Merry Christmas.

In him was given so much, that heaven could give no more.

Of all the things that Mark said this morning, this is what I remember. It was part of his opening prayer. I don't know exactly where it came from, just that it was part of a book of prayers. Some day I will send out Christmas cards and this is all it will say. Not four words, but quality words nonetheless.

Merry Christmas. God bless you all.

Dito.

This almost made me tear up.

Toes Part 2

It's official. My toe is broken. I spent the afternoon at the ER with Mary. I gave in after I lost my footing going up my stairs last night and landed on my toes. It was painful; I had to crawl up the stairs. It was pathetic. So, I feel like I am back at square one. X-ray shows a clear break. It looks like it split in half and then shifted over a little. They still can't do anything. Tape it to the other toe. Keep it elevated. Ice it. Wear a boot. And carry a cane!!! Actually, that was our idea. I just wanted to have something help me walk and they gave me a cane. Awesome.

Toes

My poor boy broke his toe last Monday. At least that is our diagnosis. It looks broken and feels broken. Not much a doctor can do, so he didn't go to the doctor. He has it wrapped to the another toe. He's taking advils and keeping it elevated as much as he can. Oh, how did he break his toe? He was going down our stairs to check the mail. He slipped and his toe went into the railing. It's been a few days and he is feeling better. But Jessie and I still need to be careful not to accidentally step on it - we aren't the most graceful creatures.

Yesterday, our little family started decorating for Christmas. We cleaned up to some holiday tunes and then decorated as we watched the Army/Navy game. I think it was around halftime when I started lighting candles around the house. I got this fun new Yankee-like candle that smells like Sugar Cookies. It was on sale which is a must because I can't bring myself to spend $20 for a candle. So, I was carrying it to the living room when it came out of my hand and straight onto my foot. Pain. Pain. Pain. A scream that even caused Jessie to come to the living room to see what was going on. It landed on its corner at the base of my two toes. I think it landed on a vein. It was instantly purple and swelled. I'm holding the candle now and I wonder how much it weighs - 22 oz candle, brand new, glass jar. Man, it hurt. Yes - I cried, a lot. Well, I can't walk right now. I hobble around because I can't put any pressure on it - it kills. I don't think the toe is broken but I wonder about the foot itself. Hopefully it will get better. It took Timmy a few days, so I am going to give a few days too. If not, I may need to see a doctor.

So for now, Timmy and I are a matching set with busted up feet.

Beer

I'm currently watching The Biggest Loser and I learned this interesting fact:

If you drink 2 beers a week for one year, you will have consumed 15,000 calories. The average American drinks 6 beers a week - that's more than 45,000 calories a year from beer.

Only two months late.

Last September, the weekend after Labor Day Weekend, Timmy and I went to Orlando. I promised to blog some pictures, but the pictures were on my phone until very recently. Here are some of those pictures.

Here's Timmy outside of Universal Studios. I liked it. It was okay. I liked that they were shows or show-like. We thankfully didn't have lots of people there. No more than 10 minutes in line. But there was a Rock the Universe concert - ah man, thousands and thousands of youth groups. We could have done without them. So we did and didn't go back to the park on Saturday when we expected them to be there all day.



Here's me outside of Islands of Adventure. I didn't like this place much. Why? Because I don't like rides. They make me cry. Yes, cry. I cried twice, maybe three times. I got onto that one ride that takes you straight up and then drops you - Doctor Dooms' something or another. Well, I started freaking out when the guy locked me in and made him release me. I walked away and started crying. And I cried at Jaws - even though, I think that's at Universal. I know it isn't a scary ride at all, but I hate the building of suspense. That's what freaks me out. So it ended and I started crying and told Timmy I didn't want to go on any more rides. I think there may have been another ride where I cried, but I can't remember.



I can't remember the name of the restaurant. It was at Islands of Adventure and it was in a tree and it was cold and I ate turkey.



Mostly the parks were just an excuse to go away and stay at a nice hotel. We stayed at The Peabody. Definitely that fanciest place I have ever been. It was one of those places where you look at what you're wearing and what everyone else was wearing and then you felt silly. This was the view of our room. I think we were on the 9th floor of like 25 or so. That's the pool. It was on the roof (can't think of the right word). Of course, we went there everyday.



The room itself was disappointing, especially compared to the Lancaster Arts Hotel(which we absolutely love!!). The TV in the bathroom was booty whack and not worth blogging. But the bed was super comfortable and they had cable. So, we watched tv. I love watching tv in hotel beds :)



So, besides hanging at the pool and watching tv, we were nerds. Here's Timmy seeking clarification on some nerdery.Can you see his little bottle of scotch next to him? We got that the first night we were there.



And yes, I have been sucked into nerdery. Not nearly as bad as Timmy and Neilie. But there I am on vacation and playing Middle Earth. Oh and that's my Manischewitz - mmm, classy.



I missed Jessie terribly. The first night we went out. We ended up at one of those dollar tourist shops, after visiting the local liquor store. I found this adorable little stuffed dog that reminded me of my baby. I held it for a half hour, tried not to buy it, but it was no good. It slept at my bedside each night we were away. I said good morning to it and good night. And I gave it kisses. I know, I know, there is something deeply wrong with me. When we got home, Timmy put a red collar on it. Now it really looks like J-J,



Overall, I am glad I can say I did the Universal thing, but Timmy and I don't like people enough to deal with lots of tourists. And we did miss the pup. So, next year, it's all about renting a house by a lake where we can take our dog. That would be a great vacation.

J-J

Today I bought Jessie a Christmas stocking. It matches ours perfectly - thanks Target for bringing the same stockings back. Now, her "J" can hang with our "T" and "M." I told Timmy that for a moment I thought about buying stockings for our not yet conceived children - Target won't continue this stocking line forever. Yeah, Timmy thought I was special too. Anyway, here are some pictures of my puppy that have been lingering on my phone.

So Jessie adores Timmy. I mean, she loves me but she ADORES Timmy. Here she is napping with Timmy.




Yeah, she likes to hang out in my favorite place - the nook of Timmy's arm. I'm okay with it. I just remind her that I came first.



Ah and there's me and my doggie. I scare her sometimes with how much I love her.

Yes, I am alive

I haven't blogged in forever. I've been too busy at the church and then when I get home, my hurting eyes don't want to look at computer monitor anymore - that's why my scrabulous response time hasn't been the best.

So, yeah, I'm sitting at the church waiting for this conference to end. This is my third conference in 6 weeks. Yes, our third conference that we are hosting in 6 weeks. I'm completely drained. Next week is our anniversary celebration and that's our last major event for the year. This conference has particular has me beat. It is the regional youth leaders conferece - so about 50 of the vineyard youth leaders from the East Region (Maine to Virginia). And honestly, most of these youth leaders act like the youth. There is so much energy and noise. This is the first time when I have felt the need to go away and be alone for a little bit (the introvert in me). But it's been really great too. Good stuff.

Other news....

I got a hair cut this week. I was desperate for it. Got rid of a lot it, but I still have a lot it. That's usually the case when you start off with really long hair. But it feels great to be able to wear it down again.

Timmy bought me an Ipod this week. :) It was supposed to be a Christmas present and then it was going to be an early christmas present then it became it - oh let's just buy it and my parents can buy you accessories for Christmas. I haven't had time, though, to get set up. Mostly because I need to finish sorting and renaming most of my songs. Then it will be all ready to go into the pod.

One of the reasons why I wanted an ipod was because I wanted to remove my music collection from my computer. My mini at home as been ridiculous and we suspect it may have to do with the almost 6000 songs in my iTunes. So, this week I deleted almosst 1200 songs, between 4.5 - 5 GB. Timmy laughs because he has less than that on his computer and I had that much to throw away. Cleaning out my music was an interesting thing. Most of what I deleted were full cds that belonged to Jeremy and Heather. It was so weird to delete it, like I was deleting a huge part of my life. But it isn't. Thankfully, Jeremy remains a good friend, and I always look forward to talking to him

Let's see...what else...

Jessie started happy pills. Prozac for doggies. Not sure if it's really working, but then again, we haven't been putting much effort into training.

So, yeah, my dog - I love her to bits!! She is so worth all of her issues. She brings so much joy to my life. I really miss her tonight. I went back and read my old blogs when we first got her. She's so cute and she makes me so happy. I got a little teary eyed. I want to kiss her and snuggle with her. Most of this is probably because I am approaching white pills :)

Also being effected by my approaching white pills, all the new babies and baby announcements have me whimpering...."Timmy, can we have a baby?" Thankfully, he knows me and my cycle well enough to know when it's just the hormones talking.

Timmy is great - even better than the dog. He brings much joy to my life. He's worth all his issues too :)

Alright, it seems that the conference has come to an end and the youth leaders are just socializing. I'm going to start cleaning up and give them a hint that they gotta go.

Til next time...

Just Curious

Okay, so this is probably a bad post to come back with after a long layoff, but I was just sitting here at the computer and wondering if there are any other dirtbags out there who would smell their finger right after taking a bandaid off - even though they know it's going to smell gross. Maybe I can chalk that one up to nostalgia or something.

Thanks for reading.

Wow.

That's all I could say as Steve Robbins read this tonight at class. We were talking about the discipline of fasting, in particular, national fasting. He noted that three different American presidents have called for a national day of prayer and fasting. Abraham Lincoln, during his presidency, called for a fast on three different occassions. Below is the proclamation. It is incredible.


Senator James Harlan of Iowa, whose daughter married President Lincoln's son Robert, introduced this Resolution in the Senate on March 2, 1863. The Resolution asked President Lincoln to proclaim a national day of prayer and fasting. The Resolution was adopted on March 3, and signed by Lincoln on March 30.



A Proclamation

Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.

And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.


Done at the City of Washington,
this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three,
and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

--By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward, Secretary of State.




Washington, D. C.
March 30, 1863

To Whom It May Concern:

To whomever commented anonymously on my previous post:

Movies

Anyone from our area interested in purchasing some cheap movies of questionable quality should stop by the Hollywood Video on Chester Pike in Sharon Hill. They're going out of business (for whatever reason) and you can purchase any of the "library" videos for $7.49 a piece. I went over there tonight and got:

The Incident at Loch Ness (Indie Film, a mockumentary in the spirit of This Is Spinal Tap)
The Sea Inside (Foreign Film)
Run Lola, Run (Foreign Film)
The Experiment (Foreign Film)
Kingdom of Heaven (My only major studio purchase - because everyone can always use a little Orlando Bloom)

I'm so interesting. I know. You don't have to tell me.

How about 165 words?

For the last couple of Sundays, Mark has been challenging us to write our stories in 100 words or less. He feels it's important for all Christians to be able to share they story in a short and concise manner, so that when the opporunity arises you are prepared. Well, a hundred words is hard. I like to talk, especially when it comes to my story with Jesus. But here is my attempt. It is 165 words and you know what, it'll have to do.


__________


Melissa's Story

"I knew there was something more: I could feel it. I’d get intrigued when I heard God’s name. I thought about church but church was scary and weird. I was ashamed and embarrassed to ask anyone because I felt like I should know these things – it seemed everyone else did.

When I was 17, I gave in - asking my uncle a question and then accepting a church invitation from my cousin. I cried the entire service. I didn’t know why; I just felt something. The sermon title was “You can be happy,” about how Jesus could bring happiness to my life. I just kept crying. Then someone asked me if I wanted to pray and I actually wanted to pray.

I left the church, thinking 'I’m not sure I know what just happened but I know nothing will ever be the same again.' That was ten years ago, and nothing has been the same since. I found that something more – it was Jesus."


__________


So, what's your story?

Speaking of Jessie....

The Kaisers told me an interesting story on Sunday. I left Jessie in the Kaiser backyard on Sunday while I went to church and Timmy was at work. When I picked her up, they told me that Jessie had a "traumatic morning." Apparently, while Mary and George were driving home from church, they saw a couple walking a dog that looked like Jessie. Mary's reaction "Wait! That is Jessie!" In her church dress and heels, Mary runs down the street to the couple, asking them if that was there dog. She calls out "Jess" and sure enough if her typical manner, my dog starts shaking her butt and wagging her tail.

The Kaisers think that while she was in the backyard she must have somehow hit the gate. The gate must have been unlocked and popped open. Out comes my dog. Chester and Buffy remained inside like good doggies. Apparently, the couple that had her, saw her cross Oak Lane three times. In case you aren't familiar, Oak Lane isn't a fun street; I don't like making a left hand turn out of the Kaisers because of the traffic on this street. But she crossed it three times and then made her way to Scully's a local business down the street from the Kaisers. That's when the couple found her. They said they were walking her around, hoping that her owner was out looking for her. If they hadn't found the owners, she was going to call the number on her tag in the morning. (Up until two days ago, Jessie only had her license tag and her microchip, so there was no home number on her.) Thankfully, they were walking her along Oak and Mary and George were driving home at the same. If not, Missy and Timmy would have had a very bad Sunday.

I start crying if I think about it too much. Going to bed at night without her. Waking up and not knowing if she was safe all night. She has a microchip, but that is only helpful if someone finds her and takes her to a shelter or vet. I, of course, think she is so beautiful and so great (despite eating poo and suffering from separation anxiety), that I fear whoever found her would keep. But God took care of us on Sunday. And I am so grateful.

Beast Of Burden

Here's a few pics of Jessie modeling her new dog backpack. At first she skulked around with her tail between her legs - generally looking persecuted and uncomfortable. Before long, though, she was trotting along like always. It was just a trial run, so she only had a 20oz bottle of water in each side pouch. I'm hoping to work her up to carrying all of her own supplies for future backpacking trips, though. We'll see.

Continuing Christian Oddities

Building on Melissa's previous post (and my comment to it) about goofy church signs and such....

A church sign in Upper Chi - "God's gift is the church, assembly required."

A license plate coming down Oak Lane - "It's time to vote for Jesus."

And, lastly, this nugget of awesomeness from the checkout line at Acme:

Scrabulous Part 2

I am working from home this afternoon, compiling the data from Sunday's surveys. I can do that at my desk at home, which is great since my computer at the church is dying and needs to go to the hospital. So, while I sit here, I decided to give into Scrabulous. That was this morning. This afternoon, coincidently, is the National School Scrabble Championship on ESPN. These 12-14 years are making me feel very, very pathetic.

In other news not related to Scrabulous - my dog eats poo. It's really nasty. I love walking her.

Also, Jessie barked at me a few times this morning. I could tell she wanted her balls that rolled under the couch, so I got them. Well, now she keeps barking me and it's an angry bark "Missy, get my toys!" Uh-uh. I tell her to go sit down and threaten the spray bottle. Then after a little while, she comes back at me and barks some more. She has become quite talkative lately.

Oh yeah, Timmy and I took some pictures from our recent trip to Orlando. However, they are on our phones. I don't know how to download them onto my mac and I don't think Timmy has thought of it. But soon enough, we will share our exciting pictures from sunny Florida. Don't get to crazy - they're not that exciting. Just enough to make a blog :)

Scrabulous

So I just finished my first game of "Scrabulous" on Facebook. It's basically an online game of scrabble, for those not in the know. My final score was 428 points, which is a personal best to say the least. I present to you the fabulousness of the words I used, along with their total points. (Keeping in mind that several were placed in such a way that they formed two or more words on the board, along with various triple word/triple letter spaces.)

1. Paying - 14 points
2. Tutu - 12 points
3. Oregano - 14 points
4. Azure - 72 points
5. Wince - 41 points
6. Bird - 27 points
7. Inflect - 34 points
8. Hovering - 96 points
9. Kraut - 28 points
10. Em - 23 points
11. Loom - 11 points
12. Vibes - 42 points
13. Pe - 14 points

Yessir, that was one fine game of Scrabble.

Awesome.

I was clearing off my computer desktop at the church and came across one of those infamous church signs. It read:
"Tired of being a loser. Turn to God."

Yay!

Our flights are booked. We leave for Orlando the afternoon of Thursday, September 6 and return the afternoon of Monday, September 10. Not a week, but a nice long weekend. I'm excited. A few months ago, I asked Timmy if we could go away. I was frustrated that we didn't book anything earlier. I was stressed and wanted to know that something was booked. Well, we didn't. Timmy didn't see any reason to book early, and I forgot about it. And now, it's booked. He didn't forget - he's so good to me :)