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what I love about february thus far:

8 Feb
. old fashioned oats.
. the bachelor on monday nights. it consumes me.
. confirmation wednesday. nothing new there.  pizza party tonight!
. a 10 o clock bedtime with tea and mr. kindle. I’m currently visiting nazi germany with the book thief.
. the postmaster in blooming. she didn’t hate me when I brought packages that spewed glitter from the wrapping. in fact, she complimented it.
. sweet potatoes. sliced and oven roasted with garlic.
. sending old school valentines.
. an iphone software update. fun for all.
. a few new shirts from the super clearance racks.
. the craft room and new projects.

what’s on your list?

business time.

7 Feb
I came home tonight and went promptly to my craft room.  To my sewing machine.  To my place of creativity and sanity.  [except when the seam ripper and I spend too much time together.]
I found this on a blog via pinterest a few days ago.  I’m an adult now; I have real business cards.  [as opposed to fake ones.  I’ve had those too.]  I needed something to carry them about.  I have some in my wallet; some in my desk drawer.  But I don’t always have my wallet and I’m not always in my office.  A business card holder I can sew?
Bingo.
Like any project of mine, it’s a bit wonky.  And not quite right.  And made with random scraps of fabric I had on hand.  And I’m a little unsure of the HUGE fabric covered button on the front.  But it’s what we got and I’ll use it and love it and hand out my business cards every chance I get.  It’s practical if nothing else.
hey.  like my keyboard?  thank you boredom, pinterest, and my happy tape supply.
hey again.  title reference?  here. 

amen.

6 Feb

#cousins

5 Feb
Top photo: Sent to me by my brother, Ben. Mabel had sent a Christmas package to Jetta, Ben’s five-year old yellow lab. I guess Jetta is a little more destructive than Mabel when it comes to stuffed wooly babies with squeakers.
Bottom photo: Mabel destroying the same toy as Jetta’s with a smile on her big face. [The comparison in photos proves how big Mabel’s head is. But Jetta is pretty petite too.]

why do I …

4 Feb
… always cry at animal movies?
I saw Big Miracle this weekend and cried at three different points in the movie. A couple times it was tears-in-the-corner-of-the-eyes kind of crying. Once it was full-fledged I’m-not-even-going-to-bother-wiping-these-away-because-I’ll-just-keep-crying-and-the-theater-is-dark-so-no-one-can-see-right? kind of sobbing.
I sat next to friend Jenna. Before the movie even started, I leaned over. I warned her. “I cry at animal movies.” Hi, my name is Lindsay. And I cry at animal movies. I’ll own it.
It doesn’t even need to be sad. I cried at We Bought a Zoo when all the people showed up on opening day and when everyone pitched in to make it happen. Why? No idea. Was it overly emotional? Nope. Am I a huge animal person? Nope. Was it sad? No. But something about animals on film makes me cry.
Maybe I’m like Kristen Bell – taking an emotional scale of 1 – 10, if it’s an animal movie and I’m below three or over seven, I’m crying. It doesn’t matter if it’s super sad or super happy – I cry. The zoo opens successfully? Tears. The whales are freed to swim about? Tears. An animal dies? Tears. A small child is emotional on screen? Tears.
When did I become such a sucker?
Actually, this isn’t new. I sometimes avoid animal movies because I know I’ll cry. I never could watch the Homeward Bound movies and don’t get me started with Where the Red Fern Grows. No, I never saw Marley and Me because I don’t want to be a basket case. I can be watching a movie about people and never cry. But a dog, a whale, or [wait for it] a sloth?
Hand me tissues because I’ll lose my cool real fast. Real fast.

the glory of convocation.

4 Feb
I’ve been in the Cities for just over 24 hours and I’m so glad to be here.  I feel refreshed and renewed after just getting away for this little bit of time.  *huge sigh of gloriousness*  [See this blog post for further insight.  Further fuzzy insight – I did write it at midnight last night.]
Convocation is an annual conference held at Luther Seminary.  As a 2011 graduate, I got to attend for free!  It was so incredibly wonderful to be back on campus; I do love Luther Sem.  It was great to be in the same place as so many pastors who understand the challenges and joys of daily life in ministry.  
The biggest highlight and comfort?  Seeing friends.  Paige and jD were there but you know – I see them all the time. It was fun to connect again with so many more people, including many of my favorite seminary guys.  [Say what?!]  Conversations with [not-Dawson-but-another] Kendall, Cole and Matt; lunch out with James; the following text conversation with dear friend Justin was lives in PA and was not in attendance.  It was super fun just to be in the Cities and go out again like we did every Thursday night of spring semester [even if this time it was super tame and led only to the mischief of the text conversation seen below].  
Coming to stay for convo allowed me to catch up and crash with my Stillwater family [as I call them].  I was even given keys for my weekend use and was scolded whenever I knocked or asked before I got a glass of water [because I was just supposed to walk in and help myself to whatever].    Tonight I was very excited to participate in Friday night festivities with Mark, Karen, and Jenna.  We went out for Asian cuisine [mmm pad thai] and then to the movies.  [A post about how I always cry at animal movies is forthcoming.]  A perfect Friday night in the Cities.
I would completely be lying if I said I was ready to return to my south-eastern MN home tomorrow.  I’m not.  I could go for at least another couple days of colleague time and Cities fun.  The fact that I kinda sorta broke down at my Stillwater b&b tonight is proof.  Church is hard.  Living alone is hard.  A break from it was wonderful but that sermon from Sunday still needs to be written and Mabel needs to be picked up from the kennel.  [The fact that they are grooming her before I pick her up in the morning brings me insurmountable joy.]  Here we go.  Back to it.  Lord, have mercy.
[Knowing that I return to the Luther Sem and the Cities in a few short weeks for another conference – this one on confirmation – makes leaving the tiniest bit more doable.  St.Paul – I’ll be back.]

wwpdd?

1 Feb
Good question.  I know he does wear nice jeans, a la tonight’s episode of Modern Family.  [He also hit his kid and drugged another … but that’s beside the point.]  I tell you one thing – he’d probably join all those hippies who have taken over Vancouver beaches.  [Yea!  You read right.  Damn hippies.  A Dorothy told me all about it today.]
I think I’m going to make a mug of tea and hunker down with The Book Thief, my current read.  This week has been exhausting to an extreme.  It was a late night last night [hello-four-hour-meeting-at-the-care-center-until-11pm?] and it’s an early morning tomorrow for a funeral.  I’ll ride in a hearse.  [Shall we talk about that?  Apparently the funeral director I’m working with is single.  “You’ll get to ride together in the hearse!” says Marilyn, all match-maker-like.  Uh …]  After a lunch of buttered ham sandwiches and plates of cake varieties, tomorrow afternoon then it’s off to St.Paul/Stillwater for a couple nights while Mabel meets new friends at a kennel.  I need to get away.  It will be good.
It will be good.
[Forget the fact that there is no Sunday sermon yet.  Forget it.  Phil Dunphy would.]

good morning.

31 Jan
Crack the shutters open wide …

The view from my eastward-facing balcony this morning; a whole lotta color and great way to wake up.

things funeral directors say.

30 Jan
Have you seen the videos making the rounds on youtube – sh*t [enter profession, geographical region, or title] say?  [I sadly fall into this one – sh*t Minnesotans say.  Oh fer funny.]  Consider this only the very beginning of sh*t funeral directors say.
I’m in funeral mode this week with my third one coming up at the end of this week.  [bye bye convocation at luther sem]  Funeral directors can say the silliest things.  Well – some silly.  Some just odd to the outside but yet normal for their chosen occupation. I’m gathering quite the list working with three separate funeral home and three different guys thus far.  Here we go.
[I answer the phone.  My caller ID has alerted me that it is the funeral home on the other end but Mark, the funeral guy, starts the conversation like this:]
Hi.  I’d like to order a pizza …
[discussing the transportation to the cemetery]
And since this is the first funeral we’ll be doing with you, you’ll drive the hearse.  You know, an induction of sorts.
[different funeral, different guy]
And you can just ride in the hearse with me to the cemetery.  You can sit up front.
How old are you?

Feet to the east, head to the west.
[Apparently it’s a rule.]
Don’t get me wrong as I tease – I admire these men and the work they do.  I like these guys.
[But that doesn’t mean I want to work with them any more than necessary.]  They’re just so … wacky sometimes.  [And perhaps you have to be in that line of work.]

Fellow pastors – anything to add?

a list.

29 Jan
You know how I love a good list.  Here’s a list of things that pastors must [sometimes] do for which we have received absolutely no training or education:
. serve on boards of directors of nursing homes.  [I’m a warm body in a chair and that’s about it the last Friday of every month.]
. read complicated financial reports.  [what the heck is an ECBIT?]
. the rules of bulk mailings.  [and how to address a disgruntled postman]
. furnace diagnosis. [woe is me.]
. tech support.
. talk to the MN department-of-something people about water samples.  [at least he was cute.]
. field call after call after call from solicitors for everything from fast-melting salt ice stuff to the new latest best curriculum to engage your young adults.  [I call their bluff.]
. robert’s rules of order.  [enough said.]
I’m certain there is more and I’m certain that everyone in every profession has a learning curve.  Sometimes I just feel like the realm of ministry is so odd and random and varied that it simply makes me laugh.  [I could also make a pretty awesome list of the things that I get to do and consider work.  Going to camp?  Drinking coffee?  Playing board games?]  Everyday is a learning experience and it’s not always about ministry.  Life is a learning experience.  [Can I get an amen?]
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