A great weekend!

Will and I went camping last weekend at Hawn State Park and actually got to spend the ENTIRE weekend together! The weather was perfect and the leaves were at peak color.

We had the best time!

Denial Part II

You know you're getting old when....

You spend your Sunday afternoon at auditions for "Wheel of Fortune!"

The "Wheel-Mobile" was in St. Louis this weekend and I (along with thousands of other people) waited for about 3 hours yesterday afternoon to hear my name be randomly drawn to get a chance to try out for the show. I watched the show all week to brush up on my puzzle-solving skills and was ready to go if they called my name.

Well, they didn't. They only called 25 names out of over 1,000 during my time slot. I could've gotten back in line to try again but Will was at home painting the house all by himself. He was originally supposed to go with me but he couldn't pass up the chance to paint outside while we had such great weather. So, I actually went by myself.

It was definitely an interesting experience. The people called up on stage were encouraged to show their enthusiasm and personality. So, there was a lot of singing and dancing...??? Really? I thought this show was about solving word puzzles.

Well, there goes my hopes of winning money to pay someone to rehab. our kitchen. Guess that means more work for Will. (Sorry, Will! I tried.)

Fall Color Report

It's coming!

Maddie's Pick of the Day

Maddie is the best dog I've ever had. But, she, like the rest of us, has her weaknesses. Her biggest weakness is...FOOD!

We had to move our trash can to the pantry to keep her from rummaging while Will and I are out. She has now figured out how to open the pantry and help herself to whatever is in reach.

She typically just pulls something out and places it unharmed on her bed as if she is claiming it and saying, "This is mine." It started with her treats and then moved on to more exciting things like a bag of dried black-eyed peas, some Lipton Butter Noodles, a loaf of bread (which she actually ate), a bag of chips, a box of spaghetti noodles, the napkins, a box of Wheat Things, a bag of croutons, etc. Yesterday, she ate 2 packages of Ramen noodles.

Will and I joke that Maddie is either 1) pulling out all of the expired food to help keep us safe or 2) telling us what she wants us to fix for dinner.

I finally wizened up and moved all of the food up to a higher shelf. Now the only things left on the bottom shelf are the canned goods. If she pulls those out, I will be shocked.

(And don't worry. As soon as she started pulling food out, I moved all of the chocolate to the top shelf.)

Catching up

Here are some pictures from our vacation (from about a month and a half ago... I'm a little behind on my posting.)

After our week in Fort Morgan, Will and I have decided that we want to live there one day... hopefully soon.

There were blue crabs everywhere in the water. I actually stepped on one and had a piece of a sharp spine break off in my toe. I immediately went to the Dollar General and bought us some water shoes. Yes, we looked like dorks but we didn't really care. My were hot pink.

We went on a dolphin cruise and saw several dolphins. It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

On the dolphin cruise, there were actually two boats that ran side by side which created a large wave for the dolphins to "surf" and dive in. Very cool!

This is how Will spent most of his time.

Since my parents live close to the beach we got to spent some time with them. We had dinner at LuLu's (Jimmy Buffet's sister's restaurant) and got to listen to one of my high school classmates perform there.

There were crews on the beach working to clean up the oil. We saw lots of people driving around, but no one doing actual work. There were some small tar balls on the shoreline but they didn't keep us from enjoying the water.

Denial

I know that many people have a hard time with getting older and I used to think that I was NOT one of those people. I thought that I was comfortable with my age.
A couple of weeks ago I realized that there must be something way down deep inside of me that was not ok with my age. On 3 different occasions (in about a 2 week period) I had to give my age and without thinking each time I replied 31. The third occasion happened in Will's presence and he gently reminded me that I was 31 last year and am now 32. I was honestly confused and had to think about the year I was born and 2010 and do the math.... and I'm 32. I had completely forgotten about my last birthday back in July. I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old?
Yesterday I received another reminder that I am getting old. Well, at least older. I was in a store looking for some new shoes to replace my beloved worn out black ballet flats. Only two pairs of shoes caught my eye and I was surprised and very worried because both pairs were NATURALIZERS!!! I am getting old!!! What's next??? Soft Spots or SAS???
I quickly left the store and decided that I should shop around some more before I buy new shoes. It now feels like a really big, possibly life-altering decision. I'm at a crossroad. If I do decided to get the Naturalizers there may be no going back. It could be downhill from here on out. Am I really ready for that?
Maybe I'll just keep my old shoes for a little while longer.

Heavy Heart

I've been really sad and tearful this week. As I've been getting to know the girls' stories at work, I've been feeling really burdened and overwhelmed by brokenness. Several of them have had more awful things happen to the them in 14 or 15 years than most of us have in a lifetime.
In addition to this and some of my own significant personal stuff, I just heard about a college friend whose full-term baby was born stillborn. A sweet little girl.
My heart is very heavy.

I came across these quotes on grace and I keep them in my desk drawer at work. I've pulled them out several times in the past week to help keep me going.
"We hold that man is never so near grace as when he begins to feel he can do nothing at all. " ~G.H. Spurgeon
"I do not understand the mystery of grace- only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us." ~Anne Lamott