Thankful Thursday: Easy Days

It’s not too often that I have an easy day–a day where it feels like things are running smoothly and I’m getting things accomplished and I’m not too rushed.

Which means that when those days do come, I need to stand back and savor them and not forget to send my Thank You‘s heavenward.

Thankful Thursday banner

Today I’m thankful…

…for temperatures above freezing and a jaunty walk to and from my car

…for a new computer at work–that means I don’t have to wrestle for someone else’s (I’m sure Heather is just as thankful–or more–for that one!)

…for 90 days at my “new” job–and that they still want to keep me after this first quarter

…for smooth assessments. I notice and complain when admission heights and weights aren’t taken, when I have to go digging for orders or information. But some days, the nursing staff is all at the top of their game–and I need to remember to say “Thank you” that they’ve recorded all the information I need.

…for prompt faxes from MDs. Sometimes it takes forever to hear back from an MD–or the MD just seems to ignore my faxes. Today, my faxes have been returned promptly. Thank you, docs of Columbus!

…for leaving work early (just a bit, and feeling unrushed–that NEVER happens)

…for a delightful seven note sixth grade band concert. I know I’m gonna love Columbus. These kids, this life, is fantastic.

This has been an easy day–and I am most thankful for it.

Thank You, Lord, that You know when I need a little rest–and that You provide it, even amidst an eleven-hour workday.


I’m not dead…

Just letting you know.

Actually, I’m just massively busy.

As of yesterday a little after midnight, I am officially a resident of only one city. I got my house in Lincoln cleaned up and locked the door one last time. Now, instead of commuting to Columbus for work at the nursing home, I’m commuting to Lincoln to work at the University :-)

This week is probably the busiest yet, with a rush of papers to grade before I give my lab practical at the beginning of next week and catching up from the holiday at work and dealing with a few really touchy issues.

So (except for a Thankful Thursday post that I’m still hoping to have time to write tomorrow :-P) you probably still won’t be seeing me until at least the middle of next week–or more likely, the end of next week.

Nevertheless, despite the busyness and a number of relationally/emotionally/spiritually challenging little events, I’ve been delighting in the greatness of God (Thank you, Pastor Justin, for an excellent intro to JESUS this past Sunday) and unexpectedly surprised into tears by the gospel-saturated lyrics of (you’ll never guess)












LeCrae.







See, I told you you’d never guess.

Not a fan of rap. Not a fan of CCM. Picked up a bunch of CDs from the library, procrastinated listening to that one because I don’t like rap or CCM. Finally popped it in on my drive this afternoon. Found myself literally in tears over the immensity of depravity and the awesome greatness of election.

Dang. That’s good stuff.

Anyway–I’d best get to bed. I’ve got a full day ahead of me.

Hope you have a wonderful, Christ-saturated rest of the week!


Kitchen in the House of Dreams

Would you like a peek into the kitchen at the House of Dreams?

Of course you would.

Kitchen in House of Dreams

Grace looks into the dishwasher. There’s LOTS of drawer and cupboard space. And I’m thrilled that the refrigerator (and its accompanying freezer) is large.

Kitchen in House of Dreams

Perhaps you can’t tell, but the range is super-wide, with a nice blank space in the middle–and the oven has an accompanying warmer drawer to keep your food toasty while the rest is cooking. It’s perfect for enormous dinners–like the type I like to put on!

Kitchen in House of Dreams

Set back a bit from the wall the range is on, there’s another little nook. We’re setting this up as a beverage station/cookbook area. There’s some decent space on the other side of the room for a little kitchen table.


Snapshot: Super Planner

I was sitting in my bedroom in the house of dreams, preparing for the upcoming weeks. I spied my mask from my superhero days–it had been upended in the moving process.

For old times sake, I put it on–placing my glasses overtop. I could use all the super-power planning abilities I could muster for this trip’s logistical nightmare.

Super Planner

Anna couldn’t help but snap a picture.


A Delicious New Dish

I’m desperately attempting to empty my cupboards and my freezer before I move my kitchen.

There’s no way I’ll succeed in even making a dent–but I can at least not purchase anything new.

So when my raisins ran out, I needed to find something else to put in my oatmeal. Opening my cupboards, I found little to approximate the effect. But in my freezer, I found some blackberries.

Oatmeal with Blackberries in it

I’d have never thought to put blackberries in oatmeal except for the necessity of not purchasing anything new. As it was, I was ecstatic to have discovered a delicious new dish.

Perfect!


What you gotta do.

When you’re as busy as I am with the things I am busy with, you do what you’ve gotta do to make things work.

So if you really need to transport a bookshelf up to your new house–and you have to do it before the craziness (really) begins…

You stuff it into your car, thankful that you have a trunk that expands into the backseat. When it doesn’t quite fit, you scoot your seat up and sit with your back at an acute angle for the hour and a half drive north and west.

Squeezed into car

You gotta do what you gotta do.


Guess Who?

On the day of our fantastic BET (Burn Evil Things) Party, I took some photos of my friend’s and family’s hair. I thought I’d set them up as a matching game–to see who can recognize who belongs to what hair.

Hair Sample Hair Sample Hair Sample Hair Sample
Hair Sample 1 Hair Sample 2 Hair Sample 3 Hair Sample 4
Hair Sample Hair Sample Hair Sample Hair Sample
Hair Sample 5 Hair Sample 6 Hair Sample 7 Hair Sample 8

Your choices for people are Mom, Dad, Anna, Myself, Joshua, Daniel, Debbie, Timothy, Grace, Mary, Joanna, Steve, Katie, Abigail, and Joseph.

My apologies for any differences in color due to the flash on my camera. I guess that’s what makes this fun :-)

If you don’t know these people but still want to play, you can check out the sidebar cast of characters for the first eleven names. Katie is the blonde in the fourth and fifth photos of the BET collection. Abigail and Joseph have their own album (from that same day) here

Correct answers will post next Monday afternoon–so you’ll have plenty of time to guess!


Snapshot: Conservative Casual

My little sister texted me this Friday afternoon to ask if she could hitch a ride to our church’s ladies retreat.

Then she asked what she was supposed to bring.

I checked the informational piece I’d been given and saw that the dress was “Conservative casual.”

Now I know how to do business casual–but I’m not exactly sure what conservative casual means. So Grace and I decided to play it safe:

Grace and Rebekah dressed in long skirts

Long skirts make for conservative, T-shirts for casual, right?

(Just for the record, these were on over our normal garb–school clothes for Grace and work clothes for me. I brought some casual-ish corduroys to wear with my fitted knit top on Saturday.)


A Psychoanalysis


My parents observed me dancing around the BET (Burn Evil Things) fire from their vantage point at the adjoining food fire and attempted a brief psychoanalysis.

They decided that I spent so much of my childhood wishing I were older–and now that I’m old, I’m now enjoying my childhood.

I prefer to think I’m now mature enough to not care how ridiculous I might look dancing wildly about a fire of burning paper.

Do you have any particularly child-like (or childish, depending on how you look at it) behaviors that you cling to? Why do you act that way?

BET photos are now available on my photos page, or view them directly here.

We closed out our evening with s’mores and singing around the cooking fire–and I was so nice as to record some of our singing for your enjoyment. (Please forgive the loudness of my own voice–I have yet to figure out how to avoid having my voice overshadow everything else when recording on my little camera!)

King of Kings sung in round.