Last Night I Danced

I danced last night.

I don't dance often, mostly in the car. If you can all tapping your feet and drumming on the steering wheel dancing.

Sometimes, when I'm doing chores around the house, I'll move to the beat of the music. A little. But it's been a while since I've danced just to dance.

My dance partner was wonderful. Not because his moves were all that smooth - in fact, he even fell down once. But he just grinned, got up, and kept going.

He didn't care how coordinated I was or how goofy I looked. He was just thrilled that I danced with him at all.

That's the best apart about dancing with a child.

New sectional, moving furniture, and good friends

It's good to have friends.

My new sectional arrived today (for the record, I love it), so in preparation, my old sofa needed to be moved upstairs, to my third floor bedroom. Several friends and my kid brother came over to help, and this was wonderful. They also moved a bookcase down to the second floor, and carried a new bookcase (in two boxes) upstairs and put it together.

My newly designed bedroom looks fabulous, so much so that the lack of really good bed linens became very obvious (I'm working on rectifying that).

The sectional is a little bigger than I expected, and I might need to rearrange the room a little to accomodate it. I'll ask Heather to come over and take a look, and give me her ideas.

Shopping, part 2

Okay, so I did buy something. A few somethings, actually - 3 shirts and 4 tank tops. And in addition to the $10 gift card I used, I spent less that $40. That's not bad.

Shopping!

I'm going shopping, and with two of my closest friends in the world.

Kate needs to get some things in preparation for her month-long trip to Saranac, and I don't have anything specific to search for, but even if I don't buy anything but dinner, I'm looking forward to hanging out with them.

Garbage disposals

I hate my garbage disposal.

It wasn't working, I swear it wasn't. I know this because I would flip the switch and nothing would happen. Oh, and that oh-so-pleasant aroma that greeted me every time I opened the door, due to the food still in the disposal (and no, I couldn't get it out - I tried).

I spent Tuesday night trying to track down the problem. I did research online. I pressed the reset button. I used a broom handle to turn the thing, to make sure there wasn't something stuck in there. I flipped the breaker switch (not a small feat, given that I had managed to paint it shut and needed an exacto knife and screwdriver to get it open). Then, finally, I called my friend Josh-the-plumber and made arrangements for him to come replace it. I even bought the replacement garbage disposal.

So, Josh-the-plumber called me this afternoon, I met him at my house, and when he arrived, I ran upstairs to put Dakota in her crate. And came back downstairs to the sound of a perfectly-functioning garbage disposal. Apparently, all it needed was a good bump on the side.

Funny my online research never mentioned that.

Last Young Life Club of the semester

Last night was the last Young Life club of this semester. I think, if I counted correctly, that we had 41 kids last night, which means that we averaged the same number as the week before. There were several new kids though, so that was good - both Lauren and Mikey brought new friends. And there were some kids there who hadn't been in a while, so that was also a good thing.

I yelled so much I was hoarse by the end of the night.

It's a good way to end the Club semester.

In Salisbury

I'm visiting my sister this weekend in Salisbury. She finishes her undergrad degree at Salisbury University in the next week, so this is my last chance for a visit before she moves home.

I'm a litte unsure about the whole thing - I don't think Kelli and I have ever spent this much time together, just the two of us. Neither of us really have an agenda for this weekend, except for a bonfire on the beach tonight with several of her friends. So, at the moment, we're trying to decide what to do for the afternoon.

Kelli and I don't have a fantastic relationship. We're sisters, we spend time together with our family, and I would do anything for her, but we're not friends.

You know what it really comes down to? Kelli doesn't know me, not really. She thinks she does, because somehow, somewhere, she's imagined this image, this little box that I'm supposed to fit into. The problem is that when I'm uncomfortable, when I feel judged and not really known, I act differently. I'm quieter, more subdued, and more defensive, especially about moral issues. And this quiet, subdued, and morally defensive person is exactly who she imagines me to be.

This is the challenge - just to be myself, even when I'm uncomfortable and in unfamiliar territory.

Otherwise, when Kelli finally moves home, and if she ever comes with me to church or to my small group, she's going to be in for a big surprise. And I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

I think family relationships are hard, just because you're stuck with them. These people, especially when there are other family relationships in common (other siblings, parents), will always be a part of your life. So you keep trying. Which is, after all, the reason I'm here in the first place.