Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Vegetarianism

I’m thinking about becoming a vegetarian.

Maybe not permanently but for a little while. It’s something I’ve thought about several times over the last few years, and I think I’m going to give it a go. I’m not going to jump right into it. I want to do some reading on it and try to figure out what kind of things I can and can’t eat. And as much as I get annoyed at PETA telling me that a chicken is more important than me; I went to their web site just to see what it said. And after learning some things that solidify the fact that I will never eat KFC again, I found some interesting things to think about prior to taking this on.

I don’t even know why I want to try this so badly. I just kind of wonder if I can, I suppose. It’s a lifestyle that’s interested me for years, and whenever I talk to someone about it, it really piques my interest. So, why not? Maybe it’ll last a month or two. Maybe it’ll last a year or two. And who knows, maybe it’ll end up becoming a lifelong decision.

We’ll see…

Friday, June 15, 2007

How Sweet a Love...

“I am so grateful to the Lord that He gave me Ruth,” Billy Graham said in a statement issued after her death. “Especially for these last few years ... We've rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven."


I would love nothing more than to have a husband who would say this about me when we’re old and gray like Billy and Ruth Graham… what a love it must be.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Sweet Home Chicago

I’M GOING HOME THIS WEEKEND!!!

In case you can’t tell, I’ve very excited about this! I haven’t seen my parents, brothers (I have 2), sisters-in law (also 2!), and the kiddos (you guessed it… 2) since Christmas! I haven’t actually even met my nephew yet, and he’s 6 months old already! The thing is, as excited as I am, I’ll be ready to get back to Tennessee by the end of my four days home.

I will always love Chicago. It will always be a fantastic place to visit. But Tennessee holds my friends, my church, my job. It holds my life. At least right now it does. I feel that it was God that led me here to live, and that’s what I’m doing. But I know that as quickly as He said “Move to Tennessee” He can tell me to move somewhere else. Not that I’m planning on moving!!!

And the funny thing is, when I go back… it almost feels strange being there. Even just within my family, I’m sort of the stranger. My nephew will be 6 months old and he’s never seen me. My niece will be 2 in August, and I’ve only seen her five or six times. And I hate it. I love my family. They are the most important thing in my life after my faith (who would I be without my Savior?). I wish, sometimes that things could be different. That I’d be able to spend more of my life and my time with my family, and then I go home and feel like a stranger in what was once my life.

When I’m here. When I’m in Tennessee. It’s an effort to even talk to a family member that isn’t one of my parents. It’s either I make contact in some way with my brothers, or I don’t talk to them at all. So half of the time I think of them here, I’m either annoyed or sad. I’m either missing them, or wishing they’d make some sort of an effort to pretend they want to keep in touch with me. And I know they ask my parents how I’m doing. And I know they care. I just wish I knew it in a way that wasn’t entirely mental.

I know I’m where I’m supposed to be and I know this is God’s will for my life. But I wish sometimes I knew why. And I know we’re not supposed to question His authority, but sometimes I wonder about His decisions. I waver often between trusting Him with my life and taking control over it. He is ultimately in charge and I tend to really screw things up whenever I take charge on my own… but for some reason, I can never quite stop trying…

So, I’m going home this weekend. Is it weird that I find myself both excitedly nervous and apprehensive all at the same time?

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Some Humor for a Wednesday

Well, here it is Wednesday, and I’m at an office where the chances for complete boredom are at a very high percent. So, I thought for fun I would tell you all a story. A true story. A very humorous story. It’s about me. And, for the record, I am truly surprised that I haven’t told this to any of you yet since I found it really silly!!

It all begins last week Friday morning. I didn’t have to work until 10 at our Memorial branch, so I slept in (8:30!). Well, I was going into my bathroom to take a shower, and I realized that Lindy had someone with her in the living room (I found out later it was her case-worker). For some reason I don’t ever take my glasses with me off of my nightstand in the morning; so I’m pretty blind until I put my contacts in. Well, I’m in the shower, and I notice something bug-like on my shower curtain. Right on top of my shower curtain, so if I sprayed water at it, I’d have had to dry my whole bathroom… not an option in my book! Well, I’d only just started washing my hair, and I got freaked out. But Lindy has someone in the living room, and I need to go to work. So, I’m standing sideways in the shower washing my hair while staring at the very large looking bug thing thinking that I wish I’d had my glasses, contemplating lasik (which I can’t afford), and wondering why I don’t put in my contacts before I take a shower.

Let me tell you, that was the fastest shower I’ve ever taken… and I’ve taken some pretty quick showers!!!

Well, I’m trying to get out of the shower without jarring the bug-ish (still not knowing exactly what it is) and I turn the shower off with my foot (I’m good, I know) and get out the backwards way; at least in my normalcy. It means that I’m getting out of my shower and trying not to trip over my toilet or something like that. Keep in mind, while all of this is going on, I am still staring at the bug-like thing just waiting for it to move.

*Is it just me or do all girls have the paranoia that the bug will jump on them while they’re in the shower?*

So, I go over and put my contacts in, and look at the top of my shower curtain… I know, this where you’re thinking I’m going to say it wasn’t a bug at all; but something else entirely! But you’d be wrong. It was a bug!!! Heh heh… It’s a bug… with large antennae… ugh. So, here I am, standing in my bathroom wearing just a robe and a towel on my head, with Lindy and her case worker on the other side of my door and I have what I later learn is a cricket on the top edge of my shower curtain!!!

So, I did what any self-respecting girl would do. I grabbed my plunger and lightly tapped my shower curtain to see what it would do. Turns out, crickets jump when you tap your shower curtain with a plunger… just for future reference…

So, the cricket lands on the floor. Not knowing what exactly to do and realizing that I’m still holding a plunger like a baseball bat, I switch my hole to more of a two handed backhand in tennis, and start trying to beat the crap out of the cricket!! Man that thing could jump! I’d hit it, and it would go again… it even tried to get back up the shower curtain!!! *wham* jump, *wham* jump, *wham* jump… over and over again until I successfully kill the cricket.

After which, I had to walk out of the bathroom… past Lindy and her caseworker… so I could finish getting ready for work.

Do you think her caseworker thinks I need a caseworker??