It's the Little Things

I'm coming to realize how much the little things in my life keep me sane. I shall list these little things so some level of sanity might be found by those who seek it.

1)Sunroof - driving down farm roads in the middle of the night with your sunroof open, looking up to see brightly lit sky - amazing

2)Wake Up calls - every morning my siamese cat (or beast) crawls onto my bed, stalks my face and shoves his nose against mine, while purring like a freight train. He falls asleep with his head under my chin

3)Vitamin B Complex - keeps my nerves connected

4)Vanilla Almond Tea a Lait - knowing that as I open the coffee shop door and nod to the barrista my drink is being made

5)A good pair of jeans

6)my iPod - playing the following lately: Continuum, John Mayer; Stand Still Look Pretty, The Wreakers; Everything in Transit, Jack's Mannaquin; Eyes Open, Snow Patrol; Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down, John Mark McMillan...

7)Mucinex D - the wonder drug

8)My assistant - she bought me flowers this week, oh how I love her

9)My ESV wide margin Bible - making reading so much more interactive

10)Vitamin Water - yum

I hit a bunny...

and I laughed out loud to myself. I'd like to say that my responses to killing little furry and innocent animals are becoming concerning even to myself.

But this is a funny story so I must tell it.

I'm driving along on a dark and wet road when a bunny jumps right in front of my car. I think to myself he's small he'll squat and go right under my car and be unscathed. Then the bunny sees me and begins to panic. I think surely he will panic and move out of the way. Instead he jumps straight up into the air and flails his limbs all about. That's when I hit him, mid air, mid flail, right with my head light. And I just laughed. I laugh now even thinking about it, it is so ridiculous.

The ironic thing is that; I am this bunny. When I was little I hated the game of tag, I hated the game of dodgeball, and I hated those stupid camp mock war games. I hated the feeling of knowing I was caught and the panic of moment when you are about to be tagged/shot/tapped/tackled. I concluded the fastest way around this horror was to simply sit in one place unmoving/unplaying until I could be declared out.

At anyrate the bunny reminded me of that feeling of panic, when you could move out of the way, but instead you are so freaked out that you simply jump up, flail about and get smashed.

The other ironic thing is that today I was that bunny in a different way. I was in one of those surprise situations that reveals how you really feel, the real state of your heart. I jumped up in agitation, only to be smashed by the realization that I need to die/I'm not dead yet. Uggg. Oh, the awkward flailing of self realization, oh, the deafening thud of pride hitting a headlight.

I killed a bunny today, that bunny was me.

Maybe I should rename this blog; meditations on roadkill.

Quote of the Week

"I'd like to give him a spicy Jesus roll."

Stephen Baldwin about trying to evangelise Tom Cruise over a sushi lunch.

Wow.

Women with tools

It's the Sunday after conference, that should indicate a need for rest and relaxation, well it does indicate that, I just didn't fulfill that need. Instead I hoped over to my parents house to see how the home improvement projects are going.

It should be said that for most people this house would be move in ready. Not my parents, they are particular. I was talking to Mark about it on the phone and we both laughed and joked that they should have just called in a wreaking ball and started from scratch. My parents are very particular. They like the hardwood floors and certain types of tiles, and faucets and appliances and drains, and shower heads, and porches and well, houses.

So first home improvement project is removing laminate floors and installing hardwood floors, all by ourselves. Yum. Upon arriving and seeing the pace at which we were progressing, I felt the need to jump in. I announced I could saw. My father looked at me with high eyebrows, but humored me. So I became compound miter saw Kristen. I was fabulous. I had my own safety glasses and everything. As things progressed I measured and sawed. My mother picked out and quality checked each board, and my father hammered them in with an "oversized stapler" and sledge hammer.

My father took us out for steak and key lime pie as thanks for our help.

We got about half way done, and dear old Dad will have to sand them, stain them, and seal them. My parents are crazy and they are getting too old for this back breaking labor.

I plan on steering clear of the house the next few days, or my Dad might hand me the floor sander, and all of our hard work would be for naught.

7 Years and counting...

IHOP is working on their 7 year anniversary (and a feast to end all feasts). I'm really excited to be here during this time. There is a certain amount of joy I feel about being involved with this place. It's home to me.

I was talking today to some of my staff, a lot of them are new because we've transitioned a lot of people in the last year, and I really felt at home with them, I enjoy them and I enjoy getting to know them. When I first started this job I hired and worked with people I already knew, I can't really do that anymore, so it's given me the opportunity to stretch out and get to know a lot more people.

So here's to all the people who help me keep going, who bless this base in more ways then will ever be known: Alicia, Stacey, Matt H, Dale, Char, Jesse, Matthias, Katie, Amanda, Rachel, Robert, Linda, Mandy, Vernon (and team), John, Becca, Vicki, Lauren.

You guys are all in my heart and I thank God when I see and remember you.

Derek Webb's New Album is Free!!

This is a great album and it's free. In a world where you pay for everything, some good things really are free.

Check it out

I hit another possum...

This time I didn't turn around, I just gunned it and smiled. Clearly it had been one of those days.

But it did remind me of the scariest roadkill experience ever.

I was riding in the car with Katie on Blue River Road coming back from Walmart. We were talking and all of a sudden we hit a possum. She freaked out and I told here it was probably just a log or something. But nooooo... she had to turn around to make sure it was dead and to kill it if it wasn't. I begged her not to, but around we turned.

We found him and turned around again so we had him right in our headlights. He was lying there with his eyes wideopen sort of wafting in wind. I kept blinking and staring and I finally declared, "yeah, he's dead." Then all of a sudden the upper half of his body began to lift off the pavement. I screamed so loud I was sure that the glass was going to shatter. He was like a zombie, I turned away at this point still screaming, "CHUCKIE!!"

Katie says he lifted up his front paws and began to drag himself off the road. I couldn't look, all I could do was scream, sure that he would attach himself to our car and haunt us for all of our days.

He didn't and I eventually overcame the trauma of that night, and I've maimed another creature this week, I didn't turn around to check the status. I gunned it and just kept moving.

I'm becoming desensitized to violence, maybe I've been watching to much ER.