A tooth tale

Sunday night at the NYWC general session, I was sitting with Opinionated Friend (you know who you are) enjoying my second 2-pack of Starburst that had two pink starburst in them...so unheard of but really, it happened. I have witnesses.

Anyway, this starburst was not so chewy so I didn't chew it a lot. About halfway through I bit down and noticed that my starburst was a little crunchy. I thought it odd but didn't worry, just found it odd. Then I was sitting there listening to whatever was happening on stage, it felt like there was still starburst stuck on my tooth. I tried to get it off but wasn't having luck so I went to the bathroom. That's when I discovered that the crunchy part of the starburst wasn't starburst...it was part of my crowned tooth. Not the whole thing, just a little portion of it but still, I have a broken crown...you can stop laughing now.

That was, of course, just before the speaker who got up and proceeded to talk about how our economy is tanking and that we should be prepared to lose our jobs, not because we're doing a bad job but because people are going to stop giving to the church and that means no money...okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a small bit but not that much. All I could think the whole time is that now I've got this broken crown that cost a ton in the first place, I'm still paying off the dentist from the last procedure, now I have a new problem and I'm going to not have a job or the money to pay for it in a month. Have I mentioned that I tend to over think things? Geez.

Then tonight I quickly checked my box at church and found a notice from our insurance people saying that my dental insurance is going to change as of November 1st...again. Oh yeah, someones having a good laugh at my expense.

BTW, it wasn't the starburst that caused my tooth to break. I remembered that earlier in the day, something happened that caused my teeth to clash together and that particular tooth was the one that clashed the hardest. The starburst just helped it come loose. TMI? Oh well.

This is not the Motel 6

It's been a crazy week. Last Thursday Gma and I were housed at one house in Tahoe, last Friday I was with my New Sis (to be at that point) at another house, Saturday I stayed at the Parents house in Tahoe and Sunday night I moved to yet another home in Tahoe for the duration of the week or until last night.

This morning I woke up bright and early and cleaned the house I'd been staying in. As I was heading out to pack my car the skies opened up and the snow fell down. I decided since I needed to be in Sac by noon I wouldn't dilly dally and zoomed out of town. K and Lora didn't believe me when I said it was snowing so on the way up the mountain I had to pull over and take a picture with my cellphone of the snow on my car. I don't kid about this stuff people! Geesh.

For the next three nights I'm lodged at a pricey hotel in the big city. I've got a king bed with six pillows...6!!!! All to myself!!! Heaven, I'm in heaven. This is SO not the Motel 6.

I'm in the big city for the National Youth Workers Convention and I have to say that if the first General Session and seminar is anything to go by, God has it in mind to do some pretty big talking to me in the next couple of days. I'm pretty unstable right now anyway, so this could not be a pretty weekend. I'm glad I have a room to myself so that I can hide while I cry...maybe. Tears don't seem to care when they are shed or who they are shed in front of. I did warn Trin though that I'm a little bit of a basket case, so at least one person has been forewarned.

I'm sure I'll post more about what God is saying, once I've had a chance to decompress a little. For now I'm going to sit back in my nice big bed, watch a little TV and hopefully fall asleep.

BUT I have some pictures to post from the wedding...There is one of New Sis and I but it's not good...in fact it may get lost in camera world. Not good at all.

This is Nesta, Lisa and Aunt C (though you can't see her face)...Yo Momma and Papa Bear are in the background. And yes, Nesta has a mohawk. He's so cute!
This is Brody and Kinuye, the dancing cousins. It's a very serious job.

And this is me with Gma and Lil Bro. I think this one is my new favorite.

I am a Sister-In-Law

Life has changed in my world. Last Saturday Lil Bro got married. I really truly pray that both Lil Bro and New Sis will be happy for years and years to come.

The pictures that I was going to post are on another computer, but their fabulous photographer has posted some pics on his own blog...so if you are interested in seeing those click here. Go to the October 4th heading and you'll see. Totally beautiful location. In the big room picture I'm last bridesmaid on the left.

Life has changed.

Vacation

Tomorrow is my first day of vacation. I will be away from my office for 12 days (counting the weekends). I will miss 2 Sundays, 2 youth group meetings, 1 staff meeting, 1 worship team rehearsal, 2 bible studies, 2 on campus visits and 1 ministry team meeting. While that may not seem like much to some, that's a whole lot to me! It has also means finding people to lead worship, making sure my volunteers have things covered for youth group, preparing as much Media stuff for three weeks as possible, choosing songs for the worship team rehearsal that happens hours after I get home, getting invitations together to send while I'm gone and so on and so forth. Seriously, it's a lot of work to get ready to be away!


After Lil' Bro's wedding on Saturday I have no commitments until the following Friday. That feels weird. My only goal that whole time is to write, relax and read. Then I head to the Youth Workers Convention to be recharged in a different way. Three different events in two different places means I'm going to have a really big suitcase!


I am the queen of procrastinating. I put clothes in the washer this morning because I forgot to do it last night (I still have two loads that need to be done before I leave) and haven't even started to pick out clothes for my time away. Just remembered that I need to stop at the Post Office and pay bills tonight and my car still needs to be cleaned out. Work today has been one thing after another and I'm not sure that everything is done for the time while I'm gone but I'm determined to leave it alone, to walk away...though I know that at some point next week I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night remembering all the things that I forgot to do today. That's just the way I am.

Oh yes, I'm looking forward to being away...just wish it didn't take so much work to actually go away!

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.