"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth"
Churches should not be so big that you have to number the stairways so people know where they are going. Isn't the idea to worship together? I seriously doubt one can do that when the church is bigger than my high school.
I had the kids last night and ended up having to take them to church and register them for Wednesday night Sunday school. Neither kid was particularly excited about going. K was scared to death (he knew no one there) and L argued with me in the car about whether they would ask her what was written in Isaiah. I told her they may discuss something Advent related. She asked me, "What's Advent?" Then said, "See, I shouldn't be going. I don't know what Advent is." The argument continued for the entire trip to the church. After a lot of chaos, I dumped the kids and went to the library for an hour.
L came out of her class and told me about how they learned that God doesn't judge you by what you wear, but rather what's in your heart. K talked for a bit, then L started talking about the two girls who thought they were so cool and totally the queens of the class. L told me she knew that these girls thought they were so great because they were wearing X kind of clothes. I guess that whole not judging people thing went right past her.
While we were gone, the rat got sick. She threw up on the carpet several times and once on the couch. I'm not paid to deal with sick dogs. Apparently, she ate some Christmas candy.
I got home after midnight and finally decided to turn the heat on. The thermostat read 47 degrees. It now reads 51 degrees. That ought to keep my house and pipes from being too unhappy.
I suggest a new strategy R2; let the wookie win.
I often think of things while driving, trying to sleep, etc. and try to remember to blog about them. Somehow, I can never remember them the next time I'm writing an entry. Such is the case today.
Tonight I am excited because SciFi is running a Heroes marathon so I can finally see the pilot episode. Even better, this fits into the timing of my evening because I also have to go kick some ass at my association meeting. Once again I'm going to have to explain what loans, interest and amortization schedules are and that when I say I want a quarterly balance statement, I mean it. If they haven't yet figured out what a balance sheet is, this time I'm prepared with a sample. I'm also setting up an amortization schedule for the various loan options they took out for the new siding. I'm hoping that visuals will help.
Do I sound bitter to you? It's only because I've given thousands of dollars to these people and I've yet to see what exactly they've done with it. I can hardly imagine that it costs over a thousand dollars a year to plow my driveway (which I share with 3 others, so make that $4000) and mow my lawn.
ETA: Change in plans. Much as I would like to kick some ass tonight, I'd rather make money. Also, I get free food which gets me one step closer to not having to visit the grocery store before I leave. J and B are going to see Bodyworlds tonight. I was thinking of going at 2AM on Sunday. But that's 80 miles to see dead bodies dipped in plastic and I'm not sure how badly I need to see them.
And who by fire, who by water, who in the sunshine, who in the night time...Shall I say is calling?
This nifty escape plan was on the door to my hotel room a while back. Please note where I am according to the map.
I always thought the idea was to tell you where you are located so that you can find the best way out. Apparently, we've gone to the theory that we should tell people where they should end up. Either that, or my hotel room was located in the river.
Colour me your colour, darling, I know who you are
So last night was my first night alone in bed in four days. It was quite nice to be away from the sprawling George, who is also a stealer of covers. He's nice and warm, but sleeping with him in a twin bed is a little tight.
Who knew that Thanksgiving weather could be so nice? I'd like to give thanks to the deer hunters who cleared all of the back roads and trails of fallen trees and branches to make riding the 4-wheeler a fantastic proposition.
The things I learned this weekend:
I am not very good at splitting wood. I'm pretty good at watching though.
Fire still has the ability to mesmerize the world.
Turkey dinners are excellent.
Eat us, hey! It’s Thanksgiving Day! Eat us! We make a nice buffet! We lost the race with Farmer Ed, so eat us, because we’re good and dead!
I went to happy hour yesterday. It was fantastic. I haven't been to a happy hour since Vasu left in August. I used to go out more regularly, but especially since the set location for Batling celebrations is now forty miles from my house, I just can't go. Anyway, yesterday's happy hour was everything it should be:
It was located less than 1 mile from my office and all the food and liquor was paid for by someone else. Who could ask for anything more?
Tomorrow I get to eat turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes. Lovely. So excited.
Happy Thanksgiving!
And in case you should ever wonder, the entire script from Addams Family Values is on the web. The first Thanksgiving as divined by Pocahontas played by Wednesday Addams.
"You have taken the land which is rightfully ours. Years from now, my people will be forced to live in mobile homes on reservations. Your people will wear cardigans and drink highballs. We will sell our bracelets by the roadsides. You will play golf, and enjoy hot hors d’oeurves. My people will have pain and degradation. Your people will have stick shifts. The gods of my tribe have spoken. They have said, “Do not trust the Pilgrims – especially Sarah Miller.
And for all these reasons, I have decided to scalp you, and burn your village to the ground"
Save the Cheerleader, Save the World
Whatever NBC marketing department. They claimed I'd find out what that meant. They lied. And the episode was kind of a letdown. Also, a cheerleader died, so the world is totally going boom. I even stayed up to watch this and I'm usually in bed by 8 on Mondays. I watch it on Fridays on SciFi (not that you care). Anyway, boo to this episode!
I read a book last night where the main character sold everything she owned, cashed in her retirement, quit her job and travelled first class around the world. She met a multimillionaire in Greece and lived well forever and ever. I like this plan. I'm selling everything tomorrow. When I marry my multimillionaire I'll be sure to invite you all to Greece for the party.
I'm just sitting doing nothing, Wondering where I should go, People say I'm lazy, Whether or not it's true I don't know
I did nothing this weekend. Today was the first time I even opened my car door since Friday. Lest you think I sat around all weekend, I will mention that I took advantage of the nice weather and took a couple walks. It wasn't so cold yesterday so I walked the full four miles.
Friday I did go see Casino Royale. First impression? Daniel Craig has Brewer ears, but holy hell is he ripped. And not in the Arnold Schwarzenegger gross way. Also, he has very cool eyes and has moments of great hotness. The movie was entertaining.
I'd like to mention that the line for the 9:30 showing of Happy Feet had multiple children under the age of 5. Not okay. Also, it is not necessary to dress up like a penguin when seeing a movie about penguins. Especially not when you're 13. Sadly, my camera was in the theater so I could not photograph this penguin nightmare.
Santa made his first appearance at the mall on Friday night. I'm sure he and his helpers greatly appreciated the woman who was handing out free jingle bells to all of the kids waiting in line to see him. I once worked in a place where the Salvation Army Bellringer was positioned right outside the door. My ears rang for days afterwards.
The Ultimate Irony
Yesterday was go day for my furnace. I had set a goal for myself so that I would not turn on the heat until after the 15th. I wasn't really planning on turning it on last night simply because the temperatures were the same as they've been for the last little while and I've found that my neighbors are heating my house.
So anyway, I got home last night and noticed that a large chunk of concrete had been removed from my driveway and something was different about the meter. I thought nothing of it and went in to take a shower. My water was not very warm and got steadily colder. After I got out I remembered the yellow door hanger that I hadn't picked up on my front door. Do you know that those bastards shut off my gas?! I had to wait three hours before someone showed up to turn it back on and relight the furnace (which had I looked I could have done 'cause all it involved was flipping a switch) and the water heater. Word has it that the dryer will do its own thing when it needs to come on.
Once everything had been lit, I decided I ought to keep the furnace going for a bit just to make sure everything was good - I'd make CenterPoint come out and fix the thing for free if anything was wrong.
Two things I now know:
-Apparently the gas company can come and tear up your driveway without informing you first.
-This is all a scam to make customers turn on their heat so that they use as much natural gas as possible.
If I Could Turn Back Time...
So rather than fill out a silly questionnaire about myself, I decided I would take topic and write about it. That subject is the last ten years.
Where was I ten years ago? At that time, I was living in the ugliest district of Warsaw - Bemowo. I lived with an insane woman and her very odd husband. I was terrified of the drunks who seemed to camp out near the door of the flat and horrified every time I couldn't get the key to work and was locked out of the building. I rarely attended high school although I was at the University for a couple hours twice a week. Largely, I tried to avoid going home and spent most of my time wandering the city or sitting in a movie theater watching whatever stupid movie was playing - I saw Glimmer Man starring Steven Segal twice that year. If a movie came out in 1996-1997, I can almost guarantee I saw it in the theater. The central post office was always a stop in my daily activities. I rode the 507, 523 or E-2 bus everyday and I lived for 3 zl pizza (Mmm Hawajska) and Hit cookies. I was also an extremely depressed and scared teenager.
I learned to be more independent and very self-reliant. I learned that people will blame you and not help you. I learned that others have very little understanding of your feelings and desires even if you express them. I learned that in other countries there is no such thing as personal space. I learned to let people play with my hair without it bothering me. I also learned to just let things happen - this is where my need to never have firm plans came from. I learned that when you plan something, it won't happen so just go with the flow and everything will be much less frustrating.
Five years later I went back to Poland. How much better was my time spent there? 100 times better. I had learned and matured a lot in those five years. I worked extremely hard in my classes. Six hours a day of highly intensive language classes and a couple hours of homework each night is pretty stressful, but I always made time to spend with friends. The thing I learned? People still wanted to play with my hair.
After a couple months in Poland, I went to Hungary. It was an interesting social experiment for me. I was in a program with other Americans. All college students who were in their third year. These were people who'd been away from home and on their own for a while. Do you know I watched them go through the same learning curve I had gone through five years earlier? They were immature and incapable of dealing with anything on their own or handling the cultural differences between the US ans Hungary. I was in a program where that was very much appreciated. Hand-holding was important, independence was crushed. This was best exemplified by Josh's roommate Chip, the biggest tattler in the country. Someday, I'll regale you with tales of Chip and the things I did to drive him insane.
Josh and I hooked up largely because we rejected this dependent culture. Alas, the program director told others that I had led her best student astray. Ha! Better to have made your own way than to follow the herd like sheep. What would they do if they were separated?
So this was a long rambling entry with no real redeeming value except to offer more proof that people like to play with my hair. Next time I'll offer up some scintillating tale involving Dawn, LNP and some home movies.
Charlotta making lasagna, With Mia above the clouds, But you could have waited
Friday night, I had a craving. I desperately wanted some lasagna. Now most people would either go to a restaurant or buy a frozen dinner. I did neither. No, instead I went to the grocery store and bought the ingredients for lasagna to make it myself. (As an aside, I once had a craving for carrot cake. I didn't go out and buy one or even a box of mix, I bought carrots and cream cheese to make it on my own.) My recipe even called for me to make the sauce from scratch. I've never made lasagna before but it was quite good. Sadly, I live alone and don't really want to invite someone over for leftovers, so I will be eating lasagna for the rest of the month.
In my quest to get the materials for lasagna, I violated the cardinal rule of grocery shopping - Never, ever shop when you're hungry. I also violated the rule about never exploring places that are close to you that you know nothing about. Who knew Shakopee had that many stores?
Christmas gifts seem to be on everyone's mind these days. I noted that Dawn apparently needs to shop for her gifts in my kitchen as I have multiples of half the things on her list.
You're Playin' With Your Life, This Ain't No Truth Or Dare
Did I move to North Dakota and not realize it? What the hell is up with the weather. Wednesday it was 70 degrees; this morning, there was a quarter inch of snow on my roof.
Yesterday, I had my eyes dilated. My eyes are really quite dark. With my pupils as big as they were, my eyes were almost completely black. It was really quite evil looking. I liked it.
Also, I decided I quite like working from home. I'm going to do it more often. Natural light is very important to me. My house has quite a bit of it, my office not so much. Also, I can cook at home and vacuum and play my music through my speakers or my TV and I don't have to wear ear phones. Once a week might work out.
I was booking a hotel room for next week. I laughed when the Ramada Inn came up. My company is going to pay for a hotel that has pillow cases.
Your Life Is Trite And Jaded, Boring and Confiscated
We're having a cookie exchange at work. This is good for me because I love making Christmas cookies but can never really eat them all. Mostly I just put them out and my dad makes short work of them. However, with a cookie exchange, I have the potential to come home with 9 dozen cookies. That's a lot. Really, really a lot. I don't have a big family and my aunt makes her own cookies for Christmas (they're disgusting and my family hates them) so I can't bring mine to her place. I could freeze them, but then I'll just have cookies in my freezer for months and months taking up space. What to do?
In other domestic news, I started repairing a quilt from my grandmother's house this week. Initially, I had planned to rip the seams but decided that would cause too much wear and tear on the fabric. I left the seams and cut two inches into the backing (which I'm replacing along with the batting). For some reason the batting was not sewn into the edges, so the repair job is going to be much easier than I thought. Thank God. Quilt repair and I do not go hand in hand. It's an ugly quilt so I can't make it much worse.
With the lights out its less dangerous, here we are now, entertain us
Yesterday, I went deer hunting. I almost brought home a prize buck but I decided it was better to keep my truck in the condition it's currently in rather than taking out Senor Big Rack. I'm feeling a little bit psychic too because not thirty seconds before he made his appearance I was thinking I'm about due for an accident. Stupid deer.
In polling news, I am feeling disenfranchised. My polling place did not have enough parking and no street parking so I had to wait ten minutes just to park. Then I stood in line outside in a strong wind that hurt my ears for another 15 minutes. What really pissed me off though, was that the unregistered voters got to cut the line. The directions read (and I was standing there a long time so I read everything) that you go in and register, then go to the back of the line of the registered voters. This did not happen. As I was waiting to be allowed to get my ballot, I noted that four newly registered voters got to vote for every one previously registered voter. Not okay.
I was voter 999. Turn that upside down and there is evil. I felt the portent of that evil and this morning it was confirmed when I saw the Raise E's Taxes 25-30% initiative had passed by a miniscule 200 vote margin. Boo!
I married a country singer; now I'm knocked up and blind.
I have nothing useful to say. Not that I ever really do.
I will trek to the voting booth tonight and do my best to decimate my local government's attempt to substantially increase my property taxes. Boo to taxes for things we don't need.
My dad said yesterday that he didn't put George's blaze orange sweater on because it was too hot. He also took off his own blaze orange. He just hopes they don't get shot.
And so it goes...
Saturday I stepped outside to retrieve my tax receipt from the Lupus Foundation and discovered that yes, it was warmer outside than inside my house. This weekend's heat wave, however, meant that it was a balmy 62 degrees inside yesterday. That's a 17 degree jump since last Thursday. Based on the weather forecast, I will easily make the 10th and will most likely be able to hold off to the 15th before turning the heat on.
In a cold weather note, I learned yesterday that Daunte Culpepper is either so cheap or so stupid (or both) that he turned his heat off in his home here last year when he moved down to Florida for the winter. Do you know what happens when you have no heat in your house and you haven't drained the pipes and turned off the water? Yes, Daunte completely flooded his house.
Yesterday, I had some grand plans. I was going to make my second four mile walk of the weekend, wash the hood of my truck, do all my laundry, put the screen back on my door, do another round of cleaning my garage and generally get everything completely winterized. A good plan until I got called to work and didn't get home until after 4. I might have to work from home some time this week so I can get a few of these things done during daylight hours.
Also, my tickets came this weekend. I love tickets!
Caught Up in Circles, Confusion is Nothing New
According to VH1 the greatest song of the 80s is Living on a Prayer. Now I like Bon Jovi and would place Slippery When Wet very high on the list of greatest 80s albums (in case you're wondering Thriller would be my top album of the 80s), but I don't know that Living on a Prayer is the greatest song of the decade. In fact, with the possible exception of Billie Jean, I don't think any of the songs in the top five belong there. Whatever, given the list of 100, I'll reorganize and make my own list.
Here's the
top 20 list from VH1.
It's supposed to warm up this weekend. This is good because I looked at the thermostat this morning and it was hovering near 45. I refuse to turn the heat on until the 10th, but I'm hoping to make it to the 15th. If this expected warm up comes, I think I'll make it.
ETA - Holy hell, there's a
Legovision version of Thriller.
Who's ready for it to be Friday?
Did you know that Chili's has a myspace account? They do. It's displayed on their commercials.
Today is garbage day. My garbage was overflowing. Then my mother brought all of her garbage. I question all garbage statistics now that I know all of the rural people send their garbage home with their children to be placed in the city dump.
The Lupus people are coming to remove a giant bag of donations tomorrow. More space and a tax deduction all in one.
There's an ad in the Star Tribune with the following headline:
ATTORNEY - Come Back to North Dakota
