Fun in the sun!

Sooooo, I think I may have found my alternate Pemberly. Oh Mr Darcy, we love ya! Now I'm ready for a Pride and Prejudice marathon.

Anyway, this is the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens; one hundred acres of beauty. My picture is of the original house that the Cheekwood family built and lived in prior to the property being donated as a garden. The house now is home to a museum, including some 800 piece collection if silverware, and some amazing flowers made out of crystals and fine stones.

A friend of mine from school is up to visit, so we've been having some fun going all over. I almost face planted in the mud, but was able to gracefully save face and ended with only my hand and foot completely covered in mud...I'll have to remember to post a picture...

Dr. Horrible and the Hill of Doom

I must pull you aside prior to me launching into my latest story addition to apologize for my lack of grammar and/or spelling. This posts are usually written in the middle of the night, and at times are accompanied by tears. Either one makes for a terrible editor, and usually leaves you wondering how on earth I made it through grade school much less college...I'm just saying - don't judge! ;-)



Okay, on to Dr. Horrible.



In this episode, Dr. Horrible happens to be a bit younger of a super hero with more brown than gray in his hair, and considerably more brain mass. You know how wine or cheese is better with age? Well, such is the case with Dr. Horrible (for the most part). On this day he must have been about mid-aged...but I definitely wouldn't have eaten him.



Yours truly (wait let me fluff and primp...okay) was knee high to a grasshopper, and hadn't yet lost the hope that she (I) would continue to grow. One of my favorite past times was being Dr. Horrible's side-kick on days when we would drive to the nearby state prison to buy the cheap fire wood they sold there. Now on this particular day we climbed into Dr. Horrible's mode of transportation, which in-and-of itself was story. The giant truck was one you needed a ladder to get into it, and it was so old that holes had rusted through the body. Since you can't have holes in your vehicle and pass inspection Dr. Horrible had patched the holes with pink cement stuff (love my description?). Thus, we set off in a giant black truck with pink spots...lets just say we weren't looking like the toughest guy on the block...Anyways. That morning we set off through town and up the winding side of the mountain that bordered our valley. This morning however, did not go as smoothly as others in the past had. Half way up the mountain our vehicle in crime died a tragic death relating to the small fact that Dr. Horrible had forgotten to get much needed gas.

There we were, pulled over on the side of the mountain about five miles from home, and this was before the blessed days of cell phones (wow I feel old). Dr. Horrible determined that we must make the long trek home on foot, and so off we started; my little legs trailing after the longer stride of Dr. Horrible as we made our way down on the side of the road. Before long we had reached the valley, walked through town, and headed down the road that eventually would reach our farm. Dr. Horrible then decided that it was much faster to cut through the vast fields of corn than to follow the road. Not being old enough to have a say in such things, and generally thinking that this was a fun adventure, whole-heartedly trotted along. Now here I should pause to remind you of the anatomy of the corn plant. Corn grows tall. About six feet talk to be exact, and almost the entire height of the plant grow large wide leaves whose edges are quite sharp. Now imagine Dr. Horrible at six-foot-two weaving his way through row after never ending row of corn, with a four-foot tall child with eyes tightly shut holding on to the back of his shirt, and repeatedly tripping over every root the protruded from the dirt. Lets just say I did lots of tripping, a little falling, and I didn't see an inch of that corn field. To say the least we made it home intact albeit hot, tired, and dusty. Dr. Horrible had mercy on me and did not drag me back with him when he made the trip back to the truck with the gas can, and for this I will forever be grateful.

How I do miss those days of relative simplicity where people walked places, you got to have a fabulous adventure because we couldn't use a cell phone to call for AAA, and were you got to relax after a hard days work. I think I should just go give the older version of Dr. Horrible a hug...awwwwww see maybe he isn't so horrible after all...or is he...

Isaiah 41:9-11

"I have called you back from the ends of the earth so you can serve me. For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. DON'T be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand."

Psalm 19:12-13

"How can I know all the sin lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep me from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin."

Psalm 62:1-2

"I wait quietly before God, for my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.

Psalm 63:7-8

"I think how much you have helped me; I sing for joy in the shadow of your protecting wings. I follow close behind you; your strong right hand holds me securely."

I really feel like I'm in this place where in my weakness He is strong. I literally can't do this by myself, and that is the most wonderful part! So, I had a crummy start to the night, but WOT is the bestest (don't tell me its not a word), and I called her late. Jesus knew I'd need some prayer and wisdom. What a wonderful encouragement to think about all the promises the Lord has for us!! No, I can't fix things, but I can refuse to let the enemy take ground. I can stand firm in the promises that Christ's blood filled for me, and have HOPE found in the loving eyes of a Father who looks at me with tender affection. It isn't easy, but may through all of this I become a reflection of Jesus!

Welcome in the spring, Happy St. Patty's Day!

So, the blog needed a brighter look for Spring ;-) Hope you like it.

I will have to take some pictures, because I'm getting ready to start some potted plants, and I'm very excited!! I've been looking for Gerber Daisies, but I haven't found any yet...sad day! Lowe's has let me down, although I still love that store, oh it smells good in there, and there are so many fun things to explore. Its like an ADHD heaven! Not that I'm ADHD, but if I was...hmmmm

I actually had a good night tonight, after several rough ones. I decided that I was NOT going to let myself get uptight, and I kept my Bible open to Isaiah 41:9-11. That along with the faithful prayers of WOT and some friends I am keeping on!! Jesus is GOOD, no matter how I feel He remains the same.

Today I go to the Neuromuscular Therapist (WOOT), and I'm so excited for her to work some more on my neck which has been okay, but still painful. I'll keep you updated ;-)

Tonight the holiday festivities will be in full swing. Now I'm not really into big parties or lots of people at this point in my life, but DOT's boyfriend and his sister are coming over and we're all going out to hear a band play who are personal friends. I'm hoping that we have lots of fun despite the drunk crowds. I'll try to take my camera and get some pictures...I'm bad about taking pictures, I always forget!

Dr. Horrible at your service!

This is Dr. Horrible I promise he won't bite, but he may shoot you with a stun gun. He is also my father...sort of. I mean in spirit mainly, because obviously this isn't my father's picture. I kind of imagine my father looking like this at work though. The white one-piece suit, giant goggles, and black gloves.

I digress.

Seeing as you all liked the Bathrobe Stories so well, it is high time for the unavailing my new collection...the Dr. Horrible stories. Now first I must make a disclaimer. Dr. Horrible was not my idea, for those of you interested do a google search and you can watch the 45minute show that Joss Wheldon made (there is only one iffy part in the laundry-mate for those of you with kids). However, I'm sticking with this title because it so appropriately fits.

Now my collection of Dr. Horrible sagas begin on a quiet weekend afternoon. Dr. Horrible himself sprawled out on the Couch of Death (it sounds so much better to title inanimate objects) watching football. Around the corner chaos broke out when my lovely sister got her head bashed into the corner of the wall as out German Shepard came bolting through the doorway. There was blood, and crying, and the usual commotion that accompanies such events.

Dr. Horrible may have a great many talents, however observation while engrossed in football is not one of them. WOT was calling Dr. Horrible for clean up on isle 3, having to take my sister to the kitchen for a face repair. Soon the floor was clean, the face patched, the tears wiped, and all evidence of the accident removed...but Dr. Horrible had not moved. Five minutes later he came out into the hall saw my sister's face and asked what happened. We all laughed. How he zoned out of all that chaos I will never know - it was selective hearing at its height. Poor Dr. Horrible, at least he does have some amazing super hero powers, we just have to working his skills of observation!

Me...

I love my friends and family, I'm just going to say that. You all are going to get an extra crown in Heaven for putting up with me for close to a year. You mean more to me then you'll ever know!

WOT and I had a great talk this afternoon, as I was trying to express that I keep hearing "do what you want", but honestly I'm not sure what that is.

I guess part of me even subconsciously thinks about what I "should" do over what I'd "like to" do. I get bogged down in the inconveniences to others, the practicality of living, and forget to look at the big picture. I still don't have answers, but I do know that:

- I want to work day shift (I want to be able to sleep at night again)
- I love family, and being involved in a family

Maybe I can add to that list soon, but for now that will have to do! I love what I do now for work, but at the place my life is at now, I am not sure I even care as long as I can do something that doesn't mess with my body as much as this has.

Sooo...

So...what do you guys want to talk about?

I'm sitting here at 4:30am unable to sleep....

My life is amazingly entertaining right? I know...

I'd like to sleep - but I can't...

So, I'm sitting here, typing nothing important, and thinking that if there was such a thing as sleep rehab I would check myself in.

Extra Activities...

As you all know by now, I am trying to spice up life some, which when the weather is gorgeous like it has been the past several days is not so hard. The Human Society finally posted the new orientation days, and I am all set to get started with that next Sunday. I think it might be a nice change in pace will be fun. I'm so excited, after working the worst schedule the last two weeks I am finally going to have about a week off, and I'm THRILLED! I plan to see the neuromuscular clinic, go to the writers group, get through my SPCA orientation, and hopefully enjoy some weather. Alas, those wonderful goals are glimmers of hope at the end of the tunnel since I still have two more days to work before that stretch off.

I know that working three days a week doesn't seem like a lot, but believe me it isn't always a simple three days. For example my schedule has looked like this:

Work: Thurs, Fri,Sat; Off Sunday; Work: Mon, Tue; Off Wednesday; Work Thursday; Off Friday; Work Sat, Sun, Mon; Off Tuesday; Work Wednesday.

Now, another insight - one day off in between shifts is basically like having an extra twelve hours to sleep. On my first day off I'm beat dog tired, and really by the time I get up at 4:30 pm, most of the day is gone, and so are my plans for anything productive. Usually when I get home from work my feel ache, my neck is killing me, the dog wants attention, I haven't eaten or peed in 6 hours, and I'm not thinking straight. I usually refuse to take a shower when I get home (unless really dirty) because I can hear monitor alarms dinging in my ears in the shower (/e shudders at the thought). Some days, er nights are worse then others of course, but all consist of hours on your feet, cleaning up after someone constantly, answering lights, trying to keep your kid from dying on you, and dealing with parents who generally act like 5 year-olds. I'm telling you - I love what I do, but sheeeesh that first day off I don't do much...and so when I have a schedule like above with only one day gaps between them...you can see why you don't hear from me for long stretches!

Haha, thanks for listening to me ramble - I really should do a day in the life of me at work...it would be entertaining.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVI8sQQ9JVA&feature=related





Okay, so I couldn't get the video to load on here, if anyone does I would love you forever if you'd tell me! This is a great clip though (it has nothing to do with the picture), so check it out I promise you'll like it!





I have been bored tonight, and bordom usually does not lead to anything productive like knitting socks (I dont knit), washing windows (its dark outside, you can't wash windows when its dark - how do you see the streaks?), or clean off my kitchen table (its called paper art!). Sooo, instead I find comfort in youtube, msn, facebook, and my blog. OH! I also was sent a rather long, but fabulously funny story today, and I thought I would pass on the love, along with a picture (see above) to help you visualize the story....

**Please note this is a fictional story (I think ;p) no squirrels were harmed in the making. Do not try this at home, and if you see a squirrel like discribed I would run...
*********

Having had considerable experience with motorcycles and animals, (not necessarily squirrels), this hits home---

I never dreamed slowly cruising on my motorcycle through a residential neighborhood could be so incredibly dangerous! Little did I suspect.

I was on Brice Street - a very nice neighborhood with perfect lawns and slow traffic. As I passed an oncoming car, a brown furry missile shot out from under it and tumbled to a stop immediately in front of me. It was a squirrel, and must have been trying to run across the road when it encountered the car. I really was not going very fast, but there was no time to brake or avoid it -- it was that close. I hate to run over animals, and I really hate it on a motorcycle, but a squirrel should pose no danger to me.
I barely had time to brace for the impact. Animal lovers, never fear. Squirrels, I discovered, can take care of themselves!

Inches before impact, the squirrel flipped to his feet. He was standing on his hind legs and facing my oncoming Valkyrie with steadfast resolve in his beady little eyes.
His mouth opened, and at the last possible second, he screamed and leapt! I am pretty sure the scream was squirrel for, "Bonzai!" or maybe, "Die you gravy-sucking, heathen scum!" The leap was nothing short of spectacular...
He shot straight up, flew over my windshield, and impacted me squarely in the chest. Instantly, he set upon me. If I did not know better, I would have sworn he brought 20 of his little buddies along for the attack.

Snarling, hissing, and tearing at my clothes, he was a frenzy of activity. As I was dressed only in a light T-shirt, summer riding gloves, and jeans this was a bit of a cause for concern. This furry little tornado was doing some damage!
Picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and leather gloves, puttering at maybe 25 mph down a quiet residential street, and in the fight of his life with a squirrel. And losing...

I grabbed for him with my left hand. After a few misses, I finally managed to snag his tail. With all my strength, I flung the evil rodent off to the left of the bike, almost running into the right curb as I recoiled from the throw. That should have done it. The matter should have ended right there. It really should have. The squirrel could have sailed into one of the pristinely kept yards and gone on about his business, and I could have headed home. No one would have been the wiser.
But this was no ordinary squirrel. This was not even an ordinary angry squirrel. This was an EVIL MUTANT ATTACK SQUIRREL OF DEATH!

Somehow he caught my gloved finger with one of his little hands and, with the force of the throw, swung around and with a resounding thump and an amazing impact, he landed squarely on my BACK and resumed his rather antisocial and extremely distracting activities. He also managed to take my left glove with him! The situation was not improved. Not improved at all.
His attacks were continuing, and now I could not reach him. I was startled, to say the least. The combination of the force of the throw, only having one hand (the throttle hand) on the handlebars, and my jerking back unfortunately put a healthy twist through my right hand and into the throttle. A healthy twist on the throttle of a Valkyrie can only have one result. Torque. This is what the Valkyrie is made for, and she is very, very good at it. The engine roared and the front wheel left the pavement. The squirrel screamed in anger. The Valkyrie screamed in ecstasy. I screamed in ... well .. I just plain screamed
Now picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a slightly squirrel-torn T-shirt, wearing only one leather glove, and roaring at maybe 50 mph and rapidly accelerating down a quiet residential street on one wheel, with a demonic squirrel of death on his back.

The man and the squirrel are both screaming bloody murder. With the sudden acceleration I was forced to put my other hand back on the handlebars and try to get control of the bike.
This was leaving the mutant squirrel to his own devices, but I really did not want to crash into somebody's tree, house, or parked car. Also, I had not yet figured out how to release the throttle...my brain was just simply overloaded. I did manage to mash the back brake, but it had little effect against the massive power of the big cruiser.
About this time the squirrel decided that I was not paying sufficient attention to this very serious battle (maybe he was an evil mutant NAZI attack squirrel of death), and he came around my neck and got INSIDE my full-face helmet with me.
As the faceplate closed part way, he began hissing in my face. I am quite sure my screaming changed intensity. It had little effect on the squirrel, however. The RPM's on the Valkyrie maxed out (since I was not bothering with shifting at the moment), so her front end started to drop.

Now picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a very raggedly torn T-shirt, wearing only one leather glove, roaring at probably 80 mph, still on one wheel, with a large puffy squirrel's tail sticking out of the mostly closed full-face helmet. By now the screams are probably getting a little hoarse.
Finally I got the upper hand ... I managed to grab his tail again, pulled him out of my helmet, and slung him to the left as hard as I could. This time it worked ... sort-of. Spectacularly sort-of ...so to speak.

Picture a new scene. You are a cop. You and your partner have pulled off on a quiet residential street and parked with your windows down to do some paperwork. Suddenly a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a torn T-shirt flapping in the breeze, and wearing only one leather glove, moving at probably 80 mph on one wheel, and screaming bloody murder roars by, and with all his strength throws a live squirrel grenade directly into your police car.

I heard screams. They weren't mine...
I managed to get the big motorcycle under control and dropped the front wheel to the ground. I then used maximum braking and skidded to a stop in a cloud of tire smoke at the stop sign of a busy cross street. I would have returned to 'fess up (and to get my glove back). I really would have. Really... Except for two things.

First, the cops did not seem interested or the slightest bit concerned about me at the moment. When I looked back, the doors on both sides of the patrol car were flung wide open. The cop from the passenger side was on his back, doing a crab walk into somebody's front yard, quickly moving away from the car. The cop who had been in the driver's seat was standing in the street, aiming a riot shotgun at his own police car.
So, the cops were not interested in me. They often insist to "let the professionals handle it" anyway.

That was one thing. The other?
Well, I could clearly see shredded and flying pieces of foam and upholstery from the back seat. But I could also swear I saw the squirrel in the back window, shaking his little fist at me. That is one dangerous squirrel. And now he has a patrol car. A somewhat shredded patrol car... but it was all his.

I took a deep breath, turned on my turn-signal, made a gentle right turn off of Brice Street , and sedately left the neighborhood. I decided it was best to just buy myself a new pair of gloves.
And a whole lot of Band-Aids.

Snow!

I know that the last day or two most of the Mid/East has gotten snow of some sort, and has been quite exciting. Places West of us got 7 or so inches of the white powder, we only got 1-2 inches, and by the time I woke up it had all melted...so much for exciting. I hope that everyone in the North East who is now getting pounded will take some moments to enjoy the snow. Part of me definitely misses the snow, and then the other half is quite contented to be snow less.

My newest escapade has been researching some graduate school options, which I have been procrastinating since my life has been so crazy. I think that I am going to do some sort of Nursing Education degree, because I don't know that I really want to do a Nurse Practitioner program. The down side to this whole idea is having to get my GRE (gets hear the generalized ewwwww). I guess I'm going to need to get studying....(someone please tell me this is a bad idea hehe). I realized that a lot of the non-bedside nursing jobs that are going to be fully day shift will require a masters degree, and that I'd better buckle up and get 'er done!

The other thing that has kept me occupied while not working this week has been this wonderful little website/blog (thepioneerworman.com). My friend Kelly got me addicted to her story about how she met her husband. I had to chuckle as I read, because I can so hear SFL talking in his fake Southern drawl...Really though - its long, but very well written, and her whole site in general is great. She talkes about homeschooling, gardening, photography, the ranch, and whatever else entertains her. Okay, I'm done now...hehe, but really check it out ;-).

Other things in life...Hmm, well I'm still slowly plodding through the book Empire Falls which is a great fictional story, and unfortunately for it (the book) I have been very lazy in my reading as of late. I'm excited though, because I am going up to see the family the first week in April which should be great fun! Also, I have convinced one of my cousins that I need some company, and so I think that she is coming to visit the first week in June. I would love to take a trip to see everyone, and I have open invites to so many places, but between work, my poor brain, and money it isn't always possible. Lets hope that these visits are good things, and I don't stress over them. Oh, oh, and in May I switch to day shift for 6 weeks, so we'll see how that goes...

I should post some sort of fun contest on here or something, hehe...See how many of you still live ;-).

New Gun Control Bill

So, WOT had received an email concerning some "Blair Holt" bill that was up in House of Representatives, but she wasn't sure whether this was a real bill or not. I did a little looking, and I'm sure there is more out there, but if you check out the website below you can read a full copy of said bill.

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/text

This bill is a major step in controlling guns/firearms, and personally I think goes against a lot of my values. Unfortunately, I don't know how much publicity this bill will get, so please take a read, and then write to your representative!!! The representative from Illinois, Mr. Rush I believe is the proposer of said bill. This looks legitimate from my preliminary research, so check it out if you care about policies on gun control. Lol, lets see how long it will take Texas to revolt if this gets passed..../e looks for a house in Texas...;-)

I apologize that it has taken me several days to become motivated enough to post, I think that being stuck at work often is the prodding I need to get back on the blog.

I've done pretty well the past several days, in part due to my fabulous friends De and Jo who stay up with me at all hours of the night playing scrabble on Pogo.com, complaining about their own lives, or just thinking of fun topics to discuss. Anything to distract and entertain. They are my night-time anchor, and not that I'm not blessed by multiple people, but these two are my companions in the night. I have decided that if they ever leave me hanging that I'm going to have to go out and buy myself one of those inflatable dolls like in Lars and the Real Girl, who can play scrabble with plastic hands. "Please" I begged "don't let me go down that road!"

My back is doing MUCH better, thank Jesus for the neuromuscular therapist!!!! It is still hurting me, but then again I'm in the midst of a three day work stretch, so what can you expect? I will take another visit to her when I'm done, and breath a sigh of relief.

On a side note before I have to go. I am just going to say that always thought that it would be easy to stick by your guns, and not compromise values. However, when life hits hard it can be so easy to slip. Thank goodness for grace, and friends. We are not alone...I think in part that's why I like this blog, because I just want to be honest about the crap that happens in life. How often have we looked at the person next to us, and condemned our own struggles thinking we're the only ones who fight against things! Think again!! We're all on the same boat, some times just in different parts, but still the same boat ;-).

My midlife crisis...

I think that I've forgotten what normal life is like. When do normal people eat, sleep, etc? I think that I no longer know....Actually, what is sad is that I don't even know if I'll be able to re-adjust to "real-life". At times I think I'd miss the late night chats with some of my friends on msn, or having that quiet uninterrupted time since no one else is awake. Then there are so many times when I think about what life was BEFORE work. Sleeping when it was dark out, feeling normal, having friends, being busy with school, etc. Hmmm, how can two years some how make 22 seem like so long ago? I really have trouble remembering some times what it was like...

This is really just my own ramblings so please feel free to skip over!

I've been thinking a lot about how moving or something might help me not feel so insane, but then I realized that perhaps it wouldn't make a difference. There are people who have worked nights for years, I wish I knew their secret. Its not that I have trouble staying awake, actually I think I've become a little bit of an insomniac (perhaps part of the issue). Then I thought, well maybe its due to me spending too much time on my computer, but to be honest what else do you do at 2am when everyone is sleeping and you're wide awake? I think I would go more insane if I wasn't on my computer. I've also thought that maybe it is due to the fact that with my weird schedule I no longer have any purpose in life other then work. It has become my personal opinion that that is why people have a midlife crisis, it just usually doesn't hit until your 40-50s. I mean think about it! Most people get married, have kids, etc in their early twenties thereby making those years very busy after college. Once 40 comes around though and all the kids leave the house then reality sets in, and the search for significance is on. Some people fill their lives with work, projects, hobbies, etc and I think that those people tend to weather midlife better than those that are left empty handed.

Unfortunately, I think I've hit midlife 20 years too early. Not that being independently single is a bad thing, after all there are some great pros to singledom. However, I've hit that wall of lonely meaninglessness...Perhaps that is part and parcel with everything I've been struggling with, and working to overcome.

Don't get me wrong, work is starting to even out, and not be nearly as stressful as it was. The other days of the week though I try to find something to do. I've attempted some painting and drawing, reading, my computer, going for walks, and just about anything else around the house. That's why I've joined the book club, and writer's group. I've also looked into volunteering at the local animal shelter, joining the ymca, and thought about maybe helping out at the church. I know I can't force some "meaning" in life, but it is a very frustrating experience to feel like you don't even live in the world any more, like times you're awake or asleep just pass you by like zombies.

As depressing as that sounds I'm still pushing through. I'm still trying to eat like I should, get out of the house, sleep (which I think really does negatively effect me when I miss it), and find some things where I can meet people. Let me tell you, its hard!!! I think I sound worse on here then I do if you talk to me, because it a lot harder for me to describe whats up when I talk - I just come on here and vent it all out. I just keep thanking Jesus for family and friends that I can talk to day or night. I also keep telling myself that its ok to cry, be nervous, or vent emotions its better then bottling it up! The brain is an amazing yet scary thing - and I know that God made us to be whole creatures delighting in Him, and wholly abandoned to Him. How hard that can be to walk out in daily life!

I feel like this blog is turning into the depressing rantings of some lunatic, haha...I hope though in some small corner of your heart it encourages you that there is hope, that you can keep pushing on no matter what you're going through, and no matter if there is not another soul who can see the tears running down your heart Jesus sees them all. I like to think that one day when I get to meet Him he will hand me my bottle of tears (seen and unseen), and I will kneel before him and wash His feet with the tears of my brokenness.

On the Floor

Thinking about a specific person this morning had me thinking about floors. Now you may wonder the connection, and it is simply that said person has on more then one occasion experienced a night's sleep on the floor. I'll come back to that...

So, I've been continuing to stay pretty positive, and keep my emotions in check. I actually almost laughed when the neuromuscular therapist today (on her own) just said how she thought I had one of most positive happy spirits she'd seen. Haha!! I mean I know that that is my natural personality, but after the Fall I've had I really do feel anything but positive and happy for the most part. I will confess that I made a poor choice tonight, which I think has in part led to my feeling very off/emotional this morning. I should have gone to worship tonight, but I didn't really want to, and I thought meh its no big deal. Well....I think it was a bigger deal. Not that going to church in and of itself was the deal, but it was that I passed on the opportunity to get out for the night. It's so hard when you don't feel like it!!! I know that there is church tonight also, and worship on Tuesday, but I guess I just took a couple steps backwards tonight. How frustrating it is!! I totally get Paul's talk about how he does what he knows he shouldn't do, and doesn't do what he knows he should. It is a hard, very frustrating experience!!

So how does this relate to floors?? Well actually now that I'm here I have no idea!! I just was thinking how our perspective often changes when we're on the floor. We notice the hardness, the uncomfortableness that we never think about when we're in a chair, or merely walking. Somedays I think the floor is the most stable object in life. Gah, I really have no idea where I'm going with this...I think I mainly wanted something to talk about at 5 am when I can't sleep.

I'll post more soon, hopefully a happier topic!! :-) Thanks as always for faithfully reading, and sticking with my craziness.

I do apologize for my "absentness" the past several days, I have attempted to get my poor brain motivated to post something, but seeing as I have worked four out of the last five days I will not condemn myself too much. Unfortunately, it seems that I might also be developing a slight cold with a possible ear infection. I had my first and only ear infection when I was 17 or so, therefore on the verge of another one is not exactly a thrilling thought. I sat on the couch this morning with some hydrogen peroxide in my ear seeing if it would help to kill anything down there. I will let you in on a little secret. Peroxiding my ears is a guilty pleasure of mine! A friend and fellow nurse introduced this past time to me about two years ago, and we'd sit at the nurses station around 3am and enjoy the bubbling in our ears. Now you can only do one ear at a time (and make sure to not get ANY in you eyes), put about 1cc/ml of peroxide in (I put a drop or two in at a time), then I like to let it bubble for 5 minutes or till I want to switch ears. Then the amazingly fun part is to clean your ears out with a Qtip after....ohhhhh its the best. It still hasn't helped me to really hear out of it, and it is a little painful, but we'll see maybe if it keeps hurting I'll stop by the MD.

Otherwise, its been an ok week, I haven't actually gotten to do a whole lot, and my pile of books to read really needs to be tackled along with my pile of laundry. I should have a little stretch of days off here soon, and I will try to get a great post put together at this point you are lucky I have the energy to do this!! ;-)

Sooo here is the new cat that has decided to visit our back porch at night for the past two weeks. He/she/it (I can't tell its too fluffy) is very nice and comes to let me pet it. I finally got a picture tonight, and determined that boy or girl the cat's name will be Rambo. Hehe, because its an out door cat of course (kitty with an A-K47).

We'll see what happens, I'm a sucker for poor homeless creatures. I did manage to get some flea stuff on it, just in case I bring it in and it has fleas, even if I never see it perhaps I have rid the world of one more flea....just saying you should all be grateful. ;-)

Because I feel bad for the cat I've been setting out some food for it (which I know only attracts other animals too, but I don't care). Well, last night I was sitting on the couch and I saw the movement triggered back light come on. There was a Lab eating the cat food, so I opened the back door. Does the dog run? Yes, but not without first grabbing the bowl in its mouth. I come running out the door after it yelling "give me my bowl back!". Yeaaaah, so I'm sure my neighbors think I'm weird...The dog did drop the bowl, but continued running - I haven't seen it since. Haha, WOT thinks that there are signs up around the neighborhood advertising free food. Which reminds me, this totally leads up to a GREAT bathrobe story!!! A side note, do you like the fact that it seems like most of the bathrobe stories include animals? Hmm, interesting...

Soul Time

I think everyone needs "soul time". You may think of it as "quiet time", but you know what I have come to believe that sometimes a "quiet time" is not what you need. Soul time seems to fit better. It can be singing, playing music, drawing, painting, reading the Word, or laying on the floor with your eyes shut as the dog snores beside you. What matters most is quieting the swirling chaos around us so that you can listen. I don't know about you but sometimes I think that I listen best when I'm standing in front of the keyboard playing the same three chords and putting my feelings into words. Somehow I hear Jesus. Your soul time is I'm sure completely different then mine, and that is awesome!! I think I use to get so bogged down in thinking that my time with the Lord had to be separated from my life. In college I had this revelation about how a relationship with God isn't a parallel line to our physical lives, where the two sometimes crossed paths (ie church). Instead a relationship with God is really like a new birth - its the beginning of a new life, a life where God is in every part and thought. You can go to the gym, the store, and clean your bathroom all the while dwelling with God. I don't know it was just such a neat thing to me at the time, and I think that coming back to that point is a great reminder, because it's so easy to forget.

Today I went to the Neuromuscular clinic, and it was FABULOUS! She was able to target my back pain, work with massage to correct it, and give me tips to work on until I see her again. I am a little sore tonight, but my range of motion has already improved!! I am going to brag on Jesus a little. So, I called last night and left a message at the place about scheduling an appointment sometime, and in my head I was thinking that it would be great if I could get in the next day at about three in the afternoon, so I'd have time to sleep. Haha, so the therapist calls me this morning and says that she had a cancellation today for 3pm. Isn't God good?!! I just laughed so hard about how it was the exact time I had thought about. He has such a sense of humor! I had to call up WOT then and tell her how tickled I was that God put that all together - be encouraged, and give God a chance to change the little things in our lives.

The rest of my day I filled with grocery shopping, cleaning the house, walking the dog, making some yummy sweet and sour chicken, and watching a BBC film (which I might add had the girl from Narnia -Susan - when she was 8 or so). I was thinking about how this time last year I was getting ready to move here! How fast the time has gone!! Who knows where I'll be next year, it is hard to believe that life can change so quickly. Most posting later!!! Leave me lots of comments to comment back to!!

The Book List

My list keeps growing! Actually its my fault it seems that I'm addicted to the library, which means I need to get to the books, haha! The one kid at the library actually recognizes me now, which is also slightly sad. I must say though that I've found some good books - which I will continue to post on my little list. /e settles on the couch with some coffee surrounded by my stack of books.

Work is busy...I'm not at work though, so its all good.

My back, still hurts. I'm headed to the Neuromuscular clinic this week for some therapeutic massage time to see if that helps. I'll keep everyone updated!!

Sore!

My poor neck! I honestly don't know what I did to it except for wake up one morning with a very painful neck and back. I was thinking that it was mainly muscles so I thought I'd give it some time to feel better, instead of going to the chiropractor straight away. Well, it didn't get better, and I was so sore it hurt to turn my head, sleep, etc. As if I really needed something else. Anyways, I broke down and went to the chiro today, which was great he got my back alined, and worked on loosening my muscles. It was great but I am even MORE sore now because after an adjustment there is always swelling and stiffness. Gah - I'm in pain tonight. Along with feeling a bit emotional (pms?), and down I am trying to play some scrabble with my friend online to distract myself so I don't sit here with the kleenex. I guess having a week or two of better days makes a bad day or two live-through-able hehe. *Sigh*. If I get too bored tonight I'll post more fun snipets!

Burping Lobsters?

Today I don't particularly feel like laughing, however (chin up!) I am pushing forward. Therefore, I have another hopefully entertaining story for you. They say laughter is good for the soul, so just see me as your soul lifter!

*Note: this is a true story...

Not that long ago, in a Red Lobster not that far away worked a very gullible, but very nice hostess. Unfortunately for her, and those of us like her who constantly seem to find themselves on the wrong end of the road there is little to say but, "you have to learn to laugh at yourself". I think half the humor in this little excerpt is the fact that I can see myself falling for this...

One day this young hostess had finished her daily duties of ushering guests to their seats, handing out menus, preparing silverware wraps, and the several other tasks laid out in her manual. Only an hour or so stood between her and the door, so she found herself seeking out the manager to inquire after anymore work that might need to be completed. She found the manager leaning against a door frame talking to a talk lanky line cook that she had only met once or twice, but who seemed nice enough. Posing her question, the manager started to respond when the cook interjected. "You already burped all the lobsters?".

Both manager and hostess looked at the cook with wide eyes, "burped the lobsters? What do you mean?" She retorted. "I didn't see that in the manual".

"Well, it may not be in the manual, but it's still part of your job". Came the reply, the cook sticking by his guns.

The hostess looked confused, but ventured, "Oh, I didn't realize. I'm not sure I know how".

"Don't worry, I'll show you". With the cook leading the way both hostess and manager trailed after him towards the large water tank by the restaurant door, filled with 30-40 live lobsters, brightly colored rubber-bands around each claw.

The cook grabbed a towel and laid it across his shoulder (by this point several other employees had come to watch the proceedings). "Now you take a lobster like this", laying a lobster over his shoulder on the towel, just as if you would an infant. "And just pat it like so." He rhythmically thumped the lobster's back the poor creature not seeming to mind. The hostess still wasn't convinced, and looked skeptically over at the manager who stood two steps back. Another good pat and miraculously bubbles started to form at the lobster's mouth (it could not have been better timing). Eyes widening the hostess exclaimed, "ohhhh now I think I get it!" The cook nodded in agreement, and then placed the lobster on her shoulder, "Now you try it". The unassuming girl continued patting the lobster, while the cook stated that now she must continue to burp all the lobsters in the tank. The hostess agreed and continued her attention to the animal on her shoulder when the manager and the other observing employees could no longer contain themselves. Several crumpled to the floor in laughter, others had tears running down their faces as they roared with helpless glee over "lobster burping". It wasn't long, with all the laughter that the hostess realized that she had been had. Plopping the lobster back in the tank she stormed out of the restaurant the sounds of laughter still following her. She eventually forgave the cook, and came to look back on the event with a chuckle...

For those of us who are the gullible creatures of the earth, remember that even when you end up being the butt of someones joke, you are bringing laughter to many!!!