Mm hmm

When I ordered my wedding dress, the lady said, "You're measurements were just a 10, so you should try to lose some weight before your dress comes in April." I said, "Yeah, I'm planning on it."

Today for lunch I packed a giant piece of funfetti cake.

I'm so disciplined.

coincidence

Einstein says coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.

I guess God has put me in the right place at the right time.

Something magical has happened and I can't even tell you about it.

But.

This is amazing.

How can I ever repay?

I made my own day

Work today really sucked the life out of me.
Actually, it started before work. I woke up this morning with the heavy fog of sleep refusing to be shaken away. I lied in bed for a few minutes, trying to allow the fog time to lift, but still... I couldn't draw up enough energy to hoist myself out of bed, let alone propel me through my day. I didn't even shower because I couldn't fathom having to go through the process... remove t-shirt, get wet, lather, rinse, lather, rinse, dry off, find clothes, get dressed, decide whether or not to dry hair or pull up in a cold, wet ponytail. No, definitely not today. So I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I stared at my heaping pile of dirty laundry, shaking my head, before digging through both clean and dirty clothes, trying to find something appropriate for work. Really, what's so wrong with a comfy pair of jeans and a t-shirt?
Today on Ellen, she explained that she's a crier. She's always been sensitive. And the people who tell her to grow some thick skin should just stop because if she hasn't by now, she's just not going to. What she's going to do it cry. Yeah, me too.
My co-workers were all mean to me today. I don't really want to talk about it. Just accept it as truth. Now, they may not have been trying to be mean, and yes, I am sensitive, but none-the -less, they were mean. And my phone, which normally doesn't ring more than 3 times during the day, and it's usually from someone within the office, rang continuously today, but only when I was seeing a client, and when I was trying to take a lunch break. Bah!
My roommate Nicole, with whom I ride to work, called at 3:30 to say that her boss had told her to leave early. Deal. Thank God.
And then I decided that the rest of the night would be spent trying to recover from a crappy couple of days.
I vegged on the couch and watched Oprah while eating a dinner of Ritz Chocolates. When that wasn't enough, I popped in Little Miss Sunshine, half watching the movie, and half reading a magazine. Olive's dance raised my spirits so much that I felt ready to leave the house. I decided to go to Arhaus to take pictures of the 'branches wrapped in yarn' I've been talking so much about. My roommate Stephanie joined in on the fun. We walked around Harbor East. The air was warm as a July night and smelled like a steakhouse, with hints of sea salt and rotting fish poking through. It was lovely. We came upon a Starbucks. Grande soy no-water chai. And on the way back to the car, we popped into the place that I knew would turn my night around. Whole Foods Market. Wandering leisurely throughout the store, I stopped, I smelled, I sampled, I even perused the cheese section in honor of my wife. And then, before leaving, I bought myself a fall bouquet of beautiful yellow and rust-colored daisies and mums to put in the vase that has traditionally been filled with gladiolis from the farm between Corry and Union City. This was the first fall since 2003 the vase has sat empty on my window sill. I think it's happy to be useful again.

well?

I'm feeling funky this morning.
Not funky fresh.
Not funky fun.
Just funky.

I can't figure out why, but I have the feeling that something happened to cause this. Three things come to mind, yet still I'm not sure if any are the real culprit.
1. intense chronic pain. it's been probably the worse it's ever been for the past week. it's enough to make anyone go crazy.
2. talking to the guy from christ house last night at the volunteer fair. :(
3. maybe i had a weird dream.

the weekend

My wife came to visit me this weekend. How wonderful was that?!
So wonderful!
We relaxed, we explored, we had girl talk... she said that she felt bad because she felt like she was on vacation and realized that I wasn't. And that's what we do. We travel together. But it was a vacation for me!
Friday night we relaxed and watched The Devil Wears Prada with my roommate Stephanie.
Saturday morning Tricia, Stephanie and I went to Cameo II Bridal Salon in Glen Burnie and .... dum dum dum.... I ordered my wedding dress!!! It's so perfect. I'm really excited!
Saturday afternoon Tricia and I were joined by Markus' Army friend, Billy Reinstatler. That was lots of silly fun. He was up visiting from Virginia and the three of us went to lunch at Teavolve, a restaurant/tea house that I've been wanting to take someone to. I kept joking that we were a funny combination of people... me, my wife, and my fiance's husband... but I don't think Billy liked that very much. :)
Saturday night I was craving a cheeseburger like no other. We hunted for a cheeseburger in Federal Hill for about an hour before settling into a fun little bar right next to Cross Street Market. It was full of young people. We sat at a table next to a large window that opened into the busy sidewalk. People stopped outside our window to take a peak at the game, check out the scene, and ask for directions. It was fun.
And Sunday! Oh Sunday! T and I went to breakfast at Paper Moon Diner, and then explored the Baltimore Museum of Art. My favorite painting was of a dense forest by Gustav Klimt.

I had more Starbucks this weekend than I have the whole time I've been here.
And that's okay. I like Starbucks.

Yesterday I had a weird day, so today I'm staying home from work.

See ya.

Breathe Deeply into Us

O unwearying One
who stalks us down all our days,
bring us up short, now,
and breathe deeply into us
for we come breathless to you
from fretful times and frangible relations,
our attention distracted,
our energy drained,
our intentions splintered,
our love glazed over,
our hopes unmet,
our faith frayed.

Still, we gasp to thank you
for this undeniable impulse
to thank you,
for this insistent yearning
to know you,
for this throbbing desire
to love you back;
for this quick, trembling,
sensuous sense of all your gifts
showered like rain on lives
long parched by inattention:
bread to empower our bodies,
beauty to quicken our pulse,
night to show off the stars
and put us in our awesome place,
problems to summon our talents,
love to link our lives,
laughter to nurse our wounds,
passion to shape our maybes
into a brighter day for
the whole human family;
and for this mystical, magical moment
of peace and shimmering power,
of grace and prophetic stretch,
in which you work the miracles
of gladdening our hearts yet again,
in spite of painful patches,
sobering losses, and puzzling trails;
of balming our souls with a touch of joy
because we are,
and are yours,
and you are forever;
of heeding our prayers beyond our words
in the spirit of Jesus. Amen.

Ted Loder


At the start of our community night tonight, Shannon grabbed a book of prayers off the shelf and opened up to one 'randomly'. It's amazing how much this prayer spoke to my life right now.

OK

As Markus put so eloquently, "I'm over my week and a half long case of the Sundays."

You'll be glad to know I'm not feeling so totally crappy anymore.