This is a great article about cell-phone providers and the horrible service they give…I, too, am one of the many frustrated customers who strongly dislike my cell-phone provider…

I told myself I would not complain about my sunburn…so all I will say is this: This is the worst burn I’ve ever had, and I haven’t slept more than 4 hours in the past two nights because of the excruciating pain. It is so painful to wear clothes, which are kinda important, LOL. Anyway, that’s all I’ll say about that. I need sleep!

Other than the sunburn, it was a great weekend. I met with two women from my church Sunday afternoon to begin our weekly times of prayer, accountability and study. And I am so looking forward to this! They are amazing women of God, and I am SO excited about learning from them as we meet regularly. My roommates and I had dinner together both Saturday and Sunday night, which was great because we were able to get to know each other better through the meal-time conversations. Erin and I have been up until 1am the past few nights talking, which has been really cool. She gives me a lot to think about.

One of the things we were discussing was the degree to which “stuff” gets in the way in our lives. Our lives are filled with so much stuff, so many things, that are completely unnecessary (this topic came up because all three of us–Jes, Erin and I–are really stressed out about money right now, and we were discussing how wonderful it would be to not have to have money at all…)…we talked about how people who live in other countries are generally much poorer than we are in America, yet they are just as happy–if not happier–than we tend to be. Why is that? We have everything we could ever dream of…yet we are often distressed, discouraged and unhappy…

The Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil, and I think there is some wisdom in that. I know that I struggle with the desires to have more money all the time, and when I want more money, I tend to worry more than normal. When I worry, I can be irritable, etc…and the list goes on. But how can that be changed? How can I truly learn to be content in life, as Paul said, “whatever the circumstances”?

On a different note, Cheyenne (my “sister” in Pennsylvania) is coming for a week in August!! I am SO excited! She’ll be getting her ticket this week, I think, and it will be so awesome to spend time with her this summer–since I lived with her the past two summers. 🙂 Yay for dear friends visiting!

I am looking forward to seeing my family this week…it will be great, even though it is only for two days. I’ll get homemade ice cream this week as well! YAY! 🙂

I’ll end this with a quote:

“Celebrate the significance and wonder of life. Don’t wait until it hits you over the head. It’s already there; embrace it.”

–Nicole Johnson

I have lived in California my entire life (21.5 years)…I have gone to the beach countless times…yet, today, I must have left my common sense at home!

When you are laying in the sun, it is very important to roll over every 20 minutes or so, not fall asleep while you are relaxing…and it is very important to apply sunscreen evenly…

Yeah.

My back, and the back of my legs (as well as half of the front of my legs…don’t ask…it looks so tacky!!), are like a LOBSTER! I cannot believe it. I broke one of the cardinal rules of beach going! I fell asleep while listening to the wonderful sounds of the Pacific Ocean…granted, it wasn’t for very long, but I didn’t roll over and now I am red. Amazing. If it doesn’t peel, I’ll have a great tan in a few days, which will be nice, especially on my perpetually white legs. LOL. Yeah, and now my new dress will look good because I’ll be tan…IF it doesn’t peel.

So, take the advice of a born and raised California girl–don’t allow yourself to become so relaxed while at the beach! You may fall asleep, causing a great deal of pain later.

Sigh…I’m not the sharpest crayon in the box today–I’m a little “dull”…at least it was a great day, very relaxing, with the roomies…which was much needed. 🙂

I am a lobster…:(

Tonight, when other plans fell through, I decided that I was going to take it easy. I checked out several books from the library today–Wordsworth, Eliot, Frost, Chopin, etc–and decided to spend the evening reading poetry, while listening to classical masterpieces by candlelight. It was so relaxing, yet stimulating, to read these works of poetry and decipher the metaphors within. It was wonderful…

…until the candle wax spilled all over the table, and my allergy medicine wore off–leaving me feeling horrible and unable to breathe. Then my roommates came home and were discussing various things, making the atmosphere vanish ever so quickly.

Sigh…it was great while it lasted!

I am loving this return to poetry…tomorrow, after a day of planting palm trees at church, perhaps I’ll take some time to write some of my own. 🙂

Until then…

Remember the games we used to play growing up? Remember the game M.A.S.H.? Wow, did my friends and I spend hours and hours playing that game…who would we marry? What would we drive? Seriously, we would play this game, get the results, then fall back on the bed in ecstatic bliss if the results matched our desires…if they didn’t suit us, we’d play again until they did. Sigh…(LOL!)

Miss those days?

Well, now you can play it online!

The “13 going on 30” website has tons of 1980s and 1990s flashback stuff, and it has been kinda fun! I spent about 30 minutes on there today…playing M.A.S.H. a few times.

I’ll keep the M.A.S.H. results to myself 😉

Today I decided to re-read the wonderful works I held so dear while in high school, and even in my first couple years of college. I took English classes simply for the joy and the mystery they brought to my life. I have realized how much I still LOVE to read these works! I am remembering how much I love poetry–both reading and writing it–and how wonderful my mind feels after delving into these wonderful works.

One poem came to mind this morning, which led me to begin to re-read Oscar Wilde, William Wordsworth, Kate Chopin and T.S. Eliot. The poem is one from my sophomore year in high school, Advanced Writing, with Mrs. Cleo Gambetta. “Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori.” (in English–if I remember the Latin properly: It is fitting and proper to die for one’s country)I will never forget that phrase–and the poem it is from.

Dulce Et Decorum Est

by Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!– An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And floundering like a man in fire or lime.–

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

This poem, with some analysis, brings some very troubling concepts to mind…I wish I could remember all that we developed in that class, for we spent a week or so on this poem alone. I do remember that it gave me a new perspective on war, and on extreme patriotism. This man experienced the horrors of war, of a comrade dying a painful death from poison gas, and this experience has understandably left him embittered. He states at the end that you wouldn’t be so quick to send people to war if you had been there, had seen the screaming eyes of your comrades…you wouldn’t be so hasty to enter into battle…

This leaves much to ponder…

What Color is Your Brain?
brought to you by Quizilla

According to this quiz, this is the definition of those with blue brains:

BLUE:

At work or in school: I like to be with people, sharing with them, inspiring them, and helping them. I work and learn best when I can take into consideration people and the human element. I flourish in an atmosphere of cooperation.

With friends: I always look for perfect love. I am very romantic, and I enjoy doing thoughtful things for others. I am affectionate, supportive and a good listener.

With family: I like to be happy and loving. I am very sensitive to rejection from my family and to family conflicts. I really like to be well thought of and need frequent reassurance. I love intimate talks and warm feelings.

Nothing much to post today, but I’d encourage you to read a few of the latest posts from this week…especially this one. They are worth the read! 😉

Came across this passage from Frederick Buechner’s The Sacred Journey in a great blog this morning:

“The question is not whether the things that happen to you are chance things or God’s things because, of course, they are both at once. There is no chance thing through which God cannot speak–even the walk from the house to the garage that you have walked ten thousand times before, even the moments when you cannot believe there is a God who speaks at all anywhere. He speaks, I believe, and the words he speaks are incarnate in the flesh and blood of our selves and of our own footsore and sacred journeys. We cannot live our lives constantly looking back, listening back, lest we be turned to pillars of longing and regret, but to live without listening at all is to live deaf to the fullness of the music. Sometimes we avoid listening for fear of what we may hear, sometimes for fear that we may hear nothing at all but the empty rattle of our own feet on the pavement. But be not affeared, says Caliban, nor is he the only one to say it. “Be not afraid,” says another, “for lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” He says he is with us on our journeys. He says he has been with us since each of our journeys began. Listen for him. Listen to the sweet and bitter airs of your present and your past for the sound of him.”