What are you wearing?

Today I am wearing a tie dyed T shirt over a blue long sleeved shirt. (remember when that was geeky?) and I'm wearing a blue and black and green and teal polka dotted scarf. And dark blue jeans and hiking shoes.
To work.
We're having a party today for turning 15 as a company.
So it feels like friday. At first I dressed this way because I got a call at 10:30 PM telling me that the boss says let's all wear our tie dye stuff tomorrow. It woke me up so I had the I just woke up and I'm retarded thing going on. I didn't remember how to answer the phone. Honestly, I had the phone in my hand but I couldn't figure it out in time to get the call. So I got the voice mail instead. And then I went back to sleep for the night. Right before waking up this morning I had a wild werid incohesive but scary dream last night involving a terrorist that looked like the Soup Nazi guy on Seinfeld and his wife who looked like a woman I met at a gallery last week. And my Mom and the Kevmo and prayers and magic and fear and sexual frustration and doom and home improvements and buying too much product to sell for a pyramid scheme then deciding to return it -- all in one dream! Whew!

So I think that what I'm wearing is actually a fitting representation of my dream life. A plethora of styles and a riot of color and sometimes it makes sense and sometimes it doesn't!

origami KAIJU

AMAZING Origami!! <----- click on it!! You'll like it. I'm thinkin of my brother Big, and a young guy named Shepard who recently asked me if I'd ever heard of Godzilla. I said I'd certainly heard of him but never seen him in person. So here's some origami for you, buddy!

The Common Good Network

Interesting: Biblical Marriage?

Not saying I agree with this 100% just that it makes an interesting point.

Billboards, Wipers and Chillows

Speaking of Billboards. Which we weren't......

There's a cool billboard up now advertising McDonalds and it has a picture of those new McGrill thingies and the caption simply says:

i must have you now

It cracks me up every time I see it!

Yes, actually. I am that easily entertained.

I also noticed something else interesting today. When it rains hard and I have to have my windshield wipers on FAST mode in order to see clearly, it stresses me out.
It turns out I actually prefer the lazy back and forth wiping motion as opposed to the frantic whipping about frenzied wiper action.

In other news, I blew a tiny bit of money on a gadget called a CHILLOW.
I'll let you know how it works in a future highly entertaining and educational blog entry. Stay tuned.

Wearing Orange is Good for your Health

Just now someone said "You're lookin nice and tan!"
"Oh!" I said. "Thank you." I didn't know what to say. I am far from tan. WHITE. Red maybe sometimes even but not TAN. Must be the orange I'm wearing. Makes me look tan. I'm going to wear this sweatshirt in my wedding now I think. Then I'll look tan in my pictures and that's LOTS cheaper than going to the tanner.
Which by the way I think I won't do. Maybe I will. I'm still waffling.
It's not like I ever get that tan anyway. I just sort of turn gold.

In other news, Mom and I went to the bridal shop and I tried on my dress for the "final" fitting last night. It's not the final fitting after all but it's getting there. And we found the perfect veil. And the perfect little sparkly twinkly girly headpiece. So ya, that was way cool.

The inevitable has happened at work. No more alcohol allowed on the premises. Ya, it's so sad. But I guess that day has been coming all along it was just a matter of when.
The days of wine and roses really are over. Or, rather, beer and potato chips.
For now though, we still get to wear Jeans and drink Starbucks so all in all things are pretty good where I'm sittin.

54 things to go.
44 days to do.

Peep Research - Staley Library, Millikin University, Decatur, IL

This just in:Peep Research shows Peeps enjoying the library.

They're just so stinkin CUTE!

Marshmallow Peeps ----> LOVE.THEM. They are pastel colored sugar coated marshmallow squish bombs loaded with sweetness and a potential sugar buzz.
I recently received two boxes of them as a gift. I ate one box right away and left the other one open over the weekend so it could get just a little bit chewy on the outside. Yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Baby!

Yummy Yummy II

Yup I waited for after lunch.
Go me.

I tried emailing the cupcake to Marci per her request but the frosting and the little sugar stars really messed up the T1 line. Sorry.

Yummy Yummy

There is, sitting on my desk at this moment
a lovely cupcake made by Jacob (ring bearer) and a chocolate covered pretzel.
Can I wait until after lunch?
We'll see.

When sleeping in is bad

Some days it's not a good idea tosleep in.

Green and White

Forgot to wear Green yesterday.

At work, someone asked me "Where is your green?"

I said "Green? Is there a State Game today?"

51 Days To Go
66 Things To Do

Highlighted Weekend

Highlights of today so far:
Discovering that instant oatmeal is good with applesauce in it!
Coffee with KA.

Highlights of the weekend:
Lois's birthday party was complete with an abundance of silliness and raucous laughter contributed by all. Jon grilled for us in the freezing cold, we played cards, and sang along loudly to John Denver - which prompted a lovely, spontaneous parting gift of interpretive dance by Tim.

Taking part in a "conflict" at our Sunday Night Gathering. Part of what I do for a living is is to make collections calls for the people who owe money to the company I work for. So conflict and confrontation is not really all that big of a deal to me in those circumstances. In some highly personal situations, however I should admit am a big fat wuss about it. This was probably somewhat in the middle though I can't say I had a lot of anxiety about it. In my opinion last night was groovy. We don't all agree about what's up and what's down, but I sense we're committed to each other and it will be interesting to see how we walk this out and love each other in the weeks to come. The great thing about stuff like this is that you really get to know people, and some of the ways you get to know people can't happen any other way but straight through the middle of stuff like this.
The whole event got summed up by young Shepard: (loose quote) "So basically what you guys are doing is kinda like when we try to figure out a game and everyone has a different idea how to play." Well put, Shep!

Zicam Update

Ok I know you've all been waiting for the update.
Zicam: does it work?
Drumroll...............
I don't know.
Seems to make me feel better and rather than feeling like complete crap after 4 days of this cold I actually feel pretty ok with a few symptoms. Seems that approximately 4 hours after snorting the stuff I start feeling lousy again until I re-snort, but that could all just be in my head.
So ya, that's the update.
However, if you noticed at the top of my blog the ad banner shows where I can go to get a lawyer if the stuff seems to have rotted out the inside of my nose or if I cease to have the ability to sniff out smells. Seems there have been studies that show that Zinc is bad for the nostrils but Zicam is evil and doesn't' tell anyone that. Could be. However my sniffer is still working quite well which is much more than I usually can say for a cold at this point. Usually I can't smell or taste a stinkin thing when I have a cold but so far I've not noticed any difference at all in that area.

In Other News... Tonight we're going to celebrate again. (Of course, it's Friday!) Someone I know who shall remain headless -- er, I mean NAMELESS-- achieved a milestone age yesterday - I won't say which milestone age this nameless person has turned but it's a biggie and we're going to help her celebrate by making some poor guy grill out in this frigid freezing snowy blowy weather while we bask in the warmth of friendship and happy birthdaying. It's gonna be a great party!

I'm reading this book by Henri Nouwen called Reaching Out. You can read about it by clicking on the link on my sidebar there. Here's a quote from that book that I read the other day, talking about prayer: "What is closest to our person is the most difficult to express and explain. This is not just true for lovers, artists and tightrope walkers but also for those who pray. While prayer is the expression of a most intimate relationship, it is also the most difficult subject to speak about and becomes easily the subject for trivialities and platitudes. While it is the most human of all human acts, it is also easily perceived as the most superfluous and superstitious activity."
Of course, it's difficult for me to explain why I even like this quote - as difficult as it is to tell someone why or how I pray. But I thought I'd share it with you - maybe you'll relate, or enjoy chewing on it like I have.
Have a great weekend!

Back Among The Living

I'm upright today. Or at least I plan to be. Amazing how much a cold can kick you in the butt.
I stayed home from work for 2 days and slept and laid around and did nothing. I think that was helpful.
Had some wild dreams though - so that was cool. One involved a long long long super fast sledding hill where I sledded and sledded and sledded and had a very groovy time.
Another involved playing Age of Empires on a table - like with a oversized board game instead of on the computer. It was on a coastal map so I had big ships. I upgraded them via psychic energy by looking at a certain spot on the map! I morphed between being IN the game and above it, managing my armies and fighting wars. That was pretty fun too. Cold drugs ROCK!
Honestly I did not play Age of Empires the whole 2 days I was home. Didn't have the energy to sit up that long. But I was tempted!

Nasal Adventures

Tryin' out Zicam today. My boss swears by it. I have tried Zinc lozenges and thought they worked pretty well for shortening a cold so I thought maybe this would be even better. Logically, RHINO - Virus means NOSE Virus and they claim I can squirt a "remedy" directly UP my NOSE for it so I say why not give it a whirl?
Or in this case, a snort.
I'll let you know how it goes.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars

It's Friday!
We've got a full agenda today. Lunch hour was run to the mall and get The Engagement Ring in for its 6 month checkup. Return workout shirt at Mervyns that was cute but, sadly, too small. Return Bustiere at Marshalls that was a good fit but unfortunately made a HUGE BULGE in my back that was rather unsightly with my wedding dress.
Bought the TENNIS SHOES that I'll be wearing at the reception and guess what!? They TWINKLE! Oh Yes, they come with little sparkly twinkly silvery stars on them and stuff. Very girly. When I find a link or take a pic I'll stick it right here--->x. And then I picked up some sushi and ate at my desk. In all the excitement I forgot to pick up goodies and drinkies for tonight. WOOPS!
Because TONIGHT we are going to CELEBRATE! We're going to a Drum Show of some friends of ours who make drums where we'll get to see some terrific craftsmanship and hear some cool drumming then it's on home to hang out! KA Roommate had some great work being done on her balcony (or whatever it's called) that has just recently been completed. So on the way home I'll pick up some wine and stuff like that so a few of us can hang out up there and be mellow and stare at the beautiful woodwork.

64 Days to the Wedding
85 Things To Do
Have yourself a groovy little weekend!

A Few Thoughts

It occurred to me the other day that my life looks nothing like I ever thought it would.
Not that THAT is any huge epiphany. I have no idea where I'm going 99 percent of the time. (metaphorically speaking, that is)
If you had told me 10 years ago I'd be the me that I am now. Who I am now, HOW I am now - even WHERE I am now, and how I got there, I would not have been able to buy it. I'd say "Huh? Whatty who - WHAT?"
IN FACT I would say that If you showed Me Now to Me Then, Me Then would very likely judge, disapprove, and not understand Me Now. I think I would have considered myself deceived and derailed by my own screwups. Me Then most certainly would not have called Me Now a Good Christian! I would not have believed I could get here by the route I took.
In hindsight I see my wipeouts as not only tragic but also redeemable unique opportunities and most of my journey as getting me HERE which is a very good place to be for now. Could I have conceived that I would ask questions such as the ones I ask now and not have lost faith? Probably not, but what I'm finding is that the questions are as precious as the answers and my faith is simpler, less "sophisticated", more childlike yet more mature and deeper even than it was then.

One of my Favorite Poems:

Picture Puzzle Piece
-written by Shel Silverstein

One picture puzzle piece
Lyin' on the sidewalk,
One picture puzzle piece
Soakin' in the rain.
It might be a button of blue
On the coat of the woman
Who lived in a shoe.
It might be a magical bean,
Or a fold in the red
Velvet robe of a queen.
It might be the one little bite
Of the apple her stepmother
Gave to Snow White.
It might be the veil of a bride
Or a bottle with some evil genie inside.
It might be a small tuft of hair
On the big bouncy belly
Of Bobo the Bear.
It might be a bit of the cloak
Of the Witch of the West
As she melted to smoke.
It might be a shadowy trace
Of a tear that runs down an angel's face.
Nothing has more possibilities
Than one old wet picture puzzle piece.