Adieu to February!

I am thankful that February is almost over. It has been a disastrous month at work. Just about every day I would go into my supervisor's office and say one of two things:

"Can I just take a vacation until March?"
"Can I have a do-over for February?"

The meaning was the same either way. Even if I was working, it seemed almost counter-productive. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but not by much. It was a really bad month of billable hours. Blizzards. Flu. Children being removed. Kids visiting family. Flu.

Amazingly enough, I never got sick. I kept waiting for it. It was like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

All I can say is, "March, you better be good to me!"

And now I shall break out into singing "So Long, Farewell"... "I flit, I float, I flee flee flee, I fly..."

Fun on the Run

Saturday I was able to go see Les Miserables with 30 of my closest friends :). Truthfully, there were almost 30 people from Peoria that went, but not all of us travelled together. We had a 3 car caravan. It was a no-stress day, thanks to Kari's excellent planning. It is what she does for a living, but more often than not she still amazes me. She had a packet for each vehicle that included:
directions to the theater
what exit we would stop at for lunch (along with the fast food places available and what order they were in going down the street)
a synopsis of the play so those who had not seen it could become familiar with it
the menu for dinner so that people could decide ahead of time what they might want (to eliminate some of the wait time)

And everyone was operating on time, which made the day even less stressful!

I really enjoyed the show. We had really good seats (second row balcony). I think I prefer a musical that also has some talking in it. Les Mis was strictly music. But, that being said, I still really enjoyed this show.

After the show we walked several blocks to Giordano's for deep dish pizza. Than we walked back to our cars and headed back to Peoria. An eventful day, but a great break from the normal weekend routine!

Being concerned for characters on TV, in movies, or in books

And by "concerned" I mean that you might cry if something happens. You might sit on the edge of your seat until you find out what happens, you might yell at the TV or book if something doesn't go the way you think it should. You might talk about it with your roommate a lot in between shows. You might google the character to make sure that their contract wasn't ripped from their pretty little fingers. You might call other friends and poll them to see what they think is happening. You might try to talk yourself into believing something didn't really happen the way you just watched or read it happen. Not that I've ever done any of the above mentioned things, I'm just speaking hypothetically. Okay, maybe I've done one of them...

On a similar note, I've mentioned that Emily and I are watching season 2 of NCIS. My favorite thing to do when one of the characters is in a tight spot is to say "Oh, no, Emily! Do you think Gibbs (insert other character names here) is going to make it out of this okay? What if he dies?!" And Emily's standard reply, "Teresa, I'm pretty sure we are still watching him in season 8, so I think he's going to be okay." I, for some reason, am amused by this conversation every time. I don't know if Emily is, but she humors me, so she usually earns good roommate brownie points.

But really, sometimes I feel pretty pathetic that I get so attached to fictional characters. It's just my nature. I think I've mentioned this before, but when I was younger I would also talk out loud during movies or TV shows to state my concerns (a horrible trait, I know, but one I can't seem to break myself of). I would say to my brother things like, "what do you think he's thinking right now!" Or "why did he do that!" And my brother's standard reply "Because that's what the script says, Teresa." Although this is a similar response to Emily's, my brother never earned good-brother brownie points. I think he usually just received a glare.

Hmmm...maybe I like my roommate more than I liked my brother. I think that might be a blog post for another day. PS. I do LOVE my brother :).

sometimes I even scare myself!

My mind is often a jumbled mess. Even when I sleep. :) I have been really encouraged to have not caught any of the sickness that is going around. I've threatened to hide under a rock until it is all over. Yesterday I woke up with a scratchy throat and a slightly stuffy nose. I groaned. I expected it to turn into a full blown cold by the afternoon, but it didn't. I expected to wake up this morning with something worse, but I didn't. I did wake up in the middle of the night with some stomach pains and the chills. I thought for sure I was getting the stomach flu. I laid very still in bed and kept repeating "I am not going to be sick. I am not going to be sick." I refused to get out of bed and head to the bathroom. I know what you're thinking. As if laying really still and pretending not to be sick would actually work. But I fell asleep without anything happening. For the rest of the night I had random dreams about telling people I was starting to get the flu and them ostracizing me and telling me to go away. Intermixed with a tornado by my work building. Intermixed with a bunch of people hanging out in the building to get away from the tornado. Intermixed with walking into a room that had LOTS AND LOTS of puppies and kittens and I think a few rabbits. Honestly, I don't know where my brain comes up with these dreams! But, the good news is, I have not gotten any sicker today than I was yesterday. I keep telling myself it has to do with the change in weather. Of all weeks to get sick, this would be a bad one. I am heading to Chicago this weekend to see Les Miserables with a group of friends. We bought tickets in November, so I will be really bummed if I don't get to fully enjoy the show because of sickness. Maybe if I lay really still until then, nothing will happen...

It's your quarterly reminder

Have you ever gotten on Facebook, left a status update that you thought was either hilarious, thought provoking, awe inspiring, or at the very least something about yourself. You wait anxiously for someone to click the "like" button, leave a comment validating the reason you left the update in the first place. You wait. And wait. And wait. And nothing ever happens. Stay with me here. What are you thinking/feeling at that moment? If you're anything like me (and maybe you're not), you think, hmmm...did everyone miss that? Was it not as funny as I thought?

Well, it's the same with this here blog. No comments means I feel like no one is reading. I know this isn't true from comments people make to me in person. But, more often than not, people don't want to comment. I've been updating my blog posts on Facebook, so people can comment on there as well (and because some friends said it was the easiest way for them to know that I updated my blog because sometimes they don't think to visit my blog otherwise). So, I've been doing that. But even my two most faithful commenters (you know who you are) have not been commenting! :)

All I'm saying is, Please leave me a comment. I like comments. It makes me feel like I'm not just talking to myself! :) Thanks for listening!! And I guess, even if you still never comment, thanks for reading my blog.

Feeling good about yourself for random reasons

For 2 1/2 years I have been getting brochures in the mail from the place where I bought my couches and dresser when I moved into the apartment with Emily. For those 2 1/2 years, my couch has been the one featured on the brochures that come in the mail. And it's not always the same picture! It somehow, in some weird way, makes me feel good about that purchase! :) Especially knowing how much I agonized over buying just the right couch. And knowing that it was a little out of my comfort zone of what I would usually buy for myself.

Brain Fart

I am behind on my blogging because I have had one brain fart after another. I keep having these "great" ideas to blog about but than by the time I get home. Nothing. I can't remember what it is I was going to say. The other night I was getting ready for bed and thought of something I really wanted to blog about, had even gone so far as to play around with a clever title, but I had already shut the computer off, so I thought, "I'll just blog about it tomorrow." I thought about it ALL. DAY. LONG and still could not remember what it was. Some say these brain farts only come after 40 or even 50, but I've been getting them frequently for the last few years. Early onset brain farts. Just what I needed in my life!

In other news, I rented the movie "Flipped" last night. I really liked it. It is a cute coming of age movie. I had only heard of because I often look through redbox to see what's new. It is about a boy and girl. The girl falls in love with the boy when they are six or seven and he spends the next several years avoiding her. The majority of the story is set when they are in junior high. The story is repeatedly told through both their perspectives (which might annoy some people, although I was surprised how much I enjoyed it). Anyway, I would recommend it. The second movie I rented, I would not recommend. I also got "The Romantics." I lasted 20 minutes into the movie and than decided it was not worth my time. I can count on one hand the movies I have not been able to watch all the way through. So, I watched "Overboard" instead (which I own. on VHS.). Tonight I am going to watch "You Again." I'll let you know how it was.

If you're sensing a theme here, it is that I had no plans for the weekend so I am spending it in mindless entertainment. And avoidance of all responsibility. Although I am bound and determined to exercise sometime today. If only I would get off my behind. Or find some motivation somewhere. Getting off the computer is the first step. I will do that soon. I think. :)

On another side note. Apparently I enjoy talking in short. sentences. to. make. a. point.

The Important Things in Life (well, at work anyway)

Every Tuesday at work we have "small" team meetings. My program is a part of a larger division, but on Tuesdays it is just the five of us in FBI that meet. Today, we got a little bit accomplished. But than we laughed. A lot. I can't really remember what all we laughed at. But it made me think that I am truly blessed to work with a team of people that I respect and get along with so well. One of our team is leaving at the end of March. So, we were discussing the person who would replace him. Faye, our supervisor, had said that she has received one internal application. We asked if we could guess who it was and she didn't say no. We finally gave up and asked if she would just tell us. But than Jill piped in and stated that maybe we needed to play 2o questions. She was just joking and started throwing out questions, which Faye than started answering. We eventually guessed.

But than we started discussing the important things Faye should be asking applicants. Like, does the person bake? Is the person willing to do crafty things like go to Fired Up? Are they willing to take joking and sarcasm about their height, age, gender, marital status, etc? Oh, and maybe they should be a good therapist, too. :) Like I said, it's the important things in life that we are concerned about!

And all of this made me think of the advertisement for a nanny from Mary Poppins:
Jane: [reading advertisement for a new nanny] "Wanted: a nanny for two adorable children."
George Banks: Adorable. Well that's debatable, I must say.
Jane: If you want this choice position, have a cheery disposition...
George Banks: Jane, I don't...
Jane: ...Rosy cheeks, no warts...
Michael: That's the part I put in!
Jane: Play games, all sorts. You must be kind, you must be witty, very sweet, and fairly pretty...
George Banks: Well of all the ridiculous...!
Mrs. Banks: George, please!
Jane: Take us on outings, give us treats, sing songs, bring sweets. Never be cross or cruel. Never give us castor oil or gruel. Love us as a son and daughter, and never smell of barley water.
Michael: I put that in, too!
Jane: If you won't scold and dominate us, we will never give you cause to hate us. We won't hide your spectacles so you can't see, put toads in your bed, or pepper in your tea. Hurry, Nanny! Many thanks! Sincerely-...
Jane, Michael: Jane and Michael Banks!

Phooey on Artificial

Whoever said that artificial Christmas trees are cleaner than real Christmas trees has not met our artificial Christmas tree. We are still finding "needles" from the tree all over the apartment. Like, sometimes in my bed or in my bathroom...or in the laundry room. We have vacuumed since then but they are stubborn and don't like to be sucked up by the vacuum. Granted, it was a new tree this year, but I still did not expect it to shed that much. Maybe next year will be better. Or we will still have needles on the ground when we put the tree up next year, not sure which.

Musical?

I am not a musical person in that I can sing well or know how to read music or have a wide-range of musical tastes, but I do love to listen to music. I don't like silence, so I often have music playing in my apartment or in my car. I keep my iPod with me so that I can listen to it at work.

I've blogged before about how songs remind me of people and places. I realized today when I had iTunes on shuffle, that my memory for music is interesting. Can you think of CDs that you wore out? You had all the words to every song memorized? I had that come up today because a song from one of those CDs was playing and, as it ended, I immediately started singing the next song on the CD. Only I wasn't listening to the CD, I had my songs on shuffle, so a different artist started singing. But this happens to me often with music I know well and have listened to a lot. Sometimes it makes me want to turn off shuffle and find the next song as I feel it should be played! :) Just random thoughts on this Monday evening...

OHHHH NOOOOO!!!!!!!

All my beautiful, untouched snow was destroyed today. I guess the maintenance guys don't believe in untouched snow, only in shoveled sidewalks. Sigh. I think the other reason I don't like touched snow is it just looks chaotic. My view out my window is no longer peaceful to me. It's chaotic and a little stressful. But that's okay, because I'm going to choose to be thankful that I didn't have to shovel it myself (technically they used a snow blower, but I would not have had one of those.

7 Pages

That's how many pages I had left of my book last week when it was time to leave for House to House.

That's how many pages I had left of my book this week when it was time to leave for House to House.

I think the Lord is trying to test what is more important to me. Finishing my book or fellowshiping with other believers and being on time to events. Good thing I put the book down both weeks! :)

But now it is off to get ready for bed and finish those 7 pages!

Resa's Ramblings

I've thought about retitling my blog again and calling it Resa's Ramblings. No one calls me Resa anymore, and the only person who ever has was 3. When I first moved in to Chris and Sarah's house, Graham called me Miss Resa. The only time he said Teresa was if he wanted to get my attention by elongating in a sing-song voice "Ohhhhh, Missssssss Taaaaaaaaaaareeeeeeeeeesssssaaaaaaaaaaa!" But, I haven't had a strong desire to do a redesign of the blog, which I feel like would be required if I renamed it again (this would be my third name for the blog).

I took Daynah to the airport last night. She was SO ready to go home. I felt equal parts bad and amused all week that she was here for the BLIZZARD instead of in Arizona. One minute I would think, "poor Daynah, the whole reason she was in Illinois was to go to Life Change Week at the school and she missed 3 days of school." But as soon as I had that thought I would laugh because of the irony of her being here for the biggest snow storm we've had in a really long time! I'm such a horrible person!

Today was a great day of worship in church. In Sunday School we had Care Group Sunday which we do once a month. We get together in established groups and share prayer requests, praises, and pray for one another. It is a great time to catch up with each other. Then it was on to the worship service. The choir took the month of January off, so it was great to have them back up front to lead us in worship. During the offertory they sang a great version of "And Can it Be" which is one of my favorite hymns. The only down side was that it was not a congregational song. And then during communion we sang "How Deep the Father's Love" which is another one of my favorites. Pastor Ritch continued his sermon series on the life of Elijah (he had taken the month of January off to preach on some other topics) where we learned that we cannot let circumstances rule our lives, but must trust in the Lord and lean on His strength. "For the joy of the Lord will be my strength." What a great reminder!

It's a HEAT WAVE!

I went to the grocery store today in my standard winter attire--jeans and a hoodie sweatshirt. When I left the apartment I debated whether to wear my coat. It was supposed to be about 30 today, so would I really need it? I opted to wear it, but when I got to Kroger, I decided I should leave it in the car. I forgot to do that. So, about a third of the way through my shopping I got really hot. Took off the coat. Pushed up the sleeves. I never recovered from the really hot and was contemplating taking the sweatshirt off (don't worry, I had a t-shirt underneath) but never did that. Needless to say, I drove with the windows partially down on the way home and than have spent the rest of the day in a t-shirt and no socks. It's funny how 30 degrees always feels like a heat wave to me after colder weather and snow!

All Things Snow!

I'm sure everyone is done hearing about the snow, but I still like it :) and therefore am going to give you some of my snow insights on this beautiful, sunny Friday! I have a friend who has a list of her favorite things. If I had a written list, untouched snow would be near the top. There is nothing more beautiful than the sun shining on untouched snow. This, again, is the view outside of our patio window. Emily and I were both curious how tall the snow is outside the patio, but I forbid her from going outside our door (okay, forbid might be a little strong!). I didn't want to have to look at touched snow until it melts. This picture would be so much better without the air conditioning units in it, but I have no photo editing software.

I took my camera with me to work today just in case I had the opportunity to take snow pictures. I drove out to a rural town and so, I got to see fields of untouched snow. Here is a good contrast. Untouched snow in the background. Touched snow where the plows went through at the forefront.

This is the view of the touched snow out my bedroom window. Made both from our next door neighbors and the balcony above them. I watched as the people on the balcony cleaned the snow and it would plop down. It gave me the idea of jumping off the balcony into the snow. Luckily, we don't know our upstairs neighbors, so I didn't act on that thought!

Here is another cool picture from my drive. In the country, snow drifts. This, though was a result of the plows. It was almost like driving through a tunnel! The snow was piled way above my car! And how cool that I got the side mirror in my picture, all while actually watching the road while I drove.

Here are more pictures from Wednesday...

This is the big pile of snow up the hill from our apartment building. I put the dumpster in the picture for a little perspective.

Emily beginning the tedious process of digging out her car. Doesn't she look like she's having fun?!

I decided to tackle mine a little later in the day. I wandered around and took pictures instead!

Productivity is for non-snow days

I have been home for two days now. It is sad to see the second day coming to a close with the prospect of having to brave the snow and cold tomorrow and be an adult. Even though all the schools are closing again. I had a list of things to do (like dust and clean my bathroom) that just stayed on the list!

I have been semi-productive, but not to the extent that I had expected. I mean, how can two days fly so fast. Emily and I didn't get half the lounging around stuff done that we wanted to do! :)

Emily went into work yesterday morning, so while she was gone I exercised, spent some time in the Word, and read. Then she got home and our day consisted of watching The Lost Valentine (the Hallmark movie that was on last Sunday), playing some Wii bowling (thanks to some friends who have not asked for the Wii back yet), and watching several episodes of NCIS (including the new one, which only served to confuse us today when we were trying to figure out what episode we were on of season 2). We both went to bed fairly early considering we knew we weren't going to have to get up today. Actually, I was so tired I think I went to bed earlier than I do on a normal work night. Apparently, sitting around and watching it snow for hours really takes its toll on a person!

Than, this morning I woke up at 7:30. I wanted to see what it looked like outside, so I knew once I got up, I would not be able to fall back to sleep. Emily was already up too. Once we watched the news for a few minutes and exclaimed over all the snow, Emily started doing some work from home and I exercised. Than, same routine as yesterday, I showered and spent some time with the Lord. Than I did the paperwork for work that I had been avoiding for two days! Emily and I had planned to be unproductive starting at noon :) but she decided she would go dig her car out. I went out and took pictures but left my car just the way it was. We eventually got around to watching New in Town and an episode of NCIS. Then we went and dug my car out. Yes, Emily helped, even though I told her she didn't have to. We are about to sit down and watch another movie. I recently bought a $4 movie that contains 4 Hallmark channel movies. That's only a dollar a movie! :)

The one thing I can say for sure is that I have to get out of the house soon because all I have wanted to do the last two days is munch, munch, munch. And I am normally not much of a snacker. I made brownies on Monday night and we have managed to eat more than half of them in the past two days. I'm not even a huge fan of brownies (I tend to enjoy the brownie batter much more)! I keep trying to supplement with some fruit. Eat a banana, eat a brownie. Eat an orange, eat a brownie. But I think I've snuck in a few brownies without fruit, and I don't think it really works that way!

Anyway, I guess it's back to reality tomorrow. Although I'm not super-confident that I will be venturing out to see any clients tomorrow. We'll see what happens...

I can't NOT post about the blizzard

I'm kind of bummed the snow stopped early. I think the news said we got about 15 inches. I was really hoping for 2 feet! :) Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. On Facebook, others have similar pictures and it seems like some people got a lot more snow than we did, but I think it's all in how the snow drifted. This is Emily's car, with part of mine to the right. I'm glad we are not going to have to clear 15 inches of snow off of our cars. The wind didn't allow it to stay on the car. However, my favorite is how things did drift. Can you see Emily's driver side door. The snow did that, not us. It looks like someone cut it off because it is so boxy! :)

The stairs up to the "outside world." The amazing thing is it is covered from overhead, which means this is all stuff that drifted down the stairs from outside, not from above.

Emily and I ventured out for a few minutes last night. I couldn't even see the snow when I was out there so this picture was funny to me because you can't see what I'm trying to take a picture of.

This is my foot in my boots for a little representation of the depth of the snow. This is on the sidewalk outside of our apartment.

Last night, without the flash from outside my bedroom window.

Some of my non-Illinois friends were asking me yesterday if we would be out and about in this. They were surprised to hear that we get snow-bound too. I was cracking up watching TV last night with all the closings being posted. I thought it would have been easier to post what WAS going to be open. I kept stating things like, "Oh, I guess I can't go get a massage at the spa." after something would be posted. When all was said and done here are the things I would not be able to do today--go to work (even my work shut down for today), the bank, to get my haircut, to the gym, bowling, to the mall. I mean, what am I supposed to do with my day? :) Just kidding. I am perfectly happy to sit and do nothing all day (well, now that I finally buckled down and got the paperwork I hadn't completed on Monday done). As a matter of fact, Emily and I are about to watch a movie now...