This past week has been filled with happy and sad moments.
Chris and I celebrated our 14th anniversary on Tuesday. Am I old enough to be married for 14 years? That would be a rhetorical question because the answer is, obviously, yes. In some ways it feels like yesterday but in other ways it feels like another lifetime ago. And as one of my coworkers puts it, "That's two seven year itches." I know we'll be marking many more seven year itches! ;-)
On our anniversary, we headed up to NY to spend Thanksgiving with my family and take care of some family stuff. On the way out of town, we stopped at a friend's viewing...he passed away last weekend...so that kind of mellowed the mood on our anniversary and for Thanksgiving week.
We originally had intended to go to NY for Thanksgiving to spend it with my grandma, but as many of you might already know, she passed away last month. Our original thought was not to make another trip up there so quickly, but we decided to go because the family decided we'd take a day to go through her room and sort things out. The family got together for a yummy Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and then I got to watch the Dallas game with my dad. I don't often get to watch football with him, let alone, watch our team win so that was pretty cool.*
On Friday, we spent the majority of the day in her room (she was living at my cousin's house) and went through her things. What an odd feeling. Picking up things and deciding if one of us wanted to keep it or if it should go into a donate/yard sale pile. Let me just say that my grandma kept everything. We found a bag of ziplock backs that no doubt had been used, rinsed out and dried to someday be used again.
We found some cool stuff too...a baby blanket that she made but didn't finish...so my cousin is going to finish it for me...who knows, we might need it one day. And I found two letters I had written my grandparents back in 1991. I sat on the floor next to her bed and read one of them. Boy was that weird. It's funny to look back at the things that seemed so important and caused so much drama in my life as a teenager that now seem so silly...but I guess that's normal.
On Friday afternoon we headed back into town since Chris had to be back for Saturday services.
So while this week has been filled with great milestones and good memories, it's also been kind of a sad week. The lesson for me is that I should always be thankful for what I have and for what God has done for me...despite the circumstances of my daily life. It's as simple as that.
*It was actually the second Dallas game this season I got to watch with him. They played when we were up for my grandma's funeral and we got to watch the game together. That's kind of cool for me.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Decorated Salvation Army bell ringer...
My words really can't do this post justice so I'm going to try to get an actual picture but this will have to do for now.
I stopped at Giant on my way home for work this evening to pick up a few things. The first craziness is that the Salvation Army bell ringers are already out...wow...can't believe Christmas is right around the corner.
But more amazing than that, is how decorated this particular bell ringer was. He had a Cowboy's fan blow up doll and several lawn ornament-type, lighted decorations. And instead of just ringing his bell nonchalantly as most do, he was playing Christmas music and ringing his bell to the music.
I was utterly amazed at the lengths he had gone to for the cause. I sincerely wanted to give him some money (and take a picture) but didn't have time to do all that this evening.
I'm hoping that's his permanent station so I can share the fun with you.
I stopped at Giant on my way home for work this evening to pick up a few things. The first craziness is that the Salvation Army bell ringers are already out...wow...can't believe Christmas is right around the corner.
But more amazing than that, is how decorated this particular bell ringer was. He had a Cowboy's fan blow up doll and several lawn ornament-type, lighted decorations. And instead of just ringing his bell nonchalantly as most do, he was playing Christmas music and ringing his bell to the music.
I was utterly amazed at the lengths he had gone to for the cause. I sincerely wanted to give him some money (and take a picture) but didn't have time to do all that this evening.
I'm hoping that's his permanent station so I can share the fun with you.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Have a little compassion...
Chris and I have kind of been having an ongoing conversation about the homeless population in DC (and other places) since we moved into the city.
It's easy to SAY that you have compassion for these people, but...if you don't ACT, then it's not really called compassion. It's called feeling sorry for someone.
Compassion moves you to action.
I've been a little convicted about that lately. I know I can't save everyone that is homeless, but I should be doing something. And God has definitely been speaking to me about my inaction.
So NCC was planning to participate in the Help the Homeless Walkathon today and I knew it was something I was supposed to do. But, we went out to Dave and Busters with some friends last night and didn't go to bed until almost 1 a.m. (I know...way past our bed time) and I was ready to talk myself out of it. It's easy to talk yourself out of almost anything...and most of the time you can sound pretty convincing to yourself.
So before I went to bed (I didn't set my alarm), I told God that if He wanted me to get up and do this walk (I knew He did) that He'd have to wake me. Indeed, my eyes popped open around 7:20 and I spent about 5 minutes re-rationalizing the situation because it would have been so much easier to stay in bed.
But I knew I had to get up...so I did. And the cool part of it was, that when I started getting ready, Chris decided he was going to get up and go with me. So, we got up, trekked to the Mall and met up with some other NCC folks and walked the 3 miles with about a gazillion other people.
Would have been warmer to stay in bed, but really glad I did it.
It's easy to SAY that you have compassion for these people, but...if you don't ACT, then it's not really called compassion. It's called feeling sorry for someone.
Compassion moves you to action.
I've been a little convicted about that lately. I know I can't save everyone that is homeless, but I should be doing something. And God has definitely been speaking to me about my inaction.
So NCC was planning to participate in the Help the Homeless Walkathon today and I knew it was something I was supposed to do. But, we went out to Dave and Busters with some friends last night and didn't go to bed until almost 1 a.m. (I know...way past our bed time) and I was ready to talk myself out of it. It's easy to talk yourself out of almost anything...and most of the time you can sound pretty convincing to yourself.
So before I went to bed (I didn't set my alarm), I told God that if He wanted me to get up and do this walk (I knew He did) that He'd have to wake me. Indeed, my eyes popped open around 7:20 and I spent about 5 minutes re-rationalizing the situation because it would have been so much easier to stay in bed.
But I knew I had to get up...so I did. And the cool part of it was, that when I started getting ready, Chris decided he was going to get up and go with me. So, we got up, trekked to the Mall and met up with some other NCC folks and walked the 3 miles with about a gazillion other people.
Would have been warmer to stay in bed, but really glad I did it.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
You know what they say about a picture...
This picture was in yesterday's Washington Post.
Photo Credit: By Chris Marksbury -- Cm Photos Photo
Photo Credit: By Chris Marksbury -- Cm Photos PhotoIf you need a good laugh...
My friend Norida sent me these links. I had a few minutes this afternoon at work so I clicked through these...it's very much worth the time to read these.
I laughed so hard, I cried and had at least one person stop by my office to see what was going on.
So, go ahead...I dare you. You won't be sorry.
I laughed so hard, I cried and had at least one person stop by my office to see what was going on.
So, go ahead...I dare you. You won't be sorry.
Can't believe we saw The Police...
You probably know from my previous posts that we had tickets to see the Police in concert. The concert was this Monday night and I'm just now getting around to sharing.
Before the concert me, Chris and my two friends (and coworkers) went to a great Mediterranean restaurant where we shared about 12 little appetizers and then 2 desserts...it was quite yummy.
We had never heard of the opening band, a group called FictionPlane, and I couldn't figure out how a band we'd never heard of came to open for The Police. Come to find out, the lead singer of the group is Sting's son...that all makes sense now.
Our seats were actually really good...we were on the second level but right to the left of the stage and right above us practically was a huge screen so we got to see a lot of close ups of Sting...yay!*
The concert was amazing...maybe one of the best I've ever seen. It's hard to believe that the sound they produce comes from just 3 band members. Stewart (the drummer) had a regular drum set but behind him was an entire percussion area and several times he jumped between the two.
Sting's voice is absolutely incredible and I really think they sounded better live than recorded, which is most often not the case.
So amazed that we had the opportunity to go to the concert! It's one I will never forget!
And sorry...no pics...we couldn't bring any cameras into the concert and the camera on the phone just didn't do it.
*He's very easy on the eyes for a 56 year old man! ;-)
Before the concert me, Chris and my two friends (and coworkers) went to a great Mediterranean restaurant where we shared about 12 little appetizers and then 2 desserts...it was quite yummy.
We had never heard of the opening band, a group called FictionPlane, and I couldn't figure out how a band we'd never heard of came to open for The Police. Come to find out, the lead singer of the group is Sting's son...that all makes sense now.
Our seats were actually really good...we were on the second level but right to the left of the stage and right above us practically was a huge screen so we got to see a lot of close ups of Sting...yay!*
The concert was amazing...maybe one of the best I've ever seen. It's hard to believe that the sound they produce comes from just 3 band members. Stewart (the drummer) had a regular drum set but behind him was an entire percussion area and several times he jumped between the two.
Sting's voice is absolutely incredible and I really think they sounded better live than recorded, which is most often not the case.
So amazed that we had the opportunity to go to the concert! It's one I will never forget!
And sorry...no pics...we couldn't bring any cameras into the concert and the camera on the phone just didn't do it.
*He's very easy on the eyes for a 56 year old man! ;-)
Thursday, November 01, 2007
I almost threw up at the dinner table...
We went to Fogo de Chao tonight for Chris' birthday dinner with my mom, her fiancee and our best friends, Mike and Sonja. We went into this experience with a lot of advice from people who had been there before. Things like:
Then the meat extravaganza began...and the flipping of the card from red to green. How fun. Apparently they have 15 kinds of meat. Holy cow. I have no idea how many of those 15 I tried, but it was quite a few. I think it's safe to say that I've never eaten that much meat in a single sitting...EVER.
I had pretty much reached my limit but decided I wanted one more taste of the beef ribs (my absolute favorite). And with only one more bite of the beef rib on my plate, I seriously thought I might throw up. There was this wave that came over me and even though it was chilly in the restaurant, I was afraid I was going to break out in a sweat (affectionately called "the meat sweats"). Thank God I was able to focus and get things back under control because it didn't look good for a few minutes. ;-) Seriously.
The meat extravaganza ended with a complimentary dessert (for Chris' birthday)...key lime pie...probably the best I've ever had (and I'm a key lime pie conisseur)...and don't worry, we all shared it.
I think it's safe to say that I won't be eating meat anytime soon!
- "Don't eat the salad bar. Save room for the meat."
- "Eat the bread. It's incredible."
- "Don't eat the cake. Save yourself for Fogo de Chao." (There was birthday cake in the kitchen at work today.)
Then the meat extravaganza began...and the flipping of the card from red to green. How fun. Apparently they have 15 kinds of meat. Holy cow. I have no idea how many of those 15 I tried, but it was quite a few. I think it's safe to say that I've never eaten that much meat in a single sitting...EVER.
I had pretty much reached my limit but decided I wanted one more taste of the beef ribs (my absolute favorite). And with only one more bite of the beef rib on my plate, I seriously thought I might throw up. There was this wave that came over me and even though it was chilly in the restaurant, I was afraid I was going to break out in a sweat (affectionately called "the meat sweats"). Thank God I was able to focus and get things back under control because it didn't look good for a few minutes. ;-) Seriously.
The meat extravaganza ended with a complimentary dessert (for Chris' birthday)...key lime pie...probably the best I've ever had (and I'm a key lime pie conisseur)...and don't worry, we all shared it.
I think it's safe to say that I won't be eating meat anytime soon!
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