Spring

This is my favorite time of the year - I love almost everything about it.

I like driving with the windows down and the sunroom open. I like leaving my house without wearing a jacket. I like wearing capris and sandals, and the brighter colors that are a part of my spring wardrobe. And I get incredibly excited about walk-up, ice-cream-type places, like Rita's (Jillian and I went there mid-afternoon today to get out the office a little).

This Sunday

Jeez, it sure seems like my last few posts have been filled with a lot of whining.

So, our church is launching a stewardship campaign, and this Sunday will be our Celebration Event service. It's supposed to be one of the biggest services in the history of the church, and we spent tonight rehearsing for it at praise team practice. I got to be involved in some of the planning of it, and I'm excited, because I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

Break

Ever feel like you just can't catch a break?

I finally start to feel better from the cold/sinus infection, and now I have a stomach bug.

I'm sick of being sick.

Dry cleaning

I just think this is so ridiculous that I have to post it.

So, my sister's dog decided to pee on her down comforter. (My other sister's dog decided to pee on my brother's down comforter, but that's a different story). So, she takes it to the dry cleaner to have it cleaned. The dry cleaner tells her, "This is dry clean only."

Really, why does the guy think she brought it to him in the first place?

Diagnosis

I finally went to the doctor today, after my mom scolded me for planning to wait until Monday to see a doctor. Good thing, because I have a sinus infection. But now, I have lots of medicine to take, if I can only remember when to take what, what makes me sleepy and what doesn't, and what needs to be taken with food and what doesn't.

It's a good thing I'm not one of those people who takes lots of pills on a regular basis - I think I would get confused.

Yep - still sick

That's right, I'm still sick. Most of yesterday I couldn't even talk above a whisper. I rarely lose my voice when I get sick, but when I do, it seems to take a while to get it back to normal, and even longer to get my singing voice back. And with the biggest church service in the history of the church coming a week from tomorrow, this is not a good time to not be able to sing. At least I don't have a solo or anything.

Actually, I'm worried that I've got more than just a cold now. I slept in pretty late today, so my doctor's office was closed by the time I really got moving around, but I'm going to try to get an appointment for Monday. I'm worried I might have bronchitis, or at least be moving into something that requires an antibiotic.

Open mouth, insert foot

My father just said (talking about long-time friends of my mom's) - "They live a boring life. They're kind of like Kristy."

This is what he thinks of anyone who doesn't have cable (my mom's friends don't even have a TV). Should I point out that not only does he have DirectTV and Tivo, but cable as a back-up, in case a storm takes out DirectTV?

Still sick/ movies

I'm still sick. Yesterday (Tuesday) I went home from work early, took a nap (it is so hard to sleep when you're stuffed up), then went over and hung out at my parents' house for a few hours. I really don't like being alone when I'm sick, but I still want to be someplace that feels like home.

Then last night, just before bed, I took my regular headache medicine (which kind of knocks me out) and Tylenol sinus nighttime (the only nighttime cold-like stuff in my house, which really knocks me out, usually). Still, didn't sleep well - because every time I managed to fall asleep, Dakota would shift or start walking around or something. I think she does this usually, and it doesn't normally wake me up, but I wasn't really sleeping deeply. Plus, I kept having totally weird dreams about all this stuff I had to do, which I really don't have to do, or about my house being a mess, which it isn't. I normally don't even remember my dreams, but I actually dreamed that I was drying baking sheets on the floor in my bathroom. I mean, how weird is that?

Anyway, so despite all the medication it wasn't a good night. Still, incredibly hard to get up this morning. Good thing my presentation for Thursday was postponed a week, so I didn't have to stress about getting ready for that.

Oh, and did I mention that my voice has been coming and going all day? And even when I have it, it's all scratchy? I'm definitely not going to make it to praise team practice tomorrow night, and might not even be able to sing on Sunday.

So, since Mom and Dad had plans, I rented a couple movies and worked on our church's website. I watched Stealth, which was okay but not incredible (though normally I really like Josh Lucas) and Walk the Line, which was really, really good. Even more amazing when you consider that Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon sang all of their own stuff for the movie. I'd seriously consider purchasing the soundtrack.

And, speaking of movies - the Chronicles of Narnia will be released on DVD on April 4, just in time to get it in my Easter basket. I've already hinted. :-)

Sick / Music

I think my friend Nick has the right idea for blog post titles - he doesn't. He just posts a short subject before each new topic. Of course, I say that, and now he starts titling his posts. I hate coming up with titles for mine. (Yes, I know - there's an easy answer to that. Don't.)

I really dislike being sick, and I think I can blame it on Jacob. I woke up in the middle of night last night because my throat hurt so bad, and I never wake up in the middle of the night. Now my nose is runny and I hate that yucky feeling, especially when you're not incapacitated enough to not go to work, but you'd still rather just sit at home, watch TV, and have someone make you chicken noodle soup and ginger ale. At least, that's what I'd rather do.

I heard a new song on the radio yesterday that I really liked, and I just downloaded it from iTunes. I started to post the lyrics here, in another post, but decided to create another blog for quotes and song lyrics. The song I'm talking about is called "Only Grace" by Matthew West.

Just regular updates

I just finished watching a really stupid movie: Kissing A Fool. The worst part is, I own it, and it's not the first time I've seen it. But it's late, I'm bored and don't feel like going to bed, and my sister bought it for me really cheaply a long time ago.

Tonight I hosted a Pampered Chef party, which went really well. I made lots of fun food, and didn't have too many leftovers (thanks to Michelle and her family, which she likened to a garbage disposal). There were tons of people here, but somehow everyone fit. So, now I'm watching my next movie (Princess Diaries) and picking out what I want to order with all my free money from Pampered Chef.

New photos

I finally got around to moving my photos off my camera, so I thought I would upload a couple of them here.

First, my costume from our murder mystery dinner party:


Then, a just-for-fun shot of Dakota (isn't she adorable?):

Dela-Where?

So I had an interesting conversation with my sister the other day, about a lot of things kind of irrelevant to what I'm about to say. But I bring it up because it got me thinking about friends, and good friends, and part of the reason that I'm thinking about this and writing about it now is because I'm sitting here in my friend Kate's living room in Delaware, and I'm just so glad that she is a part of my life.

There are a ton of things to do at home, and honestly, even up until a few minutes before we left, a part of me wanted to just stay home and check things off my to-do list. Not because I didn't want to see Kate, but it's just felt like a crazy week with a lot of things going on that are taking up all this mental energy, and the idea of a full day tomorrow to get rid of some of that stuff sounds really good.

But - here's what I'm thinking instead, after a two-hour drive with Bethany that was so full of good conversation that it felt about fifteen minutes long. Good friends, no matter how they come into your life, aren't something to take lightly. It doesn't matter if you've known them forever, or if it's been less than three years since you met. And it doesn't matter if they live next door and you see them all the time just during the normal course of life, or they live in tiny obscure little states and spending time with them requires you to be intentional. People who know you, really know you, aren't easy to come by, and they're one of life's most precious gifts.

So, yeah, I'm glad I'm sitting in a living room in Delaware.

Waiting

You ever want something so bad, you can almost taste it? Want it so bad that patience seems to be a virtue you were never blessed with? I'm discovering that I'm not nearly as good at waiting as I thought I was.

Redundant

Today, my dad was telling me telling me about my cousin's husband, who has just gotten his CDL license. Isn't that a little redundant? If CDL stands for Commerical Driver's License, isn't saying "CDL license" like saying "commerical driver's license license?"

It reminds me of when my sister Katie used to complain about people who talked about "little bunny rabbits." She said, if bunnies are really little rabbits, then when you say "little bunny rabbit," aren't you really saying, "little little rabbit rabbit?"

My sisters

Because my sisters, Katie and Kelli, now both have blogs, I've added them to my list of links at the left. They use MySpace.com, though, so you might need to be signed in there to read their blogs, I don't know.

Grace

My Bible study has been reading What's So Amazing About Grace by Phillip Yancey. It's a good book, though so far the study guide hasn't been very helpful. Our discussions are good though, always are.

So here's the difficult thing about grace - it's tough to explain, in words that make sense. I'm finding that the best way to understand grace, is in examples. Grace isn't really all of that common, but the opportunities for it are, and that's teaching me a lot.

Funniest example so far: BJ gives Heather a piece of pizza, and she says, "But I have nothing to offer you." (See Heather, I do write about you.)