Thirty!

Yes, the fateful day has come and gone. And along with it, all my excuses for being goofy, acting a bit silly, and making questionable decisions.

Believe it or not, I have reached an age at which a certain standard of maturity is expected (not to mention wisdom and sensibility). To which I just have to say: Dang!

Actually, I am really happy about turning 30. My parents, on the other hand, have gone into mourning at the thought of being old enough to have a 30-year-old. Hee!

In accordance with time-honoured tradition (meaning, this is what I did for my 21st birthday, too), Chad and I went to Friday's. We haven't been to Friday's since we were dating (and probably won't go again until I turn 40), and I gotta tell ya, I think they have remodeled in the intervening time, cause it looked a bit different than I remember. Or perhaps I'm just remembering a different restaurant.

Pictures from my 21st and 30th birthdays will be forthcoming as soon as I can find them.

Also, my pal Dawn sent me a very cute bear, which delighted me to no end.

I'd have been surprised if he were preaching.

So at the beginning of church yesterday, I went to the powerpoint "area" to greet Sharlan and Ruth, as I normally do. I don't think I ever ended up greeting either of them, because there were so many people there to say hello to, including Charlie. So while I was standing about chitchatting, I noticed that Charlie was getting armed with a microphone, and I asked him, "Are you leading singing this morning?" (Just call me Captain Obvious.)

Now, I'm sure I've mentioned Charlie and Toni before (we spent Thanksgiving with them). They are among my favourite people on the entire planet. If I can be like Toni when (if) I grow up, I will consider my life's goals achieved. They are such amazing people, and if you haven't met them yet, that is so very sad for you.

In "real life", Charlie is the Lubbock Christian School band director. As such, songleading is not really much of a stretch for him. And since he is good at it, and he obviously enjoys it (either that, or he missed his true calling in life and should be an actor), it makes the whole song service that much more enjoyable for me. Generally speaking, I am not fussy about who is leading the singing; South Plains has a couple dozen songleaders, and I pretty much like them all equally well. But Charlie is a friend as well as being very musically talented, so if I ever get so bored as to rank the songleaders in order of preference, he'll be pretty near the top.

What is also nice is Charlie and Toni are front-row people, and since Chad and I are also front-row people, we sort of sat together yesterday morning. (They were at one end of the row, we were at the other; I didn't say we are flexible front-row people.)

Enough, already.

The general election is just over six months away (November 4 is freedom day), but since this presidential election cycle started the day after the 2004 general election, and really started to pick up steam after the midterms in 2006, I just don't think November 4th can come soon enough. Come on, people. Let's just get this over. I've always considered myself to be patriotic, but once this rigmarole is all finished with, I think I may move to Mexico. At least there I won't be able to understand when an election is even happening.

Whose job was it to bring the milk?

So I went to a women's retreat on Friday.

It wasn't so much a retreat, really, since it was just an event that lasted from 6-10 PM and then we all went home. But that's what it was called.

Anyway! I'm generally opposed to women's events at church, because they tend to range from "a bit tedious" to "mind-crushingly dull", with strong hits of "girly", "frilly" and "emotionally taxing". I don't know why women's events have to be this way, and it is for this reason that I make every effort available to me to make sure my own women's event does not dissolve into cheap psychotherapy with lashings of tears and the decimation of several hundred boxes of Kleenex.

But this one wasn't one of those. For starters, we had four different speakers. Each of them was a woman who goes to South Plains (in other words, someone we already know). Not a one of them is known for her cheesy-ness, dullness, or crying fits. They were all excellent speakers, who made their points very well and then left the rest of us to talk about it. It was really, really good.

Of course, no evening with me would be complete without me really annoying as many people as possible; this time, I managed to do it anonymously. I made the suggestion several weeks ago that we do something about mixing everyone up, so that we didn't all end up sitting with the same people we sit with every time we have an event (you know, like Sunday morning worship service). The organisers took this suggestion to heart, and colour-coded the tables and nametags. This caused several women (grown women, mind you) to cause quite a stir when they arrived to discover they would be expected to sit a whole ten feet from their best friends for an entire four hours. Somehow, the woman in charge managed to convince them all to act their ages and make nice with people they already know anyway. (It is a bit disconcerting how many grown-up teenagers we have kicking around.) At the end, she (the woman in charge) explained that it was at the request of "some of the younger women" that we were all jumbled up in this way, but she didn't give away that it was me, so my secret identity is safe for now.

No boxes of Kleenex were harmed in the staging of this retreat. But I did have a cup of tea that wasn't very good.

Where's my shirt?

You know, for all the people who have been harassing me to post more often, there has been curiously little activity in my comments. I suppose I haven't written much worth commenting about.

So, this is the final installment in my three-part series about my aim t-shirt. Previously on Life Of My Shirt, I mentioned that my aim t-shirt became a workout t-shirt in April of 2002, which it remains to this day. I've noticed at recent aim events that aim is now producing LOTS of workout shirts. They come in every colour imaginable, in various styles; you can get them in sign, in Greek, and in old aim logos. They might start to rival Nike and Reebok one of these days for their production of workout shirts.

Seriously, there seems to be no lack of things we can put aim logos on. Bible covers. Mugs (I have one of those; it sits on a shelf and I've never used it). There are probably some hat-and-scarf sets out there somewhere (or they are in the works). Backpacks. I wonder if they have a "newlywed" line yet whereby the young couple, in lieu of monogrammed towels and tablecloths, can have the aim logo put on them instead. You know that would be an instant hit.

I don't think this is a bad idea, although I've reached a point in my life where I would not use anything aim-logoed in my day-to-day life, apart from the infamous shirt. In fact, I distinctly remember, as a young aim student, suggesting to the aim secretary that we should put the aim logo on more things (specifically, I was talking about getting an aim watch).

I: Aim should make like, watches and stuff with our logo on it. We could put it on more things than just shirts and stationery.
Amy: Who would buy it?
I: Aim students, aim parents, ex-aimers, future aimers.
Amy: I don't think so, Susan.

For the record: Boy, was I right. (Sorry, Amy.)

I could still do with an aim watch.

Missing in Action

So there is an episode of NCIS, previously mentioned, in which McGee wears an MIT t-shirt. During the filming of said episode, Sean Murray noticed in the mirror that his shirt spelled "Tim", which is his character's first name. Apparently, Sean Murray was quite excited about this.

I had a similar experience the first time I wore my brand-new AIM t-shirt; in the mirror, "AIM" spells "MIA", which, for the acronym-impaired, stands for missing in action. At the time, I laughed hysterically at how appropriate it was. And there has been nothing in the intervening 12 years to change my mind about that.

(For more of the exciting story of my AIM t-shirt, continue reading.)

It's the shirt

I have owned three AIM t-shirts; two of them were given to me as a student (one in each year). I never wore either of them after I left Lubbock, and I gave them both away long before I graduated from aim.

I got the third one my first weekend as an aim (can't be bothered capitalising every time) assistant. We were talking about the aim students' first day, Jason mentioned that we would all need to wear our aim t-shirts. Which prompted this conversation:

I: I don't have an aim t-shirt.
Aim Assistants (AAs): General gasp of shock.
Jason: What happened to your t-shirt?
I: I gave it away. Both of them, actually.
AAs: Repeat gasp of shock.
Benjy or Scott (don't remember which one, but it was certainly one of them): You gave it away?
I: Yeah.
B or S: Why?
I: My whole team did. We all gave them to people who were important to us.
AAs: Giving me a blank stare.
I: Look, I can tie my aim certificate around my neck if you want, because that's the only thing I own that says "Aim."
Jason (probably feels the conversation is straying from the purpose at hand): Okay, I'll get you another t-shirt Saturday morning.
I: Thanks.

And, the conversation only got better on Saturday:

Jason: Which size do you need?
I: Medium.
Jason: Are you sure?
I: Yeaaaah. (Adding a couple of syllables to the word, in a way that I hope indicates "Let's not have a conversation about what size I am, okay?")
Jason (gets it): Okay.

I still have the debated t-shirt; the day after my second aim class left for the field, it became a workout shirt. And as a result, the t-shirt has been a feature at two (at least) West Texas Running Club races. And it still fits just as well as it did eight years ago.

It's a tough job, but...

So at work the other day, I was clearing out the "new" visits.

These are visits that we have in our system, waiting for charges to be put into them so they can then be billed to the insurance/patient/both. We get some that hang around for a while, though, because a patient didn't come in but wasn't removed from the schedule, or because I didn't know there was already a visit in place and created a new one when I billed the visit, or because I missed the visit altogether when billing out the charges for a particuar day. Whatever the reason, there are always visits hanging around that I have to go back and check on from time to time.

The first time I did the clearing-out, my supervisor explained it to me like this: "This is a job... (pause)."
I: That no one else wants to do?
She: No. Well, yes. But I was going to say it's something we have to do from time to time.
I: But no one wants to do it, so it hasn't been done in a while.
She: Right. I think there are a lot in there.


She was right; on that first venture, there were tons, some dating back a few years. But it didn't take me long to clear them out, and I've done it once a month ever since. My successor in this job had better appreciate that.


But really, I don't know why no one wanted to do it. It's fun for me. I get to look things up, figure things out, and wonder what on earth I thought I was doing on that particular day. I've never understood, not since that first time, why this is a job no one wants to do.

This is the price I pay for being anal.

First Place

Here's the short version: We ran a 15 K yesterday (9.32 miles), our longest race distance to date, and I came home with a first-place medal. (Yes, I was the only one in my age group.)

So this race was actually a lot of fun. We've been training on hills for a few weeks specifically in preparation for this race, and it certainly paid off. The first hill tired me out, but then it was pretty early on-- not even mile 2-- and my legs weren't quite up to speed yet. There were two hills in the final two miles. I've spent the last couple of weeks dreading those two hills, but you know what? They weren't hard at all. All that needless worrying. :)

Long version (can't say you weren't warned):
So anyway, I must give full credit to my faithful iPod, which is what got me through the race and into a very satisfactory 11:11 pace (for a 1:44:06 finish). I stayed up later than I should have done on Friday night, getting all my favourite songs in order at the top of my playlist, because I knew I would need them. Unfortunately for Chad, this meant his race was punctuated with my saying, "I love this song!" every few minutes. (There's nothing stopping him from getting his own iPod to tune me out.) This also meant that I got up later than I probably should have done before the race, so I ended up eating a bowl of oatmeal only 30 minutes before race time. But, I learned the (unfortunately) hard way last month that skipping breakfast on race day is a bad, bad idea. Actually, apart from a short-lived side stitch, the oatmeal didn't bother me too much, so I was pretty happy about that.

So, here's the 15 K playlist:

Ready to Run (I'm not actually that wild about this song, but it seemed apt)
Wonderwall (I would not dare run a race without this song; it pulls me through long training runs, and gives me a boost in every race.)
Salt and Light (LCU's Best Friends version from a few years ago)
What if I Stumble (also seemed apt)
Super Trouper (gotta have my Abba)
Waterloo (ditto; also apt)
Driftwood (I just like this one)
There She Goes (made me smile around mile 5)
I Am Persuaded (Robin Mark makes everything easier)
Phoenix from the Flames (I'm really not sure why I put this one on, but it helped)

I actually had a lot more in the queue, but these got me from mile 2 to mile 6, and then I was ready to listen to my feet hit the pavement for a mile or two. Chad dropped off from my pace at about 7.5 miles, so I was running solo. That close to the finish, I needed some extra motivation (especially since I was looking at the afore-mentioned hills), so I put the earbuds back in, and started over with Wonderwall. Just before mile 8, I caught up with the woman who had been ahead of us the entire race. This is one of many reasons I could never be a serious competitive runner; I feel really bad passing someone who has been ahead of me for most of the race. It's like I feel they deserve to finish better than me because they've had a faster race overall. The fact that I've done it to several different people in just about every race we've run (all except for the one when I finished dead last) doesn't stop the pangs of guilt from coming over me every time. :)

Anyway! Waterloo started playing when I was a block from the finish, so the aptly-placed song became even more so. Coming in so late, there was a huge crowd at the finish line to cheer me in; the combination of the cheers, the song, a glimpse of my time, and the sight of a camera pointing at me for my finish-line photo was enough for me to smile as I crossed the line. (That doesn't guarantee a good picture; the last time I smiled for the camera, I just looked like I was in pain. Which I was.) Chad came in a minute later, chasing (and passing-- he doesn't have any guilt) the woman I had already passed, sprinting to the finish to the cheers of the assembled runners. It really was a brilliant finish-- and then he got some water and sat down, and didn't move again for about 10 minutes.

I have to admit I was gobsmacked when they called my name for a medal; I didn't look at the posted results to try to guess my place like I usually do, because I was busy getting water and an orange before the awards. I didn't feel like passing out this time around like I did last month; I felt really good at the end of the race. I still feel really good actually, even though I am ridiculously sore.

Yeah, okay, this is getting long enough for three posts. Hope you haven't fallen asleep reading it. If you made it this far, you deserve a medal; but you can't have mine!

I love McGeek!

So we've been watching a lot of NCIS lately.

Chad likes to do this to me: he'll bombard me with excessive amounts of a TV show (past winners: The West Wing, Stargate, Scrubs, CSI) and then act all surprised when I get addicted. So this time, in advance, I'd like to tell the world that it is CHAD'S fault that I am now completely booked up on Tuesday nights at 7 for the next few weeks.

So, if you don't watch the show, that's just sad for you. If you do, you understand the title of my post. I would like, at this time, to clarify that I do not have a celebrity crush on Sean Murray. I do, however, love me some McGee. I moan when he is wrong (quite often) and cheer when he is right. I offer him my sympathy when Gibbs hits him on the head. (I celebrate when Gibbs hits DiNozzo.) I wish he'd stop carrying a torch for Abby, who is clearly not interested. I love that his MIT t-shirt spells "TIM" in the mirror. If McGee were a real-life person, I'd invite him over for dinner and try to set him up with my sister. So I suppose it's as well that he is not.

I like all the other characters, too. I love Ziva's idiom difficulties (because lots of things drive me up the hall). Tony the walking Blockbuster keeps me guessing as to what on earth he's talking about (being the non-movie buff that I am). Abby is just delightful-- I am thinking about trying black lipstick & nail polish myself. I would happily listen to Ducky ramble on about whatever he likes. Palmer (aka McGee Jr.) is just too cute to be believed. Jenny... okay, Jenny I'm not as into as everyone else. And let's not forget the late lamented Kate. And finally, Gibbs himself... I'm glad I don't work for him, but it's lots of fun to watch him boss other people around. And the more often he smacks Tony on the head, the happier it makes me. Although I still say his mother hated him already: who would name her child Leroy Jethro?

New Mess

So I've been AWOL again (or UA, if you prefer, although I still haven't worked out what that stands for), with our packing and moving frenzy. We are now in the new apartment, with all of our stuff, although getting it all into order is proving problematic thus far. We gave away a TON of stuff before this move (a desk, a couch & chair, five bags to goodwill), and we still have far more things than two people could possibly need. Plus, some friends who moved before we did gave us some furniture. So we have no lack of places to put things, just an overabundance of things.

Anyway! So to go with my nice laptop, we now have wireless internet (comes free with the apartment). I have to say, it is pretty cool. I am certainly enjoying it thus far.

Unfortunately, I have nothing of much interest to share. Which is another reason that I haven't blogged recently-- I mean, who wants to hear all the details of packing and moving?

We have a race in two weeks, though. Always a crowd favourite. In the meantime, Chad and I are cycling to church this morning, so I'd better go wake him up.

Waiting

It's after 10 and I'm tired (woke up that way, then cycled to work and ran 4 miles this evening), and I would really like to go to bed. But I am waiting for the dishwasher to stop running, because I will never fall asleep while it is still going. And for the reason why that should bother me... keep reading.

Chad left for Mexico on Saturday morning, and as soon as I got back from the airport I started packing things up for our move in two weeks. And I needed a place to put the packed boxes, so I decided on... our bedroom! I moved out the mattress (we were planning to do this anyway) to the living room, hauled out the rest of the furniture, hoovered, and then moved in all the boxes I'd packed up. Now, the entire apartment looks like a poorly-organised jumble sale.

So, with the mattress in the living room, I have to wait for noisy appliances to stop going if I intend to sleep at all. And even the quiet ones are a problem... last night, the crock pot lid kept doing that little bounce thing that is no problem during the day, but is murder at night for the light sleeper. The night before that, the wind chime on the porch was frantically waving in the wind (it has since been taken down and packed).

What has been gratifying from this whole Chad-free experience is the knowledge that I cannot easily sleep on my own now. When we first married, I spent about 3 sleepless months, followed by 3 difficult-sleeping months, followed by an undefined period of mostly sleeping but getting annoyed every time Chad woke me up. And now, I have a chance to sleep by myself, in my own bed, for a week... and it's been rough. Now I feel like an old married woman!

Does anyone want to come help me pack?

Tagged, again.

I'm sure these are not repeats of the last time I was tagged. (The reason I'm so sure is that I just read it when I hunted up the link.) The rules for this one are: 10 things about yourself, followed by 10 new tagees.

1. I was named after a Hostess cake! Not really (at least, I HOPE not really), but my dad wanted to call me Suzi-Q, hence the name Susan. One that was extremely out of style by the time I was born, I might add; most of the Susans I know are over 50. Anyway, I'm still not wild about Suzi-Q, although I do like Su (stolen from the Narnia books). There aren't many people that call me that, but I do hear it. Just don't spell it with an "e".

2. That was like 3 in 1, right? So I'm now down to about 7, instead of 10?

3. When (if) I grow up, I would like to earn a master's degree, and perhaps a doctorate, in linguistics. I really want to get a handle on half-a-dozen (or so) languages, and work as an interpreter, possibly for the government. Doesn't have to be ours, I'll work for the British government if they want me to.

4. The above-mentioned dream might be out of my reach, because my brain cannot process more than one accent at a time. Therefore, if you are American and you are talking to me, and a Scottish person walks in the room, expect to be tuned out. Sorry, I just can't do it.

5. Did I mention I love Scotland? Its people, its scenery, its customs, its long hours of summer daylight, and sometimes even the weather and the food. But mostly its people.

6. I have never lived in a blue state. Well, I've only lived it two states, so it's not been that hard. This primary election cycle, we Texans are finding out what it must be like to live in a swing state. It's nice to not be ignored.

7. Bible bowl is fun, but should be taken in small doses. :) Except that there is no such thing as small-dose Bible bowl, although we are closer to it this year than we have ever been. The cast of Bible bowl changes so quickly; there are a lot of people I still think of as "Bible bowl people" or "Bible bowl kids" who haven't been for four or five years. But it is still a good motivator to get the kids to study the Bible.

8. I run for fun. I used to think people who did that were a. masochistic b. insane or c. stupid. Now I know that while "b" is certainly part of the equation, and "c" probably finds its way in from time to time, "a" is not. So that's a bit of a relief. My running is slow and strange, and I've been told ever since my freshman year of high school that I run like a duck (people used to quack behind me in P.E., and my husband has taken to doing the same thing).

9. Speaking of waterfowl, I have had to run for my life from geese in the park. They tried to bite me, but missed and only got a beakful of scrub bottoms. I thought about fighting back, but decided I would never be able to convince animal control that the geese started it. So I ran, and the geese forgot that they have wings and can, therefore, move faster than me.

10. I'm going to be 30 in two months. My birthday falls on a Saturday, and for my birthday I'm getting my hair cut & coloured, and I'm going shopping. For a dress. My goal is to walk into church the day after my 30th birthday and not be recognised. Heh heh heh.

I'm not tagging anyone. If you want to play, consider yourself tagged.

The voices in my head

I had to change the title of the post after I wrote it, because the post went a completely different direction than I intended once I started typing it.

So, I'm listening to Derek, and I'm wondering AGAIN why I have so much trouble with the Scottish accent. Of course, I know the answer; my pathetic brain can only deal with one accent at a time, and Chad came in a few minutes ago & started talking. Scottish comprehension gone.

That is not the point of my story. For the past year or so I've been going on to the Castlemilk blog that Charlie keeps so up-to-date, and then following the links to read the lessons. And I will usually try to "hear" the lessons in the speaker's own voice in my head (except for David, because I haven't heard him enough to remember what his voice sounds like). But now, Derek's page has two-- TWO!!-- lessons on mp3. Brilliant, no need for me to conjure up Derek's voice in my head.

Instead, I'll have to listen a couple of times while I'm alone in the house to make sure I get it all. Perhaps I should rethink my life's dream of being an interpreter.

Quite a photogenic group!

The aftermath of our first Bible bowl sketch. Actually, it was the second, but we were out of town for the first one.

The dress I wore that day had a ripped-out zipper, so like any good hillbilly, I safety-pinned it all the way up. This brought a lot of laughs from the other adults.

This little light of mine

"The true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him no good."--Ann Landers

So I get these daily e-mails with inspirational quotes, plus a thought to go with the quote, and a mixed bag of other stuff. Some are truisms, some are fluff, some are complete rubbish. But I've started saving the good ones, if for no other reason than to have something to blog about.

I don't think there is anyone currently in my life who fits the category of "a person who can do me no good." Seriously. Do I need to change my circle? Move to a place in which I can help people? Stop hanging around my current gang of friends?

I don't suppose that is Ms. Landers' point. She is, to some extent, just repeating the Golden Rule: treat others the way you want to be treated. How do I speak to the cashier at United? The girl at the McDonalds' window? The bus driver? The elderly woman at church who glares at everyone around her? It is easy to be kind to my friends, the patients at work (getting paid to be nice goes a long way), and people who are already nice to be around. What about those who aren't?

What message am I sending about myself in the way I treat others?

The update

So I've been reading blogs this evening, maniacally commenting all over the place, etc. So here is what is going on, in case someone wanders over and wonders why all the lights are off:

Bible bowl: Three weeks of instruction to go, then we are done and the other teachers (you know, the ones who actually have kids in Bible bowl) will continue with review sessions. The only competition we are planning to go to is the first weekend in April.

Journeyland: We just finished another rotation. Once Bible bowl finishes, we are taking a break from childrens' ministry for a while.

Dance lessons: Chad got us eight ballroom dancing lessons for our anniversary. Our first one was this past Tuesday, and our instructor is a hoot! He made it a lot of fun for us, although neither of us are much good at dancing.

Running coaches: Who in their right mind would want us as running coaches is beyond me, but the man in charge of the Team Kids' Cafe is obviously not in his right mind, so we've been coaching a few kids for the past 5 weeks. This week coming is our final week, because the race is on Saturday.

Angel food: Today was the 48th Angel food distribution day, or the finish of South Plains' 4th year of involvement. It does not seem like that long ago that we started doing this, but there is a group of very committed people who make sure this comes off every month. We are not part of that group, but we do turn up most months to help hand out food.

Ladies' retreat: I'm on the committee, which is kind of odd since I am generally opposed to women's events. However, the Ladies' Christmas tea chairwoman cannot shun all events but her own, I'm afraid. It is a bit ungracious. :)

Moving: We are moving to a different apartment at the end of March.

Work: Yeah, I still do that, too.

Another running blog

I try to keep these to a minimum (hence the reason for not blogging much lately), because I'm sure it is wearing on the non-runners around here. But here's the update:

We missed the January running club race, because we hadn't renewed our membership yet, because we still thought we were leaving. And so, we were pretty lazy about training in December and January.

At the running club year-end social, I got a third-place plaque for my age group for 2007. This is purely by default; everyone else who had more points than I didn't volunteer for a race last year, which is a requirement to get a year-end award. Chad won a door prize that evening. And we went ahead and renewed our membership.

So, at the February race, Chad went for the 8-mile, and I tried the 4-mile. Chad unfortunately realised that he was in over his head and didn't finish. (Although we still think that Did Not Finish is better than Did Not Start.) I did finish my race, with a better time than I expected, and got my first WTRC medal; third place in the 25-29 age group. No prizes for guessing how many runners were in my age group. :) I am happy that I did finish before the first 8-mile finisher.

We have been coaching 10-15 kids at a local Boys and Girls Club since the beginning of February, in preparation for a kids' fun run, which happens next weekend. Chad and I will be running a 4 mile race that day, after we cheer on our team to finish. Although we have had fun (mostly) with the kids, we are ready to be done with this little venture.

I am currently training for a 15K (9.32 miles) in April, and an 11 mile in May. My goal for both of these races is survival; I just want to finish without embarrassing myself too much. :) We ran our long run on hills today (the next three races are hilly), and it proved to be too much for me, again. It is really discouraging to have to cut a run short, but the good news is that I will know where the trouble spots are next week. Well, in two weeks, because we have a race next week.

So, building endurance is the goal. There's a metaphor for life in there somewhere.

I thought we were done.

We finished up being Journeymen for the fifth-graders, and were looking forward to Bible class with adults, when the new Journeymen asked us to fill in for them this week. And since we like them (and they were the first people from South Plains to come visit us), we said yes. So, one day more!

Actually, they are a great group of kids. It is pretty evident that they are almost to middle school, though; they don't talk much. I threatened a few weeks ago to make them sing "Father Abraham" over and over until they started to participate, which much have worked, because they have done a good job since then. Quite a change from first- and second- graders, though.

So I'm eating a pizza...

and I look around for the bit that (I thought) I just set down, then decided I must have eaten it, only to find it a minute later when I reached for something else and hit it with my arm. It had blended in with the pattern on the couch cushion.

It's a bit dusty in here.

Inspired by a short visit with Chris and Jessica, I decided to pop on over and let my reading public (all 3 of you) know that I am still alive and well. And doing a dozen things at the moment, which is why the blogging has suffered. I have tons of "planned posts" in my head, it's just a matter of sitting down and sharing them. In the meantime, feel free to comment away and tell me how your life is going.

Thanks, Karla.

The moral of the story is, never let your roommates near you with a camera. This picture was taken (fortunately) several years ago, and here it is: WonderSu! Coming soon to a costume party near you.

This should tide you all over until I have a chance to come on here and post for real. :)

Turns out I am famous!

Wow, Ruth copied my blog into her e-mail. I'll be signing autographs all week.

Tired

The Christmas tea was last night, and while it was good practise for full-time ministry (and also a pretty convincing story to put in my admission papers for the insane asylum), I am so glad to have it over. I do plan on giving a recap later, but first I have to threaten people with a mention on my blog.

Chad's new toy

So Chad got a voice-recording thing on the computer, with the idea being that instead of sending an e-mail like a normal person, he would speak his replies and send a sound file instead. I politely suggested that some may appreciate that less, but he is confident that everyone we know will soon be delighted to open an e-mail from him. So, you have been warned.

His most recent accomplishment is to record himself saying "I love you, (insert endearing-but-secret nickname here), I love you!" and then play it over and over. So I said, "No, that's not annoying!!" So then he recorded himself saying, "No, that's not annoying." And he sped it up, presumably so he can audition for a part in "The Chipmunks 2." And he slowed down the "I love you" bit, so now they are all going at once and I can hear my bass husband telling me how much he loves me, while my chipmunk husband (I think he'll have to be Alvin) tells me how not-annoying he is.

Also, at least one of them is being played backwards. I'm listening for subliminal messages.

Walking through the world

So in The Road last week (two weeks ago, I guess), we talked about Paul's trip to Athens, and how he responded to the idolatry there. The suggestion was made that Paul was taken by surprise at what he encountered there, and the question was asked, "Do we let Athens win in our lives?" FWIW, here is my comment on that blog. Any thoughts?

I think Paul knew exactly what he was getting into. Unfortunately, in this day Christians have a tendency to remove ourselves from the world as much as we can instead of focusing on being salt and light where God has placed us. By this I mean, we live in "nice" neighbourhoods, only spend time with other Christians, keep the kids away from questionable influences, etc. Not all these things are bad, but there again, if I'm completely insulated from the world, where is my opportunity to influence it?

It is possible Paul had the same sheltered childhood that I had. Perhaps he only spent time with other Jewish boys who were destined to become Pharisees. I'm sure the early part of his adult life was spent in the company of other "holy" people. But that changed on the road to Damascus. After that, Paul rubbed shoulders with worldy people everywhere he went, spreading salt and light as he went.

(Wow, this is getting long.) After Athens, Paul went to Corinth, which as I understand it, was the immorality capital of the ancient world. Vegas + Amsterdam + a bit more immorality for good measure = Corinth, and that's the mission field that Paul spent 18 months in.

If we step into the world with eyes shut and naivete intact, then we will be taken by surprise, and Athens (or Corinth, or Vegas, or Lubbock) has a much better chance of winning. But if we go out knowing what we are facing, prepared with the Word, and secure that the Lord will direct our steps, then we can take Athens!

You can't expect a new PR every day.

That's what I keep hearing from all the running experts. And sometimes it is hard to believe them, especially since I've had a remarkable eight months as a beginning runner. I started out pacing myself very slowly, not expecting much in the way of results, and thanks to being willing to make haste slowly, I exceed my own expectations. A lot. I was having a new personal record (PR) at least once a week for most of August through October.

The result of a summer of hard work was a series of really good races, starting with a 2-mile in September and culminating in a 12K last week. With any luck, I have another good race in me (4-mile) for next week to finish out the year. Of all the things I've accomplished with running this year, I am most proud of my second 5K finish: 34:43, or an 11:10 pace. I wouldn't have believed that I could do it-- in fact, I'm still in a bit of shock. And with that shock is the nagging annoyance that if only I hadn't looked at the clock, I would have finished even faster-- the surprise of seeing that it had only been 34 minutes made me forget to sprint to the finish.

But now the results have plateaued, partly because of changes in the weather and my own training schedule, partly because I started resting on my laurels, and partly because you can't expect the kind of results I've been seeing to continue. And now I have to adjust to winter training, which brings a different set of challenges.

And I reflect again at how much running is like life. No wonder Paul (the apostle) used so many running metaphors when writing his letters. Some days are glorious and you feel that you could carry on forever. Some days it takes everything in you just to keep going. Some days you wonder why you bother at all. Is following the Lord all it's cracked up to be? Why does it look so easy for other people? And easier still for those who aren't even bothering?

But the benefits outweigh the hardships (not worth comparing, I think Paul says), and that's what keeps us all getting out of bed, putting on the armour of God, and going after it again. Day after day.

Because the Lord doesn't let us rest on our laurels.

I'm festive, and I can prove it!

So I put up outdoor Christmas decorations for the first time in my life this afternoon. This was a thought I had last year, when putting up the Christmas tree. I saw our four sets of net lights and thought, "What can we do with those?" Then I remembered we had a balcony that we can hang them round. But as this all occurred to me on Christmas Eve, it seemed a tad late for outdoor festivities. Not this year, though! From now until Christmas, I intend to run up our electricity bill every evening! Um...

Anyway, so I've been working on the Christmas tea pretty steadily since yesterday morning, and I think I have the entertainment side pretty well done. Several people have rallied round for the door prizes, and my dear friend Ruth has the advertising well in hand. All that remains now is for me to not say anything really stupid on the night-- which may prove problematic. We'll see. I haven't gotten to emcee anything for a long time, so I'm planning to have a good time with it.

And since I have to be at church at 8:30 tomorrow morning to cover the walls with posters, I should stop being on the computer and start doing something else. More to come...

Snow!

So the weather guy took a lot of time and effort on Tuesday evening to tell us why snow was unlikely this weekend. And then he had to get in front of the camera on Thursday & Friday to talk about how more snow is expected. Yeah, I'm so glad I don't have his job.

Anyway, we have snow, mostly on trees and bushes. We did have to brush it off our car this morning, too.

I am totaly consumed with planning the ladies' Christmas tea. It's going to be fun.

We won!

Okay, no, we didn't. In fact, I finished with only 4 people behind me (but at least I wasn't last!).

So, I hope you tuned in for a blow-by-blow recap of my 12 K. If not, now would be a good time to stop reading. The race started at 9 AM, and we got there at about 8:59 (my fault). I was still pinning Chad's number on him when the gun went off. (Actually, the guy just said "Go!" The West Texas Running Club doesn't seem to have a start gun.) Anyway, the time-and-temperature boards I saw on our way out varied between 21 and 25 degrees, so it was pretty chilly.

So after such an inglorious start, our first 1/2 mile or so was uneventful, although we did realise at that point that neither of us had eaten breakfast. Oops! I had four shirts on, and the outermost one was a fleece pullover, which I had to take off as soon as I started getting warm (about mile 1). Chad took off to go at his own pace, because otherwise he would have been too cold. I passed the turnaround for the 2-mile race and kept going, muttering to myself, "Well, I'm committed now."

Let's see... at mile 2, two of the three people in front of me stopped to walk, so I told them they couldn't stop because I was using them for my pacesetters. They thought that was funny, but they were behind me for the entire rest of the race. (I stayed pretty close behind the third one of the trio until... but I'll get to that later.) At mile three, I took off my glasses (they were too fogged up to see out of anyway) and my headband. Then I realised that I wouldn't want to put it back on once it was cold, because it was pretty sweaty. So I put it away and got out my other one, which I hung around my arm because I was way too hot to put it around my head right away.

Sometime between miles 4 & 5, I started getting cold again, so I stopped and put on my pullover and put the dry headband on. I ran on to the 5-mile mark, and that's where it started to get hard. I was freezing cold, everything was sore, I was having trouble regulating my breathing, and I was losing ground mentally. So I suppose I hit a wall of sorts. I continued pushing, mostly because I was determined to finish the race. The course went past the start/finish line and onward for about another mile before turning back toward the finish-- and that was the hardest part mentally. But all the runners coming back were very encouraging-- "Good job", "Keep it up" and the like.

So I passed the 10-K mark with a time of 1:16:51, which was a few minutes slower than I wanted, but there was no sprinting to the finish at that point, since I was still over a mile away, and also facing a hill. I had to stop and walk for a couple of minutes, but I started running again at the turnaround (especially since I saw how close the people behind me were). The man was there collecting the "Runners on the Road" signs, but he didn't take the turnaround cone until after we passed (at least, I guess he picked it up then).

I ran down to the 7-mile mark, and I heard footsteps catching up with me, so I had sped up without realising it. The man caught up to me right at the 7-mile point, where he stopped running. I was about to stop, too, because that little bit took it out of me, but he said, "Good job! Keep going!" so I kept going, reminding myself that I wasn't going to stop with only 1/2 mile to go. I picked up the pace just a little bit, round the corner, passed under the overpass and into the parking lot where the finish line was. The had already started the awards ceremony (as good a clue as any that I wasn't getting one), but I sprinted past them and across the line. My time was 1:32:??. Yeah, I didn't see the seconds. So I was outside my goal time by a couple of minutes, but hey, we ran a 12 K, so I can't complain too much.

Oh, and just as I came across the finish line, a snowflake fell. I was just so happy to be done; I had been looking forward to that moment all week! :)

We stood around for the awards before leaving, and by the time we got into the car, I was freezing. So it was nice to get home, shower and warm up before dashing off to Charlie & Toni's for our Thanksgiving lunch.

Sleep is for...

Well, me, most of the time.

Everyone at work assures me that they will be thinking of us tomorrow morning while lying in their warm beds. I say, warm beds are for... um... people with sense!

So we got nice new T-shirts for the race. They're brown, with a cute running turkey on the front. I am really looking forward to wearing mine to work on Monday.

So... Thanksgiving! Our plan, after running the race, is to do nothing. This "nothing" will be hampered by the absence of anything worth watching on TV, but I'm sure we'll think of something. I mean, nothing.

Hey, go here to see webcams of Glasgow's George Square decorated for Christmas. It is best viewed when it is dark in Glasgow.

I love cold!

That's what I keep telling myself, anyhow.

The weather forecast for race time Thursday morning is 29 degrees with 9 mph winds, and a "feels like" of 21. Therefore...

I love cold!

So Chad and I went running (this is turning into a running blog, isn't it?) in a new place last night.

Well, a new place for me. He used to do his long runs there when he was involved with Team in Training, but I had never run out there. However, we are running a 12K (7.45 miles) on Thursday and I wanted to run the course for practise before running it for real.

Problem #1: Hills. I haven't run on hills since I lived in Scotland. They really took it out of me, so that we ended up walking the last mile or so.

Problem #2: Dark. We went over there later than we intended, so it was dark before we were halfway done, and we were not in the, um, best of places. But it is amazing what a prayer for protection can do.

So, I am now confident that I can at least start the race, even if I don't manage to finish it. Stay tuned...

This may be the coolest thing I've ever owned

So I'm blogging from my brand-new laptop. Yes, that's right, she-who-hates-expensive-things has an expensive new toy.

But in my own defence, we did buy it on clearance. Denyce commented on Brandon's blog that Office Depot were having an unadvertised clearance, so we skadoodled ourselves over there last night and found that the older models are not so bad. In fact, I'm pretty happy with the quality of my nice new Gateway.

And, of course, we wouldn't have gotten it if we weren't going to need it later. This is going to be my transcription and otherwise-using-in-Scotland computer. And I'm pretty excited about it.

As long as you keep your marathon out of the cornfield.

So this morning the West Texas Running Club held a half marathon. I personally am not into the half marathon thing. So we volunteered instead, handing out water, Gatorade, and goo (PowerBar gels) to tired runners. I have to say I'm not keen on trying this particular distance any time soon. But, hey, we got free bananas and bagels.

Also today, we went to the corn maize with some people from my work. Last year when we went, we wandered around in the dark for a long time before finding our way out. This time, Chad decided to follow the map, which meant we breezed through the maze in no time at all. While fun in in its own right, the trip through did lack the "Where are we now?" quality that just bumbling about brings to the trip.

Oh, and the hometown college football team lost. Again. Heh heh heh.

I do still exist!

Yeah, time to catch up. And, you know, blog about all the things I've been thinking about for the past three weeks. Here's the gist, for those who don't have time to read it all:

I've been tagged.

I like working out, but not at a fitness centre.

TV bad, real life good.

We stopped teaching Sunday school. For now.

I've been tagged!

Here are the rules. 1)Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. (2) People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (3) At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. (4) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I hate, hate, hate the word "butt". Really. I much prefer "bum", "bottom", "backside", "rear"... you get the picture. I'm pretty sure said hatred dates back to the time when I heard my sweet little sister use the word "butt" many years ago, and I was horrified, not only because I was pretty sure she learned it from our brother and I, but also because she said it in such an ugly tone of voice. A tone that said, "Yeah, I know this is a naughty word, and I'm saying it anyway!" So I hate that word now.

2. I love people! I love being around people. I love having long conversations that flit between the deep and profound and the shallow and silly, and back again. I love spending time with people who also love spending time with people. Unfortunately, I am not so good at expressing my love for people.

3. I love the word "brilliant." In fact, I'm known for loving the word brilliant. People at work, when talking to me, will try to work the word "brilliant" into the conversation because they know I will be delighted.

4. I hate driving. Traffic is lousy, petrol is expensive, and there is that minor detail that I'm sitting inside a fast-moving box of metal. Plus, so is everyone else, and some of them are none to careful about what their box of metal does. I so frequently think, "Man, I wish I had my bike," while in my car. Which leads me to...

5. I love my bike! I would much, much rather cycle than drive. I don't understand people who think it's weird that I cycle. I think it's weird that they don't! What better way to start my day than out in the fresh air, getting exercise and time to myself, all while heading to work. Why would I trade that in for the aforementioned box of metal?

6. There's a phrase used in every segment of every Bible bowl sketch at South Plains, and that phrase is, "That reminds me of something in (fill in the blank with current book)." I love that phrase. As with most things in my life, I started out by making fun of it, and now I can't stop using it. For everything. "That reminds me of something in Lord of the Rings." "That reminds me of an episode of Friends." "That reminds me of what Tim used to say." (Tim tagged me, I had to fit him in somewhere!) And, quite frequently, "That reminds me of something in the Bible!" (Bizarrely enough, I tend to use that one when I'm annoyed at something. Or someone.)

7. I have brilliant ideas for a blog post, or an encouraging note to send someone, or an intelligent point to bring up at our next small group, only while out walking during my lunch break. At a time when I am far away from a computer, or even pen and paper, I have my best ideas. And by the time I get to a place where I can record them for postertity, they are gone forever.

8. I fail to see the reason why anyone who has a blog needs to be tagged. Seriously, isn't that what a blog is for anyway? I put eight things about myself in every post-- and so does everyone else. Anyway. I don't follow directions well (oops, slipped in a ninth one), so I refuse to tag anyone.

I doesn't work, so much.

So we got one of those 7-day passes to the local fitness centre, otherwise known as Bodyworks. It took a lot of standing firm to persuade the nice young man who showed us around that we really only planned on working out for 7 days, and did not wish to purchase one of his unbelievably expensive gym memberships.

Anyway, so we had our first experience of a spider climber (Chad's conclusion: "I am not a spider! But I could be a monkey." Followed by some discussion of whether or not he is a spider monkey.). Also, I got to go swimming for the first time in a couple of years. And climb a rock wall (still no good at that).

However, seven days of running on a treadmill did fill me with gratitude for the neighbourhood I have to run in. Keep your fancy gym equipment, I'd rather have a stretch of tarmac any day. Or asphalt. Or pavement. I'm not that fussy. And I don't run far or fast enough to worry about the injuries that come from running on a hard surface.

At least, not yet.

TV comes from a very hot place

I used to not watch TV. When I was a teenager, the television was for: 1. Watching basketball. 2. Keeping my family occupied while I did more important things.

Alas, my downfall came when we moved into a flat with free cable. I resisted for the first year, but at some point I became addicted. Now I use it for the same kind of mindless entertainment everyone else does-- even when there is nothing on.

Anyway, so I started watching the CSIs when we went to Scotland last fall, and managed to get hooked on these police procederal dramas. But my new current favourite is Life, followed by NCIS. But really, I should just lose the TV.

Also, if you're not watching Life, you should start.

Journey(land)'s End

So we finished being journeymen a couple of weeks ago. I think I mentioned before that we had never taught a group this young before, and they brought us no end of delight (and some degree of torn-out hair) for eight weeks. So now I have for you, things I never thought I'd say in Sunday school.

*Bibles are not for throwing.
*If you're going to call him an idiot, you'll have to wait until you get home.
*Your puppets are NOT kissing in this show!
*Yes, boys wore dresses in the Bible (said at a moment of frustration).
and my personal favourite:
*No, you may not do the chicken dance in Bible class.

I know, I know, I'm such a killjoy.

And some of the best things I heard:

Mrs. Wilcox, why do you talk so funny?
This clay smells ridiculous! (I have no idea what that meant.)
Where's Mr. Wilcox? He's the fun one! (I hear that EVERY time we teach Sunday school.)
Can I stand on my head?
Do we have 14 people here?
He's a not-so-smart guy. (This, presumably, is the child who is not allowed to say "stupid.")
No, he's a stupid guy! (This one is, I guess.)

Can't remember the others. Maybe next time.

A 5K on a Hill...

This is another one of those times when I have too many things in my head, and not enough time to empty them all into my blog. :)

So on Saturday we ran a 5K, this one involving hills. That was something new for me.

Did it!!

I just ran 6 miles without stopping for the first time. So now I'm feeling triumphant, tired, and confident that I could run a 10K if I wanted to.

Also, I have that strange "breathed in too much cold air" feeling in my lungs. I may have to start running indoors. Where, I don't know.

It is pretty neat.

So I was talking to a friend yesterday, and the conversation turned to cycling and walking-- both of which I do with alarming regularity. She said, "You have such a neat life."

And she's right! I do. I live near enough to my work to ride my bike. I can go for a walk in a park every day at my lunch break. We walk to the supermarket. Most of the stores I like to go to (Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc.) are within cycling distance. And so is the church, as a matter of fact.

But it's more that that. We are quite blessed with friends. We both have good jobs. We manage to be content with what we have. So, yeah, we have a neat life.

Missed my 200th post.

This is # 202. I think.

So about an hour before we had to leave for house group, I remembered that Rebecca was bringing food, so I phoned her to offer to bring some cookies. (Casseroles and dessert are all I am good for when it comes to food.) Then I asked Chad what he wanted, thinking no-bakes or something. Well, he wanted chocolate chip cookie bars.

Which brings me to the point of this whole exercise... Why, oh why, do cakes, brownies and so on require you to grease and flour the pan?

Ooh, look! It's new!

So Sparquay made some comments about contentment and wanting new stuff the other day.

Which, of course, set me thinking. I think I have the opposite struggle than a lot of other people. Our culture lends itself to wanting more and striving after stuff that is newer, faster, better, shinier, etc. I am (gratefully) pretty much free of that kind of want. I mean, I like new stuff, but growing up in a low-income home has taught me the difference between needs and wants. If I need something, then that is a priority. If I want something, well, that's different. How much does it cost? What will I use it for? Will I really use it? Will it fit in my house? Do I really like it enough to spend my money on it? And so on. And after all that, if it is still something I want, then I have to save up to buy it. That's just the way things work in my life.

Unfortunately, this opens me up to a different temptation: smugness. I struggle with being proud of my budget-keeping ability. I sneer at your iPod Nano, because I bought the much more sensible iPod Shuffle. My car is 10 years old and makes funny noises, and half the time I walk or cycle anyway, so don't bother me with your shiny late-model whatever. No, I don't want to go out to eat, thank you; we eat at home.

Paul said godliness with contentment is great gain. What is arrogance with contentment, then?

It's all shiny

I spent an hour or so crawling around on my living room floor last night, making a poster for the ladies' brunch tomorrow. And now, we have bonus glitter in our living room carpet. Also in the car, and also on the church floor, because glitter likes to spread itself around.

And I had to dig out our Christmas tree and some decorations, since we are advertising for the Christmas tea. Ruth volunteered to make the flyers and the bookmarks for the prayer group, which is a good thing, because instead of boring paper with boring words printed on, we are handing out nice, decorative flyers and pretty bookmarks that people might actually want to look at.

Our table doesn't have any candy, though. We are relying on our charming personalities to draw people to us.

Fed Ex

So I had to send 25 tubes of medication to a patient today, and the biggest struggle was finding a box the correct size.

Boxes 1 & 2 were too large. Box 3 was too small. I dumped everything back out of box 3, then decided to give it another go. On the second try I managed to get it all into box 3, but then I decided that box 3 was too flimsy (to call that material cardstock would be generous). So I broke box 2 back down, and carried box 3 and the contents back to my desk. Then I went to look for a padded envelope. I found one, but it was one of those specialty envelopes that is only for express shipments. So I went back to box 2, put it back together, and then found some crumpled paper to stick on top. And to think I was afraid I wouldn't have anything to do this afternoon.

Me? Wrong?

So after writing a long post a few days ago about why I don't think God intended me to spend all my prayer time on people who are sick or travelling, I spent most of my prayer time today on people who are sick or travelling. (And at least one who is probably sick of travelling.)

Funny how often I have to eat my words. Funny how often I prove myself wrong, just by living a few more days. Funny how God sometimes allows me enough proverbial rope to proverbially hang myself.

Jerrod Shelton has become a minor celebrity around here. He is in surgery as I type, a surgery which started at noon and will continue until at least midnight. I prayed for all sorts of surgical things for him today.

The Lubbock Christian School football team (and the band, and some sponsors (I hope), and some fans) is going to be playing near Dallas tomorrow evening. They'll leave Lubbock after chapel tomorrow morning, and won't be back until 3 or 4 am on Saturday. There are a lot of people I care about who will be travelling a long way tomorrow. So I gave them a lot of my prayer time this afternoon.

People matter to God. So I bring before him the people who matter to me. Even if all they have going on right now is a football game.

"Never" is a long time.

So we were around some of the aim students last week when Alex was in town, and in the course of the hour or so Chad heard one of them say, "I would love to go to Scotland, so God will never send me there."

How sad. I wonder what sort of experiences this person has had, to make him (or her; I'll just stick with him because I don't know) think that God's purpose is to deny him the things that he wants. We do, of course, often want things that aren't good for us, and God naturally keeps those things away if we are following his will. But to think God would say "No," only because you want it? Is that how this student's parents treat him?

I have wondered from time to time, these past few weeks, whether God really wants to use us in Scotland. Is it because we like Scotland so much that we've convinced ourselves of this? But then I remember that God gave me my desires in the first place; he created me with likes and dislikes; he knows me better than I know me. And besides that, there are very few people who move somewhere new, for any reason, without some degree of liking the place they are going. Certainly that is as true for missionaries as it is of MBAs.

Plus, I don't believe that God is some sort of bizarro Santa Claus, who finds out what I like and then sends me the opposite. I believe he has called me to serve him, and that he will use me wherever I am.

Even if it is my favourite place on earth.

Wow, it is October.

So this morning, I went to a long-sleeved shirt and jeans while cycling to work. Forgot the gloves, though; a mistake I won't be making tomorrow.

But I do still have to cart my closet around with me, because it is too hot at 5 for my cool-morning gear. So I have three entire outfits with me at work now. But, I do have some consolation in the fact that soon it will be too cold for shorts and t-shirts at any time of day.

And once again, all intelligent thoughts have deserted me. Maybe tomorrow.

Praying for You

That's a phrase I use a lot. Mostly because I have become lazy in my speech, and tend to leave off unnecessary pronouns like "I".

So last night in house group, we read Paul's prayer for the Ephesians and the comment was made that we do not pray for others in the same way that Paul did. He prayed for the eyes of their hearts to be enlightened, for them to have a spirit of wisdom, for them to understand the power of God. I'm afraid that most of the prayers that we hear these days hang around in the health and safety end of the pool.

However, I had thought (perhaps naively) that this phenomenon was limited to public prayers, and had just supposed that every one's private prayers are kind of like mine-- at a different point on the maturity scale, sure, but still similar in types of things we pray for. I've been praying for deeper relationships between the brethren at South Plains. I've prayed that we stop being satisfied with a whitewashed version of normal American life, and seek for lives following Christ more closely every day. I pray that we stop being afraid to be different from the world. I usually don't pray for people who are travelling, because I usually can't remember who is travelling. And unless it is either a serious illness or it is someone close to me, I generally can't remember to pray for those who are sick, either.

I don't think that God intended us to discuss the travel plans and sniffles of everyone we know when he gave us this gift of prayer. At least, not exclusively. I want to talk to God about things that actually matter to me. And as I grow in my walk with Christ, I want to talk to him about things that matter to him.

This is how time goes by...

So I've spent the past 2 1/2 hours reading up on all the blogs I've been neglecting lately. What a ridiculous amount of time to spend on the internet. And yet, it has been brilliant to "catch up" with people who I haven't seen in real life for a very long time. Even the most recent real-life encounter has been a few months ago now, when I saw Angie, Lisa, Sarah, Denyce, and Kristi all in one go. (And some other people, too, but I haven't seen their blogs.)

However, I still refuse to join Facebook.

Red Raider Road Race

Today we ran the first of our three October 5Ks, and our second West Texas Running Club race.

I ran the first couple of miles at my normal pace, then sped up just a bit once we finished the second mile. I thought I was about to die during mile 3, only to be pleasantly surprised when I approached the finish line that the clock was still ticking through minute 34! The combination of surprise and tiredness meant that I forgot to speed up until I was almost at the finish chute, but I still managed a time of 34:43. Chad finished a minute ahead of me.

My goal was the same as last time (37:12), but my super-incredible only-if-its-my-best-day-ever goal was 36:00. So I felt a bit triumphant when I saw my result posted.

Unfortunately, this really sets the bar pretty high for next week. Or low. Whichever way you look at it, I have to run faster next time.

The Haircut

So, if you haven't seen me in a while, my hair has gotten kind of long:


I wear it up when it is hot.








Combing it out before I went to get it cut.








From this angle, I could well be Amanda. But I'm not. (I think our hair waves in different spots.)










The last long-hair shot.











And this week I decided that doing my hair half-a-dozen times a day was just too much, and it was time to go back to a length that doesn't require taking it all down just because I want to ride my bike, and then up again if I want to do anything else. And while I was at it, I decided a new colour was in order.

So here we have the new hair:


Sticking out in all directions (something new for me)!








Still waves in the same spot...








And I think this is the only one in which the colour is really visible.

I went to bed later than usual the past two nights, got up early yesterday morning, and yet I woke up at a very unheard-of hour this morning. This happens every year about this time; I get into an insomiatic (don't even know if that is a word!) pattern and enjoy a few weeks of long days and short nights. I suppose I should be grateful.

So we're running another 5K tomorrow morning. Should be nice weather for it; I'm pretty excited. My goal is the same as last time, because since the Komen races are for a different purpose than your average road race, they aren't timed very well and I'm not even sure how well-measured the course was. I mean, it probably wasn't US Track & Field certified or anything. Now watch, some Komen organiser will wander on here and leave me an angry comment. :)

Children + Puppets = Bad Idea

So we had a rough time convincing the children that there would really be no puppets left if they tore up the ones we have. But we got there in the end.

Today is Chad's birthday, and we're celebrating by eating as much junk food as possible. Good thing we have a race this weekend.

I can never remember the interesting things I was going to share once I acutally sit down at the computer. So, I suppose that's it for today.

I saw a delightful thing today.

The mad geese in the park, who normally chase anything with two legs that comes within sight of them, were being chased. Seriously, they were running for their lives. From a four-year-old girl. Hee hee hee!

1st and 2nd Grade

You know, I always hear from people that their second grade teacher was really mean. (And I know for a fact that mine was!) And now I know why.

Yes, we are teaching first & second graders this term in Bible class. Technically, we are not actually teaching them; we are "journeymen," meaning we travel from room to room with the children.

I was a little bit panicked about taking on this age group, but I think I have discovered the secret to keeping them reasonably in line: I have to be mean. In the past two weeks, I have taken away one hair clip, one purse, put one child in time out, and separated two pairs of children who can't sit together without talking. This is in addition to continual reminders that we don't lie down in Bible class, the teacher is at the front of the room, and Bibles are not for throwing. (Seriously.)

But it is a lot of fun. And our kids are very cute.

So much for catching up

I really am determined to keep this blog ahead of Lubbock Daily Photo in terms of number of posts, at least in part because I've had this one for much, much longer!

So yesterday we Raced for the Cure. This was my first 5K (3.1 mile) race, because last year I walked the Race. My first running race since junior high track was two weeks ago, at the West Texas Running Club's Shallowater Stampede, in which we ran the 2 mile.

The entire cross-country team from Shallowater Middle & High schools is required to run the Stampede, so there were a lot of people running (184, to be exact). We chose the 2 mile because our other option was the 10K (6.2 miles) and we haven't had a decent long run in a while, so we thought that might be sucicidal.

Anyway! These young and energetic teenagers started off very fast, and like a dummy, I did the same thing. So my first 1/4 mile was fantastic, only to be followed by 1 1/2 very unpleasant miles. On the last 1/4 mile I sped up, as you do, mostly out of a desire to be done with this race. There was a high school girl who I had been leapfrogging with for most of the race, but she reached much deeper than I on that last stretch and really took off, beating me by 13 seconds. Some of the aforementioned young and energetic crowd were fully recovered from their race and were standing at the side cheering, and one middle-school boy shouted by way of encouragement, "Go on! Catch her!" I started laughing because there was nothing else I could do at that point, so he shouted after me, "You're supposed to sprint at the end!" I had no breath left to shout back, "Hey, kiddo, I am sprinting!"

I finished in 21:33 (a 10:47 pace), coming in 109th out of 118 runners, and just under a minute behind Chad, who finished in 20:39. He probably would have finished better, but he lost his head even more than I did at the beginning, and had to stop and walk before falling back to run with me for a while. He finished fourth in his age group, and I finished fifth in mine.

So that was the Shallowater Stampede. Fast-forward two weeks to the Race for the Cure, in which my goals were: 1. Don't be so stupid at the beginning; and 2. Finish in 37:12 (a 12-minute per mile pace). So I went out easily at the beginning, a bit faster than I would just running by myself, but not trying to keep up with the faster runners ahead of me. The course was a 1.55-mile loop, so on the first lap I didn't stop at any of the water stations. The second lap around, the first water station was out of water, and so was the second one, so I had to wait a lot longer than I would have liked to get water. But once I did, I definately got my second wind, so I was able to dodge around all those who had stopped to walk, speed up on the final straight, and sprint to finish in 36:36. (Which, for those not counting, was 36 seconds faster than my goal). So it was a good day for me.

Well, I'm sure I've lost everyone completely with such a long description. Stay tuned; our next 5K is in two weeks!

Pueblo

So, we went to Pueblo a couple of weeks ago to see Phill & Keely. Turns out that Pueblo is a nice little town. Actually, it's not even that little. ( I have no idea if the pictures will stay where I put them, or if the captions will match up with the pictures, so this may be a bit of an adventure to read.) Shae came with us, since she had not been up to see them all summer. I felt bad for her, because we are two of the most boring people on the planet, and also because the back seat of our car is kind of loud. (It is a standard, after all.) However, she is quite the resourseful young lady, and like every other teenager I know, she has a phone with which to text people. So we didn't quite bore her to death.

Anyway! Phill & Keely live near a park, which we wandered around in a bit. And there is a riverwalk through the middle (I guess it's the middle) of town. I'm going strictly from memory here, but I'm pretty sure Keely said that Texas once stretched as far as the Colorado River (next to which is the aforementioned riverwalk), and Phill was quick to point out that he was born on the non-Texas side. However, as soon as he went home from the hospital, he was back on the Texas side.

On Saturday we went to Colorado Springs, much to the delight of my sister, since that is the home of Cheyenne Mountain and, therefore, Stargate Command. And here is the photo I promised her:

It was taken from some distance away, obviously, but there it is. I did not, however, run into Daniel Jackson while I was out. (Which is hardly surprising, since the series is filmed in Canada, and Michael Shanks is, in fact, Canadian.) Sorry, Neesee. Also it turns out that Carter was wrong; not only is there a zoo in Colorado Springs, but it is on top of Cheyenne Mountain itself! Carter must have been under the influence of something. Or perhaps she just didn't want to go to the zoo.

So we actually went to Colorado Springs to see the Garden of the Gods, which is very nice. It is so nice that there was a (presumably) newly-married couple getting pictures taken there. We were walking along the road, and decided to try one of trails through the park instead. We got to this point:

And there was no further trail to follow, because we had chosen a loop that would take us right back to where we started, but there was a nice view from here.

(Also, those dark clouds in the corner? Not friendly.)

So Chad and Phill decided to find us a way down. And they did a good job of not getting us all killed. :) Poor Shae was wearing flip-flops, though, which are not the most comfortable shoes for scrambling over rocks in. And my husband is well acquainted with my lack of grace and coordination, so he was a tad too concerned with getting me off the rocks. However, we made it down with nary a sprain or break among us. (Not even a bruise, even, that I know of.)

When we got to the bottom, we found this sign:

Oops.

So, once safe from serious injury and fatality, we went to the visitor centre across the road from the park, where we ran into some friends from church! They had decided spur-of-the-moment to go up to Colorado for the weekend, and stopped at the visitor centre at the same time we did.

After all that climbing and visiting (and a stop off at some shops) we headed off to another park to see a balloon festival. However, those dark clouds we saw precluded any taking off, hovering, or glowing that the pilots might have done, so we had to content ourselves with "Candles in the Park."

So that was our Saturday. On Sunday after church, we joined Phill's family at his parents' cabin in the mountains. And Chad got to shoot things.

Then, we went round to Bishop's Castle. I'll just let the signs speak for themselves:

Seriously, enlarge the second picture and read the sign. It's worth it. And a couple of shots of the castle itself:

On Monday we made our way home, but we took a wrong turn in New Mexico and added an hour to our trip. Oops. I felt sorry for Shae, but she assured us she is well accustomed to her brother-in-law's rather unusual sense of direction, so the detour was not a problem. Also, it turns out she goes to bed later than we do, anyway! So we weren't keeping her up.

I have so many things to blog about from the past few weeks, I get discouraged just thinking about it! I don't even remember what I wrote about last. Sheesh.

So, to recap (briefly): We went to Colorado over Labour Day weekend, ran in our first West Texas Running Club race last Saturday, saw A Midsummer Night's Dream (also on Saturday), and started a new term of teaching Sunday School on Sunday. Except we aren't actually teaching.

So I will come back and cover all those later.