This weekend was truly fantastic. I got to hang out with so many of my favorite people! On Friday night, Hillary and David had a well-attended show at the Main Street Art Walk. I always enjoy seeing their beautiful work. I also talked and laughed (a lot) over turkey sandwiches with a friend from my small group. Then the socialness continued on Saturday morning with a small pancake breakfast at another friend’s house.

On Saturday night I went to the Tigers game with Kathy and Daniel, as usual. To my delight, the guy in the penguin costume was back, and accompanied by a giant banana. :D The Forum was packed and it was one of the most exciting games so far this season… thanks to the SIXTY-FOUR fouls called. If we’d lost, I absolutely would have blamed the refs. Kathy suggested bringing in some refs from the Bartlett Youth League because they make better calls. The Tigers play Southern Miss on Wednesday night for top billing in the conference. I’m nervous but excited!

Sunday was a beautiful day. My dad came over to trim a wayward limb from one of my maple trees (which are already setting buds thanks to the non-winter we’re having). He recently helped me clear the backyard of leaves, something I’d never accomplished before. Even though the yard is brown, it’s clean and tidy and I feel happy when I look at it!

My garden is the only thing that’s not brown. I planted rye grass because it’s supposed to protect the soil over the winter and make it richer for the next growing season. When spring comes, the grass will die out and I can till it into the soil. If nothing else, it looks pretty!

Add a Comment + Posted in: friends, gardening, life lately, tigers

Poor turtle needs a hug!

“Embrace the awkward” is a statement I hear a lot at church these days. My church is really trying to foster community, and from where I’m sitting, it’s going well. But many of us often hesitate to approach new people, or get more “real” with people we already know, for fear of painful awkwardness. I know that’s true of me. We’re afraid of running out of witty conversation topics, or of stepping on someone’s toes, or just of people thinking we’re weird. Acknowledging this in a big group setting has been freeing for me. Instead of worrying about possible awkwardness, I can accept that there will be awkwardness and learn to be okay with it. Not that I’ve learned yet, but I’m getting there. Also, one of my pastors pointed out that it was pretty awkward for Jesus to become human and be among us.

Maybe we should also have a demonstration of awkward turtle. It’s a useful and under-used gesture!

2 Comments + Posted in: community

I’ve used an old school Electrolux vacuum for many years. It’s well-made, but it’s almost as old as I am and has no features, not even an on-off switch. Last week it finally broke down. My dad examined it and confirmed that it was a wiring problem. I could spend about $150 to have it fixed, or I could buy a bagless, HEPA-filter vacuum made in this century. It wasn’t a hard decision.

What was difficult was deciding whether to buy a regular model or spring for a Dyson Animal (the Holy Grail of vacuums). After reading a LOT of reviews and talking to friends and family, I bought a Hoover Wind Tunnel Pet Rewind. It seemed comparable to the Dyson for less than half the price (and believe it or not, there are some bad reviews out there for the Dyson). After one use, I’m VERY pleased with the Hoover. The carpet looks great – I had to empty the container twice, which I took as a good (if yucky) sign. All the attachments are conveniently mounted on the vacuum, so I can sweep over the couches as I go by. But it took a long time to vacuum because I had to stop and adjust the floor settings a lot. And change outlets a lot, because the cord is kind of short (but it automatically retracts!). We’ll see how it does over time, but I’m happy with my purchase.

Sorry to write an entire post about a vacuum, but this is me:

(Of course I haven’t been compensated in any way to write about this. If I was getting paid to write on a regular basis, believe me, you would know. :))

4 Comments + Posted in: domestic

♥ We had some severe weather late last night. The above is a picture of my home weather station, showing that the temperature and dew point were the same. I don’t know the full scientific explanation, but basically, that’s not good. The media hyped this storm all day and evening, then issued tornado warnings before it even crossed the river, but nothing major happened. My cat Gandalf didn’t even go into the safe bathroom, which he normally does on his own (although he did hide in a closet for a while). So I wasn’t too concerned. My cat is my VTI, and unlike the Channel 5 storm team, he hasn’t been wrong yet. (No offense, storm team!)

♥ I got a shorter-than-usual haircut! I like it, but feel kind of iffy about it at the same time. Seems like it looked better when it was this short last summer. It’ll probably take a few days to settle down.

♥ Southwest is coming to Memphis! So far there are only plans for four flights a day, and it could take years for them to really affect local rates, but that’s enough for me. Just the thought of not always having to drive to Nashville or Little Rock is thrilling! NEW ERA.

♥ Speaking of new eras, I went to the Tigers/SMU game on Saturday afternoon. After the intro video and the starting lineup, the lights at the Forum wouldn’t come back on, resulting in an at least 20-minute delay of game (and prompting a great discussion with Kathy about technological warfare – seriously, no good can come of making everything computer-dependent). I don’t know if the delay rattled the Tigers or what, but things were pretty rough into the second half, when the team suddenly remembered who they were and started dominating. Will Barton is totally going to the NBA next year. He’s amazing.

♥ I’ve been feeling really unmotivated and directionless. I think it’s fine and even good to be more relaxed and open about life, but I don’t even know where I should focus my energies, so I’m not gaining ground toward any of the things I want. I’m just kind of… existing. But I know the waiting is often where we learn the most. Part of it might be the season, too. Everything seems more bleak in January.

3 Comments + Posted in: beauty, life lately, tigers, travel, weather

My brother made a short commercial last month for a contest sponsored by Muddy Outdoors. This week, he was declared the winner! He’ll receive cash, prizes, and a national run of his commercial (probably limited to the outdoor channels). Here’s the video:

I think he did a great job of conveying a lot in just a few shots. I’m very proud of him!

3 Comments + Posted in: family