Currently Watching My Best Friend's Wedding (Special Edition) see related

I can’t tell you how many of my friends have insisted that I should get my ears pierced…  they’ve told me I would just absolutely LOVE it…  One thing they never mentioned though, was their understanding of my extremely low pain tolerance threshold.  Like, extremely low.  Yes, the pain it would incur, was definitely a factor in refraining from any piercing (intentional, at least) throughout my life.  Until now.  On Memorial Day 2006, I decided to take a deep breath, grab two dear friends and co-workers—Amanda and Rachel—and head to the mall.  

We picked out the best options (you have to wear these crazy things for 8 weeks!) and told the Claire’s lady I was ready to go.

After i.d.ing me (to make sure I was over eighteen?!  Grief!) and filling out a ton of paperwork that basically said I wouldn’t sue them if my ears fell off from gangrene or some other horrible disease…  she took out this little plastic box (which I was certain contained something sharp and painful inside).  I held my breath, tensed up (relax, relax!) and then unattractively grimaced… 

Within minutes the deed was done and I was the proud owner of a pair of earrings and matching holes in my ear lobes.  I was also the proud owner of a bright pink gift bag which announced to the world “I just got my ears pierced at Claire’s”.  I kept the bag covered up (to be honest) as I exited the mall…

So it’s done and I’m certainly enjoying them…  man, after all these years. Thanks, girls, for going with me and making more memories.

(Now, don’t worry, this isn’t the end of my updating.  As many of you have reminded me, I haven’t blogged in quite awhile…  hopefully this weekend I’ll do my end-of-the-session-finally-can-breathe-again kind of post.)

Currently Reading If By Amy Carmichael see related

Indulge yourself—but with moderation.

Ahem, is that possible?

So this has been an absolute delightful respite from normal life…   Full of indulgences, but the good kind... and definitely with moderation.    Kendra and I left the LA area relatively early Saturday morning.  After stopping to get a cord for my ipod (uh I forgot that cool radio thing you gave me, Jay...  oops) and discovering a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (which by the way has an Ultimate Blended drink with little bits of chocolate covered espresso beans that are absolutely to-die-for…) we were on our way... 

We made it to San Juan Capistrano (affectionately called “San Juan” by the locals) around noon.  The convertible was quite the attention getter… or maybe it was just our cute outfits…  J  at any rate we had fun exploring the town by car and by foot…  the mission was gorgeous and the festival was so fun.  For those of you who haven’t heard… every year on St. Joseph’s Day or March 19^th, the cliff swallows return from winterization (or hibernation or whatever the call it) in Argentina.  They supposedly always come back on March 19^th, hence the celebration.  Ever since I was a little girl I’d read stories and heard about the swallows coming back… and since March 19^th is my birthday… I’d always told myself that someday I would go there on my birthday and see it happen.  So…  this was the year it all happened. 

The festival was quite the event.  Just to be a part of something big and fun and such a smash that was actually happening over my birthday was just plain fun.  We stayed at this absolute exquisite inn/bed and breakfast…  the kind with the plush bathrobes, music playing in your room, chocolates and cream puffs waiting for you, and an owner/ host who walks you to your room and gives you the “inside scoop” on the town…  It was absolutely perfect.  At his recommendation we tried a simply scrumptious French restaurant.   So yummy…  the only tragedy was when I decided to get some clarification on a menu item.  Just for the record, “sweetbreads” in France are not like the Panera delicacies we so regularly enjoy…

Um, Sunday was good.  A perfect breakfast outside by their gardens and pool…  then off to the festival.  Lots of cute dancing by cute kids, a press conference, mariachi performances, and even a caveman appearance.  (About the caveman... since when has someone refused to take a photograph with me?  He was so hideous I had to have a picture…  but instead of holding still and posing, he took the camera from Kendra, gave her a shell necklace and pretended like he’d made a trade…  he grunted and walked off…  it was quite the spectacle, many were laughing at our perplexed looks.  I left the scene feeling glad that I don’t encounter cavemen on a regular basis… see picture for more graphic details.)

After San Juan, we rolled the top down and headed south to San Diego…  went over to the Hotel del Coronado, walked on the beach, and did some shopping. 

Then drove back north to San Clemente where we are for the night.  Oh we DID eat dinner here…. What an event!  The restaurant was totally having issues…  took them over 30 minutes to finally get us our food, which was cold and incomplete…  (we ordered fajitas… he brought us no tortillas… since when do you eat fajitas without tortillas?  He said since we didn’t SAY that we wanted tortillas he assumed we just didn’t want tortillas…  have I ever mentioned how bad it is to assume things and what that does…?)  They also ran out of chips (we only had three small baskets) and they ran out of rice (Kendra and I only got two sides of rice)…  so they weren’t having a good night…  oh AND the portions of meat were less than three ounces…  humph.  The good news was, they kindly gave us our meals for free… the bad news is, they were so stretched and the service was poor, no one sang happy birthday to me… or put a big sombrero on me… or anything. L  (Remember Ted’s and the day I was 27 guys?  That will have to do for now…)

We returned relatively full of food and totally full of memories and mirth to the hotel…  only to find out that we have no wash cloths, hand towels, or bath mats…  the front desk guy, who is definitely a few swallows short of a good festival, said they don’t have those here.  I told him to go check because I felt like they were crucial elements of a good stay…  I should get a “A” for persuasiveness because they miraculously appeared as did an extra pillow.  Ah, life is good. 

I have decided that blogging must not be for anything deep…  because not one of you answered my questions about selfishness.  I really have questions about that and want to know!  So I’ll try to play by the rules… no super deep stuff and keep it short.  Oops.  1 out of 2 isn’t too bad, is it?  ;)

We made it!  Here's us in our convertible on our way down the coast to San Juan Capistrano...  More details to follow soon...  :)

Currently Listening My Best Friend's Wedding: Music From The Motion Picture By Various Artists see related

It’s not the years in your life, but the life in your years that counts.

From a more recent cookie…

Ahem.  I exist.  Really I do.  And I have a life.  It’s just such a busy one that I can never find time to blog…  And another thing, I think I really am even older than my birth certificate says…  especially if this fortune cookie is true…  I cram more in than should surely be allowed…  so maybe the “life in my years” is more like the equivalent of 80 or something… hmmmm… food for thought..

As I type, I am sitting on a 3 ½ hour flight to Los Angeles…  On my right are 5 month old twins, two of the cutest African-American babies I have ever seen.  On my left (thankfully across the aisle, albeit a narrow one) is “Giggling Gertie” and a male who is with her.  I hesitate to refer to him as her husband because she’s such a ridiculous nuisance I can’t imagine anyone marrying her…  I promise you she has giggled, no CACKLED non-stop for the past two hours.  I attempted to block her out by making use of my ipod.  The battery died before the expression of her mirth did.  So my only other option was to turn on the computer and play the only song I put on this computer…. Groban’s “Believe”…  Since it’s a 4:18 minute song, I should only have to replay it a total of 30 times before the flight is over.  J

Looking at my last post, it’s almost as if an eternity has passed…   Wherever does the time go?  Since September things have been hectic, crazy, and never-a-dull-moment kind of times…  We’ve been running our internship program—2 sessions so far.  It’s been going great.  Definitely a learning experience for the staff and interns…. But the memories, the greater impact, all that’s been learned… wouldn’t trade it for the world.  We’ve had an awesome group of young people come through, many have stayed on or are planning on returning. (That’s a good sign, right?)  We’ve got 15 Bible Clubs for Kids running now and over 700 kids have come through our programs since September.  God has just done amazing things.  I’ve got two full-time staff…  Amanda who’s been with me for almost forever it seems J  and now, Jay Sherrer, fall session intern turned staff…  Those two are the best support staff imaginable.  They do way more than they should, work way longer hours than normal, and just give and give…  (thanks guys!)  Some ministry highlights so far…  this huge Thanksgiving Celebration at my favorite government housing development (shhh don’t tell I have favorites) we fed like 350 people with maybe two weeks notice on the whole idea…  5 Christmas parties within the projects in December…. Remodeling the office… two more sets of curriculum developed... starting tutoring at Rockwood…  almost done producing our Level One training on video... and then all the normal logistics of running a ministry- finances up-to-date (thanks to Jay), promo materials developed, contacts made… the routine stuff.  (BTW, I’m on the 6^th replay of “Believe” but this is good…  I think she laughed herself to sleep…  I didn’t know that was possible…)

On a personal note…  went to Disney World with my family over Christmas.  Eleven days there.  I always thought it would be cool to actually spend Christmas Day IN Disney World.  So I began dropping hints and attempting to subliminally advertise.  It worked.  Was quite the adventure for the whole fam to travel together and hang out for 11 solid days, but it was good, really good.  Lots of special memories and fun times.  Highlights and low lights…  the food, oh my gosh, the food.  So we were on this Disney Dining Plan…  I never realized how awesome the food was there.  But as picky as I am about quality and variety and such, I was so amazed…  I must have gained at least 6 pounds.  I justified it by recognizing that New Years was coming soon…  okay, having every Disney character imaginable kiss your hand, hug you, and pose with you…  Riding the “It’s a Small World Ride” at 2:45 a.m. the night of Christmas…  then closing down the Magic Kingdom at almost 4 a.m.  Oh, or how about the individual who can’t read a weather forecast (aka. Me) and shows up expecting sun and heat…  in flip flops and short skirts and capris and t’s…  only to discover FL is having an unheard of cold spell… and it’s in the 40’s and 50’s.   So wrong…Catching up on text messaging…at least 800 messages (if I remember correctly) over the vacation…. Hey, lots of time waiting in line!  Or the ride “Mission Space”?   Try “Mission Kill Valerie or At Least Make Her Feel Like She Wishes She was Dead”…  I have never ridden a ride that made me feel so bad.  They say it was the “G-Force”.  Whatever it was, I know I will not be pursuing a career in aeronautics or outer space…  All in all the trip was a good choice for all the varied tastes involved.  Lots of memories… lots of laughter…

Am now heading to LA to eventually meet up with Kendra where we shall have a delightful holiday doing whatever we feel like…within reason.  J  Since she’s leaving the ranks of the single, I thought we’d best do something incredibly fun and memorable now…  since we won’t be able to later…

 Ah, life is interesting.  So many funny little twists and turns and unexpected quirks…  But it’s good.  Really good.  Because it’s all about serving the One who IS good…

Question of the Night…  How do you know if you are selfish?  And can you be a little selfish without being too selfish?  What about too selfless?  And lastly, what IS selfishness?

"It's time for you to explore all those new interests."

I don't think it meant at the State Fair...

So I went to the State Fair with my family...  it's always a memorable experience.  From the memories we create (who's got hands to carry 7 bottles of water, 4 cheese fries and who-knows-how-many pork chop sandwiches) to the friends we make (don't be gone too long, new "friends" might be sitting at the table when you return) to all the fun stuff we pick up (a hippo carved out of rock will make a PERFECT gift for...)  Yes, the fair is a great place.  I thought I'd post a few pictures...

No, no one you know is in this picture (at least I hope not).  So these people obviously saw the sign advertising relief from back pain.  They laid out on these cots and the machines just kind of wiggled and wobbled and well, jiggled them...  I hope they felt really, really good when they got done, because they looked really, really dumb... 

Conclusion #1:  No matter how good it may feel, or how free it is, some things just shouldn't be done in public...

Now this one is smaller...  and that's because I had to zoom in with my picture phone.  I was too embarassed.  Didn't want people to know I found this so amusing that I thought I had to capture it on film...  So this little place at the fair actually sells this "delicacy" called a "fatball".  Somehow, it didn't tempt me enough to cause me to spend my money to buy one.

Conclusion #2:  All fair food is full of fat.  Some let you know that up front.

So here was my breakfast, lunch, and dinner today.  I had two orders of cheese fries.  I love them.  They love me.  They will probably be with me for weeks.  (I feel an intense workout coming on...  tonight... for an hour... all to work off these few moments of yummy food... ah, life is tough.)

Conclusion #3:  Fair food is good.  Fair food is not good if you eat it and then run through the fair and then run 3/4 of a mile through the parking lot because you are late... as usual.