woah... monday.

Phew! Busy day!! Dentist, unemployment office, returns at Target, spare keys at Lowes, library to return books, and CVS to pick up a prescription. But: I got to sleep in. Woot!

Today was also the first day of the new prayer team program we're doing at church! All those who signed up to participate were paired up- ladies with ladies and gents with gents. My partner is Zina! Each day we are to call each other, list out prayer requests for church as well as any personal requests, then pray together over the phone. It's a great way to share burdens and increase the prayer power in the church. It's already been a huge blessing to me. It's wonderful knowing there's someone praying for you, and it's a great feeling to be able to pray for others.

Finally, I'm usually by myself on Monday nights because Daniel is busy at the church, but tonight I got to go hang out with my beautiful family at Grandma's house! AND she made chicken and dumplings!! Mmmmm. I love you Grandma!!

I go to the orthopedic doctor in the morning- pray that everything looks good!

New Fonts!

Today I noticed for the first time that Blogger has finally made some new fonts available!!!! This makes me happy, since I've been scrounging the internet at least a month for fonts I could use without having to download them to my computer. The 7 fonts available originally were rather dull, and I wanted something fun. Got it! Smile for the little things!

Ramblings from the Couch

Tonight I am home alone with nothing to do... since I'm over-due, I thought I'd write a bit about my time in convalescence. First off, I have no doubt in my mind that I am absolutely loved. I've only had to fix one meal in the last week and a half, due to the generosity of my family and friends. Everyone has been wonderful. Just having someone to come by and walk Griffin was a HUGE help! (Thank you Grandma!) Most of the latter part of last week was spent on the couch reading, watching movies and drawing, with the exception of church, a visit to the orthopedic doctor, and a wedding. Those first two days when I had to wear a splint were torturous. That thing was giving me anxiety attacks by the hour. So it was definitely a blessing to have it removed and be able to walk away in a fracture boot. I shudder to think what a cast would have been like. I go back to the ortho doc. on Tuesday to make sure everything is healing correctly. Please pray that it is, because if it's not, I may have to have surgery.

This week I have been MUCH more active- a little too active some days I think. I went back to work at the bookstore (This was the last week of the job, but there's a possibility I may get to work a little more next week! *thumbs up!* I guess that means they like me.) Monday-Wednesday were kind of rough; working those 5-6 hours completely zapped my energy. I made the mistake of going to the library to return my overdue books- I couldn't help it though, they had marked me as "delinquent" on my account! For future reference, shuffling around on a crutch and boot while trying to find a good book do not mesh. But, enough about that, yesterday and today have been great! I've been able to lay off the vicodin, and I've just felt better in general. Don't worry, I'm still sitting on the couch a lot and moving at the pace of a turtle, but I've been able to work a few chores into the mix and walk the dog. It's become a bit necessary, as we're having company tomorrow night whom we've never met. My friend Beka who now lives in Chattanooga is coming into town to see the ice skating championships and she's bringing her boyfriend, who does not have tickets to the show. So, he gets to hang out with Daniel and I. I tried to tell her that we're not very exciting people, but upon further inquiry discovered that the X-box would be acceptable entertainment. Yay! In any case, dishes are piled in the sink, the bathrooms haven't been cleaned, dirty clothes/towels/sheets are taking over the laundry room, junk mail and other clutter are covering every available flat surface, and there's dust, dog hair, and dog toys all over the house. AHHH! I need a magic wand, mop, cleaning fairy or something. Oh well. I've got a good excuse if I don't get it all done. He probably won't notice it anyway, most men don't. So there! I've decided. I'll do what I can, not worry about the rest, and it'll be just fine. It's funny, I've always loved going to houses where there's a bit of a mess. It makes me feel normal!

If you've made it this far I commend you for your tenacity. I'm bored, hence word "ramblings" in the post title. I'm not quite finished either. I've just recalled something inspiring.

Yesterday afternoon when I was walking Griffin, I noticed a large flock of birds settled into our neighbors' tree, singing and calling loudly to each other. Yesterday was extremely bright and sunny compared with the dismal head-ache and sleep-inducing weather of Wednesday. It was so uplifting to simply stand with my face to the sun listening to the birds sing a happy song of thanks for the beautiful day. (That was my interpretation of it at least.) Hearing the birdsong caused me to consider the song in my heart, of God's goodness and omnipotence. The trio I sing in at church was scheduled to sing this past Sunday night, but we had special guest singers and got moved to this coming Sunday night. The song we're doing is titled "Is Anything Too Hard For God". As I sat here and really thought about it, I realized that the words of that song come very close to describing my life right now. So much seems uncertain, but God is in control, and nothing is too big for Him. I don't know what He has planned for me, but I know that I'm changing- becoming more willing to obey and bend to His will, regardless of what it is. I'm discovering how powerless I truly am and how infinitely wise His ways are. I feel that God is preparing me for something new that is currently beyond my imagining. Only He knows what it is, but I want to be ready for it when the time comes. A little while after I had returned to my perch on the couch, I heard the birdsong again, louder. I looked out the window- they had moved to the tree in my back yard.

Keep me in your prayers, both for the healing of my foot, and that I'll hear His voice when He speaks and obey.

*An update- our company got cancelled, so I was able to stop chores early. I plan to spend the rest of the evening reading- I'm starting The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas- it promises to be exciting.*

CLUTZ!

After turning off my alarm at 5:30 this morning, I got out of bed and headed downstairs to check my computer for a possible delay at the bookstore. Most graceful Dara did not reach her destination. From the result, it is obvious that I was not yet awake enough to be descending stairs. I also failed to turn on the lights. (They're so bright in the morning!) Anyway, I missed the bottom step, landed on my left foot, then promptly crumpled to the floor where I sat whimpering till Daniel got there- then I moaned and groaned some more. Pitiful. He helped me hop up the steps and I was hoping the pain would start to fade soon (like it did the last time I fell down these steps), so I went ahead and started getting ready for work. No such luck this time. Instead of going to work, Daniel ended up taking me to the ER, where we waited around for them to tell me that my x-rays said that I had indeed broken a bone in my foot: 5th metatarsal. They splinted it, gave me a set of crutches, and told me to stay off of it until an orthopedic doctor clears it. So I get to spend the next few days propped up on the couch. Guess painting my stairwell will have to wait a while longer...

Standing

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. ~MLK Jr.

As Christians, it's easy to say and do what's right when we're around other believers; there is nothing to fear. The challenge is to speak up when something you believe in is attacked; to have a ready defense. Knowing what you believe, and why you believe it requires that you seek His face and read His Word daily. I fail more often than I'd like to admit, but it's something I'm working on.

huh.

Things I learned on Friday: If the top comes off the pepper grinder while you're holding it over a bowl of tuna salad, you have to toss the whole thing and start over. Trying to scoop out all the little peppercorns is ineffective; it only buries them deeper. Walmart fails at re-stocking my shampoo & conditioner regularly. My mind has cemented on the opinion that all facial piercings are hideous (working the cash register at FTCC will do that for you). Finally, and on a much more positive note, God knows just what you need in order to become more like Him: how long to make you wait, what trials to send your way, and how to persuade you to do things His way, even if you don't understand why. "Lead me in thy truth and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the day." ~Psalm 25:5

Blonde Moment

SO. Upon arriving home from church tonight, I was faced with the issue of parking my car in our driveway so that it would be pointing back up toward the road. Currently, our drive is still covered in snow and ice- mortal enemies of my Camaro- and is on an incline. I failed to plan ahead this afternoon when I cleaned the snow off my windshield, and thus, did not clear the back glass as well. My first thought when I turned onto my road and pulled up to the drive was that I would back down our driveway to get my car in the proper position for take-off tomorrow morning. I pull a bit past our drive, put the car in reverse, look in the rear view mirror, and see nothing but a big wall of snow.

NEW PLAN. Use side mirrors to back up slightly and get car back in position to enter nose first. Yes, I realize it might have been possible to back down the drive using my side mirrors alone; the thought did briefly cross my mind. However, backing up is not my best skill when my view is completely unobstructed and the ground is as dry as a bone. Therefore, I implement the NEW PLAN.

I feel this requires some explanation, in hopes I will not be perceived as completely addle-brained. On Monday evening, before weather conditions got really bad, I went to the grocery store. During the 20 minutes I was inside Lowes Foods, the parking lot and my car disappeared beneath a blanket of white. I was already skidding and fish-tailing before I even made it out of the parking lot. (I'm telling you, my car HATES the snow.) So I went very slowly, trying not to slide around any more than I could help. When I arrived home, I was faced with the same dilemma as tonight. I solved the issue then by simply turning a big circle in the back yard, coming to a stop right where I wanted to be, no problem.

So, the NEW PLAN was to do that exact same thing again. Brilliant right?! Unfortunately, I failed to take into consideration that the amount of snow on the back yard is significantly higher than it was on Monday when I completed this maneuver. I also made the mistake of not making a big enough circle around the yard. I realized this upon finding my car pointed toward the neighbors' yard, at the point where the ground begins a downward slope. My attempt to reverse here resulted in me spinning my wheels. Now, without the snow, I probably could have made the turn and not risked sliding into the telephone pole standing nearby or putting a dent in the fence surrounding our neighbors' back yard. As it was, my brief attempt to continue on my path produced more sliding, so that idea was quickly aborted.

Being by myself and out of ideas, I call my faithful, loving husband to see WHERE he is at and WHEN he will be home. I explain my situation, hoping for help, and he LAUGHS at me!! jerk! Luckily, he's not too far away. When he gets home, he laughs some more, and then suggests some moves that actually do improve my situation. My attempt at forward motion to cross the yard to my parking space results in another bout of spinning tires, so I get out and let Daniel fix it. I really don't understand why it worked for him and not for me. Oh well, my car and I are out of danger without injury, except to my pride. So that's my blonde moment for the year! :-D