Blessings All Round

Sometimes life just HITS you, and you have to stand up, take note, and appreciate and love what you've been given and have the opportunity to watch/experience.

A dear friend celebrating the life of her beloved grandmother.  A time for tears?  Yes, maybe, but more importantly a time for me to thank God that she had her grandmother for so long, and that she wants to share her grandmother's life with others.

A new friend who brings me, and others, cookies during a class break.  REALLY???  Her income is limited (for all students it is, isn't it?), and she shares cookies with us!  WOW.  I'm humbled and blessed.

A brave friend who shares recent struggles on her blog, which gives others strength and encouragement to be honest and open with wherever they are and whatever is thrown at them.  I am lucky to have someone so brave in my life.

A young student who only wants to sing and does so in the bathroom, with the door open, at the top of her voice.  And, this, gentle readers, is my oldest baby.  As I walked into her classroom to pick her up, there she was in the class restroom, singing her little heart out, and not even minding who heard.  Oh, I wish she could always hold on to that honest, I-don't-care, free-to-be attitude: I wanna sing, and I'm gonna do it RIGHT NOW!

And, finally, watching my husband revel in his favorite video game with our oldest two.  Listening to all of them think through and cooperate to get Zelda safe in Wind Waker has been just about the best thing ever.  It might be "just" a video game, but these kids are gaining major problem-solving skills, and I'm now a parent that will always encourage role-playing games.

These are just five things I'm thankful for.  No images today, folks.  Only words that I hope show you how blessed life can be, through pain, loss, and even in the most mundane, everyday things.

Really? REALLY?!?

I can't believe it, but I've become THAT person.  I've become the person that can't talk to you until she has her first sip of coffee.  This morning confirmed it.

It's my husband's birthday.  His BIRTHday.  I LOVE birthdays.  Love them like Jessica Day loves them.  (Did you SEE this week's ep of New Girl?  SPOILER ALERT: Bearclaw was back!)  But today, I could barely utter the words Happy Birthday upon awakening. 

I also couldn't "talk in my normal" voice to my kids until that first sip.  What's "talk in my normal voice, " you're asking?  Well, it's my "not mean voice," according to #1.  My mean voice is stern and serious, while my normal voice is lilting, fun, and well, not mean.  I felt horrible, but as soon as that first sip was taken, I was talking in my normal voice.

WHAT HAS BECOME OF ME???  I can't believe it.  This is horrible.  I'm THAT person.  I used to just be the little kid in the back of my dad's sweet maroon Buick LeSabre, riding along the highway with him and mom and broham, thinking the coffee he had smelled so good, but the taste was BLECH!  I used to make fun of my mom for drinking so much coffee everyday, but now I can't even use normal voice without it!?! 

I will say this.  I'm still at one cuppa day (unless it's a bad one).  The Starbucks VIA instant cups are quite delicious AND affordable (about 80 cents/cup if you get the 50 value pack I do). 

However, if you get me out and about in the morning, and I'm within ten miles of a Starbucks, I'll go out of my way to get my iced grande non-fat triple mocha with extra ice and no whip (try ordering that three times fast).  That order, my friends, is a little bit more than 80 cents.

I guess all I have to do is set my alarm earlier, so I can get that first sip in before anyone else wakes up...then I can awaken them with my normal voice.

And, let's end with Bearclaw!!!

Before They Were "Stars"

Or at least before they were infamous (...you know, like El Guapo). 

This is the Thicke I love:

He was so smooth.  His hair so long and luscious.  He didn't wear SHOES!  Now he's this...well, wait, I'm not going to put what he is now, cause I risk having an image of Miley Cyrus on this.

His stuff is still aiight, but his first album was EPIC.  I bought his second and third, but the quality dwindled, as did my interest.  Just know I knew him when he was Thicke...JUST Thicke.

This is the Shia I love:

 AAAAAAAAAAAAAND, AGAIN:

Goofy.  Lovable.  So funny that his antics made a 20 year old college student tune in every week to his Disney Channel show.  Oh, and he was NOT crazy or plagiaristic:

Ugh.  Why can't we all just be ourselves?  (Unless you're a Timberlake wannabe or a crazy non-writer.)


P.S.  I credit this post to my cousin, since she posted a shot of her car playin' her some "Shooter" from Thicke's A Beautiful World.  I'll say it again:  EP.  IC.  If you only know Blurred Lines, you owe it to yourself to listen to his 2003 debut.

2013: YEAR IN REVIEW, YO!

BABIES!!!  Three of our closest friends welcomed new babies this year--ALL GIRLS.  When we got news of an unexpected, BUT WELCOMED, #3 in March the QuadFecta was complete.  Four awesome guys getting four awesome babies in 2013...and yes, ours is a girl, too.  ;)

Quest!  It's my church.  It's awesome.  It's a CONSTANT source of friendship, love, and reminders of God's grace and acceptance.  I love my church home with all my heart and thank God for first bringing me there for a sermon series at a MOVIE THEATER eight years ago.  (How could I not fall in love with Quest after that!?)

GSLIS!  I DID IT!  In March I got word that I was accepted into the University of Illinois' Graduate School of Library and Information Science.  It's the #1 LIS school in the country, so I had my doubts on if they'd accept me.  I'm on the road to becoming a school librarian, and I'm already brainstorming things to do with "my" library.  Oh, and straight A's for semester #1 wasn't too shabby either. 

Broadchurch!  David Tennant ain't just a Doctor.  Broadchurch was PERFECT crime drama.  It was elegant, sophisticated, kept you guessing (and texting throughout the show's finale if you were me), and a completely welcomed surprise.  The best part?  It knew its end.  It didn't delay, didn't stretch out, was just timed perfectly and then done.  Too bad they're doing a Season 2 and an American re-do.  (Even with Tennant and Anna Gunn, how good could it be?)

Robbie Swings Again!  Did you listen to Swings Both Ways?  YOU DIDN'T!?!?  I.  Am.  OUTRAGED.  It was devilishly delightful: a perfect combo of old swing and new swing.  Just awesome.  I'm just sad I don't get to see him in Glasgow this summer.  Will it EVER happen???  I'm beginning to have SERIOUS doubts.

Who, Who, and MORE Who!  Could 2013 have smashed in more Who if it tried???  Prolly not.  Oh, and the return of MY Doctor...AND the return of #8!  Just wonderful.  Loved the 50th anny special, loved all the BBC America documentaries throughout the year, and LOVED the return of Tennant.  Oh, wait...already said that.

New Girl!  Don't judge me.  I'm just watching it now.  It's new to me, old to you, and absolutely fabulous.  I want Schmidt to be my homeboy all day long, son!  And, don't be offended with that picture!  You gotta do what you gotta do to shower sometimes.

BABY #3!!!  Gonna show her the world in 2014, one show at a time.  Gilmore Girls, Friday Night Lights, Smallville, and, going against the grain, Matt Smith Who.  Why Mr. Smith?  Cause I really need to re-watch his arc.  It was so wibbly wobbly that I didn't get half of it the first time around.  One thing I know won't change, though is my opinion on his finale.  Dude deserved MUCH BETTER.  Much.  Better.  Moffat, this might have been your first mis-step.  Oh, we'll also cuddle the heck outta her, love her, shower her with kisses, and just make her the perfect fifth to what we thought was a sublime four.