Monday, July 30, 2007

Harry Potter

I finished the book last Saturday night/Sunday morning at about 3:00am. It was goood. The king of good that requires three o's. And I must say that I shed more than a few tears, particularly on pages 475-481. But I don't want to ruin anything for the readers out there who have not yet gotten to read the book, so I'll stop with that.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

All the Mixed Emotions

Today I am just a big emotional time bomb. Emotions, emotions, emotions. Does anybody rememer that song "I Enjoy Being a Girl" from that old musical Flower Drum Song? Well, it is high time somebody wrote about how they don't enjoy being a girl. Here are a few alternate titles:
1. I Loathe and Despise Being a Girl
2. I Enjoy Being a Girl Approximately One Weekend Per Month
3. I Enjoy Being an Emotionally Unstable, Semi-psychotic Nut Job aka Girl
4. I'd Enjoy Being a Girl Were It Not for the Whole Having to Live With Myself Thing
5. I'd Enjoy a Break From Being a Girl

Anyhow. . .

Rodger and Angela weren't at church today. They moved yesterday. I looked around our little church building and I saw many faces. Some of these were faces I hardly knew, some I had known for sometime, and some were faces of my own family members. But despite all the many connections I have with many of the wonderful people there, I knew that this was just not my church home anymore. It was a reassuring feeling and an uncomfortable feeling. Reassuring that in my heart of hearts I knew that the decision I made to go to Chapel Hill is one that I am at peace with and excited about. Uncomfortable because I still do not have a definite departure date or a job or living arrangements or so many other "details" worked out.

Today I also found out that there is a chance my brother and his family might be moving back to Augusta in the not-too-distant future. Break my heart why don't you. He comes just as I go. Why couldn't the timing be different? Why couldn't he have come back a year ago? I miss my brother sooooooo much.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

What Happens at the Grandparents' House Stays at the Grandparents' House

But not really, because I am blogging it.

My parents babysat James last night.

This morning my mom, my dad, and I enjoyed a yummy omlette breakfast (prepared by yours truly). After breakfast we lazily drank our coffee and chatted about life in general. But when my parents' dog Abbi came into the livingroom, the conversation went something like this. . .

Mom: What's that pink stuff on Abbi's back?
Dad: James may have gotten into your Mary Kay stuff last night and put it on the dog.
Mom: Tom! Were you even watching James?!
Dad: (Quite indignant) Yes! I watched him do it.
Me: (laughed till I cried)

A Much Needed Dance Therapy Session

Who: Dottie Lee and Dianna Lindsey
What: Dancing the night away to 70s music (with a few throw ins from the 80s and 90s)
Where: The Soul Bar
When: Last night
Why: Dottie needed a break from her lame and boring life. Dianna needed a break from her stressful and chaotic life.
How: Mike watched the Lindsey kiddos and Soul Bar gave the ladies free cover.

And completely unrelated to that, I now have the latest Harry Potter in my possession and I'm going to finish it today.

Also unrelated to that, Rodger and Angela move to Chapel Hill today! Yay!

Finally, I am house sitting for a couple of days (starting tomorrow) and then going to the worship conference. So if you don't hear from me. . . that's what I'm doing.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

The Trouble With Having No Life

These days when I get off of work, I run an errand or two and then come home. This is usually all done by 5:30 or 6:00. Some nights I spend about an hour job hunting. Other nights I don't do anything but anxiously wait for the clock to reach my bedtime. I am having a couple of problems with this.
Problem #1: I am getting depressed about how lame my life is.
Problem #2: I go to bed way too early and then wake up at 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning ready to start my day.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Eight Reasons to Celebrate

1. My niece Elianna was dedicated at church this morning. So was Rodger's nephew Jonah.

2. Julie's birthday is tomorrow! (She's turning thirty, and I'm next in line for it. Yikes!)

3. Rodger and Angela are moving to Chapel Hill this week! Hopefully I won't be far behind them.

4. My boss gave me two days off to go to a worship leader's training conference and Greenleaf Vineyard paid my registration fees and I got hooked up with free lodging and I am carpooling with a group from church, which means I won't have to take my car because no one in their right mind would pick my car as the most reliable transportation option. Yay! Can't wait to go!

5. Pat is going to let me borrow his copy of the latest Harry Potter book as soon as his roommate Sean is done reading it.

6. Today I finished my film with all my CA pics on it. I'll get them developed sometime this week.

7. I got to see my brother and his family today. I love them.

8. I had an awesome nap with my nephew today. It was fan-freakin-tastic.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Cute, Funny Kid Story

I don't have nearly so many of these nowadays, since I'm not teaching and hanging out with six year olds seven hours a day/five days a week. But today I get to share my co-worker's cute, funny kid story.

At work my co-worker, Carol, went to the restroom, as it must be done from time to time. She came out of the stall and a little girl is stood there clapping for her. The girl's grandmother was standing there also. Bewildered, Carol looked at the grandmother as the child kept applauding her. The grandmother informed Carol that the girl's mother always claps for her when she uses the potty. So now the little girl thinks that you are supposed to clap when someone/anyone uses the potty.

Way to go Carol!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

My Newest Way to Kill Time

fanpop.com

Sara got my hooked. I've been watching hours of the Office for the last two days and now I'm on to Scrubs. Life is good.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Quote of the Day

"I used to think I was a good Christian, and then I got married. . ."
-my sister

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Harry Potter

I went to Charleston with Alice and Bee Jay yesterday to catch Harry Potter on the 3-D Imax screen. I was disappointed. The movie was good, but not all I thought it should be. Out of the three of us, Bee Jay was the only one whose 3d glasses worked properly. I just saw a regular screen with one or two moments that maybe, kinda, sorta looked like they were in 3d. Poor Alice saw three of everything and could hardly tell what was going on.

Here are my words of wisdom regarding this movie. If you want to see this movie, but have not seen the previous HP movies or read the books, you must, must, must at the very least watch the previous movies before going to this one. This movie will not make sense to you at all otherwise. Reading the book before seeing the movie will help you get alot more of the movie. Movies always leave out stuff from the book. This move left out tons of stuff and made references to stuff that happened in the book, but didn't go into full explanation of that reference. So you get alot more if you have read the book(s).

Friday, July 13, 2007

Top 3 Reasons I Have Bragging Rights

Yesterday, was a day of accomplishment for me. . .

3. That overwhelming pile of work on my desk (built up to a monstrous level while I was away for a week) is finally back down to a very reasonable, doable size pile. Yay!

2. I finally got up the nerve to have a conversation that I knew I needed to have. You know the kind. The conversation that you are dreading, and 5 times a day you play out how it will go and what you will say. Well, I did it. It went reasonably well, as those types of conversations go. Double Yay!!

and now, the moment you've all been waiting for. . .
. . . the number 1 reason why I am so awesome. . .

Yesterday, I paid the FINAL payment on one of my student loans!!!!!! Quadruple YAY!!!!

Monday, July 09, 2007

The First Day Back

Technically I've been back for two days, but today was the first day back to work. Even when you have the world's greatest boss, the first day back to work after a week's vacation is never too much fun. A week's worth of work piled up on your desk just waiting for you to sort through and decide what is most urgent and what is not so urgent. Then try and tackle it all while current work steadily flows into your inbox. Plus you are jet lagged and you have no clue when you will see your next vacation day, so you don't feel like you have much to look forward to. Sure, it's not all as bad as it feels. I do have weekends and evenings always off, which is a step up from many of my former jobs. I am guaranteed to have off on major holidays. I have it pretty good really, but try telling me that on my first day back to work after a week in California with my best friend.
Luckily, Dianna called me and invited me to go swimming with her and her girls this evening after work. So that cheered me up considerably, and likewise did the phone message from Sara and getting to see my nephew and niece on my lunch break.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Leaving Your Best Friend Sucks

Today I leave my best friend, and I am bumming about that. But let's not dwell on unpleasantries for too long.

The rest of my stay here in the great state of California has been wonderful.

Wednesday was the fourth of July and I went with Sara and Rosemary to Monterey's festivities. This included alot of sun, alot of fried foods, alot of good music, alot of dancing, and alot of walking. Later that night Sara and I watched the fireworks on the beach. It was loverly.

Thursday we did Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is kinda of like beach town meets college town. I liked it. I quite easily see myself living there. Anyhow, Sara and I walked the boardwalk and around town for several hours. We did a little shopping. Later that night we danced the night away to 80s music at the Blue Lagoon. Sara found a little Irish boyfriend at the bar and I found a homeless man at Taco Bell at 2 in the morning, proof that I have not lost my touch.

Friday was a good day too. We went to the aquarium. I decided that if I was ever homeless I would save up enough money to purchase a membership at the aquarium and spend all day, everyday there. I loved, loved, loved it. I also got a little of the history in Cannery Row. We had dinner at a yummy Indian restaurant. Friday night we went and saw a terrible band. It was scary, but I'm trying to block it from my mind so let's not talk about that anymore. After that we moved our little party to a British pub. We had a jolly good time. It reminded me of the days of the Silly Willy Girls Club, and I wished that Esther and Angella and Kim were there so we could have a little Silly Reunion.

So that brings us to today. My last day. Sigh. Well the plan is to go to Carmel this morning and then head to San Fransico. My flight goes out this evening. I get to Atlanta at 5 in the morning, which will not be fun. My lovely parents are picking me up and then it is back to Augusta. Sigh.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Top 10 List

Sara and I did some brainstorming the other night and came up with a scategories sheet full of terrible ways to propose to someone. In no particular order, here are a few for your enjoyment.

1. Begin the proposal with "My therapist says. . ."

2. Tell your parents that you are already engaged, then invite the uninformed guy over for lunch with you and your parents.

3. Stand up at church and announce that you are pregnant with ______'s baby (even though you aren't), but you want to make the situation right so you are asking him to marry you.

4. "All my life I've been abused by men. You are the first guy I feel safe around. Will you marry me?"

5. Inform the guy that you are actually an illegal alien and you are trying to get your green card. Go on to say that since you figured that no one else would ever want to marry him, he should be a good friend and marry you.

6. Tell the guy that you were torn between him and another guy. The other guy was superior to him in almost every way. But since he has a higher earning potential than the other guy, you want to marry him.

7. Tell him that his freinds begged you to propose to him.

8. Begin proposal with "This is probably the drugs talking, but. . . "

9. Tell him you were very conflicted about getting married to him. But then you said to yourself "why not? There's always divorce."

10. Tell him it was a word from God.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Napa Valley

I think California might be the promised land. It is stunningly beautiful.

I went to Napa Valley yesterday with Sara. We did a tour of a winery, which ended in tasting four different delicious wines. I ended up buying two and a half bottles of rather expensive wine (Sara and I split the cost for one). When buying wine my price range is normally in the under $10 category, but I figure it isn't everyday this Georgia girl is in wine country so I splurged a little.

On Sunday, we did church and a little hike and a movie. We went to see this movie called Once. I loved it. It is not really a super climactic movie with tons of highs and lows. It is more like Breakfast at Tiffanys. It is more of just a glimpse into someone else's life. If you are a music person, this is a must see. If you are an independent film person, this is a must see. I came back from the movie thinking about all the things that I just don't say to people and all the things I let slip by, and on having the wisdom to know when it really is best to let things go unsaid or undone and when it is best to speak up or stand up and at least try to make things happen.

Anyhow, today we are supposed to do another hike and some kayaking. Then tonight we are going to see The Princess Bride at a drive-in movie!

Sunday, July 01, 2007

I'm Here!

So I'm here in Monterey, and I am happy. I'm happy to be in this beautiful city. I am happy to be with my best friend. I am happy about having paid vacation. I am happy to not be on a plane or in a car anymore.

I had a sixteen hour trip yesterday. All my flights went smoothly. All my luggage arrived with me. So really, what more could you ask for. I flew with midwest airlines and they offer freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on all their flights (yummy!). I had three flights, which meant my dietary intake for the day was six cookies, three coffees, and one diet pepsi. You might think that isn't enough, but when all you do is sit on a plane or in a car all day long you don't really feel like eating. Anyhow, Sara picked me up in San Fransisco and we headed for Monterey. The drive was beautiful, but I was motion sick. So every fifteen minutes we had to pull off to the side of the road so I could, quite literally, toss my cookies. By the time we got there I wanted to kiss the ground.

So here I am, not sick anymore, and enjoying the view from the Kauffman's apartment. I love being with the Kauffman's. Whenever I am with them, no matter where we are at, I always feel like I am at home.