Bits for Sunday, March 29, 2009

Yesterday was one of the most dreaded days of my year. Easter dress shopping. I’ve written about it before…about my utter disdain of shopping for a dress in general. Skirts and tops are fine, because then I can mix and match. But the whole dress thing doesn’t work out so well for me. I’m too many different sizes all plopped on one body. But I’m a firm believer that Easter (much like a wedding) is cause for a dress. And until I can convince myself otherwise, I have the yearly torture of finding such an outfit.

To make matters worse, two of three stores in the world where I have had good luck in finding a dress…closed. At least in my town. Since yesterday was NOT the day before Easter, and since I had about five unclaimed hours, I drove to Kokomo to begin the great dress hunt of 2009.

About three stores into my search, I found myself hidden behind a clearance rack. Loved the prices. Loved some of the dresses – if I’d been planning to go to prom. And while I pushed dresses aside in search of a hidden treasure – I heard a guy about my age talking to his wife. She said to him, “Do you like this dress?” His response: “Honestly, my first thought? Lucille Ball.” I cracked up. When I went dress shopping a year or two ago, that was my exact sentiment…all the dresses looked like they came straight from the set of I Love Lucy.

I should have taken that overheard conversation as an omen about my hours (and stores) to come.

I think I’d been to five stores before I even dared to enter a fitting room. Fitting room is a misnomer. Cram yourself into something that clings in all the wrong places and rip it while trying to take it off and simultaneously hate your M&M addiction room might be a better description. However, I do see how the sign might be out of control.

I left that store (no purchase, in case you weren’t sure) and went to Kohl’s. As I wandered the aisles looking for ANY dress at all, Daniel Powter’s Bad Day song came on the radio. Oh how appropriate. Especially when he got to the line “The camera don’t lie” and I spat back at the non-dress rack nearby, “Neither does a mirror.”

As I walked out of that store, my Mom called to check on my progress. I said, “I bought an alarm clock.” She said, “Well that might look kind of funny on Easter morning.”

In utter desperation, I went to the Dress Barn. I have strolled through the Dress Barn before, but my rummage sale price mentality and their sticker price reality don’t match, so I’ve never made a purchase. Yesterday I didn’t care if it cost half my savings.

The very nice worker bee lady met me at the door and asked how I was doing. I just rolled my eyes and informed her this was my 37th store and I was running out of patience. She asked what occasion I was shopping for and I said, “Just Easter. Should be no big deal, right?” She eagerly showed me an array of dresses like I’d not seen all day.

As I made my way toward some cute, springy looking ones, I saw a woman browsing and (sorry, judgmental party of one!) my immediate thought was “WOW. That is not an attractive woman.” Then I got closer and my next thought was “Wow! That is not a woman!” He wore a lovely spring skirt and carried a purse…and browsed through the Easter dresses. And right about then, he asked what kind of dress I was looking for.

I’m sorry – I know this falls under all sorts of stuff I’ve been studying about loving my neighbor and not showing favoritism. Really, I do know that. But trying to talk to a person wearing both lipstick and a five o’clock shadow – after three hours of not finding a dress – was not going to work for me. I yanked my phone out of my pocket and called my Mom. She (very confused, poor mama) sat and listened to me carry on a fake conversation with her until he moved away and I could explain my predicament.

I took five dresses to the “fitting” room. I bought the one that zipped with the least resistance. Who am I kidding? I bought the one that zipped. Period. While paying, I told the worker bee lady that my plan B was to wear my bathing suit and towel to church on Easter Sunday. She told me there were lots of cute bathing suits – and towels – out there, so that could have worked. I told her I’m scheduled to read Scripture on Easter Sunday morning and I just didn’t think the church was ready for that.

She said, “Well, you could mess up and no one would notice!”

If I gain even one ounce between now and Easter, that dress is NOT going to zip. So I’m keeping her point in mind just in case.

Focus on the Baby

I told my friend Rachel that I would NOT come to meet her baby after working out because I'm tired of having my picture taken in workout clothes. Unfortunately my pride has taken yet another beating, because I went to meet the baby after working out - AND after crying off my makeup. Lovely. So really...focus on the baby.

I love meeting new little babies and this one was LITTLE. I'd seen pictures of her before, and she looked much bigger in the pictures than she is in real life. She's cute. For real cute. Not "ohhhhh what a cute baby....don't strike me with lightening for lying...." cute. And she has a good little grip too, for being under a week old!

Hey I Knew Some Songs!!!

I actually knew three (I think) whole songs tonight! I was so excited! I had to BOOK IT home from church to watch, since the pre-empting (which I am very bitter about and we will not discuss) took place and this got moved to tonight. I am waiting for the show to end so I can go back and watch the first two, but in the meantime, I'll comment on the rest.

Matt: Not too bad. I think maybe better than some of his earlier ones - but I still don't think he's as good as some of the other guys. I think it's good that he went first because had he gone after some of the later ones - might have been rough. The judges called him a front runner but I guess I've not been quite convinced yet.

Kris: Well I think Kris is great and that song was perfect for him. (Incidentally - knew this one too.) Anyway, he's a cutie, he's comfortable in what he wants to sing and I was a huge fan of this one!!

Scott: This is one of the songs I knew! Can't Hurry Love. (Boy isn't THAT the truth. Oh, sorry. I digress.) Anyway, I actually really loved his rendition - but the judges didn't all agree. I was on Kara's side that an up-tempo song from Scott was much needed. This was my favorite one from him so far, but I did not have a lot of company on that opinion from the judges. Was it at this point that Paula crawled under the table? That had me scared for just a minute.

Megan: Okay here's my thing with Megan. She is my Carly of this season. I just can't get into her style and, in fact, she confuses me. The whole time she sang, I thought "Is she even hitting the notes?" but I half expected the judges to praise the daylights out of her performance. I was thrilled to find out I was right and it really was a train wreck. Her voice drivees me nuts. I do think she is stunningly beautiful, but as with Carly - the excessive tattoos paired with an elegant look just doesn't work.

Anoop: I liked last week better from Anoop. I didn't think I liked SO much falsetto from him. Simon cleared it up for me in his comments - Anoop did look kind of bored and asleep while he sang. I thought he did okay as far as the notes and the technicality, but I didn't connect with it at all.

Michael: Church it up? I've never heard a song described that way, but okay. I thought he was better than the judges gave him credit for. I actually liked it better than last week because I could understand the words. Still - I think he's bottom 3 this week. I hope to goodness he survives past Megan, but I'm worried for him.

Lil: This is the first week I've liked her song (maybe because I knew it?). I am a bit worried she's going to get a little Jennifer Hudsonish on me. She has just a bit of attitude and while she managed to keep her opinions to herself a bit more this week than she did last week - I am not sure that the Jennifer side of her is gone.

Adam: Christina, are you ready? I LOVED HIM. He was my favorite performance of the night (assuming the 2 I have yet to watch here in a second don't top his). I was a bit worried the judges would be rough on him for so drastically changing his look - I remember times in the past when they've been upset with people for doing that. But I thought he looked INCREDIBLY handsome all cleaned up and he didn't scare me nearly so much. He can SING. No doubt about that.

Danny: I thought he was very entertaining and engaging - but why didn't he do those lines like he said he was going to? I think he has a lot of good potential not only as a singer but as an entertainer. Some of these people are good singers but their concerts wouldn't be much fun. Can't say that for Danny!

Allison: I didn't like her song until the end when she got so powerful and then she shot straight to second place after Adam. I thought she was amazing - she had NO place in the bottom 3 last time and she better not be there this time.

Bottom 3? Well two of them need to be Michael and Megan. I'm a tiny bit worried for Scott and Anoop too. I want Megan to go home but worry it will be Michael.

One Tired Little Girl

I made a point, when DST began, to work hard each evening so I could be ready for bed by a decent hour and hopefully get more sleep. And I did well...until this week.

This week all the chores and all the work hit at once. And this is the second night in a row I'll be crawling into bed later than I like...which will definitely be obvious when the alarm goes off in the morning.

I do love the feeling of accomplishment that comes from a day of hard work followed by an evening of hard work. But I do NOT love the worn out mess I am by bedtime!

I tried a new recipe tonight, so if it turns out well, it'll show up on here eventually. And as soon as I have a spare minute or three, I'll post the next one I have waiting in the wings.

In the meantime - hope all of you are having a good week!

Bits for Sunday, March 22, 2009

As “good old 14A” says, “Welcome sweet springtime, we greet thee in song.” That means nothing to you if you are not a fan of the Andy Griffith Show. If you are a fan, then please know Barney and I sound much alike on that particular song, so I’ll just allow you to read the words on the screen and not have an audio rendition.

I’ve loved these sunny days…and in honor of the first day of spring, I have completely shut off the heat in my house and have pulled out the cute summer skirts. Never mind that I’m wearing a jacket and a fleece blanket over them right now as I write to you. I’ll happily do that just to have spring present and accounted for.

Yesterday I worked hard on spring cleaning…getting through about half the house and half the closet switch. I’ll just have to work extra hard this week to finish those projects.

The cats love sitting in the open window – although during my Sunday afternoon nap, I remembered the down side of open windows. Sirens become much louder! But the fresh air is welcome in the stuffy rooms, so I’ll deal with the sirens.

I told you last week about my retreat and my adventures entering and exiting the top bunk of my bed. I’m happy to report that this week I’ve had a chance to journal…at long last…and it has been wonderful to get thoughts out of my head and onto the paper. Of course that freed up brain space for other things to take up residence and leave me in multiple states of confusion, but at least it provides variety.

So many people have asked me what I learned while I was gone and some things were so big that it’s hard to condense them into words. I’m still contemplating them and trying to soak up every last bit of what God intended them to be for me.

But one lesson was more of a “kicker” – and that is what I want to share with you today. My friend Kari and I are studying the book of James. We’re crawling through it one section at a time, and right before I left, we discussed the first part of chapter two, which is about favoritism. (If you’ve not read it in a while, check out verses 1-13.)

We talked about how easy it is for us to categorize people around us – those we really want to associate with (if they would lower themselves to spending time with us), and those who might want to associate with us (obviously!) but we’re not so eager to rush their direction. James specifically talks about those who show up dressed well and those who might be What Not to Wear candidates. He wasn’t just talking about the dreadfully out of fashion. He was also talking about those who might wear filthy clothing. Dirty, smelly people.

I don’t think Kari and I are the only ones in the world to not push people out of the way to be able to sit next to a “shabbily clothed” person. It’s just our nature to want to spend time with those who fit in well with us. Or if we’re extra fortunate – people who are even better than we are, and we might become better just by association.

Fresh out of this study…after however many pages of notes on how to NOT show favoritism in the body of believers…I landed in a room full of women and found familiar thoughts running through my head. Who had the nicest clothes? Who had great hair? Who seemed to have a fun personality? Can I sit by those people?

Did I learn NOTHING?

God made sure I learned something. Without going into too many details, just let me say that the people I might have not rushed toward, had I been given a chance to choose my path, ended up being the people who taught me the most. The people who had great hearts for the Lord. The people who showed genuine faith and care. The people who took risks beyond what I was willing to take. The people who reached out in friendship – though they could have been having thoughts similar to mine – about me!

Humbled would be a good word to describe how I felt as I rode back home at the end of the weekend. I saw faces flash through my mind and I was sorry I was so quick to judge on appearance. I was sorry I hadn’t taken the time to get to know them first – to see their beautiful hearts. I was sorry I lost even a moment of enjoying them because I was so busy judging.

That lesson has not been far from my mind all week – and hopefully I’ll learn it quickly and not have to spend too much time in favoritism boot camp.

Spring (Cleaning) Fever

I took the last two afternoons off work in hopes that being up and about for work in the morning would spur me on to hard work at home in the afternoon.

As it turned out, it spurred me right into two lovely afternoon naps. Oh well. The best laid plans, right?

But these last two days (minus one rain shower yesterday) have been SO PRETTY and I think I have officially diagnosed myself with spring fever. More specifically...spring cleaning fever.

I've been on the go much of March, and as a result, my cleaning has been sporadic. The bright sunshine and open windows and doors have been wonderfully refreshing...and a spotlight on the cleaning that so needs to occur.

I love spring cleaning. I love bringing out the Easter decorations and the bright flowers (the fake kind that I can't kill). I love rearranging the furniture, putting away the fleece sheets in favor of the regular ones. I love exchanging the space heater for a fan. I love, love, LOVE bringing out the summer clothes and putting away the bulky coats.

I love thinking ahead to planting the flowers I'm likely to kill, and for five minutes, I even love the thought of mowing the grass. (Then, of course, comes the first attempt at starting the mower after it sat all winter and my disdain returns.)

And while I'm never a fan of rain, yesterday reminded me I do love the smell of a spring rain. Tomorrow is the first official day of spring, and in celebration, I plan to have a closet-switching party tomorrow night. (I know - I have the funnest Friday nights. Try not to be jealous, okay?)

So happy spring (a few hours early) - and here's to happy cleaning!

The Top Eleven...

...sang tonight. Country night. That's code for my one chance all season to know a song. :) At least until they do Southern Gospel night. Then I'll clean right up on songs. Here's what I thought - can't wait to hear your perspectives. And for those of you who so long to participate in water cooler talk around the cubes in the office...but can't because you didn't watch...you can at least sound informed. :)

Michael - Oh bless his precious little heart, I think he might be in trouble tonight. I didn't know the song - think I might have been able to like the song - but I was totally with Simon. Even with the captions on, I couldn't understand a word he was saying. And I didn't think country was really his thing. Paula said it suited him, but I thought he looked and sounded like he was forcing it to fit. Simon called it clumsy, and I thought that was a good description.

Allison - Just love this girl. I really do hope she stays for a long time. I thought she blended country with her rocker sound really well. Those two don't always blend well and I was nervous for her, but she made it work and once again, I thought she looked very at home on that stage. And hey- she got a "dope" from Randy.

Kris - I had goose bumps before he was out of the first sentence. I l-o-v-e-d it. I think it may have been one of my top two favorite songs of the night. Thank you, Simon, for leaving the issue of his wife out of this one. I got nervous he'd bring that up again since Kris sang a love song. But apparently Simon was too distracted by how GREAT the song was to bring that back into discussion.

Lil - CRACKED me up how Simon kept calling her Little. That was hysterical. This was the first song of the night I knew, and I wish I hadn't...maybe then I would have liked it better. Once again I had to agree with Simon (what is up with all this agreeing with him?). It did sound like she was at a wedding singing a song she didn't like. And I was very annoyed that she kept trying to defend herself...not so much because she wanted to make her point...but because she kept interrupting them. I hate interrupting.

Adam - Well I struggled with him last week because he scared me. But Tammy at my work just loved him to death, and Christina loved him too, so this week I went into his song determined to start over. Um, I think I need to start over again. Parts of it were kind of good, but mostly it reminded me of that sidekick singer in The Wedding Singer. Was his name George? I don't know - it did NOT work for me. However, I think he's got a strong enough fan base to stay, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Scott - I actually agreed with Paula on this one. I like Scott a lot - both his vocal talent and his piano talent are very very good. But I wish he'd ditch the piano too, because he is starting to sound the same every time. The song wasn't bad...wasn't my favorite of the night. I think he was playing it too safe. ALTHOUGH - I did like his comeback line to Paula after she told him the piano was separating him from the audience. He said they could move it closer. Good one!

Alexis - I'm pretty sure Brooke White sang this song last year and though I was a DIEHARD Brooke fan, I think Alexis did this one better. Until she sang that song, I didn't realize how much she looks like Brooke - if she had the long hair to match. I thought she did well, but I agreed with Kara that maybe Before He Cheats would have fit her style better. I think she'll be okay though.

Danny - I was so scared for Danny singing that song. That was pretty risky, I thought. He did a pretty good job of not copying it just the way Carrie did it, but there were some notes that just DID NOT go well. The second half was definitely better than the first.

Anoop - MUCH MUCH MUCH better than last week. I thought he was really good and I was so glad for him that he received great feedback. I was proud of him for listening and applying what they said last week rather than just whining about it. That shows good character. He won some points with me on that one.

Megan - At this point in the night, the judges and I parted ways for good. I hated the dress and I did not like the sound of her voice at all. In some ways I would have preferred the high school talent show Rockin' Robin sound back. Then of course I had to feel bad for feeling that way when I heard she had the flu. Okay, so I'll cut her some slack. But I am still not a fan. :(

Matt - Apparently at this point in the show, I was too frustrated by my not-going-well scrapbook page that I was multi-tasking, because I have little to no impression of the song at all, but the judges totally raved. So I won't even try to figure this one out. The scrapbook page went okay, thought.

Who goes home? Well based on performance, it should be Adam. But I'm going to say Michael.

Yes, I Know...This is A Day Late

No, I was not kidnapped by the Marion Mafia. Yes, this is the first time in however many years I've been doing this that Bits has been a day late. A dollar short many times, I'm sure, but never a day late.

Welcome to the land of Bekah learning to be flexible. And what an exercise it has been!

This weekend I was given the opportunity to go on a retreat. Not a standard church retreat where all the women run from home screaming with joy at the freedom ahead...and then spend hours eating chocolate and giggling together. Not a standard Bekah retreat of checking into a hotel room for some rest and quality time with a journal and the Bible. This was very different from any kind of retreat I've been on before, and truthfully, my mind has not yet had enough down time to process all that happened.

I've not had time to journal since Wednesday, which is nearly like fasting for me. In fact, I'm barely able to wait long enough to get home and rip the journals out of the backpack to start writing. If I'm smart, I'll contend with the unpacked suitcase and the bedding strewn across the living room first. But then - who knows if I'll be smart!?!? Probably not.

I left for my retreat at 4:30 on Thursday and got home at 10 last night. I gave the heartiest hello I could muster to the cats, called my Mama and headed straight for my precious, huge, wonderful, fleece sheet covered bed. There I conked out and slept without moving until the alarm so rudely interrputed today.

Hence, no timely Bits for you.

I don't want to say too much about the retreat just yet - the God part of it anyway - because I am still thinking and unraveling all that took place.

But for those who need a "Bekahland" moment - I offer you the following.

I knew the retreat was being held at a church campground, and I anticipated that the sleeping arrangements would be large rooms filled with bunk beds. And that's exactly what we had. We were assigned a location, and all the lower bunks were filled. Four of us were assigned upper bunks. Two of them were up against a wall. I was not so fortunate.

My bed was a tiny metal island surrounded by a cement sea. And by tiny, I mean that the sleeping bag was wider than the bed. No rails on the bed. And not only that...no non-athletic way of climbing up to the top. The end didn't have rails. No ladder, no chair. Just me and my no-upper-body-strength. I could FEEL the comedy in my future.

The first bedtime approached and I eyed that bed with a sick feeling. I glanced around to find I had a little audience waiting to see just how I planned to go about getting into that bed. I don't blame them. I'd have done the same. So I took a deep breath, stepped up on the mattress of the lower bunk, threw my arms across the bed and started pulling while trying to maneuver a tae bo kick move with my leg. For those of you who are I Love Lucy fans...just think of the ballet episode. Not far from the truth. After giving the audience QUITE a show, I landed in the bed and managed to get inside the borrowed sleeping bag. Only then did I realize this was a sleeping bag that was rather slippery on the outside. I could only imagine sliding slowly off the bed in my sleep. What a story for my funeral. "She fell out of bed."

Knowing that I was stuck up there in that bunk also gave me the kid-in-a-snowsuit syndrome. But there was NO room for potty breaks, so I put that thought out of my mind.

I set about trying to go to sleep, but alas - no TV. No fan. Two essentials to my winding down process. I didn't even have a clock to know how late it was getting.

What I did have was snoring. I was SHOCKED. Aren't men supposed to be the big time snorers? I expected a snoring duet or maybe a trio. This was a CHOIR! So there I was...on my back (which I never do, but I was afraid if I turned on my side, I'd fall right out of bed), staring at the very near ceiling, listening to the snoring, wondering if I'd ever sleep...

...and I won't kid about this part, because it wasn't funny at all. It was quite scary actually. One of the other ladies became ill in the night and long story short, we were all up for much of the night sitting by and praying, since we didn't know what to do for her.

After the second round of her sickness came, I gave up on ever actually sleeping and determined to get out of bed. I stuck my head over the side (while hanging on for dear life) to see if the bottom bunk lady was awake. She was, so I informed her I would be attempting to exit the bed at that time.

I scooted the sleeping bag out of the way for safety reasons, assumed a surfboard position across the bed and started to scoot down the side. My jammie pant legs caught on the mattress and slid up, up, up my leg while I slid down, down, down the side.

Hey, once you start a show, you gotta finish it.

Let the record show, I did not get back in THAT bed the rest of the weekend.

So there you have a taste of my weekend...and I must now go work off some of the food they fed me!

Kaegan's Birthday: Part 2

I called home last night and said to my parents, "Have you ever tried to have a photo shoot with an 8 year old cat? They hadn't.

I didn't reccomend it.

I was trying to get a picture WITH him, but you have to understand he is not a cuddly cat. He does not like being held. So anytime I need a picture with him, I have to wait until he's in a patient mood - sitting somewhere for a while, and then I have to just slide up next to him and start taking pictures.

So here's the attempt. I said, "Look up!" (as if he would know what that meant). Apparently he actually does - but I MEANT look at the camera....

So that's him looking up and me laughing about it.

Here he is playing with his new catnip toy.

More playing. I had to keep Braeya away from this part too or she would have stolen it. Oh lovely - my dresser drawer is open. SUPER!!!

FINALLY. A decent picture.

Guess Who Has a Birthday Today??

NOT me.

But Kaegan turns eight today.

Here is the birthday boy himself during the lunch hour celebration. He kindly took a break from watching grass blow to have a photo taken.

I accidentally put these pictures on backwards - woops! Here he is ENJOYING one of his birthday gifts. He wanted more....but he'll have to wait until this evening to get more treats. I had to keep Braeya away during this part because she would have pushed him right out of the way - no regard for it being his holiday.

Here he is sniffing into the gift bag containing treats mentioned above.

When I wished him a happy birthday first thing this morning, he seemed less than impressed, but I thought it was nice of Braeya to give him a little birthday kiss so early in the day.

Bowing to Peer Pressure

I wasn't going to watch Idol this season. But after some complaints along the line of missing out on water cooler talk of it here, I caved and watched the first night. So here are my thoughts. If you hate Idol and all things television (you know who you are) - please come back because I will have other thoughts on other days. PROMISE.

Please note that since I've been so busy watching the Bachelor try to figure out who he really loves and all the Biggest Losers melt away the pounds...I've not seen much of the competition since the early auditions. So most of these people were brand new to me tonight.

Michael Jackson songs? As usual - a category I know little about. So the songs were new for me, too.

Lil - Hey, a song I actually knew! I thought she was a great start to the night - she looked really comfortable on the stage and seemed confident in who she is. I thought she did a good job with the song, although I agreed with Simon that the second half was better than the first. I also agreed with Simon on the outfit - it did not work for me.

Scott - I remember him from auditions and do recall crying over him that very first week. I didn't love the song, but I thought he did a good job singing AND playing it. He played the daylights out of that thing and he'd only just learned it this week!

Danny - I remember him (and also cried over his story) from auditions week. I loved the look, and I really loved how he engaged the crowd. He's a good people person. The song itself was weird, but I thought he did a good job and I want him to stay around for a good long time.

Michael - I liked the song - never would have pegged it for a Michael Jackson song. But I thought he lost the tune in the middle and it seemed to me he was just singing it at the crowd rather than bringing them into it like Danny did. But it was okay.

Jasmine - Given that she's only 17, I thought the song seemed kind of old on her - and the judges thought so too. I love it when I match up with them! I do think she has a great voice, though.

Kris - He is a cutie - and I can't believe he's only been married 5 months and is now away doing this! That's got to be tough. Non-musically related - I thought the judges were way out of line for promoting the cuteness and especially saying he should have hidden the wife for a while. From the look on her face after that comment, I'd say she didn't love it either! But back to singing - he was really fun and connected well with the audience.

Allison - I couldn't believe she is only 16! She has tons of confidence in who she is and in being on that stage. I kinda liked her voice. Why do I always end up really liking the rockers when I don't even like that kind of music?

Anoop - Uh oh, Anoop! I think he could be in trouble tonight. He was a wild card pick, right? And he didn't do an amazing job - although I'm not sure it was as bad as the judges said. I think he could be really good though, so I hope he's got enough to pull him through to next week.

Jorge - I didn't love the song and I didn't love the performance. I think he could be in trouble this week too. I don't remember him from auditions - and I didn't see him in the top 36 - so I don't know if this was an accurate show of his skill...or not.

Megan - She kind of reminds me of Carly from last season. I know the Rockin' Robin song and didn't think she did a great job with it. Simon said she was clumsy and awkward, and I'd agree with that. I was thinking high school talent show.

Adam - And THIS is where I didn't even remotely meet up with the judges. He was better than I thought he was going to be, although I remained a bit scared for most of his song. But I did NOT get why Paula was crying and shaking - and then he was crying back. It kind of exhausted me.

Matt - When I first saw him, I thought - whoa that guy looks like Justin Timberlake! And then the judges mentioned that later, so I'm sure he'll love that constant comparison. I liked the song and the piano with it - good, I thought.

Alexis - Hey, I used to have that hair! The cut, not the color. I didn't like the outfit AT ALL. But, much like Allison, I think she knows who she is as a singer and she did a good job on the stage.

Two go home tomorrow, right? I'd say just based on tonight - Anoop and Jorge.

Game Night

Here are a couple of pictures from game night. Please excuse the hair. It had been at a track meet all day. :)

Here I am with my Wii Mii. Please do take note of the record score listed on the screen. Thankyouverymuch.

This was the second round, I think. We missed my first actual use of the Wii.

And here she is! The winner (sinner, I first typed - no no no!) of Aggravation!

Bits for Sunday, March 8, 2009

Though March has only been around for a week, it has already been a month of firsts in Bekahland.

This past Friday and Saturday, I worked my first track meet. Allow me to rephrase. I entered the IWU indoor track facility for the first time. I breathed track meet air for the first time. I ran a stop watch for the first time. And I worked my first track meet.

How did this come about, you ask? It came about because I still haven’t learned the word “No.” My friend Eric, who is in charge of indoor track meet events, called to tell me IWU was hosting a two day high school meet and he needed backup timers for the races. Normally the school’s athletes do that for him, but they were all on spring break. I felt bad, so I agreed and then spent a week and a half wondering what in the world I’d gotten myself into.

I won’t lie – I almost threw up for the first three races. I was petrified of ruining someone’s life by messing up – or entirely missing – a time, but the other timers patiently reminded me I was just backup. The official time was captured by very state of the art camera equipment – which was fun to watch.

I learned a lot during that two day event. I learned the names of the races and mostly what they entailed. I learned that some uniforms are really not flattering – even on the skinniest person. I learned how to run a stopwatch. I learned that the officials are simply amazing – able to keep track of the lap number of 20 runners while carrying on conversations with each other, shooing lurkers away from the finish line, and eating a piece of pizza. I learned that when the officials are as good as ours were in moving the events along, timers don’t get bathroom breaks. I learned how to run the lap counter – and also learned how to eagerly give that task right back to someone who dared to leave for a bathroom break. And I learned that 5 ½ hours of sitting on an aluminum bleacher leaves you unable to sit at all the next day…and the next.

After leaving my second day of four by eights and two by fours…oh wait, that’s lumber…I moved on to my next new experience.

The Wii.

I knew it would happen. I knew the moment I played my first game, I would be an addict. And it happened just as I thought it might. I went to a game night with my high school buddies. This was our first game night ever that didn’t include a couple hours of Dutch Blitz. In fact, other than a round of Aggravation (which I won, thankyouverymuch) that we played while waiting for dinner to cook, we played nothing else but Wii bowling the entire night.

You must understand something.

I am a horrible bowler.

I was a slightly mediocre bowler until college, when I took a bowling class and promptly cut my score in half. I supposedly gained great form, but I didn’t see the point if it cut down my ability to actually hit the stupid pins. My professor – wonderful, wonderful man – gave me a B. GAVE me the B. Kind, kind man.

But I was better at Wii bowling. Perhaps it was because a remote is much easier to handle than a ball. At least I didn’t have to worry about breaking a nail this time! We played for 2 or 3 hours and would have played longer, but I had to get up for church this morning and also – in case you forgot – the time changed. We won’t even go there.

But it has been confirmed…I want a Wii. Who knows – maybe in the land of virtual sports, I might stand a much better chance than I do in real life!

Just for Skyepuppy

Skyepuppy - I found my pictures of the Arch. Both the ones I took of the actual Arch and those taken from inside through the tiny windows. Allow me to say that I flunked each and every one of your photography lessons with those photos. They shall one day be scrapbooked (I'm still working on year four of my kid-life, so I have a ways to go) - but they shall not appear on here for you. But if you do want "what NOT to do" photos for your page, I have zillions.

Anyway, here is the picture in the elevator. That's my Dad sporting the festive hat. He has always worn those hats for as long as I've ever known him - until recently when he has taken up baseball caps part time. Baseball caps that say things like "Don't forget my senior discount."

Anyway, please note I wore my St. Louis Arch shirt TO the Arch. As I recall, that was a specific plan in my 9 year old head. As for the rest of it - well, it's just head to toe ROUGH. Ahh the awkward years.

Oh and I have no idea who the man is that I'm talking to. I must not have been listening in the NEVER TALK TO STRANGERS movie we no doubt saw in school.

Why Bekah Doesn't Work Out At Lunch

I hate everything about working out at lunch. I hate unassembling my look partway through the day - and worse than that I hate crawling back into it when I'm done. I hate dragging all the workout paraphernalia to work, adding yet one MORE bag to the daily luggage. And of course there is the issue of potential sweat during work hours - so unattractive. All of this is not to mention how very seriously I take my designated food intake hours, so to give that up for the sake of burning calories does not amuse me.

However, life is sometimes about compromise and this is such a week. It is our spring break (we do it more to welcome the thought of a someday spring than to actually enjoy an existing spring) so students are gone and the buildings have the "break" hours. This means the gym closes very early and if I am unable to work out immediately following work for any reason...I either have to work out on my lunch hour or work out at home. Normally I just opt to work out at home, but the elliptical is issue-laden at the moment, so I must use the gym or else.

Today was the first day I needed to use the gym at lunch, and may I just say: comedy of errors.

I decided to change my clothes in the bathroom in my own office building before walking over so I didn’t have to traipse over in my heels. I went into the bathroom and someone was in the handicap stall, so I had to use one of the regular size ones. I crammed in there with my coat and my backpack only to discover the floors were soaking wet from being mopped. That meant no laying my clothes on the floor and I had no idea how I was going to go about changing shoes and socks without getting wet feet. And because our toilets are automatic sensor flushers....it flushed on me three times just while I was changing clothes. Thankfully no one was in there by that point - because I knew they'd be wondering what was happening down in stall one!

I finally got changed and went to the gym only to discover that with my t shirt and warm up pants, I was sporting my lovely chunky cross choker. I frisbee-tossed it onto my bag after the first lap.

Did my walking without much incident and got ready to go to the car so I could go get my food – when I realized that today is the one day of my whole life that I didn’t put my keys in my coat pocket when I got to work. They were up in the office. So as I half-ran down the sidewalk, I calling work to see if the student worker could find my keys and then throw them over the balcony to me. I caught the keys, ran back to the car, went to the gas station to get my food and realized there were ENTIRELY too many choices. I finally picked out a sammich and chips and went back to work. I got my clothes changed back and was lugging my bag of food, drink, backpack, and coat out of the bathroom when I realized my pant leg was tucked inside my sock. Oh how attractive.

I fixed that and slid into the office only 5 minutes late. Not bad!

Bits for Sunday, March 1, 2009

One of my friends has “SNS.” Sunday Night Syndrome. Hits her every Sunday about 5 p.m. and lasts until she pulls into the parking lot Monday morning. I’ve warned her that next week it will get worse. Yes, in case you are unaware, this is our last blissful weekend of time as it should be. Next week – you can kiss a whole hour of sleep BYE-BYE. I warned those in my pew this morning that ugly Bekah could emerge next week. I thought it only fair.

I have SNS combined with SNR – the Sunday Night Rush. I can have a perfectly calm and collected weekend and when Sunday night arrives…as I’m trying desperately to claim the few last precious minutes of rest…I suddenly realize I’m not at all prepared for the week.

Just now I sat with the day planner, trying to get the month in order (love doing that at the first of each month) – and more specifically my week. What chores must be done on which day? What food must be prepared on what day? Which days must I exercise and which one can be the free day? How do the must-see TV shows overlap each other and which ones will I choose to watch over the others? Which days must I pack a lunch? Pack the workout clothes? Go to work early? Stay at work late? Go to bed early only to stare at the ceiling until the normal falling-asleep-time?

Where will I sneak in the writing? The scrapping? The card making? The laundry? And of course, each day must be lovingly packed with time for emergencies. Like, for instance, cleaning up the bathroom after the cat falls into the toilet and shakes water everywhere. (Not that this happened yesterday or anything like that.)

And in the middle of all this, Lent began. I thought about giving up Daylight Savings and choosing to stay on real time, but I wasn’t sure how I’d manage to make that work among those who cave to it. In years past, I’ve given up things like pop, dessert, a meal…usually something food related. This year I decided to give up…nothing.

I’d learned that the self-sacrifice of things I loved so much served as a great diet…a great discipline…a great story for the weekly Bits…but very little spiritual growth came out of it. And that is one of the main purposes I even participated in the first place.

This year at our Ash Wednesday service at church, the pastor handed out little Lent devotion books written by Henri Nouwen. You don’t really forget a name like that, and since I semi-recognize it, I must have read his work somewhere before. But since I can’t remember where, I’m just enjoying the things he has to say. And the second day was very important to me.

I believe I mentioned last week that in our Sunday School class, we talked about the Proverbs 31 Woman. That prompted me to revisit a book I’d read on the subject. For several lunch hours this week, I perused the pages of the book I read 3 or 4 years ago. I read the things I’d underlined and the notes I’d made in the margins. I read the “on a scale from 1-10, I’m a…” measurements I’d made for myself in various topics.

And something very exciting happened.

I saw some growth.

Funny how separating yourself from something for that length of time will bring so much perspective. I saw areas where I’d really struggled – and while I may not be struggle-free now – I’ve made some pretty significant improvements.

And that was what I immediately thought of when I read day two in the devotion book. He says, “Because life is very small, you can never see it happening…Growth is too gentle, too tender…It is small and begs for constant care and protection. If you are committed to always saying ‘yes’ to life, you are going to have to become a person who chooses it when it is hidden.”

That gentle, tender, immeasurable-in-the-moment growth can be marked…after a time of waiting. The giving up of things didn’t make me grow. It was the embracing of life, the diligence to push forward when I was tired or had Sunday Night Syndrome or Sunday Night Rush. It was the willingness to find the hidden and allow it to live and thrive.

Croutons

It's probably part of the OCD - I hate serving too much store-bought stuff to my company. One evening, last summer, I promised to make dinner for my friends Tom and Olivia. They're college students, so obviously they're not too picky about non-campus food. But I wanted to make a good impression and felt guilty that I was dumping prepared salad out of a bag to serve as part of the meal. Add to that the pre-shredded cheese, the imitation bacon bits, and I started to feel like they were just getting the same thing they'd get in the dining hall!

So I set out in search of a good crouton recipe. I love croutons, but I hate the ones you buy in the store because they almost break your teeth when you bite down on them!! I knew I could find something easier on the jaw AND something that would make me feel like I'd actually spent some time on that salad!
I found this recipe on the bestsimplerecipes.com site - which is the website for the Taste of Home/Simple and Delicious etc. magazines. I made the croutons and did not bring home even one of them that evening. What we didn't use on our salads, we ate just for fun - like they were chips! Since Olivia loved them so much, I always make sure I serve salad if she's going to be a guest. She told me last time I made them that I could just make a batch of these for her birthday - and skip shopping for anything.

The Recipe:

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
5 slices of bread cubed

Combine the butter, seasoning, and garlic powder. Add bread cubes and toss to coat. Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes.


I use wheat bread for my every day bread, so that's always what I have on hand. I think the croutons taste just as good made out of wheat as they do out of white, but you can use whatever you have on hand. If the bread is not super fresh, it will cube better.

I mix up the butter, Italian seasoning, and garlic in a bowl. I just melt the butter in the microwave and then add the other two things to it.

I cut the bread a couple of slices at a time to save time.

You can make the cubes however large you like. I make mine about an inch square - because I prefer them bigger than the ones that come in the bags at the store.

I pour the butter over the spread of bread - that way I can control how much goes where and 5 cubes of bread don't end up soaking up all the good stuff.

I spend a little bit of time mixing the bread around to try to make sure every cube has SOMETHING on it. Granted, some are still going to be the "good" croutons with more butter and seasoning, but I can usually get the whole batch pretty saturated with the flavoring.

I spread out the croutons on a smaller size cookie sheet. I also shuffle them around on the sheet once or twice during the baking process to keep them from burning and to more evenly bake them.

Here's the finished product! Nicely browned croutons. I just store them in an airtight container until they're gone!

Card Night!

MAKING cards, that is. Not playing them. :)

This little group gets together every couple of months to cook together...or make jewelry...or make cards...or whatever else we decide to do, I guess!

You know that little game people play before a meal...the one where you stick your thumbs up and don't have to pray out loud? Well apparently there's a similar game for who gets to be in the back of the picture. Look who lost!!

The girls perusing all the card samples, trying to get ideas before they started creating....

Rachel made a "You Grow Girl!" card for someone who is having a baby...and then she used her own baby as the display table! :)

Amanda's super cute glam girl card.

Amber's precious card for her brand new nephew.

Me? No time to make cards - but I was writing one!! :)

Bits for Sunday, February 22, 2009

I’ve been sitting here for about 45 minutes, staring at the screen (while randomly surfing the web) trying to think of what to say today. I spent 2 ½ days in the fat chair, getting up every four hours to take the next round of cold meds…perhaps those moments would have been better spent thinking of a topic! Then again, the cold meds gave me some pretty strange dreams, so perhaps it is better I didn’t think of something to say while my brain was on sick leave.

I told you a couple of weeks ago that I’ve been reading this Women of Faith devotion book this year – and my friend Lynnette is reading it too. We email back and forth a few times a week offering our thoughts on the topics and learning more about what’s happening in each other’s worlds while also sharing what we’re learning from God.

The book covers a different topic every week, and the last topic was about friendship. Reading about the value of friendship reminded me to be very thankful for my friends. Thankful for those who have been a constant part of my life over the last many years, and thankful for those who have come back after life had a way of pulling us apart for a time.

This quote from one of the readings stuck with me: “It costs something to be a friend: It takes time, patience, affection, strength, and love. But the blessing of a lasting friendship is more than worth the effort it takes, and the friendship gives back to us far more than we can imagine.”

This morning in our Sunday School class, we talked about the Proverbs 31 woman. All the men chuckled and looked away and all the women breathed a collective exasperated sigh. The mere mention of that chapter normally brings about such a response. Women find Ms. 31 to be ridiculously exasperating with her before-sunup-to-beyond-sundown flurry of buying, selling, cooking, sewing, planting, harvesting, nurturing – all without breaking a sweat.

The conversation prompted me to come home and find one of my favorite books written on Proverbs 31 – Beautiful in God’s Eyes. Elizabeth George, who wrote the book, has a great way of taking this impossible character sketch of a woman and bringing it into a manageable idea to attempt. But she says in the first chapter that it’s daunting…that the idea of becoming a woman of this caliber is like trying to climb a mountain – you just have to do it one step at a time.

Friendship (when done right) can be kind of like that Proverbs 31 persona too. It can be a very daunting task. Very costly, as the quote said. To be there when you’re needed, to sit through the exhausting times, to be joyful for the other when you might not be feeling it yourself, to love when you’d rather chuck a book at someone’s head, to extend strength when you really have none to spare…that’s true friendship.

It’s not something I have perfected at all. Sometimes I’m an admittedly terrible friend. But I’m thankful that I have understanding friends who are willing to extend the costly kind of love right back, and they allow me to stay on the friend roster despite my shortcomings.

The couple of days I spent home in the fat chair this week did rest my body and helped me feel better (actually sounding better must be yet to come…) but it also made me miss my friends terribly. I was ready to go to church today to get a hug or two (true friends don’t care if a hug might give them germs) and I’m ready to get back in the real world tomorrow to see more of these sweet people who call me friend.

Because for all the hard work it can be…the smile and hug of a friend is beyond reward enough.

On the Mend

I've been sick. I HATE being sick. In recent years I've been pretty vocal in thanking God for keeping me on the mainly healthy list because I hear of so many people who struggle with everything from little to big, and I both hurt for them and don't know how they do it.

One of the perils of working on a college campus is being saturated by all the college germs. I have decided that campus is second only to kindergarten in the number of germs it can breed. I'm guaranteed one cold a year out of the deal. This year I got two.

I'm a TERRIBLE patient. Being single for so many years has taught me to be pretty self-sufficient. All these things I "never thought I could do" have come to be pretty easy to do, and generally I hate asking for help, so I just figure out a way to take care of stuff on my own. And as any woman will tell you (single or not), being sick doesn't give you the luxury to sit. Dishes still need to be done, laundry still needs to be gathered, washed, dried, and folded, meals still have to be cooked...and on and on it goes. I normally push through sickness with great determination because I can't afford to miss a beat.

But when I do finally give in...I give in. And at that point I become the world's biggest six month old. I sit in my chair and want to be waited on hand and foot. I want someone to sit beside me at all times, hold my hand, feel sorry for me, and bring me food - and the more sugar involved, the better. (And I'm good at returning the favor, so I don't feel bad about it.)

Unfortunately this round...there wasn't anybody here to do that. So I sat, randomly getting up for more to drink....more medicine...and last night even a trip to the Sonic because leftovers sounded horrible and a burger sounded incredible.

In all of this I missed two days of work, which literally NEVER happens. I don't know that I've missed two days in a row ever in my entire working career. Maybe early on. I just sacked out in the fat chair listening to the TV because to watch it was too painful.

Today, at last, I began to feel better. I dusted most of the house and dragged out the stepstool to hang up some new pictures I bought over Christmas break. Yes....I must be on the mend.