Admit It

I was visiting with a friend today, and she asked me if I saw last week's episode of ***** *******, but she asked me in a whisper because that is one of those shows that I think we are all a little embarrassed to admit we watch.

Since I am feeling a little guilty about admitting that show, I will own up to something else for all of my faithful blog readers.

Ready for my announcement?

Here goes...

I used to watch Dawson's Creek. No, I wasn't in high school when it was on, I was in college. I really liked to watch it, and I would even tape it when I wasn't going to be home. I know you are all cringing as you are reading this. I am cringing a little bit as I write it.

Admit it, though, you know you were involved in the lives on the creek, and you, too, got tired of all of Dawson's whining and were rooting for the former "Mighty Duck" Pacey to get the girl (SPOILER ALERT 5 YEARS LATE: he did get the girl).

In the end, I am still a little embarrassed to admit that I watched it, but I am fairly certain you also have one of those types of shows that you watch (or watched) and would never admit to anyone.

General Update

Lots of little things to update, but not enough of any one thing to make a whole post. So, here goes my update list.

1. I made the black-eyed peas (the beans not the group) in a pressure cooker without blowing up my kitchen. Woohoo!

2. I have a stack of junk mail that is growing by leaps and bounds. Do you think the Shredding Fairy will come visit my house and take care of it?

3. I think my closest desperately needs to be cleaned out because when I was hunting for a pair of shoes yesterday I found a gift bag full of all my Christmas stocking items from 2007.

4. I skipped my vacuuming this afternoon and so far the world has not come to an end. If I am feeling daring, I might skip tomorrow, too.

5. I finished the BEST book last night that I highly recommend. It is called, Let Me Tell You a Story: Life Lessons from Unexpected Places and Unlikely People.

6. I also reread Under the Overpass. If you haven't read it, it is a must-read.

7. I have been rewatching all of the previous seasons of The Office and have been laughing, laughing, laughing for days.

8. On that same note, I am very perplexed about what happened to Michael's hair between Season 1 and Season 2. If anyone knows the answer, please tell me.

Well, those are all my updates/thoughts for now. Have a Happy Tuesday!

Road Rage vs. Amnesty International

This afternoon I decided to head up to the building to get caught up on work. As I was making my trek down the Katy Freeway, there was the car weaving in and out of traffic. He wasn't really going too much faster than anyone else, he just seemed determined to get behind anyone who was going the speed he wanted in the lane he wanted.

I'm sure you know what I am talking about. We have all seen it. The person who swings to the right side and left side of a lane back and forth as if to say, "Get out of my way. I am too lazy to simply use my turn signal and pass you using another lane."

And even though he wasn't behind me, this got on my nerves a great deal. So, I soon started muttering to him from the confines of my car. "Go around. It's not that hard. Although, you don't seem terribly smart because you haven't figured out that you can get past all of this traffic by using another lane."

As this continued, I noticed that my mutterings became louder and louder, until I was bordering on way more than irritated. I realize I should have just let it go, but he was being unbelievably rude, and by this time, an emotion that I can only guess would be described as road rage was emerging.

Keep in mind, I really am a peace, love, and harmony type of person, but there must be a full moon coming or a barametric pressure change because I threw peace, love, and harmony out the window.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not brazen enough to ever do anything. Nor am I dumb enough to do anything dangerous, but my brain did harken back to my days in college when my friends and I would carry dry erase boards in our cars so that when someone was not being a good driver we could write them a message letting them know that. The messages would be stuff like, "The Yield sign was meant for YOU." I assure you that they were never inappropriate. We just wanted to be ready to express ourselves.

Anyway, so I finally made it to church, and my blood was still a little boiling, but I sat down in my desk chair. I turned on my computer to get started with work, and I checked my email. The first thing that popped up in my inbox was my renewal notice for my Amnesty International membership. Yep, that's right. My "peace, love, and harmony" membership popped up to remind me that road rage was probably not the best use of my time.

So, I renewed it while feeling rather guilty, but I am thinking I may invest in another white board for my car. It might help my feelings considerably. Although, driving and writing at the same time is probably not the smartest move on my part.

Black-Eyed Peas (the bean not the group)

I have managed to accomplished virtually nothing today (which I am completely okay with), but in the quest to do nothing, I have done quite a bit of googling.

One of the topics that I have been searching is how to cook black-eyed peas (the bean not the group) because I love black-eyed peas and cornbread (it's the southern in me).

So, I stumbled across a pressure cooker website and discovered that using my pressure cooker, I can cook me some black-eyed peas in 9-11 minutes. Now, I am not entirely certain how to use my pressure cooker, and I vaguely remember my mother blowing one up many many years ago, but I'm hoping that with a little perserverance, I can figure it out.

However, if I arrive at work on Monday with an eyebrow or two singed off, then you'll know I wasn't completely successful.

Random Realizations

#1--I rule at Sudoku. Yes, I said it. I put it out there in no uncertain terms. However, that is the truth, and I challenge anyone who thinks they can beat me. I have even started doing my Sudoku puzzles in pen.

#2--Sonic now sells bananas. Who knew? When I pulled up to Sonic to get a soda before church last night (yes, I have temporarily lifted my caffeine ban), I saw bananas advertised on their menu. Granted, they cost $1.00, and you could probably get one at Kroger for $0.16, but the point is they sell bananas.

#3--Being outside of the box is not a bad thing. One of the secretaries at church and I were visiting yesterday. She said that someone told her that she was just "too outside the box". I say embrace your "lack of boxiness".

#4--I have a new computer game that I have to play everyday. No, it is Word Scramble or something fun. It is my new vision therapy game. I put on these oversized glasses with one red lense and one blue lense, and then I stare at my computer screen while clicking on the boxes wherever they appear. My doctor assured me this would be super-fun. It is most definitely not.

#5--I love The Office. I know I have done an ode to The Office already, but I recently downloaded the first season to my Ipod to rewatch, and it is just as funny now as it was then. My only question is what happened to Michael's hair? Has anyone else noticed the difference between Season 1 and the rest of the Seasons?

Can Water Balloons Really Be a Good Idea

Two posts in one day...I think I am as shocked as the rest of you are.

So, this post is in honor of Lisa Peace, whom I just got off the phone with. She called asking if we had small balloons in the workroom. So, as I went to look, I asked what they were for, so that I could see if we had something that would work.

Turns out, she needs small balloons to make water balloons with the 1st and 2nd grade tonight. My first reaction is, "How fun!" My second reaction was, "Do I need to buy towels when I go to the store to buy balloons."

Regardless, I am thinking I may walk my little 2's and 3's down to her class tonight because it sounds way more fun than the animal shapes we are doing for Noah.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Okay, so I realize that I am neither Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music nor Oprah. However, I thought I would share with you one of my absolute favorite new finds.

It is the Laughing Cow Original Swiss Light Cheese. It is yum-o, and tastes especially good with an Golden Delicious Apple (and no, for those wondering, I am not getting a product deal out of this blog placement, I just love this cheese that much). I kidd you not, if you like cheese, you must try this.
In other news, I am still without my car and therefore having to drive around the world's most hideous rental car. My car is supposed to be ready this afternoon, and so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I even came into work early so that I could leave to pick it up this afternoon before church.

Happy Wednesday!

Best Phrase Ever

I realize that I often claim that a lot of things are the "best ever." However, in the case of what I am about to tell you, it really is.

So, I was on the phone with a dear, sweet friend the other day, and she was having a rough day (or more accurately, a rough week/month). She was just needing to vent. As she was talking through all that was going on and how to handle things, she uttered what I believe to be the best phraise I have ever heard.

She proclaimed rather stoically that she was just going to have to "put her big girl panties on" and get over it. When she said that, I laughed harder than I have in a long time.

I kidd you not, I am looking forward to the day that I can pull that little phrase out of my back pocket and interject it into a conversation.

What's the Likelihood?

The guy who hit me before Christmas finally returned the numerous phone calls and letters from the insurance company. So, now the ball is rolling, and my car has been taken into the shop to be fixed.

The insurance company is also paying for a rental car while I am waiting for mine, and so as they handed me the keys to the loaner car, I was a little curious as to what kind of car I would be driving for the next week.

I am not really picky about cars and have never much cared about what kind I drove. However, when they led me out to the parking lot to show me which one I would be driving, my whole laissez-faire attitude about cars changed.

Here is what they put me in...a Dodge Caliber. It is much bigger than it looks in the picture. In fact, the hood is unnaturally long, and I am fairly certain that with my tendency to bump into things, a dent or two or three (and perhaps a long scratch) are inevitable.

Maybe I shouldn't have turned down the extra coverage that the rental car place offered me.

Airplane Adventure

So, I have spent the past week in Colorado. It has been a great deal of fun. I got to speak at a conference, hear some wonderful speakers, and visit one of my dearest friends and her family. It has been a nice time.

However, as I arrived at the airport today, I should have realized that things would probably not go quite as smoothly as they had for the week.

On my way out to Colorado at the beginning of the week, when I set my EXTRA-large bag on the scale, it weighed 53 pounds. Yep, it was 3 pounds over the weight limit, so I had to pay an extra $25. On my way back today, I again set my bag up on the scale. I was not sure what the weight of it was going to be because I had shed all of my handouts at the conference. However, NCYM gives out tons of freebies, and so I was loaded up with shirts, mugs, blankets, etc.

When the weight finally flashed on the scale, it read 52.5 pounds. I was hoping desperately that it would either be under 50 pounds or WAY OVER 50 pounds so that I wouldn't feel bad about paying the extra $25. However, I just couldn't justify the cost of the extra 2.5 pounds.

So, I unzipped my bag right there on the scale and pulled out my toiletry bag. I checked the weight, and it was at 48 pounds. Whew...I was good to go. So, I collected my boarding pass and headed to the security check-point.

As I neared the front of the line, I saw something that made my heart sink. It was the 3-1-1 sign--3-ounce containers in 1 bag per 1 person. My toiletry bag busted that rule. As I stopped to go through it and put my 3-ounce containers in the provided ziploc bags, I had to throw out my full tube of Bath and Bodyworks Hand Cream. Then out went my full bottle of face wash. Next was defrizz serum, followed by a tube of toothpaste. Needless to say, it was way more than $25 worth of items. I should have paid for the extra pounds on my luggage.

As I trudged through the security line with a pitiful look on my face, I figured out the lesson in all of this...

...always bring an extra suitcase.

Who Knew

Who knew attending a youth minister's conference could be so much fun? I have had a blast these past few days at NCYM. I attended because they had asked me to speak, but I have gotten so much more out of it.

The speakers have been WONDERFUL! In fact, I have already purchased a couple of books from the speakers that I am super-excited to read. The singing has been even better. I find myself looking forward to the singing as we go into our morning session, then again for the evening session. What an amazing way to praise God--a few hundred voices singing in pure exaltation.

It really has been an experience--very invigorating and just what I needed to get my mind turning over new ideas and considering all the possibilties that abound within my ministry. Don't get me wrong, I L.O.V.E. my job, but Sunday AMs, Wednesday PMs, and all but the 2nd and 4th Sunday PMs are spent working, and so to have this opportunity to just worship without any duties attached has been amazing.

Plus, the youth ministers from the Houston area have been great and really have let me tag along with them. In fact, I think I promised a few of them bobble-head Jesus dolls as a gesture of gratitude.

Well, I am a bit sleepy, and I hope to be up early again for the early morning devotional. So, it is off to bed for me.

Hello, John Williams

So, I know many of you have probably seen this, and I first saw it myself on on Elizabeth's blog, but it is good.

For those non-musicians out there, this guy is singing a tribute to Star Wars (music written by John Williams) using the music that John Williams wrote for other movies (Close Encounters, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, and ET). It really is funny.

Doesn't Every Dog Need a Hat?

So I am en route to a conference in Colorado. Because I will be gone for a full week, I scheduled my flight out of Dallas with the plan of dropping off my dogs at my parents' house.

When I arrived at my parents' house this afternoon, I discovered that my niece had a surprise for me (or rather a surprise for Peanut and Pepper).

This morning while my niece was helping in the Special Needs Worship Room, she and one of the autistic girls were making hats out of construction paper. So, she decided to make a couple for Pepper and Peanut.

Here are pictures of the dogs sporting their new hats.