Thank you, etsy.
One of my favorite expressions now framed and appropriately hanging by the front door.
Archive | September, 2011
meet mabel.
30 SepShe’s here!
I received a phone call this morning, asking if I was still interested in Ms.Angel. Most certainly so, I said. [Maybe not those exact words.]
I went shopping. Bought what I thought I needed. I thought I was ready.
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| She especially loves the green blobby alien toy. It has a squeeker. And she always wants me to take it from her but I always don’t want to – it’s wet and slimy. |
We’ve been together for two hours now.
Tell me I haven’t made a mistake.
I know things will be grand. We just need to figure out each other’s schedules, not bite, and not jump on the furniture. [So glad I didn’t get a puppy. I seriously would not have the patience.] I think it will be okay. Once we figure things out together.
As for a name, we’re going with Mabel. Thanks to Mrs.Kimberly for that suggestion! [Kim called me and asked for more information on the type of dog. “I’ll think of a name. I’ll call you back.” Within twenty minutes, she called. “I think she needs an old lady name. Sadie, Harriet, Mabel -” DONE.] Mabel kinda sounds like Angel too so hopefully the name change will go okay.
If you’re coming on Sunday for installation, you’ll get to meet Mabel. I have family coming to stay tomorrow night [Aunt Kari, cousin Molly, and Grandma Julie] so I hope Mabel treats guests well. It will all be quite interesting …
weed.
29 Sep[Picking up on the previous post about drugs, here’s one on weed.]
It’s kind of exciting. I have a house and with a house comes a yard. I have a yard and with a yard come maintenance. I do my best but so far that best is pretty mediocre.
It was a gorgeous day yesterday so as I went home, I decided to do a few outside chores before settling into the hammock with my Kindle. [Current read: The Girl who Played with Fire.] I swept all the nasty dead beetles from the front and back stoop and as I walked around the side of the house, I decided to pull weeds. I started with this one:
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| Does anyone know what this is? My knowledge of weeds is quite pathetic. I obviously didn’t know enough NOT to touch it … |
Mistake. I reached my hand down and grabbed this nasty green thing only to draw my hand back quickly. It was like a thistle and its tiny prickers poked me. Screw you, weed. I walked away and my hand absolutely stung. It stung terribly. I walked in the house, washed my hands, and still dealt with the burn. I did the next logical thing.
I called my mom. She’s a nurse. I told her it hurt and stung and burned and was kinda sorta starting to blister. She told me to take benadryl and put hydrocortisone cream on it. I had neither at the house. Instead of driving into town, I did nothing and went to the hammock to read.
The burning eventually subsided. I went about my night. Then it started to tingle. Much like when your leg wakes up from being asleep, there were pins and needles in my hand that would not go away. All night. And again this morning. You’re mean, weed.
It has finally went away but believe me, that weed is going to die and I will pull it’s life from the dirt while wearing long sleeves and gloves. What did I ever do to you, weed? [Besides try and kill you? Touche.]
drugs.
29 SepI went to the care center in Austin this afternoon to visit a couple congregation members. The first one – we’ll call him Steve – and I had never met. I probably looked a bit lost, peering into his room to see if he was there. Luckily [maybe?] the chaplain of the care center who I met yesterday at text study was just across the hall in another room.
Are you looking for Steve?, she asked me, walking into the hallway.
Who’s that?, yelled the woman in the room across the hall.
She’s another pastor, explained the chaplain.
Is she on drugs too?
No, she’s not on drugs, the chaplain answered immediately.
On that note, we walked away and the chaplain took me to where Steve was hanging out with his wife and in-laws. End scene.
My first instinct was to laugh but the chaplain kept a straight face so I managed too. My second reaction was to ask, well, who else is on drugs? And third, I wanted to ask this chaplain, whom I had only met once briefly in a larger group of people, what made her so sure that I wasn’t on drugs …
a doggy tale.
28 SepThere’s something I didn’t tell you last night.
I met a new friend.
She might come live with me.
She’s five and a pure-bred yellow lab. She’s house-trained [they think – she keeps her kennel clean] and can sit, shake, and lay down. She seems friendly and awesome and definitely a dog I could love. I filled out my application at the humane society and they will let me know within a week if Angel can come home with me. Apparently she has been there for a few weeks and there has been little to no interest in her; most people want a puppy. I, however, will celebrate that she won’t eat my shoes and I don’t need to fork out money for her to be spayed. Click here. Choose dogs and scroll to the bottom to see Angel. [If you want. I don’t mean to be bossy.]
*clears throat* About that name. As a pastor – really, just as a human being – I refuse to stand outside and call loudly, “Angel!” Especially when the neighbor dog has such a cool name – Neutron.
You know my brother has yellow lab too. Jetta is right around five years old too. Perhaps that’s why I could love Angel and want to give her a home. She reminds me of the lab mutts we always had growing up and specifically of Jetta dear.
Here’s Jetta.
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| It’s not the best photo in the world; she was anxious to go outside and couldn’t believe I was making her sit. This was the one photo she let me take while I visited her in Alaska. I think I was just a friendly stranger to her now; she’s forgotten her auntie. sniffle. |
That’s pretty much what Angel looks like but I’d gather that Angel is a bit bigger, especially with a bigger head. Jetta’s a petite girl. Brother Matt wonders if I will name Angel something like Passat. I must say it crossed my mind. [Golf, Touareg, or Phaeton would just be silly.]
Or Darcy. Darcy has been the name I’ve had for a long time in my head. [Naturally, my love of P&P shines through here. Don’t judge me, Lizzy, don’t you dare judge me.]
Doggy name thoughts?
I’ll keep you posted on my application process and should the humane society decide that I would be a responsible doggy mommy, the tales which follow will be plenty. So many tales that you may curse this blog and wish I never got a dog in the first place. You’ve been warned.
a mug routine.
27 SepI’ve determined that I’m rooted in routine. I need routine. I like routine.
Maybe that’s part of why transition throws me for such a loop. My routine gets all messy and unknown and mixed up and Lindsay goes loopy.
As I went through my morning routine this morning, I opened the cupboard above my coffee maker and, being the dork that I am, I smiled to myself. Want to know one of my favorite part of my morning routine?
Deciding which coffee cup I’ll use that day.
Is it an Office mug day? [“I *heart* Jim” or “Employee of the year.”] A Dawson day? [Preacher gnome or painted gnome scenes.] A mustache mug or fireworks mug? [Half of the mustache came off in the dishwasher. opps.] Corny/awesome souvenir mugs from Alaska and Korea? Choices, choices. And I love them all.
There is something about the mug fun and something about the Starbucks french roast [I learned to drink my coffee dark and bold from the best, a la Emily.] that goes inside of it that makes my morning happy. I love my morning routine. [Except for that part when I need to wake up and climb out of a cozy bed. But after that.]
amazon fail.
27 SepYou know how when you buy things on Amazon.com, they then have your email and all your info of what you’ve purchased and what you’ve ever even thought about purchasing? I buy a fair number of things on Amazon. My dear Kindle is the reason that keeps me going back frequently, along with used books and used dvds. My complete Friends series was purchased on Amazon used and you know how much I love that.
Amazon sends frequent emails. The kind of thing where they say – hey. We saw that you bought these; now wouldn’t you like to purchase these too? It’s almost like the Hallmark cards that say, “I saw this and thought of you!” They suggest like items, items they think I may be interested in based on my history on the site.
Yesterday, I received one of said emails in my inbox.
“Amazon.com recommends “Red clown foam noses (12 pc.)” was the subject line.
I have no idea what I have bought in the past or what I’ve searched for that would lead Amazon to believe that I need a dozen clown noses, but I’m so glad they see fake foam noses and think of me.
[No. I did not purchase them. My current need for clown noses is quite non-existent.]
sunday the third.
25 SepI arrived back to the dear parsonage a la 1:30am and was up around 6:30 to finish my sermon and figure out a children’s sermon. [Thank goodness the Spark Story Bible I ordered last week had arrived on my doorstep!] I dragged myself to church by 8 and wondered why in the world I’m in such a profession where I need to be up so early on a Sunday. A Sunday.
Worship happened and – once again – a sermon that I thought was mediocre at best received a lot of positive feedback. I shared cakepop knowledge with a table of people at coffee hour [we are so going to have a cakepop class at some point – there is interest!] and met with the youth and parents who are planning to head to the national youth gathering next summer. [Who is their chaperone? This girl!] From there, a couple stopped in to set up the baptism of their son [Oct. 16 – to be my first baptism!] and then a woman who was visiting the church stopped by to chat. I stood outside with one of my neighbors, her three kids, and their dog [who came down the road to join the conversation halfway through – sometimes Neutron walks the family to church and waits outside the doors until it’s over] for nearly an hour. Despite my lack of sleep, it was a very, very good Sunday.
From there, however, I got lazy. Over the course of the afternoon, I watched the entire third disk of the second season of Modern Family. I napped both in my hammock [brr] and on the couch. I guess I did bake a cake and roll cakeballs. Sewed a curtain for the guest bathroom [which I’m now not sure that I even like]. And not going to lie, after I finish a few emails, I might just go to bed. This girl is still tired.
The Bishop’s Open tomorrow has been postponed until next Monday because of a possibility of rain … or something. I received a voicemail about it. I can’t get myself to actually work work now … and neither can Paige so we’re going to IKEA. And maybe the Lakeville Target. [seriously the Target of all Targets.] Tomorrow night we’re chilling with jD too. I’m sure we’ll talk business most of the time so really, it’s not like a full day off. And I’ll go into the office briefly tomorrow morning just to clear my desk. It’s messy.
ps If you are Coloradohi [shout out!], please know that I’ve tried to email you and thank you for your comments/reading [a long time overdue, I know] but cannot get through on google to connect to your email/profile! If you would like to connect further, find my email on my google profile! Thanks for reading!
one more.
25 SepWedding number four of the summer.
I drove home on Friday afternoon [after frantically trying to find a nearby place to change my oil. a man named peter helped me out. he was cute.] with the opportunity to stop for lunch with Cassie in LaCrosse. Rehearsal happened and a fun dinner at the Great Dane followed. Cousin Mike and Jennie were getting married – it was just crazy to realize that it was finally here. Mike is a year younger than I [the same age as my brother Ben] and we all grew up together, he and his brother, Kyle, just across the corn field.
The wedding on Saturday was short and sweet, just as the couple wanted. And actually, it worked out pretty swift since the ceremony was outside and it was a wee bit chilly at 5pm! I was able to stay for dinner and cake and then I had to take my leave for Minnesota. It was cool to be in the same place – the same state – as all my siblings and it was also pretty cool that I was able to catch up with a lot of cousins.
One of the highlights of the weekend for me – besides, you know, the actual wedding celebration – was Kyle’s toast as best man and brother of the groom. Kyle did an awesome job, pinpointing the most awesome things about Mike. Like how Mike can get really angry if you take a piece of his gum-a-flouge [a gum meant to mask one’s breath while hunting]. Leave it to Mike to have such a thing and leave it to him to get bent out of shape if you take a piece without asking. Great story. Great story. Kyle’s funny. [as the waitress at the Great Dane took to saying as Kyle teased her. “You’re funny,” she said … sarcastically?]
Density.
22 SepWhy is it when I have two sermons to write [this week has been too crazy to actually spend office time writing a sermon … actually, that’s pretty much every week] all I want to do is watch Back to the Future and sit around in sweatpants?
I’m heading home again this weekend for another wedding – Mike [cousin] will marry Jennie and I’ll be the one doing the hitching. It should be a family good time. Both brothers will be home, along with the sis; the whole family together for a night of celebration and Spotted Cow on tap. Another late night of Saturday driving for me to arrive for my third Sunday morning at ROG.
Today I made phone calls, played with the ROG website, and spoke to three different people at Dish in regards to why we still can’t get internet. grr. [This is only a big deal to me and Marilyn. For example, I was hoping to communicate with my council via email. Nope. The majority of them don’t do email. I’m learning to use the phone again.] I met with my first call theological colleague group for two hours over lunch and then visited a member in the hospital. Time always seems to get away from me. Because now it’s Thursday night and those two sermons loom over my evening.
Maybe I’ll put Marty McFly on in the background.
He’s my density.
there's no place like gnome. 