Everyday Life

Yesterday, I got done with my classes and walked to my car, nonchalantly contemplating all that I had to do that evening and thinking about the job interview I’d had that morning–nothing much really.

When I reached my car, I stopped short at the sight of–no it couldn’t be–

But it was. A parking ticket. How on earth? My mind ran through the options. I’d parked there at 3:45 pm, the area was two hour parking between 8 am and 5 pm with no limit after 5. So I only spent 1 hr and 15 minutes there between the regulated hours.

I was considering my options, thinking through the appeal process, when I opened the envelope and discovered the true issue.

“Invalid registration.”

My mind tried processing this new information.

“Let’s see, I bought Lucy last year after the car accident. The car accident was at the end of February. I drove a rental through March. And I bought Lucy in April, right?”

Except that I checked when I dropped off my recycling at the recycling collection place.

No, I must have bought it in March.

Oh, that’s what happened. I’m remembering it now. I bought JACK, my previous car in April–and so I’d paid registration through April on the car that was totalled in the accident. Didn’t they try to arrange something to reimburse me for that extra month or something?

Yeah. That’s right.

Okay, so my car does indeed have invalid registration. My plates expired last month. I’ll accept that.

The question is–why didn’t I get a postcard reminding me that registration was due and telling me what I owed?

I haven’t changed my address. I’m the one who gets the mail, so I doubt it’s a matter of the postcard getting lost on my end.

Hmmm….

Conspiracy theories arise in my mind–and I’ve suddenly got it figured out.

They’re doing some old-fashioned revenue generating. Save $0.28 on the postcard, get $100 from the ticket, and still end up getting the registration in the end. It’s a fantastic racket.

So do the smart thing and check your registration today. Put the expiration on your calendar and don’t get caught by the racketeering state and local government.

to Southern California to see a dear friend married.

I have many hours to fly, to layover, to drive. I have brought grading and books and notebooks. I did not bring a computer (I’m old-fashioned that way–I like my computer to stay put on my desktop!) So there shouldn’t be much activity this weekend–and might not be at the beginning of next week either, since I’ll be busy inputting grades and catching up on all my school/work-ish stuff.

Wish me well on my journey and send a prayer of blessing for Amy and Craig as they begin their married life together!

There’s nothing more beautiful to my eye and my soul than Nebraska springtime after the rain.

I was overwhelmed with thankfulness as I walked into class this morning, beholding the land, breathing in the sweet scent of spring. I’m so thankful to be located on Lincoln’s lovely East Campus, strewn with flowering trees, green grass, and freshly turned fields.

As the agricultural campus of Nebraska’s land grant university, we enjoy a bit of farm life right in the middle of the city. Little plats of experimental fields surround the campus. In summer and fall they are green or brown with corn or soybeans or the like. But in spring, they are the dark black of rich, life-giving earth.

After a rainstorm, the gravel roads that lead to the fields turn muddy, dandelions pop up seemingly overnight, and the grass grows so green it almost hurts to look at it.

This is my favorite part of springtime in Nebraska–the sharp contrast between the rich dark soil and the startlingly brilliant green grass.

I long to take off my shoes, to run in this grass, to squidge my toes into the earth. And sometimes, I do.

Yesterday I was wearing a pair of shoes that were unkind to my feet. I took it as an excuse to slip them off and to walk on the grass beside the walk instead of on the walk itself. Undoubtedly I looked undignified, wending my way through the grass in my stockinged feet and proper skirt set. When I took off my stockings at home, they were ruined–completely grass-stained. But a pair of stockings is a small thing to sacrifice for the delightfulness of walking (nearly) barefoot on Nebraska’s good land–in the grass after the rain.

About a week ago, I mused on Facebook that “the trouble with black jelly beans is that you have to eat the other colors once they’re all gone.”

Then, I discovered that Brach’s sells bags of all-black jelly beans.

I bought two bags–one to eat now, and one to hide somewhere as a nice surprise sometime in the upcoming year (when I have forgotten that I bought and hid it and rediscover it again.)

I’ve been enjoying my black jelly beans, but they’ve had an unintended effect.

My tongue turns blue from the black jelly beans.

And I’ve been experimenting with mirror pictures.

This study that I just read about suggests that powerful people are notoriously bad at estimating how long it’ll take to complete tasks. When I first saw the headline (Powerful People Often Too Optimistic About Task Time), I thought of my to-do list immediately.

It turns out that my thought was pretty tangential. The article didn’t have anything to do with scheduling or length of to-do lists. But I couldn’t help but think of how overly optimistic I generally am about my to-do lists. I rarely complete every item on my to-do list.

But I’d be willing to bet that my optimism manages to get an awful lot more done in a day than the “realistic” person who puts three items on their to-do list.

Today is shaping into a pretty productive day–so my list might be a bit (5ish items) longer than normal–but this is fairly typical of my daily to-do lists:
(I’ve italicized completed tasks.)

Morning routine

• Get up
• Make bed
• Dress to shoes
• Fix Hair
• Makeup
• Breakfast
• Devotions
• Brush teeth
• Swish and swipe
  This is wiping down my sink and toilet as well as doing a quick scrub of the toilet bowl. It’s a FlyLady technique–and I adore it.

Spiritual

• Word
  I’m going through a Bible reading schedule from “The Lookout” (a Christian magazine, I think). It’s a through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan that has readings from the Old Testament, a wisdom book, a gospel, and another New Testament book every day. I’ve enjoyed the format immensely.
• Prayer
• Memory
  I’ve been trying to step up my Scripture memory a bit more (and practice it regularly). I add a new (or an old familiar that I need to get word perfect) about every week or so. For now, the notecards in my purse for daily review are Gen 1:1-2, Gen 1:26-28, Deut 6:4-6, Deut 32:46-47, Josh 1:8, Ps 1, Ps 23, Rom 8:37-39, and Rom 12:1-2
• Copy
  I’m trying to copy down the whole Bible. I know. It’s absolutely crazy. It’ll probably be a lifetime work. But I was inspired by Deuteronomy 16:18 which commands the king of Israel to write for himself a copy of the Word of God. I have maybe 50 or 60 chapters in the looseleaf binder I’ve devoted to the project. I’ve been working on it in fits and starts for three or four years. So it’s slow progress, but I’m not planning on giving up anytime soon.
• Worship
  This is a concentrated time of musical worship–but it takes different forms. Sometimes it’s working through a hymnal, sometimes it’s taking a walk and singing, sometimes it’s borrowing my folks’ piano, sometimes it’s worshipping along with a CD.
• Listen to sermon
  With occasional breaks, I’m working through John Piper’s series on John that he started in 2009. I just finished listening to the third sermon on The Woman at the Well
• Write tithe check
  I get paid at the end of each month–but since the check is automatically deposited, unless I’m proactive, I’ll forget how much my tithe check needs to be by the time Sunday rolls around. So I write the check as soon as I get my “advice” (which tells me what I earned.)

School

• Homework with SAS
  I have to do any assignments that require SAS on campus–so it’s a bit more work than normal
• Print lab
  There are a half-a-dozen things that have to be printed before statistics lab each week.
• Grade and record student homework assignments
• Write and copy quiz for lab tomorrow
• Read and comment on student presentation for tomorrow
• Attend Statistic lecture (1 hour)
• Attend Statistics lab (2 hours)
• Pick up pay advice
• Work on survey
  I’ve done some work on this, but I’d like to do a bit more before I call it quits for the day.
• Work on paper

Home

• Tidy living area
• Vacuum living area
• Set up new craft upstairs
  I like to have some sort of handwork all set up so I can pick it up while listening to sermons or watching videos on my computer. I finished my Christmas napkin holder yesterday, so I gathered the materials for some felted and embroidered Christmas ornaments today.
• Make lunch
  A BLT with a side of sauteed asparagus, onions, and orange peppers. Yummmy!
• Get mail
• Make Roasted Vegetable Cassoulet
  A rather involved recipe–and not quite as good as I’d have liked. It was good but not fantastic.
• Check furnace filter
• Check Casandra’s toilet
  It’s been refilling every hour or so, indicating that there’s some sort of slow leak going on. I messed with it a bit and haven’t heard it run since–so we might be good. (Then again, I can’t tell for sure until it’s been used some more.)
• Dishes

Books

• Islam
  That would be Unveiling Islam, the book I’ve been commenting on. I’m reading about a chapter a day.
• Children’s Picture books
  I read 2 or 3 of these a day in my quest to read through my local library.
• Once Upon a Summer
  A novel by Janette Oke, this is usually bedtime reading–a couple three chapters at a time.
• Letting Go
  My right before bed reading, this is a book/Bible study on grieving. My mom suggested that I look up some grieving resources and so far, this one has been pretty helpful.
• Biology
  One chapter a day, High School Review Biology.
• Words to Live By
  Again, a chapter or so a day gets me through.

Computer

• Fun Post
  That’s this one!
• Islam
  A post for tomorrow on the chapter I’ve read in Unveiling Islam–except that I haven’t read it yet.
• Blog Read
  I follow 80 blogs and I’m about halfway through my list (Thankfully, not everyone posts every day!)
• Roll a Burrito
  Halfway done with a post on how to roll a burrito (with lots of pictures)
• 10 Big Lies
  A review of a book I finished recently
• Blue Zone Notes
  Notes on a book I just finished reading
• Log Books
  Recording the books I’ve recently finished reading.

Personal

• Bicycle
  40 minutes or so. I rode to class and took the long way back.
• Schedule Doctors appointment
• Library
  Return 20 books, get the 7 children’s picture books that are on hold, plus a few more.
• Gas for car
• Car wash
• University bill
• Rent and utility bills
  Divying up bills is going to take a bit more time for the next couple of months because we just got a new roommate. I’ve got to try to figure out what proportion of which bills which of us has to cover. Joy.
• Get caramel from campus
  We made it in lab last week, but I hadn’t brought it home yet. Now it’s home.
• Send in ADA membership renewal
• Get furnace filters, battery for cyclecomputer
• “Fellowship” at Mickey D’s

Evening

• Computer off
• Set out clothes
• Bathe
• Wipe tub
• Lotion
• PJs
• Meds
• Floss
• Brush teeth
• Recharge cell phone
• Go to bed

Now that’s one powerful to-do list.

But, I can’t spend too much more time on this specific task–I’ve got a dozen or so still to complete before I settle in for the night. Ciao!