Once Upon A Time

A girl found herself unable to sleep.  This is happening more and more.  Growing old is hell.  The twitch in my eye has finally "left the building" and now I'm starting to wake up at 3 a.m.  Most mornings I will think "to heck with that!" and fall back asleep.  This morning....no such luck.  It is now 6 a.m.  I have showered, washed and dried and am about to fold a load of laundry.  I have perused my emails, Hubby's emails, Facebook, the web ad nauseum, and have fed the cats, drank a cup of coffee, now drinking a Diet Sprite (have I mentioned I haven't had a dark cola since July 23rd???), looked through a cookbook, decided I'd try something new with my bread machine, and now I'm sitting half dressed (too dark in my bedroom and I don't want to turn on the lights to find a shirt) blogging!  What a life!!!  What a morning!  By the time work hour rolls around, I'll be ready to roll back under the covers.  I think I better bring a large cup for my morning work coffee break.  If you need me, I'll be the employee asleep on the couch...dreaming of pretzels (that's my new idea for my bread maker).  I have great plans at 3 a.m.

I'm looking for a recipe from a friend.  It is somewhere on my messy desk.  My weekend project is to take back my desk.  It has been overrun with papers and magazines and books and pencils (can't find a pen to save my soul but unsharpened pencils are all over the place!).  LOL

Did I tell you about the little kitten?  No, I don't think I did because I would have surely heard from my mother!!!  LOL  On Wednesday at Bible study, a member walked in and exclaimed I think I hear a tiny mew.  I think a baby kitten is in the church garden.  Ever the sucker for baby- anythings, I walked outside with her and sure enough, I teeny tiny kitten was crying in the shrubs.  I called for it and that tiny thing wobbled over to me.  It was the ugliest thing I ever saw....but no fleas!  It's eyes were barely open and when I walked inside with it, Hubby sternly said "NO!"  We put it back in the garden hoping that Momma Cat was nearby.  I know I will get hate mail and my grandmother is probably rolling around in her grave (she was such an animal lover) but I really cannot bring another animal into our house.  The member who heard the kitten in the first place is another animal lover.  She was finding a home for it.  I remember Career Girl and her baby kitty.  She awoke every hour on the hour to feed it and wipe its butt and now that is the meanest, hissiest cat around.  The vet told her most bottle fed/ butt wiped kittens turn out rather mean.  Well, there you go.  A lesson on doing a good deed-- no good deed goes unpunished (to quote Elphaba in Wicked).

I'm getting sleepy and hungry, Grainiacs.  This is going to be a looooooong TGIF for this strawberry.

Are you "linkdin?"

Do you feel connected to this presidential race?  Are you linked in to the topics?  The platform?  The people?  I'm not.  I cannot get behind any of the candidates or the races!  I feel lost.  I looked up the minority platform and I cannot jump on that bandwagon either.

One party is too liberal.

One party is too conservative.

And one party would be great if we lived in a perfect world, but we don't.  I can't see Americans recycling or playing nice or taking care of each other and not just thinking about themselves.

History has shown us different.  We go to war.  We want the biggest and the best.  We want to be top dog.

Now not all of us are that way but I guarantee we are in the minority.

At church, we are studying Revelation (singular, please don't call it "revelations."  Just a pet peeve of mine- I'm sure I do some things or say some things to "peeve" you off too.  Possibly this post!!!  LOL).  Some of the churches were too liberal....some too conservative.....and some just lukewarm (aka Weren't we really something back then?  I'm so glad we've got it together and now we can sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labors.  What's that?  You are spitting me out????  For being lazy????  Yikes!).  Now please understand I don't study Revelation as a prophecy book.  Good news for us Christians: Christ is King!  But I think there is a little history lesson...enough for those of us who are not Christians or biblical scholars.  A little history lesson for humankind:  we NEED to be linked in (linkdin).

Sidebar:  here's a little history fact about the church in Laodicea (chapter 3 in Revelation).  Water had to be piped in from a neighboring hot mineral spring.  By the time it traveled to Laodicea it was neither hot nor cold and tasted really really bad so the people spit it out.  They had a great mental picture when John wrote to them saying Jesus says he is about to spit them out of his mouth.  Hmmm, do you think they sat up and listened?

We need to seek the facts.  I read today where J K Rowlings wrote another book and people are flocking to purchase it.  I think I'll start REALLY reading about our next president.  I'm just not sure.  Yikes!  I'm lukewarm.

Peace and Harmony

I really DO want world peace is a great line in Miss Congeniality.  When my kiddos were younger I'd "like" to say they were perfect angels and got along and there wasn't any squabbling but that would not be honest (and this blog is an honest blog! Cross my heart.).  I remember several times I wanted peace in the house and so each child got sent to a different compass rose area-  YOU, over there!  YOU over there and don't even think about looking at your other sibling!!!  All I wanted was world peace in my little strawberry patch- actually I just wanted quiet.  If they could have fought quietly, in maybe sign language, I could have let them continue their combat.  But when you are all under the age of 10- silent wars only happen in books...not real life!  One tends to crave silence in a house of 6 where 4 of them are all under the age of 8!!!!  Now I am older and wiser and the hearing isn't what it used to be ("whadya say?" "huh?") so if they are squabbling, I don't hear it! LOL  We have arrived at world peace in my world.

Until.....da da da da....

We came home from a wonderful weekend trip.  The dogs can't stay "home alone."  They went to boarding school.  The cats, on the other hand, can survive alone for the weekend.  Except Kitzilla really needed to go to the vet for a lube job.  (Remember a few posts back about "that time of the month?")  So Ollie stayed Home Alone.  We left several bowls of water, numerous containers of cat food in various areas and he had a weekend of world peace (i.e.- no Garbage Gut to bother him).  What more could a cat want, I ask ya?!!??  We arrived home after midnight on Sunday to find cat food thrown out of the container and all over the house.  That cat was sending a message.  But dumb cat owners that we are thought "Ah ha ha ha, look at what silly Ollie did!"

Did I mention "world peace?"  Ollie is madder than heck at all of us.  Kitzilla just had surgery and is still licking her wounds all the while getting growled at and hissed at by Home Alone Kitty!  You'd think Ollie thought we had all gone on vacation and left him behind (well, I guess we did in a way!).  Ollie hisses and growls and bats at (with ears laid back- I mean he is M-A-D) at everyone.  I need a cat whisperer.

So the moral of the story:  Once the kids are grown and have moved out and you achieve that perfect "your world peace," don't get animals...or at least don't go on vacation and leave one of them home alone while the others are boarded at the vet!!!!  I've learned my lesson.

I really DO want world peace again!

Whew!

The great thing about leaving home is coming back to your comfy cozy bed!  I love going out of town, but nothing beats your very own bed, right?  And now that I bought that mattress cover, I could live in my bed.

A few years back, I bought a duvet.  I do believe I'm doing something wrong.  Our down comforter slides down to the foot of the duvet and we wind up with a second sheet  instead of the comforter.  It's crazy and thus it is heading for the church rummage sale.  Last night, Boy and I spent a great deal of time cleaning out our closets.  It is a good idea to pretend you are moving; or so I'm told.  Boy and I looked at each item hanging in our closets and if we hadn't worn it in a year (or in Boy's case, gotten too tall to wear!), out it went.  Whew!  I feel good.  Now if I could only de-clutter the rest of the closets!  What a great feeling that would be and I'm not even going to talk about the garage.  But just like the weight issue, it didn't pile up and around the house in one day or one week or even a month.  Nope, this has been accumulating for years and years and it will take some time to get it off, er out.  I'm talking about clutter not weight right now!!

Speaking of weight....Good news!  I didn't gain any weight this past weekend while out of town.  Bad news; I didn't lose any either!  LOL  But I'll take it.

So, Grainiacs; if you need any crap....just let me know.  I'm sorting and getting rid of stuff.  Who knows; I might have just the treasure you are looking for.

Days of the Week beginning with a "T"

Well, it happened again!  I got a later than usual start and had to skip blogging yesterday.  The Strawberries are heading out for a family weekend....whoo hoo.  But first the old van needed an uplifting.  Hubby received a call from the dealership and they said the old air filter was d-i-r-t-y and would we like a new one.  No thank you; we'll keep sucking in that old grit and grim coming out of the old one, but thank you for asking! Of course, we want a new one!!!!  I know, I know; they have to ask.  It's Mona, I tell ya.

Speaking of uplifting; Graini-Aunt read my make-up story and sent in her make-up snafu.  It is hilarious and makes me laugh out loud every time I picture it!!!  I'll step aside so she can tell you.

     Once, when I was working, I was at a meeting in Minneapolis.  My partners were there and an executive from Air Foyle Ltd. in the U.K.  We were staying at the Embassy Suites.  I got up that morning, took a shower, fixed my hair and started to put on my makeup.  I got interrupted by a telephone call.  When I got off that call, I got dressed and grabbed my briefcase and went down to the lobby for breakfast with my colleagues.  We had our breakfast and went to our Minneapolis office for a meeting.  Once we got to the office, I went to the ladies room and looked in the mirror.  

 

     Was I ever shocked!  It has been my habit to put on foundation, then lipstick and put a dash of the lipstick on my cheeks.  Then I use my fingers to blend it in and finish with mascara.  I had stopped my routine at putting a couple of dashes of lipstick on my cheeks.  I'd not remembered to blend it in because of the interruption of the phone call.

All that time, I'd been in the Lobby Restaurant around lots of folks including my colleagues, gone to the office and NO ONE mentioned that I looked very much like a clown with dots of lipstick on each cheek.  (Strawberry LOL-ing here!!!)

 

     I asked them why they didn't say something and to a man, they said, "We thought you knew, that it was something new and if it wasn't, we didn't want to embarrass you."
I survived but still feel embarrassed about it.

 

     Life has a way of keeping you humble, doesn't it?

 

 

 

Oh yes it does!!!  I wish I had a photo to display at this time, but alas I don't! 

 

Tuesday I went in for a cut and highlights.  At work on Wednesday everyone was complimentary about my new 'do.  One of the young tellers (22 y/o to be exact and let me add she even says she is a prima donna so don't take it wrong when I call her that!) exclaimed "Oh, I like that color a whole lot more than your other color!"  Sidebar: I know she was trying to be complimentary in her own 22 year old way, but I just had to joke with her.  Here's the conversation:

 

22: Oh I like that color a whole lot more than your other color!

 

Me: Oh you mean better than my natural color?

 

22 (laughing):   That's not what I said!!

Me (smiling): You said you liked this color better than the other one.  The other one WAS my natural color.

Yep, life has a way of keeping you humble.  Now go and take on the day!

Dentists and flossing and shots...oh my

Boy went in for a teeth cleaning.  Believe it or not, he has been begging for this.  I think he secretly thinks the dentist will suggest he get braces.  He has "almost" perfectly straight teeth....all except for the bottom ones.  If he has his way, I guess I'll be soon hunting for an orthodontist.

Good news!  No cavities.  Perfectly healthy teeth.  Bad news, his bottom wisdom teeth are coming in- crooked and the Doc strongly suggests they come out NOW before they get into the root or tangled into something or other...stopped listening at the "oral surgery now" part.  Poor Boy- all he wanted was braces and now he gets the whole oral surgery thing.  I look back fondly at my (17th?) birthday pictures where I'm looking more like a squirrel hiding nuts in her mouth.  All four of my wisdom teeth came out...ahem right before my birthday and well, you can guess.... really puffy cheeks.  Eldest Daughter (Career Girl) recently had her wisdom teeth removed.  She came through like a champ.  I wasn't there, but that's what I hear.  So Boy comes from a long line of "get thee out of my mouth wisdom!"  I just wish more pearls of wisdom flowed from my mouth before those teeth came out.  Now, I'm just duhhhh.

Speaking of teeth and "well duh," I KNOW I have a cavity and the crown that was just sealed into my chops is giving me fits also.  As long as cold things do not come into contact with my tooth, I'm fine.  Of course here in Rural USA we are experiencing the first fruits of fall- 50*/ 60* so as long as I breathe like I'm drinking from a straw (get the picture?), I'm fine.  Graini-Mom says her crown is bothering her too.  It must be that time of the season where everyone in my strawberry patch life needs dental work.  Personally I think it is a conspiracy!  LOL  All of the teeth associated with my family DNA is revolting.  Or someone has a voodoo doll and is really sticking it to my mouth.  Was it something I said?

Hope you have a healthy mouth Tuesday, Grainiacs. Don't forget to floss. 

Anticipation....It's making me wait

Remember the old ketchup commercial and Carly Simon's song?  That was my Saturday and Sunday.  I felt like cleaning (anticipation) but wound up cooking (it's making me wait!).  LOL  I love getting off track.  Setting my mind on one thing only to totally enjoy something else.  But how in the world do I get anything accomplished?  I have a sign that states "A clean house is a sign of a wasted life" and honestly....who wants to waste their life?  There are so many other things to do and people to see.  I wish I felt comfortable hiring someone.  I'm not exactly ready for the Hoarders television show but I could use a swift kick in the butt to get me moving on cleaning....or do I?  Am I hurting anyone?  Who says cobwebs can't be classified as natural art?  Doesn't that pile of laundry leaning over there remind me of pictures of Paris?  What is art anyway except someone's interpretation!  Ha....I think I'll write a book and relieve so many messies' mind.  I've seen plenty of self-help on organization and cleaning, but none on "Who cares?  If you don't; neither do I?"  Such freedom...so go ahead and make a mess.  It is a sign of your full life.  

Signed, Your Top Messie Grainiac

Back to reality:

For some unknown reason, I decided to make homemade....and I do mean from scratch... flour tortillas yesterday.  Now I remember why I don't do this too often.  It takes me forever to mix (with my hands), roll out (getting them less than paper thin), and turning out  kidney-shaped or Idaho- shaped tortillas.  But what's worse is it takes no time at all to consume them!  Not a great plan if you are trying to lose weight; ya hear me, Mona!!!!!

So for your daily picture laugh, I present my attempt at homemade tortillas.

We start with ping pong ball round shapes.  Then flatten into a round disk.

Ah, dough balls!

Then roll it out.  Not too bad. I think this was my last rolling attempt.

Not a bad looking tortillas there, wouldn't you say?

Now we're talking.  A nice amoeba looking tortilla.  Gulp.  Yum yum.

Now you see them....now they're gone!

Notice the sugar free lifesavers in the upper right?  I should be eating those and not making tortillas.  Well, now I can cross that off my bucket list.  I've made homemade flour tortillas in the 21st century.

I'm Falling.....

Today I am feeling a little melancholy.  I don't really want to psycho-analyze myself but I think I get this way every year about this time.  My Dad died in October of 1986.  I don't remember too much about the day to day dealings- the mind has a way of dealing with shocking tragedy in that way- but I do remember it being chilly and rainy and overcast during his burial in Houston.  The weather seemed fitting because that is exactly the way I was feeling inside.  I think the turn of the season...summer flowing into fall brings back memories of time lost.  A grandfather not knowing his grandchildren.  A husband not holding his wife or kissing her good-bye one more time.  A child not being able to tell her Dad face to face that she loves him.  It is a melancholy day and I think I hate autumn.

For me, autumn also brings allergies or a cold.  My throat hurts; I feel achy; and I just don't have time to get sick.  I'm drinking hot coffee to loosen the phlegm in my throat.  I'm planning to eat that Campbell's chicken noodle soup for lunch.  There is something medicinal about chicken noodle soup!  Maybe it will also comfort my soul too.

But amongst all my melancholy today, I can with certainty shout:

Hallelujah! TGIF!!!!

It's a mad, mad world

I live in a madhouse and I am the gatekeeper.

Yesterday I forgot to put on eye make-up and blush.  I went to work only wearing moisturizer and foundation.  I read somewhere to wait one minute and let moisturizer and foundation "soak" into your skin before adding powder, etc.  Well, in one minute I can find a zillion other things to do (ahem, blog and check emails, feed the animals, put on clothes- thank goodness there is no "wait one minute till you put on your pants!  I'd be a goner, fer sure.).  So I ran out the door and didn't realize I was less than half made up till I went to the bathroom at around 11:30!!!!  LOL  I love living in my delirium.

Last night, I decided to go to bed early.  I really was tired and 10:00 p.m. sounded (at the time) like a good idea.  Next time I'm checking into a motel.  At around midnight, Ollie became restless and paced up and down my back.  I don't think I went back to sleep but when I turned over, that got Ollie in his restless state AGAIN and walked up and down my side.  Kitzilla is in heat and thought 2:00 would be a good time to let me know she is uncomfortable with this whole "heat" business and yowled and yeeeeoooooowwwwllllled a poor pitiful cry.  Which made Ollie restless AGAIN and you know the rest.

Have you seen the commercial with the mom on a hunt in the wee morning for milk for her daughter's cereal breakfast?  Have you seen her hair once she gets back????  Suffice it to say, that is what I looked like this morning.  I almost took a picture for you, dear Grainiac, but I just couldn't find the camera!

It's a mad, mad world around my strawberry patch in the a.m.

Have a terrific Thursday!

That Time Again

It's that time of the month again, Grainiacs, when I sign up for my seminary courses.  This semester I'm taking a course called "Congregations & Agencies" and starting the first half of my field-based learning (FBL for short).  FBL is an equivalent of a MDiv (Masters of Divinity-- what Hubby received) supervised practice ministry.  You find a church (or agency) to work with and that minister (supervisor) works with you and reports back to the office of supervised ministry.  Problem with my FBL is that Hubby cannot be my supervisor.  Good thing, too.  I mean, how would it look on my official papers handed in if Hubby wrote "student will be live-in companion of local pastor"???????  That might not go over too well.  I mean, yeah, we live in a rural town...and yes, I do get confused here with all the different last names of the children in one family and yes, it grosses me out when the Daddy is also the grandpa who is also the uncle.  But hey!  I don't want to be in that category!!!  Ya know???

So back to my next course.  Congregations and Agencies is....well, I don't know yet.  This is their description:

This course examines the congregation or agency the student has chosen as a first field-based learning site. Students learn to tell the story of the congregation or agency in the language of context, systems, and symbols. They analyze the neighborhood of the site using categories provided by the social sciences. They analyze the organization itself using systems theory. 

It sounds like it will be the perfect fit to my FBL, don't you think?  I am praying this semester will not be as stressful as the last.  I really tried taking up drinking but I kept falling asleep while studying so I had to give up the drinking.  I really am a wimp when it comes to that sort of thing.  Never could hold my liquor and don't plan on starting this late in life.


Ooooh, my picture came out in the paper.  I know you have been wondering.

Banking Strawberry

Happy Wednesday, Grainiacs!!!

Where does the time go?

I have been reading over facebook statuses and just took a look at the time!!!  Where does it go in the mornings?  It seems to fly by.  Why doesn't it fly by at 4:40 p.m.?  Those 20 minutes always seem to take the longest and they most definitely don't fly by!  LOL  

The same could be said about losing weight.  It seems the first 10 or 20 seem to "fly" off with minimal ease.  It's the next 20 that seem to want to stick to your bones!  I feel my next 20 are holding on for dear life and saying "no, don't take me."  Out, out, damn fat!!!  I know it's me.  I'm not working as hard as before.  Just like the time flying by-- I'm busy in the morning and not paying attention to the clock; whereas at 4:40 I don't really want to start a new project at work and get it going only to stop.  So I'm clock-watching.  Today I might walk around in circles around my work area-- get some exercise in.  I'm hoping that will move the time along and move some of that fat off the b-o-d-y.  I'm spelling it out instead of saying it in case my fat can't spell.  I remember Mom and Dad spelling at the dinner table.  I really should have worked harder at my spelling back then.  And guess what, Hubby and I also pulled the ole spelling tactic around our own dinner table.

Getting totally off topic, at times I really admire folk who do not own pets.  I'm sitting here typing and looking at all the cat fur around the computer monitor and stapler and thinking to myself  "I really should dust around here!"  I also envy those who don't have to pick up dog throw-up right before church or a furball that resembles something else!  Yep, I really want your life.  But then, my pets go and do something so utterly funny.....or....something so utterly lovey, that I just have to thank my lucky stars for my pets.  So for your morning entertainment....

Yeah, come and git me, dog!

Take that!

You asked for it!

And that!

Now that playtime is over....time for a bath.....stay still.....

Kitzilla is in lovey-mode

and Garbage Gut is the recipient of all this love....

clean behind those ears

pinning him to the ground

I think someone got a wet willy!

I bet you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard about the attack eleven years ago.  Can it be?  Eleven years?  9-11: still remembering.

We're Not in KS anymore!

This past weekend I traveled to Kansas with some of my co-workers.  We shopped, ate, gambled, visited a museum and this strawberry had a manicure!  It was wonderful.  One of the places we stopped and shopped and ate was in an Amish town.  I'm sorry to report we did not see one horse and buggy in the whole town!  The place was crawling with tourists....or the English?  It was State Fair time.  Note to self: don't visit a state where the state fair is 15 miles away!  The traffic was horrendous.  No wonder the horses and buggies were hidden.

Our first stop:

Salt Mine

We traveled 650 feet down to the mine.

A strawberry in a salt mine

Almost immediately we are told not to pick at the salt and definitely Do Not Lick the Salt on the Walls.  Hmmm....now I know why!

A little privacy....PLEASE!

Thankfully, that is not the potty we are to use.  A few years back, tourists used a porta-potty.  Today (and thank goodness we went now instead of a few years back) we have a beautiful salt mined wall bathroom...

And since we were in Kansas, what else would they have...

Home is where the Toto is!

There's no place like home....there's no place like home.....if you know what I mean.

Happy Monday, Grainiacs.  And may the Force be with you!!!

This is Dean's costume not Christopher's!  :(

The storage area to the right is a large poster!

The temperature is a constant 65*--not enough for Mr. Freeze!

George Clooney's costume. Unfortunately George was no where to be found.  I  looked!

Wonka bars from the movie.

You're So Vain

You probably think this ad is about you; don't you? Don't you, Strawberry???  Ah, I love that song.  It is perfect and describes most human beings at one time in their life or another.  This is my special moment to be vain.  The Bank buys an ad in the local paper for our upcoming Fair.  I found out yesterday that they don't put some "blah" interest rate for car or house loans.  No "we do more so you don't have to!" kind of stuff.  Nope, they put nice photos of the employees!  All of us!!!  Individually!!!  I asked if my photo could be taken of me behind the vault doors...looking like I was in jail.  I was told firmly "NO!"  LOL  I thought it would be fitting since my job entails letting people in and out of the jail...I mean vault.  Oh well.  I have no idea where the photo will be taken.  I assume sitting at my desk.

This morning I primped and pumped and dabbed and foofed.  Almost to the point that I didn't have time to write to you, dear Grainiacs.  Now that's a lot of foof-ing!  I also took pictures of each side of my face deciding "which is my best side."  I think it's my left side.  But I also took a photo straight on.  You tell me, but let me know before this afternoon!  Left or straight ahead.  You won't hurt my feelings unless you say "neither."  I didn't include my right side.  That's just plain scary.  So, thank you for your help, Grainiacs.  It's my day to be vain.

Is she live or is she memorex?

photo left

photo straight ahead!

Sing along....Strawberry, she's so vain.  She probably thinks the bank ad is all about her. She's so vain; she's so vain!

All things old

Have I mentioned how I love genealogy?  At my meeting day before yesterday, I noticed the hostess has adorned her walls with old pictures of her ancestors.  Almost every frame in her house has a family member or old school photo of her "peoples."  I loved listening to her talk about her grandfather or her husband's great grandmother.  She is proud of her heritage and the twinkle in her eyes as she talks is a testimony to that fact.  That same night, our speaker spoke about her memories cooking with her grandmother.  As a gift to her family she organized and published a cookbook-- a hardback one at that!  

I was inspired by these ladies.  I've often wondered what to do with all the "old" photos I have.  I, too, have wanted to organize a family cookbook.  I've started a notebook of collected favorite recipes.  I've even bought some albums so I can include pictures as well as copies of recipes in the cook's own hand.  I have a plan; I just haven't worked on it or even thought about it in awhile.  

I resolve to finish that cookbook!!!!!

Yesterday in the mail, I received my ancestry DNA kit.  I'm so excited about it.  I'm not so excited about spitting into a tube and mailing it off, but hey, I've been wanting to do this and ancestry.com offered a promotional and I signed up.  So excuse me while I fill this tube with saliva!  LOL  The things we do in the name of ancestry.

Speaking of ancestry, I have a photo; of whom, I have no idea!  I'm hoping one of you (Mom!) will be able to help me.  Think of this as a milk carton photo. 

 Have you seen this girl?

Isn't it a great photo?  I love it. Now who is she??

I'm thinking she was a friend of my grandmother.  But then she could have also been the model for the photography company!!!  Have I mentioned my grandmother was a PackRat- with a capital P and a capital R???  I'm not that far from the packrat tree either.  I can't get rid of old photos of people I have no idea who they are.  Now who's calling the pack a rat? HUH?

Upside Down Day

It is funny how you wake up thinking one way and writing about it and your day goes absolutely positively the other!  Such was my day yesterday.  I posted about friends (or lack of) and I had the best "friend" day ever....yesterday!!!

When we feel our lowest, there is The One who can pick us up and turn it all around.

I have mentioned before my horrible time in the teller line last year.  There was a particular person who caused trouble and talked about EVERYONE behind their backs and tried to suck me into it only to turn on me too.  You get the idea of the type of person I'm talking about.  We are cordial to each other now (even though she continues to make snide remarks about me!).  I am the bigger person---literally too!  LOL

This past weekend, this thorn in my side lost her eldest boy in a tragic accident.  It was horrific and no one, me included, would wish such tragedy to another human being.  Yesterday, she came in to talk to the boss about financial arrangements for her son's funeral.  As she was leaving I went to her and hugged her.  Let's face it: what can another possibly say to someone who has lost a child?  There is nothing comforting except maybe another's arms who can feel her pain as a mother.  All I know is we Mom's have a common denominator which is the death of a child is our worst nightmare.  I pray for this co-worker.  She will need your prayers too.  

On a brighter note, I co-hosted a meeting.  Our usual MO is to meet and get the heck out of there.  This meeting we began with a meal.  Our meeting went a tad long and I thought, whoops, everyone will scatter.  But instead we all hung around and talked and laughed and had a great time.  It was just what I needed to feel included in this community.  

They still like to hear how I pronounce some of these native american names-- the spelling and the pronunciations just don't go together!  But it was just what the Great Healer ordered.  I feel content and happy just where I am.  I am also glad we are grainiacs together.  I will confess to you, dear friends, I did partake of the pineapple upside cake.  It seemed fitting considering my previous day.  And what a treat they both turned out to be!

Left Behind

This morning I was reading FB posts from friends I met at a Discovery Weekend at Austin Seminary.  They have been moving in to their new apartments all month long and today is their first day of seminary.  God is funny that way.  Out of all the Discovery Weekend attendees, I bet I would have ranked very high in the "so who do you think will reeaaallly attend in the fall?"  I was so sure of my plans/ of God's plans for me that brisk weekend in October 2011.  I came home and wrote essays and called references and talked to family and friends and even preached on Sunday about God's plan for my life.  As the time wore on so did my resolve about what God really had in mind for me.  Doubt seeped in and with doubt came prayer and contemplation.  I was so sure.  I really did hear God speaking to me in April 2011.  I had a deep burning desire to what...?  To go to seminary or to get out of my little rural town?

As part of my "financial" package for seminary, I took a job in November 2011.  Save up some money for school.  As I got busy, I had less time to feel sorry for myself in what I had decided was God's forsaken town.  Before my job, I realized how much I did not fit in.  I did not have one friend to call and say "let's go to the movies."  I had maybe one or two people I called to go to lunch, but their lives were busy with kids (like I didn't have any myself!) and it seemed to me their life was already full of friends and they didn't need anymore.

I'll never forget (and my boys probably won't either) the day I burst into tears when I found out their one and only friend here had decided to go to the movies with some other guys and had ditched my boys.  I was incensed!  Why didn't he invite you two also?  Doesn't he know how hard it is to make friends here?  Why can't these people share friends?????  I was crying and blubbering all over the car.  My boys sat quietly as I finished my tirade and calmed me "it's okay, Momma, we really don't want to go with those other guys."  How can they not?  Do you know how?  They have a multitude of online friends!  They have maintained friendships online and every once in a while get to see them.  They don't have to have a zillion friends to keep up with.  My boys have a few close friends in almost every part of the country and they are content with that.

I got a good lesson in contentment that day.  I am fortunate to have a loving family and good, good friends in all parts of the country.  We might not see each daily or go to lunch or have that occasional soft drink at the Sonic but we talk and write and you know what?  They are a click or phone dial away.

As my friends start their theological education in Austin, I will miss having that experience with them.  At this point in my life I am not sure of my future plans, but I am sure of WHO holds me and I am content.

Colder Turkey

Last year I posted Cold Turkey. I cut breads, pasta, etc cold turkey and succeeded for awhile.  All it took was that first bite of warm homemade bread and bam, I fell off the wagon.  On December 30, 1984 I quit smoking- cold turkey.  I can't remember everything about it (I had my thoughts on other things...namely my upcoming wedding!).  On July 23, 2012 I began kicking my diet coke addiction- cold turkey.  I can kick a habit cold turkey.  I've done it before and I can do it again.  But just today I realized I am kicking a bad habit by substituting another habit.

When I stopped smoking, I started drinking more diet coke.  I substituted one long thin object for another.  In this case a cigarette for a straw.  Since kicking my diet coke habit (so far!) I think I'm getting the munchies or something.  I wake up hungry...I mean my stomach is growling...now what's with that!?!  I'm eating.  I'm not eating lots and lots, but I am eating too much to lose weight.  I'm not going overboard with the munching but it can turn into something if I don't watch it.

I realized today that I'm munching while watching TV again.  Cigarettes calmed me.  Sipping on a Diet Coke calmed me.  Eating nighttime popcorn while watching my programs is calming me.  I need a new calming mechanism which doesn't involve smoking, drinking or eating!!!!  As much as I HATE (yes, I said that word!) to exercise in front of others.... I really Really REALLY do not like to exercise in front of others, I think I'll need to put on my big (no comment) girl panties and exercise in the evenings...in front of my boys.

I will be kicking my "I don't exercise in front of an audience" habit.  Wish me luck, Grainiacs.  I'm gonna need it on this one!

P.S.  Happy Labor Day