Some recent posts I have really enjoyed:
Thankful by Susanna at Confessions of A Tired Supergirl
Thursday Thirteen: Ethel Edition by Melanie at This Ain’t New York
What Goes Around by Antique Mommy
Archives for November 2007
All Dwight’s Heroes Are Table Tennis Players
15 November 2007 by
Tonight’s episode of The Office made my heart break just a little bit. There was something so touching and sad about seeing Michael confronted with the harsh reality of different areas of his life: his job performance, his relationship with Jan, his perception of being “groomed” for the corporate office.
But to see him smile his way through it all, ever-loyal to Dunder-Mifflin, even shaking his big boss’ hand at the end of the episode – well, I just wanted to hug him. Two or three times.
Bless his heart.
But in true Office form, the writers still found a way to bring us the funny, even if there was a complete and total absence of Andy, and I’M SORRY, BUT WHERE WAS HE?
My favorite parts:
1) Kelly Kapur clarifying the difference between “talking trash” and “talking smack”
2) Pam and Kelly having a stand-off at the restroom door
3) “That’s what she said.”
4) More tomorrow – XOXO, Michael
5) Dwight and Mose’s ping pong match at the end of the episode
What surprised me the most about tonight’s episode was how protective I was of Michael, how mad I was at Jan for betraying his trust, and how, at the end of the day, I probably have some co-dependency issues because I just want for Michael to work out all this stuff and be happy and good at what he does and get real phone calls instead of the make-believe ones that Pam pretends to have written on Post-It notes.
I love this show.
See y’all in the comments.
Gladly And Freely
15 November 2007 by
This morning I had an email from a friend of mine at church. Her name is Rashel, and two and half years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
She was 28 years old at the time.
Today she’s cancer-free.
The work that Rashel has done since her diagnosis is remarkable, really. She has started her own foundation, and through her foundation she ministers every single day to people who are walking through the devastation of cancer but may need some help getting to doctor’s appointments or buying groceries or keeping up with their household chores.
Once every couple of weeks Rashel sends an email to several hundred people and basically just makes needs known. Today she shared about six children whose parents are walking through cancer or some other life crisis and asked for help providing those kids with Christmas presents. She mentioned a family who is in serious need of prayer. She included a link to a new business started by a mother of six who lost her husband to lymphoma last year.
Totally inspirational, that Rashel.
And the end of her email today? It hit me right where I’m living. For the last couple of weeks I have been BOGGED DOWN – that’s the only way I know to say it. And while my husband probably had no idea when he married me that COUNSELING SKILLS would be required, God bless him for listening to me and talking to me and loving on me while I’ve poured out my heart to him for the eleventy-fourth day in a row.
Here’s what Rashel’s email said this morning:
In closing, anyone who knows me well knows that life can be sixteen shades of messed up, and I’ll find something to be positive about. Some may say that’s endearing, others would say annoying.
All of that being said; even still… I struggle…
I have a full heart, a pocket full of dreams and hopes; I’m planted firmly in the foundation of God’s character and word, and daily grasp at hanging on to that. I lose perspective, I have moments I’m ashamed of, and I feel weak, tired, restless and grouchy at times.
My reason for telling you that is this, we’re all in that… Every single one of us… Cancer aside, fill in the blank, we all struggle.
I’m taking Phillip Keller’s words and making them my own:
“In brokenness and contrition I humbly cry out to God for help. I reach out to Christ for restoration and healing. I exercise faith in another because I know I must touch someone greater than myself. Similarly I seek out others I can serve and in my suffering service I find fulfillment and freedom from myself. It is to my soul that God gives himself gladly and freely.”
Translation: I must get over myself, love on others and in that, I can’t and never will miss God.
Be encouraged.
That really spoke to me today.
I hope it speaks to you, too.
And if you’d like to check out Rashel’s blog and read even more of her story, you can do that right here.
I Think I Have Sufficiently Savored The Victory
14 November 2007 by
I am now watching the Mississippi State / Alabama game for the FOURTH time.
Since Sunday.
Because seeing the game in person just wasn’t enough.
And much to my delight, we continue to win every single time I watch.
But this is IT. Really. I have to move on. I have to concentrate on our game against Arkansas this weekend. Not to mention that we have a basketball game against Clemson tomorrow night.
I need to FOCUS, dadgummit! FOCUS!
So I’ll only watch this play one more time. Just once more. Really.
Just one more time.
And then I will cook supper or clean or something.
Really.
I will.
A Giveaway That’s Chock-Full-O-Sassy Goodness
13 November 2007 by
A couple of years ago my sister-in-law Janie went out of town for a fun girls’ trip, and she packed all manner of cute earrings and bracelets and whatnot so that she would have lots of accessory options when she arrived at her destination.
As a chronic overpacker, I know a little bit about the need for many accessory options.
But what Janie wasn’t expecting was the fact that once she arrived at her hotel, her jewelry was a tangled mess. All of her longer earrings had gotten completely twisted and knotted during the flight, and she spent a solid hour trying to undo the damage.
So when she got back home a couple of days later, she sat down and decided she’d solve her jumbled jewelry problem.
For the last two years she has worked on a couple of different prototypes, and when she finally hit on the very best idea, she met with a patent attorney (OH YES MA’AM – SHE HAS PATENTED THIS PUPPY AND EVERYTHING), found a manufacturer, and started the distribution process.
And now she’s sharing her great new product – which has been selling like hotcakes at Christmas markets – with you.
Internets, meet The JJ.
(Here’s a secret – SHHHHH – “JJ” stands for “Janie’s Jewels.”)
(Isn’t that adorable?)
So I guess what I’m trying to say is that size-wise it’s terribly convenient.
You could literally take 20 pairs of earrings on a 3-day trip.
Quite frankly I don’t know how much more a girl could ask for.
I also love that The JJ can stand up on a dresser or a nightstand or a bathroom counter – because it’s just so much easier to see your jewelry options.
It’s very important to be able to see your jewelry options, girls.
ISN’T IT THE CUTEST?
Janie’s working on getting a website up and running, but since it’s not quite ready yet, she sent me pictures of all the JJ fabric patterns. And if you’d like to win one of the NINE JJ’s Janie is giving away, here’s what you do:
1) Click here to see all the fun fabric options for The JJ.
2) Come back to this page and leave a comment telling me which pattern is your favorite.
3) THAT’S ALL!
I’ll leave comments on this post open until Saturday, November 17 – and then I’ll draw for nine winners.
And if you’d like to order one (or two! or nine!) for Christmas gifts, I’ll post all of the how-to information then.
Hooray for The JJ!
Y’all have fun!
It Was A Doggone Good Day Indeed
12 November 2007 by
There’s really no way to describe this past Saturday’s State / ‘Bama game without borrowing a line (or two) from my mother-in-law:
Oh, it was more fun! Just more fun! We had so much fun!
And we won! We did! We won!
Sister and I really did wake up at 4:45 Saturday morning because it was very important to me that we arrived in Starkville in time to see the team walk into the stadium at 9:30, and even though about half of you rolled your eyes when you read that last little phrase, please don’t judge me because I believe that it has been well-established that I have some obsessive issues where MSU sports are concerned.
So we left the house around 6:10 (OH YES MA’AM), and you’ll never guess where we made our first stop of the day:
We actually saw another State fan there, and as we left the Starbucks parking lot I honked my horn at him in a show of solidarity, and he wasn’t COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT by the two crazy sisters OR ANYTHING.
We made great time traveling to Starkville, and after we parked the car we began what felt like a six-mile hike to The Junction. But I did stop and snap this picture for the internets – because it was an absolutely gorgeous day.
I mean, nothing says “SEC FOOTBALL” like a ginormous water tank that’s been emblazoned with the school logo.
It brings a tear to mine eye.
Once we made it to The Junction, we stood on a corner while Sister called her hubby and said, “LOOK ON THE GAMEDAY CAM! LOOK ON THE GAMEDAY CAM! YOU CAN SEE US ON THE GAMEDAY CAM!” but he couldn’t find the link on his computer, so we pretty much just stood there looking like this, never stopping to think that THE LARGE TREE IN FRONT OF US would have completely blocked us from the gameday cam’s view:
See? Perfectly uncrazy.
This particular picture actually convinced me that I need to go with a bolder lipstick color, and if my car hadn’t been parked approximately forty-five miles away from where we were standing, I would have run down to the Walgreens and picked me up a sort of rich burgundy color. But that is neither here nor there.
And fortunately, the outcome of the game was not dependent on whether or not my lipstick color effectively balanced out my paleness.
I think we can all thank the good Lord for that.
Also, maybe I need to find me some EVEN BIGGER sunglasses for the next game. Maybe some that will just go ahead and COVER MY WHOLE FACE ONE TIME.
Ya think?
So we made our way to the Dog Walk (OH, I ADORE PROMPTNESS) and waited for the team while Sister rang her cowbell for about thirty minutes straight.
She actually had a cowbell-related injury Sunday morning – a bit of tendonitis, we believe – but winning takes commitment, people, and Sister was determined to ring that bell for the long haul.
In fact, I can still hear it ringing in my left ear. Even now. Two days later. In the privacy of my own home.
And look! The band!
I’m telling you: I love me a marching band. I especially love me a marching band that plays “Hail, State” four or twenty-six times in a row.
Right after the band and the team finished the Dog Walk, we ran smack into my freshman roommate Amanda and her family. Amanda still looks exactly like she did in high school, but since I love her I just call on the name of Jesus to wipe out any stronghold of bitterness that threatens to take root in my ever-aging heart.
Amen.
My sophomore roommate (and frequent bloggy commenter) Daphne was there, too; in fact, she is the person responsible for making sure we had tickets for the game. Even though I talk to Daphne all the time on the phone, it’s still quite a treat to be able to see her LIVE AND IN PERSON so that we can look at each other while we’re laughing. Because we make each other laugh a lot. Which is why we weren’t always very, um, constructive with our time management when we were roommates. Because we were too busy laughing. And not studying. For many hours in a row.
We headed back over to Daphne’s family’s tailgate because we were a bit hungry what with waking up at 4:45 and all, and after eating about fourteen pigs in a blanket (COME ON, NOW) I saw my friend Lea Margaret. Sister and I got to visit with her for a long time, and I’m sure you’ll be shocked to know that I took a picture of her and her adorable little boy, too.
I just love her to pieces. She really is the most Southern person I have ever known in my whole life ever, and yes, that even includes my mother-in-law.
That’s quite a feat, my friends.
Right after we said goodbye to Lea Margaret I was ready to get to our seats, seeing as how it was about 45 minutes from kick-off and WHAT IF WE MISSED SOMETHING IMPORTANT, LIKE WARM-UPS?
That would’ve been horrible.
The first half of the game was fairly uneventful until the greatest interception in the history of all time ever, at which point I picked up my camera and started clicking away, screaming like a crazy woman all the while.
I think you’ll be totally impressed with the results and agree that I have quite the future in sports journalism.
Yeah. No idea what’s going on in either of those.
But still. It was awesome.
The band performed their patriotic show during halftime, and I don’t think there was a dry eye anywhere around us as the band and choir paid tribute to each branch of the armed services. They also performed “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which is pretty much a sure thing in terms of making me want to lie down and bawl my eyes out.
The second half of the game was completely nerve-wracking, but the Bulldogs held on. And when the last seconds finally ticked off the clock, Sister and I were somewhat incredulous because OH MY WORD, WE ACTUALLY WON THE GAME!
As you can see, I have my hair pulled back off my face. No flippy, cute-sy hairstyle for me. No ma’am. I was ALL BUSINESS, people.
And then I took more random pictures of unidentifiable masses of people.
MAD. SKILLZ.
But here’s the best picture of all:
We stayed in the stadium for about twenty minutes after the game, and I’m telling y’all: it was the most fun ever. D, my brother, and my daddy all called once the game was over, and since I couldn’t hear anything, I’d just hold up the phone and let them listen to the cowbells.
Keep in mind that my brother graduated from Ole Miss. But the sound of the cowbells didn’t make him throw up or anything, so we were really proud of him.
A couple of hours later we hiked back to the car so that we wouldn’t be too late getting home. As we were leaving campus Sister looked to her right, saw rows of tents still set up for tailgating and said, “Oh, that would be a great picture.”
I love that place so much.
Win or lose.
Go ‘Dogs.
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