Tag: surprise

You aren’t crazy

My mom has always said that crazy people don’t wonder if they’re crazy – they just think they’re normal. Today, I was blessed with the opportunity to speak with someone who was able, with spectacular grace and ease, to state clearly that what I have experienced throughout my life does not make me crazy, but actually one of many. I’ll keep it at that for now, but he made sure to check in with me to discuss further later in the day, and then followed up to confirm I had his e-mail and phone number, so that he could help get me set up with a spiritual director in town. And not just any spiritual director, but someone who is acquainted with my situation, and can support me in serving God and His people through this gift – after all, as I am coming to understanding, this gift is one specifically intended, not for one’s own spiritual growth, like the gifts of the Holy Spirit are, but for the good of all. So, yeah… I guess I now will learn to be like Spiderman, and make the world a better place in some new and yet undetermined way.

God, you certainly have some crazy surprises sometimes. I said I’d trust you, and so I do and shall. I definitely appreciate your sense of humor and irony. I love you. Thank you for the blessings that continue to grow around me in my life. Help us always to pursue and follow you and your will for us. Thank you for my man, my fiancé. Grant us grace and ease these next two weeks especially, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2024

Chaos

My cousin was sharing with me about her current stress load of not only packing up, mostly on her own, to move states, but also having to pay a bunch of yearly bills, repair a toilet thing that busted today in the current house they’re trying to sell soon, and manage it all with neither her nor her husband’s having employment the past six weeks or so. I shared with her genuinely that I have observed and experienced that, whenever we are transitioning to something better, we always have to have a time of chaos first. Something has to go awry in order the change the daily standards, so that something new can be set into place. When the new and better life isn’t compatible with the current one, something’s got to blow first. And that’s where they seem to be right now, right in the midst of the chaos.

I sometimes even feel that the chaos is also there for us to have a chance to show and to prove even to ourselves, as well as the universe, that we truly want the change, want the new thing. Whatever the case, though, the chaos always seems to come right before something beautiful settles in.

And then, not even an hour after my saying all that, we began even more of our own readjusting in life, our own chaos: My man was ‘severed’ from his job. He was planning to quit already, as he has hated the new job after the new company’d taken over. He also half-expected to be let go, anyway, in the near future. He had just hoped to find another job first. That, however, didn’t happen. And the company that has been pretty crap to his whole department genuinely gave hypocritical reasons for his dismissal – that’s the part that actually upsets me, because they’ve been such hypocrites, and that is something I just can’t seem to stand(!!!!!!!!!!) – and acted like they were being super generous by providing him with a small severance package of money only (because this state doesn’t require severance packages, even though common decency does).

Ugh. I just hate hypocrisy. Seriously… ugh(!).

Anyway, we’ll sort through the muck and find the right path. Obviously, this was a perfect time in terms of getting wedding stuff sorted out, as well as his being able to have a rest from the terrible job leading up to our wedding. It also means my man gets to go with us for a site visit tomorrow for our reception venue, which he had been disappointed yesterday that he wouldn’t be able to do because of his work schedule. Plus, it’ll let him get started with his flight program – ironically and perfectly which started today with orientation – without having to mess with the crap job all day every day, and see what kind of job he actually does want to have while in the program. It isn’t the best financially for us, but I think it is best mentally for us both. And, if we keep to God’s calling, I believe the money will follow. It always seems to do so.

Thank you, God, for this difficult blessing today. Help us to use it effectively to pursue and fulfill your will, sharing your love fully through our lives. Help us to let go of the automatic reaction with one another toward anger and frustration, and to hear each other openly and lovingly. Heal where healing is needed, please, especially now. Thank you for this life. Please, make clear the next step for each of us, both now and always. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

In the mood

I was in the middle for some Prosecco tonight. So, I checked the outside fridge for whatever bottle has been sitting in there a while and pulled it out. After an internal battle with fear of popping the cork, I finally succeeded and was surprised to find that it was a red base when I poured it.… and to find that it was absolutely delicious.

If you like Prosecco and you like naturally sweet juices, this is a delicious drink for you.

After unintentionally drinking way too much of it, I sent a message to my fiancé, telling him, “Imma be drunk by the time you get home…”

He asked, “On what?” I then added a photo of it and said,

“It is delicious
“Let’s get five more always to have on hand”.

He laughed, and I knew he didn’t realize that I actually would be intoxicated. I so rarely drink alcohol that even a small amount makes me tipsy. Roughly four small champagne flutes on an almost-empty stomach for the day was a bad call on my part. If I’d eaten normally, it would have been okay. But I had only had two fried eggs and two pieces of bacon today, due to laziness and forgetfulness this morning and being busy this afternoon and evening. So, after the four little glasses, I was shoveling down the turkey I’d just cooked, as well as a protein oat bar and some panettone, both for the nutrients/calories and the balance. It was ridiculous. Makes me think of Long Island iced teas, how people don’t realize they’ve just guzzled down hard liquor, as they only really noticed the delightful sweet tea with an edge… but the edge was way sharper than they could tell initially.

So, I struggled for a bit, but eventually leveled out the blood level and was able to get to bed peacefully. Definitely not anticipating doing anything like that again, ever. I am grateful that I realized before it was too late that I needed to stop. I left half a glass just sitting on the counter, I had to make sure I walked away. But it was the right thing to do. That stuff is just too good to be on an empty stomach.

God, thank you for this life. Please, help my body to heal tonight and help me to honor and respect my body always, and especially to be fully aware of what I put into it and how those things might affect my body and my overall functioning. Help me always to honor you and your love with my life. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2024

(Did I say that last night?????)

P.S. I did my kakizome today – yay!

Older movies

Movies from the ‘80s and ‘90s, as my man pointed out tonight, really make us both long for the speed of life back then. Cars were simpler, communication networks were simpler, the speed of life was not necessarily slower, but felt slower – more time was taken to do fewer things, versus the small bits of time given to loads of things nowadays. When people made commitments, they kept them. Life wasn’t usually so hurried, because people didn’t try to cram in as many things as possible in a day, every day. Life was still hard, but much less stress-inducing as a baseline. Even though we couldn’t find answers very quickly to most questions we had, it still was really nice. We spent so much time with one another, instead of just around one another. Life felt fuller, satisfying. I miss that sometimes. Though, I guess that means I can start being even more intentional about how I conduct my own life now, see what parts we can re-incorporate these days. I’ve done it in bits before, so I can look to see what else I can do now, and how I can do it even better now than I did the last go ‘round.

God, guide me, please. Thank you for this life. Please, heal those in need of you. And heal those in need of physical healing, too, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Christmas

According to Facebook Memories, it seems I watched Christmas Vacation on 19 December… multiple times… though, I have never once planned it that way. Nonetheless, it seems to have happened as an unconscious tradition to watch the film on the same day each year.

Continuing with that, again unintentionally, I even had my yearly father-daughter date with my dad to watch the film over lunch today. So, I kept with the tradition without even knowing it, same as each year up until now.

The big question is, however, now that I know, will I aim to continue it intentionally???

Thank you, God, for this day. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Boots and belts

Today, for the second time, I went to a warehouse scratch-and-dent sale for this boot company that I love, Tecovas. I was going simply to meet my mom and stepdad and see if he might be able to find a pair of boots – his first pair of western boots, actually – for the upcoming rodeo season. He’s on a committee with us all now, so he needs to have at least one pair for the shifts he works for the committee.

Anyway, I went for them, grabbed some things to keep them available while waiting on them to arrive, since I live much closer, and I also grabbed a few belts for my man’s and for me, since the belts were half the price today that they had been Friday. Eventually, they arrived, and my stepdad liked and bought a very nice pair that I had grabbed for him. (When he tried them on and walked around, my mom and I both were impressed with how nice it made him look as a whole – what we wear truly does make a difference!) I was there an hour before they arrived. Then we three spent about forty minutes working on my stepdad’s boots.

However, it took me another two hours before I left. Why?

Because I asked my man about a pair of men’s loafers.

He got too stressed, so, yet again, I got to wait at this sale while he went to the regular store beer our house to try on boots in the store in order to confirm fits and sizes. And yes, you read that correctly. We did this already on Friday for a couple hours. One benefit, though, was that prices dropped while I was waiting, so we got them all for even less than they already would have been at the already-amazing prices.

Eventually, however, after four hours of being in the store with no bathrooms (because it’s a pop-up shop situation, not a real store), I left with, for the price of one pair of boots new at the store – approximately $300, though they are $600-$700 comparable quality – one pair of loafers, two pair of men’s boots, and five very nice leather belts belts. Not bad. Not bad at all.

I actually had a really great time doing it all, too. I also noticed how much I like to help people. I was consistently either chatting with a waiting person or helping people find what they were seeking or, get this, helping to organize the products. I even went through all the women’s belts to confirm that all but a few were size XS, pulled the few out and set them next to the huge plastic bins, and then adjusted the sign that read S to read XS, and split the XS belts in the two bins evenly. Yes, I pulled out a pen from my bag to write the X on the sign, very similarly to how they were adjusting all the signs around (one-time paper signs, you see). So, anyway, I had a good time helping people. And I also found great satisfaction and delight in getting things for someone that are both useful, solid quality, wanted, and a treat all in one.

Thank you, God, for such a lovely start to the day today, and thank you for the lovely continuation and finish it has had. Thank you for this beautiful life. Please, heal those in need of healing and help them to ask for healing and forgiveness in all ways. Thank you for this love I receive. Please, keep my man safe. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Movie night

My brother came over to help shovel dirt and then to watch Top Gun: Maverick. It was pouring rain, and the trailer hadn’t been returned anyway, so the shoveling dirt was cancelled, but the movie was still on. He hadn’t seen it yet, and my man was not going to let that go on for long (we found out on Wednesday night at dinner). We had started A Knight’s Tale just ‘cause after I got home (actually, my man had had in a movie that was too stressful for me, so he switched it to something I could handle, which ended up being A Knight’s Tale), and had left it paused on the first frame when we ran to the store. My brother arrived before us and, once we arrived, commented on that we were watching A Knight’s Tale, which he recognized from the opening frame… as would I, of course.

Well, for whatever reason, we watched A Knight’s Tale. It turns out that my brother and I know just about every line of the film, and it is a favorite of us both. My man hadn’t seen it in a long while, so he actually had to pay attention much more closely than we did. Nonetheless, we watched and enjoyed the film together.

And then, after a short Duolingo and bathroom break, just because it was almost ten-thirty PM on a Friday night, we watched Top Gun: Maverick. And we very much enjoyed that one, too, of course.

And so, now, at 1:30AM, my brother had headed home and we are getting ready for bed, content from our miniature and unanticipated movie marathon. ’Twas a good night. ’Twas a good night.

Thank you, God. Keep us all safe, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

A good time

Tonight was a dinner for faculty and staff and their plus ones. I expected to have an okay time. I ended up having a really nice time. We had a pleasant and loving time at our table with a few folks. We had a nice time chatting with my boss and his wife. We had a delightful time chatting with some guys who have taken religious orders to become priests. My man got to meet a good handful of the important people for me at work. And then we stopped by the karaoke after-party just to check it out on the way home, but ended up staying until it closed down. (Just need to say that it was 100% like a slightly toned down version of a frat party. It was hilarious and kind of wonderful [minus the handful of people who had gotten truly drunk and were not so fun].)

Suffice it to say that I am going to bed tonight very late, but socially and emotionally satisfied.

Thank you for this wonderful evening and night. Keep us safe, please. Heal my man’s defensiveness with me, please, and mine with him. And heal my burned finger, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Theatre

We went to a show tonight. It was a one-man-show about Katharine Hepburn. It was called “Tea at Five”, I believe, and was a delight. And it was about Katharine Hepburn from the 1930s, not Audrey Hepburn from the 1950s. We looked it up afterward, and discovered that she and Audrey were related only distantly by a great-great (and maybe a few more greats) uncle, who ended up being a husband to Mary Queen of Scots… something like that, anyway. But Audrey wasn’t even her niece or anything reasonable. 😛

Anyway, the show was great. I’m exhausted, though. I almost cried after I got home when I realized that I don’t have to go to school in the morning. I was so relieved, because I’m just so worn out from the semester as a whole, but also from this week in particular.

Granted, we’re doing breakfast with my dad in the morning, so we have to be out the door at 8:30. But I can still rest well tonight.

Thank you, God. Keep my man safe, please. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Segregation

Somehow, it never occurred to me that my parents were there for desegregation. We learned all about it in school, but they never had us ask our parents about it… We once had to ask our grandparents about some event, but I don’t recall what it even was. But why didn’t we use our own family members more with history? They, after all, did live through much of the detailed stuff that is referenced in the classrooms… and it makes things more memorable when we can tie them to something personal.

I remember, actually, doing one interview for school with my dad. Part of it, at least, was about race stuff, but it wasn’t tied as much to all the things we learn about, the events and people and such. It was about how a parent grew up relative to another race. I remember that much. It’s when I learned that the first black person my dad met was his college roommate, in college. Also that his parents didn’t particularly like (or know at all) black people, but, since black people weren’t ever around – remember how he never met one until he left home for college – my dad was exposed to much of an opinion about black people. In a way, the almost-certain racism never got much of a chance to be passed on to him. No, he didn’t get to know people of other races, but he also didn’t have any hostility toward them.

Fast forward to the next generation, and I grew up going to school in the most diverse county in the most diverse city in the country. Several of my best friends and crushes growing up were races other than white. And it never even occurred to me to care. People were just people. Kind folks were kind and mean ones were mean. Race truly never came up as a factor beyond looks.

Kind of cool, really…

Anyway, I’ve gone way off topic here. The point was that history class missed a huge learning opportunity here, and I want to remedy it as best as I can. I’ve already reached out to both my parents for some basic memory sharing, and I’m arranging really sitting and talking with them about it in the near future, too. How cool that my parents were there for so much stuff that we learned about in school… And how bizarre that that never truly occurred to me that they could share with me all about it personally, not just from a learned knowledge base. (Like how my mom was talking to me at Dealey Plaza about JFK’s assassination… but I subconsciously thought she was telling things she had learned in school – she was a great student, after all – not that she was remembering it from the live news reports…)

I have so much to discuss with my parents…and I almost feel a need to bring along a textbook!

I just might…

Post-a-day 2023