Ab Workout #3

I mean, really, who needs to exercise when you can hang out with great people and laugh a lot. I went to a game night with my small group from church. We played a game called Like Minded and found out that some of us are not so like minded! But it sure made for some fun times. And then we played Wits and Wagers and had some more laughs.

Okay, so I'm not really sure if laughter makes you lose weight, but "they" (remember the infamous "they" of a few posts back) say that it makes you live longer. At least I think. I could be wrong because I'm pretty tired. Either way, laughter is good. Period. The end. :)

Ab workout #2

Talk about up and down emotions. I went with a great group of friends to see the movie October Baby. I HIGHLY recommend it. I'm sad that it came out the same weekend as The Hunger Games because I feel like it is going to get overlooked because of it. But, you know the line from You've Got Mail, "Read it with a box of tissues."? Well, you might not know that line unless you've watched the movie a gazillion times, but believe me, it's there. Well, I'd have to say, "See it with a box of tissues." Even Emily cried and she has emotions of steel when it comes to movies. Us five girls then went to get ice cream and laughed so hard that I may have cried just as much as in the movie. Topics ranged from giving advice to Emily about the five stages you go through after crying at a movie. To how to know if a guy is hitting on you and what to do/say if he is. To I just happened to have my book in my purse (I forgot to take it out after work) and shared the gag me quote. You get the idea. We laughed A LOT. And I can feel it. And I have hit stage five of crying in a movie: my eyes are heavy and puffy and I am extremely tired. So off to bed I go!

Would you like some cheese with that?

I'll be the first to admit that I am a connoisseur of cheesy Christian romance novels. I like them. I like the predictability of them. And I am rarely shocked by the cheesiness. It's expected. Therefore, it doesn't surprise me. Most of the time. Today was a different story. A while back I started taking my books with me so that if I get to an appointment early, I can read for a few minutes. So, today I was trying to read a few pages of my book and this is the line I read that literally made me gag and then giggle because of its cheesiness. And then I just read it to Emily. And then I decided it needed a blog post all its own. I don't know if it will have the same effect without me reading it, because I can add some serious cheese to it, but here it is. Gag away. And don't judge me.

"Every little movement she made was graceful as if timed to music, and his spirit responded like she was a song his soul already knew."

Really, you read that right. A song his soul already knew. Did you throw up a little in your mouth? I'm continuing to read the book for the principle of it, but if I come across another similar line, I might just have to chalk this one up to unfinishable.

And this is the line I just stated to Emily with lots of laughter: "No wonder we're not married. No one has responded to us like we were a song their soul already knew." But we can only hold out hope. Or maybe not. Maybe I'd just rather be single than live up to that quote!

Gambling?

So, I don't gamble. But if I could pick something that is close to gambling, I would say I feel like I'm gambling every time I shop for a plane ticket. If I buy it today, will the price go down tomorrow? If I wait, will the price go up? It is so frustrating. I just want to be done, but I want to get the best deal. People say that Tuesday is the best day to buy tickets, so do I wait another week, even though the price doesn't always change? Do I wait for someone else to buy me a ticket? Do I wait until I win the lottery? Oh wait, I don't gamble, so I probably shouldn't wait for that! Does anyone have a suggestion of how they get the best deals on tickets?

Sounding like a broken record...

But I'm pretty sure I have the cutest nephews ever!And the end of April cannot come soon enough so I can squeeze those cheeks!

All in a day's work

Today during a play therapy session, I got to be the "husband." And as the husband, I got to wear a power rangers shirt, a clown tie, and a tiara (the closest thing we could find to a king's crown). On the way to the office, I was told that I would be the husband today because "you look like a boy." Really, how do I look like a boy? "Because you have short hair." On the way into the playroom, I was told that normally husbands are taller. Sure, I'm not even tall enough to be a seven year old's imaginary husband. Sheesh. Rough crowd. And unfortunately for all of you, there is no picture to commemorate my stint as a power rangers, clown tie, tiara wearing husband!

Gazilipede?

You know, as far as predictions go, I think there's a lot to be said for them. For instance, "they" predicted it was going to be the worst winter ever--severely cold and tons of snow. Not so much an accurate prediction from "they." And now "they" (not sure if it is the same "they" or a different "they") are saying that because of the mild winter, this summer is going to be filled with bugs. My first thought was, "Great!" My second thought was, "I'll believe it when I see it." Well, after the roach incident of a couple of weeks ago, this is what I found today:I think it's a gazilipede. I'm a little ashamed of this picture because of all the cobwebs on the wall. But I promise, I can't see them as much from the ground. But guess what. If I can't reach the cobwebs, I can't reach the gazilipede. So, for now it stays, because frankly, it's not in my room, so it doesn't immediately face death. But really, this is the third near death encounter I've had with bugs in the last two days. Yesterday was a death defying trip to and from church. On my way to church, I was minding my own business, when what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a tiny brown spider on the inside of my windshield. I attempted not to panic as it scurried across the windshield. I snuck a kleenex out of my purse and crushed the spider when it came around the corner onto the driver side window. Well, then, on the way home from church, I was again minding my own business, when I looked down and there was a bee in the middle console. I have a thing that closes over the console, so I closed the bee in until I got home, but when I opened it, the bee flew out. I quickly jumped out of the car, but it actually flew to the passenger window, so I just rolled the window down for it to fly away.

So, the moral of this post is this: if these three bugs (four, if you count the roach) are any indication, my prediction is if the bugs are going to be bad this summer, I vote for carrying bug spray on my key chain instead of pepper spray. And I say, bring on winter!

Happy 10 year anniversary Chris and Ann!

10 years ago today, I was blessed to officially gain a new family member, although we already claimed her unofficially. :)

For 10 years I have watched Chris and Ann grow together as a couple and I have learned a lot from them. They know the art of compromise. And they know the art of just letting the other have something (for example, Chris will never compromise and watch The Sound of Music, but he doesn't stop Ann from watching it! :) ) I've watched them become parents and grow together through that experience. I've watched them learn through their struggles and rejoice together in their triumphs.

When Chris and Ann met and started dating, I joked that my brother became a better person. Who knew he could say excuse me when he burped at the table?!

And I also joked (although I had to be careful who I said it around) that once they got married Chris stopped (or significantly decreased) beating me up and started beating his wife--but only because they met through Aikido and they were supposed to beat each other up. And then I had someone--Ann--who could defend me when he did decide to beat me up! :)

Here's to 10 more years. And 10 more years after that. And 10 more years after that...

Simple reminders

The family I used to nanny for are in the process of building a house. Sarah has been great about posting pictures of the process. Today, she asked for suggestions for verses and quotes that they can write on the studs before the drywall goes up. It was a good reminder for me because we did this at our new church building. I remember it was a VERY cold and windy day when I went out to write my verse. Unfortunately, I don't remember what I wrote. It was fun to make some suggestions for Sarah of specific verses and where she might put them. I think it is such a fun way to dedicate a dwelling to the Lord!

More nephew pictures

I haven't shared pictures of my nephew in awhile, so I thought I'd share a few! He is getting so big, which makes me so sad because I don't get to see him until the end of April. I told Ann to tell Michael to STOP GROWING! But I'm not sure if he'll listen. :(

2 weeks well

This is a horrible comparison but I thought it the other day, so I'm just going to say it. I was thinking about the fact that I had been well for two weeks. I then immediately thought of AA. I know, it makes no sense how my brain works. But I thought that maybe I should get a coin like they do in AA for sobriety. A two weeks well coin. What do you think?

I'm just gonna say it

Because it's my blog and I can. I know that 95.8% of you are going to disagree with me and that's okay too. I'm not even going to waste my breath by arguing that I think 80 degree weather is ridiculous in March. But what I am not happy about is that I slept with my window open last night and had a horrible night's sleep because my bedroom never fell below 71 degrees! And that when I got home tonight the living room thermostat read 76 degrees and that my bedroom is only one degree cooler. That is not okay, no matter what anyone tells me. Okay, I'm going to move on now.

Funny quote of the day:
One of my kindergarten clients saw me and said, "It sounds like you cut your hair." I corrected her and told her she should have said, "It looks like you cut your hair"? Later she used the phrase again, something about coloring, "It sounds like the rainbow is red." I didn't correct her the second time. :)

Another weird quirk about reading books

I am currently reading a book that I like, but it is not the greatest. But I like it enough that I don't want to put it down. But I feel like I'm never going to get through it and there are other books I want to read. However, when I give up on a book, I feel like I am giving up on the characters in the book too. Like I've let them down somehow. I've made the official decision to just give up on this book because I decided today that I am just not enjoying it as much as I'd like to. Sigh. Poor characters will never really get resolved. They're just going to be hanging up on that Ferris wheel forever. Actually, that's not true, because I skimmed the end. Everything works out and they live happily ever after. :) On to the next book I go...

On a side note, why is the "f" in Ferris wheel always capitalized? I think I might go google it right now.

Heebee Jeebies

Last night I was getting ready for bed when I walked into my bedroom and saw a roach on the ceiling. Now, I am not one of those girls who can't kill a bug. I don't mind it so much as long as several conditions are met:
1. The bug is easily accessible and can be smushed with an object like a shoe, paper towel, newspaper, etc.
2. The bug is not above me (like on the ceiling or high on a wall).
3. The bug is not bigger than I am!

So, you can gather from the above stipulations that a roach on the ceiling does not meet my criteria. So I whined to Emily. She gave me moral support while I got a chair and a shoe. Problem is, I still can't quite comfortably reach the ceiling from a chair! So I stood on the chair and stared down the roach. It didn't move or seem overly perturbed by my presence. Sigh. I tried to crush it with the tip of the shoe, but it scurried just out of reach. At this point, I knew I was going to have to flick it. Emily's job was to see where it landed so I could then crush it. Unfortunately I did not know my own strength and I flicked it too hard. Straight onto my nightstand where it got all ninja-quick on me and scurried off the side into the dark abyss.

Needless to say, I didn't want to sleep in my room and I am STILL giving that nightstand a wide berth (as if the roach is still hanging out there and not long gone).

This afternoon I had to go to the grocery store. I put my right shoe on. Then I put my left shoe on. Once I was snug in the shoe, I felt something at the toe. I am not an external reactor, so I didn't scream, but my adrenaline got to pumping and I let out a squeak because I immediately pictured the roach trapped with my foot inside my shoe! I couldn't get the shoe off fast enough and when it landed on the floor, guess what rolled out...a piece of popcorn :). I felt a little stupid. But my heart rate didn't go down for quite some time!

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow...

praise Him all creatures here below!"

Are you singing the song with me?! :)

Last night at AWANA we had testimony night. One of our leaders had the opportunity to share her testimony and did a FABULOUS job and then the kids have an opportunity to come up and share their testimonies. I LOVE testimony night. It is one of my favorite nights at AWANA. Adults have such a hard time getting up in front of others to share anything. But these kids were actually sad when they were told that we were out of time for anyone else to share. They bless my socks off! :)

Today I had a message on my phone from one of my AWANA workers who has two girls in AWANA. She shared with me that as they were driving home from church last night her older daughter started asking a lot of questions about being saved and whether her mom thought she was a Christian. The mom shared that when they got home they continued to talk and that before she went to bed, her daughter received Christ as her Savior!!!! The other cool part about the story is that her younger daughter prayed to receive Christ last year after a testimony night!

And we had 62 girls at AWANA last night!!!! Oh my gosh. 62! That is 4 more girls than I have ever had on one night.

"Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen."

Steamroller

My Uncle Larry posted this picture on Facebook the other day. It's amazing the memories one little picture can bring up for me. This bench sat in the basement of my grandparents' house all my growing up years. From this bench started many games of "steamroller" with the cousins. I'm not really sure of the origin of the game steamroller, come to think of it. I don't know if it was a game that one of the adults made up for us or if one of the kids made up for us or if it is an established game somewhere. Here's how it's played. All players except the steamroller get up on the bench because its a safe zone. The person playing the steamroller lays on the ground parallel to the bench but halfway across the "field." One brave soul from the bench has to go turn on the steamroller by stepping on them. Once the steamroller is on, it is his/her job to roll over everyone before they can make it across the field to the other safety zone, which means you have to jump over the steamroller as you go.

Reading my description, it sounds like a really weird game and you're probably thinking, "what kind of family did Teresa grow up in?" but when my uncle posted this picture, one by one, the comments started flowing and all the cousins started chiming in about steamroller. It is the first thing we all think of when we see this picture. Who knows if anyone ever actually sat on this bench? I have no memories of that! :)

Random things that remind you of random things

For the past two days, our neighbors above us have been doing something that sounds either like vacuuming in one place for a really long time or using some sort of power tool for a really long time. I have no idea what they are doing really but it is loud and obnoxious. The good thing is that it hasn't happened super early in the morning or super late at night.

But, as I was trying to think positively, it reminded me of a funny moment in college. Holly, Dana, and I lived in a second floor room of a three floor dorm. For about a week, around the same time every night, we would start to hear a humming noise. We were convinced that it was some sort of appliance/electronic. If you stood in the middle of the room, it would sound like it was coming from something like the computer. So you would walk up to the computer and listen closely and declare, "Nope, it's not the computer." So then you would go to the refrigerator. "Nope, it's not the refrigerator." And on and on, from the TV to the alarm clock to the stereo, back to the computer just in case. We would get so frustrated and then it would stop. Until the next night. We would bring our friends in and they would wander from one thing to the next. No one could figure out the sound. Finally, desperate one night, I went upstairs and knocked on the door of the people who lived above us. One of the girls was using a foot massager! It had been vibrating our floor! She felt really bad. I told her I didn't care, now that I knew what the sound was and if she didn't use it too late at night. But I don't remember if we ever heart it again after that.

PS. The sound upstairs always ends with their sliding door opening. But they don't dump anything out. I have no idea. But I'm not ready yet to go knock on their door. Maybe tomorrow if it interrupts NCIS. Wait...NCIS is a rerun. Maybe next week if it interrupts NCIS.
PPS. Have I mentioned that I don't like conflict?

Repost...Apparently I really don't like February

I was reading through some old blog posts and I got to this one from the end of the month last February:

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..."

I read it out loud to Emily and we were both laughing really hard. Who knew I had this distinct loathing for the month of February? Emily said that I might be petrified to even start the month of February next year! Good thing I forget these things after a year.

The Perfect Blend

Today was the perfect blend of relaxation and productivity! I love those kind of days. Here is how my day went, if you care to know...

Woke up at 8:45, spent time with the Lord, straightened living room, bedroom, and kitchen (last night, well most of yesterday, I laid on the couch and refused to look at anything because I was so tired of the mess but didn't want to do anything about it!), read some of my book, did laundry, cleaned the bathroom, read some of my book, ate lunch, read some of my book, mopped the floors, read some of my book, washed my sheets, read some of my book, paid bills/got some mail ready to go, read some of my book, vacuumed floors, read some of my book, put the sheets back on my bed, read some of my book, ate dinner, finished my book. I actually did four loads of laundry, so laundry was woven throughout the day. And I even put it all away! Which rarely happens on the same day I do laundry. Not bad for a days work. Now, I'm going to start another book and wait for Emily to get home so we can watch the third Bourne movie.