General Randomness

My typical Saturday mornings consist of a trip to the grocery store, filling up my gas tank, and cleaning up around the house. Yesterday was totally not the norm. Instead, I lay in a dark room on a heated bed while Monica rubbed all over me. There was relaxing music, a waterfall somewhere, and I was (almost) completely naked. That's right, folks, my first massage...ever. I lay there thinking up all of the things I could that would keep me from going to sleep because I didn't want to miss out on any of the excitement. Here are some of the thoughts that went through my head.

1. I really hope that this peppermint does not fall out of my mouth and get stuck to the sheets.

2. I really hope that this peppermint does not get lodged in my windpipe and that I choke to death during my first ever massage.

3. There is NO possible way that there are only 2 hands working out the kinks in my back. I'm pretty sure that there are five more people in here and I just cannot see them.

4. Monica truly has a gift. There are so many people who have jobs that are purely those of service. I am thankful that I got to spend an hour on the receiving end!

5. Monica is at Cloud 9 Spa on Maybank Highway. Go see her. You will not regret it.

On Monday, my sweet sister, Karen will spend her morning in a CAT scan machine. When I am with her, I am totally amazed that this kid who wasn't supposed to survive now radiates what it means to be alive...not in a breathing-and-has-a-pulse sense, but truly live...soaking up every once of goodness in the world and passing it along to everyone she meets. I get to spend a long weekend with her in a few weeks. I am so excited to cuddle with her and receive her kisses.
Today is the Super Bowl. I am so excited that I cannot nap. For a bit, I thought that I would be in Pittsburgh watching the game with friends. But after much thought and the knowledge that I'm making a genuine attempt to make financially responsible decisions, I am here instead. So, in an effort to entertain myself (and to convince the world that I am a total freak - as if any more convincing were required), my "friends" have joined me in Charleston for the festivities. Enjoy the pictures!

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My Mind is All Twisted Like a Pretzel...I Got a Pretzel in My Head!

One of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies.

But pretty indicative of how I'm feeling right now. And since I've had trouble going to sleep for the past few nights because of my pretzelly thoughts, perhaps some blogging will help me straighten it all out. Or get it out of my system at least.

Do you ever feel like you're stuck in a bubble? Only you're not alone in the bubble? Maybe your whole life is in the bubble with you: work, home, chores, colleagues, grocery stores, the gum on the bottom of your shoe. I'm stuck in a bubble with my own life.

And I'm blessed. I know that I am. And I am so thankful for what God has given me and shown me and what He teaches me.

But I am so sick of being in this bubble. Because where I feel safe, secure, steady...is not where I am.

I am LITERALLY in the exact same place I was a year ago. I am sitting in the same spot with the same laptop. Tonight, I've been working on the same Boards. I'm doing the yearbook. Same. And I am pining for a place where I am not.

A big part of me feels so selfish about all of this. Who am I to complain or doubt or not have complete faith in the One who has put me where He has put me? And I want so desperately to be elsewhere?

Father, let me view where I am not as a bubble or a rut, but as the place that You have me for such a time as this. And if it is Your will, open the doors...pop the bubble...

that I might find someplace new.

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For My NonFacebook Friends - HOLLA!!!

So, there's this thing going around facebook where you post 25 random things about yourself. I normally do not participate in such fodder, but this was fun. And it makes me sound a lot more (or less) interesting than I actually am!

1. I have only one t-shirt that I can sleep in comfortably. I have had it since high school. It's a Reebok Steelers shirt with about 10 holes in it. Any other shirt I wear gets all wrapped around me in the middle of the night and I wake up very frustrated. Not so with my Steelers tee.

2. I really like being rubbed. Not in a pervy way. I like having my feet rubbed, and my head rubbed, and my back rubbed. My mom used to trace around the features of my face to help me relax at night. I always liked that.

3. Numerous people have told me that I should have been a comedienne. I hope that it's more a reflection of my quick wit and sarcasm as opposed to any crappy teaching methods.

4. I love the word "toot." I think it's hilarious. I hate the word "fart." It's crass.

5. I occasionally still sleep with my blankie. It's not my original blankie, though because it was lost long ago (I'm pretty sure my baby-sitter stole it). My blankie was made by my mother's mother and as a result of much loving, it has holes so big that I can actually pull it over my head. Which I do every once in a while.

6. I am the youngest of 6 children. Three boys and three girls. And I am the only white girl.

7. I think that the number sequence for my birthday is the most beautiful number sequence ever...3-8-82. See? Isn't it pretty?

8. I had a dog named Stud for almost 15 years. He died in my arms almost three years ago and it was the saddest day of my life. I promised myself I'd never love another dog like I loved him. A week later, I got Weezie. She weighs 67.2 pounds and likes to sleep in my lap. I love her.

9. I love the Pittsbugh Pirates. I don't care what anyone says.

10. A little part of me wishes I had stuck with career path numero uno: midwifery.

11. I think that kids with ADD are the funniest creatures on the planet. I plan on writing down the random things I've heard in my five years of teaching. I will publish said book, make lots oooh look! A chicken...

12. I have ADD. I am not medicated.

13. The most fun I've ever had at 1:30am was when Saint Jo and I participated in a wii bowling competition.

14. I am really proud of my parents and of who they are in our family and society.

15. I have a "nonteacher teacher bag" (that's actually how we refer to it in my family) because in graduate school I was really into teacher identity and didn't want to have an LL Bean canvas teacher bag like all of the other teachers I know. I love my leather messenger nonteacher teacher bag.

16. The first thing I think of every morning is Pittsburgh.

17. Ok, technically, I think of Pittsburgh second. Because first I think about how much I hate the sound of my alarm clock.

18. One of my favorite sounds is a chorus of children's voices.

19. Kevan and I sometimes get into terrible fits of laughter when neither of us can catch our breaths. Those are good times and normally take place in church or the grocery store.

20. My first kiss was in the fifth grade. I have not been kissed for four years.

21. I have a dangerous addiction to Coca Cola. For this reason, it is no longer permitted in the refrigerator. I once drank a 12 pack of Coke in less than 24 hours.

22. When I sneeze, I wet my pants just a little bit.

23. I once sneezed 47 times in a row. Had to change my pants.

24. My first childhood memory is of my dad guiding me into Karen's hospital room right after her drowning accident. He made me tell her hello before he would buy me a Snickers bar. Incidentally, my sister is my best bud and we "talk" on the phone almost every day. I hate Snickers bars.

25. I firmly believe that whoever discovered "fleece" is a freaking genius!

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A Really Good News Week

I am an absolute news junkie. Well, I should clarify. I am a national-world news junkie. I can't stand watching or reading the local news (not sure if it's the lack of relevancy or the bitter attitudes toward public education).

But I love national-world news. And some days, it's really crappy. The fighting in Gaza. That wanker investor who lost everyone's money. The nutjob who faked his own death because he wanted to avoid prosecution. The idiot Anthony's who literally stole a little girl's life away and display zero remorse whatsoever.

I'm not sure why I watch that stuff. None of it really makes me feel good about anything. But occasionally...just every once in a while...there's a good news week. And for that reason, I am most thankful for CNN and the fact that I get to watch it on my basic cable!

This whole plane crashing into the Hudson River on Wednedsay. I was actually sitting in a bar trying to warm up with a Winter Lager when the broadcaster cut in with the news. How amazing that those folks trusted one another enough to stand out on the sides of a friggin' airplane. How amazing that the pilot stayed calm enough to land the plane in the water in the first place. How amazing that all of those ferries were in the water to get everyone off the plane. How amazing that people recall hearing prayers all over the airplane.

And then there's my man, Barack. I have thought really highly of this man since he was elected to the Senate however many years ago. I'm drawn to folks who inspire. Who say what they're thinking. Who love their families. And now that Obama is moving into the White House, I feel really hopeful. Not the hope that I find in my salvation or in my family or in my faith...but hope that means that our country is going to be ok. That we'll be able to claw ourselves out of the rut we're in.

Finally...as if I need to even include this, Sunday night at approximately 10:30 was perhaps one of the happiest moments of my life. Not because I'd just watched the Steelers beat the feathers off the Ravens, or because Polamalu got a big play, or because Big Ben threw the ball to the boys in Black and Gold more than to the other team...but because of what number 7 said when he was asked what it felt like to be going to another Superbowl, "The Lord is good." Yeah, He is! And how amazing that minutes after winning a huge game, the first thing the team captain says is such a wonderful, perfect fact! I missed the press conference Mike Tomlin gave later, but he spoke to the media about how "iron sharpens iron."

So, I'm a news junkie. And everyday, past the corrupt politicians and stock brokers, past the ignorance, the bitterness, the hate...

...There He Is...

Landing a plane in the middle of a river.
Offering guidance to world leaders.
Remaining in the forefront of a team captain's mind.

Forgive me, Lord, for the moments that I don't see You because I'm not looking. I praise You for being ever near. Ever moving. Ever loving. Ever teaching.

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A Good Night

I never thought that walking quietly down a Folly Beach residential street would gain rank as one of my favorite moments ever...but it did. It does.
A while ago I asked for prayer for friends who had discovered that they are expecting a sweet baby in April. I'm happy to share with you now that those friends are my brother, Kreg, and his wife, Angela! Their lives were pretty much flipped upside down when they found out that they would be biological parents, after having been told numerous times that they would not. Imagine their (and our) surprise when in October, they took into their care two foster kids, Dominic (4) and Aidan (2). So our Christmas this year, a holiday that is normally very quiet and somewhat ho-hum, was anything but. With two little guys who are a constant reminder of family and unconditional love.

After a late night dinner at a little diner, my dad, Kreg, Angela, Aidan, Karen and I walked back to our rental house. The sky was crystal clear. Aidan rode on Kreg's shoulders and Dad sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" softly in Karen's ear. And I'm not sure what made it so perfect, but it was.
I've thought about Dominic and Aidan constantly since dropping them off at the airport on New Year's Eve. I worry about the "what if's." What if their parents get it together and Kreg and Angela have to let them go? What if their parents don't really have it together and cause the boys pain again? Will you join me in prayer for these little guys? For Kreg and Angela? For the boys' biological parents? For other kids who are in really sticky situations?
My family has always been so important to me. I'm thankful that my parents were involved in my life as I became an adult and that as such, I consider them my best friends. I hope you had a chance to really enjoy those you love over the holidays and as we all plummet back into our routines, that we remember where we came from, Who we came from, and Who we live for!

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Recipes

So, the fact that I even have an entry titled "recipes" makes me chuckle a bit. Never one to spend much time being productive in the kitchen, I've gotten a little brave as of late and have made some pretty good attempts at some tasty delights. Here are a few:

Peppermint Bark

Melt 18oz. white chocolate.

Break apart candy canes into bits no bigger than 1/4 in.

mix that junk up in a bowl.

Add a splash of peppermint extract.

Pour over some parchment paper and chill for about 45 minutes.

Break that mess apart and eat it up.

Lazy Pierogie Casserole

Put yourself 5 lasagna noodles (al dente) in the bottom of a glass 9x13ish dish.

Mix up an egg, 2 c. of cottage cheese and a dash of onion salt.

Plop that mixture right on top of those noodles.

Put yourself another layer of lasagna noodles on top of that.

Then put 2 c. of mashed potatoes with about a cup of cheddar cheese mixed in.

Put yet one more layer of lasagna noodles and then melt a c. of butter and mix that up with a c. of diced onions...dribble that deliciousness on the top of your casserole.

Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350.

Porkchops a la Orange (or whatever)

Sear 4 boneless porkchops with a bit of salt and pepper.

Generously sprinkle some cinnamon on those bad boys.

Dump a can of mandarin oranges (with juices) on top.

Cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

Serve over egg noodles.

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

If you've got recipes, send 'em my way!

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EKS

Ena's first bath!

What a blessing a sweet new life is! I spent a majority of my time away from work over the past two weeks in the nursery at St. Francis Hospital, holding on to dear little Ena. The hospital plays a lullaby over the loudspeaker anytime a baby is born. One night, Ena and I hummed along to the song three times as more sweet little babies were brought into this crazy, wonderful world! Ena is home now, praise the Lord. Please continue to pray for her. She'll be on an apnea monitor for quite a while. Her parents are rockstars - handling everything with grace and a wonderful sense of humor.

Have a great week!

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