Hot Spots and Windy Conditions

I made a list today of the hot spots in our house.

There are many, many hot spots.

A hot spot is an area where messes tend to accumulate. It might be by the front door. Or by the back door. Or on the kitchen counter. Or on the coffee table. Or on your nightstand. 

In my case, it would be all of the above...if this happens to you too, and you can't quite make sense of it, find relief in the knowledge that there is a diagnosis for this blight. It's known as Flat Surface Syndrome. And I've got it bad. I have yet to come across a surface I can't cover cure for this malady, but I have decided to make an attempt to manage my own case. 

I made a list of these different areas, which I hope to clean up each night. Maybe every other night. And maybe by clearing these places regularly, I will get into the habit of keeping them cleaned up (or at least tidy), and it will become easier to clean them because they will not be so heavily laden. 

(It's hard though. I have a gift, the gift of precarious placement. Asking me to refrain from using my gift is like saying,"Stop breathing!")

My hot spots are by the front door, the area in front of the shoe rack, by the back door (both the floor and the table there), the kitchen counters (yes, plural), the coffee table, the side table, the school table, Eliana's table, and I'm not even going to talk about our bedroom right now. For the moment, it doesn't count at all. It's like it's own planet, in a separate galaxy in another universe, in a parallel dimension.

I know I am being ambitious, but I have a lot of goals otherwise...why not just lay it all out. There are things that need to change. Maybe it will be easier to change a whole lot of habits at once, since I'll be on a roll. In a change-it-up! frame of mind. The change-one-thing-at-a-time method hasn't been entirely successful...sometimes the all-or-nothing can work for you, you know? 

School has been going well (not perfectly, but well), I have been doing some of the reading I want to do, and I feel pretty good in general. I am ready for fall, and for all that is ahead this school year. That is pretty exciting. As summer relinquishes the reins and autumn amicably acquires them, as the heat of August lingers and mingles with the cooler breezes of September, what are you excited about? The winds of change...what are they bringing to you? 

Maybe they'll just blow all the stuff right off all these flat surfaces...

If the Shoe Fits, Wear It

Michaela wishes that this were true...that if a shoe fit her foot, she could wear it. One day, when she is in charge of her own feet, she can buy leopard print high heel booties. (Instead of "heel" there, I accidentally wrote "hell"...which is just what it would be if those shoes were on my feet.)

In case you don't know, those low cut boots, or ankle boots, are also known as booties. This used to be a word for soft, knitted baby shoes, stolen goods, or a substitute for the word "bottom." Is it really possible for such a thing to exist, though...an ankle boot? Wouldn't that just be a shoe? Maybe it's just me...

I found these cute little Mary Janes (who doesn't love a Mary Jane?!)  

but Michaela had discovered something with a little more...pop?

With a little more color, anyway.

I told her no regarding the cute pink heels with the flower. She was undaunted. Maybe, she thought, Mom will go for blue...she loves blue!

She managed not only to get both of these shoes on her feet, but to walk around the store in them.

In spite of her skillz, and the total fashion statement that these shoes would make, I had to say no to them also.

She remained dogged in her pursuit of the perfect shoes; where could we find common ground, that happy medium? Maybe it was the peep toes that made the previous pair unacceptable. 

Mom still said no. 

Michaela finally abandoned the three or six inch heels, and tried to convince me that the gladiator sandals were the shoes for her. While I have to say that this particular sandal is my favorite of the gladiator style that I have seen (Seriously? Who thought that ladies would want to wear sandals styled after the footwear of men who fought to the death for the entertainment of others?), as it is the least, well, gladiatory. I like strappy.

But this was still just a bit too sophisticated for an eleven-year-old. Even if her feet are as big as her mother's. 

So, what was the compromise? Where did we find that happy middle ground, where both of us were content with her choices? 

Black low-tops (also low heel) 

and flats for dressier occasions.

One thing is for sure: this girl did not inherit my feet (which were angry at me just for looking at the shoes she was trying on). And since she ended up with two pairs of black shoes, I'll still be on the lookout for something a little more colorful for her this fall. That way she won't always look at her shoes and feel as though she is at an everlasting funeral for her colorful, happy shoe dreams. Maybe we'll find something rainbow striped...

Warrior King

I'm bruised but I'm not beaten, I can still lift up my head
And see the heights surrounding me from which my help will come.
Entrenched, I hear the enemy advancing, swift of feet;
I search the summit, waiting for the One who will contend.
It seems that days have passed, or maybe weeks since I knew peace,
And yet there is the promise that I cling to as my life:
His rest will be rewarded, and the Sabbath truly known;
The battlefield will know no war, the lilies are to bloom.
I close my eyes and touch the ground with palms laid bare to dust.
Above the din of foes, a new reverberation rings.
I look upon the hills to see the rising of the sun;
The brilliance of redemption almost blinds me as I watch.

My enemies are trampled, my Deliverer draws near;
Salvation comes and Truth declares,"There is no need to fear!"
The blood-stained field has been made new, the way is now made clear!
The mighty Warrior will be crowned, rejoice the King is here! 

Sharing a Moment

There are a couple of movies that Mike grew up watching again and again. Sometimes he'll quote one of them, inserting the line into our conversation, laughing hysterically, and by now I often know which movie he's quoting, and sometimes I even know the characters. This afternoon, however, he responded to me as we bantered back and forth about something, and then he said,"Name that movie!" I told him I didn't know what movie that line was from. He told me the movie and I replied,"Never saw it."

He grabbed his chest and reeled backwards through our kitchen; flabbergasted is hardly the word to describe his reaction. After he recovered and gained his footing again, he said,"I know what we're doing tonight."

Sure enough, after the kids were all tucked in, I came downstairs and he had the TV ready to go, set to watch this movie that he undoubtedly watched with his guy friends when they were teenagers. I got a donut and some milk (tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya', tomorrow...), and sat on the couch with him.

I'm happy to say that I laughed in all the right parts. It was fun. We didn't know each other growing up, so it's also fun to see little windows into his past, to get insights into who he was before he became a professional theologian! 

And now I'm armed with a couple more good quotes for the next time we are bantering!

Fitness Friday: Far From Finished

Well. Halfway through the summer, I quit my exercising. Toward the end of the summer, I started drinking soda again. Then school started, and adjusting to early mornings hasn't gone so well. I keep telling myself,"I'll get back on track tomorrow," and then I crack open another can of D.P. 

The thing is, it's always today. Tomorrow is always just around the corner. Or so I convince myself!

By the time we left for our East Coast tour, I was down ten pounds. My mom and Wendy let me know that it was very noticeable. Boy, did I feel good! I didn't misbehave that badly until about five weeks into the trip, but after that, it was like an avalanche. 

Turns out habits are hard to break. Even after you think you've done a good job of breaking them.

So! I do not want to add injury to insult (I know it's usually the other way around, but I don't think I've done too much damage yet, just lightly slapped my hard work in the face a few times and maybe flipped it the bird), and I just need to resolve like I did before that now is the time to stop the tomfoolery and get my bottom back in jogging shorts. 

I was hoping that by the end of the summer I could do a finale...looks like we'll have to wait a while on that one! My birthday is coming up, you know. But after that...after that...yes, I'm sure I'll get right back on track!