6710 Grand

It's no secret I'm a bit fanatical about my coffee.  Ok, a lot fanatical.  We all have our quirks.  For the past two days I've picked up morning coffee from Starbucks.  It's not a normal thing but after a week away at a conference, my coffee cream in the work fridge expired and I haven't had a chance to pick up more, so Starbucks it is. The one closest to my office is ridiculously busy.  I think the whole mobile order/drive thru thing has just made it worse.  The order line is short.  The waiting to pick up line is more of a crowd.  Yesterday it took nearly half an hour to place my order and get my coffee.  AND they forgot the whipped cream.  Today, I placed my very first mobile order ten minutes before I got to the store and STILL had to wait almost 15 before my coffee was ready (AGAIN no whipped cream).  It's OK Starbucks--I still love you. I've been at my job now just over a year and have two conferences under my belt.  ...

Earlier this month, I took all three of my girls on a very brief visit to St. Louis for my very best friend's 40th birthday party.  There were lots of helium filled balloons and Bebo just had to have one.  We couldn't get on a plane home so we had to drive.  Because we had a car, it was no problem to take the balloon with us--she was so happy. Now, it's happened on occasion that when given helium balloons one or more of my children will accidentally let go while we're outside.  Heartbroken and depressed, we always tell them that it's ok--Jesus will take care of the balloon for them and He's so happy that they gave it to Him.  Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Well, this balloon made it safely home but naturally, several days later it was deflated and hovering on the floor.  To put the poor thing out of it's misery (and since she hadn't seemed to notice it) I let out what was left of the air and threw the whole thing away. This was more than a week...

In the criminal justice system... It's iconic. It's familiar.  It's ALWAYS ON! And I miss it.  We cancelled our cable a few months ago.  I can no longer watch Law & Order every night on a variety of channels.  It's a little depressing.  Iris asked me this evening if I'd seen every episode.  I can honestly say I don't know.  Sure, I've seen a lot but all of them?  No, probably not.  Even the ones I have seen, I don't know.  I've seen a lot but even the ones I know I've seen, I can't always remember what happens in the end. Sometimes I run across a movie that's really like a 2 hour Law & Order episode.  I can't wait to watch it.  What is it about this show that just captivates me?  I don't know.  I just know that I hope it keeps happening no matter how many times I see each episode of every version.  I.  Just.  Love.  It!

Anyone with a 3 year old knows that sometimes it's a challenge to get out the door in the morning.  My 3 year old is no different.  She's a firecracker most of the time but the 100 feet or so from the car to the front door of "play group" take ridiculously long to cover.  So, I've developed a little game we play to move things along.  I did it with the other two when they were in daycare and it generally works. As I'm unbuckling her from the car, I confidently assert that I'm going to win.  "No!" she says.  " I'm gonna win!"  She hops down from the car and sprints to the front door, all the while, we both are declaring ourselves to be the eventual winner.  She always  wins.  Always.  But of course, I win too because we make it to the door without tears or me having to carry her.  There's nothing monumental about this game.  It's fun, it works, we're happy.  Now, I've made no secret about my shoes.  I married ...

Some women look at my life and ask me how I do it.  How do I raise 3 daughters (mostly) by myself?  How do I get up so early every day?  How do I work a full time job?  How do I have so much energy (it’s the coffee)?  How do you find time to read so much during the week?  The truth is I just do it.  My dad told me once that people afford what they want to and I think he was right.  He was talking about me getting a new car.  I really needed one but the payments were pretty high.  I’d just gotten a job in Kansas City and now had rent and food and a whole lot of other stuff.  But I needed a new car.  He was right—I found a way to afford it.  And I did.  I ate a lot of ramen noodles, but I was never late on a payment. I think the same is true for time.  We make time for what we want to make time for.  It’s important to me to run every day so I get up early to fit it in before my kids are up.  It’...

I'm reading Come Thirsty  by Max Lucado (yes, again--it's a great book).  It's funny, his books always sound like they're about one thing and end up giving me a sense of being really about something else...or a bunch of something elses.  But I read them over and over--one day, it will all sink in, right? I was listening to the audio version in the car yesterday and he started talking about worrying and how pointless it is.  He said that 40% of what we worry about never happens.  30% is about things in our past that we can't change.  12% is about what others think of us that can't be controlled.  10% is about our health (which is made worse when we worry) and 8% is about real stuff that we can do something about.  So, 92% of worrying is useless.  Worrying adds nothing to our life (MT 6:27) and doing it shows that we don't trust God (MT 6:28-30). For the record, I completely agree.  But I still do it.  He's right--most of what I w...

I'm always optimistic about camping.  I love the idea of disconnecting for the weekend.  I love the thought of slowing down, enjoying nature, exploring the outdoors.  Mostly I love the fire.  The satisfaction of building it, of stoking it, bringing it to life and watching it consume log after log.  Cooking over it is fun too.  It makes me nostalgic for my days in the Girl Scouts.  We camped a lot and I always loved the romance of it.  Sleeping outside (sort of), foraging for wood (in addition to what we brought with us), being one with nature (ok, not really, but you get the idea). The girls love it too and for all of the same reasons (maybe not so much the fire or the being disconnected).  We camped a few times in Phoenix and had many disasters, including Iris's first camping trip which ended maybe six hours after it started but that's for another post.  It was harder there because you couldn't reserve a space and the drive to where t...

January. 2018 Another year.  Another fresh start.  I really love New Year’s.  I love the purge.  I love the beginning.  What I don’t love is January.   January.   It’s awful.  Especially in Philadelphia.  It’s like a Phoenix April—not the worst month but rather, a painful, depressing reminder that things will get worse.  It’s cold.  Frigid in fact.  The temperature has dipped below 30 degrees and promises to remain there for at least a week, hovering occasionally in the 40s and then back down.  We did get one day of 60 but it was just a tease.  There’s more snow than I’d care for in the forecast and that’s just the next fifteen days.  And then, comes February.  The shortest long month in the calendar. I’ve become a weather wimp.  The dessert and the west coast have made me soft.  I may have never acclimated to the Arizona heat but I have most definitely not acclimated to t...

March 13, 2017 9:45 PM I was on my own for dinner tonight.  Our Business Policy paper is due Friday and I have been tasked with the final edits.  We leave for Germany tomorrow and I am hoping to get some time with the team on the plane so we can tie up loose ends, make final edits and still have time to finish up our individual papers. I went to The Good Burger when I was FINALLY hungry again.  After our insane lunch, I wasn’t sure it would ever happen.  It was definitely a step up from Burger King that first night, but I’ve had enough authentic food that I don’t feel guilty just getting something quick.  It saved me from yet another night of shopping of places that could be found in the King of Prussia Mall and I easily avoided the drunk fest that I’m convinced is happening with some of my classmates—it’s just not my thing.  I told myself I’d go to bed early, but here it is just after 10 and I’m still wide awake.  We leave for Germany tomorro...

March 12, 2017 7:25 AM, Madrid After a fairly restful night, I’m up and ready for coffee.  I’m going for a short run to the Starbucks…except it doesn’t open for another hour!  What’s a gal gotta do to get a cup of coffee in the AM around here?  This is the first hotel since the Waldorf where I haven’t had a coffee pot in my room.  Hopefully the hotel breakfast will do, though those tiny cups are never enough. Breakfast did not disappoint.  It was a buffet, but none like I’d ever seen.  Meats and cheeses, fruits and some kind of yogurt-like substance, pastries, bread and fresh eggs if you wanted them.  And the coffee!  I have decided that I do like Spanish coffee!  It’s thick and rich but not bitter.  I’m re-thinking my earlier impressions of Spain.  We’ll see how long it lasts.  Off to Mass—I haven’t been in years but the words and the ritual never really leave you. Church today was beautiful.  The shortes...

As part of my EMBA, our cohort went on an international residency to Madrid and Munich.  It was such an adventure.  As part of my assignment and course requirements, I kept a journal.  Some of it is dreadfully boring but I did want to share a few snippets.  I hope you enjoy. March 11, 2016 8:46 PM, Madrid I’m certain I could never live in Spain.  At least not in Madrid.  I’m lying in bed, fighting to stay awake to adjust my body clock after a very long two days of travel and touring.  I’m not the only member of the team who opted to spend the evening alone but we are few.  I’m not one for late nights.  Always a morning person, I hope to be up tomorrow by 6am—and that’s sleeping in! What threw me most today was the lateness to which people start an evening.  Restaurants aren’t open until 8pm.  Most of the group went to a bar and then out to dinner.  After these long days, I knew I wouldn’t last and would be looking ...

Nick and I have started watching a show on Netflix called Life Below Zero .  It’s about people who live a subsistence lifestyle in remote areas of Alaska.  It something we like to watch while we’re enjoying a luxurious, civilized, lifestyle—cozied up on our couch, soaking in our hot tub, curled up in our California King sized bed.  It reminds us of how good we have it, how amazing our life is.  That, and we’ve always toyed with the idea of moving to Alaska.  We’re not social people.  We kind of like each other and that’s it.  We joke all the time about how we’d really rather not have to deal with anyone but each other (ok, the kids too).  It’s a little strange given the line of work we’re in.  He deals directly with customers (passengers) and my job is all about relationship building.  Maybe that’s why, when we’re home, we just don’t want people around.  There are usually four people/couples/family in a given episode (they ro...

I really love books.  It's actually kind of ridiculous.  I don't buy a lot of them (well, sometimes I do).  Other people give them as gifts but I get a lot from the library.  It's caused a bit of strife in my marriage because they're just...EVERYWHERE!  I generally read three or four at a time and try to finish at least two books a week.  But I have sort of strange requirements when it comes to books.  I like to have hard cover books for the treadmill.  It's easier to prop them open while I run.  I use binder clips and rubberbands to hold my pages.  I like to have a large paperback up in my room because I like to read while I'm drying my hair in the morning (it's a lot of hair).  A big enough paperback will hold itself open and I don't have to resort to a balancing act with my phone or the nearby candle.  I'm not above doing this but it has resulted in at least one broken candle and near misses with my phone in the toilet. ...

I've had a series of ailments lately.  In December I started getting these terribly persistent headaches that just would not go away.  No amount of over the counter pain meds would put so much as a dent in them.  Having spent so much time in the presence of seriously ill children, my imagination would run wild and suddenly it's not a headache--it's a brain tumor, an aneurysm, a blood clot.  After 6 days, I went to the hospital. "Are you under stress?" "Well, let me see--I just started a new job, it's Christmas Eve, my in-laws are visiting, I'm a mother of 3, my husband travels four days a week and I'm smack in the middle of graduate school.  Sure, I'm stressed.  Who isn't?" They scanned my brain (no tumor or anything else alarming) pumped me full of steroids and sent me home.  By morning, it was gone.  It's come back 4 times since and though each headache has stuck around longer, they've gotten much milder.  This past Tu...

I'm not sick.  I don't suffer from seasonal allergies.  I do occasionally sneeze.  It's funny--lately I've noticed that I sneeze after I've overeaten.  If only it would happen about 15 minutes earlier I might be able to use it as a weight loss tool. Some people have tiny sneezes that sound more like the squeak of a mouse.  Others (like my dad) have a more horn-blowing sneeze (sorry dad!).  I don't have one of those violent sneezes that can take down a building.  They don't come on so suddenly that it's a shock--I usually look fairly ridiculous but am able to grab a tissue or cover my mouth and nose with something.  There's almost always more than one and I'm generally prepared for a series of 2-5 sneezes in a row. My point is, they're not monumental. I'd be willing to bet that you sneeze too--maybe not in the overeating prevention (or lack of) sense, but I'd bet you sneeze on occasion when you're not sick and that nothing ha...

I had a meeting with a donor this week and she mentioned how glad she was that her work from home husband finally got some office space away from the house.  I mentioned this to my boss yesterday and he sympathized.  His wife would hate it if he were home and underfoot all the time. I am amazed by this.  These aren't unhappily married couples.  I've seen both pairs together and they're quite happy.  But every morning that Nick is home and I'm headed off to work, he practically begs me to call in sick.  And trust me I'd REALLY love to!  I love my job.  I REALLY love my job.  I work long hours and take it home at night and on weekends and that's just fine with me.  I obsess over my work in the middle of the night--it's what keeps me up much more than worrying about, well, anything else really.  It's a great job and I wouldn't trade it for any other (maybe a promotion or a raise would be nice but even without them, I'm perfectly happ...

It was December 2002.  I’d been invited to go on a cruise with my then boyfriend (now husband) and his family for Christmas.  I was booked on a flight from Kanas City to Denver and then on to San Diego.  I was still afraid of flying but the excitement of the trip was outweighing my fears.  Also, I hadn't seen Nick in more than three months and had just spent the better part of the last year working out like a fiend and dropping 27 pounds.  In addition, I’d been spending my mornings in the tanning booth so I was a nice golden brown (I know—it’s really just skin damage but I was young and stupid.).  Yes, I looked GOOD!  I’d planned my airport attire very carefully, wanting to walk off the plane that evening in such a way as to completely turn the heads of every man but most especially, Nick.  I wore a shockingly short tan skirt, black ¾ sleeve turtleneck (a slim cut) and my knee high black boots (my hooker boots—yes).  My hair was piled hi...

I got a pedicure yesterday (ok, so I was trying to induce labor--it didn't work) so my feet are now pretty and swollen as opposed to just swollen.  I've always found feet to be pretty disgusting.  Just ask my friend Amy who was forever putting her feet on me when we were younger just to annoy me, or my dad who was always trying to find a way to put his foot in my ear (long story).  Feet=gross!  Pedicures are actually hard for me to sit through but that's mostly because my feet are really ticklish.  It's generally a pleasant process interspersed with moments of absolute torture. This week I'm working my way through yet another Max Lucado book, Grace  where he's talking about how good deeds don't get us into Heaven and salvation was paid for by Jesus and a debt we owed but He didn't (same old stuff, different book but always worth hearing).  The part I read this morning told a story of a women who was driving along when suddenly a frozen turkey landed ...

I was so hoping to be posting the details of my weekend labor.  Not so much.  I keep telling myself that it's only 39 weeks.  I'm not overdue.  But I FEEL overdue.  I feel like I should be heading to the hospital any day now. We tried every trick in the book--spicy food, lots of walking, even a bumpy hayride at the peach orchard yesterday.  Nothing.  Today, more walking and more spicy food.  When I went in for my weekly appointment this afternoon I was fully expecting SOMETHING to happen.  Another centimeter (already at 3) more effacement (just 60%) my water breaking during the exam--ANYTHING to tell me that today is the day. Nothing. Well, maybe tomorrow.  I have a pedicure planned to help things along.  Keep your fingers (and toes and anything else you can) crossed!

Jane Austen was someone that my high school creative writing teacher told me that I would love.  He was right.  While I can't say that I've read all of her books, I've read quite a few.   Sense and Sensibility is my favorite.  I loved the movie when it came out and loved the book even more. Nick loves a good period film and generally all things British.  We've watched every Simon Pegg movie (and I really love Hot Fuzz ), Iron Lady , The Queen and dozens of others.  I suggested watching my favorite Austen movie earlier this week.  After World's End  last weekend, I could stand for some intelligent film.  I wasn't surprised that he enjoyed it.  After all, it did star Hugh Grant, whom Nick often refers to as "charmingly befuddled".  Indeed he was in this movie.  Now that he's see this movie, I dared to suggest Pride and Prejudice  last night.  But, not to push my luck too far, I also said that 2 Guns  was also a...