Happy Birthday, Michael!

I know everyone else has already said it, but I can't believe he is one!  Time goes by too quickly.  Especially since the last time I saw him he was only 6 months old!  At that time, he wasn't even crawling yet, and now he is walking.  I want to hug him and squeeze him and kiss those cheeks like his mommy is doing!

Comedy of Errors

From beginning to end, this day has been a comedy of errors.  Surprisingly, even taken together, the following events just kind of made me laugh.  Even though it could have easily put me into a really bad mood.  My wet jeans on the other hand...

My comedy of errors actually started last night.  Emily needed an ice pack for her lunch today and have two, so I told her to use one of mine.  No big deal, I only need one.  So this morning, I got the second ice pack out and noted it had an odd shape to it.  When I looked closer, I realized there was a small slit in it, which means when it thawed, the gel would get all over my cooler.  So, I put the ice pack in my bag.  Crisis averted.  Then I grabbed a frozen pizza for lunch today, went to put it in my bag, and realized that I bought a MUSHROOM pizza.  I HATE mushrooms.  I sucked it up and decided I would have to eat it sooner or later, so I took it with me.  Another crisis averted. 

I was several blocks from home when I realized that I wasn't wearing my watch.  I use it all the time during work to check times during sessions.  I really don't like using my cell phone because I think it looks much more rude.  So I debated whether to go home.  I only had two clients.  I made the decision based on the fact I was going into a school today and really didn't want to use my cell phone during that session.  So I went back home for my watch.

When I got to work, I was working on the computer and looked at my watch, which seemed a little slow.  I went to get my cell phone to check the time compared to my watch and realized I had left my cell phone at home on my bed.  Sigh.  But a good thing that I had gone back home for my watch. 

I went to my school meeting (a first with a new client) and the secretary said she should be at lunch.  Which surprised me because I got there early.  Turns out the teacher told me they eat lunch at 12 and have recess at 12:30.  But they actually have lunch at 11:30 and recess at 12:00.  So, I didn't get as much time as I had anticipated.

Back to work to eat my pizza dough, since I picked off all the mushrooms.  I justified a Dr. Pepper, even though I've been trying to cut back.

I came home for a half hour after work and then left to have dinner at friends' house.  I was half way there when I realized I did not bring my purse.  I didn't need any money, and the house was only five minutes away, so I decided to risk not getting pulled over.

Like I said, comedy of errors from beginning of day to the end.  But it was a pretty good day regardless of all of that.

PS.  This is how I solved the problem of the wet pants:

Stylish, I know.  I asked my client if she was embarrassed to be seen with me.  She said "no."  I said, "Really?  Because I'm a little embarrassed to be seen with me.  But my pants will be dry when I leave!"

PPS.  These are the velcro shoes I mentioned in my Facebook status yesterday.

Update: As I was getting ready for bed, I almost put toner into my contact case instead of contact solution.  They are next to each other in the cabinet.  I had it out of the cabinet, in my hand, with my finger on the top to pop it open when I realized what I was doing. Oy!  That would have been very bad in the morning when I went to put my contacts back in.

Headache free!

Sometime in the fall I started getting headaches more frequently, including migraines, which I had never gotten.  My headaches were of a different variety than they had been in the past, so I started tracking them on a scale (pressure headache, regular headache, migraine), time of day I got them, and time of day they went away if they went away before bed.  Yesterday I realized I had been headache free for one week!  As I was looking back through my calendar, I also realized that the last time I had gone that long without a headache was the middle of December.  I am rejoicing in the lack of headaches, but must admit that I am also going through my days with a waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop feeling.  Sometimes I wake up and think, "I bet I'll get a headache today."  Hopefully these thoughts will go away and the headaches will continue to be infrequent!

15 years of spiritual blessings

Today was my 15 year spiritual birthday.  It is amazing to think that I have been a believer for that long.  Five years ago, I had "birthday party" for my 10 year spiritual birthday.  You can read about that here.  So, because multiples of five are fun to celebrate, I decided to invite some friends over to celebrate my 15 year birthday as well.  Monday nights aren't always a good night for a get together, so many people couldn't come.  I invited ladies to my home who have been a spiritual influence in my life.  Because this day is not really about me, I asked everyone to bring a Scripture that is speaking to them now or has spoken to them in the past.  I also asked the ladies who could not come to send me those Scriptures so I could share them with the group.  It was such an enjoyable evening of learning how the Lord is working in other peoples' lives.  I praise God for spiritual friends who spur me on to walk closer with the Lord.  I can't wait to see where the Lord takes me in the next 15 years.

Taste Buds and chocolate milk

Really, I don't have much to say, but I wanted to get the picture off my disgusting refrigerator as the first thing I see when I pull up my blog, so I'm posting a non-story. :)

For the last ummm...a lot of years, I have drunk? drank? drinked? chocolate milk for breakfast.  Okay, I know how many years.  Well, I haven't done the math.  But it all started in 7th grade.  And it has continued.  You'd think I would be ashamed to admit it, but I'm not.  You'd think I would feel guilty when people lecture me, but I don't. :)

Not really the point, anyway.  Tonight, I didn't know what I wanted for dinner and chocolate milk just seemed easier than anything else.  I was thirsty and not too hungry, but I knew I needed something to eat before I went to small group.  So, now to the point...if anyone is still with me...chocolate milk has always tasted different at night than in the morning.  Do you think our taste buds change throughout the day? I drank it out of the same glass I usually drink it out of in the morning.  But it simply tastes different.  Anyone else have a similar experience with other foods?  Or am I just weird?

PS. For my question marks above, I googled.  I have drunk chocolate milk for the last umpteen years.  I drank chocolate milk for breakfast this morning.  Not drinked, which I obviously knew!

Unexpected *treasures*

Today I decided to have a Dr. Pepper for lunch.  When I went into the fridge to grab the next can in the 12 pack, it came out kind of sticky. "Hmmm...that's weird," I thought.  Being a naturally curious person, I looked at the shelf and saw something equally as sticky.  I quickly figured that a can must have leaked and closed the fridge to enjoy my lunch :).  After lunch, I pulled the next can out to find it empty but not opened.  Oh. No.  The bottom of the cardboard was soaked and the shelf was pretty dirty.  When I pulled out the drawer, I found where all the Dr. Pepper had gone:

DISGUSTING!  So, I had the unexpected punishment joy of cleaning out the refrigerator.  I'll be honest, I almost stopped after cleaning this mess, but then decided the satisfaction of a job well done would be worth it.  The irony of it all...last weekend, Emily suggested we do a refrigerator clean out and I told her we had to take all the Christmas stuff down.  I only wanted to commit to one of those projects.  So, of course, when I discovered this mess, Emily is out of town for the weekend and I had the joy of doing it all.by.myself.  She'll be pleasantly surprised to be able to cross that chore off her to do list!  Here is the finished project:

A slightly less cluttered and extremely shiny refrigerator!  Because of this joyous project, I have only gotten this much further on the puzzle today:

But I'm making pretty good progress!

Friday Night

Considering yesterday was the third day in a row that I thought it was Thursday, I'd say it was a long week. Not a bad week. Just long. I expected it since it was my first 5 day week in a month, but I was glad to bid goodbye to this work week. Emily is out of town for the weekend, so I had a quiet evening at home (that makes it sound like she makes the apartment noisy, which she doesn't).  All day long I had dreams of starting a puzzle and drinking hot chocolate.  A movie for background noise is usually on the agenda as well.  It was a tough choice, but I decided on The Proposal.

I was still going strong on the puzzle at the end of The Proposal, so I stuck with a theme, and put in Miss Congeniality.  Here is my progress on the puzzle at the end of two movies:

Not bad.  Now, I must part ways with the puzzle (not an easy task for me).  Sometimes puzzles are a start to finish in one sitting task because I think, "I'll just find one more piece."  But tonight I am falling asleep sitting up, so I think it is time to get this body to bed.

But it was a good night to end the week.  And an entry into the blessing jar: movie, hot chocolate, and a puzzle!  Good night all!

Hindsight

It's amazing how often I go through things and don't stop in the moment to analyze how God might be working.  Before I went to Arizona, I had two prayers for myself.  One was that, out of my routine, I would stay committed to studying His word every day.  And the other was that I would watch my mouth and not speak before thinking.  These two things often go hand in hand, and I know how much they are connected.  The less time I spend in the Word, the more I seem to speak carelessly out of my own desires rather than with God's desires in mind.

Every day I was in Arizona, I woke up between 7:00 and 7:30.  There was not a single day that I slept past 7:30.  This is unusual for me, because usually the longer I'm on vacation, the more relaxed I am and the more I can sleep in (up until about 9:00).  But that was not the case this time.  Sometimes I was frustrated with this because I wasn't going to bed super early, so I felt like I was not getting enough rest.  Fast forward to after I got home.  The four days I was off after getting home, I managed to sleep until 8:30 or 9:00 every day.  It was then that I realized that the Lord woke me up between 7:00 and 7:30 every morning because it gave me about a half an hour before the chaos of the day would begin and I was able to spend some focused time in prayer and Scripture reading.  Once home, I was able to do that later in the morning because there was not as much going on.   Sometimes I laugh at how easy it is to forget that God will answer my prayers if I just ask Him!  Thank you Lord for your caring and protection over my life!

Sometimes a Melody Sounds Like a Memory

I love this line from Eric Church's song "Springsteen."  I may have even blogged about it before.  But it is so true.  While I was in Arizona, Daynah and I watched Juno together.  One of the songs had a silly, catchy line that we repeated for several days.  "Here is the church and here is the steeple.  We sure are cute for two ugly people."  I told Daynah that because we laughed so much at that, it was going to become a memory for us and every time we heard those lines, we would think of the time we watched that movie together.  I don't know if she believed me, but I know it is true in my own life.  Most songs that have memories for me come from movies.  Sometimes it is just the scenes from the movies that are the memory, but sometimes it is the people I was with when I saw the movie.  Tonight, after seeing a movie, I got in the car and the song "My Sharona" came on.  I immediately thought of friends from high school.  In case you didn't know, this song was in the movie "Reality Bites."  I don't remember anything about the movie except that song and that Wynona Rider was in it and maybe Ben Stiller.  But it was a favorite for Nicole, Rebecca, and me.  And it reminds me of the friendship I had with both of them.  So, sometimes a melody sounds like a memory...

Happy 1/2 Birthday to Me!

Don't worry if you forgot to send me a present :).  I don't expect one.  The last couple of years I have actually forgotten it was my half birthday until someone else wished me a happy half birthday.  So, I thought that since I remembered this year, I'd wish myself a happy half birthday.  It is hard to believe I am half way to 34.  That's right, isn't it?  For some reason, my old age is getting to me and I'm second guessing my age!  Which is kind of funny because I was just telling someone a story about how I sometimes have trouble remembering how old I am because as I get closer to my birthday, I feel like it is more accurate to say, "I'm almost 34," than it is to say, "I'm 33." But then when my birthday comes, i can't remember what is my actual age! Silly me.  Emily also pointed out to me the other day that my profile on my blog says that I am in my early, early, early 30s.  Not so accurate anymore.  So as soon as I publish this to the blog, I'll go change that.  Anyway, that was a rambly post just to wish myself a happy half birthday.  Blessings to you on this first Saturday of the New Year!

Driving pet peeve # 241

One of my favorite (insert sarcasm here) things when driving on the highway happened this evening.  I am driving in the right hand lane.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the appropriate lane to be in if you are not passing a car.  All of a sudden I look in my rear view mirror and there is a car that is quickly approaching behind me.  And then it begins to ride slightly closer than I want it to.  There is no one in the passing lane, but this car continues to follow closely.  A mile or so later, as I'm about to merge onto a new highway, the highway adds a new lane.  As soon as I get into the right lane (so now there are three lanes) the car continues in the middle lane and passes me very quickly.  Not a huge deal, but why didn't the car just pass me two miles back when it had every opportunity to do so?  Silly car!

New Years Resolutions

Every year I say that I think New Years resolutions are stupid.  But every year, I do make some changes, I just choose not to call them stupid.  Last year I made a resolution that I didn't share with anyone.  And I'm still not going to share it because most people would think it is not much of an accomplishment.  But I will share that I was able to keep that resolution all but 4 or 5 times (it was based on doing something at least once every 2 weeks).  I also usually set a spiritual goal for myself.  Last year it was to memorize the book of 1 John.  I didn't make it.  I made it through 2 1/2 chapters and then set it aside and did not pick it back up.

I like to set Scripture memory goals for myself or else I don't get anything accomplished.  Every other year, Beth Moore, through her blog, does a Scripture memory challenge.  I did not find this until half way through 2009 so I didn't participate, but then I did it on my own in 2010.  I joined the challenge in 2011.  When I saw that she was going to do it again this year, I was torn.  I didn't really want to commit to it.  But then I didn't set any other goal for myself.  So tonight, I just decided that I would join the challenge again.  24 verses in 12 months.  It is so doable.  Maybe I'll use some verses from 1 John that I haven't memorized yet.

My first verse is from Genesis 15:1: After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward."

Blessings Jar

So, I mentioned in my last post that someone on Facebook posted something about a jar where you put in good things that happen throughout the year and then read them on New Years Eve.  So, I have officially decided that this is my project for the year.  I tend to focus too much on the negative, so I think this will be a good opportunity to try to focus more on the positive.  I'm calling it my Blessings Jar.  I will put in good things that happen, blessings from the day, things that made me smile.  You get the idea.  I don't have to put something in every day and I am not limited to one thing per day. I'll write the date and what the good thing/blessing is.

Because I'm more motivated when I spruce things up a bit, I took a trip to Hobby Lobby after work.  Here is what I came up with:

A jar, some ribbon, and some small square scrapbook paper.  $10.  I'll probably need more paper later, and might just do regular paper, but to start off with, I thought the colored paper would be more fun.  Here are my first two entries:

Sometimes short and sweet and sometimes a mini journal entry so that I can remember the context of the note.

Hopefully I can keep this up throughout the year!

Blogcation or Blogblock

As some of you may have noticed, I haven't blogged much lately.  I don't really know why that is.  Nothing to say?  Other things going on?  No inspiration?  Writers block?  Who knows. 

However, I can't let January 1 go by without a blog post.  So here I am.  Blogging.  I haven't really thought what I might say.  I just read my posts from Jan 1, 2012 and Jan 1, 2011 to get inspiration.  I don't know if it worked.  Last year I made a list of "anothers" from 2011 because I realized that not much new had happened in my life.  As I read it, I realized that this year was much the same.  I have watched those around me change a lot.  Here are some of the changes that others have had:

1. Emily started a new job.
2.  Ann had a baby.
3.  Daynah graduated.
4.  2 coworkers left to start new jobs.
5.  Members of my small group moved to England.
6.  Daynah started college.

Although these things happened to other people, it is kind of amazing how much many of these things effected me. 

Here are some of my 2012 highlights/changes:
1. I moved to a new Sunday School class in January.  It was a big change for me, as I had been attending the Singles class for 6 years.  While I am still single, I decided it was time for a change.  The class I am in now is a multi-generational class and I have really enjoyed getting to know other people in the church through the class.
2.  I went on a canoe trip with my small group.  This is another area where I have been able to meet new people in the church and I continued with the same small group in the fall.  Plus, I shocked some people by getting into a canoe :)
3.  My second nephew was born at the end of January.  It is hard to believe he will be one at the end of this month!
4.  In April, I made a solo trip to Georgia to meet Michael and help Chris and Ann out.  It was fun to spend time with them for the week.
5.  Daynah came back to Illinois for her last semester of high school.  We had Tuesday night dinners while she was here.  It was good to have family in the same town as me again.
6.  In July, I did another family vacation to Florida.  It was fun to be with family and see how much John had changed since the last time we had been there.
7.  I continue to direct in AWANA, but this year I gained a codirector, which has been a huge blessing!
8.  I joined BSF in the fall.  We are studying the book of Genesis, which is one of my favorite books.  I have gotten to know others through this study, which has been fun as well.
9.  I started attending the Career Impact Bible study in the fall as well.  I had not attended in several years as I have been doing other studies.  We were able to tackle 1 and 2 Thessalonians in the fall and will study Hebrews this next semester.
10.  Although still at my job, I have seen many changes since the summer.  A complete overhaul of our program which has left us a little leary of what the future might bring (although with my job, I'm always a little leary, so it hasn't effected me all that much).  A move to a new building.  A couple of coworkers leaving. 
11.  My second Christmas in Arizona.  It was a great trip and I will hopefully do a post just on that trip soon.  I miss Dad, Amy, Daynah, and Josh and it was good to spend a week and a half with them. 
12.  Various trips to see family in Illinois.  Another get together of the girl cousins.  Sara, Todd, and Autumn came to visit me in Peoria in September.  The Pumpkin Festival in Sycamore in October.  Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family.
13.  Chickfila opened in Peoria! :)  I couldn't compile a highlights list without that.

That's all I can think of right now and I have to get ready for a day full of games at a friends house.  On Facebook, I saw an idea to start the year off with an empty jar and then fill it with good things that happen throughout the year.  I might have to try that--it would make my highlights list a whole lot easier to make on Jan 1, 2014!

Happy New Year everyone!