Wow, I've been really bad about blogging lately. But at least some of the time has been spent doing things that I can mark off of my blog 101 list :) Right now though I'm not in the mood to look back over the last year and evaluate my progress so far- I just wanted to document some of the good laughs I've had lately :)
1. Cosmo magazine has declared that "the thong is dead". Really, Cosmo? Really? Do you think that just because you decide that the thong is no longer "trendy", that men are going to suddenly decide they no longer like it? I'm fairly certain that a man must have invented the thong to begin with, and that even though you're finally deciding that boyshorts are a more comfortable option (which they always have been- so I'm not sure why you're acting like this is a revolutionary idea), men are still going to love a thong. I'm not really a thong lover or hater, but I'm just saying that I'm not sure if you can convince men to change their feelings on this one. If, however, I am wrong and this article does have the power to eradicate the thong and make it so that men become disgusted at the thought of immodest panties, then I'd really appreciate if your next persuasive articles could be "Cellulite is Sexy" and "Changing Diapers: More Fun Than Video Games". These would really help my life, now and in the future :)
2. During Old Testament trivia at Woodlands back a few months ago, one of the trivia questions was, "Who wrote the book of Psalms in the Bible?" A few guesses were thrown out, and then one resident (whose son is also a rabbi) said, "Hamlet!" :) A few minutes later, the question was something like,"Who brought the Ten Commandments down from Mt. Sinai?" Right after I asked the question, one of the CNAs named Dennis came into the room making a sarcastic comment, so I said "Dennis!" Well then one of the ladies totally misunderstood why I was saying that name, and she guessed "Dennis the Menace!", and I just happened to say something that made her think that was the right answer. So she happily laughed and said, "Wow, I just took a guess! I didn't think I'd get that right!" So then I couldn't be a Scrooge and take away her correct answer. So, in case you didn't know, Dennis the Menace was in charge of the Ten Commandments.
3. One more Woodlands story- one of my ladies loves to talk about her trip to NYC for her honeymoon and what a wonderful time they had. But she also has told us repeatedly that while they were staying in the New York hotel, Donald Trump was staying right down the hall from them. Now, I may not be a mathmatical genius, but for a woman who's 92 and got married around 30, I don't think ol' Donald was around for this. I've tried to say, "Are you sure it was him?" and "How do you know it was him?" But she's convinced that his "men" were out in the hallway everytime they walked out of their room (she didn't actually see him), and then says "I didn't know at the time that he was the richest man in the world." I hate to break her heart, so we'll just believe that Donald was an overachiever and started his empire from the womb.
4. Heidi Montag's new plastic surgery nightmare. I don't think I even need to say anything else besides that. Oh, Heidi. I didn't know it was possible to make a decision worse than marrying Spencer.
5. This will be my last one- SNL has been great lately. There's a lady named Kristen Wig who is pure GENIUS, and I love every character she plays. There are some other funny folks on there as well, but she's just amazing. So here's one of my favorite skits of hers:
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Friday, December 25, 2009
Joyful and Triumphant
I just finished reading a blog where the girl was talking about how she just can't seem to get into the Christmas spirit. She was saying how when she was little, it was so easy to get excited about every tiny detail and all the magic Christmas had back then. And I will admit, that as an adult, I have to make a conscious effort not to get overwhelmed with all the extra "to do's" and to set aside time to focus on my Savior. Her writing made me so sad by the end- because she really couldn't figure out why the ornaments and parties and music weren't making her feel in the "Christmas mood". I read this girl's blog from time to time, mostly b/c she's so different from me and she loves to be controversial. I feel like it's good for me to get a different perspective sometimes, and she can actually be pretty funny. But I remember reading on her site about a month ago where she definitely bashed conservative Christians- so I'm assuming she does not put herself in the Christian category. I don't mean to sound judgmental, but by her writing, it was pretty obvious that she was glad not to be in that category- so I think it's safe to say that I wouldn't offend her. Anyway, it just made my heart heavy for her. Why would we expect people to get excited about Christmas, if they don't believe in the purpose behind it? The shiny wrapping paper and cute gingerbread houses and Christmas carolers do give me a warm, cheesy feeling- but only because there's something so much bigger behind it.
Every year, it seems like there's a different Christmas song that really speaks to me. Although "O Holy Night" will always be my all-time favorite :) This year I've loved "O Come All Ye Faithful". The phrase "Joyful and triumphant" hit me the other day- as if I had never heard it before. I know we're supposed to be joyful- although I wouldn't say that we usually convey that to others very well. But triumphant- I love it. That His victory is our victory. It would make the daily grind easier to go through, if we lived triumphantly. Here are a few of my other favorite lyrics- that help me get into the Christmas mood :)
"Long lay the world, in sin and error pining,
Til He appeared, and the soul felt its Worth. (love that)
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn."
(O Holy Night)
"Oh what a precious promise,
Oh what a gift of love;
The waiting now is over and
The time has finally come.
For the God who made this world
To roll back the curtain
And unveil His passion for the heart of man.
Oh what a precious promise,
Lying in a manger in Bethlehem."
(Precious Promise- SCC)
(This next one is amazing- every lyric is so good so I couldn't help but put all the words. This song has blessed my heart so much this season.)
"In the first light of a new day, no one knew He had arrived.
Things continued as they had been,while a new born softly cried.
But the heavens wrapped in wonder,knew the meaning of His birth.
In the weakness of a baby,they knew God had come to earth.
As His mother held him closely,it was hard to understand.
That her baby not yet speaking, was the Word of God to man.
He would tell them of His kingdom,but their hearts would not believe.
They would hate Him and in anger,they would nail Him to a tree.
But the sadness would be broken,as the song of life arose.
And the First born of creation,would ascend and take His throne.
He has left it to redeem us,but before His life began.
He knew He´d come back not as a baby,but as The Lord of every man.
Hear the angels as they´re singing,on the morning of His birth.
But how much greater will their song be, when He comes again to Earth.
Hear the angels as they're singing,on the morning of His birth.
But how much greater will our song be, when He comes to rule the Earth."
("In the First Light")
And my favorite verse this year has been John 1:14
"And the Word became flesh, and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Full of grace and truth :) What a comfort that we can rest and know what grace and truth really are, in a world where that is such a rarity. Merry Christmas! What a beautiful Savior we have.
Every year, it seems like there's a different Christmas song that really speaks to me. Although "O Holy Night" will always be my all-time favorite :) This year I've loved "O Come All Ye Faithful". The phrase "Joyful and triumphant" hit me the other day- as if I had never heard it before. I know we're supposed to be joyful- although I wouldn't say that we usually convey that to others very well. But triumphant- I love it. That His victory is our victory. It would make the daily grind easier to go through, if we lived triumphantly. Here are a few of my other favorite lyrics- that help me get into the Christmas mood :)
"Long lay the world, in sin and error pining,
Til He appeared, and the soul felt its Worth. (love that)
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn."
(O Holy Night)
"Oh what a precious promise,
Oh what a gift of love;
The waiting now is over and
The time has finally come.
For the God who made this world
To roll back the curtain
And unveil His passion for the heart of man.
Oh what a precious promise,
Lying in a manger in Bethlehem."
(Precious Promise- SCC)
(This next one is amazing- every lyric is so good so I couldn't help but put all the words. This song has blessed my heart so much this season.)
"In the first light of a new day, no one knew He had arrived.
Things continued as they had been,while a new born softly cried.
But the heavens wrapped in wonder,knew the meaning of His birth.
In the weakness of a baby,they knew God had come to earth.
As His mother held him closely,it was hard to understand.
That her baby not yet speaking, was the Word of God to man.
He would tell them of His kingdom,but their hearts would not believe.
They would hate Him and in anger,they would nail Him to a tree.
But the sadness would be broken,as the song of life arose.
And the First born of creation,would ascend and take His throne.
He has left it to redeem us,but before His life began.
He knew He´d come back not as a baby,but as The Lord of every man.
Hear the angels as they´re singing,on the morning of His birth.
But how much greater will their song be, when He comes again to Earth.
Hear the angels as they're singing,on the morning of His birth.
But how much greater will our song be, when He comes to rule the Earth."
("In the First Light")
And my favorite verse this year has been John 1:14
"And the Word became flesh, and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Full of grace and truth :) What a comfort that we can rest and know what grace and truth really are, in a world where that is such a rarity. Merry Christmas! What a beautiful Savior we have.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
the Haser version of a Christmas letter
I used to be really dedicated to writing down in my journal all my favorite strange stories that happen at Woodlands- at least for the first year or so that I worked here. I haven't done that lately, and it makes me sad b/c they're so fun to go back and look at :) So here's one I want to save so I can look back and laugh later :)
We had a bunny rabbit donated to the Activity Room (it only lasted a few days before someone else decided to take it home- but that's another story). Anyway, so we were introducing our sweet new long-earred friend to the residents, and it just happened to have the same name as one of the residents. After a while of sitting there quietly, this lady- who can get quite cranky and bossy at times- said,
"Joy, I don't appreciate you naming that cat after me."
I explained, "L, I did not name the animal. And besides, it's not a cat, it's a bunny."
"Well, what's the difference between a cat and a bunny?"
I didn't really know where to go from here.
OK, now onto the purpose of this blog. I reached my goal of finishing all of our almost 40 Christmas cards this year on December 1st!!! Not super impressive, but I do like to write a few sentences to each friend/family to personalize it- which is more time-consuming than just signing our names- so that makes my goal sound a little less lame :) At least, I thought I accomplished my goal, until we received a few cards from people that we didn't have a card for- and now we need to add a few more names to our list. And there were about 3 more people that I somehow had forgotten that we just added. But, as for the original list, I did finish on time and can therefore mark that off my list :) Next year I may even try to make some of our Christmas cards- like the adorable ones below.
It also made me start thinking about how fun it would be to write one of those Christmas update letters. You know the ones- from families who are incredible overachievers and outrageously motivated and accomplished- so they have a lot that happens throughout the year tell everyone else about. I am not in any of those categories for sure. I realize some people do live very far away from all their loved ones, and this is their only way of keeping everyone up on what's new in their lives. But it made me think, "What the heck would Nick and I write about?" And then it made me laugh. Here's a list of some things I think would be in our Christmas letter :)
Dear friends and family (most of which we see at least on a weekly basis since Huntington is so small),
2009 has been an exciting year at the Haser home!!
-We have attended enough weddings this year to almost average out to 1 per week.
-Joy racked up about $25 in fines at the library (at a rate of 10 cents per day, this is pretty impressive.) But thanks to free fine day in November, she got it all cleared for free!!!!
-Copper has only torn up 4 sets of window blinds this year.
-Nick has hardly received any speeding tickets in '09. And the points on his driver's license used to be in the double digits, and are now down to about 4!
-Joy has left her entire set of keys hanging overnight in the keyhole of the front door only twice this year.
-We've decided that when April 2011 comes around (after Nick's 30th bday), we'll start talking about the idea of having a baby. Maybe. Possibly. This does not mean we'll begin trying. Let me be clear- this is just when the discussions will start.
-Neither of us ran out of gas while driving this whole year- yes!!!
Maybe when we have kids or move away from Huntington, then we'll have more exciting stuff to write about and will understand this whole Christmas letter concept. But this is all I got for now :) Merry Christmas from the Hasers!!!
(One last note: I was getting ready to write my Christmas card to Oswaldo and Christine, when I found out that Christine is no longer one of my World Vision children :( WVision wrote and told me that her family moved out of the area that WVision works with, and they have no way of keeping in contact with her or supporting her anymore. I'm so sad that I will no longer be able to correspond with her or know how she's doing. But now they sent me a new child to sponsor in her place named Merete from Ethiopia- so I'll try to write him every 3 months since I can't contact Christine anymore. It still makes me a little sad that I won't know how she is- but I'll just rest in knowing that her heavenly Father loves her more than I could even begin to, and I know her future is in His hands.)
We had a bunny rabbit donated to the Activity Room (it only lasted a few days before someone else decided to take it home- but that's another story). Anyway, so we were introducing our sweet new long-earred friend to the residents, and it just happened to have the same name as one of the residents. After a while of sitting there quietly, this lady- who can get quite cranky and bossy at times- said,
"Joy, I don't appreciate you naming that cat after me."
I explained, "L, I did not name the animal. And besides, it's not a cat, it's a bunny."
"Well, what's the difference between a cat and a bunny?"
I didn't really know where to go from here.
OK, now onto the purpose of this blog. I reached my goal of finishing all of our almost 40 Christmas cards this year on December 1st!!! Not super impressive, but I do like to write a few sentences to each friend/family to personalize it- which is more time-consuming than just signing our names- so that makes my goal sound a little less lame :) At least, I thought I accomplished my goal, until we received a few cards from people that we didn't have a card for- and now we need to add a few more names to our list. And there were about 3 more people that I somehow had forgotten that we just added. But, as for the original list, I did finish on time and can therefore mark that off my list :) Next year I may even try to make some of our Christmas cards- like the adorable ones below.
It also made me start thinking about how fun it would be to write one of those Christmas update letters. You know the ones- from families who are incredible overachievers and outrageously motivated and accomplished- so they have a lot that happens throughout the year tell everyone else about. I am not in any of those categories for sure. I realize some people do live very far away from all their loved ones, and this is their only way of keeping everyone up on what's new in their lives. But it made me think, "What the heck would Nick and I write about?" And then it made me laugh. Here's a list of some things I think would be in our Christmas letter :)
Dear friends and family (most of which we see at least on a weekly basis since Huntington is so small),
2009 has been an exciting year at the Haser home!!
-We have attended enough weddings this year to almost average out to 1 per week.
-Joy racked up about $25 in fines at the library (at a rate of 10 cents per day, this is pretty impressive.) But thanks to free fine day in November, she got it all cleared for free!!!!
-Copper has only torn up 4 sets of window blinds this year.
-Nick has hardly received any speeding tickets in '09. And the points on his driver's license used to be in the double digits, and are now down to about 4!
-Joy has left her entire set of keys hanging overnight in the keyhole of the front door only twice this year.
-We've decided that when April 2011 comes around (after Nick's 30th bday), we'll start talking about the idea of having a baby. Maybe. Possibly. This does not mean we'll begin trying. Let me be clear- this is just when the discussions will start.
-Neither of us ran out of gas while driving this whole year- yes!!!
Maybe when we have kids or move away from Huntington, then we'll have more exciting stuff to write about and will understand this whole Christmas letter concept. But this is all I got for now :) Merry Christmas from the Hasers!!!
(One last note: I was getting ready to write my Christmas card to Oswaldo and Christine, when I found out that Christine is no longer one of my World Vision children :( WVision wrote and told me that her family moved out of the area that WVision works with, and they have no way of keeping in contact with her or supporting her anymore. I'm so sad that I will no longer be able to correspond with her or know how she's doing. But now they sent me a new child to sponsor in her place named Merete from Ethiopia- so I'll try to write him every 3 months since I can't contact Christine anymore. It still makes me a little sad that I won't know how she is- but I'll just rest in knowing that her heavenly Father loves her more than I could even begin to, and I know her future is in His hands.)
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi
I was just thinking how much I love not only reading about Jesus in the Gospels, but also about His disciples. How real and imperfect they are, and yet, God still chose them to be His followers and left them in charge of spreading His message to the world- of changing the course of history. This is such a random post, but I was just thinking about stuff and had to get it out of my head. I was thinking about faith today, and what it is that makes me so confident in my beliefs. And one of the main things that encourages me is the reaction of the disciples to Jesus' death and resurrection. The change that occurs from Friday to Sunday is incredible. After Jesus is crucified, every disciple is devastated, heartbroken, and left full of questions- wondering if this man they gave up their lives to follow is really who He said He was. These men hide out- and are frightened for their lives. Despite all Jesus had been trying to explain to them, they still didn't get it- they had no idea what had happened or what to do.
But after those 3 days, it's a completely different story- and it fires me up!!!! These men who, just days before, were cowardly, spineless, doubting- seriously go out ready to take on the world, ready for anything!! There is no other explanation for this- except if they truly encountered Jesus after His resurrection, and realized He meant what He'd been telling them everyday for 3 years. What else would cause such a 180 turnaround?? To the extent that they would all (except 1) be willing to die a horrible death? What would inspire such a reaction- unless they were completely convinced that Jesus is the Christ? These men spent every moment with Jesus the 3 years of His ministry. EVERY MOMENT. I can maybe fool people for a few hours that I've "got it together" or that I'm a "good person"- but what about every waking moment for 3 straight years? Had Jesus been a fraud, these men would have known. And why would they have been willing to die a martyr's death for a lie? Jesus was the real deal. And these men whose natural, human reaction is to first run away and hide- they realize what Jesus is calling them to. And they dive completely in. I try to just imagine it, and I'm overwhelmed.
I love Rob Bell's perspective of the disciples. That these men were what he calls the "not good enoughs". These men hadn't "cut it" to be rabbis- many of them were fishermen, just learning the family business. To become a rabbi back in the day, all Jewish boys started out memorizing the Torah. Then, only the best of the best went on to study and memorize the rest of the Old Testament. Seriously, that's insane. Then, the best of these, would approach a rabbi and ask to be his disciple. If they were chosen, they followed their rabbi around everywhere. They wanted not only to know what the rabbi knew, but to also to become like that rabbi. These young men would leave behind everything in their lives, to devote themselves to becoming like their rabbi. And, as you can imagine, after following around your rabbi for the entire day on dusty roads, the disciples are covered in the dust from their rabbi's feet. So there was a saying, "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi."
Then Jesus comes into town, and He choses these B team guys to be His followers. These young men who hadn't been good enough to "make the cut" and to be a rabbi. And this is who Jesus chooses to be His followers- which is so cool :) Because His movement is for everyone!! He knows I'm not the smartest, that I don't have the best memory, that I'm overly emotional, and terrified of speaking in groups, and can be incredibly moody and selfish at times (the list could go on for a long time, but I'll stop)- and despite that, He still asks me to follow Him!!
Here's some awesome words from Rob Bell:
"The rabbi doesn't chose you unless the rabbi believes you can do what he does... What if we can actually be the kinds of people God created us to be? What if He believes that? What if He actually believes that we can be the kind of people who live like Jesus lived? The kinds of people who take action because we're aware of all these endless opportunities around us all the time for good, for beauty, for truth? Jesus has faith that you can follow Him and be like Him."
What an honor. He seeks us out, and asks us to come and follow Him. And He truly has faith that we can be like Him. May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi.
But after those 3 days, it's a completely different story- and it fires me up!!!! These men who, just days before, were cowardly, spineless, doubting- seriously go out ready to take on the world, ready for anything!! There is no other explanation for this- except if they truly encountered Jesus after His resurrection, and realized He meant what He'd been telling them everyday for 3 years. What else would cause such a 180 turnaround?? To the extent that they would all (except 1) be willing to die a horrible death? What would inspire such a reaction- unless they were completely convinced that Jesus is the Christ? These men spent every moment with Jesus the 3 years of His ministry. EVERY MOMENT. I can maybe fool people for a few hours that I've "got it together" or that I'm a "good person"- but what about every waking moment for 3 straight years? Had Jesus been a fraud, these men would have known. And why would they have been willing to die a martyr's death for a lie? Jesus was the real deal. And these men whose natural, human reaction is to first run away and hide- they realize what Jesus is calling them to. And they dive completely in. I try to just imagine it, and I'm overwhelmed.
I love Rob Bell's perspective of the disciples. That these men were what he calls the "not good enoughs". These men hadn't "cut it" to be rabbis- many of them were fishermen, just learning the family business. To become a rabbi back in the day, all Jewish boys started out memorizing the Torah. Then, only the best of the best went on to study and memorize the rest of the Old Testament. Seriously, that's insane. Then, the best of these, would approach a rabbi and ask to be his disciple. If they were chosen, they followed their rabbi around everywhere. They wanted not only to know what the rabbi knew, but to also to become like that rabbi. These young men would leave behind everything in their lives, to devote themselves to becoming like their rabbi. And, as you can imagine, after following around your rabbi for the entire day on dusty roads, the disciples are covered in the dust from their rabbi's feet. So there was a saying, "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi."
Then Jesus comes into town, and He choses these B team guys to be His followers. These young men who hadn't been good enough to "make the cut" and to be a rabbi. And this is who Jesus chooses to be His followers- which is so cool :) Because His movement is for everyone!! He knows I'm not the smartest, that I don't have the best memory, that I'm overly emotional, and terrified of speaking in groups, and can be incredibly moody and selfish at times (the list could go on for a long time, but I'll stop)- and despite that, He still asks me to follow Him!!
Here's some awesome words from Rob Bell:
"The rabbi doesn't chose you unless the rabbi believes you can do what he does... What if we can actually be the kinds of people God created us to be? What if He believes that? What if He actually believes that we can be the kind of people who live like Jesus lived? The kinds of people who take action because we're aware of all these endless opportunities around us all the time for good, for beauty, for truth? Jesus has faith that you can follow Him and be like Him."
What an honor. He seeks us out, and asks us to come and follow Him. And He truly has faith that we can be like Him. May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
10,000 Villages- and other updates on the List :)
I'm getting so excited/nervous about the 10,000 Villages festival sale this weekend!!! I went to one last year at 5th Ave. Baptist, and was so impressed with the pieces of art and with the organization itself that I asked Katherine (who hosted it last year) if she would care if I hosted one this year (because she couldn't do it). All the posters are up around town (Marshall, Starbucks, Empire Books, Pita Pit, the Y, churches), the press release was sent last week, the facebook invites were sent out- and today all the boxes arrived! I realize that I still have the majority of the work ahead of me, but I'm glad I haven't procrastinated everything as badly as I usually do :) I just found out that Marshall's fall break starts on Friday- which is a bummer because I was counting on MU students, and now they'll be leaving the day before the sale :/ But I'm not going to worry (which sort of is my forte.) Friends have been amazing to offer to volunteer their time and help work the festival- just another reminder of how blessed I am :) Anyway, the big event is this Saturday and Sunday, so we'll see how it goes!! (If you're interested in finding out more info, check out http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/. It's basically a nonprofit group that works with artisans in 38 3rd world countries and pays fair wages for the pieces.)
Other updates:
#5- I'll start with the one I'm doing poorly on :) Not only have I failed to add much to my savings, but I KEEP TAKING MORE OUT!!! No idea how this is happening... unless I have a drug habit that I'm unaware of. I really am baffled at why my money wants to run away from me so badly. Maybe the horribly messy state of the inside of my purse is scaring it away??
#10- I'm definitely not blazing a trail through the Bible, but I'm at the end of Exodus. Yes, I know- that's only the 2nd book of the Bible. But the OT is a little rough for me, and also, I did start with the New Testament, and read about 10 books in that first. But with Christmas coming, I'm now going to skip back to the NT and read some of the Gospels, to get me in the spirit of the season. The OT is hard for me to really embrace sometimes. The God in the OT seems so drastically different from the God in the NT- and I definitely prefer the loving, forgiving characteristics that are emphasized in the NT. But I have been surprised by how much I've learned, just by actually reading it through instead of skipping just to the parts that are my favorite.
#28- I tried my best to get the cool wine rack from St. James art show this year!!! The art festival is in Louisville the 1st weekend of October every year. I was so excited to finally purchase the wine rack that I've been regretting that I didn't buy 2 years ago- and the booth for that group was nowhere to be found!!! I was seriously bummed! I'm still determined to find it though- or at least one similar. It saved me $150 at least- but I'm such a penny pincher that it takes me a lot of consideration to part with that big of a chunk- and I was so ready and knew it would be worth it :/ All was not lost though- it was one of the most gorgeous days of the year, so I just walked around for a few hours and enjoyed hundreds of talented artists. And then I got to see my friend Jess, and meet her little baby Kate for the first time :) AND, I found a new project that I'm determined to make eventually. Here it is:
www.secondchanceart.net/item_147/His-Hers-Hers-towel-or-coat-rack.htm
#52- I'm only about 120 pages into Pride and Prejudice, and I can't figure out how I made it this long without reading it before. It's definitely more enjoyable than I was expecting- and I really love that Elizabeth is so fiesty :)
#55- Just wrote Oswaldo's Christmas card. But I got a letter last week informing me that Christine and her family moved out of the area that World Vision works in, so they have no way of providing her with care anymore :( They're going to assign me another child now, but I'm still sad that I'll no longer be able to keep in touch with Christine.
#56- Christmas cards!!!!! Started these about 2 weeks before Halloween :) Still only about 1/3 of the way through, but I'm gonna make it by my Dec. 1st deadline.
#61 & #62- Hosted 3rd family night last night, and Poppi came over also. I somehow always stress myself out in the process of getting ready, and then feel exhausted once dinner's on the table. And I hate that, because then it's hard for me to fully enjoy the evening.
#64- Had the 3rd friend night last Friday, and it was so fun :) We just ate goodies that are very autumn appropriate, and sat around and talked for hours, drinking apple cider and wine.
#69- My 3rd "just because" gift was Steph's care package that we sent to Elon a few weeks ago. I always loved getting care packages in college, so I thought she'd enjoy getting some random stuff :)
#70- Revising this one. I'm now going to count the movie if it was nominated for an Oscar, or if the lead actor/actress won an Oscar. I watched Revolutionary Road the other day, thinking Kate Winslet had won Best Actress for it- and later realized she won the Oscar for The Reader. So I spent 2 hours of my life watching a terribly depressing, dark, void-of-hope movie and then it didn't even count for why I was watching it lol :) I'll admit the acting was phenomenal, but the story was so depressing- and none of the characters were at all redeeming. I just kept thinking, "These people need some Jesus."
I've added a few new goals.
#89- After my 1st marathon is now accomplished, I now want to actually run it for a good time. I'm still frustrated that I didn't do what I trained to do, and it's my worst time of any race. So I want to run one in under 4 hours... unless a baby comes along (unexpectedly) and I have to wait a little while to accomplish this.
#90- Nick's parents' neighbor had advanced cancer about 2 years ago, and they asked Nick to do a buccal swab test to see if he might be a match and be able to donate bone marrow for the neighbor. It just brought to my attention something I hadn't really thought much about before. I know this is an extremely painful process, but to be able to save someone's life would be so worth it. And I know if it was my loved one, I'd really hope people would be willing to do it. Nick already did his test and is now in some national registry, so that they can keep him on file and call him if he's needed. The kit is about $50 and has simple instructions on how to do it, and then I just mail it in. So I'm adding this to my list.
#91- Go to the memorial service at the Marshall fountain. Nick and I already did this on Saturday. I've been wanting to go for a few years now, but am usually working during the service. Since November 14th fell on a Saturday this year, I got to attend the memorial service for the Marshall plane crash. I was impressed by how many people came to pay tribute to the 75 who lost their lives, and the speakers did a great job. It reminds me why Huntington is such a close-knit community, and what they had to help each other through during those difficult days.
That's it for now!
Other updates:
#5- I'll start with the one I'm doing poorly on :) Not only have I failed to add much to my savings, but I KEEP TAKING MORE OUT!!! No idea how this is happening... unless I have a drug habit that I'm unaware of. I really am baffled at why my money wants to run away from me so badly. Maybe the horribly messy state of the inside of my purse is scaring it away??
#10- I'm definitely not blazing a trail through the Bible, but I'm at the end of Exodus. Yes, I know- that's only the 2nd book of the Bible. But the OT is a little rough for me, and also, I did start with the New Testament, and read about 10 books in that first. But with Christmas coming, I'm now going to skip back to the NT and read some of the Gospels, to get me in the spirit of the season. The OT is hard for me to really embrace sometimes. The God in the OT seems so drastically different from the God in the NT- and I definitely prefer the loving, forgiving characteristics that are emphasized in the NT. But I have been surprised by how much I've learned, just by actually reading it through instead of skipping just to the parts that are my favorite.
#28- I tried my best to get the cool wine rack from St. James art show this year!!! The art festival is in Louisville the 1st weekend of October every year. I was so excited to finally purchase the wine rack that I've been regretting that I didn't buy 2 years ago- and the booth for that group was nowhere to be found!!! I was seriously bummed! I'm still determined to find it though- or at least one similar. It saved me $150 at least- but I'm such a penny pincher that it takes me a lot of consideration to part with that big of a chunk- and I was so ready and knew it would be worth it :/ All was not lost though- it was one of the most gorgeous days of the year, so I just walked around for a few hours and enjoyed hundreds of talented artists. And then I got to see my friend Jess, and meet her little baby Kate for the first time :) AND, I found a new project that I'm determined to make eventually. Here it is:
www.secondchanceart.net/item_147/His-Hers-Hers-towel-or-coat-rack.htm
#52- I'm only about 120 pages into Pride and Prejudice, and I can't figure out how I made it this long without reading it before. It's definitely more enjoyable than I was expecting- and I really love that Elizabeth is so fiesty :)
#55- Just wrote Oswaldo's Christmas card. But I got a letter last week informing me that Christine and her family moved out of the area that World Vision works in, so they have no way of providing her with care anymore :( They're going to assign me another child now, but I'm still sad that I'll no longer be able to keep in touch with Christine.
#56- Christmas cards!!!!! Started these about 2 weeks before Halloween :) Still only about 1/3 of the way through, but I'm gonna make it by my Dec. 1st deadline.
#61 & #62- Hosted 3rd family night last night, and Poppi came over also. I somehow always stress myself out in the process of getting ready, and then feel exhausted once dinner's on the table. And I hate that, because then it's hard for me to fully enjoy the evening.
#64- Had the 3rd friend night last Friday, and it was so fun :) We just ate goodies that are very autumn appropriate, and sat around and talked for hours, drinking apple cider and wine.
#69- My 3rd "just because" gift was Steph's care package that we sent to Elon a few weeks ago. I always loved getting care packages in college, so I thought she'd enjoy getting some random stuff :)
#70- Revising this one. I'm now going to count the movie if it was nominated for an Oscar, or if the lead actor/actress won an Oscar. I watched Revolutionary Road the other day, thinking Kate Winslet had won Best Actress for it- and later realized she won the Oscar for The Reader. So I spent 2 hours of my life watching a terribly depressing, dark, void-of-hope movie and then it didn't even count for why I was watching it lol :) I'll admit the acting was phenomenal, but the story was so depressing- and none of the characters were at all redeeming. I just kept thinking, "These people need some Jesus."
I've added a few new goals.
#89- After my 1st marathon is now accomplished, I now want to actually run it for a good time. I'm still frustrated that I didn't do what I trained to do, and it's my worst time of any race. So I want to run one in under 4 hours... unless a baby comes along (unexpectedly) and I have to wait a little while to accomplish this.
#90- Nick's parents' neighbor had advanced cancer about 2 years ago, and they asked Nick to do a buccal swab test to see if he might be a match and be able to donate bone marrow for the neighbor. It just brought to my attention something I hadn't really thought much about before. I know this is an extremely painful process, but to be able to save someone's life would be so worth it. And I know if it was my loved one, I'd really hope people would be willing to do it. Nick already did his test and is now in some national registry, so that they can keep him on file and call him if he's needed. The kit is about $50 and has simple instructions on how to do it, and then I just mail it in. So I'm adding this to my list.
#91- Go to the memorial service at the Marshall fountain. Nick and I already did this on Saturday. I've been wanting to go for a few years now, but am usually working during the service. Since November 14th fell on a Saturday this year, I got to attend the memorial service for the Marshall plane crash. I was impressed by how many people came to pay tribute to the 75 who lost their lives, and the speakers did a great job. It reminds me why Huntington is such a close-knit community, and what they had to help each other through during those difficult days.
That's it for now!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
26.2
November 1st finally came, and I can now say that I've run a full marathon :) It feels sort of weird, since it's been a dream of mine for about 10 years now. I almost feel like I place it way up on this pedistool of things that are impossible- and with all the times I've gotten injured in the past, I really wondered if I'd ever be able to do it. I definitely did not run the time I trained for and wanted to run, so I go back and forth between being thankful and glad I accomplished it, and then sometimes crying and getting frustrated that I didn't do better.
I haven't written about my running for a while, b/c during my last long run (about 2.5 weeks before the marathon), I went out to do a 20-miler and had some issues arise. I had just bought new running shoes and wanted to break them in before race day, and the shop owner had told me they'd be fine to jump in and run a long run. So I went out and was feeling fine, until mile 17- and my IT band suddenly locked up. I don't know how to explain it to people who haven't had issues with it, but it grinds on the outside of my knee and feels like it's going to snap. So I had to walk instead of run the rest of the way back, because I've learned after 9 years of struggling with this injury that I can't run through it unless I want to take 6-8 weeks off running. So I stretched, took Ibuprofen, and iced like crazy when I got home that night. The next morning it felt terrible still, which is a really bad sign :/ It hurt even just to walk, and usually it only hurts when I run- so I knew it could be serious. I cried that morning walking Copper, I cried on the way in to work, I cried with Nick after work- I cried A LOT. I really thought all my training was going to be a total waste. I considered backing out and saving my race number until next year, when I would hopefully not have any injury. I kept going back and forth on what to do. So for the next 5 days, I didn't run at all, and I just did tons of icing and stretching- and it definitely got better- about 80% healthy. I was able to run about 5 more times before the marathon- the longest being 8.5 miles b/c I was supposed to be tapering anyway before race day. My leg still hurt some, but I decided I was going to finish the marathon if it meant crawling.
Now on to NYC :) This marathon is the coolest thing I've ever done. Nick did it in 2001, and his dad did it in 1982 and 2002- and they've both talked about it so much that I had to experience it. There were so many people from so many countries- I didn't even know what most of the languages were that I heard when I was walking around before the race. The cool thing is that Natalie and Marshall (Nick's sister and brother-in-law) live on Staten Island- where the race starts. So everyone else has to get up at 4 or 5a.m. to catch transportation to get over to the start line from the main part of the City. But we were literally 1/4 of a mile from the start, and just waited til about 30 minutes before our start time to walk over.
Marshall decided he was going to just run it with Natalie at her pace, and his friend Ian said he'd run with me, and help pace me to the 3:50- which I totally should've been able to do. So we started with my 10:00 group, and they started with the 10:20- so we said goodbye and headed to our areas. I feel like there's no way to explain how incredible this experience is, and it almost cheapens it to put it into words. But running with 43,000 people and with almost 2 million people cheering you on the whole way is overwhelming. I think my favorite part was in Brooklyn. I had just warmed up, so I took off my long sleeve shirt, and so everyone could see my name on my jersey and where Nick had written it on my arms, and everyone started yelling my name. I would say 300-400 people yell specifically for me during that race, and it helped so much. I actually got a little emotional at one point, and had to pull myself together :) People are out there handing out bananas, orange slices, tissues, gum- anything you could want. And if you run on the side, everyone (especially the kids) wants to slap your hand- my favorite part :)
I told Ian pretty early on that my IT band had started getting irritated, but I kept popping in Ibuprofen to dull the pain as much as I could. About mile 9 it got really bad, but the medicine made it a little better by mile 12/13. Then we got on 1st Avenue (about mile 16) and I was so excited b/c I knew that Nick, my parents, and Nick's parents were going to be at mile 18. It still makes me sad, b/c I thought I was supposed to look for them on the left side, and they were on the right :( So I got to 88th Street (where they were) and looked so hard and never saw them. And with so many runners, they never saw me either. It was so disheartening, because that had kept me going when I had started feeling pretty crappy and my feet had started to charlie horse. The last 7 miles were rough- I think early on in the race I was compensating for my IT band problem and so I strained the inner part of my thighs, and they started to cramp and charlie horse in the last part of the race. Or it may have just been b/c I was running a marathon which I've never done before :) It was the weirdest feeling- I've never had anything like it!!! I could go about 5-6 minutes running, and then my legs would lock up and I'd have to try to walk and rub it out- and do that all over again. I had sent Ian on ahead around mile 17, so I made it the last part of the race on my own. And I can't even express how happy I was when Nick jumped in and ran with me for about 2-3 minutes right before mile 24 :) I had been so sad about missing them at mile 17, and that was such a help to get me to the end of the race. The last few miles go through Central Park, but you're so exhausted and ready to be done that it's difficult to enjoy. But I swear, except for 1 little tunnel, there are people lining the streets the ENTIRE race and encouraging you on. And that really was so helpful for those last few miles. I couldn't believe how long it felt to get from mile marker 26 to 26.2. I swear, it seemed like that 1/5th of a mile took forever. But I finished... and then the cramping really started. After the finish line, everyone is squished in- trying to get their medals, bags with drink and food, blankets, etc. and my feet wouldn't stop charlie horsing, but I had no room to even bend down and try to fix them! Then the chaos was overwhelming, with everyone trying to connect with their families. It took about 30 minutes for me to meet up with my parents and Nick and Brian (he's an NYU journalism student who needed to do a story on someone in the race, and since he went to Marshall for undergrad, he found and interviewed me). But during that time... I ran into ANNE HATHAWAY!!!!!! NO JOKE!!! I was walking around hoping to just run into my family, and she walked by in a peacoat and sunglasses, and I turned and asked the guy behind me, "DoyouknowwhoAnneHathawayis?Doyouthinkthatwasherjustnow???" He just stared at me- either because he didn't speak English, or because I seriously said it so fast that he couldn't understand. So I thought "I'm gonna be so mad if I don't find out and if I always just wonder if that was her!" So I went back, GRABBED HER ARM (seriously???), and when she turned around I said, "I'm so sorry, I'm totally dorking out right now, but I have to know if you're Anne Hathaway." She was so nice and smiled and said yes, and then she clapped for me and said "You just ran in the race- congratulations!" !!!!!!!!! Then the woman with her (maybe her mom?) said "Her brother just ran the race too". Anyway, that was the extent of our convo- I said thank you and sorry and goodbye :) But it was so cool!!! I later realized how terrible I looked and smelled and was a bit embarassed, but oh well :)
So in summary, I'm so glad I did it, and that now I know a marathon is not this unattainable goal. I definitely don't think I'll become an addict to marathon running like many are- I'll stick to my half marathons and shorter races mostly. But I am entering my name in the lottery again to try to get in the race for 2010- or I'm at least running 1 more marathon at some point to get my sub-4 hour time. I really think I could've done it had my injury not happened so close to the race :/ But no use pouting over it! I would recommend for everyone to run the NYC marathon at least once. Even hours later after the race was over, so many New Yorkers were congratulating me and saying such nice things. It's like the runners are celebrities for the day :) I will warn you: there is so much uphill!!!!! I know- it's NYC and it doesn't seem to have hills- I thought it was exaggerated too. But the hills aren't steep- they just go on forever and you wonder if they'll ever end. 1st Avenue is about 2-2.5 miles of steady, small uphill, and then between miles 22-23 is a mile long hill. Plus, the 1st whole mile on the Verazzano Bridge is uphill, in Brooklyn there's uphill, and the Queensborough Bridge is almost 1 mile of uphill- but those are early on in the race so they don't hurt so bad.
One last funny memory- a man ran up past me, and smelled rather strong. But I had been used to the foreign men smelling a bit like B.O. (I'm not being prejudice- it's just the truth), so at first I didn't think anything of it. UNTIL I noticed that there was brown stuff all down his legs coming out of his shorts. The man totally pooed on himself!!!! Really??? Really, sir- couldn't you make a quick pitstop at a porta-potty? They're like every 1/2 mile!!! And it's not like we're elite runners here- it's not like you were going to break a world record and didn't have time to stop! Hilariously disgusting :)
I apologize if anyone actually read all this rambling. I really just wrote this for myself, so I can look back and remember what this awesome experience was like :)
I haven't written about my running for a while, b/c during my last long run (about 2.5 weeks before the marathon), I went out to do a 20-miler and had some issues arise. I had just bought new running shoes and wanted to break them in before race day, and the shop owner had told me they'd be fine to jump in and run a long run. So I went out and was feeling fine, until mile 17- and my IT band suddenly locked up. I don't know how to explain it to people who haven't had issues with it, but it grinds on the outside of my knee and feels like it's going to snap. So I had to walk instead of run the rest of the way back, because I've learned after 9 years of struggling with this injury that I can't run through it unless I want to take 6-8 weeks off running. So I stretched, took Ibuprofen, and iced like crazy when I got home that night. The next morning it felt terrible still, which is a really bad sign :/ It hurt even just to walk, and usually it only hurts when I run- so I knew it could be serious. I cried that morning walking Copper, I cried on the way in to work, I cried with Nick after work- I cried A LOT. I really thought all my training was going to be a total waste. I considered backing out and saving my race number until next year, when I would hopefully not have any injury. I kept going back and forth on what to do. So for the next 5 days, I didn't run at all, and I just did tons of icing and stretching- and it definitely got better- about 80% healthy. I was able to run about 5 more times before the marathon- the longest being 8.5 miles b/c I was supposed to be tapering anyway before race day. My leg still hurt some, but I decided I was going to finish the marathon if it meant crawling.
Now on to NYC :) This marathon is the coolest thing I've ever done. Nick did it in 2001, and his dad did it in 1982 and 2002- and they've both talked about it so much that I had to experience it. There were so many people from so many countries- I didn't even know what most of the languages were that I heard when I was walking around before the race. The cool thing is that Natalie and Marshall (Nick's sister and brother-in-law) live on Staten Island- where the race starts. So everyone else has to get up at 4 or 5a.m. to catch transportation to get over to the start line from the main part of the City. But we were literally 1/4 of a mile from the start, and just waited til about 30 minutes before our start time to walk over.
Marshall decided he was going to just run it with Natalie at her pace, and his friend Ian said he'd run with me, and help pace me to the 3:50- which I totally should've been able to do. So we started with my 10:00 group, and they started with the 10:20- so we said goodbye and headed to our areas. I feel like there's no way to explain how incredible this experience is, and it almost cheapens it to put it into words. But running with 43,000 people and with almost 2 million people cheering you on the whole way is overwhelming. I think my favorite part was in Brooklyn. I had just warmed up, so I took off my long sleeve shirt, and so everyone could see my name on my jersey and where Nick had written it on my arms, and everyone started yelling my name. I would say 300-400 people yell specifically for me during that race, and it helped so much. I actually got a little emotional at one point, and had to pull myself together :) People are out there handing out bananas, orange slices, tissues, gum- anything you could want. And if you run on the side, everyone (especially the kids) wants to slap your hand- my favorite part :)
I told Ian pretty early on that my IT band had started getting irritated, but I kept popping in Ibuprofen to dull the pain as much as I could. About mile 9 it got really bad, but the medicine made it a little better by mile 12/13. Then we got on 1st Avenue (about mile 16) and I was so excited b/c I knew that Nick, my parents, and Nick's parents were going to be at mile 18. It still makes me sad, b/c I thought I was supposed to look for them on the left side, and they were on the right :( So I got to 88th Street (where they were) and looked so hard and never saw them. And with so many runners, they never saw me either. It was so disheartening, because that had kept me going when I had started feeling pretty crappy and my feet had started to charlie horse. The last 7 miles were rough- I think early on in the race I was compensating for my IT band problem and so I strained the inner part of my thighs, and they started to cramp and charlie horse in the last part of the race. Or it may have just been b/c I was running a marathon which I've never done before :) It was the weirdest feeling- I've never had anything like it!!! I could go about 5-6 minutes running, and then my legs would lock up and I'd have to try to walk and rub it out- and do that all over again. I had sent Ian on ahead around mile 17, so I made it the last part of the race on my own. And I can't even express how happy I was when Nick jumped in and ran with me for about 2-3 minutes right before mile 24 :) I had been so sad about missing them at mile 17, and that was such a help to get me to the end of the race. The last few miles go through Central Park, but you're so exhausted and ready to be done that it's difficult to enjoy. But I swear, except for 1 little tunnel, there are people lining the streets the ENTIRE race and encouraging you on. And that really was so helpful for those last few miles. I couldn't believe how long it felt to get from mile marker 26 to 26.2. I swear, it seemed like that 1/5th of a mile took forever. But I finished... and then the cramping really started. After the finish line, everyone is squished in- trying to get their medals, bags with drink and food, blankets, etc. and my feet wouldn't stop charlie horsing, but I had no room to even bend down and try to fix them! Then the chaos was overwhelming, with everyone trying to connect with their families. It took about 30 minutes for me to meet up with my parents and Nick and Brian (he's an NYU journalism student who needed to do a story on someone in the race, and since he went to Marshall for undergrad, he found and interviewed me). But during that time... I ran into ANNE HATHAWAY!!!!!! NO JOKE!!! I was walking around hoping to just run into my family, and she walked by in a peacoat and sunglasses, and I turned and asked the guy behind me, "DoyouknowwhoAnneHathawayis?Doyouthinkthatwasherjustnow???" He just stared at me- either because he didn't speak English, or because I seriously said it so fast that he couldn't understand. So I thought "I'm gonna be so mad if I don't find out and if I always just wonder if that was her!" So I went back, GRABBED HER ARM (seriously???), and when she turned around I said, "I'm so sorry, I'm totally dorking out right now, but I have to know if you're Anne Hathaway." She was so nice and smiled and said yes, and then she clapped for me and said "You just ran in the race- congratulations!" !!!!!!!!! Then the woman with her (maybe her mom?) said "Her brother just ran the race too". Anyway, that was the extent of our convo- I said thank you and sorry and goodbye :) But it was so cool!!! I later realized how terrible I looked and smelled and was a bit embarassed, but oh well :)
So in summary, I'm so glad I did it, and that now I know a marathon is not this unattainable goal. I definitely don't think I'll become an addict to marathon running like many are- I'll stick to my half marathons and shorter races mostly. But I am entering my name in the lottery again to try to get in the race for 2010- or I'm at least running 1 more marathon at some point to get my sub-4 hour time. I really think I could've done it had my injury not happened so close to the race :/ But no use pouting over it! I would recommend for everyone to run the NYC marathon at least once. Even hours later after the race was over, so many New Yorkers were congratulating me and saying such nice things. It's like the runners are celebrities for the day :) I will warn you: there is so much uphill!!!!! I know- it's NYC and it doesn't seem to have hills- I thought it was exaggerated too. But the hills aren't steep- they just go on forever and you wonder if they'll ever end. 1st Avenue is about 2-2.5 miles of steady, small uphill, and then between miles 22-23 is a mile long hill. Plus, the 1st whole mile on the Verazzano Bridge is uphill, in Brooklyn there's uphill, and the Queensborough Bridge is almost 1 mile of uphill- but those are early on in the race so they don't hurt so bad.
One last funny memory- a man ran up past me, and smelled rather strong. But I had been used to the foreign men smelling a bit like B.O. (I'm not being prejudice- it's just the truth), so at first I didn't think anything of it. UNTIL I noticed that there was brown stuff all down his legs coming out of his shorts. The man totally pooed on himself!!!! Really??? Really, sir- couldn't you make a quick pitstop at a porta-potty? They're like every 1/2 mile!!! And it's not like we're elite runners here- it's not like you were going to break a world record and didn't have time to stop! Hilariously disgusting :)
I apologize if anyone actually read all this rambling. I really just wrote this for myself, so I can look back and remember what this awesome experience was like :)
Friday, October 23, 2009
Adventures in the world of Activities
I will admit that my job is a bit more exciting and unpredictable than the normal office job. Working with the elderly, many of whom have dementia or Alzheimer's, provides an endless supply of strange scenarios and awkward moments.
Monday was movie day. Once a month we take a small group of ladies (not because the men aren't invited, but I think they're intimidated by being stuck with all females) out to lunch and to see a movie. I feel like I'm pretty ready for the unexpected at this point since I've had almost 4 years of this job. But days like this make me realize I'm never quite prepared enough. For the sake of HIPAA laws, I'm going use fake names for my ladies :) On our way from Wendy's into the movie theater, a couple of the women needed to make a brief stop at the restroom. So Amanda headed with them for the pit stop, and I got the other residents seated in the movie and then made my way back to help in the restroom. After several minutes and a few times of asking, "Are you doing OK in there?", I realized things weren't going as well as expected behind the stall door. Finally "Becky" fessed up and told me she couldn't get up off the toilet- which also meant she clearly couldn't reach the lock on the door to let me in so I could help her get up. A little important background info- Becky, a few months back, was stuck in a doctor's office bathroom for about an hour for this same problem. She had locked the door behind her, and was then unable to get back up after finishing her business. So, with this story in the back of my mind, and me thinking "Oh no, oh no, oh no", I try to calmly devise a plan that would not include me crawling army-style under the door on the nasty floor. So I stand up on the toilet seat next to her and look over the stall and attempt to coach her at how to rock back and forth to get momentum, and to grab onto the toilet paper dispenser as leverage to pull up on. I quickly realize this is not going to be successful. I then get up on the back of the toilet- the flusher part- and hoist myself up gymnast-on-the-uneven-bars style, and try to evaluate what my next move is. I kick one foot over to her side so that I'm straddling the divider (so thankful at this point that no one else is in the bathroom), and on my stomach I shimmy my way down toward the door. I had originally envisioned just reaching down and unlocking the door so that Amanda, my co-worker, could get in and help her. But then I see, once I'm there, that there's no possible way for me to reach down and unhook the lock without falling and breaking my neck- the lock is on the opposite side of the door (clearly, I should have gotten up on the opposite side. Stupid, stupid.) So I finally just decide to slowly lower myself down into her stall, but the side of me that's still a teenager finds this hilarious, and my hysterical laughter makes this very tough. I'm hanging from the stall with one leg dangling, the other still stuck over the divider, and my arms getting very weak from all my laughing. I had considered using the toilet paper dispenser as my midway stop on the way to the floor, but realize it probably won't hold me, and end up just dropping to the floor. Thankfully, and surprisingly, I did not land on Becky, did not break an ankle, did not pull the stall down with me, and did not wet my pants from laughing. Becky then proceeded to tell everyone for the rest of the day that I saved her life :)
THEN, with about 30 minutes left of the movie, one of the theater employees comes in and says, "Um, I think there's a lady out here that is with your group." Sure enough, I look around and one of our ladies is gone!!!! Seriously, how the hell did she get out without anyone noticing?? So I hurry out, completely embarassed since this worker must think I'm a total moron or on drugs. We go out the hallway- she's not there. Then we get out to the lobby- not there. She had made it all the way outside of the mall and was walking around!!! OHMYGOSH. I seriously am not usually this incompetent at my job- although reading this, I myself wouldn't blame anyone for thinking that. So I turned "Dixie" back around and escorted her back into the theater, down the hall, back to her seat. At the end of the movie, we were talking to her about the incident, and I asked why she had left, and she said "Really? I left during the movie? I don't know where the hell I was going" and then just laughed it off. Wow. Only in the land of retirement homes :)
Monday was movie day. Once a month we take a small group of ladies (not because the men aren't invited, but I think they're intimidated by being stuck with all females) out to lunch and to see a movie. I feel like I'm pretty ready for the unexpected at this point since I've had almost 4 years of this job. But days like this make me realize I'm never quite prepared enough. For the sake of HIPAA laws, I'm going use fake names for my ladies :) On our way from Wendy's into the movie theater, a couple of the women needed to make a brief stop at the restroom. So Amanda headed with them for the pit stop, and I got the other residents seated in the movie and then made my way back to help in the restroom. After several minutes and a few times of asking, "Are you doing OK in there?", I realized things weren't going as well as expected behind the stall door. Finally "Becky" fessed up and told me she couldn't get up off the toilet- which also meant she clearly couldn't reach the lock on the door to let me in so I could help her get up. A little important background info- Becky, a few months back, was stuck in a doctor's office bathroom for about an hour for this same problem. She had locked the door behind her, and was then unable to get back up after finishing her business. So, with this story in the back of my mind, and me thinking "Oh no, oh no, oh no", I try to calmly devise a plan that would not include me crawling army-style under the door on the nasty floor. So I stand up on the toilet seat next to her and look over the stall and attempt to coach her at how to rock back and forth to get momentum, and to grab onto the toilet paper dispenser as leverage to pull up on. I quickly realize this is not going to be successful. I then get up on the back of the toilet- the flusher part- and hoist myself up gymnast-on-the-uneven-bars style, and try to evaluate what my next move is. I kick one foot over to her side so that I'm straddling the divider (so thankful at this point that no one else is in the bathroom), and on my stomach I shimmy my way down toward the door. I had originally envisioned just reaching down and unlocking the door so that Amanda, my co-worker, could get in and help her. But then I see, once I'm there, that there's no possible way for me to reach down and unhook the lock without falling and breaking my neck- the lock is on the opposite side of the door (clearly, I should have gotten up on the opposite side. Stupid, stupid.) So I finally just decide to slowly lower myself down into her stall, but the side of me that's still a teenager finds this hilarious, and my hysterical laughter makes this very tough. I'm hanging from the stall with one leg dangling, the other still stuck over the divider, and my arms getting very weak from all my laughing. I had considered using the toilet paper dispenser as my midway stop on the way to the floor, but realize it probably won't hold me, and end up just dropping to the floor. Thankfully, and surprisingly, I did not land on Becky, did not break an ankle, did not pull the stall down with me, and did not wet my pants from laughing. Becky then proceeded to tell everyone for the rest of the day that I saved her life :)
THEN, with about 30 minutes left of the movie, one of the theater employees comes in and says, "Um, I think there's a lady out here that is with your group." Sure enough, I look around and one of our ladies is gone!!!! Seriously, how the hell did she get out without anyone noticing?? So I hurry out, completely embarassed since this worker must think I'm a total moron or on drugs. We go out the hallway- she's not there. Then we get out to the lobby- not there. She had made it all the way outside of the mall and was walking around!!! OHMYGOSH. I seriously am not usually this incompetent at my job- although reading this, I myself wouldn't blame anyone for thinking that. So I turned "Dixie" back around and escorted her back into the theater, down the hall, back to her seat. At the end of the movie, we were talking to her about the incident, and I asked why she had left, and she said "Really? I left during the movie? I don't know where the hell I was going" and then just laughed it off. Wow. Only in the land of retirement homes :)
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