YIKES! I can't believe it's been over a week since I've blogged. Did not mean for that one, but hey that's been what my life has been like the past week. I flew home from Chicago, got home late, woke up early the next morning to head to my mom's for Christmas, got back here in time for a snowstorm, jumped back into teaching, and the rest of the life I left behind.
You know the funny thing about taking a vacation from life? It's still waiting when you get back, with the added bonus of everything you didn't do all piled up.
Which is why I'm cross-eyed.
I did all the hard copy edits on the book on my trip. Yes, yes I did. I put my flight time and layovers to good use, tyvm. Now, of course, I have to put it into the computer, which is a slightly daunting task because I think I may have edited myself into a corner. Yes, my friends, these are the days when I understand why many of the literary greats ended up alcoholics. And, no, I didn't actually drink. I just understand why one would want to.
Then there are the boards, which are crazy... with the upcoming changeover and a couple of events I have launching at the same time, I've got a million and one things to finish and have ready ASAP. I've spent the past two hours trying to get some html right and figure out why I couldn't get one stinking paragraph to format correctly.
And of course, I have teaching. We did a marathon session today. I love it when the course material says it's slated for an hour more than the class time you're given. Along with all of that, I've got to do all the end of year/beginning of new year paperwork. ICK.
So that, dear people, is what I've been doing. Roaming the country, leaving havoc in my trail, and actually trying to be productive. Just in time for tax season to start. I got a glimpse of my schedule, and frankly, I'm not ready to face it yet, so I don't remember when I'm working. My boss said she's being nice to me and giving me some time off. *insert skeptical look*
And I've really got to get started on my own taxes. That Man and his HR person did not understand my instructions for his withholding and I didn't catch it until too late. Which means we're going to owe. I think. Unless I can pull a few more deductions out of my hat. Speaking of, I need to get new glasses tomorrow. The silver lining of the cloud that's been my health problems this year is I'm going to have a ton of medical expenses to deduct. The new glasses will be total icing.
Or at least that's the hope. I think I'm starting to ramble. I am so tired. Too tired to move. Can I stay here forever? Of course then the stuff will just pile up around me, won't it? Ah... my life... gotta love it.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Friends, Fun, and YAY!!!
Honestly, I don't have anything specific to blog about, but I know folks know I'm on the road, so I wanted to do a general "I'm safe, alive, and happy" post. There's six of us in this suite in the hotel and we are having a ball. Last night, we attended the final show for the Christmas Promise tour with Todd Agnew, Newsong, Matthew West, Nate Sallie, and Britt Nicole. It was wonderful.
Last year, we did a retreat with the Christmas Hope tour with Todd and Newsong, and it was also wonderful. I meant it when I said it's going to be a tradition. So praying already for next year.
The hardest thing about the connections and friendships I have with people all over the world is that we don't get to see each other often enough. Of course, we're already planning the next get-together. I admit, I hope we do something sooner than what we're looking at. I love these girls. They are some of the most amazing women I've met.
And now we've got four others stopped by to say goodbye, so I guess I'll sign off for now.
Last year, we did a retreat with the Christmas Hope tour with Todd and Newsong, and it was also wonderful. I meant it when I said it's going to be a tradition. So praying already for next year.
The hardest thing about the connections and friendships I have with people all over the world is that we don't get to see each other often enough. Of course, we're already planning the next get-together. I admit, I hope we do something sooner than what we're looking at. I love these girls. They are some of the most amazing women I've met.
And now we've got four others stopped by to say goodbye, so I guess I'll sign off for now.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Reason #98798 why Mommies need vacations
Because after spending over an hour in the car looking for the place that has our pictures, said place can't find them amidst three year old throwing a temper tantrum in the store. In fact, no record of us seems to exist. Funny, they seemed eager enough to charge my credit card, for which there IS a record. Fortunately, the guy was nice and said if I called them with the info, rather than having to make another trip out there, they'll mail them to me for free. Yippee for me.
We pile back into the car, said monster child begs for her chocolate milk.
I should have known better.
I do know better.
But when she promises to be really careful and not spill, I *sigh* trust her.
Surely you know what's coming.
Yep.
Two blocks later, she dumps the entire bottle of chocolate milk all over her and the interior of my car. And thinks it's funny.
Needless to say, I did not get to the store, or run any of my other errands. Unfortunately, the "I can parent better than you police" don't look kindly to dragging around a dripping wet with chocolate milk child in the middle of winter. Been there, done that, got the lecture.
So we drove home, I put the little rat in bed, and I am now wondering how I can get all of my errands run before I head to the airport at 9 a.m. I imagine it'll look something like Mommy ends up at the grocery store in the middle of the night and I stay up all night packing and doing all the other miscellaneous things I have to do. I can sleep on the plane, right?
Which means I'll end up sitting between two linebackers who think they can take up my share of my seat because I'm such a cute little thing and I won't mind.
Oh well. I'm going to be spending the next few days with some of my bestest girlfriends, sans children, and life will be GRAND. *happy sigh*
We pile back into the car, said monster child begs for her chocolate milk.
I should have known better.
I do know better.
But when she promises to be really careful and not spill, I *sigh* trust her.
Surely you know what's coming.
Yep.
Two blocks later, she dumps the entire bottle of chocolate milk all over her and the interior of my car. And thinks it's funny.
Needless to say, I did not get to the store, or run any of my other errands. Unfortunately, the "I can parent better than you police" don't look kindly to dragging around a dripping wet with chocolate milk child in the middle of winter. Been there, done that, got the lecture.
So we drove home, I put the little rat in bed, and I am now wondering how I can get all of my errands run before I head to the airport at 9 a.m. I imagine it'll look something like Mommy ends up at the grocery store in the middle of the night and I stay up all night packing and doing all the other miscellaneous things I have to do. I can sleep on the plane, right?
Which means I'll end up sitting between two linebackers who think they can take up my share of my seat because I'm such a cute little thing and I won't mind.
Oh well. I'm going to be spending the next few days with some of my bestest girlfriends, sans children, and life will be GRAND. *happy sigh*
Friday, December 14, 2007
The Kingdom
Not the one you're thinking of. :)
I just finished watching The Kingdom. A friend of mine works for Blockbuster, so he gets to preview a lot of the movies about to come out. Anyway, we all went over and watched it.
Wow.
I should say that again.
Wow.
I come into it from a different perspective. In college, my primary field of study was the Middle East. I'd actually hoped to go into foreign affairs, work for the State Department, make the world a better place. Yeah. You see where I'm going with this, right? I spent a summer living in Israel and realized that foreign policy in the Middle East has very little to do with what's right and everything to do with power. I couldn't live with that. And frankly, as much as I am a rebel, I'm not into being a one-woman fight against the machine.
I watched this movie with a lot of sadness. I'm going to ruin the ending, so if you're one of those who can't deal with it, I apologize. Each side ended with the notion that "we're going to kill them all." There was this little boy, and that was the thought planted in his head. You want to know where the terrorists come from? Those little boys. And probably, little girls.
The next generation of terrorists are going to be even more ruthless. We think it's bad now, but I believe it will be even worse. The younger generation sits back and watches as their loved ones die horrible deaths. All the blame is placed on the Americans. Or, if you live here, on the Muslims. And so we learn to hate. When we hate, it's easier to kill. They aren't one of us. They are the enemy.
If you want to know the truth about what's going on over there, you need to know that we're all in the wrong. All sides. We aren't the good guys. But we aren't the bad guys, either.
I gave up my Middle East dreams because I didn't know what to do about it. There are some in this country who would think I'm unpatriotic or wrong or worse, a terrorist myself because I feel this way. And the thing is, I'm none of those things. I love my country. But I love other people too. And I think all people have the same inalienable rights. Rights that we deny a lot of others because they believe different things, live a different way, and look a little different from us.
I say this as an American. I say this as a Christian. I say this as a mother.
I used to laugh about the bumper sticker that says, "Who would Jesus bomb?" I keep thinking about it, though. Who WOULD Jesus bomb? He came so that all might be saved. Not everyone except the people we don't like. Abram became Abraham, the father of many nations, so that all the peoples of the world would be blessed. The fulfillment of all the law is love. I'm a bit confused as to how any of our actions are in line with the law. But apparently I follow the wrong law. At least in human terms.
So maybe I did blog about The Kingdom, after all. And not the movie.
If you want to change the situation in the Middle East, if we want to win the war on terror, it's not going to come by going in, guns blazing. I used to work with an organization that's figured that out. Seeking Common Ground- Building Bridges for Peace brings together young women from Israel, Palestine, and the U.S. to learn about one another and break the cycle of hatred. I was privileged enough to work with a number of the girls, get to know them, and fall in love with each and every one of them. It's groups like SCG, working to change the hearts of the next generation, one person at a time, that's going to make a difference.
I encourage all of you to take the time, step into the shoes of your enemy, and truly consider what Jesus would really do. Perhaps, if we started to figure that out, we wouldn't be damning the next generation to hell on earth.
I just finished watching The Kingdom. A friend of mine works for Blockbuster, so he gets to preview a lot of the movies about to come out. Anyway, we all went over and watched it.
Wow.
I should say that again.
Wow.
I come into it from a different perspective. In college, my primary field of study was the Middle East. I'd actually hoped to go into foreign affairs, work for the State Department, make the world a better place. Yeah. You see where I'm going with this, right? I spent a summer living in Israel and realized that foreign policy in the Middle East has very little to do with what's right and everything to do with power. I couldn't live with that. And frankly, as much as I am a rebel, I'm not into being a one-woman fight against the machine.
I watched this movie with a lot of sadness. I'm going to ruin the ending, so if you're one of those who can't deal with it, I apologize. Each side ended with the notion that "we're going to kill them all." There was this little boy, and that was the thought planted in his head. You want to know where the terrorists come from? Those little boys. And probably, little girls.
The next generation of terrorists are going to be even more ruthless. We think it's bad now, but I believe it will be even worse. The younger generation sits back and watches as their loved ones die horrible deaths. All the blame is placed on the Americans. Or, if you live here, on the Muslims. And so we learn to hate. When we hate, it's easier to kill. They aren't one of us. They are the enemy.
If you want to know the truth about what's going on over there, you need to know that we're all in the wrong. All sides. We aren't the good guys. But we aren't the bad guys, either.
I gave up my Middle East dreams because I didn't know what to do about it. There are some in this country who would think I'm unpatriotic or wrong or worse, a terrorist myself because I feel this way. And the thing is, I'm none of those things. I love my country. But I love other people too. And I think all people have the same inalienable rights. Rights that we deny a lot of others because they believe different things, live a different way, and look a little different from us.
I say this as an American. I say this as a Christian. I say this as a mother.
I used to laugh about the bumper sticker that says, "Who would Jesus bomb?" I keep thinking about it, though. Who WOULD Jesus bomb? He came so that all might be saved. Not everyone except the people we don't like. Abram became Abraham, the father of many nations, so that all the peoples of the world would be blessed. The fulfillment of all the law is love. I'm a bit confused as to how any of our actions are in line with the law. But apparently I follow the wrong law. At least in human terms.
So maybe I did blog about The Kingdom, after all. And not the movie.
If you want to change the situation in the Middle East, if we want to win the war on terror, it's not going to come by going in, guns blazing. I used to work with an organization that's figured that out. Seeking Common Ground- Building Bridges for Peace brings together young women from Israel, Palestine, and the U.S. to learn about one another and break the cycle of hatred. I was privileged enough to work with a number of the girls, get to know them, and fall in love with each and every one of them. It's groups like SCG, working to change the hearts of the next generation, one person at a time, that's going to make a difference.
I encourage all of you to take the time, step into the shoes of your enemy, and truly consider what Jesus would really do. Perhaps, if we started to figure that out, we wouldn't be damning the next generation to hell on earth.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Thursday Thirteen #28: Things I've learned recently about eating healthy
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1. Healthy food tastes pretty good. 2. Some of it is still gross, though. 3. Soy is one of the worst things you can put into your body (and here I thought it was good for me) 4. If you plan right, it's also not as expensive as I thought. 5. Homemade food doesn’t take as much time as I’d thought (and it’s much better for you!) 6. You’re not supposed to sauté the garlic with the onions (and guess how I learned how to cook) 7. I can get my kiddo to eat anything if I tell her its medicine (and she likes it) 8. How to make Kefir (and what Kefir is) 9. That when you roast a chicken, you’re supposed to do it with the right side up (I still can’t tell which end is which) 10. My house will not burn down if I simmer homemade broth for the full 24 hours recommended by the recipe (and the broth turns out really nice) 11. Homemade Bread is really yummy and not so hard to make. 12. My family is not as fond of eating healthy as I am. 13. I still crave junk! (especially hot dogs!) |
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Tuesday, December 11, 2007
An open letter to those in the universe conspiring against me
STOP IT ALREADY!!!!!!!
There. I feel much better.
As some of you know, this is crazy season for me. I wish I could *just* have Christmas to deal with. Frankly, it gets scaled back every year, and I'm fine with that. But it's a busy time for those of us gearing up for tax season, and somehow I ended up teaching two classes. UGH. And then, we are moving our boards to a new platform, which is great, but again, more work! Add in all my regular stuff, and I'm going crazy.
So today, on a day with lots of icky white stuff falling, when I have no place to go except to teach tonight, the only day I have in my schedule to sleep in, WHY WHY WHY won't people leave me alone?
No one ever calls. I kinda like it that way. Silence is golden. Today, the phone has not stopped ringing. Is it anyone I'd want to talk to? No. In fact, if you know whoever has the number 818-456-1234, could you please tell them to stop calling? So far, they've called three times today, and that's after I politely told them yesterday to never call here again. In case you're wondering, I screen my calls. If I don't recognize the number on caller ID, and you don't leave a message, I don't answer the phone. Anyway, all day long, from the moment I got up long enough to bundle kiddo up, kiss her goodbye, and send her to school, it's been a zoo here.
Not by my choosing, mind you.
My only peaceful day this week, and it's being disturbed.
Oh well, maybe I'll go bake something and feel better. :)
There. I feel much better.
As some of you know, this is crazy season for me. I wish I could *just* have Christmas to deal with. Frankly, it gets scaled back every year, and I'm fine with that. But it's a busy time for those of us gearing up for tax season, and somehow I ended up teaching two classes. UGH. And then, we are moving our boards to a new platform, which is great, but again, more work! Add in all my regular stuff, and I'm going crazy.
So today, on a day with lots of icky white stuff falling, when I have no place to go except to teach tonight, the only day I have in my schedule to sleep in, WHY WHY WHY won't people leave me alone?
No one ever calls. I kinda like it that way. Silence is golden. Today, the phone has not stopped ringing. Is it anyone I'd want to talk to? No. In fact, if you know whoever has the number 818-456-1234, could you please tell them to stop calling? So far, they've called three times today, and that's after I politely told them yesterday to never call here again. In case you're wondering, I screen my calls. If I don't recognize the number on caller ID, and you don't leave a message, I don't answer the phone. Anyway, all day long, from the moment I got up long enough to bundle kiddo up, kiss her goodbye, and send her to school, it's been a zoo here.
Not by my choosing, mind you.
My only peaceful day this week, and it's being disturbed.
Oh well, maybe I'll go bake something and feel better. :)
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Thursday Thirteen #27: Things I've done since I last blogged
Yeah, I know. Long time no blog. I'm pretty shocked myself. Life's been... crazy to say the least. But rather than bore you with my petty excuses, here's my list:
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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1. Slept. Let's let that one sink in for just one more blissful moment. 2. Mailed off that pesky manuscript. 3. Cleaned my kitchen. I am no longer worried about the Health Department. 4. Visited 5 medical supply type places and called about a dozen more to find a sling for my 7 year old who fell off the trampoline and sprained her arm. Apparently, my children are the only ones who ever need slings. I am also, according to those medical people, a very bad mom for letting my kiddos have a trampoline. 5. Fell off the nutritional supplement bandwagon. I deeply regret it. 6. Spent a blissful day with my bestest best friend. 7. Attended one out of the four holiday parties scheduled for this week. Three more to go. 8. Rediscovered the joy of Neopets with my children. 9. Made an Advent Wreath. 10. Unpacked 10 boxes. 11. Paid the bills. Wahoo!! Our electricity won't be shut off because I forgot! 12. Re-bonded with hubby, children, and dog. 13. Worked on next major project for the boards. |
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
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