As I was getting ready for the day today I was doing the morning ritual of checking my hair for new grey hair. This may seem odd to you but as I know I am in need of a color job I check daily to see what new surprises await me. As I was inspecting for new grey growth it occurred to me that they really didn't look grey at all. More like silver, but wait! That's not silver at all I hear whispered, it's white gold!
Perhaps you don't have conversations in the morning with God while getting ready but I do. In fact some of our best conversations happen in the restroom because it is sometimes the only place I can go without interruptions or distractions. I don't do my bible study at the kitchen table because all I will be able to focus on is the dirty dishes in the sink. If I try at my desk the computer is there and I wonder if I have email or I see the stacks of pictures waiting to go into albums. So I do my bible study in my bedroom where there isn't anything to distract me from my time with God. I also fully believe that if He has something to say to me it's best if I can give my full attention.
So this morning while doing my morning hair inspection, I was thinking about how I was blonde as a child. I was thinking also about how as with all the children in our family our hair gets gradually darker as we get older. Mine however, got very dark after I had my second child. So dark in fact that my mother asked me what I was putting in my hair to make it look like that and to stop immediately. I was twenty five at the time and had never put color in my hair as I explained to her and she then informed me that perhaps it was time that I started. Thus beginning a decade long relationship between me and various hair colors and a love of trying new things just so people like my mother wouldn't get too attached to one particular color or style. The way I figured it was that if it was ever changing, I would never have to hear anyone say that perhaps it was time to try something new. I was feeling a bit disgruntled while looking at the sparklers in my hair when I noticed that they were more the color of my rings instead of the color of my shirt.
It occurred to me with a little prodding I believe from God, how it was that I came to earn the new found sparklers. I've been married for almost 16 years now and we have two teenage daughters and an eight year old son who is quite possibly too brilliant for his own good. My children are more valuable to me than the finest of gold or the greatest of treasures. I believe that's how God sees us as well. He gave me these treasures of HIS to take care of and I was thinking perhaps instead of thinking of them as grey hairs that are troublesome, I should think of them as white gold a sort of badge of honor.
Of course I'm proud of my badges of honor. But I'm pretty sure that God will be ok if we keep them just between Him, Me, and the Hairdresser. After all just like some gifts we give and/or are given they are best done or known about in secret. So I think I'll be covering up the white gold even if I'm proud of what they represent, there really is no need to make others jealous. Don't you think?
Friday, March 11, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Cappuccino or Latte'?
Today while out running errands, I decided to stop in to a local bookstore to use a gift certificate I had received for Christmas for a free cappuccino or latte'. I perused the menu and attempted to place my order. I say attempted because I don't actually know how to order the things I want to get. I'm relatively new to the "fancy" coffee world. My mother drank coffee. She would drink instant Folgers or Maxwell house coffee straight up no cream and no sugar. I tried that once. I do not like coffee. I could never see the draw. Until, once when I was visiting with a neighbor friend of mine and she asked me if I wanted some coffee I politely declined and explained that I didn't care for coffee. To which she replied that I would like it the way she made it.
As it turns out I do like coffee as long as I can't taste the coffee in the coffee drink. Or rather I like all the really fattening things that go into the coffee drinks to make them consumable. What this little lesson did not include however was a users guide on how to order these delightful drinks when out and about. I have a friend who works at the local Starbucks. I like it when she is working and I go in there because I really don't need to know how to order. I just tell her to surprise me. Of course, I like to think that she thinks I'm just adventurous. I am sure I'm not really fooling her at all. I believe she knows me well enough to know that I really just have no idea what I'm doing at the coffee counter.
It makes me think of the movie Kicking and Screaming with Will Ferrell. This movie is a family favorite in our house. While the reviewers didn't give it high marks when it came out, our family gives it several thumbs ups. We quote it on a regular basis. In the movie, Will Ferrell is coaching his son's soccer team. He is going up against his dad who is a coach on a different team. His dad's next door neighbor is Mike Ditka whom he enlists to help him coach his team. Mike Ditka tells him to calm down and have some coffee. Will's character says "I don't like coffee it's a vasoconstrictor." Mike tells him "Coffee is the lifeblood that fuels the dreams of champions." Of course then Will's character goes to a coffee shop to order his first cup of coffee and informs the guy at the counter that he is new to coffee and wonders if you can get half of the regular kind of coffee and half the decaf kind of coffee or is that too weird?
That would be me at the coffee counter. Hello I'm new to coffee especially coffee that doesn't taste like coffee. Can I get something with all the flavor but half the fat? I'd really like one to boost my energy for a limited amount of time, taste great, be less filling, and not add an immeasurable amount of fat to my midsection if possible please. This is a bit like going and ordering a quarter pounder with cheese and a diet coke of course but it's what I do. I don't know the difference between a cappuccino and a latte' and I until recently didn't know that chai was a tea and not a coffee drink. I really don't think these are things I need to know. All I need to know is, does it taste good and will it be 100 calories or less. This may make for an exhausted coffee barista ( a term I learned from a coffee commercial. Impressive eh?) but I do eventually get what I want.
So for all those coffee connoisseurs out there, give me a break I'm new here and a nicely typed cheat sheet for ordering skinny coffee drinks that don't taste like coffee would be handy. It would just make life easier on everyone. Don't you think? Until then I will continue to go in and say "I'll have a tall, skinny, something that tastes nothing like coffee but has coffee in it. You decide and surprise me. Thanks."
As it turns out I do like coffee as long as I can't taste the coffee in the coffee drink. Or rather I like all the really fattening things that go into the coffee drinks to make them consumable. What this little lesson did not include however was a users guide on how to order these delightful drinks when out and about. I have a friend who works at the local Starbucks. I like it when she is working and I go in there because I really don't need to know how to order. I just tell her to surprise me. Of course, I like to think that she thinks I'm just adventurous. I am sure I'm not really fooling her at all. I believe she knows me well enough to know that I really just have no idea what I'm doing at the coffee counter.
It makes me think of the movie Kicking and Screaming with Will Ferrell. This movie is a family favorite in our house. While the reviewers didn't give it high marks when it came out, our family gives it several thumbs ups. We quote it on a regular basis. In the movie, Will Ferrell is coaching his son's soccer team. He is going up against his dad who is a coach on a different team. His dad's next door neighbor is Mike Ditka whom he enlists to help him coach his team. Mike Ditka tells him to calm down and have some coffee. Will's character says "I don't like coffee it's a vasoconstrictor." Mike tells him "Coffee is the lifeblood that fuels the dreams of champions." Of course then Will's character goes to a coffee shop to order his first cup of coffee and informs the guy at the counter that he is new to coffee and wonders if you can get half of the regular kind of coffee and half the decaf kind of coffee or is that too weird?
That would be me at the coffee counter. Hello I'm new to coffee especially coffee that doesn't taste like coffee. Can I get something with all the flavor but half the fat? I'd really like one to boost my energy for a limited amount of time, taste great, be less filling, and not add an immeasurable amount of fat to my midsection if possible please. This is a bit like going and ordering a quarter pounder with cheese and a diet coke of course but it's what I do. I don't know the difference between a cappuccino and a latte' and I until recently didn't know that chai was a tea and not a coffee drink. I really don't think these are things I need to know. All I need to know is, does it taste good and will it be 100 calories or less. This may make for an exhausted coffee barista ( a term I learned from a coffee commercial. Impressive eh?) but I do eventually get what I want.
So for all those coffee connoisseurs out there, give me a break I'm new here and a nicely typed cheat sheet for ordering skinny coffee drinks that don't taste like coffee would be handy. It would just make life easier on everyone. Don't you think? Until then I will continue to go in and say "I'll have a tall, skinny, something that tastes nothing like coffee but has coffee in it. You decide and surprise me. Thanks."
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Defining An Emergency
Have you ever been to an emergency room? Not have you seen the tv show ER, not did you watch Chicago Hope, Greys Anatomy, or any other show related to the medical profession. Have you actually been to one? I spent the evening there recently after slicing a bit of the tip of my finger off while attempting to prepare dinner. The ER? Is full of sick people and some of your garden variety crazies. There I said it. It's out there for the entirety of cyber space to read.
I think to fully understand we should define the word emergency. Merriam Webster dictionary.com defines an emergency as a. an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action or b. an urgent need for assistance or relief. I think we can define it as a. you are oozing blood from a body part that isn't supposed to do that. b. you have been in an accident and need to be checked by emergency personnel for broken body parts or concussion. c. you may be having a heart attack as you have a shooting pain down your left arm and your chest feels tight. d. any other blood related, can't breathe, vital organ malfunctioning, life flashing before your eyes kind of circumstance.
What an emergency is not a. you have flu like symptoms and are too lazy to call the doctor to make an appointment. b. you have a splinter you cannot get out. c. you are coughing and you are not coughing up blood but are just really annoying. d. you vomited once and have flu like symptoms and no blood is involved.
I think we can safely say that if there is blood, a lack of air coming into your body, a broken something, a hole somewhere there shouldn't be one or something protruding from somewhere it should not, heart issues, or any other vital organ issue THAT is an emergency. Flu or coughing cold is NOT an emergency and is better left to a family practioner.
When I was in the ER it was the coughing cold/flu brigade. Thank the Lord that the tetanus shot they gave me also included the stuff for whooping cough or we could probably just throw the towel in right now. It was crazy! All these people with face masks to cover the cough they have probably had for weeks and only now decided they had nothing better to do than go to the ER. Joy that it is! I however, had other things to do and spent over two hours out of my life there that I'll never get back. I was certain that the hotty hubby could just bandage me up and I would be fine, he on the other hand felt differently about it so to the ER we went.
To the average outsider I probably do not look like I do much. I assure you that I have many irons in the fire. Juggling them all at the same time apparently didn't work out so well recently, obviously. A short list of irons: 1. three kids, 2. hotty hubby, 3. house upkeep, 4. caring and helping out friends and family, 5. two MOPS groups, 6. this week helping with a school book fair. 7. Also this week includes two funerals. So as you see while I do not have curing cancer or any other life changing items on the list I do not have time for a messed up rotator cuff, a sore throat/cold, or cutting off pieces of flesh. So after I went to the ER I went to the doctor to verify that I did not have strep that the shoulder was not going to need surgery (Imagine!), and that the finger would heal. I called at 8 a.m. and was in at 9:45 a.m. barely read a page out of the book I had brought, when they called me back. Where I informed the doctor and nurse that they needed to fix me up, stitch me up, or give me a shot of something because while they were very nice people I did not have time for this! They laughed and said they would do their best.
It was not a complicated thing to call and get into the doctor. So consider this a public service message to all those who have nothing better to do that spend an evening watching free tv and sitting around coughing in an ER waiting room, then complaining the entire time they are back there about how slow the service is. YOU are the problem! For the love of Pete pick up a phone and call the doctor and make an appointment. That way the people who have an actual emergency can get the help they need in a timely manner and as an added bonus you don't suck the life out of those who have dedicated their lives to helping others. Thank you!
I think to fully understand we should define the word emergency. Merriam Webster dictionary.com defines an emergency as a. an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action or b. an urgent need for assistance or relief. I think we can define it as a. you are oozing blood from a body part that isn't supposed to do that. b. you have been in an accident and need to be checked by emergency personnel for broken body parts or concussion. c. you may be having a heart attack as you have a shooting pain down your left arm and your chest feels tight. d. any other blood related, can't breathe, vital organ malfunctioning, life flashing before your eyes kind of circumstance.
What an emergency is not a. you have flu like symptoms and are too lazy to call the doctor to make an appointment. b. you have a splinter you cannot get out. c. you are coughing and you are not coughing up blood but are just really annoying. d. you vomited once and have flu like symptoms and no blood is involved.
I think we can safely say that if there is blood, a lack of air coming into your body, a broken something, a hole somewhere there shouldn't be one or something protruding from somewhere it should not, heart issues, or any other vital organ issue THAT is an emergency. Flu or coughing cold is NOT an emergency and is better left to a family practioner.
When I was in the ER it was the coughing cold/flu brigade. Thank the Lord that the tetanus shot they gave me also included the stuff for whooping cough or we could probably just throw the towel in right now. It was crazy! All these people with face masks to cover the cough they have probably had for weeks and only now decided they had nothing better to do than go to the ER. Joy that it is! I however, had other things to do and spent over two hours out of my life there that I'll never get back. I was certain that the hotty hubby could just bandage me up and I would be fine, he on the other hand felt differently about it so to the ER we went.
To the average outsider I probably do not look like I do much. I assure you that I have many irons in the fire. Juggling them all at the same time apparently didn't work out so well recently, obviously. A short list of irons: 1. three kids, 2. hotty hubby, 3. house upkeep, 4. caring and helping out friends and family, 5. two MOPS groups, 6. this week helping with a school book fair. 7. Also this week includes two funerals. So as you see while I do not have curing cancer or any other life changing items on the list I do not have time for a messed up rotator cuff, a sore throat/cold, or cutting off pieces of flesh. So after I went to the ER I went to the doctor to verify that I did not have strep that the shoulder was not going to need surgery (Imagine!), and that the finger would heal. I called at 8 a.m. and was in at 9:45 a.m. barely read a page out of the book I had brought, when they called me back. Where I informed the doctor and nurse that they needed to fix me up, stitch me up, or give me a shot of something because while they were very nice people I did not have time for this! They laughed and said they would do their best.
It was not a complicated thing to call and get into the doctor. So consider this a public service message to all those who have nothing better to do that spend an evening watching free tv and sitting around coughing in an ER waiting room, then complaining the entire time they are back there about how slow the service is. YOU are the problem! For the love of Pete pick up a phone and call the doctor and make an appointment. That way the people who have an actual emergency can get the help they need in a timely manner and as an added bonus you don't suck the life out of those who have dedicated their lives to helping others. Thank you!
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