Insert catchy title here

I got these a couple of weeks ago from my sis-in-law. I get to see my nephew in less than a month. I hear he is crawling all over the place and that he is getting into everything! It should make for an adventerous week : )

Apparently I am lacking creativity this week. Just look at my pathetic post from yesterday and my wonderful title for today. I need some new, catchy material to grab the readers interest. My life is boring. Nonexciting. Nothing out of the ordinary (which was what came to me when i thought about the opposite of extraordinary). But at the same time, I am leading a pretty calm, peaceful, uneventful, unstressful life. And that's something to be excited about. Drama is overrated!

RANDOM

If you do a google image search for "random" these are some of the pictures that come up. It is past my bedtime. 53 minutes past to be exact.

HSM3 Part 2

I realized that I had not shared the story about how I got roped into, I mean was asked, to go to High School Musical 3. Here is the elaborate schemes of a 10 year old.

Sunday, October 12. I receive a message from Josh asking to call him back. I return the call quickly because Josh generally does not call me. He says, "Teresa, were you going to go see HSM3?" To which I reply, "Did you want to go see HSM3?" (without giving away the answer in my head, "No, I had no intention of going to see HSM3"). Josh, "Yeeeaaaaahhh." Me, "Did you want me to take you to see HSM3?". Josh, "Yeaaaahhhh." Me, "I think that I could do that. But I have a really busy couple of weekends coming up, so we might not be able to go see it right away." Josh, "Okay." And we hang up.

Now, as a side note, I'm pretty sure the conversation at home had gone like this. "Mom, can we go see HSM3?" Mom, "Go ask your dad." Josh, "Dad, can we go see HSM3?" Dad, "You should call your sister." My stepmom wouldn't even sit at home while we watched HSM2, so I know she wouldn't willingly sit through the movie with her son. But she knew I wasn't quite so heartless.

Tuesday, Oct 14 in the evening. I get a phone call and caller ID says Dad. I answer. It's Josh. He says, "Teresa, I was just calling to let you know that HSM3 comes out on October 24." Me, "Okay Josh, but remember I told you on Sunday that I'm not sure when we are going to get to go see it." Josh, "I know, but I wanted you to know when it was coming out."

Sunday, October 19. I receive another message from Josh, "Teresa, I was just calling to see when we are going to be able to see HSM3. Don't forget it comes out on Friday." I did not call him back.

Wednesday, October 22, 7:58am. Another missed call that caller ID identifies as Dad. My heartbeat skips because I don't generally receive calls from my dad early in the morning so I immediately think that something is wrong. I quickly dial voicemail only to hear Josh's voice. "Teresa, some people are going to see HSM3 this Friday and I was just wondering when we were going to go." All said in a rather pathetic voice. At this moment I realize that I am not going to get away with going to HSM3 any later than this weekend. I call Dad to let him know that I will be able to take Josh sometime on Saturday but am not sure what time! And that is how I came to be sitting in a theater opening weekend for the movie. Did you really want to know all that? Probably not. Did I enjoy telling you anyway? Definitely.

Oh, I almost forgot. On the way to the theater, Josh asked me if it was just going to be the two of us at the movie or if I was meeting any of my friends there. I still did not have the heart to tell him that the only reason I was going was because of him and that none of my friends would willingly go to see the movie! I am such a good sister!

HSM3

Saturday was a pretty typically hectic day. I started off the day with a Women on Their Own Brunch. Women on Their Own is a ministry I am involved in at church that ministers to single women. This is the second brunch we've had. I was to serve the ladies, facilitate a couple games of bingo, and then give my testimony. There was also a lady who shared her testimony after me. She brought tears to my eyes.

After the brunch I was able to take my brother on a date. We went to see the much anticipated:

Call me crazy, but I actually enjoyed myself. There were about 2 too many songs, but other than that, it ranked right up there with the first High School Musical. Now, I'm not saying that it was my favorite movie ever, but it wasn't the worst I had ever seen either. Besides, I couldn't disappoint Josh, who was counting down the days until the movie!

Then I was able to go to Kari's new house and "help" her move some things in. Everyone who knows me knows that I mostly "help" by holding doors. It really is a very difficult job, trust me. I did actually move several boxes into the house this time : ).

Cool weather, good. Winter coat, bad.

I love winter. I love a brisk morning. I love the smell of snow in the air. I love wearing sweaters and sweatshirts. I love wearing clicky boots (or what my brother so fondly calls hooker boots). I love bundling under blankets at night.

I do not love wearing winter coats. I know that it comes with the territory. Winter weather equals wearing a winter coat. But I don't like how I feel confined in the car. And how my purse no longer fits on my shoulder. And how I have to remember that I hung it in the hallway at church. And how it makes me hot in a store but its too cold outside not to wear it into the store.

All of this to say, I broke down and faced the first of many days wearing one of my winter coats. Granted, it was the lighter weight of the winter coats, but still, it was a winter coat.

But on the upside, it was cold enough to wear a winter coat this morning! : ) I love cooler weather!

Are you seeing my dilemma? To summarize, Cool weather=HOORAY! Winter coat=BOO!

Accusations and Lies!

I have had several people inform me that I follow people too closely. I would love to say they are crazy and they don't know what they are talking about, but I have become more aware of the problem and am trying to change.

The first step was to find out the official rule on following other vehicles. Here is the law according to the state of Illinois: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/rules_of_the_road/rr_chap11.html#vehicle_following_distances
So, this law is the 4 second rule, which applies in Illinois. But others suggest 2 seconds, and still others suggest 3 seconds. No matter what it is, I don't think I am following the law. It is a work in progress. As I told Emily the story she agreed with me on two things:

I can't help it if everyone else is going slower than I want to go.

And, lately I am always in a hurry and/or running late to get somewhere.

A beautiful day

The wedding was beautiful! I still can't believe that Chris and Jerelyn are married! But they are. I watched it happen. Without tears, I might add. Well, except the tears that I cried because I was laughing so hard! Jerelyn, in true Jerelyn fashion had lots of kids in her wedding. She had a junior bridesmaid, ring bearer, flower girl, 3 flower tots, and one flower baby. The junior bridesmaid pulled her niece down the aisle in a wagon. They were so cute and drew a lot of "Awww's" from the crowd. Then came the flower tots, two of which made it down the aisle without any problems. But the third got a fourth of the way down, panicked, and turned back toward her dad, who had started up the side aisle and had to run back for her. He ended up carrying her down the middle of the aisle and throwing her flowers for her. Next came the flower girl, who was smiling as she started down the aisle. I'm not sure what happened, but as she got half way down, she froze and her lip started to pucker. Her dad also went up the aisle to get her, throwing her flowers along the way. For those of you who attended Ashley and Andrew's wedding, several of us decided that the two flower dad's totally upstaged Jed as ring bearer! Anyway, I was laughing so hard I was crying! Jerelyn said she didn't care as long as they all participated, so she was as happy as could be!

It's been almost two years since I've been in a wedding and I forgot how much fun it is to be onstage to witness the wedding. Jerelyn was breathtaking and Chris looked smitten : ). Here are some pictures of the day.




I loved the flowers. These are a bunch of the flower arrangements that had been on the tables at the reception.

A few tidbits

I thought that Pastor Daniel was really cool. I thought he was fun. But today I found out he's no fun at all! He told me during rehearsal that I'm not allowed to skip down the aisle. I'm not allowed to swing my flowers around. I'm not allowed to walk backwards. He told me if I proceeded to do any of these things he would trip me. I just don't know if I can call him friend anymore. It's a sad state of affairs when your pastor (well, one of your previous pastors) tells you that you can't have any fun!

The day was really fun. I rolled lots of silverware. I cut a lot of cheese (the kind you eat, just in case anyone was going to make any funny comments!) I decorated some tables. Then I even had a couple of hours to relax before the rehearsal. Then I got to goof off at the rehearsal. I know, I should have been serious, listening carefully. But, let's face it, after your sixth wedding as a bridesmaid, you pretty much have it figured out. I tried to behave, I promise!

And I may have drank a Dr. Pepper for lunch.

I am not THAT obsessed

After reading several comments on my previous post, I figured I should clarify something. I did not take a can of dr. pepper outside and pose it in the grass. I went to google image and typed in dr. pepper and that is one of the images that came up.

I have craved dr. pepper more than I thought I would this week. I almost gave in and drank some on wednesday when it was so rainy outside, which just added to my sleepiness. I will report that I did sleep much better last night than I have in several weeks. So maybe I'll sleep really well again tonight. But I still claim it is not caffeine related when I can't sleep (really I just want a dr. pepper soon!) I don't have to work tomorrow so I can also sleep in (although I have been waking up around 5:30 every morning (curse the Koszycki genes! (sorry mom))).

This weekend is Chris and Jerelyn's wedding. I am taking tomorrow off in order to perform bridesmaid duties--help the bride in any way possible in order to keep her sane.


This is Chris and Jerelyn on their first official date. I think it's the only picture I have of them. Technically, I could access her pictures on Facebook, but frankly I'm too lazy. Anyway, I am sure I will post more about the wedding in the upcoming days...

sigh

This is what I am not drinking this week.

For the last week and a half I have not been sleeping well. So, when push comes to shove with something related to my health, I generally give up Dr. Pepper and all other caffeine to see it if helps the symptoms. When I get headaches I do the same thing. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. But today I was really sad that I couldn't drink Dr. Pepper. I almost gave in, but decided that I could have more self-control than that.

Put your money where your mouth is

I have been working in AWANAS at my church for several years now. I started in a 3rd grade room and have moved up with the girls every year. They are now in 5th grade. Over the years, I have seen a pattern where it is sometimes difficult to motivate the girls to learn their verses. The director motivates them with candy, which sometimes works. I was brainstorming this summer things that I thought would motivate them. Here is what I came up with: The girls need to say 2 sections a week in order to finish a book in one year. So, I thought, what if I go through a book with them. I would be memorizing the verses with them. If they said a section, they could then quiz me on my sections. I thought it would be a great motivator. It was always fun to stump the teacher when I was a kid. Well, I presented this to them the first week. We are now in week 5. For the first two weeks I diligently memorized verses, but none of the girls seemed interested in quizzing me. So, I hadn't reviewed the verses in two or three weeks. Last night, one of the girls finished her section and asked if she could quiz me. I did really bad. She had to give me lots of hints. So, I guess I need to review the sections every week even if I don't expect to be quizzed! That's when I like to sing the song, "Humbleness, humbleness is what I long for. Humbleness is what I need." I know, it's not the actual song, but a good variation.

Speaking of variations, a coworker and I were talking about the Psalm 20:7, which says, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses. But we trust in the name of the Lord our God." I memorized that verse when I was in college, and she is doing the same study that I memorized it for. I was telling her how I always thought it was an odd verse to have memorized (and even odder that it has stuck with me. Too bad that wasn't one of the verses for AWANAS). So, we decided to modernize it, since I'm pretty sure it's been awhile since I've trusted in my chariot! Here's our paraphrase: "Some trust in wealth and some in good looks, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."

And another update

I walked out the door this morning and the neighbor had a new fall Welcome sign up. Maybe he was just momentarily confused. Maybe he reads my blog.

My roommate is abandoning me tomorrow through Sunday : (. Something about going to Colorado to see her sister. I just don't know if that is a good enough reason to leave me all alone for four days... Of course I will be abandoning her in November for 9 days. But she'll probably be ready to kick me out the door and have the apartment all to herself!

Nothing else is new. Tomorrow is Thursday. Which means it's almost Friday. And I'm pretty sure it's still October, although I keep thinking it's June or July.

Oh, and I paid $2.99 for gas today! It took less than $30.00 to fill my tank!

Someone Explain This...

My neighbor has a Christmas wreath on his door. It is the first week in October. Anybody else think this is strange?

Thanks to Cheryl's comment, I must add that I came home from a weekend away and discovered the wreath had been hung sometime while I was away.

All about John

I realized that the last time I posted pictures of my nephew was his visit on Memorial Day Weekend. So, here are some great pictures!


John at 9 months
John at 10 months. I think this is one of his favorite toys because it has been in quite a few pictures lately.


John giving Dad a high five! And he's standing at the table!
John's first wagon ride. I love this picture. Pictures from behind are always so artistic!

John got to go to the Pumpkin Festival at Stone Mountain. Ann said that he was a little hesitant because he had never sat on hay before : )
The whole family. I thought it was funny that they were all in shorts and tshirts!
And he's off! John just recently started crawling.

So, on a side note, I just discovered that our Internet speed is fine until I try to upload pictures to the blog. They take a while. But I'm a patient person, so I persisted through it.

Comments anyone?

So, I just realized something after over a year of blogging. I used to get depressed when I would not get comments on my blog. It was very sad and I felt like no one was reading my blog. Then I would go to other people's blogs and they would have 20-50 comments a day. It would frustrate me. But I just recently realized that I did not start my blog hoping that people all over the world would start to read it (although, technically it's true because I have a friend in Thailand who reads my blog). Actually, sometimes I forget that the whole world can read my blog if they want to because I feel like its just me talking to my friends. All that to say, I just realized that comments are not as important to me as they used to be. NOT THAT YOU SHOULD STOP LEAVING COMMENTS. Please.

Good Intentions

Recently my pastor has made many attempts to help the congregation understand the extreme importance of reading and studying God's Word daily and at length. Several months ago he challenged the congregation to read the Bible for one hour every day for one month. One hour. It shouldn't be so difficult. I do a lot of other things for one hour or more: sleep, work, watch TV, read other books, talk on the phone. It should be a piece of cake to read for an hour. Well, after about a week, I all but gave up. In the morning I try to spend time reading my Bible. I have found that it sets my mind on things above and I can tell a difference in my attitude throughout the day. I started with the challenge to read for an hour and then it dwindled to a half hour. Lately, I have been noticing it is creeping into 10 to 15 minutes like it used to be. Or, I am choosing to stay in bed longer and not read at all. Why is it that even when I know it is the best thing for me to do, I still choose what I want to do?! It is very frustrating. It reminds me of Paul's letter to the Romans: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing." Basically, I need to overcome my sin nature which tells me that there are other things I want to be doing, and spend the time reading that I know will benefit me more in the long run. So, I will continue to fight this upward battle with my flesh.

The Wait is Over! Celebrate!

I am officially blogging from my couch on my very own computer!

Here's the run down from last Friday.

Emily and I did in fact get the curtains hung. Okay, let me rephrase. Emily worked with great diligence and persistence while I sat in a chair going through the list of people I could call in order to get us help. My stepmom, Daynah, and Sophie (the cat) came to visit and Amy was able to help finish the curtains! Item one: Check.

Amy also informed me of the things I still needed to buy in order to get the Internet hooked up.

Saturday, I went to the store to buy the things that I still needed. $60 later, I was all set. Monday Emily and I finally had time to open everything up and figure it all out. I started with the splitter. As soon as I opened it I realized the the splitter would not fit into the wall socket. So, Emily and I went to Circuit City to ask why "this thing" wouldn't go into "that thing". I know, we're all up on the official terminology. After restarting the conversation several times, me and Circuit City guy were finally on the same page. I needed a cable cord to hook from the wall thingy to the splitter (I would have never thought that was the case. And frankly, I think it's stupid and I've decided that I might make my money by inventing a splitter that goes straight into the wall). Back at home, I used all my great computer expertise and deduction skills and critical thinking skills (to which my Stats professor said I didn't have) and hooked everything up. Voila! Nothing. No Internet. Emily and I went to bed discouraged. Let me point out that I was at least 85% sure I had everything hooked up the right way.

Tuesday dawned and I put my thinking skills to the test again. What should I do now? What should I try next? So, Tuesday after work, I called in the cavalry, which consisted of Kevin (who then called his own cavalry later). Kevin was here for 2 hours trying to figure things out. He did at least let me know that I did, in fact, hook things up correctly. Yeah for Teresa. Anyway, Kevin figured out that everything on our end was working, but we would have to wait until today to call and figure out why it wasn't working on the other end. So, Kevin graciously made that call (probably because he knew Emily and I would have been able to have a highly incoherent conversation with the people that would have gotten us nowhere). So, to make my long story long, Kevin talked to the guy and then called me to tell me that everything was working on both ends.

I got home this evening and ALAS! We have Internet. Although I could not get wireless to work and I thought I was going to have to make another pathetic phone call to Kevin, but folks, I was able to figure it out all on my own. So, like I said, here I am blogging from my very own computer on my very own couch. I am VERY HAPPY!