And another thing...

I have a younger cousing who will turn 14 next week. She's in 8th grade. She's the only child of my mom's younger sister. Aunt S was like a second mom to me while I was growing up, I love her, and my cousin. Via my cousin's MySpace page, I found out what she got for Christmas:

Laptop. laptop case, book, North Face Coat and a LABELERRRR!!!


OKay, I know that this was not a hard purchase financially for my aunt and uncle. But, good grief! Not that it's the same world, but I didn't get a laptop until I bought one to share with my husband this year at the age of 26. I bought my North Face coat for half price at a going out of business sale, and I had to save for a year for it still in college. And, darnit, why didn't I ask for a labeller?

To each his own, but I see my cousin headed for a life of spoiledom. Moreover, what the heck is she doing posting a bulletin on MySpace for all her friends to know what she got? I am from a rural area, I can bet you money very few if any kids got near what she did for Christmas. Sigh.

Why I think I'm probably the worst Christian ever, except maybe for Judas...

Today I had some of the art that we've collected over the course of our trips to Europe framed at Hobby Lobby. (Boy, that sounded pretentious.) I thought the framing guy smelled a little, uh, like a person smells when they don't wear deodorant, or when he's shown a lady like me 5 bazillion different options on matting and all she keeps saying is "I don't know. I don't think that's it. What do you think?"

But, when I got home and started on my little painting project, I discovered it was me who smelled. I had somehow forgotten to wear deodorant. Take away my schedule and all of a sudden personal hygiene eludes me. Now Ben at Hobby Lobby thinks I'm the somewhat ripe smelling and very picky lady of his day. Sigh.

Then, there was this lady. She bought our dining room table, which I had posted on Craigslist. Although my ad clearly states, and the norms of craigslisting clearly imply, that one is responsible for moving and hauling any merchandise, this lady either didn't read it, is used to people doing things for her, or she blatantly disregarded that information. Anyway, she showed up to move her new table, which I had taken apart for her, with a Ford Focus and 3 herniated disks. No friends to be found. And my husband is sick. Oh, and she showed up just as I was washing my brushes from putting the gray primer on the walls from above painting project.

After an acrobatic act proving that the table top (3 feet by 5 feet) will not, in fact, fit in a Ford Focus, and carrying all the stuff myself for her, the lady seems a bit put out and states how her truck is in Joliet, she can't get the table top until Saturday, yada yada yada. Okay, fine, I'll carry the table top back up, you pay me and come get your stinking table top on Saturday.

But, then, she asks, "Can I pay you extra to drive the table top over in your station wagon you said it fit in (30 minute drive one way)?" I said, "No..I'm in the middle of painting and No." We start discussing her coming to pick it up, and I stated that I could leave it in the apartment lobby for her to pick up even if we're not home. She replies, "Well, I'll need your help to load it, I can't put it in the car by myself."

So, now I feel guilty, and unsure where Christian duty ends and good boundaries begin. This lady had no hesitation to ask over and over again for more than was expected, and seemed miffed that a little extra dough wasn't what I wanted to leave my home when I was dressed in my painting clothes with primer drying on my brushes upstairs.

By the way, the primer dried on my brushes, and now our tub is a grayish hue of dried primer. Then I ran the hot water to rinse away what I had scrubbed off, and the shower curtain wasn't closed all the way and my floor and rug got completely soaked.

Now, 1.5 hours after the table lady arrived, I'm finally back to painting. What do ya'll think? Did table lady finding my selfish vein and I should have driven her table top away? Or are my brushes in the tub like my ox in the mire?

Mmmm, Christmas.

Be still my heart...

For the first time in nearly 4 years, we have cable television. No more turning the screwdriver to adjust the picture. We can actually watch NBC...and TLC, and SciFi, and FX, and HGTV, and and....Christmas comes early some years..

It's not you, it's me...

Really. You haven't done anything wrong. I just needed some space. And you, my friend the Internets, aren't the only one feeling my neglect. I'm avoiding real live people, too. And my dissertation, my comprehensive exams, that scholarship application, and so on and so forth. About the only person I haven't been avoiding is that guy in the bed next to me, and my clients. And I'd avoid my clients if my supervisor would let me...

I'm about to embark on what will be the busiest year of my academic career. Because I'm on an accelerated plan, my program is condensed from 4 years to 3 years, plus one year of internship. That means in the next 12 months, I'm on this insane roller coaster ride that is graduate school on speed. Practical and written comps, internship and clerkship apps, dissertation proposal defense, data collection, the list goes on and on.

But, lest I be all doom and gloom, I really do love my life right now. I'm doing exciting things. I'm spending more time with fewer people, friends and colleagues whom are dear to me. I feel hopeful about the future, and tolerant of the insanity of the coming months because of what it signifies...the climax of one of the hills on the journey of my life. The evidence of God's provision is all around me in the relationships, opportunities, and even the hard and rough areas in my life.

So, I'll be around. But, I probably won't have much to say. I hope most of you come 'round from time to time. (Read as: Don't leave me! I promise I'll have interesting things to say in time, and I will come back!)

In the spirit of the joyous nature of the Christmas break I am about to experience, I have been tagged by the Wonder from Down Under, Liz. Let us commence with convivality:

Six Things Nobody Particularly Wants to Know About the Person Who May or May Not Be Responsible for This Blog

1) I sleep with a stuffed gorilla named Alice. Shut. Up.
2) I grind my teeth at night, so I wear this ugly night guard thing to bed. Shut. Up.
3) I'm allergic watermelon. Clear the way to the toilet!
4) I eat cottage cheese with...potato chips! Yum!
5) For many, many years, I wanted to be a primatologist. You know, like Jane Goodall. I still love chimps, bonobos, gorillas, organgutans.
6) I think red heads are sexy. That's why I married one (kinda).