Mini Golf fun

Joe, Ginger, Taylor, Hudson, and I went mini golfing this afternoon. And it was so much fun. The kids mostly liked playing in all the water, but Taylor actually got pretty good at golfing. Hudson was kind of in his own little world and would often unknowingly kick someone else's ball as he walked by. But the kid is cute and easy to forgive. I'll just blame my bad score on him! :)

The first time the balls went into the water, the kids panicked, but then decided it was fun to play in the water!

Joe helping Hudson set up his shot.

Ginger's put down a long stretch of green.

Taylor had this scoop method that worked really well for her!  Not bad for someone who called her putter a bat when we first started!

Hudson's ball and club found some interesting resting places while he wandered.  But he always knew where they were when it was time to move on to the next green.

Through the window and into the cave!

Thanks for a fun evening, Burkes'!  And dinner from Chickfila was delicious too!  Joe said the loser had to buy dinner, but he was gracious since Ginger and I tied for loser.

Roommate Rivalry???

When Emily and I are home together and have time to do something together, we most often watch something on TV.  We enjoy watching things together and often watch through TV shows at the same time.  Meaning, if we are not both there to watch, it doesn't get watched until we are together.

Oh, and we like to eat.  So we do a lot of that (although not often in the apartment).  We don't cook for each other very often, but we go out and get food a lot.  Like tonight when we made a trip to Coneys.  It was my first night there this season, but I think Emily has already been. I took pictures last year of our first Coneys of the season.

Tonight I was reading a book and I all of a sudden exclaimed, "I want to do 3 things at the same time, but I can't!"  All perplexed-like.

Emily said, "Well...what three things do you want to do?"

And I said, "I want to read my book, but I also want to watch something.  And I want to play a game, too!"

Emily expressed that she could help with two of those things.   "Maybe we could watch an hour of something and then play a game for an hour."  We've been known to play games before, but we don't do it very often. We went through a Dominoes phase recently.  And many years ago, we would borrow a Wii for a week at a time so we could bowl.  And we've played Ticket to Ride once or twice.  It's odd really that we don't play more games together, because we both enjoy games.

So we watched an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.  A throwback to season one, when Deeks was first introduced.

And then we played three games of Skip-Bo.  I won the first one (by only one card).  Emily won the second game (by a handful of cards).  And then we had to play a tie breaker.  And I won the third game (we won't mention by how much).  Emily didn't take the loss very well. :)  For those of you who don't know Emily, she is a very competitive person.  Me, not so much.  I have my moments. And I like to win, but I just don't really care if I lose, for the most part.  As Emily was getting ready for bed, she said, "We'll have to have a re-match soon."  And then she made a comment about how she would win next time.

And I said, "Maybe this is why we don't play games very often..."  I don't know if we could survive it! :)

Gorgeous Morning

I woke up a little earlier than I was anticipating, so I decided to get out of the apartment for awhile. I've been struggling with focus during my morning devotions, so I thought a change of scenery might freshen things up.  I ended up at Grandview Drive, with just me, a bag o' stuff, tons of walkers/runners, and a bunch of bugs.  Plus beautiful sunshine and shade.  I was out for about 2 hours and it would have stayed longer but my bladder had other ideas! :)

More texting conversations

Here are a few more texting conversations that amused me this week.  Apparently, I like to pretend like I'm going to visit people.

Me:  For some reason, I always miss you guys on 3 day weekends. :)
Dad:  Miss you too.  We're going to the cabin.  Wanna come? [I added punctuation.  The actual message said "Miss you to we're going to the cabin wanna come"]
Me: I'll be there in about 15 minutes!  Maybe 20.  Traffic might be bad today.
Dad: I hate traffic.

Me: Want to come over and watch Chuck?
Danell: Be there in ten with Dr. Pepper and pizza and cookie cake.
Me: K. I'll try to figure out how to get Netflix hooked to the TV so we don't have to huddle in front of the computer.  But that might take me 15 minutes so take your time.
Danell: K.  I will go get some muffin mix to make for breakfast.
Me: I like how in our dream world I can drink Dr. Pepper at night and not worry about it keeping me up at night. :)
Danell:  We are staying up late anyway, we will sleep in tomorrow since we have no responsibilities.
Me: That's true.  Because if you are coming over we may as well finish season 4 and watch all of season 5.  It only makes sense.
Danell: After that we can talk about boys and why they don't make sense.
Me: And call them stupid.  And when we finally wake up tomorrow we can go to Wing Stop for lunch and Barnes and Noble to browse through all the books.
Danell: If we go to B & N I'm getting coffee.
Me: I won't stop you.  I'll just go to Sonic after that and get a cherry limeade.
Danell: If we are going to Sonic so soon after Wing Stop I will get a stomach ache, we better have a light dinner.
Me: At Chipotle?  Actually, I'll take you to a Peoria local place.  Either Avantis or Monicals.  But in our dream world there are no calories or stomach aches.
Danell:  Chipotle sounds light enough for me.
Danell: [When I first read this text, I didn't realize we had changed the conversation, so I was kind of confused, which made it even funnier!] If someone gave me three minutes to clean my room I wouldn't be doing a naked dance in the middle of it...I'm just saying.
Me: That just means she is confident that she can get it done in less than 3 minutes.
Danell: She overestimates her naked abilities.

Who is an art contest winner?!

Me!  Me!  Me! I never in a million years would have ever guessed that I could win an art contest!

Now, I may have only been competing with about 8 people.  And the judge may have been 6.  But she still picked my snowman as the best!  Just goes to show that you are good at everything through the eyes of a 6 year old. :)  My prize was my very own sticker that said, "Great Work!"

This was also a timed contest.  So we only had two minutes to complete our pictures.  If given more time, other people probably would have beat me!

World Turtle Day

My cousin Sara brought to my attention that today is World Turtle Day.  How could I have gone so long without knowing this?!  Here is what I found out about World Turtle Day on wickipedia (which, as we all know, is the most accurate source of information in the world!):

The purpose of World Turtle Day, May 23, sponsored yearly since 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, is to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.^[1][2][3]

Turtle Day is celebrated worldwide in a variety of ways, from dressing up as turtles or wearing green summer dresses, to saving turtles caught on highways, to research activities. Turtle Day lesson plans and craft projects encourage teaching about turtles in classrooms.

When Sara wished me a happy World Turtle Day on Facebook, I responded by saying:

That is SO exciting. Now I have to figure out what I need to do to celebrate. I feel like I should take the day off. And do everything slow like a turtle would do. Or hide inside my shell and read a book. Or soak in the sun (I would only do this as a turtle though, because I don't really like the sun). Actually, I had a turtle related blog post that I have had on the back burner...I should post it today!

As promised, here is my turtle post, blog style!  I began collecting turtle figurines in high school.  I don't know what it is about them that is so cute, but I enjoy them.  My obsession has turned into quite a collection

 37 turtles on this shelf in my bathroom!  At some point in time I decided that I should start collecting turtles from around the world, to make my collection more meaningful.  So let me introduce you to some of my turtles.  To the left, hanging on the necklace is my turtle from Hawaii.  The wooden one on the far left top shelf is from Guatemala (I have quite a few from Guatemala but I think this is the first one I got).  The one in the middle of the top shelf with the hat on is from Macedonia.  And the one on the end of the top shelf is from the Bahamas.  The mirror is from Thailand.  All of my turtles used to fit on that shelf, but the collection started growing, so they've moved other places.

 These four also reside in the bathroom.  The one on the left I received from a family member's visit to my hometown of Covington, GA.  The two in the middle are also from Guatemala.  The one on the right was from a member of my small group in Texas.  I think I was actually supposed to grow something in it but I just use it to hold hair stuff.

 Turtle even decorate the walls.  This turtle, that hangs above the toilet, is from St. Augustine, FL.

 I have these four turtle in my bedroom.  The one on top of the speaker is from Australia.  The one in the middle holds my earrings.  The candle holder was from a friend.  And I think the one on the right is from Arizona (I've started to lose track of all the places people bring me turtles from).

This guy, Tyler, was a present from a boyfriend when I was in high school.  I had the biggest box under his tree that Christmas, which is step-sister didn't like!  He sat on my bed all through college and was often used as a pillow.  When I would move home every summer, Tyler was buckled into the front seat beside me. :)  We stopped mentioning the fact that he came from my ex-boyfriend because it wasn't a great break up and I didn't want Tyler to keep hearing about where he came from!

And last, my turtle shirt.  You can't really see it in this picture, but it was the best I could find.  It says "I like turtles" on it.  Plus, I just love this picture of Dad, Daynah, and I.

Happy World Turtle Day, everyone!

Just a little nephew love!

I went for a visit over the weekend. Here's a glimpse of some things I did:

Ann's birthday present soon became Michael's toy.  He would get in and curl up so you couldn't even see him over the top!

$2.00 worth of fun...glow in the dark glasses.  John really enjoyed posing in front of the mirror.

They look like aliens!

John and Michael checking each other out!

A close up!

Saturday we went to John's soccer game:

Look at those skills! :)

This was during practice.  They had all kicked their balls into the net and the coach told them to get them out...which resulted in a pile of cute kids!

Don't they look like the future of soccer!

John throwing the ball back in during the game.

This kid was so funny!  Every time John's team scored he would run to his mom crying because his team didn't score.  I couldn't help but take a picture of him!

Watching the popcorn pop.  I forgot how exciting that could be! :)

Chocolate milk sharing

I shared my chocolate milk with Michael this morning.  This makes my heart happy because Daynah and Josh never enjoyed chocolate milk when they were little. (When I'm at their house I share with one of the cats!).  Michael asked for some and then would come back and say "Moooree chocolate milk" with this I-will-get-you-to-eat-out-of-my-hand grin to ensure that he would actually get some.  I don't share my chocolate milk with just anybody (okay, the sharing with the cat means that's probably not true.  I'm not too picky with whom I share).  But I'd make an exception for Michael anyway.

Also, he brought me my cell phone yesterday and said, "Mickey?"  Meaning he wanted to watch Mickey on my phone.  I laughed really hard and then had to try to explain to him how you can't watch Mickey on my non-smart flip phone.  It reminded me of when I tried to explain to the boys I used to nanny that they couldn't look at the picture I had just taken with my 35mm camera because they were used to a digital camera.  Technology makes me so uncool.

Best friends are the best

No pun intended.

Here are a couple of texting conversations between Danell and I lately.  They just make me smile.  Even if they aren't funny to anyone else, I think we are pretty darn funny!

Me: My ability to mess up grilled cheese sometimes astounds me!
Danell: My throat hurts :(
Me: :( Well, I won't try to make you any comfort food because apparently I suck at it!
Danell: That made me laugh a lot harder than it should have.

Danell: I got a smartphone...you can start your five year clock now ;) [I am notorious for being about five years behind the times with anything technological]
Me: I don't know if technology will let me wait that long. :) I had no idea that you didn't have a smart phone yet!
Danell: If you don't wait, the fabric of the universe is in danger
Me. I'll put it in my calendar.

10 minute miles

I don't run.  I have no desire to run.  But sometimes a running analogy just works.  Yesterday, while I was travelling to the suburbs, I got stuck in traffic.  I saw the sign for "expect long delays" but didn't really believe them.  Until I got stuck in it.  For an hour.  I was driving about a 10 minute mile.  And that might be generous.  It might have been more like an 11 or 12 minute mile.  And then once I got through it, I got stuck in traffic getting onto 355.  And then the "shortcut" I learned to get to Mom's house was blocked off and I had to turn back around.  Sigh.  It was a long trip.  But I made it.  In time for dinner :).

The letter in its full form, minus the technology of actually seeing the letter

Because I am the exact opposite of technically savvy, I can't figure out how to put a copy of my letter that I wrote to Aunt Teresa on here.  It makes me sad, because the true nature in the stream of consciousness is seeing the letter in real form.  But, I will do the next best thing.  I'll just retype it here for your reading pleasure (with spelling mistakes and everything).  Also, I clarified some spelling in brackets and sometimes added my own commentary in brackets:

Dear Teresa, Scott, and Jake
I miss you a lot.  When mom said what I wanted for Christmas I said my to frount teeth.  School is fun.  we maid pudding.  And it was good.  We have been working on pomes [poems] in English for a while.  I watch T.V. a lot.  We wacht 46 almost every day at night.  We are going to see An American Tail.  I got the book.  It is very good.  It is very funny.  I think the movie is going to be better then the story.  But I won't no until we see the movie.  But Chris doesn't want to go that much.  I'm glad Christmas is coming.  I can't wait to see you.  I her that Jake [my cousin--he is about 1 or 2 at the time of the letter] is funny.  And he is talking more to.  I hope I get a lot of toys.  I want a bike the most.  Because my bike is broke.  And it is getting to little for me.  When we go to McDonald's I get a happy meal.  I can tell time now too.  It takes me time though.  I like my homeroom teacher.  I can't wait til I come to see everybody.  I like it down here.  I have not written a letter for a long time.  And thats one reason I am doing it the other is becaus you want me to.  Mitsy [the dog] is so cute.  I like her a lot.  I like Fridays.  But I don't no why.  Theres proubly a reason.  I'll think about it.  I can't wait until I get into money in math.  We maid jello in school.  that was not good.  Mom makes a fire in t he fireplace almost every night.  She is geting forward to coming and seeing everybody.  She is so excited.  I like opening presents.  Does Jake miss us.  I think he does.  Can he read yet.  Does he still walk off the couch.  Doe he still say mine like he did.  He is funny.  Dad says hi.  Mom got a new radio in the car.  And she always turns it on.  But some times she forgets.  But I remind her.  And Chris gets mad.  I laugh.  Tell grandma that I am reading a lot.  I read thin books and fat books.  And I read a real fat book.  And I am done with it.  Ron [we lived at his house in the country at the time I wrote this] sold all the cows.  And I'm not use to it.  I don't hear them moo because thare [they're] not thare [there] anymore.  Mm said its real cold down there.  But its been warm here.  I get homework.  I wrote some Christmas cards.  the sun is brite and if you look at it, it seems like you go blind.  I herd you are having another baby.  I wonder what Jake is going to do.  The trees look pretty.  They are all diffrent colors.  I like my jean jacket.  I wear it to school everyday.  But I don't wear it when I walk home because I get to hot.  But my hands get cold.  And when I get home I can hardly move my hands.  I want a fur coat and a bike for Christmas [do you think a bike was really important and that I was thinking about Christmas a lot?!] but I want other things to.  Two kids in my class have fur coats.  Dad's funny some times.  I hardly see him.  My best friends name is Amy.  She is nice to me.  She plays with me a lot to.  And I like her.  Is Scott geting a lot of money [Scott was my aunt's husband.  Boy was I nosey!]  Does Jake play with his he-man dolls that we gave him.  Does grandma still watch him alot.  Does he say wheres Cindy  Does he still pole [pull] the cats tails.  I want a puppy real bad.  But mom said not until we get a house of are own.  I want one that will not get very big so I can walk it.  And hold it in my lap.  Chris like his birthday.  I gave him a card but he didn't care.  He just threw it down on the ground.  And I got mad.  I was about to hit him.  But I didn't.  Because his friend was with him.  Mom likes Mitsy a lot.  She gave her to toys.  And she likes them.  But someone has to throw them.  And she'll got get it and bring it back.  When we first come home she jumps all over us.  I say down.  She gets down but then she jumps back up. And sometimes I push her down.  She bites sometimes but it doesn't hurt.  When she plays she acts funny.  I want a my cild [I have no idea!] doll, bike, fur coat, barbie and the rocker dolls, barbies and other things to.  But I could go on forever [as if I haven't already done that for two pages!]  I read a book called A Horese For Mandy it is cute.  It has 89 pages.  But it didn't take long.  I read it fast.  I can't wait to see Jake. [and you too!  I meant to add that :)]
Love, Teresa Forsberg
Merry Christmas
I love you [each letter is in an individual heart]
And then I drew a whole page of heart balloons and a Christmas picture with a Christmas tree and presents, a fireplace with stockings, and a table with a letter to Santa on it.

Old letters

I don't have time to post the entire letter right now, but I just wanted to give you guys a preview.  My aunt found a letter I wrote to her when I was 7.  If you guys think I talk a lot now, you should have known me then!  This letter is stream of consciousness at its best!  It is two pages of one thought after another.  Here are my two favorite lines:

"I like Fridays.  But I don't know why.  There's proubly a reason. I'll think about it."

"Chris liked his birthday.  I gave him a card but he didn't care.  He just threw it down on the ground.  And I got mad.  I was about to hit him.  But I didn't. Because his friend was with him." (Good thing his friend was there!  Who knows what would have happened!)

And here's some stream of consciousness for you: "Mom said its really cold down there.  But it's been warm here.  I get homework.  I wrote some Christmas cards.  The sun is brite and if you look at it, it seems you go blind.  I herd you are having another baby..."

Shopping for Cards

I love to buy cards for people.  But cards have to actually fit the person for me to buy them, which sometimes makes buying cards difficult.  But it makes me happy when I receive cards that "fit" me. Yesterday I got this card in the mail from Amy:

She knows how much I LOVE the book, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" and how much I love getting a just-because-I'm-thinking-about-you card.  She was also quick to say that she did not hope I was having a bad day and that she did not want me to think she was having a bad day! :) Just that she knows how much I love the book and hoped it would bring a smile to my face.  And it DID!

On a side note, I closed a client today who I have been seeing for 1 1/2 years.  It was bittersweet for me. Exciting that she has made so much progress that I feel completely comfortable closing her.  And sad that I won't get to see her next Tuesday.  She is a part of my routine, and for the past 6 months, she has been a dream to work with (before that we had our struggles!).  I wrote her a personalized card so that she would remember how PROUD I am of her for everything she has accomplished.  She read it today during our session and said, "I like how you underlined some words."  I just laughed, because I have always been told that I write like I talk and so, generally, if you get a letter from me it will have CAPITALIZED words and underlined words and several :) throughout because I want to emphasize certain things. I can't adequately convey my thoughts without using those expressive writing tools.

Draft Day

A couple weeks ago, I went to see the movie Draft Day with a few friends.  I had no previous knowledge about draft day.  Well, that's not true.  I think my only other knowledge is from the end of The Blind Side. And I knew it existed.  But I like sports movies, so I enjoyed Draft Day.  And who wouldn't enjoy Kevin Costner in another sport movie?

Since then, I have amused myself by randomly looking up things about draft day over the last couple of weeks.  One of my coworkers joked with me at the beginning of last week about whether I was going to follow the draft this year.  I rolled my eyes at him, but every time something came across Facebook or my email news feed, I became vaguely interested.  So, I also learned that draft day is actually a three day event. And from the movie I learned that people actually tailgate the event.  How weird is that?!  And tonight I decided to look up the Bear's draft picks.  Emily amused me by letting me read them out loud to her. Granted, I won't retain this information.  But it has amused me that I have been entertained by it.

Not for the Faint of Heart

I may have sat on a chair and soaked dog pee water dog pee into my pants for a good 30 minutes while at a client's house today.  I felt something wet, so I adjusted until I thought I wasn't on the wet spot anymore, but I think I was mistaken.  And then i had to sit in my car and drive to my office for a 70 minute session and then drive back to the client's house to drop her off.  And then drive home.  All before I could do anything about said wet spot on my pants.  Did I mention it soaked through to my undies?  And was still damp when I got home 3 hours after it happened.  I am choosing to believe it was just water.  But I'm washing the pants just in case! :)

My job is not for the faint of heart...

Let the softball season begin...

I so meant to take my camera to my first softball game of the season.  But I forgot.  Maybe next time.  I start softball spectating a little later than the season actually starts because I have Bible study on Monday night for the first couple of weeks.  A bunch of my friends also play on Sunday night and I usually can't go to those games because of small group, but we didn't have small group tonight.  I never realize how much I miss it until I sit in those bleachers.  I know it seems strange.  But part of it is because I have been watching softball with the same people for close to 6 or 7 years now.  We are like a little family.  And some of them I only see during softball season.  But no, they will never convince me to play.

Taking every thought captive

As a woman, I am often on an emotional roller coaster.  Sometimes it can be so frustrating that I can feel content and happy one minute while the next I feel discontent and miserable.  I've been battling a lot of selfishness lately.  Let's face it, I always battle selfishness.  But it has seemed greater lately.  Then, randomly last night, I got really weepy about something that just hit me as I was going to bed.  On top of that I had a really vivid dream that had me waking wondering if the dream was real.  All of that combined had me travelling to church in a half-hearted way.  Although because I was feeling half-hearted about worship, I decided to pray on the way to church.  I'll admit, it was also kind of a half-hearted prayer.  But God answers even half-hearted prayers (have I ever mentioned how I love that I can serve a God who gets me, who loves me no matter what, and who wants His best for me?!).

My regular Sunday school teacher was out today, so one of the men in the class was filling in.  Guess what his topic was?  "Take every thought captive."  I'll admit, I kind of rolled my eyes at myself and God.  But I started paying attention.  And I knew it was just the message that I wanted needed to hear.  I have to take my thoughts captive, because I know that when I let them wander and have their way, they wander very far astray of the truth.  Especially in my present mood.  My emotions don't control me.  I have to remember that. I have to dwell on truth.  And the truth is three-fold.  God is sovereign.  God is good.  God is wise.  When I move outside of the boundaries of those truths, I entertain thoughts that are not God honoring or truthful or wise or good.

Then, on to worship I went.  The first song we sang was "Jesus Son of God."  The chorus kind of stopped me in my tracks:

On the altar of our praise
Let there be no higher name
Jesus Son of God
You laid down Your perfect life
You are the sacrifice
Jesus Son of God
You are Jesus Son of God

Especially the first part.  What do I put on the altar of my praise that I allow to have a higher name than Jesus?  Family?  Desire for marriage and children?  Self-satisfaction?  Friends?  "Me" time?  Praise of man?

I would love to say that I have been completely able to take my thoughts captive today.  I haven't, but hearing all of these things today has certainly helped me to turn my thoughts to "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable."