...

You're suddenly aware that you're in an embrace. Your head is nestled gently on the shoulder of a dear friend. His arms are around you in a way that conveys absolute love and acceptance. You remember that you have felt this way once or twice before. In this wonderful hug, you feel warm and protected, like you've never been before. You feel his arms start to ease from around you so you gaze up into eyes that are so loving that your heart feels like it could flutter away. He has tears in his eyes that tell of a hope that has been realized. Suddenly you remember the last thing that was happening to you: An 18-wheeler crossed the center lane and was headed straight for your car. There was no way to avoid it as it jack-knifed into both lanes. Then comes the realization. You didn't make it. With new eyes you look and see the Savior standing in front of you, waiting patiently for you to realize where you are: safe in His presence. You feel no sadness or pain; only remarkable joy and peace. You remember that you felt vestiges of this peace at your baptism and at your confirmation. He looks at you and says, "It is nice to see you, my dear, dear friend." With that, he puts his arm around you and says, "Let me show you around."

One step closer

Here I sit, in the computer lab at School, after my meeting with the pastor from my candidacy committee. It was an interesting day, and interesting conversation, and an interesting meeting altogether. Let me regale you with the story:

BEFORE THE MEETING: I woke up at 8:30 this morning so I would have enough time to get ready and show up slightly early to the restaurant where we determined we would meet. I made a slight update to the blog and headed out wearing one of my few "nice" outfits. So, I got to the town at the time I wanted, and pulled into the parking lot. I waited for her in the waiting area of the restaurant until 15 minutes past the time we were set to meet. I thought I had the restaurant wrong or the time wrong, or even the day wrong! I was slightly worried. However, I went out to the car and got on my cell phone to call information so I could call the other restaurant in town to see if she was waiting for me there. The line was busy. Just as I hung up the phone, I saw a car coming around the corner and I knew it was hers. So, I got out of the car and we went into the restaurant.

DURING: We walked into the restaurant and introduced ourselves to each other. She knew who I was and I knew who she was already, but formal introductions are always nice. So, we ordered some breakfast and the waitress brought our drinks (I had a shot of whiskey to calm my nerves and she had a cup of coffee.) HA! Just kidding. I had water and she had coffee. So, after that was taken care of, we started talking with her telling me about herself and where she is and what she senses God is doing in her life. Then she started asking me questions and talking with me. After our food came, we continued our conversation. After we had finished breakfast, she asked me about my jobs, volunteering I do, my family life, education, sense of call, what I do for fun, and a few various other things and started writing them down. It was nice because she wasn't just grilling me like I stole something. This was more like a conversation where she would ask me some stuff and I'd reply and then she would tell me something that might relate to this question about her own life. She made me feel at ease. Pastor told me I would like her, and I really did. After all this, we said our goodbyes and left.

AFTER: This was an interesting day. I was a little nervous about meeting with someone who potentially could tell the Candidacy Committee that I'm a whack job and they shouldn't let me within 100 yards of the seminary. But she seemed to be realistic and at ease in her speech and composure. I only hope that I didn't seem like an uptight weirdo sitting there. Overall, I feel like it went really well, although there was one part of the interview that I look back on and feel kind of weird about. But, she said that it is nothing to really worry about because if this particular thing comes about it will be good for me. It is just odd to wrap my mind around at this time though. Anyway, that is my report of what happened today. I hope it satisfies your curiosity.

The day has arrived

T-minus 48 minutes and counting...

Why?

The other night at Restaurant, one of my Wednesday night regulars came in. This man comes in always by himself and always at the very beginning of the night. He arrives, sits at the same table 99% of the time, orders the same thing, and then talks to me. Over the years he has been coming there, we've come to be what I consider friends. He's an older gentleman, having just turned 60. Sometimes he says weird things to me or hugs me, which I'm not really comfortable with, but since we're friends, I just shrug it off. Anyway, this man is a hard-core Catholic. We occasionally talk religion, though we don't get into it too deeply because Restaurant is not the time nor the place to get into theological debates. But, I digress. So, on Wednesday he came in and asked me how my semester has been going. I tell him that it's pretty good; I have 3 really neat classes (so far), one semi-cool class, and one really, really, REALLY boring class. I then said I am excited because I am now a senior. Then he asks me, "Does School have job placement services?" To which I reply, "I hope I don't need them. I would like to continue with my education." Then he asks me where I want to go and I told him the town it is in. He asks me what school this town is it that I want to go to and I told him. He says, "To be a minister?" And, me, not having told him of my vocational hopes, get a little red in the face for being found out. I told him that I hope that is what I will eventually get to do. And our conversation progressed with him kind of accusing me of not wanting to confide in him and I said, "I just wasn't sure how you'd feel about it." And he said that he will be my friend regardless, even though he disagrees. So, I was a little disappointed that he was not happy for me. He's a Catholic, yes, but many of my Catholic acquaintances are happy for me. Why can't he be? And the main question is, "Why am I so disappointed in the fact he is not happy for me?" It shouldn't matter. I believe that God has gifted me in certain areas and I believe that it is for His service. And I have thankfully been granted with a desire to learn. In my discernment thus far, I believe that He has led me to this juncture in my life. I look forward and hope that public ministry is something that lies ahead for me. Many people in many different denominations around the world wholeheartedly endorse and call women pastors. I read an article once that said 9 out of 10 Catholic scholars approve of female ordination. I guess it just hurts because people like for their friends to be with them and support them in the decisions they make; especially the big ones that are not just "Fly by the seat of your pants" decisions. I guess it is wrong of me to expect all of my friends to be happy for me in this. I should be happy that he still wants to be my friend because some people would say, "You don't believe like I do, therefore we cannot be friends." I guess this has opened my eyes a little more to the naive hopes and feelings I have. I need to develop a thicker skin because I'm sure that his will not be the last "negative" comments I will hear about this matter. It is just my prayer that God would be glorified in my life and have His will be done, despite what certain other people might say. Thank you for reading.

Dreams...

A very interesting thing has been going on inside my brain lately at night. I've been having some bizarre dreams. I have always been one to have bizarre dreams, but I just thought I would share some of them with you now. But before I do, I would like to say that I am one who has recurring dreams. I had one of my recurring dreams last night (I had several dreams last night), but to tell you the truth, I can never remember it until I have it. But anyway, if there are any psychologists or dream analysts out there, feel free to comment.

Weird recent dream #1: I had this dream late last semester. I was in Las Vegas and some crazy man was chasing me with the intent of hurting me. I turned away from this man and started running when I thought, "I need to face this guy so he will go away." So, I turned around and my stats professor was there. I thought that the crazy guy just transformed himself into my professor to throw me off so he could get close enough to hurt me. So, I walked up to him on the streets of Vegas, mind you, and pulled out this knife and stabbed him a few times in the side. As I did this, he said, "Trish, stop that. Now I can't wear this shirt anymore!" That is when I turned around and ran away. But suddenly, I was running up stairs. Not just any stairs though, but the stairs that are in my big brother's (BB) house. The stairs were just like BB's: dark, cluttered, angled and all. I got to the top and went to the room to the left. But the room turned out to be my back porch. So, I was on my back porch looking out at my dog (she's an outside dog), and there was a wolf in the backyard looking at me and telepathically daring me to come out and protect Doggie. At this point, I'm scared that this wolf is going to hurt my poor dog, so I went and grabbed my "rifle" bb gun and opened the door to shoot this wolf. The BB gun couldn't really hurt anything too bad; especially not a wolf. So my shooting it just made it angry. So that caused it to run at my dog. Then I went out and started beating this wolf with the stock of the gun to get it to stop hurting my dog. That is about the time I woke up. My favorite part of the dream: "Trish, stop that. Now I can't wear this shirt anymore!"

Weird Recent Dream #2: I had this dream last night. I wasn't an actual participant in this dream; it was like I was watching a movie. I dreamed that this married couple were not happy with each other so they started having affairs. The woman really liked the person she was having an affair with while the same was true for her husband. Anyway, they found out about the affairs. But the weird thing is, they were having the affair with the SAME PERSON! It was a man, by the way. So, this married couple, not wanting to get divorced, moves the man with whom they are having an affair into their home into the guestroom. The guestroom had a little twin bed that the man slept in. So, when one of the two married people "wanted" him, they would come get him and take him to their big bed. And the married couple was completely happy about this arrangement. About that time, I woke up. It was very bizarre. My favorite part of the dream: Waking up and thinking, "What kind of psycho am I?"

And truly, I think that is all the weirdness I am up to posting right now. Feel free to comment if you'd like.

A minor setback...

Well, my Initial Interview was postponed until February 1st. It's ok though. Stuff happens, we can't get all huffy and mad about it. That'd be just kinda dumb. So, on February 1st, at 10:00 a.m. I will begin my I.I. for her to help the churchwide unit discern if I am "fit" to go forth into the next steps. Discernment is a very big part of the candidacy process because we don't want or need whack jobs getting into ministry. That being said, I hope I'M not a whack job! Haha. So, at least this gives me more time to think about things and chat with you know Who. :) Anyway, so that's the update, and I must be going now. Have a good rest of your weekend!

I'm a fickle, fickle woman.

Yes, I am. When I was in high school, I thought it would be cool to have a web page. Therefore, I started one through one of those free services that allows you to have up to so many megabytes and what not. So, I worked and worked on that page. I figured out all kinds of stuff for it, and made it kind of like a blog before blogs were really cool. Like I said, this was back in high school before I'd even heard of a blog. So, I was curious about my old website and went there tonight. The information on it was so old that I was ashamed that someone out there would be reading my webpage thinking that I was still only a freshwoman in college, and that I was not yet a biological aunt. So, I updated it and of course, put a link to my blog on it. I think my webpage gets more hits than this thing! Ha. Which is pretty bad, but what can you do? Anyway, I'm having dinner tomorrow with my best childhood pal! I'm excited. We're going Italian. Woohoo! Other than that, I'm still completely and unabashedly excited about my interview that is coming up on Monday! Pray for me! ;) Later!.

Yay!

Hey, I was so excited I forgot to update this thing! I updated my "Myspace" blog, but not this one. Monday night, while I was at Sis's for Mooching Monday, Ma called and said someone had called to talk to me about Candidacy. So, I got the number and called the woman back. It was the woman who was asked to do my Initial Interview! We got it scheduled for this coming Monday! I'm SO excited! I thought they'd forgotten about me! I'm sure that my imaginary friends who are reading this are incredibly happy for me. ;) lol. I'll make sure and post all about how it goes!

I told you I'd tell you...

Ok, so in my previous post, I said I would elaborate as to why Ma and I sit in the 4th pew from the front every Sunday. Hehe. I'm bad. When I was younger and Ma first started "dragging" my little sister and me to Immanuel, we were not happy. Sisters and I used to go to the Sunday school at the Christian Church across the street from my house. Well, when I was 13, Ma decided she wanted to return to her Lutheran roots to the Church in which she grew up. So, little sis and I dragged our feet to Church because that was the decree handed down from Queen Ma. Well, we figured out that since the ushers dismiss pews from the front, we could get out before everyone else if we sat up front. Well, no one sat in the first 3 for a long time unless a baptism was going to occur. So, we got to be first out all the time. Well, then I really started liking Church, even as Little Sis grew further from it. She even got a job where she could work Sunday mornings instead of go to church. Well, Ma and I still sat in the 4th pew and it's not because I want to be first out anymore. I like to sit up there because it's close enough so that I don't have to hear Pastor through the sound system. I can't hear very well through it, so I like to hear his natural voice. I think I'm going deaf. So, that's the reason. I feel like a treacherous Lutheran to disclose my motives, but as they say, "Confession is good for the soul." Hasta.

A good Day.

Today has been a good day. A man at church a few weeks ago said, "Any day above ground is a good day." I liked that. It just sounds pretty optimistic. A big hearty "Thank You" for another day to live. You might be wondering why today has been such a good day, other than it's a day above ground for me... Well, it started out good and everything. This morning I woke up and was getting ready for church and all these jokes kept popping into my head. These jokes are not jokes I've heard before, but like material I could use if I ever became a stand-up comic (not likely). I just laughed at all the stuff that was coming into my brain. I wrote the stuff down for posterity to enjoy. So, anyway, today was an affirmation for me on my journey of discernment. As you might well know, I'm not discerning on my own; my congregation and pastor and those around me are helping me to discover where it is I am called to use the gifts I have been given. But today we had our annual meeting during worship and the president of the council was talking about what we've accomplished this year and he then went on to tell them that I'm preparing to go to seminary next year. He then said, "We plan to support her emotionally, spiritually, physically, and financially as she prepares to go forward with this." And I was NOT expecting that in the least because I'm on the church council and we didn't discuss that. But I was kind of embarassed because I'm not used to having attention called to me out of nowhere in a sanctuary filled with a whole bunch of people. So, I have this habit of turning bright red when I'm even slightly embarassed. So, he was talking and I felt like I was going to explode little pieces of Trish all over the walls because I was so red. (Not mad, just embarassed for being the center of attention when I'd not planned it). But after Prez said that, out of nowhere, someone started clapping and then everyone was clapping. It was so humbling that they believe in me so fully that I can't even believe it. I don't deserve the love that my congregation gives me. I'm thankful for it, but I don't deserve it. To me it was reminiscent of Jesus' love for me because I don't deserve His love either, and I still get it. It's just amazing to see God's people showing love in unexpected ways. I hope I someday get to serve a church with people as wonderful as the people at Immanuel. And another thing that kinda made me smile was when it was time to share the peace. At my church, my mom and I sit in the 4th pew back pretty much all the time (I'll tell the story about that later.) And mom sits on the end because she likes me to walk in first. So, that means that Pastor usually shares the peace with Ma, because she is on the end. But today, during the Peace, I turned around from shaking the hands of those who sit behind me and he was standing in the 3rd pew, waiting to give me some peace. I just thought that was funny because I probably was still red from being singled out. So, Pastor shared the peace with me and Ma today. A small thing, but the peace is always one of my favorite parts of worship. And then, after worship, we all file out and on non-communion Sundays, Pastor is there to shake hands and say, "Good morning," or whatever. So today, he said, "Hope we didn't embarass you too much!" I just laughed because you have to laugh at yourself sometimes. And laughing at my neon red face helps me feel less stupid. So, anyway, blessings as you all start a new week!

More music

I'm an Internet junkie. Sorry, but that's who I am. I recently found a website for this musician who I really like. I jam out to his music in my car (granted, I've only heard one of his songs on the radio and I don't yet have the CD). People probably think I'm a psycho, but that's ok. Anyway, his name is Aaron Shust and you can hear a few of his songs on his webpage. So, I must confess that I've strayed from blogspot.com and have started another blog at myspace. I promise to stick with this one too, because frankly, I like the whole Independence from a Bigger Entity blog. With myspace, blogs are added on just because. I actually had to set up my account with blogspot... I can hear it now, "SHUT UP, we don't care. Get to something interesting!" Sorry, I digress.

So, I'm still waiting waiting waiting for news from synod. I know I've probably said it before, but I'm really geared up to get this sucka goin'. The Assistant to the Bishop talked to my pastor about 2 weeks ago and said that she told the Candidacy Chair to find someone for my Initial Interview. So, that is exciting. She also said I should hear something within the next few weeks. So, about 2 weeks have elapsed, so I should hear something real soon. I'm excited.

In other news, tonight at Restaurant where I work, we were slow. Now, since we had a busy week, that wasn't too upsetting to me. Actually, I was kinda happy because I got to schmooze with the people. I love schmoozing because it lets me talk to the people more. I love to make people laugh and when I'm not so hurried, it's easier to elicit those laughs. So, I had people rolling pretty much all night. I like it. Making people happy makes me happy. :) SO, I may seem boring as all get-out here, but in real life, people seem to think I'm charming and fun. I was even voted "Class Clown" in high school. Which is funny because people I met after high school don't really believe me. I'm still funny (I think), but I've changed A LOT since then. I mean, it was a whopping 5 years ago I graduated! But, that's enough about me. This has been a very long post, so I think I'm going to head off now. Have a blessed Saturday!

Music, slightly burned pizza, and Coke flavored water.

Bizarre title, oh I know. Here I sit with less than a week left in my winter break. I hate how I forget about all the cool music I have on my computer until it is almost time to go back to school. Why, you might be wondering, does it matter if I'm in school or not? Well, because I really don't listen to much recorded music unless it is late at night. And since bedtime is earlier during the semester, the music gets neglected. Anyway... I recently got into the whole Myspace fad. Some people I know were telling me I needed to be more active in my account. (I had one, but never logged in). So, I got online and stuff and was searching the other day and I found a really interesting group of musicians. Their name is Palisade and I have listened to one of their songs. One of my favorite hymns of all time is "It is Well with my Soul" aka "When Peace Like a River" in the LBW. I love this hymn for a number of reasons. I think mainly because in my "younger days" I used to be a very anxious type person. I even took a year and a half off of school in between high school and college because of anxiety. But anyway, I'd never heard the song before in my life, and about the time I felt God "tap me on the shoulder" as they say, the song became known to me. I felt that this song just spoke to me. So, I have several versions of it; the Palisade version being one of my favorites. So, if you want to check out this group for free downloads or just to see what they're about, check out the Palisade Music website.

In other news... My mom bought a frozen pizza and had that for dinner while I was at work. So, here I was in need of a midnight snack so I went to go get a piece. It was slightly burned, but alright. After all, it's Not Delivery! :)

Coke flavored water; ah I can hear it now, "Gross! What kind of sick whacko am I dealing with!?" But let me tell you, there's a rational explanation... I had a coke from a fast food place tonight and I didn't want to let all that perfectly good ice machine ice go to waste, so when I was done with the Coke, I filled my cup with water. It's alright. I like water any way you can give it to me (Just so long as it is potable and not out of the toilet like my little sister used to drink!).

And finally, I wish I had some commenting readers. Perhaps I should get one of those hit counters to see if I even have visitors! I read somewhere that it has recently been "National De-lurking week." So... If there is anyone out there lurking, drop me a line! I love comments! Yay. Ok, I'm out.

I am NOT a happy camper.

Here I sit, not liking the way my blog looks. I am not liking where my profile is on my blog and so I was trying to fix it, but to no avail. I think it's just the way my blogs for the month are out there though, because in my archives, my profile is in the right spot.. But, before I figured this out, I went and changed my template, which then took out my links. I only had a whopping 4 of them, but it's the principle of the matter. Ah well. I need to hurry up and get typing up some blogs to get this thing looking normal again. I'm such a dorkfish. :)

I'm such a super slacker!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. I'm bad. Anyway, I've been enjoying my time off from school. Don't get me wrong, I like school for the most part. However, it's great to have time for myself. I have to go back in 7 days. A full semester is ahead of me. After this semester, I will have a summer class, and then a light last semester until I'm done with my B.S. I'm very excited. I can hardly believe it. But, that's 11 months from now. It will be here sooner than I know it, though. I'm going to be busy with things this year in addition to my schoolwork though. I should be hearing from the synod soon about the Initial Interview. That is exciting to me. Within the next few weeks I should be hearing from them. I'm taking things as they come. But that's enough about the current events...

During my time off, I have been very unproductive. I spent a week at Sister's house. I did go to work too, but the point is that I didn't stay at home. It was fun. I watched a lot of movies and played a lot of video games. I got younger sister one of those Super Joysticks with all the old-school Nintendo games on it in 2004 for Christmas and I was trying to be Mario Bros. I got to the last castle and kept dying. It was frustrating, but what can you do? I was just happy to be playing old school Nintendo. Although I feel old now because a lot of teenagers work at the same place I do and the other day after work we were talking about gaming systems. I told them that Old-school Nintendo is my all time favorite and they said something along the lines of, "Wow, my mom or my (way older brother) had one of those." Or something like, "I think I may have seen one of those once." I felt old. :) Lol. Oh well. So, anyway. I guess that's all I really have to say right now. I will probably be better at updating this once school starts again. Bye.

Ha! Hours and hours!

I have just "wasted" the past 3 hours of my life playing some fun winter type games online. I was blogsurfing and found the address for this game where you smack a penguin and see how far you can make it fly! Oh, it is very fun. My high score is 323.5. Thanks to Friday Mom for posting it on her blog for the world to find and be entertained! Anyway, other than this, nothing much is going on. I don't think I'm going to be able to go swimming in the pool at the hotel where my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew are staying this coming weekend. We were all going to go swimming because my little pile of adorable was going to have waterwings so he could show us how he "swims." But, maybe this stuffed nose will miraculously disappear. But then, the only question is: Do I really want to risk the germs of a... dondondon *gasp* public pool?!?! Yes, there are chemicals and other things to keep it clean, but I'm a slight germaphobe. We'll just have to see. I might overlook the germs considering Nephew is way too cute to observe from afar. Oh, something funny (I think it is, anyway). I just about drove myself nuts at work tonight. I work in foodservice as a waitress/hostess/salad woman/slave and tonight was one of my waitressing nights. I thought I would be festive and where my socks with the jingly bell on them. I did. It was NOT a good idea. By 6:00 p.m. I was about ready to rip those little bells clean off. But I decided not to because then people might think I'm not in the Christmas spirit or something. Haha. Nah. So anyway, that's it for now. And remember, don't let Grandma drink too much eggnog because you don't want her staggering out the door into the snow to be run over by reindeer.

They see you when you're sleeping....

They know when you're awake.. They know if you've been BAD OR GOOD, so be good for goodness' sakes! Noooo, I'm not paranoid. I'm just kidding. I have just been kind of worked up over this whole background check thing, and the fact that it's been three months since I authorized it and still no word. So, today I decided to call the company and see if I could expedite the process or anything. The guy there said they've been done with it for well over a month. It is in my synod's hands now. I'm just wondering what the waiting is for? Maybe they're promoting patience as the wonderful virtue it is? Perhaps. Maybe they want to see me squirm! Ha. Well, now that I know that it's done and none of my references forgot to send it back or anything, I'm a little more at ease. Now I'm just wondering if they didn't like something that someone said or something. I don't know. I'm just slightly worried, but I know that I must trust God to nudge me the right way. I keep thinking about how Advent is the time of waiting and how we are such an instant-gratification society. Sometimes it is really great to wait. Sometimes, it can be extremely detrimental. Sometimes, most times, the waiting lies somewhere between those two poles. But still, I'm trying to be patient, knowing that good things, perhaps the best things, come to those who wait. Anyway.. Christmas is coming, therefore, my little buddy will be coming up! Yay! Hopefully I'm better by Sunday! I love that kid and I don't want to infect him with this whatever it is (I'm too cheap/stubborn to go to the doctor). So, if I don't post before then, Have a blessed, wonderful Christmas!

I've got good news and bad news.

Ok, so yeah, these good and bad news things only really pertain to me, but I felt like sharing. Bad news is that I'm siiiiiiiick. :( blah. Usually I get sick in mid November, but it waited till mid December this year. So long as I'm better by Saturday, I'm happy. Good news is that I got a B in Stats!!!!! I'm thrilled. I thought I bombed that last test so bad that I was going to get a C. But, nope. I got my B. I'm happy. I also was slightly worried about Sociology of Religion, but I must have gotten an A on the final because I got an A in that class. Anyway. Other than that, nothing new has been going on. I'm now a senior! Woo doggies. My head is starting to hurt though, so I'm going to go. Have a blessed day!

Phew!

Alright, so it's been a few days since I last posted. I spent a few days and nights at Sister's house in order to get good sleep and not worry about bats. However, Monday afternoon I did come home to get some more clothes, feed my dog, and a few other things. So, I was talking to Ma that day and she said that after she went shopping on Sunday, she came home and saw the bat flying around. She said it was swooping at her and acting like it was trying to attack her or something. So, she tried to get it out of the house, but it just wouldn't go. Then, she called 1/3 of the "bat squad." I call these three local people who we will call "Jackie, Julie, and Jorge" the bat squad because February 2004 they helped me out. That story goes like this:

Mom was on a cruise in the Caribbean with her "friend." Therefore, I was home alone for a week which does not bother me. In fact, I like to be alone. But anyway.. I went upstairs one night and was sitting on my bed reading some little book. So, I journaled a little bit about what I had read and then I took off my glasses, turned out the light, and laid down. Not five minutes later I heard this bizarre scratching noise. I thought, "Do I want to know what that is? Should I turn on the light or just go to sleep?" But the scratching was too loud to be a bug, so I decided I'd better turn on the light and see. Well, I turned on the light, but I am "blind as a bat" without my glasses on. However, I looked up and saw a big blurry black mass on my white window frame. I thought, "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!?!?!" So, I bolted upright, grabbed my glasses, and saw it: the bat! Then, it swooped at me and I started screaming hysterically as I pulled my blankets up over my head. Screaming was a fruitless effort, considering I was home alone, but I was really scared. So I sat there under all my covers for about five minutes trying to listen to hear if it was still in my room. So finally, I came out and was looking all around and didn't see it. But I was convinced it was under my bed, so I just sat on my bed hyperventilating for a while. Then I reached down and grabbed my socks. I put them on and talked up my courage for about 15 minutes to get out of bed. Finally, I jumped off my bed, turned on every single light I came across, and bolted down the stairs as fast as I could go. This was about 3:00 a.m. So, I put one of Ma's "chemo hats" on and went into the bathroom, shut the door, tucked a towel in the crack at the bottom, and slept in there for a few hours. Then I woke up and left the house.

Later that night, I went to work. When I got back to Podunk, I realized I couldn't stay in the house if the bat was still there. So I stopped at the local tavern (Podunk is a VERY small town where everyone knows who is who and who hangs out where, etc). So, I saw "Jackie and Julie" outside of the tavern and asked "Jackie" if she knew anything about bats. She said, yeah and then after some conversation she said she would come to my house and get it out for me. So, she poked her head inside the bar and told "Jorge" to come out because they were going to my house to get the bat out. So, they all three came to my house. I turned on the lights and gave Jackie a stick to hit it with. Jorge had a towel to use to grab it, and Julie was carrying her drink and watching the show. I grabbed this huge fishing net we have and I told them the thing was upstairs. So, Jackie went first and Jorge followed. Then Julie went up and I took up the end. When I was halfway up the stairs, I heard Jackie say, "There it is! I hit it!" Now, this was a very little stick, maybe 1/2 inch in diameter, but about 4 feet long. Jorge said, "Shut up, no you didn't." So, she said, "Yes I did! Look!" So I finally saw the bat laying there, so I started screaming, threw the net at Julie, and ran like mad down the stairs. Then, a few minutes later Jackie, Julie, and Jorge came down with Jorge holding the very much alive bat wrapped in a towel. I was hyperventilating by that time, and they made sure I was going to live before taking it across town and letting it go. So, now whenever I see those three I start humming the tune to Batman. And Jorge, who is 1/3 of the bat squad, came to get the new bat out. Man, it is times like this I am glad I know 350 of the 400 people in town! And that's that story. After that incident, it took me 6 months to sleep in my room again. Fortunately, I went back to sleeping in there this time only after a few days. Although I have been keeping the lights on. Luckily I have a dimmer switch and keep the lights low, but I want them on a little just in case. I'm a wuss, what can I say? :) Later.

Man, this sucks!

Here I sit in my house with my bright green "fisherwoman's" hat on. Why, you may ask, is this girl sitting there with a hat on inside her house? Well, that's a simple explanation. Right now, I am scared out of my MIND!!!!!! It's a long story that I will within this text block regale you. Last night I was watching "The Real DaVinci Code" on the Discovery Channel. I was lying there on my couch minding my own business when I thought I saw something flying around. But you know, the lamp was on and sometimes those Japanese beetles can look like Buicks flying around if the light catches them right. So, I didn't think much of it. But then, a few minutes later (around 1:30 a.m., mind you) I saw it: a BAT!!! So, I started screaming (at 1:30, again let me remind you) and my mom came out of her room and said, "what is going on?" and I said, "we have a bat!" and I HATE BATS!!! We had a bat two Februarys ago when I was alone for a week cuz Ma went on a vacation with her friend. So, that is a whole other story for another time. So, I sat there on the couch with a blanket pulled tightly around me to keep bats off of me. And Mom came out and looked around, and went upstairs and all that and did not see it. So, I had to sleep down here because I thought I saw the bat go upstairs. I didn't get good sleep cuz I kept waking up thinking the bat was on me. So, I had to go upstairs this morning to get clothes for church (They kinda look down on people going naked) and I put my hat on, (Buying in to the urban legend that they go for hair; I know it's fake, but still...), my robe on, and I grabbed a towel that I could throw over it if I saw it. So then, I went upstairs and was making a lot of noise because I thought it might get scared and hide and I wouldn't have to see it. Then, I went into my room and grabbed my pants, and a shirt and stuff and thought I heard some "bat noises." At that point, I ran like mad (A bat out of hell, perhaps) and ran down the stairs and was slightly hysterical. We went to church and I just had this growing sense of dread as we got closer and closer to the benediction. I KNEW we were getting closer to having to go home and contend with my bat-infested house. I HATE BATS! When I went to a "discernment weekend" at a seminary in 2004 I regaled them with my first bat story and they said that bats hate moth balls. But I thought, "If I get mothballs, that will be an admission to myself that I think we have more bats. And I do NOT want to think that we have more bats." So, I didn't get mothballs. After this time though, I think it might be time to invest in making my house smell like moth balls. It's worth it, just to keep those flying rats out of my house. Ok. I'm starting to get hysterical again, so I better go take something. Just kidding. Bye.

A fun test that reminds me of my childhood...

You are WILD AND CRAZY KIDS. You couldn't get
through life without a little fun... or a neon
colored t-shirt. You are a team player and
really into Omar Gooding. GO YOU!


Which old school Nickelodeon show are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I LOVED that show!

Bright orange.

You know what? I think there should be more bright orange in the world. Sure, it gets a good place in the sunrise and sunsets that everyone goes "oooooh" and "ahhh" over, but really, I think more things should be bright orange. Maybe some scientist somewhere should mess with some genes and make bright orange squirrels. That way people won't be blindsided by them when they start chasing people on the quad!!! Ha! Yeah. Sounds like a good idea to me. Anyway, not much is happening. I had my stats final today. I don't think I did very well, but there isn't anything I can do about that now. I just hope I get a B in the class. I REALLY want that B! Yeah, and it's snowing. A lot! It was slick in CollegeTown today and I slid just a little as I left the parking lot. I drove home at about 45 mph on the interstate. Semis were passing me making me semi-frightened. Ha, get it? Ummm. Tonight is supposed to be Advent/Christmas decorating at the church, but it's so cold and snowy and slick that I don't think I'll be travelling the 5 miles to get there to help. Sorry Church. :( I'm a bad, bad Christian. But all the same, I'm sure they'll understand that the out of town girl doesn't come. I was supposed to be working tonight anyway, but we're always slow when the weather gets bad. Last night we had a whopping 9 people and it wasn't even snowing. So, why have all the help come in when it's blizzard-like outside? Man, I'm kinda blabbering uselessly. Ah well. I need to go now. Have a good day.

Finally, some thoughts on Advent.

I was thinking about Advent the other day, and this is what I thought up. I'm contemplating using these as devotions on Monday for our church council meeting. I'm undecided. We'll just have to see.

You’re an 8 months pregnant teenager. Your pregnancy has not been “normal.” You’re unwed, and yet you know that this baby is not a mistake. You feel as big as a house, but not as sturdy because you’ve been pregnant through heat and cold, work and rest, the public’s accusing eyes and private questions. But this baby is not a mistake. You almost lost the man you planned to marry, but he decided to stick with you. You’ve made it this far, and in less than one month, your new baby will be here. Through all these surprises, you still look forward in eager anticipation to the day you can hold your little one in your arms and look upon the face that holds endless possibilities. As almost all expectant mothers feel, you feel that these past 8 months have been a time of excitement, uncertainty, and promise. I imagine this must be pretty similar to Mary’s situation so many years ago. God had a huge surprise for her one day when he sent an angel to tell her she was going to conceive a baby by the power of the Holy Spirit. This was completely unexpected. Me? Pregnant? Are you serious!? But yes, God was serious when He chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus. And she chose to be obedient to God’s will as she began to show, and as she got bigger and bigger, and as Joseph also chose to be obedient. And through all that, here she sits, 8 months pregnant and waiting. Through her obedience, a special child would be born; a child who would continue his life in the same extraordinary way that his life began. But what exactly would that entail? A questioning, expectant mother wonders, “Will he be successful? Will he be popular? Will I be a good enough mother?” She sat there not knowing the answers. We know how Jesus lived His life because we sit here on the other side of those 8 months. We have read about Jesus and his gifts to the people: sight, life, and redemption. And yet, we sit on this side of the second coming not knowing completely what lies on the other side. We wonder, “What will it be like at the second coming? Will I be a good enough Christian?” We might not think we have the answers, but we can be obedient like Mary was obedient. We can live in faith knowing that God is in control. So we are here in this Advent season, eagerly awaiting the celebration of the coming of our Lord at His birth; trusting and eagerly awaiting the day that He will come again.

Peanuts

Through some blog surfing, I found this test, "Which Peanuts Character are You?" I took it, and these are my results, although I disagree with some parts. But hey, it's all in good fun.


You are Charlie Brown!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I don't think I'm world-weary, and I'm definitely not very cynical. However, I often think people don't like me for various reasons. So, maybe there is a little truth in this whole thing. :) Ha.

It's white outside.

This morning I woke up slightly earlier than usual. My mom came up to my room and woke me up because she said the radio announcer said the roads were slick. So, I had to get up earlier than usual so I could give myself plenty of time. The roads in Podunk weren't good, and the little highway that I take to get to the Interstate was not good either. The Interstate wasn't too bad, although it was lacking. But anyway, I got here, safe and sound. I'm glad too, because we did course evaluations today. I gave one of my teachers a fairly decent evaluation because I'm doing well, so I couldn't very well criticize his methods too much. I gave my stats teacher an outstanding evaluation because he is just a great teacher (Even though I still hate statistics). So, I don't know if we'll get to do one for my last teacher of the day. I hope we do. I like doing those things; don't ask me why. But, the semester is coming quickly to a close. I'm ecstatic. I can't wait. This semester has been so boring and awful. But, I'm being a whiner, so forgive me. Hmm. last night at work we had lots and lots of people come in. I felt bad because I didn't think I did a very good job serving the two parties we had. However, the guys in the big party said, "Good food, good service. Thank you." So, I hope they weren't just being polite. I hate giving bad service. I always try my best, so I hope they were happy. Anyway, that's about all I wanted to say about that. I really am going to put my Advent thoughts on here, just not right now. This post has been long enough. Have a blessed day.

Oh real quick...

I was thinking the other day about safety. I was thinking that even though I live in podunk, Illinois with relatively little crime, that sometimes I do not feel safe. I don't really know what I feel is threatening me, but sometimes, I just feel like I am in danger. But anyway, I was praying about safety the other night just to tell God that I was feeling unsafe for some odd reason. And then I went to bed with the prayer along the lines of asking God to keep me safe from harm so that I may live another day trying to be of service to Him. So anyway, I fell asleep and got up the next day (at 6:30 a.m. mind you) and I drove to school. I got out of my car and was walking, walking, walking toward the building in which I have class. So, I have to walk past a grade school on my way to my building because there are just a lot of schools by the college. Anyway, I got to the place where I needed to cross the street and all of a sudden, the crossing guard took out her little sign and stopped all the traffic as I went past. She isn't there for us college students. No, she is there for the kids who have to cross the street, even though there is a stop sign where all the traffic must stop. But she is there to ensure the kids' safety. But I thought, after all these months of crossing the street on my own, this woman stops all traffic for me (Granted, some kid was approaching the crosswalk) and I got to have that EXTRA protection of having the crossing guard keep traffic stopped. I looked upward and said, "Is this your idea of a joke?" I smiled, of course, because I think it is funny when God shows His sense of humor. But, I just thought I would let that one into the blogosphere for fun. Ok, the end.

Just some useless blubbering

Hi. I'm really bored right now. I need to type some notes and email them to a classmate, but I'm a super-slacker. But anyway... Thanksgiving was good. I got to see my 2 1/2 year old nephew on Sunday. I think he very well could be the smartest/cutest kid in the entire world! Haha. He's adorable and he's so smart. He remembers the things that make the various people in his life laugh, and then does them when he sees them. An example of this is that my sisters and I laugh a lot when he does his fake gulp thing. So, I went into my house Sunday after church and he saw me from the kitchen and I could see him do his fake gulp. Then, after I got home from work (Bummer, I know, 4 hours away from that cuteness was torture) I was sitting in the living room when he came up to me, grabbed my hands and said, "Get up!" So I got up and he took me out to our piano. He climbed up on the bench, pushed some of the keys, turned to me, and said, "Loud!" So, I played him a little bit of chopsticks which he thought was funny. Then I said, "Listen to this!" and I played him the lowest key and the highest key and said, "That one sounds like a bear! And this one sounds like a little birdie!" And I did a big roar and a chirp chirp in sync with the keys. He thought that was funny, too. And then I played the lowest key and said, "Papa Bear," then the next octave higher and said "Mama Bear," and then the next higher and said, "Baby Bear." And then I said, "Where's Mama Bear?" And he pushed a key that was in the general area of the one I did. And he's only 2 1/2! I thought that was cute so I laughed. But, all good things must come to an end and they left at around 7:30 or so. I love that kid and it was wonderful to see him. I was very thankful that day for family. I try to be thankful every day for family, but sometimes it is difficult when you are a 23 year old female who commutes to college because living at home with Ma is cheaper than trying to go to school, work, and live on your own, but Ma treats you like you're still 12. But, at least she loves me and puts a roof over my head, so, I shouldn't complain. Anyway, that's it for now. I think later I am going to post some thoughts I had about Advent. But not now. Bye!

Thanksgiving Break is a Blessed time of year!

I am sitting here at MY OWN computer typing this blog! I'm very happy because most of the time, I would be asleep right now because I have to wake up really early. But, this whole blessed week is Thanksgiving BREAK! Yeehaw! So, I'm staying up late and just bumming around. It's grand. However, I need to write a few papers that will be due shortly after break ends. Ah, the seemingly never-ending cycle. Ah well. There's no other way to get there, right? I'm just excited that I get to relax a little. So, I'm still waiting to hear from the Church, Oxford Documents, or ANYONE about whether or not I get to be a candidate for ministry. I'm not really scared about it, because I know God is at work in my life, but I just kinda want to know so that I can either go full on into the process or just start thinking of something else to do. I am so confused about my "call" that it's just rather frustrating. I know, discernment is hard work. It is just that sometimes I feel like God wants me to be a pastor for His glory and to show Jesus to the people out there. And then sometimes I think there is NO way that I am worthy enough. I know I've probably said this before. It's just a struggle in my mind. And this waiting, waiting, waiting is not making anything any easier. It has been 2 months, one week, and two days since I authorized the background check. No word... Nothing in my past would really be the hold up in that department. I've never even gotten a real speeding ticket. (I got a city citation once, but that didn't go on my record so I don't count it). But then you know, maybe someone out there has my same name and stuff and they have me confused with the axe-murderer from Fulton County or something. I don't know. I guess my impatience is just showing. I respect the Church and their decision making processes. I just need to work on patience. Good things come to those who wait. Later.

Hmmm

An interesting set of "events" has been occurring in the past week or so. I went to Mooching Monday at my sister and her hubby's house. This Monday, Sis's best childhood friend was here from Florida with her husband. They came to Mooching Monday, too. We all had dinner and were chatting and the likes, and after the plates were cleared away and everyone was just sitting at the table, we started discussing politics. Pretty soon, Best Childhood Friend (BCF) brought up welfare and was making various opinionated statements about it when I told her that the average welfare recipient is a middle aged white woman with about 2 or 3 kids. No one at the table believed this. I told them, yes, because these people who are on welfare are getting the assistance because of various reasons. Often, a husband will leave wife and children by death or divorce, thus leaving them financially less well off. Often because the family may suffer from downsizing. The "feminization of poverty" is a real thing. The truth is, not all people who are on welfare are getting help because they are lazy, system bilking jerks. Brother in law then gave a few examples of how he "knows" a family that lives in Chicago and they drive a BMW but when it is time to pass out the welfare checks they go to Alabama, park their car in the shed, and sit their six kids on the porch in old play clothes. This may be true, but how many people actually do that? A few thousand maybe, but truth be told, "Welfare Queens" generally do not exist. So, they were basically telling me that because I go to a liberal-arts college, my opinions and the research I have read is wrong. So, I just said, "Brother, you don't know everything." And then somehow the conversation shifted to my potential future. BCF and BCF's husband are both involved with law enforcement. BCF is a prison guard and BCF's husband is a cop. So anyway, they mentioned something about prison ministry and I said, "That sounds interesting, and like something I might want to try some day." To which just about everyone at the table basically replied, "That's a bad idea... You're too naive." I told them, "Felons need Jesus, too." To which they then replied, most of them have given up on Jesus. But the point is, they still NEED Jesus. And while I wouldn't go shove it down their throats and get all crazy with it, there is a calling out there for people to preach the Gospel in prisons. Some of these people have never heard about Jesus and his love. Society shuns these people, they feel hopeless, and that is one factor that leads to recidivism. But at this point, I thought of Matthew 25, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." Then the people who Jesus was talking to asked him, "Lord when did we do these things for you?" And Jesus replied, "Just as you have done it to the least of these who are members of my family, you have done it also to me." But, I kicked myself because I didn't say this and I KNEW I should have. *kick, kick, kick* So, anyway, I've been thinking about that ALL week because it just bothers me that some people are content to let the government (nothing against the U.S.; I think it's a great place to live) keep going along in a rather mediocre way of feeding people, and keeping people at standards to which this part of the world is celebrated as having. Millions of people in THIS country are starving and I don't think that's ok. Some European countries do such a great job at eradicating poverty that we should be ashamed of ourselves. It really is upsetting that because a few cases here and there are giving a bad name to Welfare (which isn't really called that, anymore anyway) that people think EVERYONE on welfare is bilking the system. And it bothers me that people think felons are a lost cause. And it bothers me, I guess on a selfish, more downscaled note that people think I'm stupid and naive and believe everything I hear. So, I've been thinking about that whole exchange all week. So today I sit here in the lab at school waiting for my other class to convene. But in my waiting time, I try to write the Prayers of the People. (I have been blessed with the opportunity to write the P. of the P. that is used in weekly worship for the last 2 years or so). So, I pulled out my bulletin that has the texts of the week on it. I use this to write appropriate prayers. So, I pulled that out and when I come to the Gospel reading, it is none other that Matthew 25:31-46. And it just seems interesting to me that that would be the lesson for this coming Sunday. And the story doesn't end there. I checked my email after I wrote the prayers and I got an e-issue of Christianity today. I was reading it and the article, "Deep Down From Heaven" by Max Lucado says that God loves us too much too make the world all about us. Because then the salvation of the world would be up to us. God knows we can't do it all, so He gives us our own jobs to do. Lucado likens God to a master mechanic father dealing with a son who can't tell the difference between a fan belt and a spare tire while at the same time dealing with a severely broken car. That father, knowing his son is not mechanically inclined gives that son the job of cleaning spark plugs or putting sawdust over oil spots. God gives us these jobs to do, fully knowing that we could in no way pretend to work at Mr. Goodwrench. He wants us to do what we can with the gifts we have been given. Anyway, I just thought that tied in with everything I've been thinking. Maybe I'll add to this later. I don't know. Have a good day.

While surfing the Internet...

Well, I just got home from work a little while ago. I made myself some of those potato skins with cheese and bacon bits on them for dinner. I love them and do not know what I would do if I actually was forced to learn how to cook. I'd probably starve to death. Ha. But anyway, I was surfing the Internet tonight just looking at various websites in my "favorites" dropdown list. I went to the MyChoice Theological Seminary webpage and saw that they are having their semi-annual "Considering Your Call" conference on Ministry this weekend. I went to this thing last year and it was incredible. It is located in a nice city, the seminary is easy to get to, and the whole experience was just marked indelibly into my mind. I really enjoyed meeting all the people who were "discerning their call" like I am. It really helps you feel less alone. Although, a lot of the people came with spouses, or friends from college or something, and I was all alone. But, I did make friends. I really enjoyed just about every aspect of the whole weekend. As a matter of fact, the only thing I would do differently is ask if I could room alone. My roommate was an amazingly nice woman; I have nothing bad at all to say about her. But, I didn't realize how much I enjoy moments of solitude. Because the people at the seminary planned activities and things, there really wasn't a lot of "free time," per se, so we were always in the midst of others. And that is great because it really helps you see how they focus on building community. However, I really like having personal space sometimes. So, I think it would have been better if I'd have roomed alone. But, I still really, really, really enjoyed my time out there and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who is discerning going into public ministry. Everyone is nice, the campus is wonderful, and I was especially taken by the meditation chapel. The simplicity of it all was just moving. Maybe I'm a weirdo, but that's the place I liked best. That, and the regular chapel. But anyway, this post has been long enough. It brought up some fond memories for me to think about before I fall asleep. Good night and God bless!

Happy Birthday, Martin!

Today, November 10 is a special day, I suppose, in the life of Lutheranism. Today is Martin Luther, the father of the Reformation's birthday! If Luther was still alive, he'd be 522. He was born in 1483. I thought it was noteworthy considering without him, we would not have Lutheranism as we know it. I, for one, am very grateful for the life and ministry of Luther, because without him, we would not be where we are today. But I just now wondered, his birthday was only several days after he posted his theses on the door at Wittenberg, so how must he have spent that particular birthday? Perhaps it was spent running from the Catholic authorities? What a way to celebrate your 34th birthday! Well, happy birthday, Martin Luther! Thank you for your trailblazing ways! The Lutheran Church has come a long way, but we couldn't have started without ya! So, let's just wish Dr. Luther a great big posthumous 522nd birthday. What a day. Blessings.

Oh yeah, it's my birthday, too! Although, Martin was born 499 years before me.

Before I go read...

I thought I'd tell you all a story about Halloween night... I was at Denise's for Mooching Mondays and we were sitting in the kitchen waiting for trick or treaters. So, they would come and we would rush the door to pass out the candy. So, I opened the door to one group of them and one kid was a viking and there was a princess and maybe one of the Incredibles... So, I said to the viking kid, "are you a viking?" And he said, "yes!" and I said, "Did you know that one time, Vikings invaded England because they ran out of beer?!" Then the kid kinda looked at me, got his candy and ran away. Denise, John, and Janet then proceeded to laugh at me uncontrollably and prohibit me from answering the door anymore. They also told me to stop scaring the kids. haha. So, i just thought that was funny. Maybe just to me? Who knows.

Math Anxiety

Here I sit with 6, count them 6 weeks left until this semester is over. Two weeks are left until Thanksgiving Break, then a week of Thanksgiving break, then two more weeks of actual school, and then finally, finals week. I was doing pretty well with everything until today. We are learning all about these crazy concepts in Statistics. Chi squared equals this and that, blah blah blah. They might as well be speaking in Greek.. OH wait! They do! ha. Chi, sigma, delta, and all those things are Greek! No wonder I don't understand! Anyway, I was pulling a strong B up until now. I have a test next Thursday and I'm fairly certain I'm not going to do well on it. You see, when I went to jr. college, I had to take a class designed to help people with what they call, "math anxiety." If you don't think you're going to do well, they say, that is half the problem. Think positively. So, I must think that I am going to do well (I have to study too, you know)... So. It just made me think about John 14:1. "Let not your hearts be troubled..." And also Matthew 6:34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." So, here I sit worrying about a test in one week that I should not be worrying about. I can hope to do well on it, but why worry? Will a big fat "F" make Jesus love me any less? Nooo... Or he'd have dropped me long ago. I just need to remember the larger scope of things and not focus on what has no eternal consequence. But anyway. That's it for now. I think I'm going to go read a book for class. Have a blessed day.

My first blogaire...

Well, I have no tests today and I don't feel like reading any books, so I thought I'd go blogsurfing. I occasionally see blog questionaire things and what not, but I usually read them and move on. Today, however, I thought since I really have nothing better to do, I would do one. So, here goes:

Copy, paste, answer, add one of your own:

Have you ever...
1. smoked a cigar - No, because when I was a little girl I had one puff of a cigarette my dad told me to breathe in real deep. Kept me away from smokes forever.
2. crashed a friend's car - no
3. stolen a car - no
4. been in love - puppy love, yes. Real, deep, I could marry you love, no.
5. been dumped - Of course.
6. dumped someone - Yes, although I'd rather be the dumpee than the dumper.
7. taken shots of alcohol - yes, but only a few because I'm a lightweight!
8. been fired – Ha. One time one of my bosses and I got into a fight and I said, "I QUIT!" and she said, "You don't have to quit, you're fired!" But then my other boss said, you're not leaving. So, since I'm still there, I've never been fired.
9. been in a fist fight - No.
10. snuck out of a/your house - Yes, because I was a worrywart who didn't believe my parents trusted me, and therefore I would sneak out in order to do things that really did not warrant sneaking out.
11. had feelings for someone who didn't have them back - Hasn't everyone?
12. been arrested - No. Although two of my siblings have. Ha.
13. made out with a stranger - No. I'm a prude.
14. gone on a blind date - Yes. Blind dates suck.
15. lied to a friend - yes
16. had a crush on a teacher - Ohhhh yeah! The student teacher for P.E. when I was a freshwoman. Oh and also one of the history teachers who I did not have, but who I thought was hot anyway.
18. seen someone die - Yep. Tried to do CPR; it didn't work.
19. been on a plane - No, although it is one of my life goals to get my pilot's license.
20. thrown up in a bar - No. I've only puked from alcohol consumption one time. That was in my room at about 2:30 a.m. after some strawberry daquiris with extra rum added.
21. eaten insects/grubs/worms/larvae - Probably in my sleep.
22. miss someone right now - You might be able to say that.
23. laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by - yes
24. made a snow angel - yes
25. played dress up - yes
26. cheated while playing a game - yes
27. been lonely - yes
28. fallen asleep at work/school - All the time! In high school, I woke up in study hall one day to find that everyone was gone because it was 3:15. And then when I tried to stand up and walk out, I dropped all my stuff because my arms had fallen asleep. Only the supervisor was left though, so I didn't feel TOO stupid.
29. used a fake id - no
30. felt an earthquake - yes! Just a wee little one about a year and a half ago. Right there in smalltown, Illinois where I live! I thought someone had hit my house with their car again, but I was too tired to get up and look so I finished falling asleep. Next morning I found out it as an earthquake.
31. touched a snake - I really hate snakes.
32. run a red light - Yesterday on accident. I was following a semi truck and I couldn't see the light, but it had just changed to green so I wasn't expecting it to turn red already.
33. had detention - No. I even only had my name on the board once.
34. been in a car accident - not anything huge, just some spinouts, some ditches, stuff like that.
35. hated the way you look - yes
37. been lost - yes
38. been to the opposite side of the country - No. I've been to Canada though!
39. felt like dying - Not really. Just you know, when you're sick and you're like, just kill me so I can stop puking!
40. cried yourself to sleep - maybe a few times.
41. played cops and robbers - not really.
42. sung karaoke - No, I can't carry a tune in a bucket.
43. done something you told yourself you wouldn't - yes. ugh. I disgust myself soemtimes.
44. laughed till some kind of beverage came out of your nose - yes, all over my pancakes. What a bummer.
45. caught a snowflake on your tongue - No. Acid snow!
46. kissed in the rain - no
47. sang in the shower - All the time, even though I'm a bad singer.
48. made love in a park - Does public indecency mean nothing to you!
49. had a dream that you married someone - No.
50. glued your hand to something - yup. I was fixing something with superglue, no less, and I glued my fingers to the paper that was protecting the table.
51. got your tongue stuck to a flag pole - no.
52. worn the opposite sex's clothes - I don't really recall.
53. Been a cheerleader – No. I really am not into the cheerleader scene.
54. sat on a roof top - yes
55. talked on the phone all night - No way.
56. ever too scared to watch scary movies alone – No. I like scary movies.
57. played chicken fight - nope..
58. been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on - Not pushed, per se... But when I was little, my sister and I were playing catch in the yard and she kept throwing the ball farther and farther to my right and by the time I realized what she was trying to do, I was in the pool soaking wet.
59. been told you're hot by a complete stranger - hot no.. Cute, yes.
60. broken a bone - Mmm. I was born with a broken collarbone. Does that count?
61. had a 3-some? - Ewww.
62. dipped snuff? - Gross.
63. lived overseas - Never have.
64. Ever passed out/fainted? - Sure, 5 times. It's weird.
65. blown bubbles in the wintertime - no.
66. slept in your car? - only while driving. ;) j/k.
67. given money to a stranger? - yes
68. forgot your birthday? - no
69. forgot your best friend's birthday? - yes
70. been in the presence of the Pope or the President? - One time the first George Bush was at my grade school, but I wasn't there because it wasn't during school hours.
71. failed a test? - yeah. When I was in high school I was very apathetic about grades and a lot of things.
72. failed a class? - Sure. But my mom doesn't know because they had computer glitches that term so it showed up as a C on my report card. They did give me a corrected copy, but I "misplaced" it. I'm bad.
73. accurately predicted a future event? - I've had feelings about stuff, but never full on predicted it.
74. slept overnight in a hospital without being a patient? - no.
75. realized a dream? - Well, I "realized" two dreams (meaning goals) in one day, actually. I wanted to beat the computer on the SNES JEOPARDY game, and did that, and then later I went to the bowling alley and saw a phone booth. SO, I had always wanted to be inside a real phone booth, so I walked across the street and stood in it for a minute. Two dreams of mine in one day. Wooohoo.
76. changed the clock at work so you could get out sooner?- No, but I've witnessed someone else doing that!

So, that's me in 76 questions! yay!

Cat tillar

Happy Halloween. Yesterday, my mom, older sister (Denise), and I went to visit my brother, his wife, and their son. My nephew is 2 and a half, and quite possibly the cutest kid on the planet. I didn't have to work again, because I waitressed on Saturday night. So, we decided to take the hour and a half car trip down there to visit for the day. It was really fun. The little guy is hilarious and a huge ham! He modeled his Halloween costume for us. It's a bright green caterpillar costume with antennae and everything! And when we asked him what he was, he said, "Cat tillar," because he is just a wee one and misses the middle part of the word and doesn't say the 'p.' All in all, it was a pretty fun day. Oh yeah! And on the way back, we stopped and got Krispy Kremes! Yeah, baby! Anyway. So tonight is mooching Monday, so I plan to go to Denise's, pass out candy, and have a real meal. The only reason I like Mondays is because I get a real, home-cooked, hot, not-out-of-a-box meal. It's wonderful. :) Anyway, I guess that's all I have to say right now. I have to go study for a test I have in 3 1/2 hours. :) Yay for procrastinating!

I don't know what the deal is.

Today, I sit here wondering about my future. I don't really know why, but I'm feeling kind of stressed about it. Way back when I first started discerning my call to ministry, I felt kind of intimidated about all the things I'd have to learn, all the things I'd have to endure, and all the things I'd have to discover about myself in order to get to ministry. But, as time has progressed and I've gotten the opportunity to utilize some of my gifts and think about what the future holds, I've become less intimidated. However, after reading another blog, I have begun to feel intimidated again. I don't know why, and that is frustrating to me. Mark's Blog (the one I've been reading) says a lot of great things for him. The faculty has said great things about him and everything. But I guess I'm just afraid that in the future, if I ever get to seminary, they might not say great things about me. What if I'm just mediocre? What if I've been bad at this whole discernment process thus far? What if I'm going in a direction that God does NOT want me to go? That is what I fear the most, I suppose: Going in a direction God would rather I not go. It just seems that lately, I have not been a "good enough" person to be pursuing this vocation. I know that pastors are not perfect, but they're supposed to be examples of godly living to the community with patience, humility, gentleness, and a plethora of other spiritual gifts. For the most part, I'm pretty patient and all that good stuff, but I still struggle with one relationship in my life. That relationship makes me feel like an awful person because I just have come to the end of my rope. I don't know what to do about my future. I only know that I must trust God to lead me where He wants me to go, believing in His power and ability to sustain me through wherever this road I am on takes me. Please forgive my venting. I feel better now. Peace.

Blah blah blah.

It is getting colder outside. This morning I was walking to class and I could see my breath. Yikes. Ah well. This is what I get for living in Illinois. We have seasons that change. Anyway. I have devised a way to get off work on Good Friday so I can go to church! I'm excited. Everyone at ISU has to take the University Writing Exam in order to graduate. We're supposed to take it while we have between 45 and 75 credit hours, but since I am a super-slacker, I didn't register for it. So, they offer this exam every single Friday throughout the semester from 4:00 till about 5:00 or something like that. So, since I figured I'd have to take a Friday off anyway for it, I figured I should at least make it a Friday that would be worthwhile. So, Good Friday it was. I'm excited. I really hate missing Lenten services. Like Pastor said one time, "Missing out on Wednesday Lenten services and then going to Easter morning worship is like coming in at the end of a movie where you've missed all the struggles and joys and everything that makes the end all that much more meaningful." BUT! Next year is the LAST TIME THAT I WILL EVER HAVE TO MISS LENTEN SERVICES!!!!!! Yay! So, that's what is on my mind today. Oh, and I think I am going to go blog surfing to see if I can make friends. Bye.

Phew...

I'm happy. You know why? Because I am all signed up for next semester. I didn't get into that FCS class, but that's ok. I decided on another psych class instead. I'm just happy I found 6 classes that fit my schedule that would also take care of the requirements I needed to fulfill. So, I'm excited. Oh! and an extra bonus-5 of the 6 classes are Tuesday/Thursday classes, and my one Monday/Wednesday class is only for the first 8 weeks. That means I'm going to have Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays off from school! I'm going to be able to save so much money and time! Yeehaw! (Money because I won't be driving 100 miles a day, and time because I won't be in the car forever). So, I'm excited. Anyway. So, I've had myself a glass of wine a few minutes ago and because I'm a major lightweight, I'm feeling it. I need to go to bed now. Goodnight.

I really hate scheduling...

Is it me, or does scheduling completely suck!? I hate it more than is really logical. Right now I am in the process of registering for next semester's classes. I want to take 16 credit hours because one of the classes I'm taking is only 8 weeks long. I also want to take that many because I want to take a summer class next summer so I can have a really light last semester (I heard Soc. 300 can be a killer). So, I'm trying to sign up for these classes, but some of them are closed already. That in itself is something I don't really understand because I'm going to be a senior, and the class I wanted to take that I'm not able to is in my major. So, I wanted to take this FCS class because it sounded cool, but I haven't met the requirements. Therefore, I must go visit the advisor to beg her to please let me into the freakin' class. Ugh. I wish they'd just say, "Trish, you take these 6 classes and you'll be all good." Really, that's what I want. But no... I have to be an adult, ok and now I have realized I'm being a whiner. Sorry. But I feel better now that I have that off my chest. If that chick won't let me into the class, I'll just have to choose something else, I guess. Anyway. I only need to pick out one more class. So, it'll be fine. Really. I need to go now. It's past my bedtime. zzzZZZzzz

Procrastinate? Me? No.....

As usual, I'm sitting here in the lab at school in between classes. But what I should be doing is studying for a test I have at 12:35. But, I'm too excited because I got a B+ on my STATS TEST!!!!!!!! I suck at math and I got a B+! I'm so excited. I was only one point away from an A, but that's ok because I am so happy! I took a General Elementary Stats class at jr. college and scraped by with a C by the skin of my teeth. (You have to have a C or better for community college credit to transfer). So, Here I am, having achieved a B on both my stats tests thus far. It is just very exciting for me. But anyway, I should be studying because this upcoming test is in a class I'm not doing exceptionaly well in. I got a B- on the first test and that is kinda bad for me. Stratification is an extremely interesting subject, but I just can't get into it with the method this teacher uses. But I'm making excuses. Sometimes I think I need to remember that good grades do not mean as much as I'd like to think. Sometimes I think that to be respected and loved I need to have a 4.0 GPA. And then I think of that song that says, "Money won't complete me; fame won't complete me. I am complete in You" (meaning God). And it helps me recall that God would love me even if I flunked out of college and became a prostitute on the street. Why, you may ask? Because God so loved the WORLD (not just A students, not just well to do affluent people, not just regular church goers...) God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. (Gotta love John 3:16). But anyway, I still try to do the best with the gifts and opportunities with which I have been blessed, so I'm going to stop blogging and go study. Blessings!

Something I need to remember sometimes...

Your Fortune Is

It's ok to let a fool kiss you, but don't let a kiss fool you.

The Wacky Fortune Cookie Generator

Contrary to popular opinion, I do date sometimes. Although usually not people I should. But, anyway... It helps me remember why I don't like dating.

Praise the Lord!

Today is midterm, at long last! Praise the Lord for bringing me thus far! Yay!

So, anyway, today is officially midterm. On Monday when we come back here, the semester will officially be half over. I had an advisement appointment with my academic adviser the other day and I'm a little scared about next semester. I'm having a difficult time finding classes that fit my schedule. I don't really want to give up work, you know, cuz you have to have money to get here, but I really really REALLY want to be done with ISU by December '06. I know, I know... We make plans, God laughs, but this is something I'm really working toward. I guess if worse comes to worse, I will just have to make a schedule where I won't be able to work Tuesdays and Thursdays. wow, I'm awful at typing today. I burned my fingers yesterday on the coffee machine at work and I think I damaged 'em! AHHH! Anyway. I just wanted to let all of posterity know that it is midterm. Oh, and I still don't know if I passed my background check yet. Because I'm a big ol' felon. (I'm kidding, I'm not. Although I'm allowed to joke because I have lots of contact with felons and I am not kidding around because I think I'm "better" than they are.) Anyway. I'm off to nurse my burnt hands. Bye.

(note from the author: please forgive my overuse of ellipses '...' and exclamation points. I'm easily excited and amused. Oh yeah, and sorry about misspellings, too.)

Woo Doggies, I have archives!

Hey now.. I have real archives that actually have posts in them. I'm excited about that. You would not believe it. So, I didn't get anything done this weekend that I wanted to get done. Well, except I bought some new clothes. I rarely go shopping, so I guess that's something to be proud of. I'm kind of bored and stuff right now. I wish it wasn't getting colder. I wish this semester was over. I wish I was accepted into the whole candidacy process already. I wish a lot of things, but wishing is not getting these things done. Day by day, I must proceed. There was a "social gathering" at Pastor's other church today for a boy who died in a car accident a while ago. (Pastor has 2 churches because we live in a rural type area). Anyway, the young man died not a couple days ago Friday, but like, LAST week Friday. They waited till Pastor got back from vacation because they wanted him to do the services. So, instead of a visitation, they had a social gathering. I really feel for those people. It really sucks when someone dies all unexpectedly and stuff. A bunch of people I went to high school with have died and I'm only 22. So, I have been in a situation like the one the friends of this young man are in now. I really feel for them. :( I just can hope that they can get to a place where they are not angry or bitter anymore, but I fully realize it may take a while. Trust me, I know it can and often does take a while. But anyway. I have to go now. I'm going to hit the hay early tonight. Hasta.

Almost midterm!!!!!!

Hi everybody! It is almost midterm here at ISU! Yeah. I'm so excited about that (in case you couldn't tell by the blatant overuse of exclamation points in the title of this post!). So anyway. Midterm is actually next week. I'm not 100% on what day it is though. I think Friday, but I could be wrong. That means that in less than 3 months I will be a senior. I can't believe it. Where has this year gone? I'm excited about my future, even though there is still a lot up in the air. Gotta love discernment, right? But, since next week is midterm, I guess a lot of my time this weekend will be spent studying/reading/not having any fun because I need to catch up on that which I have procrastinated doing thus far. Haha. I'm making lots of typos today and am catching them, but it makes me laugh because some of them are just silly. A few seconds ago I typed procrastinateded. Hehe. I'm such a dork, but I think everyone should try it sometimes. I think I'm going to go do something a little more productive now though. Blessings!

Dundundundun!

So today is a day to procrastinate! But then again, isn't every day? Ha. Well, I missed my 8:00 a.m. class on monday because I woke up not feeling good at all. I figured that I'd better just stay home and get some sleep to see if I'd feel up to going to my 1:00. I did. And it was nice to sleep in for a change. But, I'm still not feeling 100%, but what can you do? Anyway. Next week is midterm!!! I can't believe it! It's exciting because this year has just flown by for the most part! I'm so excited. Oh yeah! More fairly exciting news, (To me, anyway) my background check is partially done. They sent out the forms to my current boss, so I can only imagine that they've sent them out to my other "references" as well. If they all got to those in a timely fashion, I would imagine that Oxford is hard at work making sure I'm not some sicko or something. Basically, I think, that is the point of the background checks. They don't want to let someone into the ministry who is going to hurt children or abuse the position of pastor. I can completely, COMPLETELY understand that because you gotta uphold the integrity of the Church. While pastors are not perfect, they are expected to be examples to the community. So... I'm not really certain as to when I have to do the next steps.. The synod (my guess) probably will tell me after the background check is complete. Then the next step (again, not sure) is the psychological evaluation by proxy, which means I have to take a psych test, but Pastor can give it to me. Then, I have to go to see the church chosen psychiatrist to discuss the results of the test. I'm not too worried about that, but it still seems kind of intimidating that he is going to be analyzing my mind and reporting the results to people. Ah well. All in the learning process, eh? Basically, that is the update for now. It's been kind of long-winded, but like I've said before, it's for posterity! Haha. Bye.

Friday at long last!

Good morning. I am not a morning person, but I AM the masochist who signed myself up for 8:00 a.m. classes. I commute, so that means I have to get up REALLY early. I really hope I don't have to do this again. Ugh. Anyway. I'm just bumming here because I have to go get a paper I wrote in a few minutes and thought I'd spend some time blogging. (Even though no one but me reads this; it's for posterity, darn it!) So, I don't have any plans for the weekend other than hopefully getting caught up on reading. Just the same old: Work, Church, home. I'd like to get some new pants, but I hate shopping. I'm the antithesis of a stereotypical woman. Ah well. So, there is nothing really I was hoping to write about. I'm just tired and bored. But now it's time to go get my paper. Bye bye!

An interesting observation (in my opinion, anyway)

Today after statistics, I went outside for just a moment because the hallway was jam-packed full of people. So, as I was standing outside, I couldn't help but people watch. I always like this because college is a place of immense diversity. I have been a people watcher for a long time. My best friend and I used to sit in the upstairs outer hallway at high school and watch as people arrived at school in the morning, and then give them funny little nicknames because of some nuance they did when they thought no one else was watching. But anyway, I digress. So, I was watching all these people going into the building and coming out. Now, there are a few sets of doors; two or three sets of two doors each. People are filing in and filing out and it is a melee of people. Interesting enough in itself. But anyway, most of the people traveling through those doors were coming out with only a few people going in. With all the doors that lead to the outside, a person would think that it would be a pretty swift exchange of people going in and coming out. But, the thing that made me laugh was that the people going in were waiting for the people coming out to clear the doorways that were open, instead of taking their hands out of their pockets for three seconds in order to open the closed doors. I mean, really... We're in college. You would think they'd get the idea that those doors open, too. Wouldn't you? And the thing is, this isn't an isolated incident. It happens ALL the time!!! No matter where I go, it seems people don't want to open both the doors. Why not? It makes the traffic go so much quicker. I don't know. So, I laughed anyway. And then when one "above average" guy decided to open the other door, I applauded. Good for him for thinking independently. Good grief.

Sometimes.

Sometimes working with the public as a food service employee is a wonderful experience. Sometimes, we get to meet some really awesome people who just make you feel wonderful the second you see them walk through the door. But, the interesting thing about food service is that most of us don't get to know the people thoroughly, so we can just go about with the facet of that person we know. So tonight, these people who come in semi-frequently were in. I am the only person there who likes these people. I don't know why they don't like anyone else, or why no one else likes them, but I think they are fine. But tonight, we were DEAD slow by the time they came in, so they were the only people in there. And since we had no host tonight, I was the only person out there with them. So, we all got to talk a little more. Well, religion came up as a topic, which I generally try to steer clear of with them because they seem to be VERY!!! conservative and I am a little less conservative. Anyway, so the Mrs. asked if I still went to "that Lutheran Church" in X town. And I said yes. Then she said that she wasn't very happy with the Lutheran people as a whole right now because of all that has happened with the "homosexual thing." And I asked her what she meant. That is when she said, "They're allowing homosexual marriages." And I told her that what they decided on was to keep the dialogue open and to minister to gay and lesbian people as a way to not completely alienate the homosexual community. And she said, "A little leven levens the whole lot." And I just kinda looked at her and made an excuse to go into the kitchen for a little while. I still like the woman and her whole family, but Jesus was not about telling the outcast that they are further shunned. Jesus was about inviting people into community in order that they might know they are loved. While my whole thought process about this "issue" is not set in stone, I feel like we should definitely NOT be excluding homosexual people. I think all people fall short of the glory of God, so let the one of us who is without sin cast the first stone. I was glad she dropped that by the time I came back out into the dining room. I usually make it my business to not get into "upsetting" topics at work because it is not my place to make people uncomfortable while they are at my place of employment. But it just got me thinking, you know? That's it for now, I guess. Hasta.

Trish is my name, procrastination is my game.

Here I sit at 10:14 a.m. in the computer lab here at good ol' ISU. I am blogging, but what I SHOULD be doing is studying for a test I have at 1:00. I'm tired though. I was just taking a nap in the hallway, but these *inconsiderate* teachers are lecturing a little too loud for my taste. Ha. I'm kidding. I don't consider them inconsiderate for speaking loudly. Deaf people like me appreciate that. No, I'm not really deaf, although I think I am hard of hearing. Ok, so we didn't have that baptism this weekend, so I was slightly disappointed. When people get baptized, I am very very happy. I think this has to do with the fact that I was almost 15 when I was baptized and I had been wanting that for a LONG time. And I remember the day I "became a member of Christ's family," as is recognized when the congregation says, "We welcome you into the Lord's family. We receive you as a fellow member of the body of Christ, a child of the same Heavenly Father, and a worker with us in the kingdom of God." Even though my baptism was not done in front of the congregation, I still heard those words from Pastor and those who gathered there. So, I think the fact that people resond to God's love for us in Jesus is what makes it all so wonderful to me. But anyway... I just thought I would put down my thoughts for right now because I am the queen of procrastination. Woo doggies. But now, I really have to go study. I am trying to do well this semester because I don't want to be hindered in the future by how poorly I do now. So, I'm off. Have a great day!

While cleaning my desk the other day...

First off, let me tell you that I am not that tidy of a person. I let my stuff pile up in designated areas, I litter my car up with fast food bags and my morning cereal bar wrappers, (at least it's not the environment, right) and I just let things get away from me. Now, at my job, I'm very neat and tidy, but that unfortunately does not spill over to my home life. So, the other day I was cleaning off my computer desk because my mom's friend said I needed to throw a stick of dynamite on it to clear it out. I found a really neat quote I'd written down some time ago. Zig Ziglar said it, and I thought I'd share it, even though no one reads this thing. Anyway, he said, "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing; that's why we recommend it daily." I like this quote. It just serves as a reminder that every day we should get up and motivate ourselves because while we may have accomplished many things in the past, we can't live forever on the high we got from them. That's just my thoughts and random blathering for the day. It's late, and Church is tomorrow. I think I get to be the congregational representative for a baptism! Woohoo!

This is REALLY what I look like. (Especially on Fridays when it is time to finally relax!) 

good news or Good News?

You know, the other day I picked up the mail (I live in a very small town, therefore the mail does not get delivered) and I received a yellow postcard. So, I look at this yellow postcard and it says, "trish, we have Good News for you!" So, I was all excited because I thought maybe it had something to do with Jesus or something. So, there were instructions on the card for me to call this number to see what this supposed "Good News" was. In eager anticipation, I went home and called the number right away. Only to find out it was basically some people from MasterCard trying to sell me magazines or something. I told them I wasn't interested, and not to send me any of the "free magazines" or anything like that. When I got off the phone, I felt completely let down. I thought this was something important! So, I thought, I should really call them back and tell them to NOT capitalize "good news" if it is in the middle of a sentence UNLESS they are talking about the Gospel. Jeepers. They get a girls hopes all up, only to sqash them down. Maybe I'm overreacting. But anyway... Today is finally Friday! I was driving through the neighboring small town on my way home from school today, and some guy was standing in the middle of the street I wanted to go down. I don't know about you, but when random things happen like that, my imagination runs wild. So, he was blocking people from going down that street and I thought, maybe he's going to blow a building up. Maybe he's a terrorist in neon green disguise. And then I looked down the street and there were a bunch of little kids running around on the sidewalks, so I think it was actually more safety-related that he was standing there. But anyway, so then I ended up turning down a different street since that guy was standing there. And I was headed out of town on that street, but I saw a big truck being washed kind of in the middle of the street up ahead, so I didn't want to go by that. So that made my imagination go again. I thought that maybe the hose was going to hurt my car or something, because they were using a big high pressured deal and I am semi-afraid of those due to a story my boss told me one time about high pressure things. But anyway. So, then I was thinking, my imagination runs wild all the time. I mean, I drive down the interstate and see a black garbage bag on the side of the road and think, "Is that a body?" Or see a shoe on the side of the road and think, "How on Earth would someone lose their shoe on the side of the highway?" Am I the only one who thinks things like these? Man. Now I'm getting kinda scared about my psychological evaluation I will have to do for candidacy! But then again, perhaps an overactive imagination is good for me. :) Who knows?

Nothing really groundbreaking...

Is it Friday yet?

I don't know if this guy will appreciate this or not...

In one of my earlier posts, I talked about a blog I read a lot that cracks me up. I don't know if anyone reads this blog or not, but if you have some time to kill, or if you are in need of a good ol' cheering up, you might find it helpfulf to check out Mark's Page Good stuff.

I'm not as unfit as I thought...

Okay, today it is kind of rainy and damp outside, but yesterday was gorgeous. I ended up going on the Church bike ride. It was really kind of cool. I didn't feel too bad about being out of shape because we weren't pushing ourselves too hard because we had wee ones with us. I was in the middle of the pack and spent most of my time listening to a tween from our church talk. It wasn't bad at all. I think kids need to know there are people who will listen to them, even when there is really nothing groundbreaking that needs to be said. Anyway... Like I said yesterday, I wasn't sure if I was even going to go ON this bike ride, but I decided I had to. Why, you may ask? Because, I folded down the seats to Neno, (yes, my car's name is Neno), I hoisted the bike into the trunk only to find that no matter what angle I put the bike at, it still wouldn't fit. So, I asked Ma if I could take her car because she has a gigantic trunk. So, I pushed, pulled, angled, grunted, snorted, and various other disgusting things in an effort to get the bike to fit in there. To no avail... So, by this point, I was like, "Fine, I'll just take the wheel off!" So I did. Then I threw all the stuff I needed into the car and said, "after all this, I need to go on this ride." I'm glad I went though. Good time. That was my adventure for the day though. Let's see what today brings!

Another Day, Another Dollar

Okay. Well, today has been pretty mixed. I went to Church this morning, which was cool. I love church. Anyway, so this friend of mine who I used to date ended up showing up at Church, too. He just got out of prison about a month or two ago, and I've been inviting him to come. Felons need Jesus, too, you know. So anyway.. I was glad to see him, but he was wearing a shirt that said, "Mount And Do Me." Thought that was just a little inappropriate. But, he came, so that's the main thing. So, Pastor announced that I have started the process to applying for candidacy during the announcements. It is still very exciting for me. So, after church, several people were talking to me, and congratulating me on this step in my life. It's good to know I have their support. Then I left and had to go to work. But, we were so slow, that they sent me home early. That's kind of good, but kind of bad too. Less money, but more time... Anyway... This afternoon there is going to be a "family bike ride" with some church people. I'm trying to decide if I want to go to that or not. I don't know if my bike will fit in my trunk. I used to drive a big old Jeep Cherokee, and now I just have a neon. So, luckily the seats fold down, so maybe I'll go. So, I need to go study for a test I have tomorrow and decide if I'm going to this bike ride to demonstrate my lack of fitness. :) See ya'll later.

After a long time away...

So, here I sit, listening to "My Cousin Vinny" in the background. It's at the part where the girlfriend is saying "Vinny, you're going down in flames and I can't do anything to help you!" I just think it's kind of funny because she ends up pretty much winning the case for him. I don't know. The whole movie is just pretty funny. Anyway... So, I have been away from this blogging thing for a long time. Why come back, you may ask? Why not do the world a big fat favor and leave us alone? Well, because I know that would not really be a favor. You love me, and you know it! Yeah. So anyway, the real reason I am coming back is because I have found an absolutely awesome blog that I read practically religiously, although right now I'm pretty much in the archives section. The dude's blog just makes me laugh to no end, and although I'm probably not that clever, I decided to give it a try. Maybe I'll link to it later. So, like it says in my profile, I am starting the candidacy process to become a rostered leader in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. So, I had to write an autobiography, fill out some forms, and various other things. It's been very very interesting. It's exciting, but also nerve racking to a certain extent. Trying to let go and let God, as they say... So, that is a little introduction to me. Hopefully I'll be a little more faithful in the future. Who knows, maybe I can get some readers!