life in the fast lane

I remember in high school moaning one Sunday morning that the school year was going by WAAAYY TOOO SLLOOOWWW. My Sunday school teacher, Mr. Pittman, looked at me, gave a laugh/sigh, then shook his head. After a few minutes, he said the most preposterous thing EVER.
"One day you'll find that time goes by so fast you'll wonder where it went." What a crazy statement!

And now I'm 39 and that is not so crazy. At all.  It actually makes sense. I've thought that more than once in the last four years. Now? I don't bother keeping up with what happened in what year. I keep up with things by the events that happened around them.

I'm reminded of that more than ever as I have my last two "free" weeks of September rapidly approaching. (Not quite sure how planning a Christmas program as Plan A and possibly B are now out the window, sewing 2 Halloween costumes, and inviting a large section of my favorite munchkins over fit into the term "free" but the squares on my calendar aren't inked in too badly.) I look at my calendar and see filled spots through the first Sunday in December, and I wonder how on earth I managed to fill up time slots so quickly. And once all the rush stops after the 2nd Sunday of December, our life will slow down to an almost painful crawl.

And even typing that makes me want to backspace. This last week I've had at least four people say "You don't work, do you?" when I tell them I don't have time to do something. No, I don't get paid for anything I do. No, I do not have children. But I am not idle. Sometimes my life gets so full I am thankful for the days when there is nothing on the calendar. And that only means I have time to semi-catch up on laundry and very neglected household chores.

I like to think Bobby's retirement next year means my life is going to slow down considerably. Realistically, I know it will probably have the opposite effect. But for today, I'm enjoying the fact that it's still August September.

Moving on

There are days when I have to choose to be thankful or sympathetic.
Today is one of them.

I ran out of material for something I am making for someone and had to make a trip to Cary to buy more. But I also had a little time to browse, which was very nice.

I stopped at a friend's consignement sale and found three things in my size, which is unusual.

Stopped for lunch, and encountered a restaurant full of buddies and babies. I headed to the bathroom to pull myself together and found a near-desperate mother trying to reason/help a young son who clearly did not want to be in the women's bathroom or have help from his mom. When I told the clearly exasperated woman "hang in there" before I left, I actually meant it.

I chose the old people seating section. To my left were a group of girls laughing and talking, enjoying themselves quite a bit, and behind me turned out to be two pastors, discussing the emotions and frustrations of losing church members to another church. I found myself enjoying and relaxing in overhearing their conversation much more. (Who wants to talk about purses and GYNs?)

And when I got home to let the chickens out, Buster did come meet me at the henhouse, but he slighltly veered from his new activity of tackling my legs and nipping my feet and pants and actually enjoyed just being petted. So thankful as yesterday I really lost my patience with him.

So now I'm hoping to jump in clean house and cut fabric mode and knock out a few jobs before I meet someone tonight to tackle one of my occasional projects.

Meanwhile my heart is burdened for all the uprisings in the middle east and I'm praying God's will be done, even if it's not what I'd like to see happen. He is gracious; He is Sovereign; He is Holy; He is just; He is patient; He is love, and I am His. And in that, I can rest.

last of "vacation" days

Yesterday and today Bobby decided he needed to use up some of his vacation time (some of it has to be used by the end of the year and he's got a very crazy schedule in October and December).  And...get this...I had to plan what we were going to do. I was too tired to make a whole lot of plans, and I had several things I wanted/needed to do this week, so we spent yesterday as a day of half-leisure and today has been a semi-normal day.

Duke University is not quite an hour from here, and I have always heard everyone talk about how beautiful and wonderful their gardens are. I went online, found the hours, and we headed there to roam the accessible parts. I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to see 3/4 of the gardens. There's no admission, though you do have to pay for parking ($2 an hour).

I used up the battery on my camera, so pics will have to wait until later. I thoroughly enjoyed it; I think Bobby did even more, and while I'm very sore today, I'm not so sore that I can barely walk. His wheelchair, on the otherhand, was flashing warning signals that the battery was about to go out by evening. If I've used up that many bars on his chair, you know we put in a LOT of walking. :)

And now I'm off to start working on the Christmas program for church. Christmas music anyone?

happy Monday!

Updates:

Mom - she's doing a LOT better. Yesterday was her first day since surgery (on July 6) that she has not had throbbing pain, though the swelling is still atrocious.  She sees one doctor about other issues this week, and when I asked her when she was going to the cardiologist (she's been having problems there but was waiting until after recouping from this surgery to have yet another appt) she said "I'm waiting."  Not sure what we're waiting on this time.

Jamie - my brother-in-law is doing great since having his heart attack and stint placement. He's back at work, and life is normal.

Andy- my brother has yet to see a cardiologist, though his symptoms have somewhat subsided. He was supposed to make an appointment with a different doctor in hopes of getting someone "with manners" as my sister-in-law says.

Ellen - my niece is having a really hard time adjusting to her new school and her sis being at college, though I think she loves the church. I remember the loneliness all too well, and my heart goes out to her. Praying God sends a Christian friend her way, or at least somone she can talk with between classes, soon!

Rachel - the first of three surgeries begin tomorrow. In having to change hospitals to get all the doctors she needed, things have changed. Her cancer has been upgraded to a stage 3, and her treatment plan will now extend till next summer, as opposed to this Christmas. I think the whole family's heart dropped at this diagnosis, as it brought back many painful memories of her Mom Charlotte and her paternal grandmother (my aunt) Ovelene. My heart is going out to Tim, her husband, and Mercy (10) and John. Mercy was just 3 when Aunt Ovelene died, and more than once she said Mercy's antics were the best medicine a grandma could take.

Elections- I got the Garner post for early voting! I loved the Raleigh site where I worked the first time. It was an excellent crew, but I really wanted to be a little closer to home, both for gas and time sake. I had heard sites close to Garner were always heavily requested and hard to get, but figured I had nothing to lose by requesting it. I was shocked when I got the e-mail this weekend! Training starts in about two weeks, though I haven't received a date for when early voting starts. But I do know it's quickly coming! By the end I'll be tired and ready for it all to be over, but I enjoy the job, and it's nice to have something that is just for a short period of time.

And that's an overview of external events happening in my life. I'm so thankful we have a God with ears who hear, even if His answer isn't always what we want to hear! That is such a blessing!

forward and backward

Perhaps I remember visits to the eye doctor more vividly than the general practitioner because  I wasn't sick when I saw the eye doctor. Growing up we attended teh Alabama School of Opthamoogy. The visits were cheap compared to most eye doctors, but you were checked out twice: one by s student doctor and once by his teacher/supervisor.  For the most part, it was a positive experience, except for third grade. It was summertime, that room was COLD, they left me in there for the longest kind of time imaginable (I watched two cartoons ont eh screen as opposed to one and still had time  to examine every single piece of equipment in that room before climbing bqack iup in my seat and daydreaming and debating whether to poke my head out in the ahllway and yell "Does anybody know I'm here?"
I don't remember whether or not that was the year the student stormed out o the door saying "That's not possible!": and I had to redo EVERY SINGLE TEST with the regular doctor as opposed to the basic eye stuff. i do know that was the year I had to start wearing glasses all the time instead of just for reading adn looking at things for away.That year I got to pick out my own frames, and I thought they were the coolest glasses on the planet. They were Holly Hobby, and the sides swooped like an S. They had pink and purple and green mottled with bron, and I thought I was the coolest kid int he world. I look back now and cringe.
Today was my normal check-up. I missed last year'sexam, so decided I better do it this year. LIke the last six years, the exam doesn't take as long, I can read the smallest line iwthout help, and there's no longer a guessing game or using all th etest tricks I developed a s a child to figure out whether I'm staring at a B, an 8, or a 3 or P.  There's no meeting with someone who has perfect vision trying to help you see without your glasses as you pick out frames, no contact orders. I just paid the bill and left. And that was nice. I wish I had had the lasik surgery sooner.
And I got what is becoming the standard spill from any doctor. Yeah, the encouraging you're getting older and your body is going to start changing (in this case I'll probably need reading glasses again in the next four years, blah, blahd).  But for now, my vision is fine. Well, other than having dilated eyes and not being able to read anything at the moment (including the computer screen or whatever it is I'm typing.)
And that is still a new experience for me and one that I'm learnin to like.
:)

the forest and the trees

One of my summer projects was to start tackling the mound of albums/pictures that have piled up on a desk over the last few fourteen years. Since confession is supposed to be good for the soul, I can now tell you: it didn't happen.
I did start the last week of July. That's a good thing, right? But then came August, which I had determined was going to be my month for NaNoWriMo, so nothing happened last month, either.
And since September first, life has been a little bit busy. Busier than I dreamed it would be, in fact.
So today, my first morning "off" this month, I ventured into the room and started. Of course, I got sidetracked in the process, but I now have one big envelope of negatives, a small pile of discarded pictures, as well several smaller piles of pictures for when I do get around to stashing them.
Meanwhile, my album is currently in the year 2004, though I now have pictures from 1999-2003 that need to be inserted here and there. Organization used to be my friend.
Actually, I am still somewhat organized. I hop from project to project in the most grandiose way possible. Sometimes I even actually complete things.Which leads me back to scrapbooking.
These last 14 years have absolutely flown by. It seems like yesterday I moved to NC, and yet as I look back on the blur of these years, I am absolutely AMAZED at how many things we've done, how many places we've been, how many memories we've made. 2004 was a year of heartbreak for us in so many ways, and yet you'd never know it to look at all the pictures from that year. So whether I'm looking at the forest or the trees, it's still impressive how life and memories weld together to make such an impressive picture.

repetition

Repetition is the key to memorization.
My fifth grade teacher used to say that. A LOT.
Typed out that way, it sounds bland.
It needs her voice inflection and the cadence to which she repeated it.
I feel like I need to type it in font that has swirly letters, even though she wasn't a prissy person.

Rep-e-TI-tion is the KEY to MEM-ori-ZA-tion.

And I've come to the conlusion the last few weeks that while reading/hearing/studying something over and over and over might help me remember it, putting that principle into practice is the only thing that will actually make it a part of my life.

I can think and read about a healthy lifestyle, but if I don't actually do it, it doesn't help me any.
I can think and read about loving others, but when the time comes if I put myself and my needs first, then I'm still not demonstrating the love of Christ.
I can think and read about many good and wonderful things. I can repeat and memorize, but that rote memory stuff is only good for paper tests, not life ones.

But I like to think if I slowly and gradually keep doing the right thing over and over and over, conquering my thoughts and feelings each time and offering them up for renewal, then it'll become easier each time to respond correctly out of habit instead of a full-fledged battle to do the right thing just because its the right thing.

And with that, my Tuesday but it feels like Monday morning, is off.