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Categories Memes

Firsts

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Amber filled out this “first” meme last night–and I’m thrilled that she did. ‘Cause it seems just long enough to quickly fill out before I jaunt to Lincoln to see my FIRST (and second) brother graduate from college. Congrats to Joshua and Daniel!

1. Who was your FIRST prom date?
I have yet to go to my FIRST prom. So who knows. Maybe someday as a chaperone?

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
I should hope so.

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”
~Revelation 2:4-5

3. What was your FIRST job?
Washing dishes for my pastor’s wife and across-the-street neighbor.

4. What was your FIRST car?
Benedick (Benny D for short), named after Benedick in “Much Ado about Nothing.” Benny was a good, faithful Chevy Cavalier. He served me until the day he died.

5. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
Anna, asking if I was awake :-)

6. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
Dunno. Probably myself :-(

7. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
Mary Menter, although I called her Mom

8. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
Nowhere. It was a Wycliffe plane and we just circled about Seward.

9. Who was your FIRST best friend?
Bethany, whose last name I no longer remember. We had matching baby dolls, thanks to her mother.

10. What was your FIRST sport played?
Never played sports. Sorry.

11. Where was your FIRST sleep over?
Likely at my cousin Ariann’s house. Either that or at Anna’s best friend Amanda’s house. Or maybe at Yvonne’s (a lady in our church who had three boys but no girls–now she has a girl!)

12. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today?
Anna. When you live with only one other person, the options tend to be limited.

13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?
Anna and I were flower girls at my Aunt Nellie’s wedding.

14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
Before or after I got out of bed? Turned off my alarm and the electric blanket before laying in bed for another hour. But after I got, I made my bed. It’s a flylady habit.

15. What was the FIRST actual concert you ever went to?
What does that mean, “actual” concert? My pastor’s wife took my sister and I to see an orchestral performance when we were in late elementary school. Otherwise? Er..dunno. I’m not much of a rock concert person.

16. FIRST tattoo and/or piercing?
Ears pierced at age 8? Infection set in soon after and the ears have been mostly shut since.

17. FIRST foreign country you went to?
Mexico. Hasn’t everyone?

18. What was your FIRST run in with the law?
??? I’m coming up blank. I got a warning for speeding while coming into downtown a few months back.

19. When was your FIRST detention?
What’s detention?

20. What was the FIRST state you lived in?
The only state I’ve lived in longer than a couple of months–Nebraska

21. Who was the FIRST person to break your heart?
Kyle P. He moved to Germany with his family when I was 7. Heartbroken young lass. Who would I climb trees with anymore?

22. Who was your FIRST roommate?
Anna. We’ve pretty much shared either a room or a home for all our lives. (Sans a year when she was in college and I was in Bible school and a year when she was working while I was in grad school.)

23. When was your FIRST real kiss?
Haven’t had it yet. Virgin lips here–and proud of it!

25. When was your FIRST birthday?
My first (and only) birthday was March 14, 1985. I celebrated the first ANNIVERSARY of my birthday on March 14, 1986. (I’m such a smart-alek.)

26. Who was your FIRST serious boyfriend/girlfriend?
I’ll pass on that one. I’ve never dated non-seriously, but I’d rather not drag old boyfriends into my blog.

27. What was your FIRST word?
Dunno. Mom could maybe help us out on that one. I do know that my sister’s first word was actually a sentence: “I don’t want that” referring to some food she was being fed. Mom and Dad couldn’t figure out whether to be excited or upset.

28. What was your FIRST surgery?
I’ve been told the exploratory thing-a-ma-jig doesn’t count as a surgery ’cause I didn’t get cut open, so it’d have to be the nose job. Now I can breathe. It’s exciting.

29. Who will be the FIRST to respond this?
You?

Categories Flashback Friday

Flashback: Christmas PresentsCh

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It’s been an age since I’ve participated in a Flashback Friday. But now I’m back, and back just in time for the last Friday before Christmas. At least, for the last Friday before OUR Christmas.

Flashback Friday buttonToday Linda asks… When did you open Christmas presents when you were growing up? Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? If you traveled, did your parents take the gifts, or did you open them early or late? … Did you have stockings? What was generally in those? Were gifts simple and practical or more extravagant? Did you give presents to your parents and siblings? Were they homemade or purchased? If purchased, did you pay with your own money or did your parents pay? What are memories of special gifts you received?…

My family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve–and we’d open our gifts after the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church.

I suppose we were a rather modest family–we certainly never received hundred-dollar gifts like some people might have. But still, we generally had a nice selection of gifts–a few practical gifts, a couple toys, and the little doo-dads we kids bought each other with the dollar Mom and Dad gave us to use to buy gifts for each sibling.

Nevertheless, my favorite Christmas present ever came the year Mom and Dad didn’t have money to buy any extras.

I’m not sure what the deal was that year–maybe a car or a large appliance broke down and needed to be replaced–but money was tight. I was just developing a money awareness, and for whatever reason, I remember peaking into Mom’s checkbook after she’d written her tithe check at the end of December. I was shocked to see that the balance in her and Daddy’s checking account was $7!

With little money to purchase presents, Mom used her ingenuity to make us gifts. A picture book for Danny made with fabric and fabric paints–a story about when we go to Grandma and Grandpa’s farm. Little teepees of doweling, fabric, and more fabric paint fit perfectly with Lincoln logs and cowboys and Indians.

But the best Christmas present of all was that year when there wasn’t any extra cash. That year, Mom made us a tent.

She made it out of fabric scraps in her favorite colors of rust and tan and pumpkin and mustard and olive green. Pieces leftover from skirts or dresses she’d made herself. Pieces she’d intended for outfits for herself but had sacrificed to make our tent. Pieces obtained from family or friends. She pieced the pieces together into an enormous tent that fit over the school room table. Windows on three sides had flaps that could be rolled up and tied. The fourth side had a door that could likewise be rolled and tied.

But the crowning glory was the flag. A Tinkertoy and dowel invention poked through a grommet in the top, holding taut the peaked top. And atop the dowel flew a flag.

We spent many a day in that tent. It was a pioneer’s covered wagon, a princess’s castle, an Indian’s teepee, an adventurer’s tent. It was a house, a store, a library.

As each of us children has grown and become more financially independent, our gifts have grown in size and cost. But none of the many gifts we’ve exchanged since that day have been able to match the enjoyment we gained from that one.

Just goes to show that money isn’t everything.

Hear other people’s Christmas memories at Mocha with Linda’s Flashback Friday Meme

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: The End(s)d

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There are things we don’t like to see end–and things we can’t wait to see end. Ends can be happy–or they can be melancholy. This week, I’ve had some ends I’ve been expectantly anticipating–ends that have come at last.

Thankful Thursday banner

Today I’m thankful…

…for the END of commuting between Lincoln and Columbus

…for the END of the semester teaching at the University

…for the END of catching up from last month’s conference in Boston

…for the END of last night’s treacherous drive

When there’s so much going on in my life and so much tossing me in every direction, I’m thankful to have some of it come to an end.

And I’m thankful for the new beginnings every ending heralds.

Categories Theology

Songs I love and hate

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Recently, Christianity Today asked a collection of prominent evangelicals whether they thought “Away in the Manger” should be done away with.

Why do away with “Away in a Manger”? some of you may ask.

The bad theology, of course.

You know…”The little Lord Jesus no crying He makes…”

At best, it’s extrabiblical. At worst, it’s unbiblical.

It’s a denial of the full humanity of Christ.

But it’s a pretty song, a cute song, a song rich with memory for many of us.

The question brings to mind a whole slew of other songs that I love and hate. There are the songs whose melodies I love but whose words I abhor. And the ones whose words I love but whose melodies I hate. And then there are the worst ones, the ones whose melodies and words I love–except for a couple of lines.

Songs like “Above All”.

I think it might’ve been my favorite song except for its one huge glaring fault.

Above all powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure what You’re worth”

It’s beautiful–singing about the supremecy of Christ over all things, of His matchless worth.

And the chorus only increases the wonder, telling of the pinnacle of God’s glory displayed through the cross.

“Crucified laid behind the stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a Rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall..”

I exult in the supremecy of Christ, I celebrate the incarnation, I rejoice in the crucifixion–the Power of God displayed for all to see.

And the next words send me back to earth with a thump.

“You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all.”

What?

Are you serious?

So I just sung about how God is above all–but now you’re telling me God worships ME?

Uh-uh. Not happening.

God, the supreme God who is above all, thinks of me (Hallelujah)–but He does not think of me ABOVE ALL. God thinks of me and loves me–but He is God-focused above all. He does not live to make me happy or even to save me–He lives to be Himself and to be seen as Himself. And, boy, is that a good thing! If God were me-focused, it would decrease His God-hood, it would make Him an idolator. God doesn’t think of me above all.

So, needless to say, that song frustrates me a bit.

So good. So bad. So difficult to separate the good from the bad.

Tell me, do you have a song you love and hate? Do you think about the theology in the songs you’re singing? What songs bother you–and what do you do about it? Do you still sing along? Do you stand in silence? Do you write a letter to the editor? Tell me what you think about theology and music.

Categories Book Reviews

Two Views of Nebraska

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It had been a while since I last read something about my native state, so I figured I’d pick up some quick reading from my local library.

As I’ve mentioned before, I use children’s books as a “Cliff’s Notes” to introduce me to a topic before reading about it more in depth. Of course, having grown up in Nebraska and lived here all my life, I probably didn’t need a Cliff’s Notes, but I chose to read some children’s books anyway.

The two books I picked up–Ann Heinrichs’ Nebraska (part of Scholastic’s “America the Beautiful” series”) and Ruth Bjorklund’s Nebraska (part of Benchmark Books’ “Celebrate the States” series)–couldn’t have been more different.

Nebraska by BjorklandI read Bjorkland’s book first. By halfway through the book, I had to figure out who this author was. Surely, she had to be a native Nebraskan, I thought. She described Nebraska so accurately, so fully. The back cover informed me that she was not a Nebraskan.

Nevertheless, she did a fantastic job of laying out Nebraska’s history AND present. The first chapter gives a quick tour of Nebraska’s geography, from the Missouri River Valley to the Panhandle. From there, we take a look at Nebraska history, from ancient days to modern times. Then we learn of the government and economics, the cultural components of Nebraska cities and towns, and famous people from Nebraska. The book comes back to a full circle, ending with the “touristy” components of Nebraska geography. Appendices list the typical state report fare: state bird and motto, flag and major rivers, basic history and brief bios of famous people. Overall, the book provides a comprehensive look at Nebraska for the elementary-school audience.

But it isn’t the main topics that set this book apart. It’s the attention the author pays to details, the journalistic accuracy in portraying real Nebraskans. The book regularly quotes Nebraskans talking about themselves, their state, their history. And it doesn’t just quote “famous” Nebraskans. It quotes everyday people. Rather than just summarizing the same old Department of Tourism schlep, Bjorkland finds out what real Nebraskans think about things. She discusses the divide between the relatively prosperous, densely populated Southeastern corner of the state and the much more rural rest of the state–the tensions over taxation and how many rural Nebraskans feel that too much money is funneled to the Southeast corner, the feeling that some in the Panhandle have that they have more in common with the ranching Colorado or Wyoming than the rest of farming Nebraska. Bjorkland doesn’t dwell on these topics or hype them into a drama that isn’t there, but she honestly addresses issues like these–issues that real Nebraskans are interested in.

Nebraska by HeinrichsHeinrichs’ Nebraska, on the other hand, reads as though it came straight from the Nebraska government website, giving the facts and the nicely sanitized details specifically designed to sell our state rather than accurately portray it. What’s more, unlike Bjorkland’s book, this book patronizes students, talking with the “twaddle” tone Charlotte Mason devotees so abhor.

Furthermore, whenever Heinrichs’ attempts to add some “real Nebraska” flavor to her writing, she gets it wrong. She writes that “when the stadium is at capacity, its population is higher than Nebraska’s second-largest city”, attempting to share one of the factoids Nebraskans love to gloat about. The problem is, there isn’t a single Nebraskan who wouldn’t catch the error here. When the stadium is at capacity (in other words, during every home game), the Husker stadium DOESN’T hold more people than Nebraska’s second largest city (Lincoln). It holds more people than Nebraska’s THIRD largest city. Nebraska’s second largest city, Lincoln, has a population of over 200,000–while the stadium contains something a little less than 100,000. HUGE error.

Then there’s the little blurb about Nebraska’s state hero, former Husker football coach (and current Husker athletic director) Tom Osborne. According to Heinrichs, Tom Osborne “ran for Nebraska governor in 2006, capturing 45 percent of the vote.” Except that he didn’t. He did run for governor, but lost in the primaries, capturing 45% of the vote IN THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES. BIG difference.

Heinrichs’ Nebraska is more colorful, more graph-filled, more “teacher-friendly” than Bjorkland’s Nebraska–but it also completely fails as a source of information about Nebraska. If you’re a mother traveling with her children through the 50 states, take my advice and use Bjorkland’s book to introduce your children to the REAL Nebraska–decidedly less flashy, but ultimately much more attractive.

Categories The Week in Words

WiW: Not Stalled Forever

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The Week in Words

I started reading Janette Oke when I was in elementary school. I loved the pioneer stuff, the romances, all that. I didn’t really notice all the deep stuff.

In my late high school years I looked on Janette Oke with a jaded eye. “How many years of my life did I waste with that pablum?” I thought, as I gloried in the intellectual fare I was now enjoying.

Now I’m a young professional, re-reading Janette Oke as part of my “read every book in Eiseley library” goal. And I’m astonished at how much stuff there really is.

No, it’s not intellectual, debate-the-meaning-of-this-with-your-friends material. But it’s solid, Biblically and experientially-based stuff. Yes, it tends to “tell” through conversations between characters rather than simply “showing” these big principles. But it’s still good stuff.

Re-reading these books has been like listening in as an older, wiser woman helps a younger, less experienced woman with the everyday details of her life.

In fact, that’s usually what it is–a conversation between Ma Graham and Marty in the first books of the “Love Comes Softly” series, conversations between Marty and her developing daughters later.

Or like the conversation that struck me just a few days ago–Marty’s advice to her grown granddaughter Virginia after the death of Virginia’s grandmother-in-law, who had lived with Virginia and her husband for quite a while.

“It takes time. Time and God…I was told that years ago when I lost someone. At the time, it wasn’t a’tall what I wanted to hear. But it happened–just that way. Oh, not that ya ever forget. Not ever. But life has a way of movin’ on. New things happen. New people come into our lives. God does not leave us stalled forever. He just nudges us forward. Pushes us on out. Urges us to look for new meanin’ in life. An’ it is there. It’s always there. Somethin’ new to live for. Somethin’ to give life zest again.”

~Marty Davis, in Janette Oke’s A Quiet Strength

As I read this, I thought of Marty’s losses (of a husband in the very first book in the series, of friends and neighbors later on, of children moving far away, of medical situations causing huge changes). I thought of Virginia’s loss. I thought of my own losses.

And with tears in my eyes, I thanked God for that one sentence of Marty’s:

“God does not leave us stalled forever.”

Sometimes in the midst of loss, it feels like we’re stalled on the side of the road, broken, going nowhere. Sure that the engine is fried, we might be tempted to give up, to abandon even life itself. Other people might be moving along the road, but we can’t be.

But God does not leave us stalled forever.

At some point, even if we can’t identify a specific moment, the hurt begins to fade, the missing becomes a little less all-encompassing. And something new rises to give meaning and purpose for continuing.

Deeply ambivalent, desiring a different life, you move to a new town, begin a new job. You choose to seek out new friendships, new opportunities to serve. And then someday you find that you’re no longer forcing enthusiasm for a life you didn’t want–you’re rejoicing in the opportunity that God has given you in this life you once didn’t want.

Not that you forget. No, it’s like Marty said. You don’t forget. But somehow, by the grace of God, you move on.

I am so thankful that God chooses to work in such a way–and that somehow, over the course of this past year, He has worked that beautiful miracle of healing in me.

Collect more quotes from throughout the week with Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”.

Categories Memes

74 Truths

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Another meme from Facebook. Gotta love those teenaged Facebook friends who keep me well-stocked with memes (even if they’re often overcrowded with boyfriend/girlfriend/who-likes-who questions–which I’ve taken to cutting out.

WHAT WAS YOUR…

1. Last beverage?
Water from the tap

2. Last phone call?
Anna asking me if there’s anything else we need at the grocery store

3. Last text message?
With Grace, regarding a new purchase of hers

4. Last song listened to?
Emmanuel by Michael W. Smith

5. Last time you cried?
Yesterday, while speaking with my sister on the phone.

HAVE YOU EVER…

6. lost someone special?
Yes

7. been depressed?
Yes

8. been drunk and threw up?
No

LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS:

9. Black (I did say I’ve been depressed, right? Apparently people who like black are more likely to be depressed. But what can I say, black makes me look beautiful… Have I said yet that I’m a little vain?)

10. Blue

11. Teal

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU…

12. Made a new friend?
Yes, several. I’ve been blessed with many new friends through book club, work, and church.

13. Laughed until you cried?
Absolutely

14. Met someone who changed you?
Doesn’t every person we meet make an indelible impression on us, either for good or for ill, but always, within the will of God for our ultimate good and His glory?

15. Found out someone was talking about you?
Yep, but it was nice things! Now that’s a pleasant surprise!

GENERAL:

16. How many people on your Facebook friends list do you know in real life?
All but two bloggy buddies I’ve befriend–Becky of Boys Rule My Life and Kristi of For Such a Time as This

17. Do you have any pets?
No

18. Do you want to change your name?
I wouldn’t mind changing my last name someday.

19. What did you do for your last birthday?
I don’t remember. (That’s what happens when you get old!)

20. What time did you wake up today?
11:30 (haven’t slept in that late for at least 5 years)

21. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Last night, or tonight? Last night, bathing after a great time hanging out with Teresa and Ruth. Tonight, putting up Christmas decorations after a long day of making muffins and putting the house in order.

22. What is one thing you CANNOT wait for?
Mmm. Well, there are things I feel I cannot wait for–but the truth is, I will wait until God chooses that whatever it is occurs (if ever).

23. When was the last time you saw your mother?
Friday

24. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life?
My feet hurting (I started the day in heels, despite knowing that I had a house to clean and ~15 dozen muffins to make. Sometimes I’m a little low on sense.)

25. What are you listening to right now?
I Saw Three Ships come sailing in…

26. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom?
Several persons named Tom, actually–some of them even at the same time.

27. What’s getting on your nerves right now?
My ears

28. What web page do you visit most often?
Not sure. These days, probably UNL’s “blackboard”–I’ve been busy inputting grades and communicating with students who are preparing for finals.

29. What’s your Zodiac sign?
Pisces. And I’d claim a fish even if my birthday didn’t fall within that “sign.” My real sign is ΙΧΘΥΣ (Ichthus): Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.

30. Are you a he or a she?
Now that one’s pretty obvious. I have two x chromosomes.

31. What elementary school did you attend?
Twin Maples Christian School (Homeschool)

32. What middle school did you attend?
Umm… Twin Maples or… umm… Agape Christian Academy (a homeschoolish school I attended for two and a half? years–even if I didn’t learn anything there.)

33. What high school did you attend?
Twin Maples Christian School. And Lincoln East High for a couple and a half classes.

34. What’s your hair color?
Brown-ish

35. Is your hair long or short?
Way long. As long as it can get. (Which is a different length for every person, by the way. No matter how long I let my hair grow out, it never gets longer than the small of my back–which is what it has been for the last five, six, maybe seven? years.)

36. What do you like about life?
God’s grace.

37. What do you like about yourself?
That God has chosen to work through a cracked vessel like myself.

38. How many piercings do you have?
Two, maybe. I haven’t stuck anything in ’em for years (8?)–so they might not really be there anymore.

39. How many tattoos do you have?
None. Have I ever told you how I’m not really a fan of unnecessary pain?

40. Are you a righty or a lefty?
I’m a righty.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST…

41. Surgery?
An exploratory laporascopy(?) as a preschooler. Otherwise? A nose job.

42. Piercing?
My ears

43. Best friend?
Anna

44. Sport?
I’ve never participated in organized sports.

45. Vacation?
Black Hills, maybe? Unless you count Grandma and Grandpa’s.

RIGHT NOW YOU’RE…

46. Eating…
Nothing

47. Drinking…
Nothing

48. About to…
Post this (and then get ready for bed)

49. Listening to…
Didn’t I already answer this one? Except the music has shut off now.

50. Waiting for…
Christmas!

YOUR FUTURE :

51. Want kids?
Now that’s a REAL secret. Give a good guess.

52. Get Married?
Erm, ditto the above.

53. Career?
Already got one, thank you very much.

WHICH IS BETTER?

54. Lips or eyes?

55. Hugs or kisses?
From you at least :-)

56. Shorter or taller?
Referring to what? Taller if you’re talking counters or bookshelves. Shorter if you’re talking horrible books that you nevertheless feel obligated to finish, telephone conversations, or waits for a public restroom stall to open up.

57. Older or Younger?
Again, what are you talking about? Older is generally better when it comes to (many) books, furniture, and cookware. Younger is usually better for pipes, insulation, and energy efficient appliances.

58. Romantic or spontaneous?
Are those supposed to be opposites?

59. Nice stomach or nice arms?
If by nice stomach, you mean less abdominal fat, stomach is the correct answer. Abdominal fat is positively correlated with risk for heart disease. Even if you’ve got noodle arms, you’re healthier if you don’t have that belly fat.

60. Sensitive or loud?
Another “these are supposed to be opposites?” question.

61. Trouble maker or hesitant?
Hah. I just got it. These are all asking about what you find more attractive in a person of the opposite sex. Which means I should have been deleting this whole section. Blech!

HAVE YOU EVER…

62. Kissed a stranger?
No

63. Drank hard liquor?
Nope. Only when mixed into girly drinks–and even then, only rarely.

64. Lost glasses/contacts?
Yes, but never permanently (Thank You, Lord!)

DO YOU BELIEVE IN…

65. Yourself?
I believe that I exist. But do I believe in myself? I believe that in myself dwells no good thing. Only by God’s grace, freely bestowed, do I have anything.

66. Miracles?
Yes.

67. Heaven?
I believe in God the Father, Maker of Heaven… Yep, that’d be part of my standard confession of faith.

68. Santa Claus?
No. Never have.

69. Kissing on the first date?
I believe that people do it. I don’t believe people should do it.

70. Angels?
Yep. Those aren’t part of the creeds or anything–but they are part of the Bible–which I affirm wholeheartedly.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY
As if I hadn’t been all along?

71. Did you sing today?
I’d be hard pressed to come up with a day that I haven’t.

72. If you could go back in time, how far would you go, and why?
Scary thought. I believe God has placed me on this earth at this time for a purpose–and that His purposes are best. It’d be fun to visit other times, I suppose, but I really am content with just living an old-fashioned life in the modern age.

73. If you could pick a day from last year and relive it, what would it be?
Ooo…that’s a toughy. There’ve been many a difficult day and many a wonderful day. I’m glad I’ve lived them all, I’m not sure I’d like to relive any of them.

74. Posting this as 100 truths?

Nope, ‘cuz I cut out all the stupid crush questions–leaving me with 74 questions. (And that’s with the eight that I didn’t realize were crush questions and a few more that I felt were innocuous enough to leave in.)

Categories Everyday Life, Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Easy Days

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It’s not too often that I have an easy day–a day where it feels like things are running smoothly and I’m getting things accomplished and I’m not too rushed.

Which means that when those days do come, I need to stand back and savor them and not forget to send my Thank You‘s heavenward.

Thankful Thursday banner

Today I’m thankful…

…for temperatures above freezing and a jaunty walk to and from my car

…for a new computer at work–that means I don’t have to wrestle for someone else’s (I’m sure Heather is just as thankful–or more–for that one!)

…for 90 days at my “new” job–and that they still want to keep me after this first quarter

…for smooth assessments. I notice and complain when admission heights and weights aren’t taken, when I have to go digging for orders or information. But some days, the nursing staff is all at the top of their game–and I need to remember to say “Thank you” that they’ve recorded all the information I need.

…for prompt faxes from MDs. Sometimes it takes forever to hear back from an MD–or the MD just seems to ignore my faxes. Today, my faxes have been returned promptly. Thank you, docs of Columbus!

…for leaving work early (just a bit, and feeling unrushed–that NEVER happens)

…for a delightful seven note sixth grade band concert. I know I’m gonna love Columbus. These kids, this life, is fantastic.

This has been an easy day–and I am most thankful for it.

Thank You, Lord, that You know when I need a little rest–and that You provide it, even amidst an eleven-hour workday.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: Nina Garcia’s Look Book

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Confession: I am not a fashion plate.

Surprised?

Why ever not?

Despite my not-so-fashionable tendencies (inwardly, I’m really a denim jumper and birkenstocks-with-socks wearing Mom, with a patchwork vest thrown over top for good measure), I adore reading books on fashion, “style”, what-have-you.

Books like Nina Garcia’s Look Book.

Garcia’s Look Book tells the reader “what to wear for every occasion”–from when you’re asking for a raise to going on errands around town to Easter dinner to jury duty. Garcia covers it all.

Pick this book up, stick a sticky note in the most often used sections, and hope that you have a REALLY large clothes budget.

Maybe some women have this many clothes, but I certainly don’t. I briefly contemplated making a list of each of the items “called for” in each of Garcia’s “recipes”, but it took me only two or three pages to let go of that notion. It’d take forever.

So it’s not exactly the most practical book.

But it can’t be denied–it is a fun book. It’s fun to revel in the options one has with clothes, to imagine having to decide what to wear to a black-tie dinner, to read little anecdotes about others’ fashion faux pas and brilliant successes. And Garcia does have a good feel, after all, for the “vibe” you want to put off in different scenarios.

No discussion of this book would be complete without a mention of Ruben Toledo’s illustrations: lipstick tubes, fun shoes, and complete do’s. These illustrations are just great.

Yes, this is just the sort of book for a not-so-fashion-forward gal such as myself, who nonetheless likes to sink into a world of glamor through the pages of a book. Glossy illustrations, out-of-my-world scenarios, and just the tiniest touch of celebrity.

It’s the kind of book I love to check out of the library but would never dream of buying for myself.

Take it or leave it according to your preference.

Rating: 2 stars
Category: Fashion Advice
Synopsis:Garcia tells you “what to wear for every occasion.”
Recommendation: Not so useful for what it’s billed as (unless you have an enormous wardrobe), but fun if you like perusing glossy illustrations of glamor.

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Categories Reflections

Being Real

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There are two kinds of bloggers I hate.

The perfect ones–

and the perfectly awful ones.

The former never have a problem, float through life, always seem perfectly in control, always have a perfectly spiritual answer to everything that comes up.

The latter have lives composed of nothing but problems–they go where they’re thrown by circumstances. They emote directly into their posts and never self-edit. Their blogs are full of disappointment and venom and angst.

I have too much pride (and desire to stay employed) to be the latter, so I choose to self-edit. I write about my frustrations, but not in my frustration. I try to be wise with what details I share. I wait until I’ve cooled down to write.

But as a result, I fear my blog occasionally gives the impression that I’m the former–that I’ve got it all together. Sure, I talk about problems, but always in the past tense. I fear I’m like one of the small group members John Acuff lampoons on Stuff Christians Like for confessing “safe sins”:

“Someone will say, “I need to be honest with everyone tonight. I need to have full disclosure and submit myself in honesty. Like ODB from the Wu-Tang Clan, I need to give it to you raw!” So you brace yourself for this crazy moment of authenticity and the person takes a deep breath and says

…

“I haven’t been reading my Bible enough.”

So, just in case I haven’t been real enough, I’m ready to share a less-stellar, but really real incident that occurred about a week ago.

I intended to set up my computer, enter some grades, then go to sleep. Two hours later I couldn’t get connected to the internet, whatever I did. It felt like the end of the world.

I’d been doing some reupholstering of my computer chair since my computer was taking forever trying to connect to the internet–but one thing kept going wrong after another. The axle slipped from my hand and left a grease stain on my carpet. I was tacking in the new fabric and repeatedly hammered my finger and thumb. Then I couldn’t get the newly upholstered piece back into place. My screwdriver slipped and I gouged my hand. I was alone and I yelled my “ARGGH!” through clenched teeth into the empty house.

Now I’m crying again, bawling with anger, snot running down my face.

It’s not fair, I tell myself, the world, God, anyone who might be listening. It’s not right. Why does life have to be so hard? Why can’t anything go right.

I can’t handle it, I say, enumerating what must be done. Grading to finish and grades to enter–except, oops, my computer won’t connect to the internet. A lab practical to write and study tips to give my students. A shopping trip to complete, an angel food cake to bake, a lecture and a quiz to write. Don’t know how I’m gonna get that all done, seems how I don’t have the internet on the computer that has all my class files.

And then there’s the work I still need to finish up at my other job–sometime before I leave for Lincoln. I can’t work from home just now, since I can’t get internet on that computer. And there’s the matter of the house I have to get clean before Wednesday–the house I’ll now be cleaning with bruised and bloodied hands.

Lovely.

My self-pity goes further–I dredge up all the unfairness of this last year, of the choices that others have made that have impacted me greatly, of the hopes raised just to be dashed.

I write in my journal that I quit.

I can’t do it. I can’t. I really, really can’t. It’s too much. I can’t handle it. I need a break, I need some sleep. I need life to stop being so stinkin’ unfair–Yeah right. I don’t see that happening. You know that old saying, “Life isn’t always fair?” It doesn’t go far enough. Life’s never fair.

I hate it.

I really wish I could quit.

But I can’t. URGGHHHHH!

That was after I’d cooled down considerably, by the way.