Me: I'm packing Gus up, and we're heading down to Texas for spring break in a few weeks.
Friend: Are you taking Gus because he makes you feel safer.
Me: No, we just both get separation anxiety when we're apart.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Update on Dad
The procedure went very well this morning, and the reports were good. For now, no heart surgery (yay!) and his heart and lungs are in great working order. So here is a big sigh of relief and a very happy daughter.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
I am way, way too much like my father.
Right at this very moment, I am such a bundle of nerves that you would swear if you poked my upper back (where I happen to hold tension), that I am actually made of steel. Or better yet, that I have muscles.
Unfortunately, it really is just nerves. My dad is having some heart problems again, and he is going in tomorrow for a procedure called a TEE. From what I understand, they will send something down his esophagus to take a good look at the back of his heart.
Chances are there is nothing too terribly wrong, although he might end up having some heart surgery. But my dad has a unique capacity for always assuming the worst. He has managed to convince himself based off of a flippant comment from the doctor that lung cancer is causing the heart problems. He's never smoked, and he has no symptoms whatsoever of lung problems, but he is convinced.
My brother, the most non-dramatic person you could ever possible meet, is able to see the absurdity in this, make a joke that breaks the tension in the room, and go on with life with the attitude of 'I'll worry about it when there is actually something to worry about' (which is almost never).
I, unfortunately, am very much my father's daughter: we look alike, we like the same things, we can both get worked into a fury over five minutes of Fox News, and we have neurotic anxiety. I fight the encroaching thoughts of 'it must be something awful,' but I rarely, or never, win the battle. These thoughts work themselves into my psyche, set up camp, and don't leave until there is absolutely no shadow of a doubt that what I am fearing is false. In the mean time, I am left shaky, tense, and probably creating my own stress-induced health problems that I am quite certain will strongly resemble those of my father.
So anyways, please say a prayer for my father, his heart, his anxiety, and his neurotic daughter. We all need help this week.
Unfortunately, it really is just nerves. My dad is having some heart problems again, and he is going in tomorrow for a procedure called a TEE. From what I understand, they will send something down his esophagus to take a good look at the back of his heart.
Chances are there is nothing too terribly wrong, although he might end up having some heart surgery. But my dad has a unique capacity for always assuming the worst. He has managed to convince himself based off of a flippant comment from the doctor that lung cancer is causing the heart problems. He's never smoked, and he has no symptoms whatsoever of lung problems, but he is convinced.
My brother, the most non-dramatic person you could ever possible meet, is able to see the absurdity in this, make a joke that breaks the tension in the room, and go on with life with the attitude of 'I'll worry about it when there is actually something to worry about' (which is almost never).
I, unfortunately, am very much my father's daughter: we look alike, we like the same things, we can both get worked into a fury over five minutes of Fox News, and we have neurotic anxiety. I fight the encroaching thoughts of 'it must be something awful,' but I rarely, or never, win the battle. These thoughts work themselves into my psyche, set up camp, and don't leave until there is absolutely no shadow of a doubt that what I am fearing is false. In the mean time, I am left shaky, tense, and probably creating my own stress-induced health problems that I am quite certain will strongly resemble those of my father.
So anyways, please say a prayer for my father, his heart, his anxiety, and his neurotic daughter. We all need help this week.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A few things I love about my husband: A Valentine's post
We aren't the sort of couple that puts too much into Valentine's Day. In fact, the plan for this year is that I will make a fancy Italian meal, and BJ will make some brownies. We might even light some candles and drink sparkling grape juice in wine glasses. That is about as far as we go.
But Valentine's is the day of love, so I'm going to get all mushy for a second and reflect on a few things I love about BJ:
1. Since I started working full time, he does the dishes every night.
2. He can pull out really good one-liners from Scrubs. I think he does it so well because he is entirely too much like the leading character, JD.
3. He can laugh at himself. Sunday, some of our youth group girls made him do Wii Fit, and he was a very good sport about his character being chubby and rubbing his belly.
4. He doesn't hide what he is thinking or feeling, so I don't have to sit around trying to read his mind.
5. He's is the consummate budgeter. It takes a lot of work on his part, but he keeps us out of the red.
6. He likes it when I play the piano, and he always encourages me on my art.
7. He never compromises his ethics for security. (I'm sorry to say that this has sometimes not been my favorite trait.)
8. He's genuine.
9. He doesn't have even an inkling of pretentiousness about him.
10. Being married to him is never, ever, ever boring.
But Valentine's is the day of love, so I'm going to get all mushy for a second and reflect on a few things I love about BJ:
1. Since I started working full time, he does the dishes every night.
2. He can pull out really good one-liners from Scrubs. I think he does it so well because he is entirely too much like the leading character, JD.
3. He can laugh at himself. Sunday, some of our youth group girls made him do Wii Fit, and he was a very good sport about his character being chubby and rubbing his belly.
4. He doesn't hide what he is thinking or feeling, so I don't have to sit around trying to read his mind.
5. He's is the consummate budgeter. It takes a lot of work on his part, but he keeps us out of the red.
6. He likes it when I play the piano, and he always encourages me on my art.
7. He never compromises his ethics for security. (I'm sorry to say that this has sometimes not been my favorite trait.)
8. He's genuine.
9. He doesn't have even an inkling of pretentiousness about him.
10. Being married to him is never, ever, ever boring.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
A Texan put out in the cold...
For the past two mornings, I have watched steam from my exhaust pipe freeze directly on the asphalt. It is currently a whopping 14 degrees, which saddly enough, is toasty after yesterday. Why do I live here?
Quick update: BJ and I still have no power at our house. Our dogs are in Alton with BJ's parents, and I am missing them terribly. We watched a movie on BJ's lap top last night that had a huge dog in it with very cute ears. It made me miss Gus's ears. I actually missed a dog's ears. But other than missing certain aspects of normal life, I just feel very blessed right now to have friends with a generator.
Quick update: BJ and I still have no power at our house. Our dogs are in Alton with BJ's parents, and I am missing them terribly. We watched a movie on BJ's lap top last night that had a huge dog in it with very cute ears. It made me miss Gus's ears. I actually missed a dog's ears. But other than missing certain aspects of normal life, I just feel very blessed right now to have friends with a generator.
Monday, February 02, 2009
25 Things
I was tagged on Facebook to do a list of twenty-five random things about me. Here's my list:
1. As a child, anytime I got very upset, I would run to my room, lay in bed, and concentrate on marching bands in parades. It always made me feel better.
2. Now when I get upset, I lay on the floor with my dog, Gus.
3. I once dreamed I was making out with Bob Marley. The latter part of the dream was spent with me fretting over the possibility of BJ breaking up with me.
4. Sometimes I like to wear clothes that aren't necessarily pretty (like my mustard-colored sweater) because it makes me feel liberated from always trying to fit in or be what people expect me to be.
5. Most of the jewelry I wear is cheap Avon jewelry my Grandma Pierce bought in the 70s and 80s.
6. Name any food item, and I can probably tell you the calorie content in a serving size. I am obsessed with calorie counting.
7. When I can't fall asleep, I go through the alphabet thinking of baby names for each letter. Some nights I do girl names, and other nights I do boy names. Incidentally, since I am married to a Bible scholar of sorts, my children will probably end up with weird Hebrew names. Please do not make fun of them.
8. I don't see the point in having glasses unless you are going to look like a librarian. I always go all out with big, plastic frames, and I wear them a lot.
9. Ever since my Grandma Pierce died, I have had a hard time playing the piano without getting depressed. After ten years, I thought it would get better.
10. The first thing I do every morning is look up political articles on the internet. When I come across ones I really like, I e-mail it to people I think will enjoy it. I kind of feel sorry for the people who keep getting these e-mails.
11. I once got fired for a blog post about not liking children. After over a year, I can finally laugh about it.
12. When BJ and I are having a rough day, we watch the "My Musical" episode of season 6 Scrubs. I once got cracked up in church because a song we were singing sounded exactly like my favorite song from the episode, "Everything Comes Down to Poo."
13. If I could be reincarnated, I would come back as a tall black woman with a HUGE Afro. I love Afros.
14. My friends here in Farmington joke that I am an elitist. I think they might be on to something.
15. BJ was the first and only guy I've ever kissed.
16. I like old things. My house is all kinds of quirky due to its old age, but I wouldn't trade it in for a brand new, enormous, well-functioning mansion. I was very excited when I first moved in because it smelled like my Grandma Farr's old farm house.
17. My favorite part of being a preacher's wife is proofing the sermons. I get a great deal of satisfaction from hearing a well-crafted sentence from the pulpit that I helped construct.
18. When I look at my own artwork, all I can see are flaws. Somehow, though, I don't want to stop making it.
19. I always assigned emotions to inanimate objects as a child. I once cried two day after eating at Pizza Hut because I was afraid I had hurt the feelings of a piece of pizza I had left uneaten on my plate.
20. The preacher who performed mine and BJ's wedding ceremony said that I was a curious mixture of domesticity and feminism. My brother told him that is why they call me a "domestic feminist."
21. My best friend, Theresa, and I once hid in my house with cast iron skillets and tennis rackets because we thought there was an intruder. It ended up being our brothers. I have no idea what a couple of ten year old girls were going to do with those weapons.
22. When I was about five years old, I had multiple dreams about Saddam Hussein attacking me and my family.
23. My idol is Doris Kearns Goodwin. She is a historian who often appears on PBS. This, of course, reveals the extent of my nerdiness.
24. I schedule my day around NPR. (If any doubts were left about my nerdiness, that cleared them up.)
25. All of my passwords and usernames revolve around Gone with the Wind. When I was a kid, they would air Gone with the Wind once a year on TV. My Grandma Pierce and I would watch it while eating Little Debbies.
1. As a child, anytime I got very upset, I would run to my room, lay in bed, and concentrate on marching bands in parades. It always made me feel better.
2. Now when I get upset, I lay on the floor with my dog, Gus.
3. I once dreamed I was making out with Bob Marley. The latter part of the dream was spent with me fretting over the possibility of BJ breaking up with me.
4. Sometimes I like to wear clothes that aren't necessarily pretty (like my mustard-colored sweater) because it makes me feel liberated from always trying to fit in or be what people expect me to be.
5. Most of the jewelry I wear is cheap Avon jewelry my Grandma Pierce bought in the 70s and 80s.
6. Name any food item, and I can probably tell you the calorie content in a serving size. I am obsessed with calorie counting.
7. When I can't fall asleep, I go through the alphabet thinking of baby names for each letter. Some nights I do girl names, and other nights I do boy names. Incidentally, since I am married to a Bible scholar of sorts, my children will probably end up with weird Hebrew names. Please do not make fun of them.
8. I don't see the point in having glasses unless you are going to look like a librarian. I always go all out with big, plastic frames, and I wear them a lot.
9. Ever since my Grandma Pierce died, I have had a hard time playing the piano without getting depressed. After ten years, I thought it would get better.
10. The first thing I do every morning is look up political articles on the internet. When I come across ones I really like, I e-mail it to people I think will enjoy it. I kind of feel sorry for the people who keep getting these e-mails.
11. I once got fired for a blog post about not liking children. After over a year, I can finally laugh about it.
12. When BJ and I are having a rough day, we watch the "My Musical" episode of season 6 Scrubs. I once got cracked up in church because a song we were singing sounded exactly like my favorite song from the episode, "Everything Comes Down to Poo."
13. If I could be reincarnated, I would come back as a tall black woman with a HUGE Afro. I love Afros.
14. My friends here in Farmington joke that I am an elitist. I think they might be on to something.
15. BJ was the first and only guy I've ever kissed.
16. I like old things. My house is all kinds of quirky due to its old age, but I wouldn't trade it in for a brand new, enormous, well-functioning mansion. I was very excited when I first moved in because it smelled like my Grandma Farr's old farm house.
17. My favorite part of being a preacher's wife is proofing the sermons. I get a great deal of satisfaction from hearing a well-crafted sentence from the pulpit that I helped construct.
18. When I look at my own artwork, all I can see are flaws. Somehow, though, I don't want to stop making it.
19. I always assigned emotions to inanimate objects as a child. I once cried two day after eating at Pizza Hut because I was afraid I had hurt the feelings of a piece of pizza I had left uneaten on my plate.
20. The preacher who performed mine and BJ's wedding ceremony said that I was a curious mixture of domesticity and feminism. My brother told him that is why they call me a "domestic feminist."
21. My best friend, Theresa, and I once hid in my house with cast iron skillets and tennis rackets because we thought there was an intruder. It ended up being our brothers. I have no idea what a couple of ten year old girls were going to do with those weapons.
22. When I was about five years old, I had multiple dreams about Saddam Hussein attacking me and my family.
23. My idol is Doris Kearns Goodwin. She is a historian who often appears on PBS. This, of course, reveals the extent of my nerdiness.
24. I schedule my day around NPR. (If any doubts were left about my nerdiness, that cleared them up.)
25. All of my passwords and usernames revolve around Gone with the Wind. When I was a kid, they would air Gone with the Wind once a year on TV. My Grandma Pierce and I would watch it while eating Little Debbies.
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