Rainy days

So today was going to be the perfect day off. I woke up to the sound of rain on my window, and the room was still dark, though it was quickly approaching noon. Ahhh...my first day off in two weeks. Knowing I didn't have to go into work today, I also took the day off from the gym, and from studying, and decided to let my mind and body rest. When I finally drug myself out of bed, I promptly went to my couch, wrapped myself in my favorite blanket and watched Judging Amy. For my afternoon activities I had planned to pay some bills, get my oiled changed and find some new candles and Bed, Bath and Beyond. But...then my perfectly lazy, rainy day was spoiled. David called in sick to work, and guess who got called in. Lovely. I know that is probably very selfish of me, but I was quite enjoying my day off, knowing that I won't see another one of those for at least two weeks. (I don't even get my birthday off!) So I went into work, and of course it was slow. By the time I got off work and back home on my couch, the rain had stopped. My plans to spend most of the day in my favorite pjs doing nothing but enjoying the rain were thwarted. So, here I am, getting ready to go to bed, knowing tomorrow is back to normal. I'll rise bright and early to the weatherman's prediction of sunny skies, head to the gym, then to another 12 hour day at work, from which I will return home to clean the kitchen and study for the BCE. Sometimes, I don't like being grown up, and somedays I don't like sunshine. Sometimes, I just want it to rain.

Walken for President?

Ok, so I may be treading very dangerous water here, but why not get things a little stirred up? I don't know how many have heard the rumors circulating lately that Christopher Walken is running for President in 2008. I heard it from a friend at work, and just had to check it out for myself. www.walken2008.com

"Our great country is in a terrible downward spiral. We're outsourcing jobs, bankrupting social security, and losing lives at war. We need to focus on what's important-- paying attention to our children, our citizens, our future. We need to think about improving our failing educational system, making better use of our resources, and helping to promote a stable, safe, and tolerant global society. It's time to be smart about our politics. It's time to get America back on track."

I immediately called my friend Kyle in Iowa at 9 o'clock in the morning (for which I know he loved me for) to let him know the good news...American is finally on track with a Presidential candidate of which to be proud! After the confusion had faded and the cursing had ceased, Kyle got excited. I knew if anyone would appreciate the news, he would. Friends at work talked about Walken with such excitement, that to sum up, they basically all said their faith in American politics had been restored. Can you imagine what our world would be like with Christopher Walken as President?!

Well, as much as I hate to rain on anyone's political parade, turns out it was all a hoax. "Walken's agent, Toni Howard of International Creative Management, scoffed at the notion of Walken running for office. 'I don't know where they got it," Howard said. "That's like saying Tim Robbins is running on the Republican ticket. (Walken) is the least political guy I know.'" (Indianapolis Star article Aug. 22) Apparently, the website was created less than a month ago, and is registered only to Christopher Walken for President, complete with a Los Angeles address sporting a Florida zip code. Smooth. But I must say, I am somewhat relieved that this all turned out to be a joke. As fascinating as it would certainly be to watch Walken run for President, I'm just not so sure I want anyone who had any part in the movie Joe Dirt in the White House. I think the writer for the Indy Star said it best, "Even though it's a hoax, it's hard not to imagine what life would be like if the White House were handed over to the nervous-looking actor who could pass for a breathing cadaver in some of his creepier films. "

Just call me butter...

'Cause I'm on a roll!! (sorry, a little more of my father creeps out of me every day!) I have successfully checked off every task on my to-do list this week!! Go through and organize the boxes that cluttered my life - check! Get the washer hooked up so I can do laundry - check! Clean the house (aka - remove the carpet of dog hair from my wood floors) - check! Sand and stain the chairs - check! Tame the jungle in the back yard - check! I have cleaned, I have organized, read, worked, written, slept, worked out, listened, talked, sung, laughed and prayed my way through a good week. It is Sunday night, and my body is tired, but happy. I feel good about having accomplished so much this week, and having so much to show for it! And on top of that, I even met another goal two weeks early! Last night I ran my first mile!! (that's right folks, I am now a runner! well...jogger, but still!) I am currently training to run a race with my uncle and cousin next summer. (The Peachtree 10k for those interested) I started from less than scratch and managed to hit a major goal for me early after only three weeks! I was very excited.

Working in the yard today, Carrie (Nathan's stepmom) and I were weeding (ahem, hacking) the area around the fence. We kept finding these vines that were attached to EVERYTHING and were like 10 and 12 feet long. We pulled and clipped and tugged and dug up....until we finally found the root of the problem (sorry, pun intended.) Once we were able to clear away the weeds and overgrown vines, we found the remenants of a peach tree, a grape vine with four grapes on it, three roses bushes, and the most intresting looking tree trunk I have ever seen. The two pictures below are a sort of before and after. The first is what the yard looked like when we first moved in. The second picture is the tree with the cool trunk, which was found under the bush mound see on the right of the first picture.

It was so cool to me that a few hours of sweat and hard work produced something. We started with years of overgrown mayhem, and ended with a yard worth being proud of. I feel like that can be said for my life lately. I am constantly changing and growing, trying to overcome years of neglect in my own spiritual life. Some corners are a little overgrown, and others have weeds that threaten to choke out what could be very beautiful. But with effort, sweat and a good pair of clippers, I am able to weed out the unnecessary, and let what God has planted florish. I know the analogy is a little cheesy - but I really was struck with the beauty of what is hidden behind the brush today.

Done! (can I have a cookie now?)

Ha! I fought the boxes and the boxes lost. I am now about 75 pounds of junk lighter in my life!! Five trash bags and three sell piles later, my life is finally consolidated to only the necessary and too-attached-to-throw-away junk!! Instead of box upon useless box, I have a closet with 6 boxes that contain everything I own in the world. Three boxes of books, one of pictures, one of momentos from my travels and one of other random crap to which I am still kinda attached. =) But it is done!

As I was putting away the last box, throwing away the last trash bag, my roommate comes home. "Look!" I exclaimed, so proud of myself for being productive, "I finished!" He just shook his head and said, "You still have too much stuff." Sigh...I guess I'll never really win. But for now, we'll pretend, because this is as good as it is going to get for awhile!

Just for the record

Ok, so just for the record; this whole, unpacking-cleaning out-minimize my junk task....is a pain. They are like chia-boxes - they just keep growing and coming out of no where!!!! And each box is like Mary Poppin's never-ending carpet bag, minus the hat rack. Sigh...I seriously may never return from the land of unpacking...

Unpacking a mess

Ok, so I moved into my little house over two months ago and I STILL have boxes everywhere!!! Someone help me please! I keep them out of the closets in hopes that one day I will get frustrated enough with them being out that I will actually do something about them! But hope is not much of a motivation factor, as we are well into August and still they sit, collecting dust, holding stuff I obviously do not need anymore.



So why do I still have all of the stuff? Move after move, this stuff comes with me. What I posses is the most random, best travelled collection of useless mayhem known to mankind. Ok, that may be a bit extreme, but from Florida to Alabama (and back and forth about 4 times) to three different locations in Kentucky, my boxes go where I go, unopened, keeping things I can't remember why I kept safe from critters and dust in the first place. So my goal today is to unpack, throw away, sell, burn or magically make disappear (you never knew I was so talented) all that I do not need. So wish me luck, this is an adventure I may never return from!!......

The Dicotamy

So here I am, hanging between two worlds...and no matter where I try to land my feet, I am an alien. I live in a world, in a culture, that puts the OK stamp on so many things, most of which I am not 100% comfortable with. It is a feel-good, in the moment world that offers so much to the seneses. Pleasure can be found in taste, sight and sound....but the result? What do we gain from a self-satisfying lifestyle? On this side of the balance, I am surrounded by friends, people I love and enjoy, but they cannot understand what it is that makes me tick. I like certain drinks, but I don't want to drink to get drunk. I like money, but I have chosen a carreer that I have to pay to be a part of. I like dating, but my boundries are so, old-maidish. They make jokes at my expense, and that's ok, I joke right along with them. I know that my chosen lifestyle, my devotion to God, can be difficult to understand.

Then there is the side of the balance, where all the "good Christians" live, work and study. And I respect their decisions, and their lifestyles, and enjoy the fact that we are able to talk philosophy on any level and appreciate the fact that I have people who would pray for me whenever I asked. But what they do not understand is how much I allow myself to be surrounded with the other side. I have a job and a roommate that many do not agree with. I enjoy wine and a good Amaretto Sour. But I'm not a heathen.

So, depending on which world I am in, I keep a part of me closed off, careful not to reveal too much, trying hard not to offend the balance. Which is fine, it works most of the time. Except for nights like tonight, where my own balance is so off kilter that I have no idea which way is up, and even less of an idea of which side to call in. In talking to my friends from the "worldly" side, they chastize me for keeping my standards too high, or being too nieve. While the ones from the "Christian" side can't understand why I would even put myself in a situation that would allow temptation. And I sit here, listening to Derek Webb, wondering if I am, after all, crazy. Maybe the problem is not that I cannot hold the balance, but that I haven't mastered either side yet, and therefore cannot maintain what I do not know. Or maybe I am just rambling after a long night....

Let's start at the beginning

Ok, so I have entered the world of blogging, honestly, in hopes of being able to keep up with some people that I don't otherwise talk to much. (Ahem, if anyone knows of the whereabouts of a one, Ms. Valerie P. Marlowe, please contact the authorities.) After reading Lane's posts for the past week or so, it has made me realize that I miss discussing...well, anything that doesn't have to do with work. So here I am making an effort to talk more about books, (the good, the bad and yes, if necessary, even the Left Behind Series), music (which, since moving away from my college friends I have had a hard time finding good new music), spiritual issues and even dispensationalism, but please, no politics. There will be times that I will ramble because I take after my grandmother. So let's see where this blogging takes me, and hopefully, I'll get a response or two a long the way....