Top Ten

Top Ten signs I need a vacation...NOW!

10. My office manager keeps talking to me in hushed tones because she's afraid I might start yelling.

9. Even my dog thinks I'm too grouchy to sit with.

8. I've started to contemplate becoming an alcoholic...not really, but it seems to be a convenient excuse to shirk responsibilities.

7. My patients are telling me I enjoy causing pain. I don't, but as long as I can keep them scared of me, I'm in control...bwahahaha.

6. I bought sublingual B12 today because an infomercial told me it would give me more energy. I HATE infomercials, so that's definitely a sign I'm losing control.

5. I got into an e-mail fight with Human Resources yesterday. They can't help it they don't breathe the same air as the rest of us humans (that was actually a direct quote from my boss :))

4. I've doubled my caffeine consumption and halved my energy level. I'm no mathematician, but that doesn't seem to compute.

3. I'm getting too distracted to finish this list so I'm considering making it a top NINE.

2. Just tried to put a hot pack on a patient's shoulder. Unfortunately the patient was in therapy for her knee.

1. I'm tremendously excited about going on a trip where I'm going to sit in a hotel room for 2 days with NOTHING TO DO!

See ya next week......

Jesus and Jesus--A Blogumentary

Beth Moore. Memphis. October 9-10, 2009.

This has been on my calendar (figuratively at least) since last August. As soon as I found out the Siesta Mama was going to be this close, I knew I had to be there. Stephanie and I planned to be there with Amanda, but unfortunately she chose to have a baby rather than go with us (welcome to the world Annabelle!). We'd also planned to go with our friend Amy (who needs a blog but doesn't have one) but she thought she needed to live across the state and couldn't make it all the way to Memphis.

Despite the absence of those two, Steph and I decided to take on the challenge of heading to Memphis by ourselves. I mentioned I brought my camera, and the idea of this blogumentary was born. So, ladies, I present to you the first ever Living Proof blogumentary.....

We left Steph's house a little after 3:00 and headed for Memphis. This is Steph driving. Notice the laterally flexed position of her neck...this is a permanent condition called "i'm-always-on-my-iphone-itis."


As we were nearing Memphis we began to discuss eating options. We knew downtown Memphis was full of great restaurants but our hearts were leading us to one place...


For those of you who have never had the pleasure of Pancho's, it is mediocre Mexican at its finest (yes, I realize that's an oxymoronic statement). We thought Pancho's would be especially appropriate for this trip because we usually have a waiter named Jesus (that's Hay-Zeus for you non-Spanish speakers). Unfortunately Jesus was not there on this particular occasion, but we did celebrate the trip with a voyage to our favorite squatty potty....
(for some perspective, Steph is around 5'3".)
After our fantastic dinner, it's hard to imagine the day getting any better, but believe me it did. Travis sang, Beth taught, and we raised the roof of the Fed Ex forum. Things were going splendidly until our neighbors decided they needed to get to their cars IMMEDIATELY as we were smack in the middle of praising. It was a spiritual buzz kill, but we persevered.

Nothing caps off a night of prayer, praise, and great Bible teaching like a visit to Beale St., so off we went. We headed to this place...


and then washed down these with some Bud Light (don't judge...I think Jesus would have needed beer to calm down these wings...they were HOT!)


Finally, around 11:30, we made it to our hotel and checked in for an entire 8 hours before we were headed back to this place...

Once inside, we found more of the same....anointed teaching, powerful praise and worship, and more than a little celebrating the greatness of God. We were pretty happy to say the least...

Finally, it was over and, as if the weekend could get any better, we headed to a lunch with some of our favorite bloggy people. We had never met these people before, but Steph and I are both huge fans of their writing. We didn't actually talk to them other than introductions, but we met a lot of other cool people and ate some pretty good barbecue.
(This is what it looks like when a lot of bloggers and blog-lurkers are all trying to talk at once.)

All together, it was a pretty perfect weekend. Maybe someday I'll gather enough coherent thoughts to actually write about all I learned, but for now enjoy the pictures.

Unredeemed

I have fallen in love with this song in the last month. It has the ability to pretty much take me to my knees. If it doesn't strike you in the same way, then move along, there's nothing to see here. But if, like me, you've still got some broken parts, rest assured they will not be left "unredeemed."

The cruelest world
The coldest heart
The deepest wound
The endless dark
The lonely ache
The burning tears
The bitter nights
The wasted years

Life breaks and falls apart
But we know these are
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

For every choice that led to shame
And all the love that never came
For every vow that someone broke
And every lie that gave up hope
We live in the shadow of the fall
But the cross says these are all
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But you never know the miracle the Father has in store
Just watch and see
It will not be
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

A Confession

Ladies, I have a confession to make.

The calendar flipped to August and my thoughts turned to one thing....football.

Ordinarily, I am not a person given to obsessions (with the exception of chocolate, reality TV, coffee, Facebook...), but football season is something special.

Everyone knows about my Razorback obsession. I mean, who in her right mind wouldn't love the team even God loves? (Don't believe me? How else do you explain coming back to beat LSU under miraculous circumstances not once but three times?!?!?) But, in addition to the Hogs, my obsession extends to lesser-known things. I can not only tell you the name of the starting tight end for the Cowboys, but I know where he went to college and could probably find out his favorite snack food. And don't get me started on Fantasy Football. I'm the defending champ in a league full of men and if I don't win again this year it will be a travesty. High school, college, or NFL, I have an addiction.

I have two nephews playing this year--one in junior high and one in peewee. They're both under-sized and slow, but that won't stop me from cheering for them like they're the next Danny White.

It's gonna be a fun year. The Hogs should be better, my Redskins can't be much worse, and Jessica's gone so Tony and the Cowboys might finally win it all. Yes, ladies, the season is here. And God has ordained it should end in February....just in time to get ready for March Madness.

P.S. 100 Bonus points if you can name the Hog in the picture at the top of the post

Yes, I still blog

Yes, to both of my readers, I still blog. I just haven't been able to come up with a complete series of coherent thoughts to blog about lately. Guess you'll have to be satisfied with another series of random ramblings.

1. Yoga. If you've seen me in the last 2 weeks you've no doubt heard about this latest obsession. No weight loss results so far, but my back seriously feels better than it has in a year. I'd love to start seeing those "long, lean muscles" Bob the Biggest Loser trainer keeps promising, but even without those results I think I might actually stick with this for a little while. I'm kind of enjoying it.

2. The Bachelorette. I watch. Don't judge. Jillian finally got rid of Wes and I may have secretly done a little happy dance. I think I'm having a T-shirt made that says, "I'm huge in Chihuahua, Mexico." If you don't get that joke, then I am seriously sad for you. It's been one of the highlights of my summer.

3. MJ. Yes, Thriller was the first album I ever owned and I was a big Michael Jackson fan. I think he really did change the world in his own small way. He was the Elvis of Generation X and, when he was good, he was very, very good. Now we can choose to remember the cool MJ and not the troubled (and troubling) man he became later in his life. By far my favorite moment of the memorial was when the closing prayer reminded us that "even the King of Pop will now kneel down before the King of Kings." Words we can all live by.

4. Esther. I'm in the middle of doing Beth Moore's Esther Bible study. The study itself has been great, but Beth's videos are really getting me.

Just this week she got me choked up with her take on Isaiah 40:31. That's the Scripture that talks about waiting "on the Lord." Beth took my breath away when she reminded me that we're not supposed to wait on "the thing" but we're supposed to wait on "the LORD." Y'all know what "the thing" is I've been waiting on, and frankly the waiting gets exhausting sometimes. I've been trying to take the Scripture at its word and keep waiting for my strength to get renewed. Praise the Lord, she reminded me that my strength will get completely sucked up if I just wait for "the thing," but it will get completely RENEWED if I wait ON THE LORD! Sorry if that doesn't preach to you in the same way it did me, but I needed that word in my life.

That's pretty much the summary of my summer so far. Nothing too substantive yet, but I'm letting that Esther study work on me some more. Maybe I'll return to my normal, thought-provoking, profound blogging before too long (I know you're all waiting on that :)). In the meantime, enjoy the pool and I'll keep enjoying the Bachelorette.

I Needed A Laugh

Perhaps some of you were not fans of Zack, Kelly, Slater and the gang, but for those of you who were, enjoy. This gave me a much needed giggle.

My Top Ten

Rodney and I spent this past weekend working on Improving Communication in Marriage. No, we didn't just pick a topic to work on for the weekend (but wouldn't that be cool if we did?). It was the topic of discussion at the Family Life Marriage Seminar that took place at our church. Needless to say, we got some issues to work on, and the conference provided the perfect opportunity to work on some of those things. It's really nice when you have actual questions to ask and answer....it really makes you focus on things a little better. After filling out one of the questionaires, Rodney remarked that "if you didn't have problems before this thing, then filling it out would make you find some." :).

One of the suggestions the speaker left us with was for wives to make a list of ten things you respect about your husband. We're then supposed to take our list and post it somewhere where we each can see it. That way Rodney will be reminded of my respect for him and, more importantly, I will be reminded of those things too. In the interest of accountability, I decided to let you all share in my list. Perhaps you can point me back here sometime when I may not be viewing my husband in the most positive light. With that said, here's my top ten (not the ONLY ten things I respect about him, but the TOP ones :)).

1. He has a real commitment to growing closer to God. With his upbringing, it would be really easy for him to bail on church, but he continues to go every week and to seek God's plan for his life. He is not always the most outspoken about his faith, but it is very real to him.

2. He is very intelligent about a lot of subjects. I am continually amazed by what he can teach me about history and politics. He's going to make an excellent professor someday.

3. He loves his family very much. He doesn't always see eye-to-eye with his mom and dad, but he's still very devoted to them. He also loves his grandmother very much and it hurts me to see him struggle with going to see her as her dementia worsens. I'm glad he has so many good times with her to remember.

4. He is committed and excited to finish school. I haven't always been the most encouraging spouse when it comes to his education, but he hasn't let that deter him. A lot of men would let their pride get in the way of going back to finish a degree in their 30s, but he has persevered and the end is finally in sight. I'm so proud of him for that.

5. He knows how to laugh. I realize this is a strange one to "respect" in someone, but I would be lost without his ability to find light in situations. We love to laugh together and we find humor in things a lot of people just don't "get." He can also laugh at himself, which is definitely a valuable tool to have in life.

6. He's great with kids. Most men who don't have children are a little intimidated by them. I have to admit Rodney doesn't love them when they're too little, but once they are a little bigger he's amazing with them. I love to see him light up when he plays with a kid and I love that he's not afraid to get a little goofy with them.

7. He doesn't pretend to be someone he's not. Rodney doesn't like sports. He freely admits it and he's not ashamed of it. But, unlike a lot of guys, he doesn't try to talk about things just to fit in during a conversation. He lets the other guys talk about their fascination with NASCAR or tiddly-winks or whatever, and then he's there to offer an opinion when it comes to what he sees are the "real" issues.

8. He's got opinions and he's not afraid to use them. I admit, this is a quality that not everyone finds respectful and that causes me to get a little fearful at times. But, he wouldn't be Rodney without this quality. It's what I loved about him when we were in high school and wrote the Opposing Viewpoints column in the school newspaper. If you know his father, he comes by it very honestly and it's what sets him apart from a lot of people. Sometimes people don't know how to take him, but he honestly doesn't mean any harm. It's just his way of expressing his passion.

9. He is fiercely loyal. Rodney doesn't have a lot of close friends, but he is extremely loyal to the friends he has. Although he may argue and disagree with them at times, he will be the first to stick up for them in times of trouble.

10. He never stops dreaming. One of the things we used to have in common was that we were both idealists. We dreamed of grand plans for the future and then we set about to make those dreams reality. Along the way, I let reality set in a little bit and stopped having such grand plans. I had hoped this would bring less disappointment, but usually it just lead to less hope for the future. This weekend really helped me to see that this quality is the one I fell in love with first, but somewhere along the way I moved away from it. Hopefully, he can help me to recapture a little bit of the dreamer in me, and I can make sure his feet stay on the ground as he looks to the future.

As you can see, I'm pretty lucky to have found my prince. I hope this inspires me to keep seeing him as that and it inspires you to find these qualities in your own prince.