Ill Communication

I'm tired of the way we talk to each other. I'm tired of communication breakdowns all because of our inability to just say what we mean.
Here are some ideas:
1. Take responsibility for the things that come out of your mouth.
2. Do what you say you are going to do.
3. In other words, mean what you say, and say what you mean.
4. Tell the truth. (See #1)
5. Don't keep secrets.
6. Keep secrets that no one needs to hear. (See #1)
7. Don't tell me what you think I want to hear and then change your mind. (See #1)
8. Think about what you say before you say it (see #1).
9. Don't get mad at me for not understanding you. (Try #1, #8, and #13 for starters.)
10. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
11. Be encouraging.
12. Apologize when necessary. (See #1)
13. Don't jump to conclusions. (See #9)

Our tongues and typing fingers is/are a dangerous weapon (especially mine). Use them carefully. I don't claim to be very good at this, but I'm tired of confusing/dishonest conversation that leads to doubts and then ill-feelings. On my part OR yours.
Perhaps I am extra-sensitive to this sort of thing because I'm so aware of my own faults, but lately, I feel very beat up and, well, thrashed, by people's words. I just thought I'd say something.
I did a little e-bible search on tongues and found that James 3:8 says, "But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." Amen, James. There are a lot more verses on the tongue being damned to hell. Humbling, indeed. Just because James says no man can tame his tongue, doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Do a little search on your own. Let me know what you find.

Stinky

My office smells like urine.
I don't know if it's a particular person or what, but every time I walk past a certain row of cubes, it's completely overpowering.
Since we just had a big inter-office move, do you think it's possible that people are marking their territory? I'm going to have to do a little more sleuthing to find out where the scent is coming from. If I can stomach it.

Pants on Fire

I am a liar.
Today I am wearing a sapphire ring that Lauren gave me for Christmas last year--she also gave my mom a matching one. It's humongous. Like, 2 carats humongous. And very pretty. She got it for$30 because she was flirting with the salesperson and they had an overstock of them so they were all on sale. I really like it and wish I would have had it for my "something blue" for my wedding.
Good story, right? No need to change it? Apparently the right side of my brain thought different.
When one of the people I support complimented me on my ring, I said, "Thank you! My sister gave it to me. She was dating a jeweler who gave it to her. When they broke up, she gave it to me because she didn't want to throw it away. I'm sure she'll want it back eventually, but I'm gonna wear it for now!"
What?! Why did that come out of my mouth? What is WRONG with me?


Liar, liar--your
pants are on fire. Can't you
control your tongue, Duff?

Quilts Galore

"I'm SO blogging this."





The spring quilting retreat was GREAT!
I take a lot of flack (flak? flaque?) at work for quilting. People think I'm too young, but I guess I don't care. It's so much fun and so relaxing to me to go make prety things!
I came home feeling refreshed and aware of God's presence in my life.
Here are some MORE fun photos. The theme for the weekend was "Walking in God's Garden," so we dressed up for dinner on Saturday night like we were in a garden. Everybody LOVED the flower headbands we found at Target--they took the theme and ran with it. Such a fun group!






Kristi, Sarah, Naomi, Mary (the garden bunny), Jane and Carolyn. Talk about a fun date!

Naomi & Ariel (the lamb).
















Sarah and I at dinner.

Naomi, Erin, Sarah, and Ariel walking in "God's Garden."
















Finished wedding quilt. FIN. AL. LY.

Pillows for my parents--made from silk brought home by my dad during the Vietnam War.


















Baby quilt lovingly made for little NFP, coming to the world sometime this fall!

The idea is to build "eye strength" by making Baby Nourse (aka NFP) go crosseyed.

Actually, this was a pretty cool "Stack 'n' Whack" project.

A Mouse in the House

Have you ever seen a cat try to eat a mouse alive?
I have.
Last night, I heard a rustling in the kitchen and then a deep, menacing growl from the cat. By the time I got up to see what was going on, I saw his tail disappearing into the basement.
I found Kitty circling the basement, still growling with a mouse sticking out of his mouth. The especially horrifying part was that he had the mouse's entire body in his mouth with just a little gray head sticking out, looking at me as if to say, "I'm not having a good time."
Turns out, the cat didn't really want to eat the mouse, just keep it as a play thing, and maybe carry it around for a little while.
The mouse eventually got away and the rat poison is out (safely hidden from the pets, of course, though not the vermin). So, the cat spent the rest of the night looking for the lost mouse, and for all I know, he found it and it'll be waiting for me when I get home tonight in a pool of bile--hopefully on the kitchen or bathroom floor (if I'm lucky).


Today is my 150th post.

The North Shore

Things I thought about the North Shore before visiting and whether or not said thoughts turned out to be true:
1. The lake would be beautiful.
2. It would be very cold and windy.
3. Surely, somewhere we would be able to find traditional Irish fare for dinner on St. Patrick's Day, and possibly even a green beer.
4. Friday night fish fry would be awesome and I would immediately begin to love all fish.

5. Our lodge would be cozy and comfortable.

6. I would have the chance to relax and not talk to anyone.

7. The Split Rock Light House would be wonderful.

8. I would begin to appreciate the Scandanavian / Swedish / Norwegian "subtle sense of humor."

1. True, though very creepy. All I could think about were all the sailors who died on that lake and their restless souls rising from the depths to take me in to the cold waters with them. Eeeeeeewwww. Richard, surprisingly, didn't share my fear, though he did admit that it is completely rational.
2. Happily, false. Two days of the three we were there were 50 degrees or so.
3. Oh, so false. Take my word for it--anywhere that there is pickled herring on the breakfast buffet is a place far, far away from my people.

4. Mostly true. I freaked out a little bit about the bones in my walleye. Small steps, I guess.

5. True. We had a fireplace in our room and a DVD player on which we watched the 10th season of Friends and the 2nd season of the Office.

6. Very true--I finished one book (A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby--not too highly recommended, sadly because he is in my top 3 favorite authors) and made a good dent in another (The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards--very good so far, 100 pages in). And my cell phone had minimal service and then died completely on Friday. Too bad, so sad.

7. It was pretty cool, but I've determined that it is a big deal and a hot place to visit only because there is NOTHING ELSE UP THERE.

8. False.

Some photos, if you're interested:

Lake Superior info--I wish I knew how deep it is!

The lighthouse. Cool view, eh?

The lake, straight down from the light house.

Rich and I in front of the lighthouse.

These were all around the light house-- we thought they were pretty funny.

The veiw from our room.

This one's for Jared.

The lake on Sunday morning, early. I swear you can see a ghost ship rising from the depths.

Popstand

Rich and I are leaving in 3 hours for a much needed vacation.
I can't WAIT to get out of here!
See you on the flip side!

UV-What?

I've been tanning.
Now, before you start, I know how bad it is for me. But I don't care. It lightens my mood and energizes me. I don't smoke, on average I have one drink (or less) per week, I don't do drugs. I like coca cola, and I like to go tanning occasionally. Everybody has their vices.
Those of you who know me know how dark I can get, and since I'm up to 9 minutes in the tanning bed, the next time you see me, you probably won't recognize me.
Let's be honest, if you don't recognize me it will be because my freckles have joined forces and turned me into another race.
So, today, I went for 9 minutes over my lunch and I burned my white little hiney, among other things. Seriously, people, I'm worried about body parts falling off.
I'm concerned about my sanity, though, because I knew I was burned as soon as I was done, but what did I do on my way out? I asked the girl how soon I could come back. She said I have to wait 24 hours. Crap!

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality...

Something you may not know about me--I love Queen.
The band.
I keep a radio (that also plays my iPod) on my desk at work, which I turn up a little while I'm working and turn back down every time the phone rings or someone stops at my desk. All day long I turn the volume up and down, up and down. Don't get me wrong, the loudest I ever let it get is a low murmur, so it's hardly offensive if I leave my iPod on random at my desk and SnoopDogg or something else equally offensive comes on. If anyone sat within 20 feet of me, they might find this irritating, but since I'm alone in my own little corner, I can do just about whatever I want.
Imagine my joy today when "Fat Bottomed Girls," my all-time favorite Queen song came on the radio.
I snuck and turned it up just a little bit more.
Then my boss walked up. I reached to turn down the volume out of habit and then thought again. "No," I thought. "I won't turn this down just because Arnie is here. I shouldn't be ashamed of myself!" So I left it turned up.
Rock'n'Roll!

Queen, you're my fav'rite.
Don't care if you're gay or weird.
HIV's a bitch.

Poor Freddie died young,
but not before he left us
with shining gems as

"Bohemian Rhap',"
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
and "Fat Bottomed Girls."

Mis-Match

I worked until 6pm last night on a project, so I opted to come in late to work this morning. Those two extra hours must really have worn me out, though, because I didn't realize until I sat down at my desk that I was carrying a brown shoe and a black shoe. Good thing I wear my boots to work every day, or I'd be out of luck.

Dove Thoughts--Part Two

Ok, I admit it. I didn't see the appeal to Dove chocolate until recently. I typically like chocolate so dark that it's like eating a spoonful of coffee grounds, and Dove just doesn't deliver chocolate that dark. Then there was the whole...Dove Promises thing. I admit, I faked it in my post on Dove in the fall of last year. I just didn't see the appeal.
Until recently.
Have you tried the ones with caramel?
Yum-O, as my best friend would say.
In order to enjoy the caramel goodness, I've had to put aside my feelings for Dove Promises. I thought I'd share some of my favorites* with you.
-Count the stars.
-Share a sunset.
-Sing along with the elevator music.
-Today is definitely a bubble bath day.
-Flirt with someone.
Do you see what's going on here? These aren't promises. They're suggestions. Commandments, if you will. Imagine if you opened a chocolate and it actually made a promise, "The laundry will be done when you get home." Or, "Your boobs won't sag after child rearing--that's just something they tell you in high school so you won't have sex." "An all-Chipotle diet will help you lose those last ten pounds."
Now that's something I could get behind.
What is a promise you'd like to hear from a chocolate?



*The word "favorites" used here instead of "most wretched."

Seriously?

So much for all that hard work.

What does a six-foot-tall canary say?
"Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty..."

I like inside jokes

...I'd like to be a part of one someday.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Stream,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to thank you very sincerely for introducing Richard and me to The Office on Thursday evenings on NBC.
It has changed our lives. It's not only funny on many different levels, it continues to deliver incredible humor week after week, and also faithfully represents my working life.
The show is so dry, however, that I'm surprised it is still on television. To be honest, things I enjoy don't usually last long (remember Rags to Riches?). This fact gives me a sense of urgency every time I sit down to watch and helps me enjoy each episode as the lovely jewel that it is.
In closing, thank you very sincerely for the light you have brought into our lives.
Your friend,
Erin

Play by Play

My morning:
6:30--Turn the alarm off. Not due in to the office until 9, because of the weather.
7:30--Phone rings. (Side note. To everyone who reads this, please pass it on--DO NOT CALL OUR HOUSE BEFORE 9AM. EVER. We don't get up as early as the rest of the world and I don't anticipate a change in our bio-rhythms any time soon. Plus, it's just plain rude. Most businesses aren't even open before 9am.)
7:40--Get up, look out at 16 or so inches of snow in driveway. Consider calling in.
8:15--Get into car, back in to driveway, do y-turn, drive full force to the end of the driveway, slow down despite Richard's yells, because of the fear of hitting another car that I might not be able to see or damaging the car, get stuck high and dry on the 4+ feet of snow from the snow plow.
8:17--Gertrude says, "I told you not to try it."
8:17:30--Richard says, "I told you to gun it, why did you slow down?"
8:18--Shouting ensues--in front of all the neighbors.
8:20--Neighbor comes over to help dig the car out and try to push it out, but to no avail.
8:30--Go inside and call Arnie. Tell him I'm stuck.
8:55--Richard digs car out.
9:00--Get back in car running peacefully on the road.
9:30--Drive through McDonald's, pay cash. Still a little pissed off about the early morning phone call.
9:45--Get to work with the three other people at 3M today.
10:38--It's still snowing.

Like Flies

As in, my co-workers are dropping.
They say that after noon (12 minutes from now), the storm is going to get really bad.
I didn't come to work yesterday, and clearly, I chose the wrong day to stay home.
Here's hoping I don't die on the way home tonight...in the dark...and snow...