Things that are swirling in my head

This last weekend was awesome. On Saturday, I went to a wonderful wedding, and had exceedingly good conversations with old friends. I’ve been to a lot of weddings, and they can get tiresome, but I really felt that God was leading a lot of conversations at this place. A lot of my friends are in the same place of me in life, and it’s cool when God orchestrates thoughts and feelings in people when they don’t even have normal interaction.

On Sunday, I got to chill out and go see Prince Caspian. I expected the movie to not follow the story line of the book, and it didn’t, but they still did a good job. Of course, Disney missed most of the important biblical themes, but they had a few of them. After, I ate out with some friends, had some good loose green tea, which I usually buy from here. I did some shopping for some summer gear, and then played some ATTACK on Facebook. It was a nice, relaxing day, and the weekend really rejuvinated me.

I have a friend who loves his job.  He loves meeting new and interesting people.  There is definitely a routine to it, but enough variety that he doesn’t get bored.  I have thought about my work a lot growing up.  I have had the opportunity to pursue a lot of different careers - aviation, accounting, management, but I love what I’m doing now.  I love the flexibility and the time that I get.  I love helping businesses grow.

There are all kinds of jobs out there.  You could find yourself working on a plantar fasciitis treatment, helping people do heel spur exercises.  You could be a fireman, a teacher, an engineer, a politician - even the President of our country.  It’s really quite up to you.

The troubling thing is that so many people do not enjoy their work.  I believe the fundamental problem is that they tend to blame others and not themselves.  The common denominator in all of your life’s problems is….YOU.  Let that sink in.

My mom has recently taken a position at her church as a pastor to the elderly shut ins.  She’s very good at it because she is compassionate and full of mercy and hospitality.  That is kind of her weakness too.  Because so many of the elderly have given up on life or are dying, it is very draining emotionally.

Normally, she’ll just go visit with them and talk to them.  In our culture, children to a very poor job of taking care of their parents and so the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the church.  She’s heard a lot of great stories and met a lot of interesting people.

One of the things she’s noticed is the differences in lifestyle.  They live different hours of the day.  Eat at different times and many have changes in their homes to adapt to their age.  For instance, several have a handicap accessible bathtub or an ADA bathtub to make it safer and easier to bathe, without fear of harm or injury.  Many of them have suffered through illnesses or are fighting injuries even now, and it’s just nice to help them in their need.

Introspection - how do I view the elderly?  Are they refuse, non-contributors to society?  Or precious, able to teach and impart wisdom?  I think we all could do better at caring for them.

I did some weekend shopping last week, and did my typical routine.  Usually, I go to Kroger or Sam’s to catch up on groceries, and then I went to T.J. Max and Target to check out some deals.  I was kind of frustrated, so I came home and did a bit more shopping online.  It certainly beats the traffic and heat.

First, I bought some Alexandra de Markoff makeup, which I absolutely love.  I also picked up some aqua di gio for a friend.   Then, I did some shopping for my Halloween costume as a pirate.  These will really help it out.

I don’t like paying the shipping costs, but I certainly like the time saved.

Everything about is awesome!  Football season is beginning, praise God.  The leaves turn beautiful colors.  The weather is cooler and more pleasant.  Plus, one of my favorite holidays, Halloween, is right around the corner.

This year, I’m going to go as a pirate.  I already  bought a great plus size pirate costume.  I think I’m going to throw a pirate party at my house, so I’m scoping out the supplies as well.  I contemplated throwing a sweet Transformers party, because they are so cool.   There are some great Transformers costumes out there.

I love it!  I love everything about fall.  I guess you can throw sweet costume parties other times, but Halloween is such a good fit.

A friend of mine just finished her first big race last Saturday.  It wasn’t like Chariots of Fire, but still a great accomplishment.  She’s not much of a runner, so it gives me hope to get into shape.  Also, she has asthma, so she’s been steadily working out; walking for a long time and then finally jogging leading up to the race.  I’m really very proud of her, so I decided to get her a gift.  She loves gifts!

In the past, I have gotten her makeup or some fun jewelry, but this time I went to a new shop.  It’s this little place called 10,000 villages where they sell things from 3rd world countries all the time.  It’s also part of the fair trade act.  I ended up getting her a really cute little sculpture, something that I thought would last that would remind her of the race.

I’d love to train myself, but I suffer from heel pain.  I’ve been going to this site for answers and remedies.  Hopefully, I’ll be back on my feet soon so that I too can run a race.

My friend, who lives out west, called me the other day and told me that she went to get an updated family photo.  Apparently, she used a really good Portland Oregon Photographer.  She said the pictures came back and they looked great.  All of her family was all dressed up, and she wore a new dress.  She even got her hair done, and of course used her favorite makeup, Dermablend.

The phone call made me look back at all our family photos.  It was always such a weird experience to wear clothes you didn’t like to wear, to smile when you weren’t happy, and to have some strange man cracking bad jokes to try to get you to laugh.   We used to always wear suits and dresses, but today, people take their kids wearing much more natural clothing like Curious George or cute clothes like these.

I really need to get an updated photo done professionally.  As bad as they look over the years, they are still great for memories.  It reminds you of your family, the meals, the TV shows we watched, like Andy Griffith, and the love.

My wife and I see Saturday mornings as two complete opposites. Her typical idea of a Saturday morning is to sleep til eleven, have a slow morning, and just rest through the afternoon. While I’m a big fan of sleeping in, I look at Saturday’s and what I see are all the undone tasks looking straight back at me. I want to do the laundry, pick up groceries, clean our apt, buy aquarium decor, dust, workout, send out pirate party invitations, clean the bathroom, scrub our new tub…you get the idea. However, while I enjoy knocking these things out. I realize that it’s best to collaborate between ideal days - not compromise, but collaborate. What I mean is, not to compromise where neither of us is happy, but to collaborate where both of us are. Thus, I am working on this Friday, an early weekend for us, at 6:15am!

I’m always amazed at the industry that is created in America geared towards the beautification of women.  It’s amazing how magazines, billboards, commercials, movies all point to being skinny and beautiful.  It’s a constant battle that weighs on the heart of women - ‘be beautiful!’  I feel like women are always fighting it.  There is the tendency to buy great products (such as Alexandra de Markoff makeup and others), and I like to wear products like these.  I like to present myself well.  But at the same time, I have to remind myself that I have been created in the image of God, and that he thinks I am beautiful.  Every morning when I put on makeup and do my hair, I fight this mental battle.  Sometimes, I wish everyone wore pirate bandanas to make things simpler!  I’d never have to worry about my hair again.  Well, for now, I’ll keep being transformed by the renewing of my mind…

I love Cincinnati in the summer time!  There is so much fun stuff to do around here that you don’t have in other cities.  The top on my list has to be going to Reds’ games.  There are very few things more enjoyable to me than going to a game with a good friend, buying a $5 seat and sitting anywhere in the park you want.  I also love hitting up King’s Island.  Sure, it’s pretty expensive, but you can always find a discount somewhere.  Plus they have this new ride called Firefox this year where you totally get to Superman it on the roller coaster.  Another local favorite for me has been going to the Newport Aquarium.  It’s such an adventure to go there and the aquarium lighting in the underwater exhibit always blows me away.  It feels like your swimming with the fishies!  Of course, when you finish there, you’re already at the Levee for some of the best eats in town.  How else would you end a lovely summer evening in Cincy than some good grub and Coldstone to wash it down!