My Feelings Exactly!

Photobaby has a Veggie Tales video. It's actually a singalong video, including songs from several different videos. My favorite song - even more than "Pizza Angel" and "Sport Utility Video" - is "I Want to Dance." [Note: this page shows a clip of the song, but it's not the same one on Photobaby's video. The one we have has kind of a disco or funk beat.]

The song is from A Snoodle's Tale, a movie that helps a character learn not to be discouraged by others, because in his creator's eyes he is wonderful and talented! I haven't seen this movie, but I love the song by Dr. Jiggle about how he wants to dance. I, too, want to dance and feel held back by extra weight. But if I listen to what the Veggie Tales tell me, I can dance!

(This is not to be confused with my favorite show, So You Think You Can Dance, because even if I decide I can dance and I think I can dance, I'm still too old for the show!)

I tried to find the video online, but couldn't. So here are a few lyrics for you:

He wants to dance
He wants to groove
(You can dance if you want to)
He needs to feel the rush of the wind
Under his shoes

You see, Dr Jiggle, when you know God made you special, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. You can just be yourself.

Coming to you...LIVE...from Florida!

I've spent the last three days in Tampa at a golf and tennis resort. I'm here for the Agricultural Media Summit, representing my company at a trade show and hobnobbing with reporters who write about things like cows and fertilizer and tractors and everything farm. So tonight, before I pack and go to bed so I can get up for my very early flight, I'd like to tell you the best and worst things about my trip to Florida.


Best:

• I ate the biggest pork chop I've ever seen tonight, not to mention the chocolate cake I had to split it with my co-worker - after all, I'm making myself weigh in tomorrow when I get home!
• The staff at this resort has provided the most outstanding service I have ever received in any capacity. I guess I don't normally pay enough to be treated this well? (That's a slightly sarcastic comment - who, me? - because I believe customer service is sorely lacking in the world.) All kidding aside, the people who work here have been amazing, offering above average service with a kind smile. The bellman who told us about the umbrellas in our closets, the shipping guy who searched, found and delivered extra boxes for us to use for our extra supplies (from the trade show), the waitress who explained Tampa traffic patterns when we asked about getting to the airport on time, the gift shop lady who gave me band-aids out of her desk when I was going to buy them - these are just a few people who were just fantastic in providing service to me, a lowly conference attender at their swanky resort.
• I met some fun people, like my new friend, Lucy, who's coming to Kansas City next week to try out for American Idol. She even sang her audition songs for us, and she's really good!
• I learned that rum punch is quite tasty (unless it's heavier on the rum than the punch and then it's not nearly as fun - for me, at least).

Worst:

• Florida is ridiculously humid. I mean, there should be another word for how humid it is here. I've been calling it oppressively humid, but that might be a bit much. But just saying "freaking humid" doesn't cut it. It's so humid - and hot, of course, but in July that's a given - that I actually said more than once that I'd rather take all of my clothes off than stand another minute of the oppressive and stifling heat and humidity. For the record, I did NOT take off all my clothes. Although I did take two showers yesterday. It's bad. I've been to Florida in July before - I distinctly remember sweating more than I've ever sweated before. At least then I didn't have to look professional. I couldn't even pretend to look cool - what 17 year old girl visiting Disney World with her parents can?
• I brought new shoes. New shoes that cut my feet to pieces. New shoes that immediately rubbed blisters on several different parts of my feet.
• Because this is a resort and not a hotel, our room, the main building, the trade show building and the restaurants were all in different buildings...meaning I had to walk through the wall of humidity on my sad, sad feet constantly.

OH! I forgot another BEST thing - my bed! Normally, there's at least three, if not four, of us in the bed at home. (Our cats truly believe they are people and deserve the biggest bed in the house - they'll make room for us if we promise to be real nice.) I got a whole bed, an unbelievably comfortable mattress and duvet, plus four smushy pillows all to myself!

And now for another BEST thing. I'm going to pack all my stuff, go to bed, and before I know it I'll be back home, seeing my baby, enjoying normal humidity....and missing the palm trees, bellhop and cleaning service!

Book Review: The Convenient Groom

Remember when I said I checked out 20 books from the library? Well, I've read two so far.

(I also had to return the latest John Grisham because it was way overdue. I've read all his other legal mysteries, but this one was just too slow-going for me to finish. And I hardly ever don't finish a book! But I'm not reviewing that book.)

One of the two books I've finished is The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter. I learned about this author on her blog, Girls Write Out, a collaboration of four Christian fiction writers. I'd never read her and was hoping that her books were the good kind - interesting and entertaining, but clean with a good message. You know, the good kind of Christian fiction!

Based on those criteria, this book was a winner. It was entertaining - I read it in one night (yes, it's true - I certainly did not get enough sleep that night!). I always enjoy a story where two opposites are thrown into an odd situation and end up falling in love. (Really, who doesn't like that?) But what I found interesting was that it didn't have an overt spiritual theme, and it protrayed an honest (not whitewashed) relationship between two people who luuuuv each other.

I haven't decided how I feel about this kind of Christian fiction. I like the honesty and real-life-ness of the characters. And it's not that I prefer the sappy, in your face, here's five steps to get saved message some books throw at readers. It was just different. And I think I liked it.

I recommend it.

Take This Job and...

Four months ago, my dad lost his job. He was actually fired for refusing to lie under oath. He worked for a law firm.

It's been a long four months for him. Losing his job was discouraging enough, but then to apply for dozens of jobs and get nowhere - well, he was feeling pretty down. Not to mention, broke. My parents are very faithful and knew the whole time that God was in control, but it's hard to stay calm while He works things out!

Right after he started his job hunt, my dad applied for a job at another law firm. He was offered the job but counteroffered for a higher salary. Then he never heard another word! It was so weird! Well, turns out the person they hired instead of him didn't do good work (to say the least, from what I hear), and they fired him. So last Thursday, the company called and asked Dad if he was still interested in the job.

Of course he was! And he started on Monday.

It's funny - it's almost like God said, "Okay, company, you hired the wrong guy. *sigh* I'll hold onto Photodad until you figure out your mistake."

So....YAY!!! God got my dad out of a not-good job, provided while he was out of work, and gave him a new job!!! YAY!!!

(That's Photobaby up there - I'm sure that grin is because Grandpa got a new job!)

The One That Made Me Cry (List of the Week, v4)

I don't think I'm a completely unstable person. My husband might tell you differently, but since I'm the one writing...Anyway. I'm really not a basketcase. I am, however, a crybaby. So when I realized how long it had been since I gave you a list of the week, I thought I'd tell you about some of the things that make me cry.

Plus, I tried and tried to put together a 4th of July post, and it just didn't happen. The last thing on my list is where I started - and where I ended. I just couldn't get past my emotions for that post. So okay, maybe I am a tad bit over the edge. But really, doesn't anyone else cry at any of these things? (Or maybe even something else? Like Hallmark commercials or something?)

Good worship music - This usually happens at church or in my car. I'm so affected by music that God speaks to me so clearly with it. It can be convicting, overwhelming or encouraging - no matter, it can make me cry.

TV series finales - I have a slight addiction to finales. I don't know what it is that makes me tune in every time, but I do. Even if I don't normally watch a show, if I hear that the final show is coming up, I'll watch it! I started watching Friends when it was announced they were doing the last season. (Turns out it was not, in fact, the last season, but I watched from then until the end the next year. And I'm pretty sure I've seen every episode since, thanks to reruns.) It doesn't even have to be a series finale. I watched Michael J. Fox's last episode of "Spin City". I hadn't watched the show in a few years, but I watched that episode. And bawled like a baby.

Weddings - I'm sitting here watching a wedding show on TLC and got teared up. And as I stood at the front of the sanctuary for my brother's wedding and watched my strong and beautiful sister-in-law walk down the aisle by herself, I kid you not, I had a hiccup sob. I couldn't keep it in! So it doesn't matter if it's my friend's second wedding that I wrote about earlier or two strangers I've never met or even two fictional characters, if it's a sweet or poignant or wonderful wedding, I will cry.

Abused, sick or neglected animals, children or old people - There is a commercial on TV right now; I think it's for the ASPCA. It shows dog after cat after cat after dog - all of them somehow managing to look sadly into the camera - all to a mournful Sarah McLaughlin song. And it is the longest commercial ev-er. I have to change the channel every time it comes on. I just cannot handle it. Something else I can't handle? The grandma scenes in Happy Gilmore. I know - that is not a sad movie. But seeing that little grandmother get treated so badly - even if it's by a ridiculous Ben Stiller character - just hurts my heart. Not because I think it's real, but because I'm sure things like that happen in real life! And don't even get me started about sick kids. After working for a health charity, I know too many stories to take any child's situation lightly.

My daughter - I've cried over her first laugh, looking at her face when she sleeps, thinking about how many things could go wrong in her life, thanking God for all the things that have already gone right, and in desperation when I couldn't stop her from crying. And I have a feeling there will be many more tears over my little sweet pea!

Inspiring sports movies - I'm not an athlete. As a matter of fact, I don't really enjoy sports much at all. And I will admit that I've cried due to failing at sports in the past. That should really make me hate sports. But the cliched scene of the underdog managing a victory in the last few seconds of the game - well, it gets me every time. You know the stories I'm talking about: Radio, We Are Marshall, Glory Road, Remember the Titans, Hoosiers, A League of Their Own, Field of Dreams, The Sandlot, even Friday Night Lights. Like I said, I don't really like sports. But I seem to love their movies. (And this video? Bring on the Kleenex!)

Is There Life Out There - Reba McEntire's video for this song makes me cry every time I see it. She plays a wife and mother who goes back to school to get her college degree. And that's exactly what my mom did 20 years ago. Each time Reba says, "I learned more from the stain than I did the paper," I break down, thinking of how hard my mom worked, all the sacrifices our family made, and how proud of her I am.

Our military and the war - My grandad was in the Army, so I was raised with a deep respect for our country, our flag and our military. With everything that's gone on in our nation the past seven years, that feeling has only grown. No matter what you believe about our leaders and their strategies and choices, the men and women who risk and sometimes sacrifice their lives for us are heroes. Plain and simple. And that's why I cry when I hear patriotic country songs (this one caused a breakdown in my car), read military-themed books (sobbing on my couch), watch TV shows about the Army (sniffling every Monday night), or look through Mad Dog's Iraq scrapbook. I almost can't stand how sad it makes me. On the other hand, it makes me so proud and thankful. "Thank you" doesn't seem adequate, but I still have to say it. To those who serve our country, thank you.

By the way...onions don't actually make me cry. (But they're about the only thing that doesn't!)

Update: I wrote this post and scheduled it for today before I heard some bad news. A couple I know from college lost their baby yesterday. The wife was 9 months pregnant and had not experienced any problems. But her water broke and she didn't deliver soon enough.

I can only imagine how excrutiating this situation must be for them, and honestly, I'm sure anything I can imagine is still nothing compared to their pain. I'm praying for them, of course. They are believers, so I pray that will carry them through this time. I don't understand why these things happen. Things like this - as well as my questions following them - also make me cry.

Houston, we have a problem.

Okay, so my house isn't exactly Apollo 13. And running out of toilet paper isn't life-threatening. But still. We ran out of toilet paper!

Several weeks ago, I thought we were out and bought an extra 12-pack of double rolls. So when we went to the store last, I assumed we still had some of this TP surplus.

Turns out I was wrong.

Back in Sicily...

I just read that Estelle Getty, from Golden Girls, died today. I watched a lot of episodes of that show recently, before Photobaby was sleeping through the night. I'd feed her at 10 pm, then settle in to watch two episodes each of Will & Grace, Frasier and Golden Girls before feeding her again at 1 am. (This may explain why I still have baby weight to lose!)

I watched a couple episodes just two weeks ago (staying up late to finish Triple's scrapbook!), and the last one I watched really focused on friendship. I mean, I know every episode did; that was the theme and the point of the show. But in this particular episode, Sophia won a community service award and gave a lovely speech, crediting her good works to the love and support of her wonderful friends. (Who, in true sitcom fashion, had been fighting over the award throughout the episode.)

So in honor of Sophia and Estelle, I'd like to take a moment to appreciate my "golden girls." To my best friend, Smitty, and my favorite blogger, Chelley, and Triple and T-Rex and all my other college friends, to my graduate school friend (yes, just one), my church friends, my new blog friends and to my work friends, I'd like to say, "Thank you for being a friend."

Product Review: Fiber One Chewy Bar

If you haven't tried the Fiber One granola bars, I say go out and buy some now! I've been eating the oats and chocolate ones for a while, but today I tried the oats and apple streusel, and well, I just had to tell you about it!

No, I'm not getting paid for this blatant endorsement. I just can't get over how tasty this granola bar was. And only 2 points, if you happen to count that sort of thing. Or, 9 grams of fiber, if that's interesting to you.

Speaking of the fiber, though, I will offer one word of caution: If you're not used to eating large amounts of fiber at once, you may experience some less-than-desirable results. As in, don't eat a Fiber One bar on the same day you eat your Kashi cereal. That's all I'm saying, but I think you get my point.

While I'm on the topic (and promoting the heck out of Fiber One), do any of you use their cereal in your recipes? Hungry Girl, a website that offers healthy tips and recipes, uses it a lot. I've never tried it, so I'm curious if it makes food taste funny. Or if it causes too many undesirable results!

A Rude Awakening

While we were in Wisconsin this week, we stayed at my brother-in-law’s house. He and his wife breed Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs, and they currently have eight dogs (and two cats and a lizard, if you’re counting) living on their farm. I met two of their dogs a couple years ago, so I knew how truly massive “Swissies,” as they call them, are. They’re beautiful animals, but when I say “massive,” I mean over two feet tall and an average of 125 lbs.

As we went to bed the first night, my husband mentioned that one of the big dogs was sleeping in the house. It didn’t really matter to me at that moment, but I was so glad he mentioned it later that night. Around 3:00 am, I woke up and needed to use the bathroom. So I walked downstairs, bleary-eyed even though I’d managed to grab my glasses. I opened the door to the main level, squinted at my niece who’d fallen asleep on the couch in front of the TV, and turned into the kitchen. And abruptly stopped.

Sully, the prize-winning (read: largest) Swissie of all, was standing in the middle of the kitchen. Now, I’m not afraid of dogs. I may be a cat person, and I may not want a dog of my own. But I’m not scared of them.

And besides, I know that this particular breed of dog is called “the friendly giant” because of their reputation for being so, well, friendly. But I won’t deny that as I walked calmly by Sully into the bathroom, I may have shut that door a little faster than normal! Especially after the good guard dog started growling and howling quietly but urgently.

I don’t blame him – Sully was just doing what he should. After all, I was a stranger waltzing into his owner’s bathroom in the middle of the night! As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, he may be telling his friends this very same story. But instead of talking about a brave woman persevering (yes, persevering to the bathroom) despite being startled by a ginormous dog, his story features a kind but brave dog protecting his territory from a strange human lady with crazy hair.

Of course, the ending of the story is the same. We both went back to sleep after my sister-in-law hollered, “Hush, Sully!”

* Photo from Dog Breed Info Center.

The Business of Miracles

God has been very busy with our family recently. First a financial miracle and then a safety miracle - it's almost too much for me to comprehend!

First the finances. We've always been bad with our money. It starts because we don't have enough and then it gets worse because we're not good stewards of what we have. We've been trying to improve in this area and have made some changes, and had started making progress last summer.

Then I got laid off right before having Photobaby several weeks early. That meant I got paid less severance package and had extra medical bills. On top of that, the best job offer I had didn't actually pay enough to cover our monthly bills. But I had to take it anyway.

So, we've been barely scraping by and little by little, we'd gotten pretty far behind. We were about one month from being a full month behind on bills. (Yes, I realize this is a lot of personal info, but I want you to understand what God did.)

And then the miracle happened. A family friend who had not spoken to my parents or me in 11 years (a long story for another time) passed away. And left me enough money to pay off a good portion of our debt, allowing us to catch up and make a budget that allows our current income to meet all our monthly expenses. It was a miracle!!!

To put it in perspective - before this, on paper, we were $800 short every month. We knew God would help us work it out, but it seemed so daunting! I mean, that's a BIG gap! But He did it!

And then, this Monday, we got a call. One of those late-night calls that nobody wants to get. The kind that comes after bedtime and begins with, "There's been an accident." Mac's father was in a bad four-wheeler accident up at my brother-in-law's farm in Wisconsin. Our 10-year-old niece was riding with him. When we got the call, we were told that my father-in-law had a broken back and our niece had a broken leg.

It turns out, our niece had a bruised lung and sore shoulder - and nothing else. And my husband's dad did not break his back. He has a severe concussion, collapsed lungs, a separated shoulder and eight broken ribs. But he's doing amazingly well. He's been up and walking, is off his IV, and is in good spirits. There's no explanation for him surviving other than - God is working miracles around here!

(Another minor - but still much appreciated - miracle is that this accident allowed Mac and me a lot of time together. Because we hopped in the truck Tuesday morning and made the long drive to Wisconsin. We're headed home tomorrow - and I can't wait to sleep in my bed and see Photobaby, who's been with my parents - but it's been so nice to have this quality time with him.)

So - God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.

Ships Passing in the Night

[From this point on, I'm going to call my husband, "Mac." It's not a very clever blog name, but I'm not feeling very clever.]

The typical weekday schedule for our family looks like this:

• 7:00 Photobaby wakes up. I change her diaper and drop her in bed with Mac.
• 7:45 - 12:30 I'm at work, while Mac takes care of Photobaby.
• 12:30 - 5:00 Photobaby is at the babysitter's, Mac heads to work, I'm still at work.
• 5:00 - 7:00 I take care of Photobaby.
• Midnight or later - Mac gets home.

So, not only do I not see my baby girl enough during the week, I don't see my husband at all! I love that his evening shift lets him spend some great time with Photobaby (and it cuts down our childcare costs), but this week, I'm weary of this schedule. The weariness (and resulting grouchiness) will pass, but for now, I'm a little sick of it.

On a lighter note, I did find out that the phrase "ships passing in the night" comes from a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

Does Anyone Have Any Ideas?

I'm planning a trip to the great white north (Minneapolis, as well as a detour to small-town Wisconsin). Does anyone out there - anyone at all? - have any ideas about what to do in this town?

(Yes, this is a shameless stunt to get comments from hobbitsister and melilot, but I really am going to MN later this year!)

Get Your Nose Out of That Book!

I heard that a lot growing up. And now, even though I'm adult with my own child, I still hear it. Of course, now it's just my mom's voice in my head, reminding me that the dishes aren't going to do themselves and I can read later!

I love to read. And I love to read lots of different types of books. Scary mysteries, fluffy romances, the occasional "book club" book, and more.

I'll admit, my reading habit can get a little out of control. Chores fall by the wayside and bedtimes get ignored when I'm in the middle of a good book. I recently caught up on all my magazines - I had about 8 of them stacked up on my desk. I spend at least an hour a day - okay, sometimes more - reading various articles online about advertising and PR trends, the real estate market, and pop culture. And today after work, I stopped by the library and picked up the books I'd reserved...all 20 of them.

So when someone told me today that she loves to read, and she'd just finished reading her first "for-fun" book in 10 years, I didn't really know what to say. I don't doubt that she loves to read. But I just can't imagine not reading for fun for 10 years! (Granted, I'd get caught up on my scrapbooking, have a sparkling clean house, might even exercise, but still!)

My question for you is: Do you love to read? What's your favorite kind of book to read? What's the best book you've ever read?

From This Day Forward

Last weekend, I played photographer at my friend's wedding. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. The occasion was beautiful.

See, this is my friend's second marriage. Her first husband - who was also my husband's and my friend - cheated on her and left her. We met them at church.

It shouldn't matter, that church part. But it did, even though I've read that the percentage of Christian marriages that end in divorce is actually higher than the national average. It still doesn't seem like it should be so. And this was the first "couple friends" we'd known who got divorced.

My friend was devastated. But God was so faithful to her, blessing her and showing her so much grace. One of those blessings was reconnecting with a friend from college. The friend she married last weekend.

It's been amazing to watch God work. I'm still sad to think about what happened with her first marriage. I believe that God created marriage to last and that's what we all commit to when we say "I do." I don't understand how what happened, happened. And I still mourn the loss of our friend, her husband. I don't think divorce is okay, but my friend was left without a choice. But no matter what I understand or think or see, I know that God's plan is bigger than my small, human mind can comprehend, and His mercy and grace are neverending.

And my friend had a beautiful wedding. I pray she also has a beautiful marriage.

Funny Line

"Go home before I pummel you."

"Huh? I thought you're a Christian?"

"You're right. First I'll smite you, then I'll pummel you."

Ha. I'm watching the very cheesy and not well-written "The Secret Life of an American Teenager." The show's awful, but I thought that conversation was funny. Especially considering how they're portraying Christians in the first place. It was nice to see a Christian be funny and not just preachy.

Poor Photobaby...

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at my brother-in-law's house for a BBQ. Photobaby was cranky because she didn't take a good morning nap and then skipped her afternoon nap in favor of being fawned over by her cousins. So, we ended up leaving early. Of course, that girl fell asleep in the car, so we drove around looking at houses we can never afford to give her some much-needed time to snooze. When we headed home, I was determined to keep her happy until 6:30, when I'd put her to bed (early - because she was soooo tired).

That plan came to a halt at 6:15, when I realized that I'd left Photobaby's formula at my brother-in-law's house. Our last can. We had two partial cans (I'm not even sure how that happened), so I'd combined them. So all of our formula was 30 minutes away.

I called my husband in and asked him to go get food for our poor, tired, hungry baby. What I meant was, "Please go to the Hy-Vee grocery store five minutes down the road and buy a can of formula." What he heard was, "Please drive 30 minutes to your brother's house and get our formula and bring it home."

Hmm.

After I'd done a song and dance for 45 minutes, trying to keep Photobaby from having a full-blown meltdown, I tried to call him. He didn't answer. Which of course made me certain he'd had a car wreck between our house and the store.

Thankfully - for all of us - he called back as soon as he got service (his brother lives outside our cell service area), and we realized that we'd completely misunderstood each other.

Poor Photobaby! She went to bed LATE instead of EARLY, and she has two parents who don't even speak the same language!

Let's Go To The Movies!

I've seen four movies in the past few weeks, and I thought I'd share some random thoughts about them.

Fool's Gold - It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. How's that for faint praise? Seriously, I wasn't excited about seeing this movie, but I couldn't find anything else to rent that night. And hey, I liked Kate Hudson and Matthew McCaughney's other movie (I'll admit, I've seen it more times than I can count - but can you blame me? It's cute, they're cute, and it's on TV all the time!). So I rented the dumb movie about pretty people. And it turns out, I liked it, too. It's about treasure hunting - and I like treasure hunting movies. I also saw National Treasure 2 a while back, and liked it, too. (No, I'm not obsessed with treasure. I just like the history and mystery of it!)

Definitely, Maybe - This movie (like at least three of these flicks) didn't get great reviews. But I thought it was good. It was definitely a girl movie - all about romance. But I liked the way it realistically portratyed a young man being disillusioned by his career. I feel like that's happened to me - not because of lying politicians, like in the movie - but because of unmet expectations with the "real" world. The main character graduates college wanting to be president. He goes on to work for the Clinton campaign and then grow depressed years later as the Clinton scandal(s) break around the same time his love life tanks. I just thought it was refreshing to something more realistic than the typical young person has corner office and wild success even though he or she just got out of school.

Indiana Jones the 4th - My husband, my brother, my sister-in-law and I went to see this over the weekend. I didn't have huge expectations, but I did want to see it in the theater. I don't see a lot of movies in the theater (too expensive!), but I thought this one warranted it. And, we went in the morning so it was just $5 a person! Anyway - we grew up watching the original Indiana Jones movies with our parents. This is probably where my love of movie treasure hunters comes from. (For the record, I also enjoy Michael Douglas and Noah Wyle in this same role.) So, based on the many times we'd laughed so hard watching Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, my brother and I were really looking forward to this movie. So were the spouses, of course, but I kind of think we were the most excited. I had read a lot of reviews, as I tend to do. I'm pretty sure the other three had not. Because they were pretty disappointed by the movie. I thought it was good - the typical Indiana Jones stuff and the Shia LaBeouf character were hilarious to me. And my thought is that even though I don't doubt the reality of religious artifacts like the ark of the covenant and the Holy Grail, some people might find them as probable as aliens. So I don't think anything Indiana Jones could throw at us, any explanation for a crystal skull or any other mysterious relic, could be too crazy for me. After all, it's just a movie. About treasure. Right?

Vantage Point - I saw this movie last night and re-read a review this morning. I wasn't surprised to see a 1-star review and a 2-star review. It wasn't great. But how about these harsh words: 'There's no point to any of this. No insights on terrorism, no commentary about foreign policy, no human drama. 'Vantage Point' is a rotten action flick dressed up in artifice and pretension." Ouch! I did think this movie might have more substance. I don't need some big political statement...and I didn't get it. Or any statement, really. I thought the idea behind the movie - watching an event from several different viewpoints - was interesting. But I have to admit, it got old. And the ending was kind of satisfying. I guess. It wasn't what I suspected, that's for sure, but an unexpected ending isn't always a good thing!

So, in summary, none of these movies was terrible. Fool's Gold was better than I expected, and Vantage Point was worse than I expected. Indiana Jones was about what I thought it would be, and Definitely Maybe was a pleasant surprise. There you have it.

Am I Seeing Things?

So, I don't really think I'm hallucinating. But I seem to have seen a lot of groundhogs lately. By the way, in case you're wondering, groundhogs are the same thing as woodchucks. (The things you can learn while looking for a good image!)

Anyway, my office building is in an old farmhouse on about 10 acres, and a couple times a week, I see a groundhog in the yard as I'm driving up to the parking lot. But nobody else in my office ever mentions seeing a groundhog. And wouldn't you think that's something to talk about?

Then today, I was sitting at a stop light, on an exit ramp from the highway, and I saw some movement in the grass on the side of the road. What else would it be but another groundhog?! Right there by the highway! A groundhog!

And, now that I'm thinking about it, I saw one on my way home from work (in someone's backyard) a few weeks ago.

Is this weird? Do you guys ever see groundhogs? Is there a reason - like too much rain or not enough sunshine or something - that I would see more groundhogs this year than ever before in my life?

Because I'm starting to feel a little bit like Ally McBeal when she kept seeing all those dancing babies!

What Might Have Been

I have a tendency to think too much. To obsess. To overanalyze.

Lately I’ve been thinking about choose your own ending books. Did you read those when you were younger? I went through a phase when I loved them. Of course, I read them with my fingers stuck in all the choice pages, so at the end of the story, I could go back and see what would have happened if I’d make another choice.

In some ways, I think I’ve led my life this same way. My life has taken lots of turns, but most of the time, I keep one finger on the page of that choice, just in case I want to go back and try another path. (Case in point: leaving my dream job to go to grad school, going to grad school for one semester, quitting grad school, going back to my dream job, deciding I don’t love my dream job after all, and moving on to yet another job…)

The thing is, in real life (as opposed to book life), you can’t go back. We don’t get do-overs. So this has led me to spend a lot of time – probably too much time – thinking about “what might’ve been.”

When I was in high school, the Little Texas song, “What Might Have Been,” always made me think of boys. Two boys in particular who never realized that I was the love of their lives. But they should have, of course. So for several years, I would think of them whenever I heard this song.

That’s been so long ago, and today it’s just a pretty song. But I still have this tendency to look back. And that’s not really a good thing. (Just ask Lot’s wife!)

However, today when I heard this song, it hit me a bit differently. It made me think of what might have happened to me if I had never experienced the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

What might have been…if I hadn’t been blessed to be raised in a Christian home.
What might have been…if I hadn’t had Godly teachers and role models in my church family.
What might have been…if I hadn’t gotten connected with a body of believers in college.
What might have been…if I hadn’t found a new church home as an adult.

I would have been lost! I was lost, but thanks only to the grace of God, I live a blessed life with Him.

And yet…and yet, I still have moments of regret and wishing for a do-over. Sometimes it’s the same old, same old – wishing I could go back in time, make a different choice, live a better life. But other times, when I’m less focused on things that I can’t change, things I probably shouldn’t change even if I could, I still want to undo things I’ve done.

But – and here’s where my ramblings come full circle – again because of God’s grace, He does undo our mistakes, our sins. He wipes them away, like they never happened in the first place. Amazing.

And that brings me to another song, one that means something to me every time I hear it. But when I heard it today right after “What Might Have Been,” it just blew me away, thinking about God’s goodness. The song is by Rush of Fools, and it’s called, “Undo.” My favorite lyrics:

To label me a hypocrite would be

Only scratching the surface of who I've been known to be

And He loves me anyway. He loves you anyway.

Amazing.

Help Me Make it Through the Day...

At one of my former jobs, a co-worker and friend of mine was an avid KU fan. So in order to make sure everyone around her knew this – even the diehard MU fans – she had a stuffed jayhawk on her desk. As a joke, another co-worker kidnapped her jayhawk and left a ransom note, asking for a 3-lb. bag of M&Ms.

This particular office prank did not go over well.

Some jokes do, though. On that same co-worker’s last day at our office, another friend dressed up in a clown suit and hid behind her desk. That might be a little funny, but it got a lot funnier when we realized that the departing colleague really meant it when she joked about being afraid of clowns. Fortunately, she took that joke a little better. How could you not, when one of your friends is walking around the office in full clown dress?

It’s pranks like this – and games like Buzzword Bingo – that help us make it through the monotonous or particularly stressful times at work.

One of my favorite illustrations of this is from an episode of The Office. It shows the Dunder Mifflin crew in the meeting room, listening to Michael (the boss) drone on about, well, I’m not sure what but it was clearly not interesting. Meanwhile, we see the employees looking very interested in something just beyond their boss’s talking head – the television. The television has gone to a screen saver of sorts, showing a multicolored DVD logo bouncing from one side of the TV to another. As we watch them watch the TV, we learn that they have created an office game of it – waiting for that wondrous day when the DVD logo actually makes its way into the corner instead of just missing it and bouncing off the edge of the screen.

As much as I love The Office, this episode has stuck in my mind for some reason like none other. I think it’s because it captures office life so well. (If you’re really intrigued by the DVD Logo Game, you can learn more here.)

What office/work games do you play to make it through the day?