When I began this posting thread, I really thought I had a whole week of fun, friend-filled activities to write about. Honestly, I did. But, now...well...I can't for the life of me remember if I did anything on Thursday. It is possible that the previous days were so full and the weekend was so packed with rehearsals for our Christmas Celebration at church, that I just took a night off and went to bed early. It is also possible that Wednesday night was so much fun that I blacked out for two days. Lastly, it is equally possible that I did something really fun with a really great friend and, due to my advanced age and early on-set dementia, I simply forgot what we did. If that is the case, it is very sad for me for at least two reasons: 1. I will be down one very precious friend. and 2. I may soon be wearing adult diapers.
Either way...it would stink.
I didn't mean for that to be a pun. I just didn't want to say "suck". I say that too much.
Anyhoo...Wednesday.
This night was set aside for my dear friend Julie. She is an amazingly talented musician and all-around extraordinary person. I want to be like her when I grow up, which is quite something to say because she is half my age.
Yeah...she's that awesome and mature and all that. Seriously, compared to her I'm like a 12 year old with ADD.
I'm not kidding.
So...um...Julie came over for dinner and a movie. We decided to watch Elf because, for some inexplicable reason, she'd never seen it. (Truly that is the only strike against her.)
I prepared a lovely dinner of soup and salad and was looking forward to a nice quiet evening with my friend Julie. But, just as we sat down to eat, my sister -in-law called. She needed a box spring that was in my shed. So she stopped by and we hauled it to her car...in the dark, narrowly escaping being concussed by my window unit. Then, after Julie and I got back to our meal and started having what can only be called sparkling dinner conversation, my friend Yves stopped by.
He does that sometimes.
I'm technically a grown-up and have some things he needs sometimes, like: a printer, cable and food.
Now, my friend Yves...well, he's different. He's African. Like, really African. He is from the Congo, but...um...he also grew up in Belgium, so he speaks French. He is also opinionated and, because he is not American, his perspective is often very different. Oh, and he also wears really cool outfits.
He is also fun and smart and challenging and godly and likes to have deep, meaningful conversations about controversial things...which isn't exactly sparkling dinner conversation. In fact, its a bit of an aquired taste. I don't think Julie enjoyed it as much as I did. But, she smiled and took part anyway.
She's cool like that.
Yves watched most of the movie with us...and by watched, I mean surfed the internet. He went home before the movie was over and left Julie and I alone to enjoy the comedic stylings of Will Ferrell in tights. Then, Julie went home to go night-night. I was liking the idea of night-night myself, but, then...the phone rang.
It was Yves. He was visiting with two of his friends and they wanted to come over, so I turned the lights back on, put my bra back on and waited for them to arrive. The rest of the night was, in a word: interesting. One of Yves friends was an atheist ex-con who spent his incarceration studying physics and also spent time in a psych ward. Oh, and he likes to be really upfront, abrupt and honest from the get-go as he despises superficial chit chat.
Shocker, right?
In all seriousness, it was a really great night...all of it: interruptions, unexpected guests and even the lack of sleep. Well, maybe not so much the lack of sleep part, but it was still a lot of fun!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
A Week of Visits: Tuesday
I love baking. I just do. For me, it is right up there with laughing and singing and picture taking and really awesome dreams with musical numbers or I have the ability to fly.
On Tuesday, I invited myself over to my friend Lisa's house to bake homemade cinnamon rolls. Originally, we were going to make this recipe, but...well, it takes a long time and we were meeting in the evening, so...I looked up another, quicker, recipe online. I won't link to it because it wasn't good. In fact, I think the person who posted that recipe never had a cinnamon roll in their lives. They were probably raised by wild animals, or at the very least...Yankees.
Anyhoo...
The plan was to photo document our baking experience and then I would blog about it in all its fabulous and delicious glory. We decided to each take a turn at making a batch, that way we would have some to take home and share with others.
Since my friend Lisa was hosting us, she went first. Things started off well, but...
they soon took a turn for the messy.
Yeah...um...Lisa's kind of fell apart. We tried to bake it anyway thinking it would come out like a big cinnamon bread or something, but we thought wrong. Instead, it started dripping off the sides of the pan and made a big mess in her stove.
(Sorry, Lisa!)
Her sister-in-law, Steph, was next.
We tried to learn from what may have been mistakes in the first batch.
And her's came out a bit better than Lisa's.
Next was my turn. Mine didn't come out much better than Steph's. None of them had the right texture to them. They sorta seemed like soft, round, scones. But we sure did have a great time. My only regret is that Lisa had to spend 2/3rds of our time washing dishes.
And, it was her birthday and everything!
On Tuesday, I invited myself over to my friend Lisa's house to bake homemade cinnamon rolls. Originally, we were going to make this recipe, but...well, it takes a long time and we were meeting in the evening, so...I looked up another, quicker, recipe online. I won't link to it because it wasn't good. In fact, I think the person who posted that recipe never had a cinnamon roll in their lives. They were probably raised by wild animals, or at the very least...Yankees.
Anyhoo...
The plan was to photo document our baking experience and then I would blog about it in all its fabulous and delicious glory. We decided to each take a turn at making a batch, that way we would have some to take home and share with others.
Since my friend Lisa was hosting us, she went first. Things started off well, but...
they soon took a turn for the messy.
Yeah...um...Lisa's kind of fell apart. We tried to bake it anyway thinking it would come out like a big cinnamon bread or something, but we thought wrong. Instead, it started dripping off the sides of the pan and made a big mess in her stove.
(Sorry, Lisa!)
Her sister-in-law, Steph, was next.
We tried to learn from what may have been mistakes in the first batch.
And her's came out a bit better than Lisa's.
Next was my turn. Mine didn't come out much better than Steph's. None of them had the right texture to them. They sorta seemed like soft, round, scones. But we sure did have a great time. My only regret is that Lisa had to spend 2/3rds of our time washing dishes.
And, it was her birthday and everything!
I think we learned some valuable lessons that night, though. First...cinnamon rolls that won't roll don't make good bread. Second, sometimes, baking is fun regardless of the results. And, finally, flops help maintain our girlish figures. :)
A Week of Visits: Monday
About 5 years ago, I boarded a bus at 1am with about 50 other singles. We were headed to Louisville, Kentucky for a conference that would be life changing for me. I would also leave the conference with a new friend.
The bus ride there was, in a word, torturous. Though I got to sit next to the girl that would become my friend, and be my roomie during the trip, her company alone wasn't enough to make up for the craziness going on behind me. From the time we left home until about dawn, the person behind us was a constant source of noise and irriation. First, she was on her cell phone the entire time. Second, she packed all of her belongings in styrofoam containers and plastic bags...and dug in them while talking loudly on the phone. It was the equivalent of Charlie Brown's teacher talking to Fran Drescher while simultaneously running their nails on a chalkboard...for SIX hours!
SIX hours!
I'm not exaggerating.
Little did I know, or in that moment care that my new friend was having a struggle of her own. Her soon-to-be fiance was sitting next to another woman, talking and enjoying himself. She wanted him to be sitting next to her, but due to the overnight nature of the trip, thought it best if they did not. Hearing him chatting and laughing with someone else was difficult for my friend. Had I not been so wrapped up with chatty polystyrene girl, and the guy I wished was sitting next to me, I could have done more to distract and encourage her.
Thankfully, though, my new friend didn't hold my selfishness against me, and less than a year later I joyfully cried at her wedding.
She and her husband are now expecting their third child.
From the moment I met my friend, she as been an encouragement to me. She is one of the calmest people I know. And, regardless of my state, she never fails to find a way to empathize with me and point me to the Lord. I also have a tendency to talk a lot, but she never seems to grow tired of me.
There must be something profoundly wrong with her...or profoundly right.
Finally, she got married shortly before her 35th birthday. I am 36. My mind keeps telling me my chances at marriage were over at 28...but my friend shows me that with God all things are possible. His faithfulness to answer prayer has no time limits.
All these years later, I am both grateful and amazed that we even became friends in the first plce. That night on the bus, I was an obsessive, angry, impatient, depressed, selfish mess...and yet she extended friendship to me...and continues to do so.
I don't get it, but I am thankful.
She and her family were the first guests in my week of visits. They arrived shortly after dinner time. When kids are involved, there isn't much room for adult conversation, so I had a great time watching her adorable, hilarious babies run around and play and laugh and do "ta da" (their newest special trick with their daddy).
It was wonderful.
Their kids are two of the most joyful babies I've ever seen. My favorite thing is when they get excited and run around screaming. It's great! Loud, but great!
I just love this family and feel so blessed to have them in my lives.
The bus ride there was, in a word, torturous. Though I got to sit next to the girl that would become my friend, and be my roomie during the trip, her company alone wasn't enough to make up for the craziness going on behind me. From the time we left home until about dawn, the person behind us was a constant source of noise and irriation. First, she was on her cell phone the entire time. Second, she packed all of her belongings in styrofoam containers and plastic bags...and dug in them while talking loudly on the phone. It was the equivalent of Charlie Brown's teacher talking to Fran Drescher while simultaneously running their nails on a chalkboard...for SIX hours!
SIX hours!
I'm not exaggerating.
Little did I know, or in that moment care that my new friend was having a struggle of her own. Her soon-to-be fiance was sitting next to another woman, talking and enjoying himself. She wanted him to be sitting next to her, but due to the overnight nature of the trip, thought it best if they did not. Hearing him chatting and laughing with someone else was difficult for my friend. Had I not been so wrapped up with chatty polystyrene girl, and the guy I wished was sitting next to me, I could have done more to distract and encourage her.
Thankfully, though, my new friend didn't hold my selfishness against me, and less than a year later I joyfully cried at her wedding.
She and her husband are now expecting their third child.
From the moment I met my friend, she as been an encouragement to me. She is one of the calmest people I know. And, regardless of my state, she never fails to find a way to empathize with me and point me to the Lord. I also have a tendency to talk a lot, but she never seems to grow tired of me.
There must be something profoundly wrong with her...or profoundly right.
Finally, she got married shortly before her 35th birthday. I am 36. My mind keeps telling me my chances at marriage were over at 28...but my friend shows me that with God all things are possible. His faithfulness to answer prayer has no time limits.
All these years later, I am both grateful and amazed that we even became friends in the first plce. That night on the bus, I was an obsessive, angry, impatient, depressed, selfish mess...and yet she extended friendship to me...and continues to do so.
I don't get it, but I am thankful.
She and her family were the first guests in my week of visits. They arrived shortly after dinner time. When kids are involved, there isn't much room for adult conversation, so I had a great time watching her adorable, hilarious babies run around and play and laugh and do "ta da" (their newest special trick with their daddy).
It was wonderful.
Their kids are two of the most joyful babies I've ever seen. My favorite thing is when they get excited and run around screaming. It's great! Loud, but great!
I just love this family and feel so blessed to have them in my lives.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Quick Catch-up...and Family Pictures.
There has been a lot going on. My church had our annual Christmas choir presentation which required a lot of rehearsing, I booked a week of visits with friends I've been wanting to spend more time with, and then there is all of the usual holiday hoopla. Oh...and my oldest niece, a.k.a. "the Princess" turned six. SIX!
More on that later...
More on that later...
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were good. Since we were all together, we were finally able to do something we've been trying to do for a very long time...take family pictures. I took them via remote shutter release. I didn't like it. I lost a good deal of creative control over the shots I really wanted to get. But, them came out mostly clear, and mostly with everyone looking at the camera and mostly smiling. I did get one shot that I love of my middle brother and his wife, though...so it wasn't a total loss. :)
Here are a few of the better ones:
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Universal Truths, part 3
It is a truth universally accepted, or at least proven, that one can be too thin, too rich, too young, and have too much time on their hands, but can never have too many friends.
Especially when they are really good friends!
Especially when they are really good friends!
Universal Truths, part 2
It is a truth universally accepted that if you talk to cashiers like they are actually people and not human-looking cash registers, you'll get great service...and a smile.
Well...it may not be universally accepted...but it should be.
Seriously, the next time you are in the check out line, remember that the person ringing you up is actually a person. Look at them. Smile. Speak. And when you do, make it something nice.
It works!
Well...it may not be universally accepted...but it should be.
Seriously, the next time you are in the check out line, remember that the person ringing you up is actually a person. Look at them. Smile. Speak. And when you do, make it something nice.
It works!
Universal Truths, part 1
It is a truth universally accepted that a beautiful girl can, with very little effort, turn an otherwise intelligent man into an idiot.
I think the same truth applies to girls and hot guys, too...but I don't have as much evidence to support that theory. ;)
I think the same truth applies to girls and hot guys, too...but I don't have as much evidence to support that theory. ;)
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