Awesome Weekend!!!

I have to say, I had such an awesome weekend! Last week was so hectic that I had no time to get things done, so I approached Friday with much anxiety. I had papers to write, a house that desperately needs cleaning (...hello...Merry Maids!), and packing for the weekend to do. I had been sick for the past 3 weeks trying to get over the flu and being able to do little else but sleep. When my alarm went off Friday at 4:30 am, I had still accomplished nothing and now had no time to do it. So, I prayed that when my parents (along with everyone else who has a key) pulled into town this weekend that they wouldn't swing by my place to check in on me...woo they would be concerned! Then I hastily packed my clothes and ran out the door...then ran back in to make sure my cats had enough food...whew...if I were a mom, I would have forgotten the children; as it was, I forgot my bible and journal.
Anyway, I left work a couple hours early to trek on down to the Springs for a Beth Moore conference. I stayed with Holly to save on the commute...what a blessing! (By the way, she typed up some pretty good notes on her blog...check it out). We got there early and stood in the FREEZING cold for a about an hour before the doors opened and tried to provide some huddle warmth for an elderly lady waiting in line...she was so precious...drove from Lake City to be there (I love Lake City...I took my nieces camping there when they were younger 'cause I love it so much). From the moment the conference began to the moment it ended, I was in awe. It was as if every word was being prophesied over me, or guiding me, or convicting me...and the WORSHIP!!!! OHHHHH!!!! I was a mess! It's measurably good by how much makeup remains on the face. I had to calm myself down a couple times 'cause I was about to take off. I know Beth said everyone worships differently and it's ok, but I felt like Hammy from Over the Hedge, and when the team started singing "come running, come running...," I promise you, I tried to convince myself that I could run as fast as Hammy around the arena and no one would even notice! I contained myself, but Woooo, it was GOOOOOOD!
Saturday, the conference ended at noon, but we all went out to eat and fellowship afterward...I spilled my water all over the table...that was exciting...can't take me anywhere! I must add that when Holly and I went back to her house, we played some Whodunnit and I won! haa haa Now generally I don't brag, but her and her hubby are so smart, logic and strategy just ooze from their beings...me...I'm lucky! haa haa So, I have to rub it in. I left that evening 'cause I needed to write a paper, and in my rushing to pack, I also forgot the paper I had been writing out and didn't want to have to think anymore. ;)
Sunday evening I went to a girlfriends house and watched God.tv because of the revival that is going on in Florida. I don't have God.tv, and neither does she, but we watched it on her laptop and chatted and were amazed at what is going on, and we chatted some more and then prayed for each other...it was the perfect end for a perfect weekend.
I am still in awe over all I received from the conference. I left some fear behind as I walked away from that arena and I am anticipating life like never before.

I Was Tagged

Melanie tagged me this week for a Six-Word Memoir Meme, and I will be tagging some of you 'cause this was interesting...but not easy. Anyway, here goes:



The Rules:

1. Write your own Six-Word Memoir.

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.

4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.

5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.



So...here's my memoir: Driven by desire...guided by God.

I don't think I am supposed to give some sort of explaination, but just so I don't get comments thinking this is a bad thing, I'll at least explain that it has several meanings. My life fell into a series of patterns from the time I was a baby...as a child was constantly driven by the desire of others. Yet, all the while the Lord's hand led me exactly where I needed to be. Today my own desire drives me to accomplish things that are beyond my complete comprehension, but I am not so driven that I can't allow Christ to take the wheel and guide me.

Ok, so here are the blogs I am tagging:
Nadine
Holly
Teri
BeckyJo
Monica

Happy Meme's!

The Mind...A Terrible thing in Haste

One more class down, three to go. Missed y'all...I tried to pop in when I could to see what you were all up to. Mel, thanks for your support, prayer, encouragement, and listening eyes...glad you're my friend.

So I have been slightly out of character recently and decided to start listening to what I am thinking. I think many people have lots of thoughts going through their mind, but never really listen to what they are saying to themselves. I thought I would share with you an early morning thought process I had. Now, if any of you thought I was nice...well, my apologies to you...I try for the most part, but I believe my mean neurons get a little overly charged at times and take a road trip to the deep dark forest of my mind. This short story is evidence of such road trip:

There is a 2.7 mile stretch from Peoria St down Mississippi Avenue which I take every morning to work. The first mile and a half is fairly easy going. I hit my first stop light at Havana St. The traffic light is not there to allow other traffic through, indeed not. It is there for a few other reasons...like...making sure I didn't leave anything at home in case I need to pull a U, or so I can plug my ipod in, or to give me a minute to check my hair, but the most important reason for that traffic light is so I can slowly look to my left...and then to my right...to see if I have any worthy opponents to take on my 4-cylinder hoopdie for the next 1.2 miles. Most people just look straight ahead pretending they aren't feeling the pressure...but I see beyond their zoned expression.

When I was a teen, we used to play a video game called Pole Position in which we reved our engines until the final tone called out our green light...then we were off. Well, traffic lights don't have the beep, but they did place a countdown on the walk signal! As soon as that red hand flashes, all eyes turn and gaze at it for the 3-2-1-0 then instantly snap back to position for the 3 second countdown to the light change. GREEN!!!! We're off! Uhh, rather...they are off...my little car is like the Little Engine that Could. My mind screams "no, they're getting ahead." I check my rearview mirror and notice the person behind me moving into the next lane over and I think "oh no you don't...you were behind me...you're staying behind me." I pick up the pace...35, 45, 50, 51...suddenly I find myself passing my initial stop light opponents...my mind laughs out loud because I know they fear that cop around the corner...I know no fear and chance that (uh 16 miles over the speed limit) ticket as I flick my hair on the way past them. Now, to cut them off so I can be the first to Leetsdale. My mind whispers "yeah, don't mess with me," then panick strikes..."oh, please don't look at the sticker of the girl kneeling before the cross that I have on my back window, oh please please please" but the guilt still doesn't lead me to repentance, and I dare not tell the Lord I won't do it again, for that would be a lie. My mind is seared from the rubber I burned a mile back...ahhh but...I won this time! Suddenly the rush is over and everyone settles back to normal speed because no one is really in a hurry, we all just want to be the first to Leetsdale.

What a Life!

I have had the most bitter-sweet 2 1/2 weeks. Thanks for your prayers and kind thoughts...I wish I had been doing homework, but that was not the case...my life was invaded. Sorry to those of you who have heard the story, I thought I'd share with everyone rather than re-writing it.
My oldest niece Frances went in for gallbladder surgery...no problem right...in and out in a few hours and has women at the house that can help with the baby. Well Wednesday night after surgery, she put the baby to bed and collapsed in pain. I got a call saying that the ambulance had taken her to the hospital...unfortunately, I left my cell phone at work, so I was home writing my final paper. Actually I think it was a God thing that I didn't have my phone because I would have gone to the hospital and never would have had time to do my final. Anyway, the next morning I got to work and checked my phone and left for the hospital.
The doctors thought she might just be overly dramatic from her surgery, so nothing was done until 1pm Thursday when they did a CT scan. Then Dr Dave came in (wooo hoo...he was so good looking...the bright spot of being at the hospital all day). He told Frances that she had some fluid internally, but it was just from the irrigation from surgery and again suggested that she might just be overreacting. That's when I had to pipe in. I said everyone in this family has an extreme threshold for pain, for Pete's sake (not that I know Pete or anything), she had her child natural and was up and around the next day and didn't need a single Tylenol. He looked at me seriously then and said "we'll try one more thing." They took her in for more tests and found that her body had filled with bile. Apparently, Dr Dave somehow poked a hole in one of her bile ducts and wasn't aware of it. They rushed her into surgery and put some sort of drain pipe (that's what I called it) in her to get the bile out....uh, I had lots of names for the gadget, but was yelled at because laughing = pain...therefore, names were forbidden (I still had to throw a few cracks in). So, Dr Dave woke me up around midnight to let me know how the surgery went...mmm hmmm...Dr Dave was a nice wake up call...lol. Anyway, so all is sort of well...right...wrong. Frances has a baby, which now means Auntie has a baby.

I called it "the runway".


Like I have a clue what to do with a 6 month old baby...so I put her on the runway and provided healthy boundaries for her...like any normal psych student would. I pulled every available pillow, and puffy quilt in my house to make it a most pleasant experience for her and me both. She's a roller and I didn't want her smacking her precious head on the concrete fireplace floor thingy, or grabbing any wood to build a fire...she's a smart one...lol.
She really was an awesome baby. She took a bath, took her last bottle at 7:15, and I took her upstairs and put her in my feather bed, laid my hand on her little belly and prayed for her, and she was out. She slept with me the first week and I would wake up and poke her to make sure she was still breathing...scary thing those little people are.





Granny (my sister) came out the first weekend to help with Frances...so she got 6am baby duties...lol...oh yeah, I woke her up sent her to my room and I crawled in her bed...then, of course, got up to take a picture. hee hee





I took time off work to take care of her...she is the most darling little girl in the world, but I was so stressed out. I didn't know if I should find a daycare...how I was going to budget for daycare...how I would choose one...uhhh...then I finally said "Frances, you are going to have to find a way to comfort your baby without holding her." Sounds kind of mean, but I was freaking out. So I set everything up near the runway so Frances would be able to change her, feed her...blah blah blah...with as little movement as possible. Well, it worked and I went back to work, but like I said, I have no idea how to care for a baby and while Frances was taking care of her, she noticed that Anika's neck was swollen. Anika has a thyroglossal duct cyst and it became infected and I didn't notice it...it was the size of a ping pong ball. Woo, I felt bad. We got that under control and she forgave me, but passed her little cold on to me in the process....little petri dishes too they are.
Anyway, so I'm sick, working, coming home and taking care of Frances, and doing my baby routine...every night after I put her to bed, I went right downstairs, sat on the sofa, and fell asleep.

Meet Senior Penguini

She loved this little guy...he's a bath sponge I got in my expensive little shop-because-I-have-a-baby-in-my-house trip to Target...it was soooo much fun!

My cats weren't thrilled about the addition, but they certainly have taken to sleeping in her bouncer. I warned them that they would be gassed if they touched the baby. They took me serious too...they never stepped on the runway...they always walked the perimeter of it knowing my eyes were watching them. My Chloe is not fond of little people, she pops them on the forehead and smacks their bottom's when they walk by her...at least she keeps her claws in. Anyway, my boy cat is a sweetie and eventually allowed her to pet him and even purred to Anika's utmost delight...I think he was really starved for attention. No, they aren't spoiled.

So, the drama has ended. I took Frances and Anika home on Sunday and then went to bed. I was really exhausted! Monday morning I woke up, and as usual, I turned on the Joni show to wake me up a bit, then when I hear Joyce Meyers voice, I know it's time to get up and get ready. Well, as I was getting ready, I heard Beth Moore on Life Today...I went into a full on panic attack because I thought I was so tired that I slept until Wednesday!!!

My homework was late two weeks in a row and I never wrote a huge paper, so I have some making up to do, but I am finally back to normal. Sure do miss my Bab's sweet smile & kisses though!

Guidance

Instead of writing my paper, or studying statistics, or reading my never-ending homework chapters, I took a moment to ponder what possible insight I could glean from the writings of Gilbert Keith Chesterton. In his piece called Enjoying the Floods and Other Disasters (July 21, 1906 Illustrated London News), he mused that he had missed the flooding of London for his trip to the country and rambled on of all the inconveniences one faces which can be joyful in some aspect. He wrote of some of these, such as waiting for a train and grumbling while a child sees the station as a vast play land filled with immense discoveries yet to come; and, chasing a hat on a windy day as such an unpleasantry (I know that's not a word, but it should be), and yet one could chase a leather ball and be applauded. (This is paraphrased of course and I am sure I have all but butchered his eloquent thought process.) He sums it all up by saying that inconveniences, whatever they may be, should carry within us some form of poetic enjoyment. This was pulled together to call attention to the importance of guidance as a spiritual discipline. While I was delighted to read this article in all of its romantic illusions of seemingly disastrous events; I still sat back and wondered what in the world does any of this have to do with guidance as a spiritual discipline. Then it hit me...
I used to look at guidance as having someone there for me to consult with; someone who actually knows what I am attempting to accomplish in the future so that if/when I unknowingly diverge, I can be lead back not too much worse for the wear. :) While I don't believe I am too far off, I think I will add to my thought process. I can see guidance now as also a way of seeing things that aren't focus driven, but rather "now" focused - if you will. Today is a day rushed with goals to accomplish and eyes so set on the results, or the proverbial "bottom line," that we fly by (at hyper-speed I might add) the beauty of the day, the wonder that God places right before our very eyes. A.W. Tozer said "In the deep heart of the man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come. Within him was God; without, a thousand gifts which God had showered upon him" (The Pursuit of God: The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing).
I am of the opinion that to deeply pursue the things we desire without looking around and taking note of the "gifts" the Lord has given to us, is to endure the race with all self-sufficiency - self propelled - and selfishly, not trusting in or being guided by the One who gives us life, passion, and the drive to press toward that goal.
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained." (Phil 3:12-16)
I am not thrilled about clichés, but stop and smell the flowers along the way - they were a gift to make the journey far more pleasurable than rushed. Who is in a hurry anyway...God will complete his purpose any way He chooses, so I will choose to be guided by Him and find the wonder again in all the gifts He so freely gives me.
ps...if you choose to do the same, don't forget to give thanks. He is above and beyond worthy of it. :D

I think I did it! Take 1

For explanation, see previous post...a bit dizzying at times, but I hope you like it as much as I liked making it.

Such a fun day!

The hills were sweeeeeeet yesterday, so I thought I would chronicle the day.
Thank goodness I was the one with the camera. :D lol

Ok, we are heading out just after 7am.




This is my ski & boarding buddy Cindy (we skip work together to get some jibbing in)...lol...ok, I really don't jib - intentionally anyway.

Just as we thought Anthony had slept in this morning, he arrived.

Ok...so, we're off. Now, Breckenridge really isn't that far; however, on an early Saturday morning, it seems far because it everyone on the road wants to be the first on the lifts too, so traffic is HEAVY, but tolerable. So, we're stuck in traffic, but lightly talking - not quite sure what about...something to do with my ski's and Cindy took a deep breath and said "we have to go back." To that I replied "whatever, I saw my ski's on the rack." She said again "we have to go back; I forgot my boots." I laughed and grabbed my camera for the most awesome moment of panick ever! I got the hand! I tried to load the hand for all to view, but for some reason it wouldn't upload. She wasn't very happy, as you can imagine, so I offered my counseling expertise and asked her if she would like to discuss her anger. Ok, so we are all in a better mood now after couch time with Kate...so I snapped another pic on the sly. lol
She's not actually smiling...she's biting her lower lip 'cause she is still thinking we need to go back.
I know I am such a bratty friend. hee hee


Ok Cyn...I know you're reading this, so you might as well just get that blogger account and respond. What were you thinking?

Here are my guesses:

"Hmm, if we turn around now, we can get back to the house by 9am, then back to this spot by 10:30, then at least we could get some good AFTERNOON skiing in."
-or-
"With all this traffic, maybe I could jog back and catch up with them by the time they get to the first tunnel (sure wish I could remember the name of that tunnel)."
-or-
"Should I drag her on her ski's behind the jeep or just break her camera."

Anyway, I talked her in to renting boots for the day...good idea.

Anthony slept. Apparently our conversation couldn't hold his attention.






WELL...




As it turns out, the rental shop was right next door to Starbucks! HOW CONVENIENT!!!! Guess what I did...















Guess what Cindy did...










Ok, pic's a little fuzzy, but I don't have a paparazzi fast action camera.




Finally we arrive. I'm in my gear and ready to run...just waiting on the Gumby's:

















Pose Time

Goofy Gumby on the left,
Regular Gumby on the right.

FYI: Goofy & Regular are boarding terms for which foot you lead with. Goofy leads with right & regular with left.

Gumby refers to that little green man of long ago with a horse named Pokey...yeah, remember how Gumby walked...that's how boarders walk when on their boards.


Ok, I thought I would take you on a short jaunt with me; I created the most awesome video of our trip (with some live ski action from yours truly), but I couldn't get it posted because of it's extension (I created it in Windows Movie Maker), even You Tube couldn't post it! So I have to figure out how to convert it (that's ok, it helps me sharpen my evangelism skills...lol)...ok that was a bad joke. Anyway, I'll post it as soon as I can figure it out.

So, here's the rest of our day...

Cindy and Anthony decided they were going to do some jumping, and well, I just happened to notice that Anthony caught a bit more air than Cindy did...even today, I bet Cindy is pondering how Anthony could have possibly jumped higher...not that she's COMPETITIVE or anything. Side note: I actually told her I was going to ski because when a boy is with us...she tends to get aggressive on those hills...thus the helmet too. Now, I'm all for safety, I wear my helmet every time I board, but Cindy only wears it sometimes (like when boys are with us...lol). Truth is: I HAVE to ski to keep my edge on Cindy - I don't like being left behind...(yup, I've got the C* streak myself).

The guys at the gondola stop were decorating again...I thought it was charming:
















Anyway, Cindy is still not over that fact that Anthony jumped higher than she did and began practicing her jumps in the parking lot....and...

WOA... Ok, either the rapture just took place, or Cindy jumped pretty high. I don't know, Anthony and I didn't want to find out, we just got in the car and left...isn't that what friends are for?
haa haa

Just kidding, we all got home safe and sound, another great day on the slopes.