Is Christmas Over?

It must not be.

Tonight I did laundry and I didn't lose a SINGLE sock! THAT, my friends, is a Christmas Miracle!

In all seriousness, Christmas is over, unfortunately. I spent time with my family up north and it was great. It was filled with all the essentials: people, food, and gifts. Let me tell you more about all of these things.

People: Great. Lots of them.

Food: Great. Lots of it.

Gifts: Great. Lots of them.

That about covers it.

So, it was great.

I hope I never forget how fortunate I am. I love that people, food, and gifts are part of my Christmas, but the real reason we celebrate is Jesus. And if there ever comes a day that I don't have copious amounts of great people, great food, and great gifts in my life, I want to be just as joyful and content solely in the fact that Jesus came to save me from my sins.

That's right. God sent his Son to save me from my sins.

Now that's a Christmas Miracle.

Can't Decide What's More Annoying

How I totally procrastinated EVERYTHING and I have a TON to do in the next two days before I get out of town.....

OR

How I have to cheer for the Packers tonight because the Vikings absolutely REFUSE to win the division when it is totally in their control.....

On the "Must Do" List

Well, I missed a really awesome date night. With the boy (you know by now that "the boy" means "the dog").

The Riverview Theater hosted a "take your dog to the movies" night on Tuesday. I heard about it after the fact, otherwise I totally would have been there! The movie was Marley and Me - a movie that I would like to see. I've heard it's a tear-jerker, especially for dog lovers.

The thing is, I've lived in this neighborhood for two years and I have yet to do some very "neighborhood-y" things. The Riverview Theater is less than ten blocks from me, but I've never gone. I've heard such good things about it - popcorn with REAL butter, cheap tickets (HELLO, THREE DOLLARS), and so on. But I just haven't made the effort to head over there.

Well, now I know that they do all kinds of cool things at the theater (in addition to using real butter). I was wishing I would have known about the dog/movie night, so I went to the website to sign up for the email alerts. If I wasn't already busy this coming Sunday I would ABSOLUTELY be going to the day-long Lord of the Rings Trilogy Screening - with two of the three extended editions. Oh man, I can't think of a much more fun day of being at the movies!

Anyway, if you live in the area, you'll probably want to check out the theater as well.

Whiny Blog

I was about to write a post about how much it stinks to have my job at this time of year. You know - the time of year when it feels like THIRTY BELOW OUTSIDE. It's also not the best job to have at the height of summer heat, but at least the heat doesn't cause the MOST OBNOXIOUS TRAFFIC ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET like the cold and snow do.

But, I'm reconsidering a post like that. I get the feeling that my last few posts could come off as whiny (oh, the deficiencies of non-verbal communication), and I don't want this to be known as the Whiny Blog. So instead of detailing how I got up early yesterday and went out in the freezing cold for a tennis match that ended up being cancelled, and worked in terribly cold weather for two days, and topped it off with a terrible commute this evening, I decided to make a list of the great things about the last few days.

Here goes:

• Last night I made Chicken Tortilla Soup. So cozy. It didn't turn out super tasty (even after I doubled the garlic and quadrupled the chili powder), so I am still in search of a great, creamy, easy, tasty tortilla soup recipe, but it was still very fun to hang out in the kitchen for awhile and make some food for the week.


• I finally got a bonus at work. It is nothing near what I've made in the past, but at least I will be able to tell when it hits my bank account.


• My roommate is gone this week, so that means the boy is sleeping (and cuddling) with me! Please, let me remind you how adorable the boy is:

mmmmmmmmm.........love him

• My GPS probably saved me an hour on my commute. I had only moved one block in twenty minutes, with over 30 blocks to go. I hit "detour" to take me onto the side roads - and I was home in 15 minutes. YES!


• The house is CHRISTMAS-Y! I decorated tonight in anticipation of hosting a party this weekend. I really love Christmas lights and nativity scenes. Now the house has them both.


• Speaking of that party - I CAN'T WAIT! I'm excited to clean (finally. I've been putting it off until right before the party), bake, and see people (and BABIES!) that I haven't seen in awhile.


• Heated seats in my car. Never been so happy about that.


• The Vikings are genuinely playing well and the last two games of the season are very important for our chances to make the playoffs. It's fun to hope for the best in the next few weeks (while maintaining my status as a true Vikings fan by expecting the worst).

So it's been an okay couple of days after all.

Alone, But Not Lonely

The following quote got me thinking:

"I am no more lonely than a single mullein or dandelion in a pasture, or a bean leaf, or sorrel, or a horse-fly, or a bumblebee. I am no more lonely than the Mill Brook, or a weathercock, or the north star, or the south wind, or an April shower, or a January thaw, or the first spider in a new house." -Henry David Thoreau

Fact: I am alone. This weekend I went to three Christmas parties...alone. I went to church...alone. I went to small group...alone. I watched the end of the Vikings game...alone.

Fact: I am not lonely. This weekend I went to three Christmas parties! On Sunday I had Welcome Team at church, small group, and I watched the Vikings! It was a full weekend.

The problem is that sometimes I feel lonely. I know, it doesn't make sense. Objectively I am not lonely - I have a lot to do, and I have a lot of people in my life. But feelings are weird like that. I know very beautiful women who feel ugly; thin women who feel fat; smart women who feel stupid. If you let them, feelings will take over. And feelings are not always right.

When these feelings start to creep in, it is important to think about the (capital T) Truth. Feelings are fickle (the Truth isn't). Feelings are deceptive (the Truth isn't).

Most importantly, feelings change (the Truth doesn't). So when I feel lonely, I remind myself that my feeling is subjective and is not really true.

I've never really had a problem doing things on my own - I'm pretty independent in that way. In fact, I usually prefer to do things on my own (it's much more efficient). But the older I get and the more I desire to be in a relationship, the more I notice that I come and go alone.

Alone, but not lonely.

Only recently has my loneliness started to matter more to me. And that's because I start to dwell on it more than on the Truth. So if I can capture those thoughts (feelings) more effectively, it will do a world of good.

Ingredients

I am dog-sitting for a few days again.

When I gave the dogs their treats today I realized that the treats smell suspiciously like Ramen.

No, seriously.

I wonder how many of the ingredients are the same.....

Waiting For A Man

If you see me driving my new car, you’ll notice that I have yet to put the license plates on it.

Because the last thing I want to do is be outside in this weather, close to the ground, using a screwdriver (a size I’m not sure I own anyway), putting the license plates on.

It’s not that I can’t do it; it’s that I don’t want to do it. In my mind, it’s a man’s job.

If I had a man in my life I would smile sweetly at him and ask him if he could please do me a favor and put my license plates on. It would only take five minutes.

It would also only take me five minutes, but again, I don’t want to.

On the other hand, I also didn’t want to fix the leaky faucet last week, shovel the sidewalks yesterday, scrape off my car every morning, and take the trash out. Because those are man’s jobs. I’m realizing now how spoiled I was in high school when Dad scraped my windshield everyday (and even started up my car most days). And not that every man does these chores for their women (I could hardly believe it when a married friend of mine said that she shovels the sidewalks! The look I gave her must have screamed “get your MAN to do that!”), but these are the chores that totally annoy me and I would love for a man to take care of.

So, in protest of being single, I refuse to put my license plates on. Wait – can I get a ticket for that?

*SIGH*

Well, I’m going to hold out at least one more week for a man….

Hallelujah!!

My favorite chore around the home is laundry (by the by, my least favorite chore is doing dishes...) BUT I HATE FOLDING FITTED SHEETS! What a mess they become. In fact, I don't even fold them, I just ball them up.

I saw this tutorial on a blog today and it MADE MY WEEK!! Check it out. Maybe you all are geniuses who have already figured this out, but I am not, so this will seriously help so much!

Don't Judge

Confession: The truth is that I don’t eat Ramen because I have to, I eat Ramen because I want to.

There is absolutely no part of me that wants to eat healthy. I am no parts granola, all parts Ho-Ho. My favorite ingredients are refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup. My favorite food groups are grilled cheese, mac and cheese, hot dogs, pizza, shakes, candy bars, malts, French fries, chips and salsa, ice cream in general, meat, and cookies. Did I mention cheese, chocolate, and ice cream?! I’m not five anymore, but I’m pretty sure I eat like I am.

You’ve heard before about how much I like McDonald's. This weekend I had pizza for four meals – and I don’t feel guilty about it. I liked - nay - LOVED it.

But the truth is that I’m not getting any younger. I’m gaining weight and something’s gotta give. I’m afraid it’s my diet.

GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

Good thing I have lots of friends at church who seem to like eating healthy (although I’ve always thought they are big liars….or that they’ve been brainwashed into THINKING they like eating healthy but deep in their soul they know they hate it….).

We’ll see. I’m starting by mixing in a yogurt here and there, along with drinking more water.

But don't think I'm not going to splurge at Christmas parties, per usual. That's how I roll.

Two Years

I moved to Minneapolis two years ago this weekend.

I'm sure there is something profound to say in reflection on the last two years.

Maybe not.

[Insert something here about how so much has happened in the last two years.]

[Insert something here about how you wished so much more would have happened in the last two years.]

[Decide that you don't have much to say at all and that you'll post something reflective at year's end instead. Maybe.]

Winter Cure

"he looks fierce mainly because he hates the beginning of winter & the only thing that seems to help is gritting your teeth" - StoryPeople

I get the email of the day from StoryPeople. This was today's, and it is a very appropriate way to describe me this week.

Open This Box

If you love music, and love discovering new (to you) artists, you MUST STOP READING THIS BLOG RIGHT NOW and get an account at Pandora.

Pandora is internet radio. When you make an account, you can create your own "radio stations" by entering an artist's name or a specific song title. I currently have about twenty artists as radio stations. When you select a certain station to play, it will play songs by that artist as well as similar artists (hence the ability to discover new music).

For instance, one of my stations is "Ingrid Michaelson". When I played that station the other day, songs were also played from Sara Bareilles, Colby Caillat, Feist, The Weepies, Yael Naim, and Missy Higgins. Some of these artists I am familiar with, and some I am not. As songs play, you can give them a thumbs up or thumbs down, and then that song will play less or play more.

I'm probably late to the game on this, because I usually am on things like this. My sister brought this up to me at least a month ago and I delayed making an account because I thought it would be time consuming. It only took five minutes, and I wish I had done it months ago! It is so great!

Especially if you are a big fan of music - you MUST get an account at Pandora!