"peer" pressure

Okay, so I've said before that I gave in to the previous peer pressure to start blogging, but I've hit a dry run. Now, said "peer" (read Paul) has pressured me once again to blog more (I know it was a sad cry for more postings on his blog, but that's another story). So, here I sit at 11:10 on a Sunday night with nothing to say. Okay, truth be told I have lots to say, but nobody really wants to hear any of that stuff I'm sure.

Hmmmm, here's what's on my mind right now: (in a thought balloon) . . . Surely wish I was in bed right now. Yep! It's bloody interesting eh??

Truly, here's what else is on my mind . . . Why can't I eat without getting some of it on my chest? I currently look like a toddler who ate without a bib. I've got drips and drabbles all over me. It was only a burger and salad, but it was surely messy.

I must look into surgical procedures to correct that hole in my bottom lip!

Yes, you (whoever you may be) should currently follow the link from my blog to Paul's to Jamie's to see his wife's wisdom teeth post-pulling. It's definitely easier on the stomach than picturing me eating!!!!!!

Kid brother embarrassed by me??

Imagine, my kid brother had a link to my blog on his blog and now my link seems to have disappeared. Should I take this personally?

Just because I'm still "undecided" for tomorrow and may vote "Green" to make a point doesn't mean I'm going to hell. Heck, the Liberal government just sent me a random $250 cheque this week to help with my rising utility costs. Guess I should just cash it with the knowledge it's the only one I'm getting right?

Watch out brother! I have old pictures I can scan and post and I'm not afraid to use them. :)

Skating with the "Stars"?

Last night I caught the first episode in the new "reality" show Skating with the Stars. First of all, Stars is a pretty big stretch. In fact, calling them B list stars would be a stretch in my opinion.

Anyhow, here's the most ridiculous part: The ones who could skate got the lowest marks. It was bizarre and, quite obviously, rigged.

This is NOT a show I think I'll be watching in the future.

The wonderful world wide web

It's amazing to me how well we can get to know a person whom we've never met via the internet. I have a friend whom I've never met (even though he really doesn't live that far away!!), but I really do feel as though he's a friend. Although it seems almost surreal, I will finally meet him tomorrow (unless he somehow worms his way out of a performance).

This person has a passion for hockey so he'd better understand how important it is for me to meet him tomorrow as I was given Guelph Storm tickets and I've given them to my ex-husband because I'm going to this gospel concert.

He'd better really be the bald singing tuba player he claims to be and not be just using that persona online to lure the unsuspecting into friendship! :)

Buses

For the record, what skill set does it take to become a school bus driver?

Today, another mild January day, our school buses have been cancelled. Therefore, my one daughter gets to stay home while her younger sister has to go to school since she's a walker. Apparently the country roads are icy, but how, exactly, does this affect the City of Guelph?

Suppose I can call in to work and say since the professional drivers find it too bad to be on the road today it must be too bad for me? In the words of my father, I wouldn't have a chance of a snowball (yep, we tease him incessantly for this bizarre translation).

Yep, I'm in shape . . . ROUND!!

Okay, so the kids are at soccer practice right now so Mom and I decided to use their PS2 to play Dance Dance Revolution. If you don't know this game, it has dance pads and while the music is playing there are arrows telling you where to step and when.

Once Mom got her balance and stopped hanging off the curtains (which, to our utter embarrassment we realized were open so our neighbours could see our jigglies), we were rolling right along. We danced this song and that (none of the music we recognize however) and were feeling really good about the exercise we got. After our big 7 minute workout (since we could do no more) we realized we had burned off approximately 50 calories and had gone 1/2 a mile. Woo hoo!

How is it that my kids can do this for an hour at a time and make it look so bloody easy?

Forgiveness

Foolish me, I've encouraged my girls to have some friends over later today. Actually, not too much of an issue for me, but possibly for my parents who are running a business from the house. Anyhow, I will be running a little late getting home from work so the girls are going to make mini pizzas with their friends for supper.

We went out last evening to pick up the things for their pizzas and I got into an in-depth argument with Rebecca, my 12-year old, about whether the pitas she was picking up were the same as the ones she had last time we made pizzas. Of course, I was right and she was wrong and I told her to suck it up, stop arguing and let's get that shopping done.

Imagine my surprise when I got home to find out she was right and I was wrong. I did apologize profusely and then offered to buy her back by taking her back to the grocery store to buy that jacket she really wanted.

Imagine if we felt that we had to keep buying back God's forgiveness. I, most certainly, would have nothing left to offer. It really put into perspective for me the grace He shows us by forgiving us when we ask without any strings attached.

Recover? Me?

Okay, story goes like this . . . After my sulking on Sunday morning from my single(s) lack of breakfast I went out for lunch with my children and my parents. I was on an upswing until a large group of the singles came in for lunch too. I mentioned to one of them when he came over to say hi that I was somewhat upset about the morning's situation. He asked me if I was over it and when I said no he said "You should really get over it".

Now, I'm not usually this moody, but I am a woman you must remember, so I became rather teary eyed and decided to quit the singles group. My father, being the "helper" type called the community care director (Brian) at my church! Yes, I was aghast, and yet thankful all at the same time. I told Brian what happened and he suggested I call the person who made the statement and just tell him how it upset me. I did this and received an apology.

A couple hours later I received a call from the apologizer inviting me to come to Celebrate Recovery on Monday night since he thought I might have some other issues to work through. So, I went (reluctantly) with a bit of a chip on my shoulder thinking it probably wasn't really for me. WELL, seems like I'm more screwed up than I thought. There are three women's groups there and I could go to them all.

I have to say that God sure has a way of humbling us when we most need it. Now I'm ready to plunge in and Celebrate Recovery!! :)

So, I'm starting to like this BLOG thing

Here I go again, less than twelve hours since my last post. However, I am enjoying this. It's so akin to my life just talking with nobody listening.

I went to meet the singles group from church today for New Year's breakfast. Nobody showed up. I mean, c'mon, it was listed in our activities for the month and not a soul showed. Of course, the awkward part is that when you're a single you don't have someone with you to make it appear like you're not a social misfit. So, here I sat on a nice leather couch in the foyer waiting for twenty-five minutes before giving up.

Perhaps I'll make some more of those wings since it's getting closer to lunch now!

The value of Lombardo

Well, my New Year's Eve gig was awful as expected. I played third trumpet with a mediocre (at best) big band under a lead player who was the most timid player I've ever heard. Not surprisingly, his singing is equally as timid.

Anyhow, I played four sets full of Lombardo, waltzes, polkas and the like. It was dreadfully boring. The most exciting part was playing shakers and claves for the latin tunes . . . until the drive home. I was stopped by the RIDE program.

Now, I've only ever been stopped once before by RIDE so I was kind of excited to see them. I had some nice dixie music (courtesy of my friend Darren Arenburg - is that sufficient Darren??) playing in the car that I turned down when they stopped me. The officer told me to turn it back up and a conversation ensued about my awful gig and how eager I was to get home. Mr. Officer said he felt pity for me and that I should hurry home to a glass of wine considering the gig I'd played.

Of course, the other value of Lombardo is the $150 I was handed at the end of the night. SWEET!