Fireside Thoughts

It's been a busy week. So glad the weather has cooled off so I can enjoy the fire again. I'll spare you the pictures.

Work week: My office days were packed this week as we headed into a new chapter at LifePoint...the addition of a 4th service. We now have 2 on Sat and 2 on Sun. More on that later.

Wed night: I met with my Serve Team which is always a highlight for me. So much fun working with new people who are excited and energized as we plow new territory. I always leave that meeting PUMPED!

Thurs night: the one fun thing I had planned for this stressful week fell through. Let's just say I was not a happy camper and I spiraled to a bad place. Those details will have to be saved for my unpublished blog. But God used an unexpected call from a friend (you know who you are!) to keep me out of the pits. And guess what she wanted to talk about...how to vent when you're angry! God has such a great sense of humor!

Fri and Sat: I attended a conference in DC on the topic of Social Justice (poverty, slavery, homelessness, etc). It was phenomenal. So much to think about. And personally convicting. Now I have to decide what I'm going to do about it.

I didn't have the luxury of my catch-up productive Friday and another week starts tomorrow. So I'll really be ready for this coming Friday.

Sat and Sun: Back to the topic of our four services. We were blown away by the attendance. With around 800 people attending on Sat night we thought we'd have a lighter crowd on Sunday. Nope...still full! Where are all these people coming from? And where are we going to put them next??!!

Sun afternoon: what a beautiful day. I vowed I was going to spend the day out in it. Instead I fell asleep watching the Food Network. Man, I'm addicted to their Sunday afternoon lineup. I was rescued from my couch potato state by two friends who invited me to go to the NCR trail. I walked, they jogged. Oh and I gathered firewood. Yes, I looked quite silly walking with my arms full of kindling. But I really needed it if I was going to have a fire this evening! Success! It was a beautiful cool evening. What a great way to end a busy week.

Oh...it's not over yet. Tonight is yard trash night. Gotta drive around my neighborhood searching for firewood. I'll be totally out in about 2 hours.




Taken along the NCR trail today.

Maks Moves to Lancaster...

...and is fittin' in just fine!!

Justification, Pt 2

Just thought I'd be consistent.
Fires two nights in a row.
Wow the bugs are noisy out here!

Working on my post for 66books.wordpress.com while enjoying the fire. I must say...I build a dang good fire (there's my first attempt at swearing, Sandy!).

Justification

Is a luxury purchase a luxury purchase if the luxury becomes a necessity?


As a part of my deck renovation, I included a firebowl. It has become my favorite part of my backyard. And with the cool summer we've had, I've been able to utilize it quit a bit. So much so that I'm having a hard time keeping firewood stocked (and would welcome any dead wood anyone has to offer!). I'm looking forward to using it far into the Fall.

So what was first a "splurge" has now become an integral part of my day. And I'm thinking it is justifiable because afterall...

...it is therapy which is saving me hundreds of dollars
...it is FREE as long as I continue to scavenger for wood (my nieces and nephews are appalled that I drive around my neighborhood looking for wood after dark on Sunday nights...yard trash night).
...it increases social interaction because it has enticed friends over
...it gets me away from the TV (however, the laptop continues to stay glued to my lap)
...it motivates me. I can't start the fire until I've first completed all my priority tasks.

So wouldn't you agree? It was a very wise investment, right? Gotta throw on a log.

Friday Accomplishments

I know that most of my blog readers are moms of young children. The very, very busy type who live a very, very different life than mine. So I completely understand that my posts are basically "un-relatable"...I know, I know, that's not a real word. Bloggers are permitted to create their own words. So when I get to Friday (which is my day off) and finally get the time to blog it is usually about all the things I was able to complete in that one day. I know, you regular readers have seen the pattern. Today was no exception...

• yardwork
• laundry
• cleaned kitchen
• emptied refridge
• made grocery list
• cleaned out car
• paid bills (and am already out of money for September)
• cleaned house to get ready for nieces and nephews this weekend
• general pick up and organization
• sat down and watched storm while I blogged

So back to that word "un-relatable." Being the only single adult in my blog community, my blog content is waaay different from everyone else's. Their blogs are filled with cute stories and photos of their kids; mine is self-centered. Their's are about adventures, craft ideas, cooking, decor; mine is about the housework I got accomplished. I've been wondering what my blog audience thinks about this consistent pattern in the content of my posts. I'm guessing they must think things like:

"Must be nice to have one full day a week without kids under your feet to get so much accomplished."
"What's it like to only do laundry once a week?"
"Wish I could run errands to 4 places in less than an hour."
"Is it really possible to empty fridge, clean kitchen and grocery shop all in one day?"
"She's got it made."

I was leaving the office one day this week and a colleague asked, "Whatcha doin' tonight?" My response was, "I have no idea." He answered with an awkward chuckle and asked, "Really?" Literally. No plans, no commitments, no schedule, no agenda, no responsibilities, not even an idea. Sounds incredibly wonderful doesn't it? In my world, it wasn't. Sometimes freedom is paralyzingly suffocating.

There are no two snowflakes alike.
There are no two people who look alike.
There are no two personalities alike.
There are no two lives alike.
We are all so very different. Yet we play this lifelong dangerous game of comparing apples to oranges.

"You'll never know how hard it is to..."
"But you don't understand what it's like to be..."
"You have no idea what I have to..."
"But I don't have a..."
"Yeah but you've got..."
"Yeah, but..."
"Yeah, but..."

We all may be different but I can guarantee we have this in one thing in common. We've all said, "No one understands what it's like to be in my shoes." I think I've just realized that this statement is 100% true. If we are all so completely different in our personalities, our characters, our economic statuses, our circumstances, our jobs, our homes, our lifestyles, our tastes, our hobbies, etc, when you mix those unique ingredients together you are always going to end up with a unique result. Can others relate to what you are going through? Sure, they may have walked in your shoes for awhile if they have experienced a similar life situation. But they will never have the exact same experience as you because your ingredients will always be different than theirs. The shoe may fit but it will be worn and tattered due to YOUR life not theirs.

So where is this rambling post going besides nowhere? (honestly, I just know that the longer posts are the less chance anyone will read them) Last weekend I saw the movie "Julie and Julia" and I refrained from bursting into tears many times. Julie "found" herself through cooking and blogging. I don't have the space or time here to go into how much I saw of me in her or how God used that movie to speak to me that day. My blog is self-centered because, uh, it's about me. And me is all I've got. Well, me and God. Period. As I watched Julie's transformation, I wondered if blogging could save me the way it saved Julie. No, I'm not going to be a better blogger. At least not here. I'm going to start an unpublished blog (the 21st century spiral bound journal). A place where I can talk when I'm suffocating. A place where I can tell someone about the traffic on the way home, or the nasty email I received, or rant about the price of gas, or complain about the way someone looked at me, or describe the strange phone conversation I had, or discuss menu options for the upcoming week, or tell about the person I saw fall flat on her face in the grocery store, or dream about things I've always wanted to do, or complain about the dead animal smell under the deck, or process the day's staff meeting. Process. Hmmmm, good word. It might just make it into the title. I won't have to worry about grammer, speling, or sentanse struktur. I can speak my mind and only offend myself. Hmmm......I might even swear.

So I don't know what this means for this blog. I haven't been keeping up with it very well anyway. I'll keep you posted. Ha. Not worried about staying connected because all of you are on facebook anyway.

I won't admit how long it has taken me to write this post. It would just add to your list of "advantages of being single."

Eight Months

Lauren and Maks return to PA this weekend. I can't wait to squeeze these cheeks!

FoodBusters

I love the Food Network show "FoodDetectives." It's kind of a Mythbusters for food. It takes common (mis)conceptions of foods and puts them to the test. Today's episode cracked the following cases.

Which beverage can help you fall asleep?

• brandy
• chamomile tea
• warm milk
• sugary drink
• water
  

What is your guess?

Is it safe to eat an egg that has a spot of blood in it?
My guess was "YES" and I was correct.
But if it grosses you out, simply remove the bloodspot before cooking. Ummm...if you master the "simply" part let me know.

What foods contain hidden sugar? (btw: no surprises here for this sugar counter)

• ketchup: ounce for ounce more sugar than ice cream
• dried fruit: 3 dried mango slices have as much sugar as one can of soda
• diet fat free salad dressing: 2 T sugar per serving
• energy drinks: their citric acids cut down on the sweetness so you don't even realize how sweet they really are
  

Are raw vegetables more nutritious than cooked ones?
My guess was "YES" and I was right AND wrong!
Some veggies lose vitamins when cooked and others gain them. And in the case of carrots, they gain Vit A and lose Vit C (I may have gotten those backwards). Crazy! Who knew! Okay...maybe you did.

So back to the sleepy beverage.
Warm milk can be effective but it is purely psychological. There is no scientific proof. The only beverage that passed the lab tests and proved to be effective in improving sleep was chamomile tea.

So there are your Science lessons for the day. Gotta go. My stomach is growling.

Monday Morning Reflections

I've been reprimanded for my lack of blogging. I liked Dave's "Sunday Evening Reflections" post yesterday so I thought I'd be a copycat. Afterall, imitation is the best form of flattery, right? You are about to see why I've been blog-silent. I lead a very boring life. Now you are so totally excited to read on, aren'tcha?

• Friday is usually my day off but since I had off the Monday before to hang out with my nieces/nephews, I worked on Friday. Very busy day of follow-up phone calls for the MFG campaign (Mission From God). I wasn't very successful in reaching many people but had a few awesome conversations resulting in new placements. Then the storm came through in the afternoon and hit Finksburg hard. Result? Tornado pics here!
• Friday night I had no plans so I did the "single" thing: frozen pizza and TV. I haven't watched TV in a long time so that was kinda a treat but I burnt the pizza so that wasn't. Suzie and I kept each other company thru texting cuz she was stuck in the Atlanta airport due to the ripple effect of the East coast storms.
  
• Saturday I had no plans all day. So I got up early and wrote a list of 37 things I wanted/needed to get accomplished around the house. I vowed I couldn't do anything "fun" until I accomplished the list. I had a mild headache so took two Exedrine Migraine. Figured that would jump start my day. I began plowing through the list and then started getting weird dizzy spells. Was losing my balance and felt like I was going to pass out. Had to keep sitting or lying down. Figured it was the Ex Migr and coffee on an empty stomach. I slowed down a bit, ate, but worked through item #23 (nap! but only for 10 mins) and then it was time to head to church.
  
• I had nursery duty in the 2's/3's class. They were adorable! A full house but so well behaved and great listeners. Some awesome parenting going on in those families! But I had four dizzy spells, including seeing stars, while in the nursery. So I began to think it wasn't the medicine. I thought I was going to faint in front of 12 preschoolers. With only one other teacher present, who is pregnant, and one child in a full leg cast, it could have been interesting if I passed out.
  
• Got home and didn't feel like eating anything. Went to bed early.
  
• Sunday I got to experience the awesome Orphan service. Mark did a wonderful job. The rest of the morning I spent my time listening to people's journeys (so cool!), assisting people when needed, leaning against walls when my head began spinning, texting my niece who was on her way to our NY cabin for vacation, taking the time to catch up with friends, grabbing the closest seat whenever I got lightheaded, answering questions, etc. I attended a lunch farewell for dear LifePoint friends who are moving out of state. As long as I kept seated, no one could tell I was on the verge of passing out.
• Time to make this long story short. Got home and took a long nap. Went to friends' house for dinner and a movie. Continued seeing stars and walking off-balance and ended the weekend with a headache. No surprise there. Woke up with it worse this morning. Tried to make an appointment with a new neurologist but they only take referrals.
• So I'm glad today is my day off. I'm laying low. Very low. And that list of 37 things is remaining unfinished.