| road trip 2 |
[Apr. 26th, 2010|07:13 pm] |
it's monday night. i got to amanda, john, and john paul's house around 330 saturday afternoon. we played on the porch, went to get some dinner, and caught up on each other's lives. I can't believe how long its been since i got to do that with amanda...for starters, John Paul is 16 months old, it was the first time i had met him. He is amazing, funny, and sweet. I loved that amanda said "i don't care what he grows up to be, a doctor or a garbage man, just as long as he loves God. and I hope that he has the same personality always."
Sunday, I slept in, then we went for a walk before Amanda introduced me to Bachi Ball (sp?) and then we went to the Red Elephant for lunch. amanda tried to teach me about NASCAR, and we played on the porch some more.
I got to stay in my own little awesome garage apartment. I had a blast with them!!!
I left when they did this morning and went to run and read on the beach for about 2 hours before hopping in the car, programming my new tom-tom, and hitting the road. LONG day of driving, but i get to spend the next few days in my home away from home: lake louisa state park camp site #41. My tent is set up, my laundry is washing. I'm showered and slathered in bugspray. i have fresh tomatoes for a sandwich and florida oranges for dessert.
it would be perfect if not for the turkey vulture on my picnic table staring at me...i hope is still have my eyes in the morning. |
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| road trip 1 |
[Apr. 26th, 2010|07:02 pm] |
well, this trip is starting out per usual for me :) I got up this morning while it was storming and went to pick up my rental car. I got there a few minutes early. The agent was looking out the door and actually ran to hide...i guess he cherishes those last 15 minutes of freedom. No worries, when the time was right i got the car...
i went home to pack and wait out the rain. 30 minutes later i was loaded up, but suddenly the car's gas hand had gone down a fourth of a tank...i had only gone 2 miles. i took it back...swapped out and hit the road..
rain all the way to dothan, but it seems to be clearing up now. i've had "mandela's way" to keep me company, so time has flown by pretty fast. i got distracted in the story i guess, and somehow looped around dothan, by using the business 231 and suddenly found myself facing a sign tellilng me how many miles until montgomery...back on track now.
i ws feeling hungry once i hit dothan...first stop, they weren't open yet...second stop, i waited 12 minutes, and when no one had taken my drink order i left...third times the charm.
got a weird phone call a couple of hours ago. I didn't recognize the number but thought i'd answer in case it was work related. the lady said "hey (mumble mumble) sorry about last night..." i said "what?" she repeated herself, and this time when i didn't recognize the voice i asked her who it was. Artinella is the best i can come up with . I told her i thought she had the wrong number and so she said okay...so what's your name? (answer) where you from?(answer) how old are you? (answer)cool. (who were you trying to call?) my friend (oh, well, again, i think you have the wrong number) okay, well do you want to talk? (?????um thanks, but i think i'd better concentrate on driving.) okay, well if you want to call me back, you can.
okay ms, 205-540-2898. I'll do that.
maybe i should've talked to her, but i'm not really a phone kind of gal...it's on a need to talk basis...now i feel bad. but if anyone reading this likes to talk on the phone....give her a call. she's apparently bored.
i'm also confused by the traffic sign annouceing upcoming road work...it says "this requires your undivided attention" okay, then quit distracting me.
i need more mandela
this is DAY ONE of a seven day trip...should i be scared? |
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| a typical sunday... |
[Mar. 21st, 2010|02:24 pm] |
actually, i don't know what a typical day is...but that's okay with me.
i'm sitting here waiting on a load of kitchen towels to dry so that i can go in to work. There is a group coming to Urban Ministry from a UMC church in Pennsylvania today. I still have some cleaning and grocery sorting to do at the dorm to get ready for them. Luckily, it has been a very busy March. Luckily, we get a break after this week. :)
i got my hair cut and re-pinked yesterday. i actually did it, not just because i happen to like it and think it's fun, but also because a lady at church told me that she was waiting on my hair to be one color again...i don't think my hair has EVER been one color; and she thinks i'm a red head, which was never true, but what she prefers. I'm always fascinated by the reactions to it. especially at church. they range from "i wish i had the guts to do that" to looks of outright disgust...it's just hair people. and if you turn away from people simply because of the way they look, then you are missing out on knowing some great people.
This past week, we had a great group of youth from Asbury UMC in Madison. They painted 7 houses. (did you know that in Alabama, your insurance can be dropped due to home appearance, including painting?) anyway, they were able to show grace and love in some difficult situations and i know they made God smile. Not every one is easy to love, but everyone needs love! There was one situation where a neighbor of the house they were painting was particularly nasty one day, yelling at them over a garbage can. The next morning, that neighbor had asked to see me and while i was on her porch, some of the youth came over with flowers and a card for her. I imagine that accepting that Grace in that moment felt like Hell to her. But hopefully, she felt love through it all.
When someone is so controlling over a garbage can, then something in their life-- maybe life itself--is out of control. They were able to recognize that and love her through it. I hope i can be more like them this week.
oops, dryer buzzer just went off. Now i go to work.Though, when you love your job as much as i do, its hardly ever really work. |
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| aaahhhh! the new year! |
[Jan. 6th, 2010|01:58 pm] |
Thanksgiving was good! Christmas was holy but hard! But i LOVE the new year! i know in my head that there is no real break in time, it just continues, but i love the feeling of new beginnings, fresh starts, a yearly do over! and I am going to embrace it with all i have!
When i say that Christmas was holy but hard I mean that for the first time in a long time, I gave myself whole heartedly to the process of advent! Partly because i had agreed to lead an advent study based on "manna and Mercy" and the prep time for that was good for me. Teaching that class is by nature hard, you have to really put yourself out there, and that was good for me. I was very intentional about my "gift giving" and participated in the advent conspiracy. Each gift led to time spent with the receiver...i hope it was good for them too :) Christmas is a hard time for me. honestly, it is a hard time to be single, surrounded by families, and i tend to withdraw. But the new year helps :)
resolutions: (not in order of importance)
1. to win UAB's biggest loser contest with my friend Eartha!
2. Pray and live The Prayer of st francis daily.
3. move closer to being debt free
4. get to know my neighbors
5. laugh alot!
6. forgive more!
7. love extravagantly.
8. leave a smaller footprint.
i'm serious! :) call me on it! |
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| square pegs and marathons |
[Dec. 6th, 2009|09:32 pm] |
after the half marathon on saturday, i booked myself an hour long deep tissue massage (which i highly recommend). In the lobby of the "spa" (use that word loosely) to which i had walked in very slowly, a man told me that he would never understand why people do "those things". I can't answer for everyone...i can only answer for me. we live in a pretty competative world, incase you haven't noticed. But, i've always been a square peg in a world of round holes. I was the girl who, though i loved to win, could feel the dissappointment of loss weighing heavy on my opponents' shoulders. I was the one who might cry (no tebow jokes here) even if we won. just one of the ways, i never seemed to fit in. luckily, i was taught early on that fitting in wasn't necessarily my job...
back to marathons...there are many different reasons why someone may choose to do it. for me, i have a goal, and my only real competition is me. i remember that after the first year of the memphis st jude marathon I called home and my nephew, levi, answered the phone. I told him that i had just finished and he said "did you win?" i said, yes. and i meant it. bc for me, losing would had been to not finish, crossing hte finish line, was winning. i probably should have corrected him when he told others though...
last saturday, i beat my own time, that was my only goal other than finishing. while it wasn't as fast as i'd hope, there's peace in knowing that i can do better. and i will.
wait, that's not my point. when i finished, i went to shower, then through food line, then i hobbled to my car several blocks away. by this time, almost an hour had passed, on top of the almost three and a half hours since the start of the race. as i drove to my massage, i got to pass the the runners and walkers doing the full marathon as they rounded their last curve. I remember one man limping toward the finish line as blood ran down his leg, a couple holding hands and walking very slowly while talking quietly to each other, a woman crying as she ran...they all had different reasons for registering for that same race. different goals, different victories. in that moment my role changed, i honked my car horn and yelled "looking good :) you can do it! you've got this!!! "
marathons are little micro-worlds. sometimes you are the runner, sometimes you cheer others on. sometimes you are searching for inspiration, sometimes you are inspiring others.
somewhere around mile 6 or 7, we ran through st jude's hospital campus. doctors, nurses, family members, patients were there to root us on. there were signs and balloons and smiling faces. one sign said "if hannah can do her treatments, then you can do this" and there was a picture of a little baldheaded hannah. and suddenly, i remembered being back in panama, safe in my hotel bed, knowing that familes were still walking home from the medical clinic...some were not even half way home...if they can do that....
so why do i do it...i'm weird. and i always learn something. this time, while i was reminded that i should actually train for a half marathon i register for because if you don't then it will hurt. I also learned a little bit more about our human condition and compassion and God and life. and, ultimatly, i'm better for it.
now if you will excuse me.. Celtic Woman is on PBS and this is generally when i pull out my violin/fiddle and pretend to play while dancing around and slinging my hair like the woman on there... tonight i will be a little slower, unable to jump as high, but jump i will.
did i mention that its a lot more fun to be a square peg if you just embrace it??? |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 1st, 2009|11:36 am] |
did you know that rape is NOT illegal in some places?
did you know that there is still discussion over what is "torture?
did you know that some people still think it is okay to hit another person when in disagreement?
did you know that for most folks it is still more important to be RIGHT than to learn to live together peacefully?
why is it that as technology improves--gets faster, better, more efficent--humanity doesn't seem to move forward at all? |
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| it's been a while! |
[Nov. 30th, 2009|12:39 am] |
i don't know if anyone even checks this anymore...i forget to update. i was randomly checking a friend's blog today and saw where it said that i had updated 14 weeks ago. that's a pretty long time. a lot has happened; during the last 14 weeks i have:
--attended four funerals
--attended three birthday parties
--attended two manna and mercy retreats
--lost another 22 pounds (bringing the total to 38)
--became a vegetarian
--visited a childhood friend for the weekend.
--went to panama
--housesat for three different families
i guess i could go on, but it's not that exciting of a list. The point is that time is flying by...I can't believe that its almost december! and that in another month it will be 2010. WOW!
My dad and i searched my old highschool yearbooks the other day looking for a certain girl's picture. It was funny to read the messages folks wrote for me. I wish i had a nickel for every "stay the way you are" that was written in there. Private jokes that i don't remember. And, word to the wise, sign a yearbook with your actual name, because people may not remember your nickname...no matter how cool you think it was (who was "nasty" or "boris"???it took me a while to figure them out.)
Okay, i guess there was a reason i named this blog "my ramblings" because that's pretty much all i've done. I was trying to make myself sleepy since i am on call and was all keyed up when i got home from the hospital. i should be in bed, but alas...wide awake. maybe some day, i'll actually give more thought to my updates, until then...
-- |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 17th, 2009|10:09 pm] |
for the last 12 and a half years, arbo has laid on the floor of the laundry room next to my bedroom door. Protecting me in his own way. guarding my safety in his dalmation mind. ready for the early morning pat on the head. He chose the floor over his bed because it was closer to me. during hte day while i was at work he would rest in more comfortable spots. in the winter, he would lie on the floor next to my bed, my constant companion, my friend. NEVER FAIL he greeted me with unconditional love and was ALWAYS excited to see me! He could sense my mood; he read a good mood as time to play or walk, and if he sensed that i was down, or sick, or angry, or tired, he would place a paw on my leg and lay his head in my lap.
He laid his head in my lap for the last time tonight, and he kept it there pretty much until his last gasp for breath. only leaving that spot for the occasional confused stare into my face.
I gotta say...I AM SAD! this may seem silly to anyone who hasn't had a dog like arbo, but i am pretty devasted. no matter what the world has dealt me, he has loved me and i am convinced that that is what God created dogs for...to teach us about unconditional love!
such good memories! he helped me out of bed so many nights under the guise of "going out to use the bathroom" but i know that really it was for star gazing. we did that a lot when we lived at camp lee and allgood (oneonta suburb). he loved to chase me on the fourwheeler and eat dairy queen ice cream. we were once in the piedmont christmas parade together by accident, but he loved all the kids waving at him. and i know all about the life expectancy of a dalmation and how blessed/lucky i was to have him this long, but that doesn't make tonight any easier.
so, RIP sweet arbo! you were the best! the perfect dog for me! |
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| it's been a while! how have you been? |
[Jul. 30th, 2009|02:12 pm] |
omg! summer is coming to an end. all of our overnight groups for the joe rush 2009 summer season is gone. today will be our last day group for a while. It kind of flew by! a big shout out to THE interns: tori and john carl!!! they made this summer easy...though i'm sure they know that i know it wasn't really EASY. but by "easy" i mean that i could actually go home at night and trust that things were okay. and by "easy" i mean that i could give them an address and a map of the house that needed painting and it would actually get painted. I mean that i knew they could handle whatever situation came up and that they knew when to call me. I heart them! and they could come back any and every year that they wanted to...only i know that there are much bigger, wonderful, meaningful things in store for them. (dang it, BOJ!!)
the end of the summer always makes me want to purge my house and office of all things unneccesary. for the last few days, i have gone through box after box and file after file in my office. it feels so much better to have less stuff! (i know, i 'm wierd) One thing that i found was a "bucket list" of sorts from when i worked at Camp Lee circa 1998. hahahaha. i laughed, i cried, i blushed. But, i am pleased to say that in the last 10 years i have completed six of the 15 items on the list... and i was able to remove two more due to sheer stupidity on my part at the time of the list. 'nuff said about that.
purging: good for the soul!
i am also pleased to say that it feels like things are moving in the right direction as far as the intentional community goes. This past year I had to take a "class" for ordination and in that class we had to do our genograms. that is kind of like a family tree, but starts with you and goes up through the past few generations and it goes a step farther in that you have to mark or make note of relationships within your family. It helped me see what i really already knew: that i come from a natural community. That's what i'm use to and love. it is what i grew up knowing and it gave me the strength to go wherever i felt called to, but i miss it and my soul longs for it. I love "going home" and believe it to NOT BE PERFECT but it is a glimpse of the kingdom.
anyone interested in joining???
phebe (urban ministry receptionist who i love and adore) quote for the week:
(while talking on the phone) well, where are the rats coming from?
peace! |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 8th, 2009|01:09 pm] |
this weeks sermon title (the church on my way to work):
Know Thy Frenemy
tyra banks must be so proud. |
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