The temperature here in Houston has dipped into the range that can officially be labeled “cool,” and it has actually lasted more than two days. In general, I would much rather be hot than cold, but I’m trying to look on the bright side of life. So in the spirit of optimism, here is my list of things that I like about this weather.
The clothes. Are winter clothes not the best? There is just something about a sweater. I would wear them year-round if I could, but instead I’ll just enjoy the 2-3 months that I can pull them off without sweating myself into dehydration.
Warm drinks. I mentioned that I’m enjoying coffee lately, and now I can tell you that it’s SO much better when it’s not a hundred degrees outside. Sometimes–when I am dragging myself out of bed before 5 a.m., or facing up to the fact that there is not enough hot water to stay in the shower forever–the thought of a warm cup of coffee gives me the motivation I need to take that step. I just cannot believe I have turned into one of those people.
Cuddling. Even though I hate being cold, I have convinced David to leave the heater off for as long as possible because I have turned into some kind of money-saving madwoman. It probably dips below 50 in our house at night now, but that’s fine with me because this way David will cuddle up next to me all night long. I don’t think I have ever slept better than I have these past few days. The only problem is, getting up is a real drag.
That’s it. That’s the end of my list. Now what about you? What do you love about cold weather?
In my second semester of nursing school, I had my first and only panic attack.
It was my first day of clinical at a new hospital. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I had stayed up too late the night before. I didn’t feel extremely anxious, but my body begged to differ.
I was in a patient’s room with the nurse I was following, when I began to feel slightly nauseous. Then, my heart started racing. Soon I was nearly hyperventilating and I didn’t know if I could stand up any longer. Embarrassed, I excused myself and went to the break room to sit down. It took me 30 minutes to recover.
Thankfully, the episode hasn’t repeated itself since then. I don’t struggle with chronic anxiety or depression, although several people near and dear to my heart do. But I have some particular things in my life going on that cause me to tense up, some situations that cause me sadness and worry, as well as dealing with day-to-day stress. When I showed up to the one-day women’s retreat for my church last Saturday and saw that the topic was “seeking God’s peace,” it didn’t jump out at me at first. But honestly, who doesn’t need more peace in their life?
I went to a very pacifist college, and I have done entire studies and book reports on the concept of peace. But this retreat was not an exercise in theology. It was this:
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength. –Corrie Ten Boom
I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened. –Mark Twain
Peace is a gift of God, and God is the only one who has peace to give. –John Hagee
When I was 21, long before I met my husband, I went through a very bad breakup with a boyfriend. Think the opening scenes of Legally Blonde, where Reese Witherspoon expects her boyfriend to propose and then he breaks up with her instead. The details aren’t important, but up until then I hadn’t experienced anything so devastating. Obviously, in hindsight, the whole ordeal was a blessing. The great thing was, though, that it was a blessing at the time as well. Yes, I was miserable for months and scarred for years. But I can honestly say that I don’t think I’ve ever grown as much spiritually as I did then. Somehow, during all that turmoil, God granted me peace.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart! I have overcome the world. –Jesus, in John 16:33
The following song was written by JJ Heller, in the midst of her struggle with panic attacks. It was played for us at the retreat, and now it will always be special to me.
No matter what is going on in my life, I know that my good God has it under control. He’s got it. And that’s enough to bring me peace.
Thank you to Chelsea for providing me with something to write about. It’s hard to get a post up on 12-hour shift days. I should probably schedule posts in advance, but I haven’t mastered that skill yet. So enjoy today’s Ten on Tuesday!
1. What are some of your family traditions? We usually go to a movie on or near Thanksgiving, and on Christmas we make Lil’ Smokies for breakfast. That’s about the extent of it. (Any member of my family care to chime in?)
2. Do you know how to change a flat tire? I do not. It would probably be a good thing to learn, though. I also need to learn how to fix a flat tire on a bike.
3. Do you subscribe to any magazines? What are your favorites? A few. Real Simple is my favorite and the only one I pay full price for (even though I hate their recipes). I bought a subscription to Southern Living even though I had never read it before because it was $5. And now I get Town & Country because it was free online somehow. That magazine is just fascinating, because I am NOT the intended audience. I know this because their holiday gift guide goes up to $10,000.
4. What are your top three favorite office supply items? (If you don’t share the love of office supplies with me or if you are male, you may skip this question.) Papermate mechanical pencils, rollerball pens, and fresh notebooks.
5. Are you a good public speaker?
Yes, I think so. I have had to give so many presentations in my life I’ve lost track. I also took a preaching class in college, and since then I have given several sermons. I’m not the funniest or most dynamic speaker by any stretch of the imagination, but I don’t get too nervous, am fairly articulate, and I don’t use distracting filler words like “um.” My director actually volunteered me to give a presentation THIS THURSDAY for the hospital. She gave me one week’s warning. Fun!
6. How do you feel about acronyms? Oh, I think they’re fun. My husband and I like to speak to each other in acronyms to see if we can figure out what the other person is trying to say. However, I am usually the last to figure out what popular Internet acronyms mean, and I generally have to look them up on Urban Dictionary.
7. What’s the most creative things you’ve ever done? (Bloggers, feel free to include pictures!) I made a scrapbook of my trips to Greece and Russia that is decent. I like to make cards, although I usually steal the design from someone else and adjust it to fit my needs or the supplies I have on hand. And, um, this blog? Yeah, I’m not a very creative person overall, but I really want to be.
8. I’d rather jam a pen in my eye than… …get cancer, or have someone I love get cancer.
9. What company has the best advertising? I don’t usually pay much attention to this, but the other day David and I were watching TV and a commercial came on and after it was over we both looked at each other and said, “That was really good.” It was for Macy’s, and you may have seen it. Just so classic.
10. When is your birthday? February 5, and I’ll be 28. Most of the time I think I’m 28 already, but I just checked and I’m still 27. But happy birthday to Chelsea, who is halfway to 50 today!
A couple of months ago my lovely friend-of-a-friend Cio, who I had never actually met but I felt as if I had, was blogging about how she wanted to do more photoshoots. It just so happened that earlier that week I had been thinking about how I’d like some updated, quality pictures of myself to use for various things. It was perfect.
We met at my house, where she was privileged to be introduced to our pups Eddie and Cleo, and then headed out to my favorite local park. The following are some of my favorite pictures that came out of it:
Fantastic, right? Seriously, check out Cio’s photography website, and if you live in her area and need a photographer, I give my two thumbs up!
I’ve mentioned that I went to college in Kansas for my first degree, and out of four years I think I only flew there once or maybe twice. I got really good at that 11-hour drive. I am going to share with you an anecdote that happened to me as I was driving home from Kansas one day, simply because it’s something that made me say to myself, “Did that just happen?” And things like that should be put down in writing for posterity.
So I was driving, and I had made it to the small towns of Texas. I only had a few hours left, and I was feeling weary. I may have been listening to music, talking to myself, or perhaps I had even resorted to car dancing. Hey, whatever it takes to stay awake. Out of nowhere, two birds came flying at my car. I kid you not, one of the birds shoved the other one directly into my path. I witnessed a bird murder. I had no time to dodge. I hit that bird with the front right corner of my vehicle, knocked out my headlight, and lodged the bird’s body in the newly-formed cavity where the headlight used to be. I knew the bird was stuck there because I could see one of its wings flapping up in the wind.
I watched that wing flap for at least an hour, and my only thought was, “What am I going to see when I get out of my car, and how am I going to get it out of there??” I was not excited about the answers to either of those questions.
And then! Something happened that I ordinarily would NOT have been excited about. Randomly, the rubber covering of my front right tire came loose and flew off. I don’t mean I got a flat tire, because the inner tube was full. Only the tread unraveled. As it came undone and launched itself from my car, it knocked the bird’s body out of place, dislodging it from the headlight.
Of course, I still had to deal with replacing my tire and headlight, but at the time I was much happier to deal with that than bird guts. The only evidence that it had ever happened at all was a few stray feathers.
