Forgive and Forget

Is it possible to forgive and forget? Yes and no. For me, at least, it all depends on the situation.

I am very good at forgiveness and trust. Call them gifts, call them curses, I have called them both at one point or another. For example, as in most marriages, there is strife and disagreement. When my husband and I have words and create a resolution, I promptly forget about it. *OR* I ask myself if something he does that upsets me is worth fighting about...and usually the answer is no. Unfortunately, the next time the same situation happens, I remember that something like that came up six months ago, but since I let it go, I can't bring up the exact infraction to use to my benefit. ARGH! :)

Other times, though, I have a different situation on my hands. There are some instances where I have to repeatedly forgive someone who has hurt me or someone I love, daily, for months, if not years. And sometimes I don't WANT to forget. That old mantra, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me again, shame on me" blares in my head like a siren. Forgiveness is not an excuse for apathy. We should definitely learn from our mistakes.

There are a few people in my life who are very dear to me and who can't stand each other. And because I love them all, I get stuck in the middle. Trying to mediate, trying to explain why these people behave this way and what that person who said things that were construed as insulting probably meant it another way. I find it hard to convince people who don't care why they SHOULD care. And I don't want to pull the "do it for me" card, because what does that really fix? They love complaining about everyone else, but make no efforts to make things better. They say that the other parties don't want to reconcile, but why would they when they don't even know they've given offense? Human nature is a twisted and complex thing, and people unwilling to make the effort to understand leave me feeling like Jeremiah, ripping his clothes and throwing ash on his head, weeping and praying for a group of people who could care less.

So what is the solution? *I* forgive *them*. Daily. And I ask forgiveness for myself for all the hard feelings and resentments I have towards them. And I pray for them, because in the end, that is all one person can do for another who doesn't think anything is wrong with them, it's everyone else.

Mental Break, Take One

My posts have been rather serious lately, so this one is going to try and lighten things up. In my Wednesday night Bible Study recently, we were talking about words of wisdom we learned from our parents/family. Well, this will be the abridged version, but here are some little sayings that my friends on Facebook contributed. Let me know if you need clarification (this is for all you Yanks...).

‎1. "One person's normal is another person's weird."
2. "One person's trash is another person's treasure.

3. A nod is as good as a wink to a blind bat.

4. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

5. "I will see you later" says the blind man to his deaf wife.

6. No such thing as a little bit pregnant.

7. If a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its butt.

8. If Ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd wll have a merry Christmas!

9. The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

10. You can't throw mud on someone else without getting your own hand dirty.

11. This one is for my dad: 
      The only two things you need in life are WD-40 and duct tape. 
      If it doesn't move and it should, use the WD-40. 
      If it moves and it shouldn't, use the duct tape.

12. Does absence makes the heart grow fonder or out of sight out of mind?

13. Marry in haste, repent in leisure

14. Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil

15. That's how the cow ate the cabbage

16. You can catch more files with honey than with vinegar

17. Watch out when you're getting all you want. Fattened hogs ain't in luck.

18. If you have to eat dirt, eat clean dirt.

19. The rooster makes more racket than the hen that laid the egg.

20. Don't spoil Saturday night by counting the time to Monday morning

21. Never trust a man too far who stays mad through Christmas week.

22. Success is relative—the greater the success, the more relatives.

23. If at first you succeed, try to hide your astonishment.

24. People like criticism—just keep it positive and flattering.

25. It's OK to let your mind go blank, but please turn off the sound.

26. Hospitality is making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were.

Feel free to share your own favorites!

Addiction

Hello, my name is Sharon, and I am a Facebookaholic.

Okay, so I'm not as bad as a lot of people. I do, however, spend many hours a week (and sometimes a day!) on Facebook. Sometimes I use it for good, like staying connected with people. Sometimes I use it for ill, like procrastinating on doing my organic chemistry homework...to the point where it is midnight and I am exhausted and end up not doing it...then regretting it the next morning when I barely understand what my professor is talking about. Then I end up boycotting Facebook by the end of the semester and cramming all my homework into an all nighter...well, you get the picture.

What is it about computers, or music, or books (another serious addiction!), that make us forget our obligations and responsibilities? I consider myself a good person. I'm not addicted to the usual substances that get abused. I don't swear (much). Is addiction the same as obsession? I don't think so. I would say I'm addicted to facebook, but when I'm not on it, I don't think about it all the time (i.e. "omg I HAVE to find a computer so I can harvest my wheat on Farmville!"). But when I AM on the computer, I find myself snapping at my kids and ignoring my husband. And procrastinating on my homework.

So what is the solution? I don't know. It is a nice outlet, but at what point does it become unhealthy? I guess it's different for everyone. For me, I'm on the verge. So for all my Farmville and Frontierville friends, take no offense when I don't respond to your impassioned pleas for dog food and wood shavings for your barber shop. I'm just back to what I'm supposed to be doing with my time. SN2 reactions here I come!

Teach Me Something...

So, this weeks "person of impact" on my life is actually a whole group of people, even though I am going to highlight just one or two. So if you are in this group, I salute you!

Math has never been my strong point. I'm not saying I'm terrible at it, more like I dislike it with a passion. It is a very necessary evil. It is something that most everyone struggles with at one time or another. And I have decided that the major contributing factor in whether a person feels like they are good at math or not is the person who taught them the subject. This encompasses many years of math teachers, and unfortunately, it only takes one bad teacher or experience to turn us into quivering, mind-blanking, stomach churning students (I speak from experience). Most young people lack the maturity to look beyond the present situation and comfort themselves with the knowledge that "this too shall pass." I had a bad experience with math beginning around the fourth or fifth grade. I don't really remember because I try to block that time period from my memory. Anyway, maybe it was the timed multiplication tables, maybe it was the fear of public speaking when we had to go down our rows standing up and reciting those tables (or maybe this is WHY I have a fear of public speaking). Whatever the reason, even through college I had to take medications to call my anxiety over all things math (including General Chemistry, which involves quite a bit of math).

I intentionally chose a major at Auburn that required the minimum amount of math. So when I made the decision to go back and finish course requirements to apply for Pharmacy school, I of course put off taking Calculus until the last possible moment. Unlike when I was eighteen and a back row student, as a mature adult I was determined to face my fears. I began by brushing up on my Pre-Cal at Jeff State. I had a wonderfully gentle and quirky professor (of whom, I am ashamed to say, I don't remember his name). I did rather well, but I chalked it up to having had the class before, albeit ten years ago. Then I enrolled in Calculus at Montevallo. In walks this guy who, in my opinion, is not much older than me. He begins this grand lecture about how strict he was about his class rules, and my stomach begins to churn again. But as he began to teach, it was so obvious how much he loved the subject. It was also apparent that he really wanted us to understand the material, not just memorize and regurgitate. He spent a lot of time making sure every student in the class 'got' what was going on by explaining things various ways. And his attitude was always cheerful. I'm not saying happy, that's different. His cheerfulness always stemmed from patience and love of the subject, and  the first time since lower grade school that I made an A on a math test, I cried. This man makes me wish I were better at math. The true test of a great teacher.

Since then, I have had other teachers with this same zeal for teaching, such as my Organic Chemistry professor. These classes are not easy, and these teachers don't apologize for it. But they DO encourage and offer any assistance possible to help their students succeed. No, I am not a teacher, and yes, I can imagine how hard it is to keep students from falling through the cracks when you have 30 other students to worry about (per class!). But teaching SHOULD be hard. It shouldn't be a default career. Teachers shape the minds of every person in this country. That should scare the apathy out of anyone related to teaching. Trust me, I understand how hard it is to listen to the complaining parents and whiny students. Pastors and their families have to listen to that every day too. And isn't that how we treat God as well? But He not only listens, but cares, and forgives, and supports. And so should we. So to all you teachers out there who go the extra mile, keep up the good work! There ARE those of us who notice! And to Dr. Tyler and Dr. Tidwell, you have my undying gratitude.

Free At Last

Every year on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, I read his "I Have A Dream" speech. Even having grown up in Alabama, it's hard for me to imagine that such a short time ago, African Americans had such a mighty struggle against racial injustice. Yes, racism in all forms is still alive and well, not only in the South, but all over the world in various forms. America is a little more politically correct now, but in other parts of the world, they suffer just as much as our pre-civil rights minority brothers and sisters did.

Every time I read through this speech and get to one of the most famous passages, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!", it kind of makes me sad in a weird way. I don't like to be pessimistic, but I am also a realist. Dr. Martin Luther King describes what, in his opinion, it would mean for us to be really free. Sons of former slave owners and sons of slaves sitting together at the table of brotherhood; little black boys and girls joining hands with little white boys and girls as sisters and brothers. In a sense, Dr. King's dream is being realized. This does happen! Every day! And every day it happens more frequently as the generation of oppressors and oppressed fade into old age and a new generation, my generation, a generation who has no memories of this oppression and who were raised on the solid principles that all men (and women!) are created equal, take the reins.

But this ideal, this dream, will never be fully realized. Why? Because humans are imperfect. We make mistakes, and choose unwisely, and listen to people we shouldn't, and do things we regret. No race is immune to this one human failing. Do you know why Dr. King was a great man? It wasn't just because of his support of Civil Rights. Many men and women, both white and black, sacrificed their lives for this cause. Dr. King was a great man because he lived his life for the one true King. The King of our salvation. Any time he spoke, he spoke of our heavenly Savior, who saves all people. The dream Dr. King describes will never happen on Earth, but it is the high ideal of Heaven. I'll let you in on a secret. Dr. King wasn't perfect either. And neither are you, and neither am I. But he was willing to die for what was right in the eyes of God. Are you?

A Little Slice of Heaven

I believe in heaven and hell. I also believe they can exist on Earth. I won't depress you with many reasons why I think this is so. But I'm always on the lookout for those times I refer to as "little slices of Heaven". They make the hard times worth living through. In my world, these are different from those "mountain top" experiences you always hear about. I've had a few of those too, but to me, the difference between the two is huge. To boil things down, a mountain top experience is like all of a sudden, all this joy and love comes bursting through your heart, so much that you don't know how you are going to contain it all. You are flying so high that you just want to shout your love of God to every living thing you see.

A little slice of Heaven is a gentle, still reminder. A peaceful feeling of thankfulness and being blessed. A small moment when all you think is "Thank you, God. This is what life really is all about." I've had these moments occasionally. Sometimes I forget about them, and sometimes they are imprinted in my mind like they happened yesterday.

Today, my kids were driving me crazy. They were whiny and needy and clingy (and any of you who know me know how I value what little personal space I can get!). They were fighting over who got to pick the book to read. Or so I thought. Apparently, the issue was that whoever I was reading for got to sit in my lap, and the other was insanely jealous. Finally I put all books away, put them both in my lap, and instantly the complaints stopped. For once, they didn't fight each other and complain that one was touching/pushing/hurting each other. They just sat there in my lap and laid their heads on my chest. I rocked them and sang to them, with my son snug under my arm and my baby girl sucking her thumb, and I thought, "this is what Heaven is like." And I got teary eyed because I know that this is a fleeting moment. Trust me, even though I complain, I DO cherish every moment I have with my kids. I know too many families who have lost little ones to take for granted what I have waiting to lavish me with love and tears at home.

Anyway, I said I wouldn't get into the whole depressing aspect of the subject, but you can kind of guess what my definition of the flip side would be. And even if you don't have kids, I know you've had these moments. The important thing is that, even if we don't remember that exact moment a month or a year from now, to remember that there was a moment, and there is a God who blesses us, even if we have to wade through pain and suffering to see the little slice of Heaven.

And the Winner is...

Okay! The time has come to tell you about another special, "behind the scenes" person in my life. But first, a little background music please..

In case you didn't know, I have two precious kids. My son is four and my baby girl is one. In case you also didn't know, I am back in school. It actually occurred to me yesterday as I was having lunch with one of my classmates (who is a sophomore), that I am getting perilously close to physically having been able to birth one of these kids. But that is a whole different blog. Anyway, I didn't decide to go back to school until after my son was born, and even then I was only going to night classes. It was a whole new ball of wax once we moved to Helena. When I decided to make the switch to a four year university, we knew things would get tricky, but I would be a nervous wreck without the sweetest, most trustworthy, most loveable, and most dependable Ms. Julie Vise.

From the time my daughter was two weeks old, Julie has been loving her like she was her own (and of course, she loves my son too, but he is in preschool every week day :). She claims that she feels bad that I pay her at all, and I claim that no amount of money in the world would be enough for what she does for us. To have someone looking after your children, who has been in the trenches and has kids young enough that they remember every little quirk and stage, and who is so flexible that I can call her at seven in the morning panicking because I have chemistry lab and my husband has an unexpected hospital visitation, and she will be at my house ready to help get the kids ready and even take them to school. She is an absolute angel from God. And no, you can't have her, she's MINE!

I have several people I can depend on in an emergency, especially since we are currently so close to family. But I don't like to call them unless it really is an emergency, because I always feel guilty about disrupting people's plans at the last minute (and because I have a serious addiction to the phrase "I can do it myself"). Julie allows me to keep those people on reserve. She is also the facilitator of my sanity. I love my kids. And I love other people's kids. But I thank God every day that there are people out there who are called to interact with children on a daily basis (all you teachers and daycare workers out there!). I don't know how you do it, but I am so glad that you do. You will all have a special place in Heaven, right along side Ms. Julie Vise!

Sweet as Vinegar Pie

I love to cook. I know, you are shocked (so is my husband if he's reading this). But I really do love it. The big problem is that I learned at the knee of my grandmother, who was an inspired Southern Cook. She was the kind of person who always "forgets" to write down all the ingredients in a recipe, because its a handfull of this and a pinch of that, plus a secret ingredient that you don't ever get to know unless you sat there and watched her cook. And did I mention that she cooked for the multitudes? Five kids plus various cousins, friends, or whoever else dropped by for dinner. A whole church full of people on Wednesday Nights. She didn't know how to cook for one or two people. This is the excuse I use for not cooking. That and the fact that it is so expensive to get fresh ingredients in the 'burbs!

The other thing she taught me is to have pride in myself as a woman. Yes, she was old fashioned Southern (read: Men go to work and women stay home and raise babies if at all possible). I know in this day and age it is very antiquated and not very practical (and I'm so thankful that I had my mom to balance out the practicality and women's lib :). But there are lessons that those old fashioned Southern women could teach us modern, overworked superwomen. Things I intend on teaching my daughter along with how to become the most fabulously successful whatever she wants to be when she grows up.

I was looking for a recipe for alfredo sauce in my grandmother's cookbook (of which I inherited one of many), and I found a paper on which I had taken notes from a book I read while I was working at Southern Living Magazine. It embodies everything my grandmother believed in as a Southern Lady. See the link to the left of my column.

There is a section (I believe in chapter three) talking about an old popular southern dessert called vinegar pie. Ever heard of it? I'm going to make it, I'll let you know how it turns out...but I digress. Basically, Ronda is educating her readers about the importance and success of couching criticism in compliments, which I have always been a huge fan of. Let me paraphrase and add in my tidbits for example:

For every bad thing you say to (or think about!) someone, say three nice things.

It isn't WHAT you say, but HOW you say it.

Southern women (as in Southern Ladies) believe that there is good in everyone. We quickly find that good and comment on it.

Try it this week. Find someone you don't know very well, or even someone you haven't gotten along with in the past, and compliment them on something. It can be their hair, shoes, accessories, laugh, smile, eyes. Don't lie, be sincere. If you can't find anything to compliment, then you just need to pay more attention. Do this every day for a week. I guarantee you will benefit from it in the way you feel about yourself. And check out this book. I know it's a little old now, but some books are timeless, and I promise that every woman will benefit!

Forever Friends

My dear sweet friend Rica came to visit us this past weekend, and to give a small portion of her testimony at church this morning. She lives a few hours away, where we lived for five years before moving here. She and her husband were good and constant friends to us for those five years. It is those kind of people that causes the pastoral family's heart to break when the bishop says its time to move.

I am mostly a quiet and reserved person. I don't have a lot of friends, but the ones I do have, I hold very dear. So you can imagine how hard it is to leave them every few years. "Will they miss me when I move? Will they even think about me at all?" are questions that always run through my mind. And honestly, most of the time I never know the answer. But then there are some people who are your forever friends. You know the ones I mean. You could go years and not talk to them, but the instant you see each other it's like you are back in Brownies, or Kindergarten, or a freshman in high school, or at summer camp, or that first church your husband served. Your lives have changed, your kids have grown, but that kindred spirit that has been burning low flares again and warms your heart. I challenge you to reconnect with someone in your life who is a forever friend. Life is to short and precious not to let them know how you feel. Send them a note, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, email, text, or snail mail. Something they can pull out when they are down and remember that they have a forever friend they can always turn to. And if you don't have someone like this in your life, IT'S NEVER TOO LATE!

So to all my forever friends, you are never far from my thoughts and I love you very much! And to everyone reading this, be safe the next few days. Don't drive on the ice! (And for those of you who care, War Eagle!)

Hope Beyond A Doubt

Genesis 9:12-13


And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth."


Why does rain seem so depressing? Or at least at this time of year. Is it the combination of cold weather and long dark nights? The night before last I couldn't sleep. My son woke up in the middle of the night and crawled into bed with us, so obviously after that sleep was out for me. So around 3:30 am I got out of bed to do a few things on my "Self" list. And it was raining. Sometimes, when it is a steady rain, I find it very soothing. But this was more of a heavy drizzle, the typical winter precipitation. Great. 


At 5am I finally fell asleep on the couch, only to be wakened by my son at 6am. It's still dark!!! Why in the world is my sleepyhead son awake? And he wasn't just awake, he was wound up. I use this term specifically because when he has so much energy he can't contain himself, he likes to run circles through our living room, dining room, and kitchen. He can keep this up for at least half an hour. This is what he was doing by 6:30, so of course, the sound of his running feet woke my daughter up too. Great.


I was really trying to have a positive attitude to start the day, but I was swiftly losing the battle. The combination of no sleep and dreary weather was conspiring against me and allowing the Liar to steal my joy. Disgruntled, I decided to go ahead and get grocery shopping over with after I dropped my son off at preschool. Ugh. Getting the baby out in the drizzle was not my idea of a girls' day out. But as I was parking in the lot, I looked over the trees and saw the most beautiful rainbow. I actually stopped and took a picture with my camera, but the picture just doesn't do it justice. It's like the rainbow pierced my soul and chased away the darkness. I know that sounds dramatic, but I don't know another way to describe it. One minute I was grouchy and agitated, the next minute I was closing my eyes and smiling. The rainbow only lasted a few moments, but those few moments saved the rest of my day. Thank you, God, for reminding me of your promises to us, your children. Amen.

Steel Magnolias

Today I have struggled with being a good Christian and the true Southern Lady my grandmother taught me to be. A dear friend, who will remain nameless (no it's not you!), basically belittled my existence today. This happens on at least a monthly basis. They don't do it to be mean, its more like just thoughtless comments. At least, that is the way I choose to take them so that I can continue to forgive them ( I have to admit that my first inclination is always to smack them across the head). But today for some reason it just really got under my skin. I am, even now, praying to God to help me forgive this person. I am a stay at home mom and a student. I feel no shame in this. It is every mother's (or father's !) right to put the raising of their children over anything else. My grandmother used to get disgruntled at people who said they were going to wait until they could afford them to have kids. "You can never have enough money to afford kids, just go ahead and do it. Kids are a lot more rewarding than money and a fancy career." And she was and is so right. And even though I am working towards gaining a solid career, I will always appreciate and cherish the time I spend at home with my children. That is something I learned from my mother. She stayed at home with us until we were old enough to care for ourselves properly before going back to school to get her pharmacy degree. I appreciate and admire both hers (and my father's) sacrifices so that she could stay and home, and also her determination to succeed once she went back to school. I am actually sad that my kids aren't old enough to appreciate that about me right now...but don't worry, they'll hear about it plenty growing up :)

In any case, I just wanted to share my frustration. I'm sure any stay at home mom has stories to tell, and I don't want to encourage pessimism. As a matter of fact, I realized later this evening that the reason this person makes these comments so regularly is not because they wish they could trade places, but because they wish they could trade attitudes. I try, for my kids and my husband, to always keep an upbeat and positive attitude (which is what makes us steel magnolias ladies!). I am by no means perfect, but I love my life and I wouldn't trade it for all the tea in China...or all the money in the bank!

God and Chocolate Milk

My son is four years old and a chocoholic. Especially when it comes to chocolate milk. After he got off baby formula, I was concerned about his nutrition, but didn't want to pay for the expensive "second step" formulas (nothing against them, they are great, but we ARE on a pastor's salary after all). At the time, our good friend and my sometimes co-bible study leader Brian Patz was also our pediatrician. I discussed my concerns with him, and he told me he gave his kids Carnation Instant Breakfast (which was more expensive per unit than kid vitamins, but a lot less expensive than formula). So I bought a can of chocolate flavored instant breakfast, mixed it with my son's milk, and thus began his love of all things milk and chocolate. For him, chocolate milk makes everything better. If he falls and skins a knee, here comes the chocolate milk. If he doesn't have a nap and is whining or even having a meltdown, here comes the chocolate milk. It is the miracle worker for his temperament.

All of this is to impress to you what a crisis it is when we run out of chocolate for our milk. We went out of town for New Year's and have been back for two days. I have desperately been trying to avoid going to the grocery store until the kids go back to school tomorrow (HALLELUJAH!). We ran out of chocolate mix last night, and my son hasn't known what to do with himself. Fortunately I kept the daughter of a good friend today since her mother is a teacher and had meetings to day, so she distracted him somewhat. However, after she left I realized that even though I'm glad school starts tomorrow, I had nothing to pack for their lunches. So I broke down and packed everyone up for the trip to the store, promising myself that I was only going to get VERY necessary things to tide us over till tomorrow. One of those things was chocolate mix. After we got home, I mixed some for my son, who drank it faster than a man dying of thirst in the desert, and then crawled up in my lap and said "Mommy, thank you for my chocolate milk. I love it so much, and I love you. Thanks Mom."

And it occurred to me...how often do we say that to God? I'll be the first one to admit that my prayer life is lacking. For a pastoral family, God IS the family business. It is so hard sometimes to remember that we should not only be about God's business, but maintaining and improving our relationship with the giver of all the good things in our lives. Most Sundays, it is a frenzied, 'hurry we are late' morning where all I care about is that my kids are dressed and I'm on time to make sure the nursery has help, then rush in to hear Mike's sermon, while going back and forth to make sure everything is going okay behind the scenes. After all, I typed the sermon, right? Do I really need to hear the whole thing again? Umm, yes. God speaks through those who speak his Word. An outline is all fine and good, but the reason there is only an outline is so that the Holy Spirit has some wiggle room! And that is just on Sunday morning. The rest of the week is the same kind of crazy as any other person has. I used to be so good at taking time to pray and study the Word, but that was BC ("before children"). Now I have kids, school, kids, homework, and the occasional cooking and cleaning incident. And somewhere in there I have to squeeze in being a wife too. There's no time for myself and certainly no time for talking to God. I'm so exhausted by the end of the night! I've tried praying at night before bed, but I fall asleep. I've tried when I wake up, but too soon and the kids are waking up and we are running late. So maybe I'm not superwoman. Maybe all I can do right now in this moment is say "Thank you God, for everything you've given me. I love my life and I love you. Thanks, God". And it's a start.

Stop Me if You've Heard This One

I have decided to take some time every week and thank people who have touched me recently (as part of my New Year's Resolution, take 1). I got this idea from a childhood friend of mine who works for the United Methodist Men organization in Nashville, Miss Bari Watson. So Bari, kudos to you girlfriend!

Now, I don't want to step on toes, because I tend to do that a lot. I have a lot of special people in my life. My husband, kids, extended family, and closest friends. I hope you guys, at least, already know how much I love and appreciate you! I'm talking about the day to day happenings and the people whose kindness may not have even been noticed by themselves! So don't get all offended if I don't mention you right away, and no, there is no special "order" of friends :)

So, this week's special lady has been on my mind a lot as I take time to reflect on being a Pastor's Wife (hereafter referred to as PW). Being a PW, and in fact a PK, is a hard and sometimes lonely endeavor. When we moved to Helena, I was super excited to be moving back home, practically in my parent's back yard, and to have several long time friends who live so close. But as for the church family, I was a little nervous (I always am when we move to a new church, since I am by nature an introvert). Ms. Heather Simmons was the very first person to invite Bill and me out to lunch, her having young children as well. I know McDonald's isn't glamorous, but to me it was as much joy as going to the most expensive restaurant because it was enjoyed with a new, welcoming friend. So, Heather, I just wanted to officially say thanks for being the sweet person you are! Blessings heaped upon you (and bring on the Girl Scout Cookies!)

New Year's Diet

As I sit here watching the kids and Mike fight over a bag of popcorn, it occurred to me that I haven't made a New Year's resolution yet. I think that diet and exercise are a given for most people, so that really doesn't count, does it? I do have to say, though, that I have already been on a diet and exercise regimen, and I highly recommend it. It is very simple. Have a couple of kids, and go to school far enough away that you can't come home for lunch. I call this plan the Katie Diet and Bill Exercise Plan. Katie mooches at least half my food (as Julie Vise can also attest to!), and unless Bill is holed up in his room playing trains, I chase him around the house. Boy that kid can run fast! In addition, unless I want to pay exorbitant prices at the school cafeteria, or waste my money on vending machine food that is way too bad for me, I end up cutting my calories by having a lunch consisting of something shelf stable like a pack of crackers, and coffee, or if I'm really splurging, a slimfast that I race upstairs to put in the student lounge fridge before my morning class. I used to be afraid to get coffee at school, because my ex chemistry professor walked around acting like the whole pot was just for him, but I recently discovered that its the students who really run the place. I knew I liked that place!

A Bright New Year

The need to write sometimes presses on me considerably. I used to think the need could only be satisfied by writing books (of which I have written several, although none are published. However, let me know and I'll send you a copy!). While rewarding, I have since discovered that, for me, writing requires endless hours at my computer, allowing myself to get sucked into my characters' worlds. As anyone with children knows, this is just not possible. So I have decided to try my hand at blogging. I will regularly post comments about my day to day life, but I also will post life lessons that I have learned, as well as thoughts, events, and various other things that lift me up and help me survive this crazy thing called life. I would like to say it will be entertaining, but more to truth, it will be a representation of who I am, and who I want to be some day. Whether I have one fan or a million, I'd like to think this is just as much for me as for them. Enjoy!