Another Week or Two

Time flies whether you are having fun or not! A week or two has passed since I told you “what’s up in my little world."

·         I shivered at work all day at my desk, and was so happy to get home that night. I reached for my favorite flannel shirt, looking forward to wrapping up in its cozy depths. There was a problem. My sister had just used the sleeves to ingeniously insulate ice packs for her knee for an afternoon…

·         Google faithfully helped me for hours several days this week, in research sessions for wedding-everything with my almost-sister. I might have a soft spot for Google Images now.

·         I came home late from work and picked gigantic, juicy, wild blackberries in our back pasture until the sun set too low for me to see if I was picking nettle bushes or blackberries…Thus the stinging rash on my arm and the fridge full of berries.

·         I turned down the coffee date of a lifetime with TWO mommies due to a busy schedule of must-do-or-die family stuff.

·         Tuesday I couldn’t move. Obviously I had ingested something over the previous couple days that fit into my ample allergy list. The day was gone and I was still sound asleep in bed with my to-do list.

·         I was glad I was not driving myself, when we went wedding dress shopping due to my overexposure to white fluffiness effecting my vision and sensibilities after eight hours in downy, bridal boutiques. However, I would not have missed a moment of it for anything! Jess is going to be a lovely bride…Watch out, Ben!

·         A beautiful friend who writes her own songs, sings, and plays a stunning black guitar, gave me the privilege of doing a photo shoot for her EP album coming out soon. I enslaved her friend to hold reflectors for me and I’m sure she could get a job as a grip in Hollywood now. I feel special to be a part of the project in giving a few voice lessons before her recording and now these unique captured moments for the album cover and insert!

·         Three days on a Dr. prescribed water only fast, kept my knees wobbly and vision blurry. I think some of the best dinners ever were served while I was drinking that water. But the best one had to be that succulent zucchini, tomato, onion, sausage, garlic blend sautéed in olive oil and herbs the last night of my fast. It may have been the best meal of my life! (…Except maybe for that first meal after the time I had to go 22 days on liquid nutrition only last year…)

·         I took some photos of a ginormous trophy, a stack of grand prize ribbons, reserve champion ribbons, blue ribbons, special awards, and some flashy medallions. Somewhere in the middle, was my sister and her dog, Kian, fresh from their county fair takeover in the dog barn.

·         My sister’s nebulizer arrived to help with her painful and difficult lungs. Now we try and not to make her laugh too much when she does her breathing sessions with the important-looking little machine. She say’s its helping!

·         A piece of important camera equipment took leave without notice and left me in the lurch. Radio Shack came to my rescue, oddly enough, and ripped a hole in my pocketbook in the meantime. I won’t even look on Ebay for how much cheaper I could get it. I won’t. I won’t.

·         I was notified that my job will soon be five days a week and changing towards talking to insurance companies all day about why we should be paid and asking doctors to send their supporting documentation. This just might be good in a strange way as I have $38 after expenses this month and am in two weddings…

·         Falling in love in a guitar shop is not a good idea. It is rather expensive and makes one think wistful thoughts they shouldn’t about solid wood, steel-stringed, warm-toned pieces of wood that they held closely once, but for a fleeting, sacred moment. The guy, Nick, behind the counter looked sympathetic, despite his fearsome tattoos.

·         I also got to spend some time with my long-lost brother, Ben, doing wedding planning! I miss seeing him every day, his things in the bathroom, his shoes in the hallway, and his coats over chairs. There’s no more friendly buzz of a razor in the morning or cheery 7:30am “hello” to be heard, either.

·         The laptop computer a generous benefactor purchased for me, and brother Nathanael kindly helped me choose and order, arrived in all its Samsung glory. It is much smarter than me so far, and will need some breaking-in. However, I do not plan to break it in as much as my last laptop…

·         I let my hair do some pretty crazy things this week for a break, and pretended not to notice: wishfully hoping it would quiet down on its own and pull itself together, or get things straightened out. No such luck. It left me dreaming of a certain hair salon in Bellevue that charges more than $38.

·         Football season is chasing us down, and I’m pretty sure I listened to four, half-hour pieces of the longest continuous pre-game show in history, while driving to and from work with Dad a couple days this week. I am informed. Be warned. I know of a quarterback with possible potential maybe better than what he had last year!

·         Don’t tell me it doesn’t happen under your bathroom sink. Ours had a bomb go off over a few month period. I finally pulled everything out to reorganize and discovered who planted the bomb. I never would have known my sister made so many concoctions and kept them in little containers under there hidden beneath a tangle of plungers, toilet brushes, and squeegees…

·         At dinner one night I ate my food pretty quietly, concentrating on my plate. There was what seemed to be a horrible odor at the dinner table, and I wasn’t about to impolitely mention it. I did later though, when I found an exploded can of condensed milk in the pantry by the table. Mom and I scrubbed in gloves in the foulest, rotting milk and bugs you can imagine, for a couple hours.

·         Church on Sunday was a powerful message on forgiving each other and confessing sin. It was very timely considering the things people had to say when they stood after the sermon to share. I was so incredibly happy and heartbroken to be there and a part. It is forever emblazoned on my memory.

·         In my favorite boutique I was assisted by two girls who have become my friends. Over the years, they now know what I won’t wear and what I like, and they tried to keep me in the dressing room forever with their picks. I made it home with only four, inexpensive, wardrobe pieces for upcoming events, from a store I will someday buy out. And they knocked $15 off the bill for fun.

·         Looking forward to booking another job with a lovely, local artist to take a look at her new home and help with the interior, and maybe do some personalized shopping. This will be a fun job, for sure! Hopefully, I can get it done this month.

·         We had one of those family meetings that you never forget, where everyone sits in stunned silence and then cries after the discussion. It did close in hugs, though. Good times. Praise God for His grace and mercy! And His inexplicable, real-life love…

·         The kefiring process I have going on in the pantry is being investigated by fruit flies. Perhaps they are more intelligent than I gave them credit for, since they were somehow able to pass through the covering and partake in a floating social bath atop the frothy fermentedness. Want some?

·         I drafted a bathroom and a kitchenette for the apartment we are building out soon. Everything will be ADA standard and meet “the rules.” I did my homework.

·         A big bouquet of roses came in the mail for me Friday! Done properly in a stunning rainbow of nature’s colors, it is definitely my big brother Nathanael’s handiwork ordered all the way from Oklahoma. I owe him some cookies, don’t you think?

·         My sister removed about twelve leaves from a Bible! Apparently, it was “loose doctrine” and “the truth was getting out of context.” Thankfully, the pages that came out were the ones shredding out from being memorized by all of us kids over the years. What’s hidden inside us can’t be torn out by any little, helpful fingers.

·         A good friend and I went out on a super-fast, shopping trip over our lunch break to plan an outfit for her upcoming special date. We had to chat some more, so I asked her out to dinner. Is it odd to go out twice in the same day for fun with the same friend? Nope. Never.

·         Last night as I edited photos in the family room and Mom typed emails behind me at her computer, we practically yelled “MoUsE!!” at the same time while scooting our chairs out almost as fast as the little mouse ran past my mother’s bare feet, detoured to run at my bare feet and then disappear…under my bedroom door. It was a long night.

·         My mother picked up matching shirts for all the girls. Soft cotton ruffles of purple for Jess, Elisabeth, Mom, and I. Why do I always wear at least two sizes bigger than anyone else around here? Grrr. I guess it is better than walking around everywhere in their size, looking like Wonder Woman.

·         I got a free professional massage for five minutes and was told I needed a longer one. Inside I was like, “You’re telling me?!?!” Outside I said, “Why are you stopping?!?!”

·         Babysat my favorite little two-year-old, Rueben, and showed him the wonders of fair. Even around his pacifier he knows his animal sounds. Now maybe I just need to instill a little fear in him so he doesn’t think he can suddenly pet the prize-winning steers or give his sippy-cup to a mastiff on two chains?

·         Little Sis and I had a complicated discussion on bitterness and letting things go. It was amazing. Here I was counseling her and helping her evaluate her responses to some recent situations, and she helped me realize I had some old resentment to clean up, too! We dealt with it together with God.

·         I decided once-and-for-all that I want a cushion diamond engagement ring. I showed my mom the bookmarked photo on my phone and explained that it naturally happens to be the most expensive ring commonly available. Will someone please let the poor guy know? Oh, and ask him to get in touch with me within the next ten years sometime. That would be great.

I know. "Fat chance," right?

·         I met a gay coffee barista early one morning. Apparently, he also sells drugs from his ambulance-looking coffee truck. We talked for quite a while after he made my chai. (I watched closely.) After chatting and I had met some of his other patrons who came by while we were talking, I was struck by how creepy life can be under some circumstances. One over-tanned, smoking older woman complained about her bad karma dreams about gang-banging and shoot outs. Another grizzled old guy seemed to eat his cigar while pounding his fists on a lot of things. I have so much to be grateful for in my life. 09/08/11 Correction: My sister who was also there, states that its "not actually the faux-hawk guy who sells the drugs, its the shaggy blonde guy who wears the 'Jesus' shirts who sells the goods." I believe her. She somehow knows these things.

·         August is the month for eating glorious inordinate amounts of ice cream: which pays off in sad, physical demonstration. I greet September with sorrow mingled with joy.

·         Found a chance to chat with several younger girls this week about what they are growing through and what life is throwing at them. I love girls so much! I’m so glad I do not have to walk through those same things again…I get new battles that make the past look epically miniscule…

·         The most happy news this week? We probably found a wedding venue for Ben…for free. Which is good.

If you made it to the end of my week alive just reading this, I salute you. That was an extremely long post…I hope you have a blessed week!