Happy Birthday, Chelleybutton!

May the odds be ever in your favor.

the nerve

my brother took off yesterday for work in pittsburgh. pittsburgh. seriously. pittsburgh.

and he did not take me with him. i am going to be single forever and it's all his fault.
you can see how devastated kevin is that i'm not out there with him right now.

who needs brothers?

true story

i'm in love with not our waiter

sometimes GOD answers prayers quickly

i don't know why we're surprised when HE does.
nov. 9th i have an interview for office assistant at a school. :) here's hoping.

Happy World Series!

mlb postseason update

my, the world series will be orange

prayer request

i've noticed in the last week (since i found out i can't go to school) that i've been crabby and down at work again. thankfully it hasn't carried over to home (yet), but i need prayer if i'm going to not spiral down again. so please pray for my attitude, as well as a new job. i don't like things being like this.

hmm...

so i found the guy from college on fb. the question is, do i message him out of the blue and tell him where i saw him? or do i just ignore the whole thing?

oh brother

for years i've whined because ryan vogelsong of the giants has an annoying last name. assuming that 'vogel' is german for 'bird' (like /fogel/ is in swedish) and 'song' is german for 'song'  (like /soeng/ is in swedish), the dude's last name is birdsong. how dorky is that? and then there's the fact that he's a giant, and the giants annoy me, so there's that. and then tonight i was annoyed at him because he beat the cardinals. so then they went to interview him and i was all annoyed because i didn't want to have to listen to him cuz his name is vogelsong, and then what did he do?
he started praising GOD and talking about the road GOD took him through with injuries and playing in japan and all that, and how he knows GOD's been with him through everything.
so i can now no longer be annoyed by ryan vogelsong. he's my brother.
although, having a brother, i do know that they can be annoying, too.

"When I laugh at jokes on the internet I don't even laugh. I just blow more air out of my nose than usual." - fake will ferrell

so i'm poking around christianmingle.com

(didn't know it was free, so that was exciting.)
and on the second page of my search, there was a guy i went to college with. he's such a nice guy, and he's deep, and how the heck is he on there? how has he not been snatched up? it takes 48 hours for them to approve your picture, and i don't know that he'd know who i am without one, but then i'm totally contacting him.

super dooper exciting news (no, for real)!

For about 15 years now, my mother has made and sold Swedish costume pockets, waistbags worn with Swedish folk dresses, similar to this. (Back in the day, people only had enough silverware for their own families, so if you went to someone's house for dinner, you had to bring your own - thus, pockets for carrying it.) They really are beautiful and artistic, and she does exquisite work. She would tell you that she doesn't know how to do it, and they aren't nearly as authentic as they should be, and blah blah blah. BUT! Now she can't say that anymore.

My mother has been asked to make a pocket for Little Miss Princess Estelle! :D Yes, this Little Miss Princess Estelle.

Okay, technically for Her Royal Highness' doll, but still.

(Can I just say I love how bald this baby is? :) )

What happened was, when Morfar His Majesty the King and Mormor Her Majesty the Queen were in Minneapolis a few weeks ago, they were given an American Girl Kirsten doll (the Swedish immigrant girl) for Her Royal Highness Princess Estelle. Now, while Kirsten is Swedish, her clothes are primarily knock-offs of Swedish costumes or American frontier clothing. Seeing as this doll is for the future queen of Sweden, however, it was decided that she needed a real Swedish costume, which, naturally, includes a pocket. And so, seeing as my mother is known in the Swedish community for her pockets, she was asked to make one for the royal doll of the Royal Doll.

I've been bragging about her all day. :)

i'm lost

on my prayer retreat, i felt like GOD was confirming that i should go to school to be a health unit coordinator, reassuring me that i had nothing to lose, so i should go for it.
i finally got around to looking for programs. there are two around here. neither one has evening classes, and while one has classes on saturdays, that program is for both fridays and saturdays. i cannot attend either of these schools with my current job. and yet i'm no closer to finding a different job. so there is something to lose. and i don't care enough about the field to feel led to give up an income and go to school. if it was something i cared about or something that would definitely lead to a job at the end, sure. but as it is, no.
and now i feel more like a lost puppy than i did before. i don't get it, GOD.

i don't get it

why are there commercials that say 'go to ourwebsite.com to hear more stories like nelda's'? really? why would i go sit through more commercials? am i really supposed to find nelda that inspiring? because i don't. all i feel is that nelda is annoying me by trying to be touching and by talking to me when i don't care and by interrupting my show.

why does blogger now open a new window when i click 'view blog' after i publish something?

it annoys me

mlb postseason coverage

yay detroit sweeping the yankees! (yay anyone sweeping the yankees.) plus also that means i get to watch the handsome justin verlander in the world series. :)

and i'm cheering for the cardinals to make it to the world series because they don't have tim lincecum and because in general i prefer the cardinals to the giants. (remember david freese, anyone?)but i'd also like to add that their manager is not bad looking. how often does one get to say that?

me not being me

it's a well-known fact that i'm probably a feminist's worst nightmare. when i was little i wanted to be a suffragette, but once i found out women could vote, that was it. i didn't care about anything else. as long as people acknowledged that girls are as smart as boys, i was good to go.
some might say i'm a traditionalist. women make supper, women vacuum, women change the sheets; men mow the lawn, men fix cabinets, men check the oil. men hold the door open for women, men protect women, men scrape car windows for women; women serve men first at the table, women give men the best pieces of meat, women let men be their heroes. (the first list, fine, i'll compromise on, the second list, no way.)
i also believe i have Biblical basis for saying that men are to be the head of the household. yes, the Bible says that there is no longer "slave nor free, male nor female...", but it also says that a woman should submit to her husband and that a husband should love his wife as CHRIST loves the church. this involves love and respect on behalf of both parties. it in no way says one gender is better than the other ("GOD created man in HIS own image, male and female, HE created them"), but it does show we have different roles, and it shows that the man is the head.
tonight, however, i got a phone call from some polling place (i don't listen to these people - i just wait for an opportune time to tell them 'no thanks'), and the woman says, "may i please speak to the male head of house?" i said, "excuse me?" she said, "may i speak to the male head of house?" "the male head of house?" "yes, or if he's not available may i speak to the female head of house?" "i'm sorry, but that just sounded extremely sexist so i don't think we'll be doing this." and i hung up.

interesting

how i felt led to pray for matthew lewis last night, then today get on twitter and see that last night he posted something about being an atheist

i hate it when i come here looking for something new and there's nothing new

:)

i like how the fact that the guy who likes sitting and watching football is in another commercial now makes me happy. he's so cute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDXuv-7bZEM

just started reading "radical," by david platt

good, meaty stuff. i got it from the library, though, so i can't underline, which is bothering me.
he talks about how america has changed the Gospel from what the Bible says to a happy, feel-good, GOD loves you, self-improvement tract. he talks about how much we ignore the fact that GOD is a righteous judge, and we are horrible sinners. we make the cross a symbol of how much GOD loves us instead of looking at it as the moment when [read slowly here], "All God's holy wrath and hatred toward sin and sinners, stored up since the beginning of the world...poured out on [Jesus]...In that holy moment, all the righteous wrath and justice of God due us came rushing down like a torrent on Christ himself."
a couple paragraphs later he basically paraphrases John 3:16: "This is the gospel. The just and loving Creator of the universe has looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent his Son, God in the flesh, to bear his wrath against sin on the cross and to show his power over sin in the Resurrection so that all who trust in him will be reconciled to God forever."
good stuff.

why i'm a little leery of the new 'les miserables' movie

i said from the get-go that hugh jackman wasn't right for the role of jean valjean. he's too handsome and not big enough. but i've been trying to forgive him for not being liam neeson, as i'll probably go see the movie on a mere count of because it's 'les mis.' but then i saw this picture and all i could think was
1) jean valjean's eyes would not look like that after he had met the bishop, which, if he's all clean-cut, he clearly has. those eyes look defiant, not forgiven.
and 2), most horribly, is the tagline. the point of 'les mis' is not a man trying to be free after 19 years in prison, with a dog on his tail after that. the point is redemption. perhaps they mean freedom from the darkness of his past, like spiritual freedom, and it's meant to sound like a promise; but it doesn't sound that way, especially when paired with that picture.
hopefully this is all just my prejudiced (since i love the liam neeson version) preconceptions and i'll be pleasantly surprised. because i know there are people out there who will like it better, and hopefully they'll still be able to see that the point is GOD working in a man's life.

Book Review: "Adverbs," by Daniel Handler

Hm...how to describe this...um...well...

It's about love and lots of people who may or may not be the people you think they are because it's a series of love stories with people who often have the same name as people in other stories, but they may not be the same people, as some of them have common names, and everyone has similar stories in their lives, what with love and non-love and catastrophes and all. And some of the stories may or may not be dreams, and some of the people may or may not be ghosts (they may just be ghosts from people's pasts), and some of these things may or may not take place at different times. It's called "Adverbs" because the story isn't really about the nouns. They're all the same. "The miracle is the adverbs, the way things are done." That's what makes these stories different.

I enjoyed it. It's a very quick read, and mostly fluffy. My favorite adverbs were "obviously," about a high schooler and the girl he's madly in love with (who obviously is dating some other guy) and "soundly," about a couple girl friends who love each other soundly through all the ups and downs each one has gone through. I recommend the book, but I also recommend skipping "briefly" and "symbolically" (the gay chapters), and the first two pages of "clearly." (There are a few other little not great things here and there, too, just to give you a fair warning.) If you're looking for something light and different and don't care if things are confusing (because after all, love is confusing), I'd say go for it.

so you know all that money i saved at target?

they're getting it all back.
how dumb am i? my credit card payment is due tomorrow, and i didn't think of it til about an hour ago. that's after 5. and tomorrow's saturday. i've never in my life missed a payment on anything. but even with paying online, i don't think it will count as on time what with it not being a business day and all. grr!!! how stupid can i be?

things i love about my diana

i was shopping a couple weeks ago, looking for something for her birthday. an employee asked me if i was finding what i was looking for, and i said, 'well, i don't really know what i'm looking for. it's my best friend's birthday and she and i are so different.' he walked away and i started smiling to myself as i thought of what we're each like.

she likes to spend time gardening and eating organic foods.
i like to spend time at the ballpark eating a hot dog.
she buys practical sandals and goes to nowhere, africa.
i buy gold high heels and go to the john hancock signature lounge in chicago.
she goes cross-country skiing.
i bundle up under blankets and refuse to leave house.
she cooks over a campfire.
i roast a marshmallow, then run away so the smoke smell doesn't get into my hair.
she sews.
i blog.
she drinks beer.
i drink martinis.

and the list could go on. thankfully, we have some very key things in common. we both love GOD, we both like to think, we both like to read, we both like to travel, and we both have no idea what we want to be when we grow up. we've known each other forever, and i think we're learning to be more open with each other. a couple years ago, i wrote in her birthday card that she might not be the friend i have the most in common with, she might not be the friend i see the most often, but she's my best friend and i love her dearly. she said she felt the same way, and for that i am so thankful. i love that girl.

i'm not one for statement art

but (after reading the article, which a bunch of these commenters aren't doing) i actually found the clip impactful (is that a word? it is now).
http://shine.yahoo.com/the-thread-how-to/scariest-shoes-time-173900092.html

humbleness lesson of the day

i was driving behind a car with a JESUS fish on it. he was going slower than i would like, so i moved into the right lane (knowing the left lane would be ending anyway) and passed him. we got to the point where the left lane ended and he had to merge behind me, at which point, he flipped me off. i was all prepared to come home and have my fb status say something like, 'nice job flipping me off, dude in the JESUS fish car.' and then i realized the words that come out of my mouth when i get irritated when someone cuts me off or rides my butt or what have you. while i might not be showing them to the other driver, they're not very nice. (hm...what's the one time my nieces have heard me swear?)
i'm the last one who can throw a stone at that guy.

so i'm listening to this song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFHxMKZEcpM&feature=related

which i find ridiculously sexy, and i start trying to figure out who i can bump off my list to make room for adam levine (right now it's looking like no one), when i realize i might have a type.

wow - go me

me, thinking at about 5:00pm: okay, so i'll check facebook and blogs, then i'll watch hawaii five-0 while i eat my supper so i can be caught up since i missed last week.
me, thinking at about 5:45pm: crap! i forgot i was going to watch hawaii five-0 while i ate my supper! too late now. i guess i'll just take the extra time and not multi-task and watch it while doing nothing.
me, thinking at about 5:55pm: um...mel? you haven't had supper yet.

my prayer retreat - pt. 3

also, while there, i did pray about the school/job situation. like i've said, this is the logical breaking point for me. this is a time when i can consider going back to school, getting a new job, perhaps do missions. i don't want to waste it. but i don't know what i want to do. and so i lifted it up to HIM, telling HIM i'm afraid of committing to something that i don't feel gung-ho about, and that i want to be available if something else comes up. and truly, HE gave me a peace about schooling (now i have to get my butt in gear figuring out what school). basically HE said do it, and I'll let you know if there's something else you should be doing. start it, and if something comes up in a year that you feel sold on, quit and do that instead. maybe you can even fulfil your dream of being a  professional student and once you get this practical schooling under your belt and get a job in that, you can go to school for something you want to do, and either do that or if that doesn't work, you can keep your day job. be proactive in getting out of where you are now (if nothing else so you can feel better about yourself), then who knows? maybe you can get that master's in tolkien studies after all. that was also a really good thing to come home with.

my prayer retreat - pt. 2, i suppose

like i said, the weather was perfect. i spent a lot of times walking the trails, and some time sitting on my porch with a cup of tea, but the biggest chunk of time was perhaps spent sitting on a log in the woods. there are benches along some of the trails, but along my favorite trail there are none. this trail is a little separate from the others, but the woods are the prettiest there, it's quieter, and, for me at least, more peaceful. and it was on that log that i prayed my butt off for my player. when i go on this retreat, i kind of try to pray as the SPIRIT leads. i'll pray for all sorts of things and people, but if the SPIRIT lays something strongly on my heart (or, like last year, if i feel blocked from praying for someone or something), i try to go with that. this year it was my player. i spent a lot of time praying for him, getting as specific as possible, fighting against specific demons, praying specific blessings for him, using the Sword of the SPIRIT. i don't think i've ever prayed like that. it was a wonderful learning experience for me, seeing how non-generic my prayers can be, even if i don't know the person or their situation. hopefully that will help me when i get bored of praying the same thing over and over like i usually do.
i also finally decided to try what i've said for a year i wanted to try. considering how distracted i get when i pray, i had been thinking that using a rosary might help me - something tactile. my mother bought a rosary for me last year, when i first mentioned it, but i hadn't used it yet. here i tried it. a rosary has 5 sets of 10 beads, so the way i decided to use it was by using that handy little ACTS acronym - 10 beads of adoration, 10 confession, 10 thanksgiving, and 10 supplication. (didn't know what to do with the last 10 beads. finally decided that i will choose a verse and read/recite it 10 times, either to focus my mind on whatever that verse is saying, or in hopes of memorization.) turns out it's as helpful as i thought it would be. takes a little while, but when, in my everyday life, do i ever spend 20 minutes in prayer? using the rosary i spend at least that. and the structure and tactile reminders really do help me focus.

oh! found one more for that post from long ago

hobbitsister doesn't like it when i post tweets

but oh well, i'm posting this one:

"Jesus used 12 imperfect people to help spread the gospel, why cant He use you? Give it all up to God and let Him use you to bring Him glory." - Unashamed Athletes

excitement of the day

yes, i'll get to the prayer retreat later. but i really don't want to be on the computer too long right now.

i went to target to get drugs, toilet paper, and girl stuff. (i love that i have a girl only readership. :) ) pantyliners were on sale for $2.64 (usually $5.54) and they were buy 3 get a $5 gift card. i really didn't need 3 boxes of pantyliners, but it's not like they're going to go bad, so okay, i'll find a place to store them. so what would normally cost $16.62, with the sale price was bought down to $7.92, with a $5 gift card, so $2.92. but then when they rang them up, they did it wrong, so i went and got it fixed. then i got home and realized they had only fixed 2 boxes, so i went back (it's not far), and had them fix it. then, because they inconvenienced me so badly, they gave me an apology coupon for $3 off my next purchase. and so, all told, i made 8 cents. :D

my prayer retreat

i'm not going to bother trying to make this flow. that sounds like too much work. so bear with me.
the weather was glorious: warm sun, light breeze, clear skies, full moon - i even saw stars twinkle. i don't know that i've ever seen them actually twinkle before.
the woods were beautiful: mostly gold and orange, but with some brown, green, and red thrown in. the view from my front stoop seriously made me stop and say, 'oh, GOD, that's beautiful,' every time i walked into or out of my hermitage.
i have no pictures: i was two blocks away from my house when i realized i had forgotten my camera. i decided to not go back. with a camera, i'd be looking for photo ops. without one, i'd be enjoying GOD's creation.
apparently october is the month of snakes: seriously, they were everywhere - dead, alive, it didn't matter. they were all over the paths. thankfully they only scare me if they're going to climb into my bag, which none of them did this year.

okay, just abruptly decided that's all for tonight. i'm sleepy. goodnight.

so many things to put as my fb status right now...i think i'll put them all here

1. my parents thought they were going to go to the Christian bookstore without me. really?
2. just went to the Christian bookstore. there was a book about tolkien next to the josh hamilton autobiography in the clearance section. i took that as a sign and bought both.
3. is there anything more beautiful than the oranges, reds, golds, browns, and greens of autumn leaves?
4. "I'm back." - Samwise Gamgee
5. my thought at 4:00 this morning as i rushed to the outhouse, "oh my! it's blustery!"
6. seriously nurse who took my blood today, you could've just chopped my arm off and gotten as much blood as you wanted, and i bet it wouldn't have hurt as badly.

there were other things, but i don't remember. and i'm saving the real retreat stuff for a real post. oh, but just in case any of you were nervous for me, there was no woman in black anywhere around my hermitage. i thought for a few moments that there might be, but there wasn't.