Transitions

My mom has decided to sell her house. It's the only house I really remember; we moved there when I was 3, I believe. I'm happy for her and hopeful she'll find a place that more suits her needs and lifestyle. But it will be really weird never walking into that house again, not having Thanksgivings at "home" anymore, and not pulling into the familiar driveway when I want to stop by and visit.

Jason and I lucked out in this transition by "inheriting" her piano, the one I grew up playing. We have a nice little area in our living room where it fits pretty well. It sort of makes the place seem more home-y to me, for some reason. I like it.

passwords

It's crazy how many passwords we are expected to remember these days! I have one to get into my computer at work, one to get into the operating system that houses our database software, one for my work voicemail, one for my cell phone voicemail if calling from a different phone, one for my personal email, one for my blog, one for my debit card, and luckily Jason takes care of our online bills because banks, credit cards, and other companies all (obviously) require passwords as well.

But what really throws a wrench into things is that my two computer-related passwords at work expire at varying intervals, so I can't keep them linked as I would like AND the rules are that the first six characters must contain at least three of the following: number, symbol, capital letter, small letter AND it can't be the same password as the last three passwords I've used. So when your passwords expire every 90 days ... Yikes! That's a lot to remember.

"Prayer"

I'm reading the Philip Yancey book on Prayer ("Does It Make Any Difference?"), and the following story struck me. Here is a paraphrase of it from chapter 7:

A hospice patient was in the last stages of cancer and feeling guilty becuase he'd spent the previous night ranting, raving and swearing at God. The following morning he felt horrible and asked to see the chaplain. He imagined that his chance of eternal life had now been lost forever, and that God would never forgive one who had cursed and abused him. The chaplain asked the patient, "What do you think is the opposite of love?" The man replied, "Hate."

The wise chaplain replied, "No, the opposite of love is indifference. You have not been indifferent to God, or you would never have spent the night talking to him, honestly telling him what was in your heart and mind. Do you know the Christian word that describes what you have been doing? The word is 'prayer.' You have spent the night praying."

This story made me wonder if I'm more apt to talk to God no matter what I'm feeling, or ignore him completely. I think too often, I avoid praying for whatever reason (lack of anything meaningful to say, lack of time, lack of belief, distractions, etc.) and I don't even realize that that is the ultimate slap in the face to God. All he wants is for us to carve a little time out of our day for our Creator, and so often I can't (won't) even give him that.

ugh

Today at work was one of those days that made me wish I played the lottery ... and had really, really good luck. I began imagining what it would be like not to HAVE to work full time. Sometimes I think it would be boring, but I know that I would use my time to volunteer more, write more, help babysit, get in shape, keep the house clean, the laundry done, and have homecooked food on the table. All without the stress of a fulltime job. The work itself isn't hard - I rather like keeping busy with the day-to-day tasks I'm given. It's dealing with incompetence and rudeness that I can't stand. As I've said before, as the "good" people slowly dwindle away or are stuck in meetings all stinkin' day so I can't interact with them anymore, the appeal of my job begins to fade.

Afrin to the rescue ... again

I just got over yet another cold. Do I have no immune system whatsoever? Why do I keep getting sick? Here are my theories:

1) allergic to something in our new house (but what? and what to do about it?)

2) a result of stress from work (I've been putting in a lot of overtime since my promotion - although I have my own office now which is pretty sweet :))

3) I haven't exercised in ... oh ... a year or two. Ok, ok, I walk and bike-ride in the summers and do occasional "abs of steel" workouts throughout the year ... But I haven't been to an actual gym since California. I hear sloth's not so good for your health.

4) I'm kind of a kid when it comes to fruits and veggies - I just don't love 'em, and I'd much rather snack on carbs, ice cream, and baked goods :) I did just buy some multi-vitamins though, so I'll be testing the "you need to get your vitamins" theory shortly.

5) greater exposure to kids once a week at Elmbrook's jr. high group. This theory was suggested to me, but I think it's a weak one. I don't feel I get close enough to any of them long enough to really extract their germs.

If anyone has any other theories, the knowledge of which could result in fewer future sicknesses, I'd be happy to lend an ear.