Happy Little Trees

When I was in grade school, my mom lied on the school application and said I lived a mile from the school. I think it was actually about 500 feet. She didn’t want me to walk on the highway because coal trucks came through the 35 mph zone going about 80 sometimes. So, I became an illegal bus rider.

All the other kids stayed on the bus probably 30 minutes to an hour. For that whole 30 seconds I was on the bus, I had to listen to their taunting, "I would walk if I were you!" Whatever. They didn't have my mother protecting them.

My Bus Number 75 driver, Dean, was the best bus driver in the world. The bus was her ministry. She was my friend Amy’s grandma, and she acted like she was every kid on the bus’s grandma. She gave us cokes and candy bars for holidays. One time, she pulled off the road and put on a mask to give us Halloween candy (okay, weird, but fun for kids!). Bus 75 also “adopted” an elderly woman from a nursing home. We all met before Christmas and sang carols to all the nursing home patients. And remember, this wasn’t with church, this was my school bus.

On that bus, I met a sweet little girl named Lacy that had to sit up from with the other little kids and me (since I was one of the first ones off the bus). This weekend, my best guy friend from high school, Jason, is getting married to sweet little Lacy from Bus Number 75. When I think about them getting married, I picture Lacy coming down the aisle in a little dress with her big glasses and long brown hair with bangs like she used to be on the bus. And I think of Jason in his high school days with his K.Swiss and a Ralph Lauren polo shirt driving a Grand Am (he hated that it was 4-door). They’ll probably look different at the wedding.

I might have to be the best man, so I'm keeping a moustache in my purse just in case.

Baby Victoria was born this morning at 1:11 a.m. Welcome to the world!

I waited until 8:30 p.m. Then, went to go help out with the rest of the family that got left outside in the dark.


Auntie E-bay and I are very excited about watching Princess Victoria grow up! Congratulations, Ken & Barbie! I mean, Chris & Ann. :)

The resemblance is uncanny. I really do look like Iona today.

I feel like I have a costume on today instead of clothes. But where I usually prefer to play Molly Ringwald’s role of Andie from Pretty in Pink, today I feel as if I have become Iona, Annie Pott’s role as the weird 30-something friend.

When did this happen?

To take you back to that great movie, since I couldn’t find a suitable pick of Iona...

Here’s a little scene:

Andie mentions that she might not go to the prom.
Iona: I have this girlfriend who didn't go to hers, and every once in a while, she gets this really terrible feeling--you know, like something is missing. She checks her purse, and then she checks her keys. She counts her kids, she goes crazy, and then she realizes that nothing is missing. She decided it was side effects from skipping the prom.

At the request of sweet Abby who might be having a hard day today:
1. What were you doing 10 years ago? Sept 1997 Student teaching with Miss Mize’s third grade class in Bowling Green, KY. Probably monitoring students in the computer lab, watching to make sure they didn’t put magnets on the screen—[don’t do it!!]. Sneaky cheeky monkeys! And eating lunch at about 10:48 a.m. for 15 minutes. [scary thought. Those kids are 18 now!]

2. What were you doing 5 years ago? Sept 2002 Working in Trinity at the Outdoor Education Center teaching 5th graders from HISD about science, diversity, and canoeing. Monitoring their sleeping/eating/bathing habits. Jumping over copperheads and watching out for gators and fireants. Trying not to get lost in the woods with a group of 10 years olds for fear of a Lord of the Flies reenactment. Driving back to Houston every weekend to shower and return to civilization and Starbucks.

3. What were you doing 1 year ago? Sept 2006 ... Having a visit with my friend Kari and her daughter, Katherine, to my one room apartment.  Working at the same job I have now meeting with doctors in training. Eating at Chuy’s. Working out at the Y.

4. What did you do yesterday? Woke up, went to work, talked to a friend on my way home, went to Old Navy and bought pom-pom socks for me & Wendy for her b-day (2 for 1), enjoyed good food at Empire with lots of sweet friends, talked to old roomie, brushed teeth/face, talked to friend again, journaled (need to by a drool-proof one for when I accidentally doze off on it), and konked out.

5. Snacks I enjoy ... reduced fat Kaukauna port-wine cheese (cannot find a retailer in H-town that sells it), hummus, laughing cow cheese triangles, dried cranberries, dark chocolate, cereal, string cheese, apples, crackers, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, chili-lime Guiltless Gourmet chips with spicy black bean dip.

6. Things I would do with $100 million dollars ... Find a good financial planner. Find a good accountant and set up estimated payments (okay, okay, I worked at a CPA firm for awhile!). Tithe. Bless random people with dough-ra-me. Set up a foundation (or donate to one) partnering with African children/orphans. Fund a doctor’s salary for a physician to live in Mukaa. Help fund my friends who are missionaries. Help set up college funds for my nieces and nephews. Help take care of my family. Go back to school. Travel to visit friends that live everywhere and take another friend with me. Establish organic farming and training centers in the area where I grew up. And build a Young Life camp there. And build a few retreat centers where I would work/counsel/play/relax, rent to groups, and live with my family. And then, I’d probably have drained my funds dry. 

7. Locations I would run to ... home, Asheville, wherever I have a friend or can make a new one. Or wherever there is a magnificient spectacle of God’s creation.

8. Bad habits I have ... I am always late, but I forgive myself. I sometimes talk more than listen. I tell jokes to myself that are so funny that I laugh out loud at inappropriate times. I like to do too much, and I wear myself down with fun and get grouchy. I eat too much chips and queso at one sitting.

9. Things I like to do (but sometimes never do): talk to friends/family, take photos of kids, write, draw, paint, play the guitar, dance, work-out, read, laugh, eat, cook, stand with the waves at my feet, look at stars (oh, how I miss the Blue Ridge Parkway!), hike (don’t even own hiking boots anymore since I’ve been Texified), canoe (I am a champion canoer), learn, shop (when I have money), drink hot tea, read my bible, and think.

10. Biggest joy of the moment: I am loved by God. And I am taken care of by God. And I am always amazed by the unexpected ways he shows me he’s got me taken care of just at the time when I’m ready to give up and try to make things work on my own. True joy. True peace.

I request completion of the above questions by Laurie, Erin B. and/or DuB, if they have time. Or Steven or Todd just for giggles.

Once upon a time there was a girl who ate out too much. After moving to the big city, she ate out almost everyday at lunch, and she ate out with friends on most evenings—especially the weekends. For awhile her favorite phrase during out-to-eat sessions was “Carpe Diem!” and she ordered expensive lofty things because eating out was a special occasion. And then she added the phrase “Carpe Dessert!” to her repertoire while she had a European suitor, and within several months, her clothes had somehow mysteriously shrunk (even with a cold water wash).

After coming out of her trance and realizing too many sweets from her sweetie was not a good thing, she decidedly ditched both (well, a man is much easier to part ways with than chocolate, so she established visitation rights with the latter), but she maintained her dining habits with friends (because what better emotional therapy is there than friends and food?).

Throughout the years after, the girl has had to learn moderation in eating out. She has abolished the phrase “Carpe Diem!” during dining, because she realized that she was seizing one too many calories with that attitude, and one too many dollars from her debit account. She has become quite a savvy person when it comes to making healthy eat-out choices for less than an entire week’s wage.

Over the past weekend, she had a bit of a relapse as she visited seven eating establishments with little regard to the cost or nutritional value. She very much enjoyed all her time with friends, but she’s wondering if perhaps in the future, she should spend an entire week not eating out—as a type of money-saving challenge. But she will save that challenge for another week, because tonight, she must dine in celebration of a birthday.

Occupo Unus Dies Non Duos!

BTW: I love this website.

I keep having strange experiences in the work bathroom. I thought about starting a blog just about restroom experiences because sometimes the experiences are so strange, but then I thought the idea might be stinky.

I actually have made several friends in the work restroom. There are a few ladies that are on the same daily schedule as me. So we greet each other as we pass, and share small talk stories. They’re always happy to see me, and I’m happy to see them. But we’re only on the bathroom buddy level. I never meet them for lunch or see them any other time.

Having bathroom buddies can make things uncomfortable. Because sometimes you want your bathroom experience to be a place where not everybody knows your name, because they’re not always glad you came.

I really think there should be a smell-o-meter outside the bathroom door. That way, if it was stinky, you would know so you wouldn’t enter and then get hit in the face with toxic gas and have to make the choice to forge on, or find an alternative location.

It would be kind of funny if there was a webcam at the inside entrance to the bathroom so you could watch for people’s reactions when it hits them. Or you could also catch the culprits. Who is it that leaves the toilet paper all over the floor?

And one last thought, I always hate walking the dog to take it to potty because she has to sniff around for hours finding the right spot. But I guess humans do the same thing in public restrooms. If I’m alone, I will examine several stalls before deciding. And why can’t I just go in one that hasn’t been flushed? Do I think a clean toilet has never had anything in it before? The only difference between the two is usually just a flush, unless there was some other type of disturbance.