Mystery Revealed!

As I unsuspectingly made my way to the FedEx/Kinkos store in Springfield this afternoon, I happened to spot one of the most elusive creatures in Delaware County folklore - the dreaded negro squirrel. Long thought to be meerly an old wives tale or the invention of learning deficient children, this photo taken from my car window proves the existence of this mythological beast. I regret that the photo isn't very sharp, as it was taken with a camera phone and I dared not exit my vehicle to try and get a closer look.

note: the author catagorically denies any allegations that he simply spraypainted a standard grey squirrel and staged this photograph. no animals were harmed during the making of this documentary.

Unhappy Belly

I've been sick the last few days. My belly is not happy. I have to admit that a good majority of the time my belly isn't happy. I tend to eat poorly and/or eat too much. So, it isn't unusual to hear me say "my belly isn't happy." However, this time around it isn't due to my bad eating habits. The first couple of days I couldn't really eat anything but I was sooooo hungry. On Thursday we hung out with the Stevenses. Bridget made sausage lasagna - oh it was so sad. I had a small portion of lasagna and a big slice of bread. Thankfully, my stomach didn't respond too harshly to it. But it tasted so good and I was so hungry but I just couldn't eat as much as I wanted. Deep hungry has passed me. Now I don't have much of an appetite at all. I eat a little bit - soup and very small portions of carefully selected foods and lots of crackers. But my belly is just unhappy.

Ah man - too much excitement

I got my Mac Mini almost a year ago, but I know nothing about it. Just now, as I was fiddling about with it, I found games!! It has chess - which I'm not a fan of because I suck at it. And it has a game called MarbleBlast Gold, which I know nothing about, but from the one game I played - ah man, too much excitement. And maybe I'll learn to play chess with this guy. Yeah, right, as if I have any time to play these games right now.

Highlight Reel

Some days, even a blind squirrel finds the nuts.

Love // Hate

I hate this commercial and love it - all at the same time.

Sunrise

Saw this pretty neat looking sunrise on my way home from work this morning. Why did I see a sunrise on my way home from work? Because my freaking relief was late for the second day in a row.

Okay, in all fairness, I don't know that he was officially late today. Yesterday he showed up at 7:10, which is officially late, according to hospital policy. Today, though, we had a call at 6:52am. At a job where this is a hazard, it's sort of an unwritten rule that shift change is at 6:45, 6:50 at the latest. This gives time for whatever report of the previous shift needs to be given to the oncoming crew, and plus avoids (in some cases) having a last minute call that will hold you over your alotted 12 hour shift.

That said, I had a call at 6:52am today and no relief. So we went on the call. It was an auto accident and there ended up being nobody who wanted to go to the hospital. Unfortunately, one of the vehicles was up on the guardrail and leaking gasoline, so we had to hang out on scene anyway. It was about 7:25am when there was another medical emergency in Aston Township (where I was working). So the fire chief told the dispatcher that we could be made available to respond to that call. Thanks. At that point, our relief finally called us on the phone and asked if we wanted them to meet us at the scene of this next call so we could go home. "Ummm... YES."

As luck would have it - in addition to being able to stay at work for a half hour extra, I was also able to catch all of the morning rush traffic on I-95. There were no less than 20 times when traffic just came to a complete stop for no reason whatsoever other than sheer volume. That's awesome. Happy Wednesday, everyone.

Another Reason I'm a Moron

So I've been getting rid of excess musical instruments. The old Washburn guitar will be relocated to a local friend, the disastrous Fender Telecoustic was sold on eBay, the well used Taylor Big Baby is in the process of being sold on eBay, and the Rogue acoustic bass is next on the chopping block. Sounds good, right? So why would I have another reason to think myself a moron? Because I've been looking at electric guitars on eBay for the better part of the evening at work tonight. So my moronitude is not so much because I'll be wasting money I don't have, as the proceeds from these recent and future sales are just there for the taking. No, I'm a moron because I know full well that I don't usually care for the sound of an electric guitar being strummed - and I lack the skill to do anything to a guitar besides strum it. But... but.... but on my "electric" week at church, it would be so much cooler if I had an electric guitar that I could plug into the amp and maybe a sweet auto-wah pedal! Or something like that.

Happy Birthday!!

Before I go to bed, I need to send some love to my sister Melody who turned 22 today. 22. I can't believe it. My little sister. She's growing up. Wow. I'm getting old.

Melody, I love you. You're my favorite person in the entire world. Man, is Timmy fighting hard for that title ;) You know me like no one else. A lot of times you know me better than I know myself. No one makes me laugh like you. No one makes me cry like you. I wish there were a different title than "maid of honor." I like that Timmy has a "best man" That's more appropriate. That's what you are: you're my best man! Okay, maybe my best girl :) Either way, I wouldn't want anyone else beside me the day my dream comes true.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


From my absolute favorite movie, Little Women, and note that Laurie is a boy and Jo is a girl...

Amy: Jo, do you love Laurie more than you love me?
Jo: Oh, don't be such a beetle! I can never love anyone as I love my sisters.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I love you, Timmy. Beyond my own comprehension.

White Chocolate - yay!

Today, I got a container of white chocolate covered pretzels! MMM. They are so good. But my belly isn't very happy with me - I know, I know, surprise, surprise, Melissa ate too much and now her belly isn't happy. I've eaten more than half of them. I just couldn't stop myself. Terry, our billing coordinator at the office, is the firm's resident baker. Her son goes away to college, and she send him stuff all the time via UPS. Well, actually, she gives it to us to pack up and send out UPS. But as a thank you, she makes us special treats. Last time she made me almond cookie or crescent cookies. She makes Steven these crazy brownies and Kia today got white chocolate covered popcorn - mmm, mmm, mmm. I LOVE WHITE CHOCOLATE!!! She also told me the kind of chocolate she uses so now I can have it whenever I want!

I've Become One of those People...

who has a blog and doesn't blog. I've thought it about it - a lot. At least once a day, the thought crosses my mind that I need to blog, but I've been so tired. I'm drained. Totally spent. I'm so looking forward to Florida, not just because Timmy and I will finally be married, but I need a vacation! I need a week of absolutely nothing - nothing except Timmy - wow, that's going to be so nice.

As I was getting ready for bed last night, I accepted the fact that I will probably break down at least once before the wedding. Just break down. On my knees. Crying. And only because I am physically exhausted, emotionally overwhelmed, and mentally blaaaaahhhhh. But it's okay. I just need to let that out. I don't really feel like it needs to come out now. I just know that it will come out and it will probably come out before the wedding and then I will crash.

I'm really looking forward to all of this being done. True, things are much better now. I was telling Steven my lastest dilemna (which is a silly little issue I can't voice on the blog or it will ruin a surprise), and he said "I'm glad you're at the point where your problems aren't really problems." Yeah, me too. So I don't really feel stressed out so much now. Things are being done. But now, I'm so busy. I really need a dayplanner now. Not just so I don't forget the few random things I have going on in a month but to keep straight all the stuff going on in a week. I don't do well with a busy schedule. I'm an introvert. I need lots of time by myself to recharge. No recharging going on. And Timmy noted that we are so busy, we don't have as much time alone together as we used to. No Timmy time - that's no good either.

Yes, it will be good when this is all over. No more fighting for time with Timmy. I can get onto some normal schedule. Oh, man, it's going to be great to sleep. I can't wait to look at Timmy and say, "honey. I'm tired. Let's go to bed." Instead of being half asleep and saying "no. don't leave. I don't want you to go. Please don't." And then start crying. Yes, I know, I'm a girl. But it's true. I haven't sleep well in months. I'm looking forward to sleeping.

In other news:

Rolon-Kaiser meeting of the families going on tomorrow after lunch. All 4 Kaisers will be meeting all 23 Rolons. Good times, I'm sure :)

Five full weeks left of work and then goodbye NLdH. Can't lie. It's been a life changing experience being at that firm for the last 3 1/2 years, but that's another thing that has me completely worn out. And I do think this is the time for me to go. Last year I felt God said my time was coming to an end. I was just waiting for the actual release and this is it. I understand that lots of people don't understand how I can just quit and not have a job. But I'm not worried about it. Timmy and I have discussed it. We know what's going on. We're not being foolish. And I'm not going to be lazy forever - just March and maybe April :)

Timmy and I are starting the transition for our small group. That's really exciting and really daunting too. It's going to be a lot of work and a lot of responsibility leading a small group. It's really overwhelming to consider all the great responsibilities of being a small group leader. I think Patrick has trained me well in what it all means, so I'm a little scared. He and Erika also have given us really big shoes to fill - they have been faithful leaders, challenging pastors, and really good friends. I will miss them. We will all miss them.

I need to go shower. Big day ahead of us. Church. Rolon-Kaiser lunch. Pre-marital counseling session #2. I'm going to be so exhausted. Can't be much more exhausted than I already am. No that's not true. I should go to bed.

Bye everyone. I'll do my best to ramble more often :)

Great Line

Bottle Rocket is on Comedy Central today. This line made me laugh:

"These towels are still warm.... I guess that's from the dryer...."

I Choose Not to Panic.

Eight weeks until I quit.
Ten weeks until the wedding.