Call Me a Random Muser

Just a collection of random thoughts today. It’s been a while and blogging has been thrown under the bus of busyness.

We’ve had a lot of rain lately. My backyard is a mudslick and covered in moss. But I love it! It’s been so much cooler under cloudy skies. I think I could live happily in Seattle or some other very rainy place. I think I hit on why I like it so much: it’s not just to cool, it’s the pace. Everything seems to slow down when it rains. People drive more cautiously. Fewer people are out and about. It’s comforting.

My day started out pretty good since we again were under cloudy skies but it quickly digressed thanks to a rotten driver. Nothing ruins a day faster than a nasty driver. I was transporting Red and her birthday cupcakes to school this morning when a driver with out-of-state plates came up on my rear bumper. I hate that. Especially when I can’t see the front bumper of the car behind me because of it tailgating. As soon as there was a break in traffic, she pealed out and got in the middle lane. I’m fine with that. I put my blinker on to change lanes after she passed me and she immediately laid on her horn and hit the gas. I was waiting for her to move on up! (And it was clear that I was waiting…it wasn’t like I was anywhere close to swerving.) She kept laying on the horn. She came into my window’s view and then flipped me off. Hello??? I don’t say this often about people but what an idiot.

So I get to work feeling a little on edge. I try to breathe deeply and not let one idiot driver control my emotions.

Smile firmly in place, I dropped Red and her cupcakes off. She was so excited. Today is not her birthday. It isn’t until July but since she can’t celebrate with her class in the summer, she was allowed to bring cupcakes to class today. They were pink strawberry cupcakes with strawberry (pink) frosting and pink sprinkles with pink princess crowns. Yep. It’s her favorite color, if you couldn’t guess!

My mood improving, I grabbed my iced tea and downed it in my office. Nice. Feeling good and feeling human again. I worked for 40 minutes then headed out to my boss’s apartment. He and his wife just bought their first home and we as a staff went to help them move. It took all morning but we did it and it was great to see a deserving young couple so happy! More happy thoughts. (Minor depressing thoughts: It was 3 flights of stairs to carry items into the house. I think I went up and down 50 times. I’m going to be soooo sore!)

I headed back to work feeling grubby and yucky (desperately in need of a shower!) I picked up my little munchkin who was so excited about her day at school. “They even sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me!” she gushed. She happily passed out her cupcakes to her friends and teachers and told me all about it. She is quite the social butterfly so this day was made for her.

Red is a little sad that this is the last week of school. “What am I gonna do now?” she asked me miserably. I told her she’d have to come to my office for a little while before summer day camp started. “Do I hafta? Can’t I go stay with Grandma?” Gee…I feel so loved.

We got home and found plenty to do. I was on my way to the bathroom for my well-deserved shower when I discovered my 3-way dimmer switch for the dining room. Over Memorial Day weekend, I found my box of electrical supplies. I had purchased this 3 houses ago when I was in the mood to do some re-wiring. I never got to it since that was when we moved every 2 years. Now I figured I might as well try again. I tried to put one up but discovered it wasn’t compatible with the switch I wanted to replace. So I dug around and found the one I needed yesterday. Took me fifteen minutes and I felt really good! I love it when a project gets accomplished. With Red reorganizing my nails and screws in my toolbox, I did the honors and tried out my new dimmer. It worked…sort of. I forgot to replace the fluorescent bulbs in my fixture with the normal bulbs. It hummed and screeched and barely worked. I quickly changed out the bulbs (thank heavens for being a pack rat! I hated to throw out good bulbs when I replaced them with fluorescents so I boxed them up and stored them.) Voila! Success! Now we can dine in romantic dimness.

With a couple successes of the day under my belt, I felt released to go shower and relax. But I sat still too long! I’m sore!

I’d better get these creaky bones up…Red is “starving.”

For now,

Call me a random (or rabbit trailing) muser

Call Me the Super-Smeller

Red's "good" smelling birds

Do you watch Psych? It’s a hilarious TV show on USA Network about a very perceptive man who masquerades as a psychic. He solves every mystery through his “visions” which are merely astute observations. Anyway, his sidekick is Gus, a pharmaceutical salesman who has an unbelievably good sense of smell. To his everlasting geekiness, he coined the term the “Super-Smeller” for his nose.

Now to my story…

I have the Super-Smeller nose. I can tell immediately if you’ve been out for a smoke even if you tried to cover it up by brushing your teeth and using Febreeze. I can tell before the oven starts smoking if something is burning. And I can definitely tell what someone has been eating…especially if that person has been into my chocolate stash.

My acute sense of smell has contributed to more than my fair share of migraines. Often I have to plug my nose in order to keep a bad headache from crossing that threshold into migraine-land.

It only got worse when I became pregnant. You know, one side effect of pregnancy is increased sensitivity in smell…well, I got it in spades. The “Super-Smeller” became the “Ultimate Super-Smeller.” I could correctly identify perfumes from across the room. No joke.

But there is a real benefit to it. Obviously, we’ve never burned anything down or had anything rot in the garbage.

Beyond that, I enjoy good scents. Lavender is my favorite by far but I do love fresh, green scents too.

And I’m a candle fanatic. I’m crazy about Archeipelgo Botanicals Candle in a Tin in Luna. It’s a lemon, verbena, and lavender scent that is so light yet fills the whole room. I can burn it even when I have a headache.

I also love a honeysuckle scented candle that my husband picked up in a school’s fundraiser. It’s at my office- and I burn it whenever the middle school boys come in to play video games. It helps cover a multitude of sins…er…odors!

Another of my favorites is a coriander scented candle from Home Trends that my boss gave me as a birthday gift. It has just enough scent for me to enjoy at my desk. It’s also one of my most favorite spices with which to cook.

Last but not least in my top 4 list of favorite candles is a cucumber scented candle that I cannot even begin to remember where I picked it up. It’s very fresh and summery but never overpowering.

Needless to say, when the power goes out at our house, we don’t turn on flashlights. We use my candles!

Anyway, I did discover that my daughter inherited my super-smeller. She can sniff out anything. Unfortunately, she is also at that age where she doesn’t pull punches when a bad odor hits. “Oh my! Mom there’s a TERRIBLE smell here.” (Mom ducks, blushes, and wishes she could disappear as all heads swivel in our direction.) Zoo trips are even more interesting. Apparently only the birds in the aviary don’t smell “disgusting.” You should hear Red’s comments in the monkey house.

Another little rabbit trail here… Red uses the word “stinky” so often, we had to ban it. After a day of hearing it used over-and-over-and-over-and-over again, it got old real quick. I banned the usage of it along with “I Want a Hippopatumus for Christmas” and the Spongebob theme song. To replace the word, my sister came up with “aromatic.”

Now “aromatic” sounds like a bad word to me!

“Mommy…Jack (not his real name) smells very aromatic when he comes in from the playground. I have to hold my nose.”

“The bathroom smells aromatic after Daddy uses it.”

“Mommy, your perfume smells aromatic. I don’t like it.”

*Sigh*

The Super-Smeller Jr. was born and is actively identifying all that is odoriferous in this world.

For now,

Call me the “aromatic” Super-Smeller

Call Me Impersonal

I was a nerd in high school.

I was a nerd in college.

I am now a geek.

I love technology and how it can bring together our world. I am able to get on Facebook and talk to friends here in the U.S. and in other countries. I can get my email from both my personal and work accounts on my phone. I can access my bank account from anywhere. I can read books on my iPhone. I can Tweet on the run.

And it means I really don’t have to talk on the phone much anymore. LOVE that!

I’ve been grateful this week to have such technology available to me. I work part time (yeah..right.. make that full time at part time pay) at church and have a huge fundraiser to organize for Sunday. I also have a sick kid. Thanks to email, half my work for it is done and I could do it from the comfort of my laptop with my kid is next to me, moaning.

But it is also a drawback. So many people still believe it is such an impersonal way to do business. I can’t agree with that statement anymore. With as much as I am expected to do, I cannot telephone everyone. If I did, nothing would get done. Email, websites, Facebook, etc. is still the best way for me to keep in touch with people. It’s much simpler to do my shopping/price comparisons online and order; far simpler than trying to explain an order over the phone.

Anyway, I’m curious as to your reactions…. What do you think? Should we stick to personal or is impersonal the wave of the future?

Call Me Frustrated

I know I’m supposed to be watching my temper but seriously…aaaghhh!!

Last night we had a horrible thunderstorm with very damaging high winds. No big deal. Red slept in our bed and we all got a couple hours rest.

I woke at 6:15 a.m. to no power. My alarm was supposed to go off at 5:40. I got dressed by candlelight and flashlight and did the best I could with makeup and a hat. Again, not that big a deal but I can feel the stress starting to creep back into my formerly relaxed shoulders.

I got Red up with the promise of a flashlight. You’d think it was Christmas by the way she was enjoying the morning preparations a la’ flashlight. (Shoulders relax a little.)

“Mom where’s my field trip shirt?” (Shoulders tense.) Dang, I forgot it was their field trip to the park today. Guess it will be cancelled due to the storm.

Downstairs, we try to pack her backpack and my briefcase by candlelight. I don’t dare open the refrigerator just in case the power has been out for many hours (and might still be out for more.) We head out praying that McDonald’s wasn’t affected. It wasn’t and we munch our breakfast in the car.

Trees are down all over the place. (Tensing…will we be later than we already are?) Even our street had a fallen tree blocking traffic. Thankfully it was the opposite direction we needed to go. (Relax.) We get to school/work with no incident and find lights/power on. Thank heavens!

I get to working and check on the status of my order at Puppet Productions. A couple blogs ago I mentioned we were working with puppetry in our church and I was so excited to have puppets coming. It’s eight weeks today (the length of time needed to make & mail the puppets) and I log in to find out the shipping time frame. The site comes up with a big “SITE CANCELLED” sign. Jaw drop. Stomach plummet. Shoulders tense. Surely this must be a mistake. Maybe the site is down for maintenance.

I call the phone number. Disconnected.

I start a Google search. Puppet Productions is all over the chat community. Yep. They’re out of business and not issuing refunds.

DRAT, drat, drat….We spent nearly $600 on the puppets that will now never arrive.  I don’t know what feels more violating, the loss of money, the loss of trust in people who have been in business since 1971, or the loss of trust in Christian business owners.

Now to call the credit card company and request a refund.

*Sigh* Not my day today.

Oh, and did I mention that I’m supposed to host a meeting at my power-less house tonight?

Laugh. Cry. Frustration.

For now,

Call me disappointed and very frustrated.

Maundy Thursday

Few of us who grew up Baptist really knew what Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, was. It wasn’t until I moved to Texas that I found out when we attended a church that celebrated this day. The significance of the service and the day moved me and now I cannot pass an Easter season without thinking on this fifth day of Holy Week what happened in preparation.

Maundy Thursday is a remembrance day. It marks the day that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, ate the Last Supper, agonized in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, and was betrayed by Judas. It marks the visible beginning of the road to the Cross.

When my pastor led us through the events on Maundy Thursday, I was drawn to a couple very specific things. First, can you imagine what it was like to have your feet washed by the Master, your God in the flesh? Think back to that time in history. The main method of transportation was walking. If you were rich enough, perhaps a camel or donkey, but walking was still the easiest way. Because of the arid land, your feet would most likely have been filthy. You would wear sandals, due to the heat, but it wouldn’t keep out the dirt and sand. After walking for a time, you would come to the host home where the host or his servant would wash your feet for you. Then you could recline comfortably for the meal. Yet, it was not the host of the home who washed the feet of the disciples. It was Jesus. How humbling. How magnificient. How inspiring. To think that God the Son loved us so much that he was not only willing to become flesh and live among us, but he was also willing to do what we would do, dirty as it would seem.

I saw a missions team in Africa take children from an AIDS orphanage and gently wash their feet. These children lost their parents and most members of their family to AIDS. They were so poor that shoes were the least of their worries. But in order to get an education, they had to have shoes. The missionaries tenderly cleaned those small, dirty feet and dried them. Then they pulled out clean socks and rolled them over the calloused feet. The childrens’ faces were a mixture of joy, wonder, and disbelief. Lastly, the missionaries slipped brand new sneakers on their feet.  One little boy claimed he could now run faster than anyone in the world! One little girl was sobbing. Another child stepped so carefully, claiming not wanting to ruin his new shoes. The joy of the moment translated into significance that was beyond anything an American could imagine. These might be the only shoes these children ever receive. These shoes meant they could actually go to school and better themselves. These shoes meant they could walk without fear of hurting their feet from stones or getting parasites.

To me, Jesus’ washing the feet of the disciples means something much more significant than clean feet. It showed his deep love and willingness to do whatever it took for our reconciliation with God the Father. It gave us a beautiful picture of what our hearts should show to others: servanthood. It was symbolic…no matter how much filth we have, he will love us anyway and is willing to purify us.

The change in format today is on purpose. Since the blog is usually about me, I wanted to shift the focus to where it really should be.

Call Me Queen of the Pond

Have you ever played the game, Hitman?

Well, I work at a church and that’s forbidden territory. So we’re playing “Duck & Run.” You get a profile (a wanted poster with the name of your “hit”) and a little rubber duckie. You have to “soak” your target in order to get his profile and keep your standing in the game. We play with almost 40 people and a Vigilante duck known as “The Dark Duck.” The Dark Duck is the wild card. He can get anyone, at any time, anywhere. But if you get him, you get 5 extra profile points.

Anyway, the game lasts a month and there is a lot of strategy and deal-making going on right now. It’s hilarious! There are some clever peopel playing including one girl who gave her wrong address on her wanted poster, a guy who lay in wait in thorn bushes for 6 hours just to get his target, and others who had ducks hidden in armpits to avoid the easily identified bulge in the pocket.

My little Red, the bird lover, is enthralled with the prospect of this game. Though she’s far too young to play, she insisted on filling out her own registration form. She painstakingly filled in her name and presented it to me. I jokingly asked for her fee and she slipped away to beg her dad for $10. He didn’t have it so she creatively pantomimed pulling out the money from her own pocket. I couldn’t resist. I did give her a duckie though she’s not technically playing the “real” game. We played a version at home, just the three of us, that had her giggling uncontrollably and wet through and through.

I have had one or two players ask if they could borrow Red. She inadvertantly warned a player about an imminent soaking when she saw the other player’s duck behind his back. She innocently asked the player if she could see his duck. That allowed the potential soak-ee to bolt!

Ah, well. It’s a fun game to watch! And since I’m administrating the game, that’s about all I can do. But I’d rather be on this side of the pond than that. The players are getting way to paranoid!

For now,

Call Me Queen of the Pond

Call Me Tired of the Birmingham Mayor Drama

Larry Langford, Democratic mayor of Birmingham, AL, has made the corrupt politician stereotype a reality. He’s still the mayor but he’s been indicted on 101 charges of bribery, fraud, money laundering, filing false tax claims, conspiracy, etc. City Council meetings are a joke because if he does not get his way, he childishly berates everyone for not getting with his program. He is the butt of many morning show jokes. While I could admire a strong politician, Langford’s character leaves much to be desired. He may have some good ideas at times but bullying and insulting people do not get you far.

The latest act in the drama of the Langford years is his inclusion on the federal government’s list of local officials who are not allowed to sign for any federal monies or assistance. The reason is that Langford was indicted on criminal charges. Langford’s response? Typical. “I will not roll over for this administration.” (Strong words for Obama, a man he once so ardently supported.) The Birmingham city attorney assured the council that a surrogate could be appointed to sign since their fearless leader could not.

Frankly, I’m surprised that as soon as the charges were leveled, Langford did not quietly step aside. Instead, he chooses to allow his personal issues interfere in the running of Birmingham affairs. I think it says a lot about the character of a man who will not let someone else more qualified take over the wheel. Childish and selfish are two descriptors that come to mind…

While many praise Langford for being a visionary, others tend to look at his ideas with skepticism. Among his great plans are: turning Birmingham into a port city for cruise ships to dock (we’re 250 miles inland), paying the $500,000 fee to apply to the Olympic commission to host the 2020 Olympics (Jefferson County which houses Birmingham is bankrupt), distributing DVDs to youth explaining how black-on-black violence is cultural genocide (even the most liberal TV stations won’t air it because of the overtly racist tones), and a building modeled after the Pentagon to house city government (again…no money, no reason). His ideas are huge, but his plan to get there doesn’t exist nor does it take into account the actual state of affairs in the city.

*Sigh* It would be lovely to find that rare politician who was strong, confident, flexible, realistic, visionary, and uncorrupted.

For now,

Call me annoyed and tired of the Birmingham mayor

Call Me the Puppeteer

When I got my Master’s degree in Interpretive Speech, my dad asked me what I could do with that. I think the implication was that there was no specific job field called “interpretive speaker.” It is such a broad degree, covering everything from stage performance to formal public speaking. I too often wondered if it was such a good idea to have a degree in something so vague in the overall description. I doubt Dad thought I would use it to get back into puppetry!

But I have used my degree to extreme ends and each job gets more exciting and more enjoyable. I started out teaching college business and education students how to speak publicly. Then I taught ESL (English as a second language) students how to write and speak English more clearly. Then I was given the opportunity to start church drama teams. I taught mime and pantomime. I wrote and directed children’s theater, church choir cantatas, and special day programs.

Now I am privileged to work with human (realitstic) style puppetry!

When I was much younger, I went on a missions trip to Africa with Teen Missions International. In the boot camp training, we learned the basics of puppetry. My interest was more than piqued and I returned from that experience with a burning desire to start a church team. We were given the funding (thanks to my dear parents) and the Sonlights team was born. For two years our team worked hard and ministered. It was such a blessing to see my team grow both theatrically and spiritually.

Now, I have interested people who want puppetry teams again!

Last Sunday, I started teaching the 4th and 5th graders about basic technique and what I would look for in a puppet team audition. This group was younger than most that I’ve taught but they were incredibly excited and willing to do the work. I came away not only encouraged but truly excited to see what they will do in the future.

And I’ve been getting hints from adults that maybe I should open this opportunity up for them. If I get enough willing volunteers, this could be the start of an amazing ministry journey! How exciting that my life should come full circle back to how I started in ministry.

Oh, and here’s the really exciting thing for me…We are getting BRAND NEW PUPPETS! Thanks to the generosity of our children’s minister (and my awesome boss!), Susan, we will soon introduce Kay, Opie, Elle, Bea, Dee, and Jay into our programs. I think our children will really appreciate the opportunity to use these new and improved puppets. I look forward to seeing the puppet friends come “alive” in their small but eager hands.

Call Me “Life on Mars” Fan

Did you happen to catch this new- and unfortunately one season only- show? Life on Mars was a twist on the Law & Order genre and one that really appealed to me. Jason O’ Mara starred as Sam Tyler, a dectective who is involved in a terrible accident in 2008 and wakes up in 1973. While trying to figure out what happened to him, Sam Tyler joins Precinct 125 and helps solve crime the old fashioned way. Harvey Keitel, Gretchen Mol, Michael Imperioli, and Lisa Bonet also starred.

I love a mystery and this show usually provided two per episode: one- the ongoing mystery surrounding Sam’s time travel and second, the episodic crime du jour. Each show was well scripted and gave just enough clues to help you form your idea of what happened but still leave you breathless for the next.

The support cast was also very well put together. There was lovable Chris, the rather new and naive detective. You could despise the arrogant, macho Ray but still find room to like him a little, especially when meeting his sweet wife. Gene, who runs the department like his own little fifedom, loves justice, even if you have to break heads to get it. And sweet but tough Annie rounded out the cast as the “token” department female who was struggling to prove herself as detective material in a man’s world.

SPOILER ALERT! ONLY READ IF YOU AREN’T PLANNING ON WATCHING THE SHOW…

The ending was the only thing I didn’t see coming. With the clues, I assumed Sam Tyler’s accident left him dreaming in a comatose state. I did not anticipate a leap into the future, 2030 to be exact. But as I watched the last 10 minutes, all the clues from the season fell neatly into place. Hyde, 125, life on “Mars”, even Gene Hunt (gene hunt), were cleverly recouped in the space ship headed to find genetic material on Mars.

Bravo to Life on Mars for a well put-together show! Though I am sorry it was only a one season show, perhaps it’s best to leave on such a high note. Other shows have been drawn out too long, for example, Lost, and has lost (pardon the pun) the freshness of the mystery.

For now,

Call me a Big Fan of Life on Mars!

Call Me Mom to a Sanguine

I mentioned that I’m of the introvert side yet I was blessed with a truly extroverted daughter. She is horrified at the thought of a day indoors “relaxing.” Her joy comes from people, activity, more people, and more activity, oh, and birds.

All animals have feelings and needs, even the stuffed ones.

My little Red was barely old enough to hold herself up in the shopping cart when she started showing her sanguine side. She would flash her toothless smile until she caught someone’s eye. Of course, it was usually an older person and that person had to stop and exclaim over my little redheaded grinning wonder. We never spent less than an hour at a store thanks to this people-person baby. I think I talked to more people in the first months of her life than I did in my entire lifetime before her!

Then she learned to communicate using sign language and grunts. Grunts got her the attention and once eye contact was made, she could sign. Shopping trips got longer.

Feathered friends are beloved.

Then she started stringing words together…and it was all downhill from there!

I had to catch her last Sunday. She was busily working the crowd when I got stopped by a friend to chat. I turned around and of course, my little Sanguine was long gone. Thankfully she’s quite familiar with the church and the people so another friend pointed me in the right direction. She had gone to use the restroom, came out chatting with an elderly parishioner, and was trying to straighten her dress (it was tucked into the back of her tights.) Of course, once she saw me waiting she launched into her excuses for slipping away from me. She pulled her dress up to show me her panties (just as my boss, the senior pastor walks up), “See Mommy, I didn’t peep in my panties! I made it to the bathroom all by myself!” (I think lack of self-consciousness is a trait of a sanguine.) The pastor, a father of girls, laughed and made a remark about panties. Keeping her dress up, Red pointed out the princesses. Red’s mother, the deeply blushing melancholic, was desperately trying to push her gown down, explain modesty, and get out of there all at the same time.

Friends are close, many, and giggly

But Red is also one of the tenderest sanguines. It doesn’t take much to please her…or hurt her feelings. She saw that I was manning a sign up table and she slipped in with the throng of people. She filled out one of the registration sheets with her first and last names, asked me how to spell a few more things, then happily handed me her sheet. I could’ve cried on the spot. My little baby is growing up. She put on her registration sheet that she likes pink and loves her mom and dad. Of course at that moment an older boy came up and rather cruelly informed Red that she was too little to sign up and she would have to go away. (He didn’t realize I was her mom…) Her eyes filled with tears and I hastened to reassure her that it was fine. I think she was more hurt that someone didn’t like her or could speak so harshly to her.

Living with a sanguine is a blessing…yes, even at 5 in the morning when a cherubic face is at your bedside asking if we can get up and start our day.

For now,

Call me mom to a sanguine