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  • Sharing The Gilmore Love

    If you don’t know this about me, then you need to: I am a die-hard fan of Gilmore Girls. I am not ashamed because it is an excellent show. Even my brother admits it.

    Anyway, I was vaguely aware that my new roommate, Courtney, had a distaste for the show, but I suppose I chose to block it out of my memory because I didn’t want to believe it. The other night we were sitting at the dinner table and she said, “I’ve been eyeing your Gilmore Girls DVDs lately,” and she had this look on her face as if she was about to confess to me that she prostitutes herself at night once we’ve gone to sleep.

    “Have you ever seen it?” I responded brightly.

    “No, I have never watched a single minute of it,” Courtney admitted.

    “Oh! Well let’s watch it! I think you’ll really like it,” I said optimistically.

    “Well here’s the deal,” she said seriously. “My friend Katie and I from college used to hate the show. We would tell each other, ‘Yeah, maybe we do watch Dawson’s Creek, but at least we don’t watch Gilmore Girls.’”

    “But how can you judge it if you’ve never seen it?” I asked sweetly.

    “I know, I know. Anyway, now Katie watches it. She even had a whole party for the series finale. She said to me, ‘Courtney, it’s good! All these years, we were wrong.’ So I’ve been thinking that watching the first episode can’t hurt.’”

    I was so excited to hear this, because getting someone hooked on Gilmore Girls is one of my favorite things to do, up there with eating ice cream and sleeping in. And I just knew that once she gave it a chance, she would like it. (That philosophy hasn’t exactly worked on my boyfriend, but there is another whole obstacle to get past there called Man Pride.) But just in case she wasn’t as thrilled with it as I would like her to be, I told her that she was not allowed to make fun of it if she didn’t like it. She would have to be respectful. And she agreed.

    Well, she likes it. I knew she would. We watched two episodes that night. I definitely could have kept going, but then again this is coming from a girl who watched an entire season in two days. The only thing I wasn’t pleased about was that Courtney kept asking me questions about how things end up on the show. I didn’t want to tell her because I wanted her to watch the entire series and find out the right way. But then again, I didn’t want to upset her by holding out and thus turn her off.

    “So neither of the characters really end up with a guy in the end, do they? I mean, not really?” she asked me at one point.

    “Courtney, the focus of the show is the pair of mother-daughter relationships. It’s about the Gilmore Girls. So no, there’s no big wedding at the end or anything, but that’s beside the point. You just want to know that the girls are OK.”

    As I gave this little speech Courtney couldn’t help giggling.

    “What?” I asked.

    “Nothing, nothing,” she said, stifling a smile. “That was just very heartfelt.”

    I am very loyal to my friends…even my fake ones.

  • Running, My Old Nemesis

    So my friend Katy, who is lately inspiring me to a healthier lifestyle all around, mentioned that she is planning on running the Texas Independence Relay in March. Soon afterwards I found myself telling her that I was interested in running it with her. What? I have never run more than a 5K in my life outside of soccer games. Do I really want to do this?

    The relay is a little over 200 miles long, split up into 40 legs. Each leg is somewhere between 3 and 9 miles long. Each person will run about 3-5 legs, depending on how many people are on your team. The race is nonstop, so there will be some nighttime running, some middle-of-the-day running, and some morning running.

    I want to run it because it’s a big event, and it sounds fun. As much as I think I hate running, I keep coming back to it. I keep entering random 5Ks, so apparently I like the races. I would get to experience the great state of Texas in a way I never have before, and I would get to visit a lot of cute small towns along the way. Also, I want to get in better shape. Yes I play soccer, but it’s totally different. That keeps me in decent shape, but I want to be in good shape. Or even great shape. I like to have a goal to work toward in order to motivate me, and this seemed like just the thing.

    So I need to start training. The other night Katy sent me a marathon training schedule, but it was confusing at first glance. It did inspire me though, so I figured since I had the next morning off I’d go for a run. My mistake came when I decided to get 8 hours of sleep so that I didn’t end up going running until around 8:30 a.m., and by that time the sun was well up in the sky and the heat index was definitely in the 90’s. I ran for 15 minutes before giving up.

    I vented to Katy about my frustration and she explained the training schedule to me. It’s set up in a way that seems totally do-able, and gradually builds up endurance. It begins 24 weeks out from race day which for us isn’t until September 16, so I think I’m going to wait until then to start in hopes that it will be a tiny bit cooler. (Ha!) In the meantime I will try to step up my amount of bike rides and yoga sessions just to get myself moving more.

    Happy Thursday!

  • That’s What It’s All About

    We did the Hokey Pokey in church yesterday. In a big circle, during the sermon.

    Obviously it was a strange message. There really wasn’t much to it. But still, something that was said has stuck with me. The man who was speaking was describing how he used to do the Hokey Pokey with his kids when they were young. He said that although they loved the entire dance and performed it with boundless energy, they just could not wait to get to the part where they put their “whole self” in.

    As our congregation was instructed to form a big circle (you can do this kind of stuff in a tiny church like ours) and the song began to play, I admit that I was cynical. But then I began to look around. There was my best friend’s mom doing a cute little shake as she turned herself around. There was my dad – I never could have pictured him like this when I was younger! – with a huge smile on his face, my mom equally enthusiastic beside him, doing the motions with gusto. And there were all the kids and youth of the church throwing themselves into it as if they were at the roller rink and not Big Church.

    As I looked at all these people putting their whole selves in, I wished I could do the same. Don’t expect me to be going crazy the next time we are asked to do a silly dance in church, but maybe I can try a little harder to put my whole self into the things that I do. Maybe one day I won’t care as much about what I look like or what people think of me. Maybe one day I’ll get over myself.

    He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

    Matthew 18:2-4

  • Overheard Waiting For The Bus

    Guy #1: What time does this bus come?
    Guy #2: A quarter till three, man.
    Guy #1: Does that mean 25 minutes till three or fifteen?
    Guy #2: Fifteen, dude.

    A few moments later…

    Guy #1: Do you think reading minds is wrong?
    Guy #2: No.
    Guy #1: So you think it’s OK to read someone’s mind?
    Guy #2: I don’t have a problem with that. But right now I’m just waiting for my bus, OK?

    Guy #2 was pretty annoyed with Guy #1…I don’t blame him.

  • Not Just For Mothers

    I was at work stuffing envelopes today with a bunch of my coworkers, just listening to the conversation. At the end of each month we have to send out heaps of checks to creditors and it takes a couple of hours to get them all folded and put into envelopes, even with a bunch of us working on it. No one really likes doing it, but we try to enjoy it as best we can. Usually I just observe and come away with a funny story or conversation that I have overheard, like the time I listened to one lady relating the story of her first experience buying condoms over the weekend.

    Today, however, was different. Today I was educated. Today I learned all about the science of coupon cutting.

    One of my coworkers is ALL into it. She buys at least three Sunday papers, goes through the coupons, organizes them into a binder, and then watches the sales. She taught us how to get free products, how to work each individual store, what each different kind of coupon means, and lots of other tidbits. Our favorite story was how she was able to get 40 tubs of butter for free. What she did with 40 tubs of butter is beside the point. Everyone at the table was riveted! We even asked her to do a lunch-hour workshop on the subject.

    I know that coupon cutting is like the ultimate in domestic, old, and uncool. But I can’t help it–I’m picking up a Sunday paper.