Purge Pending

Today I went back through all of my posts that are in "Edit" version. For whatever reason I never published them, so today decided to go back through and purge everything that remains in unfinished form:

Date - 8/28/08
Title - Another one bites the dust

Today I made a list of all the people who have left the bank since the beginning of the year.

Date - 11/30/08
Title - Thanksgiving Thoughts

While Thanksgiving was fabulous, I don't particularly care to document things that I'm thankful for at this time. Instead, I'm feeling random and in need of bullet-posting:

We do not have turkey at my family ever. Instead my Dad BBQ's ham. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Date - 1/7/09
Title - Blah

I had hoped that 2009 would be a fresh start. Bring new motivation and spirit, a renewed sense of peace and contentment in my life in general. I am sad to report that it seems to be the exact opposite. I find myself bored, unmotivated, and wishing it was time for a vacation from work already. Forgive my negativity:

--I hate cell phones. Texting is the absolute worst and is a serious waste of time. I am very annoyed by people who treat their phone / blackberry as an appendage, as if life will end if 1) they don't immediately check to see who sent a message or 2) they stop surfing the internet long enough to look up and have a real conversation. I realize that I sound like a crotchety old lady, but there really was a time that cell phones didn't even exist. Yes, they are convenient, but in my mind should be used for emergency purposes only.
--I hate TV's. Don't hate them, but hate over-use of them. I lived in Uptown for 3 1/2 years without cable and rarely watched TV. It forced me to get out, do things, volunteer, read a book that made my brain work instead of vegging out into nothingness. Now I waste so much time watching stupid shows like The City or Jon and Kate Plus 8 or Rob & Big. How fulfilling and meaningful. If K weren't addicted to the Military Channel I would love to tell ATT U-Verse to get out of town in a heartbeat.

--The Mavs logo was way better when their color was green with the cowboy hat. The 'new' blue horse thing is hideous.

Date - 2/10/09
Title - Prayer

I love this bench:

Not because it's a bench, but because of what it says across the top: "He answered their prayers because they trusted in Him." I took this picture a couple years ago on a retreat to Sky Ranch. Such a simple reminder of the power of prayer.

I have not read this book recently, but it impacted my life in a way that caused me to document the main points in my journal. It's called Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels. The most common causes of unanswered prayer according to the book are:

1) Prayerlessness – James 4:2 – “You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask God.”

2) Unconfessed sin – Isaiah 59:2 – “Rather, your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

3) Unresolved relational conflict – Matthew 5:23-24 - “So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your bother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.” 1 John 2:9 – “Whoever says, ‘I am in the light,’ while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.”

4) Selfishness – James 4:3 – “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.”

5) Uncaring attitude – Proverbs 21:13 – “If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard.”

6) Inadequate faith – James 1:5-8 – “If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” Mark 11:23 – “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you."

There. All clean.

The Mystery Machine

Caught on camera while driving down 635. I'm almost certain we saw Scooby Doo inside...

Facebook

Ahhhh the dilemma continues - to join or not to join. I am becoming more and more torn every day, yet have managed to remain firm in my opposition to such activity. How much longer will I hold out?

I will say it's getting pretty bad in that I'm missing out on vital information by not being connected. For example:

--Learned from our neighbor that my bro-in-law is going to be in the June issue of Forbes, which he posted online. We say to him, "Thanks for sharing." He says to us, "If you were on facebook you would've known!"
--Missed the birth announcement for a dear friend's new baby. They waited 9 long months to determine whether or not it was a boy or girl. I got the call she was in labor, but the follow up was posted online. My anxiety was killing me! Had I been on facebook, I would've known they had a beautiful baby boy.

In addition to these 2 biggies, my 10-year high school reunion is coming up next month. What a seriously great way to connect with great friends from the past - join facebook!!!

Alas I remain committed to my blog alone. I'm also wary of the facebook friend selection process. Not that I will have a large number of people reaching out to befriend me, but I do think there will be some that I would rather not share my page with. My friend Em likes to use the word -meh-. Like, "I'm kind of -meh- about the whole thing and I don't really get all the hysteria." That's how I feel about facebook. We'll see how much longer it lasts...

BS

2 quick updates: 1) I wore my shirt backwards the entire day today without knowing. At 4:30 I looked down at my boobs and saw the tag through the opening at the top of my chest. At that point I could do nothing but laugh. 2) I tried a great new place for lunch today - Urban Taco in Mockingbird Station. Put it down as a potential restaurant to go to when you're being indecisive and seeking a weekend dining hot spot.

But really - I want this post to be about our Bible study group - hence the BS title. They have been on my mind lots recently. When I first spread my post-college wings and moved to Dallas to get a fresh start, I made myself get involved with the purpose of developing a network of close friends and loved ones. So not easy when you're starting from scratch. So I joined a Bible study at church that met every Wed night from 7-9....

I will say that this is one of the things in my life that God clearly ordained and I cannot say how incredibly gracious to Him I am for that. Our class has stayed together for 5 years, which is simply amazing because the age disparity and completely different paths we're all navigating individually would normally serve as obvious deterrents to developing such deep and personal relationships. There's me and K (newcomer after our marriage - thankfully he passed the test), another girl around our age, Bob's in his 70's, there are a couple of married couples in their 40's with kids, 3 older single ladies - a unique crowd for sure. But for whatever reason, we just mesh - the fully known and fully loved kind of mesh that is unconditional. The thing that unites us and bonds our hearts together is solely our desire to seek and know the Lord better - the common thread that has sustained us as one.

We had our end of the year party last night (our schedule typically follows the school year with summers off)- with wine, of course. I've come to value and enjoy the theological freedom that comes with being a Methodist to say the least. We are not perfect and each have our own set of issues we're all dealing with, but knowing that we can be held accountable in graceful manner while continuing to grow and learn is such a wonderful gift. These people have impacted my life and I can never thank them enough for their warm embrace and faithful support.

In a random and unrelated closing, I would like to predict that Izzie dies on tonight's season finale of GA.

Update

Oh my. It's been quite some time since I've last posted. How time flies when you're at an office behind a computer screen all day! My new job is great, but I feel a little overwhelmed trying to cram laundry, grocery store runs, etc. all into 2 hours after work versus having the whole day for errands. Granted most of the errands themselves take 1 1/2 hours max to do, but again - I just feel more frantic knowing that my time frame for completing weekly chores has been dramatically axed. This has also brought to light how inefficient I was while unemployed. Ahhhh those were the days...

The new office environment is a complete 180 from what I'm used to, which provides a nice change of pace. The novelty is still there, but I think even once it wears off I'll be happy with my new position at BOT. The group usually doesn't arrive until 9:00, but I've been rebelling and arriving earlier to avoid staying till 6:00. How much more I'd rather be home earlier in the evening versus getting there later in the morning. My commute has substantially increased which I hate, but it provides more opportunity for longer jam out sessions in my car. I'm constantly on the hunt for new music that helps pass the time.

In other news:

--I think I'd like to live in Austin one day. While I do worry that it might be a little more liberal than my taste, there are so many trees and lakes and bridges and things to do outside. It's the perfect distance between both families in Dallas and Houston, and would be a fun adventure to embark on.

--I made my first dish from Deceptively Delicious this past week. My friend Erin gave me this cook book as a birthday present, and it primarily revolves around pureeing vegetables and hiding them in food for kids to eat and still get their nutritional value (think squash in mac and cheese or avocados in chocolate pudding). I made tuna salad with cauliflower puree. It was soooo creamy, but only had 1/4 cup of low fat mayo. Add celery and a few spices and it's great for bringing lunches to work. One day I will conquer my quest to become a domestic diva.

--Is it bad that I've been doing laundry on cold since college? I know that you're supposed to separate whites and colors, but it's so much easier to throw everything in all at once, plus it cuts down on the number of loads per week. I do wash towels and sheets on hot, but everything else gets chilled in the washer...

--Last weekend I went tubing in Greune for my friend Katy's bachelorette party. I am so unbelievably thankful for my girlfriends. I will say there is an unbreakable bond between women that men can't even begin to fathom. After K and I got married I wasn't very good about maintaining relationships with many of my close gals, but as time has passed I've realized again how invaluable it is to have women by your side to share real life with. Love it.

--Lastly - a picture from the Jimmy Buffett concert we went to with Cody and Jen. It was a great concert, but we were probably the youngest and most lame ones there. I don't think I've ever seen so many drunk old people dressed up in weird Hawaii gear that can't dance. Wow...

Bittersweet Ending to Freedom

It is with bittersweet emotion that I must spread news of my new employment. My feelings of excitement and thankfulness are admittedly a little repressed by the remorse of no longer being free to do the following:

--Wake up at 7:45 am (a must, even though I'm not a morning person so that I'll be able to go to bed the same tame as K each night - if only he could stay up and play until midnight...)
--Roll to the couch and watch a Baby Story on TLC at 8:00 and 8:30. Tear up every time the baby is born on TV.
--Check E-mail and lolly gag around the house until 10:15. Change into biking clothes and ride bike while watching the View.
--Shower.
--Eat lunch, sometimes with fellow co-workers who tell me how much they hate their jobs. Reminds me to be glad I'm not where I came from.
--Run errands or lay out in the backyard with Abby until Ellen at 3:00.
--Oprah at 4:00.
--Frantically make bed and pick up around house at 4:30 before K gets home from work.
--Attempt to cook dinner.
--Try to be creative so I can come up with a good answer for when K asks, "so what did you do all day today?"

Now that my free time is coming to an end, I'm of course thinking of all the things I should've done over the past 2 months like organize the house, clean out the closets, finish the 3 books I'm in the middle of reading right now, etc. It has been a wonderful sabbatical and I'm hopefully able now to go back into a new position with a renewed energy and rested spirit.

What will I be doing come Monday? Working at Bank of Texas, aka the old Bank One. Have decided to go back to underwriting and credit analysis instead of sales. Many former colleagues that I have worked with in the past have transitioned to this company, including my old boss who left Chase while we were in China. God sure does seem to work things out for good. How silly I was to ever have a doubt in my mind!

The Grand Finale

I do not want to give Ryan and Leah, Jeff and Dana (AND their 2 children) the satisfaction of knowing I posted on my blog about the horrific event that they carried out recently at our house; however, what they did is KIND OF funny. I'm sure one day it will be REALLY funny, but there is still a slight bitterness inside of me mostly related to the fact that I was in a terribly tired and grumpy mood when we discovered their act.

As a brief background and true confession: a few weeks ago Kevin and I decided to wrap Ryan and Leah’s house for fun. After dinner and drinks one night we decided it would be fabulous to live in the moment instead of going home and going to bed like we usually do. We bought a huge pack of TP at Albertson’s, picked up another friend Dana on the way, and completely papered their trees and front lawn. It was a crappy wrap job, but probably still a pain for Ryan to clean up the next day - whatever.

Evidently, Dana’s hubby Jeff spilled the beans. Jeff - you suck. I will say that revenge is terrible. They completely covered the entire inside of our house with toilet paper while we were in China. I mean, it was hanging from the ceiling fans, woven in and out of the blinds, in our cups and pots and pans, all around the TV and doorknobs, in our refrigerator. Seriously. I was not a happy camper, especially after having travelled for the prior 24 hours from the other side of the world. THIS is what we had to clean up:






It is a good thing that our house did not catch on fire, because if that had been the case it would've been scorched and spread instantly with all the TP. All I have to say is Jeff and Dana - you better watch out...