jaunt to asheville turns post turkey

Lest ye think that North Carolina is just one big beach, I beseech thee. It has some gorgeous mountainous scenery and early November happened to be a great time to see the splendor of fall foliage. I'll post some pictures later but I'd like to get at least a little sleep so I'm not going to even attempt to upload photos on dial-up. Guess this would be a rare moment that I am actually thankful for the ancient yet more advanced access camp has that is one grade above dial-up. Speaking of thankfulness.. that is something that I am not nearly enough. And its not feeling like such a good idea to be blogging when I feel low. But it'll be an expression of emotion for sure. And we know how Kendra feels about sharing her emotions. Actually, its not the sharing of emotions that I totally dread (though close) its the fear of rejection of those close to me and having my faults come full circle, out in the open. This is what I get for not reporting on vacation right away -- instead this entry has quickly diverged from summarizing my trip to Asheville to the post-Turkey Day blues . (If you want more on vaca, email me or call and also check out photos on facebook. It really was a super trip and I especially enjoyed 'highlights of the day' time with Miss BecKAY.)

With Daughty (PA Dutch word for Grandpa) passing away last week and family issues surfacing and being miles from home, I was really looking forward to Thanksgiving. And it was great. Mom's side of the family came over, grandma outdid herself once again in cooking a fantastic meal, and we had so much fun playing games and enjoying each other's 'kump-nay'! Thanks God for a beautiful day, a full belly, that my family knows You and for laughter. Even though its not easy or fun, thanks too for using difficult and stupid conflict to show me areas of my character that you want a piece of. Ok, that you want all of, to make me what I ought to be. I'm sorry I'm just not there yet. What is "there"? I guess perfection and righteousness. I just don't know if I'll ever get it right. Had I been praying for a deeper understanding of grace? 'cause I sure need it. I always try to earn it and I always fall short. Sigh.

yeah... moving on. Referring back to my entry about being such an awkward dancer. While that remains true, it may not be as bad as I painted it. k-t invited us to go contra dancing one night and boy, what a fun cultural experience. We walked in to a full house of mountain mamas with flowing frizzy hair and skirts along side rugged men of all shapes, sizes and sights! All my years of square dancing paid off but didn't prepare me for the dizzy factor and 50 year old partners with the goofiest of grins. Wonderful! :)

This entry is so scattered, just like my thoughts. I'm out.

hanging in, hanging on

What were you doing Saturday morning, November 3rd? One of my friends was getting engaged, taking a new step into adulthood. Meanwhile, I happened to relate to the stage of the pre-teen babysitter discussing with a 2 year old the grossness of picking one's nose, blessings of poopie diapers and general silliness that is playing with little boys. (For the record, I voted fingers up the nose as gross, while he remained calmly firm in his stance that its ok and he just puts them in his mouth. barf) Mad props out there to parents with tots, I salute you!! Seriously cute but unbelievably tiring. A highlight (besides the 2 year old reminding me I hadn't put a diaper on him for his quiet time - only to poop in it 4 minutes later) was the time I was reading a Richard Scarry book and I feel this little arm on the back of my neck and hear this endearing voice say, "I like you." Heart--> melting.

That evening we successfully gave Kirby his first surprise party ever. It helped that he's already been in his new home for a year before giving him a house warming party. Heehee. The center of attention though went to the baby-- Jake, a puppy lab mix of some sort. What is it about babies that make them so durn cute? Post party the 5 of us just enjoyed catching up. Family time seems to get sweeter with age. I can't wait for Thanksgiving. :)


Know what else I can't wait for? Wednesday! Wednesday = vacation. I seem to have forgotten what taking a Sabbath means. Maybe I never really knew. While I truly appreciate my current commute to work (except those days the deer really crowd the foot traffic) the downside of living where I work is I never truly leave work when I go home. Granted, it doesn't usually feel like "work" but I certainly get tuckered out and definitely need to take breaks. I've found that if I want to really relax I need to lay low by hiding in my room with the blinds shut or physically leave the premises. How does one go about getting accountability on getting rest? At any rate, I am stoked to head down to Asheville, NC for about a week. BeckAY is meeting me there from Charlie-ton, SC and we'll hopefully meet up with my pal KT who lives there. Anyone know of a place we can stay? Or sweet hikes we don't want to miss? Or have free passes for the Biltmore? Not sure what exactly we're going to do, but that's really not the point. Point is, we're going! In the words of Ebbs, 'Woo doggie.'

In case I wasn't sure, I found out today I still have room to grow. :/ What are those moments called... character builders, opportunities, JOY? Sure. Things don't go quite as I'd planned, I react and then I reflect on my actions. No need to go into details at this point. However, the song "He's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be" comes to mind. Just makes me thankful for cool air to take a walk in, a GOD who's always there and smiling down on us and people to pick me back up again. Life is good, even if it seems to get messed up a lot. Signing off, time to sleep.