Currently - June 2015 Edition

Things I am currently:

Obsessing over,
Working on, 
Thinking about, 
Anticipating, 
Listening to,
Eating,
Praying for,
Reading,

Remembering, Happy about.  

I am at the lake. Celebrating Canada Day. 

Haha, not really. While it IS Canada Day, and I AM at Cultus, I'm here by myself, so uh, the celebrations are pretty tame. Just me and two books and a laptop. Whoo Hoo. Party on. 

I realize I never did go back and fill in the details of the days of my Colorado/LasVegas vacation. I thought I'd do that this week, but nope. I never did. So much a loser. I WILL make an effort tho. Because some of the things we saw and did (especially in the first few days, were actually interesting. And you may want to go there someday. So in the interest of contributing to Colorado's Tourist Industry - I will suck it up and write words. Just not tonight. 

1. Things I am currently obsessing over:

• Define 'obsessing'. 

2. Things I am working on:

• Remembering to wear sunscreen. At least on my face. 
• Wearing a hat. Pffft. This will likely not happen on a consistent basis. I already have a ton of hair on my head. A hat just seems excessive.
• Going to bed by 1 am on school nights. Which gives me half an hour to finish this up.
• Not being disproportionately sad about not having a TV to watch. Haha. The only time I really would have liked to have sat in front of it, mindlessly, was last week when I was sick/recovering from surgery. I don't care as much this week. 
•  Opening my mail in a timely manner. Starting today. Because one really shouldn't drive around in a vehicle that one forgot to re-insure. 

3. Things I am thinking about:

• This heat wave. And how long it'll last. (PLEASE, all summer?) And what the impact will be if it does last a few more weeks/months. 

• Because I follow them on Twitter, I've been thinking about WestJet and the three bomb threats they've had in the past few days. They've all been hoaxes, but seriously WHAT THE HECK? WHO would do that?

• The black churches in the US and why people are burning them. In one of the articles I read, it said it was the work of radical Christians. This saddens me. 

• I am also thinking about the SCOTUS's ruling that same-sex marriages were legal in all 50 states. And how this was welcome news all around the world and to many of my facebook friends. I am remembering the conversation I had with my kids about it. And how I don't know how it will directly impact me. The very first tweet I read about it was from a Christian guy I follow. Cryptically, his post was, "I hope Christians think and pray for 12 hours before writing or saying ANYTHING." I wondered what he was yacking on about...

• I am thinking about work. My (young) boss just gave two weeks notice and will be moving on to a great opportunity in Vancouver. Things will be different around the office. This is me, not worrying about the transition. 

4. Things I am anticipating:

• In July? I am anticipating seeing a few movies. 
• Attending a wedding. Maybe in a sari. Maybe not.
• Going to a concert in Seattle.
• Spending more time at the lake. 
• Walking seawalls.
• Giving blood. 
• Celebrating a birthday. 

5. I am currently listening to:

• And this is the sad thing. Only one new song this month, instead, of like, many, because I didn't have a note book with me. There was a plethora of songs I heard at the concert in Denver that I told myself "remember this one. Add it to your playlist..." but of course. I didn't remember. And sadly my playlist has only grown by this song, heard today, from the deck, being played on a boat on the lake: 

6. I am currently eating:

• A slice of DQ Smartie Treatza Pizza
• And a glass of water
• But I will be eating much fruit tomorrow. 
• And lots more water.

I'm thinking I will probably eliminate this question in future 'Currentlys'. So this'll be the last one. Who really cares what I'm eating when I type this out. What might be worthier of being recorded is a list of any new foods that I've tried during the month. And what my thoughts are on that. 

Hmm. We'll see.

I'm not adventurous when it comes to food. 

7. I am praying for:

• Well OH MY GOODNESS, what am I not praying for? It occurred to me, as I was driving away from Dairy Queen tonight, that God may be reconsidering His idea that it was OK to give people like me full access to His ear. There are times when I'm sure He is thinking, "OK FINE. YES ALREADY WOMAN. I heard you 5 minutes ago. And 5 minutes before that. I got it. For the love of mud, quit asking. If it's My will, it'll come to pass. NOW MOVE ON. Haven't you got something else to think about? Maybe think on things that are lovely and true? 
• I am praying for friends with cancer and tumors and broken bones and shattered hearts and lonely lives and 
• I am praying for families that are hurting here and over there where babies heads are being chopped off. 
• I am praying for people who are looking for meaning and purpose.
• I am praying for those who will spend this summer looking for the next high. 
• And those who need sleep. Because, babies.
• And those who are planning weddings. 
• Or finalizing divorces.
• And for those who just need to hear from Him. Personally. 

8. I have recently read:

Re: Magician's Nephew

I know. 

I'd never read it before. 

I'd never read ANY of them before. 

Not sure how motivated I am to continue reading the series. 

Re: Fangirl. 

Ahem. 

I may be guilty of my own fangirling. 

However this wasn't about having a crush on an actor. 

It's about being besotted with a character. In a book. 

*Thinks of Jamie Fraser in Outlander and totally understands...

This book is about young/first love and writing fanfic.

I do love YA novels. 

The Enchanted. Not an easy book to read. It's setting is an old crumbling prison, specifically the Death Row wing. 

But of all the books I've read this year, THIS ONE will probably stick in my memory the longest. 

People don't generally find themselves on death row after having lived a normal life with loving parents. We as a society have failed a whole segment of our population when we allow children to grow up in damaging, horrific, pain-filled, non-functioning homes. Sadly, the alternative, (being sent to live in a flawed system of foster/institutionalized care) isn't always better.

I now understand why we need prison ministries. And why we need to pray for those who are incarcerated. 

Also, a statistic I heard was that 90% of the men with long term/life sentences came from homes with no father. 

Seriously. MEN GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER. If you are a dad, figure out a way to stay married to your children's mother. The world needs men to stay married and actively involved in their children's lives. Whoever started the rumor that 'children are the woman's responsibility' is an ass misinformed. Kids need a dad. Every single day. Not just every other weekend. Every single day. Doesn't matter if you don't know what you're doing. Start by simply being there. 

(And  - shameless plug here - resources ARE available. Like, say, at Focus on the Family. Or the library.)

End of rant. 

The Prodigal God was a re-read. I'm so glad I did. 

Such a good book. 

"When Christianity first arose in the world it was not called a religion. It was the non-religion." (No sacrifices, no high priests, no temples...")

The irony of this should not be lost on us ... to most people in our society, Christianity IS religion and moralism."

"Jesus's teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of His day. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, button-downed, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church, That can only mean one thing. If the preaching our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, THEN WE MUST NOT BE DECLARING THE SAME MESSAGE JESUS DID."

SO many good words in this book. SO MANY. 

Timing was perfect for me to re-read in light of everything going on in our world today. 

9. I am remembering/happy about:

Well June was quite a month.

It started, like it always does, on the 1st. Which is my birthday. So. There's that. 

To be honest, it's not my favorite day of the year. I don't mind recognizing that I'm getting older... it's just like it's a day with some level of expectations attached to it. Like Christmas. Like, someone is supposed to do something on this day to make me feel loved, spoiled, appreciated? 

* I don't have these expectations, but those type of comments come up regularly on Facebook when it's your birthday. 

"Hope you are spoiled today."

"Hope you are loved today."

"Hope your day is filled with fun surprises and lots of cake."

Hahaha. 

Last year I sat at the lake by myself. It was lovely. And quiet. And nice. Then went to bed.

This year I was at work. Then I invited my kids and my mom to join me for supper. Then I went to bed.

Birthdays. 

They are just another day. 

I really don't know what I would do to make it otherwise. 

And to be fair, I don't know how to make their birthdays especially awesome for my kids or my mom either. A hug, a card, a gift, some dinner. I suck at celebrating someone's life's milestones. 

SO anyway. 

My birthday on the first. I am remembering/happy about it. It was fine. And good. 

And every evening after that, for two weeks, I was out with a friend who wanted to get together for my birthday. Haha. It's a crazy life.

(I am blogging from the deck at the lake and it's night and the light of this laptop is attracting bugs like a jar of honey calls to bears.)

ALSO this month? FOOT MASSAGES that hurt like the dickens but did bring some relief. Like, 60 - 70% relief. So that was a good thing. 

I will put a plug in for her here: 

Robin. http://www.healthroots.ca/

Go see her for reflexology or Planters Fasciitis. Or troublesome bone spurs. BEST foot massage I've ever had. 

And then there was THE TRIP.

My top ten memories of our Colorado/Vegas Holiday:

1. The airlines we chose all had changed their checked baggage acceptable weight from 50 pounds to 40 pounds. Which wasn't an issue for me, as I only packed 37 pounds plus my laptop. This was a stumbling block for my traveling companion as she had packed exactly 50 pounds plus a number of things for carry on. My memories of this trip will always include her shuffling and rearranging her possessions, then carrying about 27 pounds of carry on. And her lament that if she'd been traveling with her husband, he'd be carrying all her extra things in his backpack. Sorry babe. 

2. Also, while I'm thinking of air travel, I will always remember the night we spent in the Denver airport. And the absolutely terrible service that comes when you purchase a ticket through Cheap-O.  Haha. Don't ever travel with Spirit Airlines, no matter how tempting the ticket price. It's not worth it. Ever. Six hours of delays, only to be told at 10 pm that they flight is cancelled - they had no crew to operate the plane. No vouchers for hotels or food. No nothing. Just a recommendation that we go to the ticketing counter (a train ride and 10,000 steps on the other side of security) to get seats reserved for a plane leaving the next morning. Which was delayed.

Our one and a half hour commute between Denver and Vegas took 20 hours. So very, very thankful that I wasn't traveling with small children. Or that I HAD to be in Vegas for a meeting or something. All things considered, we were the perfect candidates to be inconvenienced. :)

And because Sandra can sleep anywhere. She curled up on the carpet and slept for 7 hours. 

I? Did no such thing.

3. Pike's Peak Hwy. 

4. Cave Dwellers.

5. Garden of the Gods.

6. Boulders in Boulder.

7. Donny and Marie/Jersey Boys/Cirque de Soliel

8. EDC.

9. One Hundred and Twelve Degrees

10. Posers on the Strip

(All of the above will be fully blogged about in the coming days back on the pages where I started posting vacation pics.)

And the last big thing in June?

HAHAHAHA.

Only that little bit of surgery on my face while my head was suffering from the world's worst man cold. THAT incapacitated me for a week. Unexpectedly. 

I'm still scabby by the way. MAN. I am the worlds slowest healer. 

I am happy that it's over. 

And thus concludes this edition of Currently. 

Three things I'm thankful for:

1. Watermelon. I think I ate a whole one, by myself, today. 

2. Helpful neighbours. Lost all water today; NOTHING came from the taps. And then, because one of the neighbours looked into it, magically a few hours later - all was restored. 

3. This place. This time. This life. 

Shalom,

xo