
• It's only Tuesday and it feels like it should be Thursday.
• I was watching The Closer last night which is in a new season. Anyway, besides loving the pink trench coat that Brenda Lee Johnson was wearing, I found myself all of a sudden completely obsessed with getting a glimpse of her cell phone...I'm pretty sure I have the same type of phone! And that's when I knew it was time to turn the TV off and go to bed.
• And now that I have written all this random stuff on this fine Tuesday afternoon, I am off to a pool party with Middle School Students. Yes, you may pray for my soul and my sanity. Thanks.
  

Wednesday Dots

• I have this theory. I can guess how close we are to summer by the driving habits of people in the Valley. Sounds crazy but I know that winter is soon to be gone because the so called "Sunday Drivers" are out in full force mid-week on south 9 and everyone else is driving like maniacs. My favorite one yesterday was the guy that attempted to pass the Sunday Driver on a blind curve. Smart. While we're on the subject of drivers can someone invent a scrolling LED sign that I can put on my bumper with pre-programmed sayings such as: I can only drive as fast as the car in front of me or seriously, if I have to buy a new car because of you I'm gonna be mad?
• How is that one wakes up in the morning with new lines on their face? I don't know where these things came from but I'm not happy with them. Not happy at. all.
• Meggie spoke about unbloggable stuff the other day. I went to post a comment on a blog yesterday and realized that I couldn't for privacy reasons. Do we call that uncommentable?
• There's a reality show that I've watched for a while now that has seemed relatively harmless...until I started reading all the back stories. Yikes! Even if there's just a smidgen of truth to the back stories, I think I'm going to stop watching.
• Tomorrow is writing day. I have the whole day to write a paper for my class. Everything must be postmarked on Friday. Yes, my middle name should be procrastination.
• This morning I woke up with a cold. Not super severe, just enough to make me slightly miserable. Add to that allergies, stress and other loveliness and, well, my housemates just might want to stay clear of me for a couple of days.
• Opinionated Friend is in Rome for a vision trip. She's going to move over there sometime in the Fall to do church planting. She's only been gone a week and I miss her. Not looking forward to the Fall.
• Train Guy and Adventure Boy stopped by yesterday for a couple of minutes. Adventure Boy had been sitting on a stool and left to play somewhere else, so I sat on the stool, to which he came over and got mad! "No sitting on my chair!" My response was "how could you say that nicer?" to which he responded "Please no sitting on my chair!" How can you refuse that? Especially when he has trouble pronouncing the 's' on sitting so it came out more like "itting". Love him.

Random things on a Monday

• Why is it that I can wake up in the middle of the night with a list of things that need to be done at work the next day, yet when I'm at work and have the time to do said things I can't remember what they were?
• This warm weather is nice. My newly pampered toes are enjoying the air (and I'm enjoying admiring them) but it's really good that my heater works well in my car. Seriously cold toes in flip-flops!
• I went to the High School today with Jon-Boy and Trin, it's our regular Monday see-and-be-seen time. After I had parked and was walking up to the office a student stopped me and said "I really like you're Mustang." It's nice to have a cool car!
• And yes, Songfriend, I put the convertible top down today!
• Wednesday I'm meeting with the students that are reading through the Bible with me. We have those One-Year Bibles with the passages all picked out for you on specific days, which is great...if I had read any of it. I'm still in mid-January. It's almost mid-February. I should be reading. My old friend procrastination is visiting.
• I realized today that I will out every night for the next 10 days. I'm not sure I'm gonna make it!
• Why are White Mocha's so good? Why can't I resist them?
• Is anyone else having trouble with spell check on blogger? It hasn't worked in days...so don't hold spelling errors against me!
• That's it. I'm tired. Good Night!

Overload

Overload in bullet form: (started at 5pm)

• In 45 minutes five students and a youth advisor are arriving to talk about our journey through the one year bible. It's the 16th. I'm on day 11. I still need to order the pizza and pick it up.
• Youth group starts in an hour and a half. I know what I'm talking about. Just not so sure how it's going to be said. No games planned, no songs chosen. We're winging it.
• Next weekend is the High School Snow Trip. We're going with another church whose youth leader called today and said she broke her foot and can't drive. Unless we get a new driver, 3 students will be walking to the snow 250 miles away.

Restarted at 10:50pm

• Church computer doesn't like me anymore, which makes it hard to put together picture CD's from the Mississippi trip...all 6 of them! It keeps stopping in the middle of burning the CD and then crashes. UGH.
• People are antsy for their donation receipts from Mississippi, and rightfully so. It's not a quick process though. This time it's not the computer but the printer. It will only go so fast!
• Tomorrow is my Come Away Day. Which means driving in commute traffic to LG and then being silent for 4 hours. My mind is so busy, I pray that I can just put everything else aside and be with God.
• After the Come Away I have a meeting in San Jose and then need to race back home for another meeting that night.

Yep, feeling a little bit on overload. Friday is just around the corner, though which means two days off! And I'm refusing to do any church related stuff on Saturday. I'm not going near that place! Will someone please hold me to that?

Dots of the week

Vacation is fabulous, I just have to say. Every year when vacation comes around I wonder what I'm going to do and then by the time the week is over, I wonder how I ran out of time! I still have two more days of vacation left but found myself with a little time to reflect. I like dots, so here's what's been going on this week and what's running through my mind!

• Yo Momma and I hopped in the convertible aka the "race car"on Tuesday and headed up to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I highly recommend it. Especially the play "On the Razzle". Excellent. I love the nuances of live theater and I love seeing how the actors and actresses respond to unexpected events. During the second act of the last play we saw the lights went out. The actors on stage didn't miss a beat as the back-up lights went on. They just kept going. I was really impressed that there were emergency lights designed to illuminate the stage in case of power outages. Nice. The lights came back on JUST as the cast took their final bow. It made me aware that though things like lighting only add to the experience of theater but the really important part is the ability of the actors to convey the message of the play. I don't need special effects to dazzle me when the acting is so good!
• While I don't particularly like driving north on Boring Road that goes through the state, I do have to say I noticed that once we reached the neighboring state slower moving vehicles actually moved to the right so faster moving vehicles could pass on the left. We don't do that so well in CA. Especially in the Bay Area. So listen up! All y'all who move over to let faster moving vehicles pass in the appropriate lanes, Thank You. Road Boulders, you are not helping the situation, just let the people drive the speed they choose and MOVE OVER!
• I've read three books this week and didn't turn on a TV for four whole days. I realized that I turn on the TV when I'm home for the noise. Maybe it's time to get out of that habit. (TV was just turned off.)
• It's been stinkin' hot this week up north and at home, so what did I choose to do today? Head to a local amusement park with the Train Guy, Little Boy and K. It was hot but so much fun. Train Guy and I rode Whirling Strawberries. It's quite an experience. My favorite moment of the day was on our last train ride of the day. Train Guy had pretty much worn himself out but wanted to go on the train "one more time". Halfway through the ride Train Guy was asleep. It was a kodak moment...too bad we forgot the cameras!
• My biggest project of the week was putting up new window blinds in my room. I took me a little while to do tonight. It's amazing how window blinds can change the look of a room. Hopefully they keep the light out a little better too!
• Tomorrow is Church Day and I'm still on vacation. That means that I don't have to get up to be at church at 8am. I don't even have to go to church at all! Usually when I'm not in church it's because I'm on a trip with the youth. The last time I had a Sunday morning off I was on a plane headed home after a friends wedding. This time I have some options and I'm home. I'm feeling the need to go to church, but I'm not feeling the need to go to my church. I'm not sure where I will end up tomorrow. But I do know that I will appreciate sleeping in!
• And last little dot thing for the night, The Dad is complaining about his Blog name. He doesn't feel that "The Dad" is very exciting. Um-hm. I'm not so sure he will like any of the others that have run through my head either. I'll keep thinking and let you know!

That's it. I'm tired. Bed is calling and so is another book!