I just got my tickets to go home over Christmas.
I'm so excited!!!!
I haven't seen some of my immediate family in almost 3 years!!!!!
Yay! I Leave Chicago and Fly into London, Gatwick on the 16th and get THREE WHOLE WEEKS of family! WOOHOO!
I'm going home, I'm going home!
(does Numfar's dance of Joy and the Snoopy dance, and some of Elaine Benes' dance from Seinfeld)
My kid went to his dad's this morning. Flew from Seattle to SanFran at the asscrack of dawn 6am. Since this is one of the busiest travel days of the year, we signed him up for the Unaccompanied Minor service on Virgin America. (That's an additional $160, it ain't free.) My whole reasoning is that I wanted them to be accountable for him if anything happened on this busy travel day and when he comes back -- reroutes due to weather, bad plane, whatever. They introduced him to the airline attendant, and even made me set up a password for me, the kid, and the exhusband. And hey! He gets free movies, free tv, free food... cool, right?
THEY LOST HIM.
My ex called me after everything was over, and told me what happened. He had spent over an hour with the Virgin America people trying to find out what the hell happened to him, Aside from the fact that THEY DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE HE WAS LOST - no one knew, no one had an answer, no one even instigated any kind of search until he started yelling (and my ex can YELL) and he just happened to see my kid walk by, looking for him as well. Lots more details to the story than that, but basically you get the gist. Their general take on the incident... they can't do anything, you're just SOL if they lose your kid.
FUCKERS. VIRGIN AMERICAN CAN GO FUCK THEMSELVES.*
*Bad pun strenuously intended.
I have just not had a very good go of it the last few days.
I am thankful that my spouse makes mistakes with our kids.
If
he didn't, they might not learn humility; when he fails in what he says
or does in the parenting department, he takes the time to go to them,
admit he was wrong, and make it right.
I am thankful that my spouse doesn't always treat me like a princess.
I
am sure it'd be nice – at least for a while – to be spoiled at every
turn and always get my way. But there are times that, quite frankly, I
am just being a brat, and I need him to stand up to me and tell me so.
I am thankful that my spouse doesn't always say the right thing.
If he did, I might not see Matthew 5:23-24 modeled.
I am thankful that my spouse doesn't always think I am beautiful – either inside or out.
If he did, he might not tell me about that chunk of food stuck in my teeth. I probably wouldn't care what I ate or if I ever ran another mile. And even more than that, I'd never have anything bigger and better to strive for in character, grace, and mercy.
He's not perfect, to be sure. But thank God, because neither am I!
And the truth is, I wouldn't have it any other way.
We finished up our final One Month to Live small group
session tonight. One member quipped that since it's been more than 6
weeks, which obviously equals a bit more than 30 days, we could at
least be thankful to still be alive. That was good for some hearty
chuckles.
The wrap-up of the series has me pondering my own take-aways. Sure, if I only had 30 days to live some big things would change. But what about the little things? Through this whole process, it's the little things that have begun to mean so much more.
- Sitting next to one of the kids, watching a show they like
- Taking a few extra minutes to snuggle up to Rob before starting my day
- Letting that person with only an item or two go ahead of me in line
- Saying thank you, even for the smallest things
There are many, many more.
We often don't realize what one act of kindness, one word of
encouragement, one pause in our day to allow a "God-moment" to happen
can do. The possibilities are endless! One group member shared
tonight how a nun gave his mom a Good News Bible many years ago. She
laughed it off and stuck it in a drawer. One day, while still a child,
he found that Bible and asked if he could have it.
"It was in reading that Bible that I found God. Years later, I was able to lead my mom to the Lord. That nun probably has no idea."
One small gift changed several lives for eternity.
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It
is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden
plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its
branches.” -Matthew 13:31-32
God, please give me many mustard seed moments as I live out the rest of my days!
It takes a bit of commitment and patience to watch all 3 minutes, but it really is a good bit.
It is well known that I tend to be a stuffer when I clean. As long as there are empty closets and baskets, I'll shove stuff in 'em and forget about it. However, there always comes a time when there are no longer places to stuff things and the house never looks clean because there is an abundance of stuff.
I had the misfortune to watch this movie last night. I was so looking forward to it. Apparently I like torturing myself.
How do these movies get made? How do they persuade talent to do them? They're not even funny.
Here are my beefs.
1) It's always tight-ass, neurotic, cat-loving, super controlling women who are stunningly good looking but incapable of finding a man. Inevitably because their standards are 'just too high', [a] and they are just plain desperate because its been [insert time period] since they've had good sex. The woman, though intelligent and educated is always extremely naive when it comes to 'how to get a guy' and has to enlist the help of all kinds of jaded or sex deprived friends to help her land a good one.
This is just plain ridiculous. Don't knock standards, they can be very helpful and protective, and can often be a sign that someone knows themselves, and what works for them, well. Also, Sex isn't the be all or the end all, nor is it the most important thing in a relationship. The single woman/cat lover cliche is SO VERY OLD! In this movie the main female character was portrayed in being so wrapped up in her ideals of a man and so desperate to catch him that she allowed herself to do all kinds of hi-jinks that were so anti her thoughtful and controlled character. Granted we all do stupid things from time to time, but you can't sell me on the idea that a T.V. producer who can make split second decisions on which camera to go to, and the best thing to say in a situation would not find an excuse to visit the powder room and remove her climax inducing panties before a business dinner, or feel the need to Cyrano de Bergerac her way through a baseball game date with earpieces, sounding to all the world like someone suffering from acute Turrets Syndrome.
2) It's always guys [b] who are the lowest common denominators of maleness. Sex is the most important thing, and the more you get of it the better a "man" you are. Men only put up with relationships for the sake of getting sex. They think with their penis and as rude and crass as they want to be.
Seriously. Grow up! If this is all that you are going to be, we're well shot of you! Men take responsibility, Men give and receive, Guys take and callously use others. In this movie the main character not only disparages women who are lonely on a regular basis, but he repeatedly ignored his supervisors instructions on air, and basically only did what he wanted to do. Every once and a while you see a glimpse of a relationship with a young boy and his 'responsibility' to the kid, so you're led to believe that there is more to this man than you can see. COME ON! The Diamond-in-the-rough guy is all played out. There is something to be said for seeing the true person, but this is so far from that. The guy likes who he is. He hides the responsibility as if it is a weakness, or something of less value.
3) The Guy helps the Crazy lady catch a Man by playing all sorts of mind games.
This is the worst part of the romantic comedy for me.
Just so we're clear. I think relationships that come about by manipulation of the things you think will titillate your partner and obfuscation of who you really are, so that only the characteristics and traits he/she would like appear, for the sake of securing him/her are wasted time.
I will never play games with someones affection, and I would walk away from anyone who does. It isn't romantic to me. It isn't funny. It's cruel, and it will never build a relationship that lasts. It ends. Always. Either in an apology (if you have some character) or just walking away after you've taken what you wanted (as witnessed by the main guy's answering machine messages in this movie).
What makes it even more frustrating for me is that I frequently work with teen girls who have seen this over and over and think that this is the way they're supposed to behave, or the behavior they're supposed to put up with. They just get their hearts crushed in the process.
As you may have guessed I thought this movie was Drivel, plain and simple. I just want to be able to watch one romantic comedy that doesn't make me want to curse. They're just not funny. They're just cruel and callous. I think I need to watch Wall-e to cleanse my palate. At least robot's understand :)
Can I rate a movie with negative stars?
a) and sometimes they are just absolutely ridiculous ideals, I'll grant you that. They're so over the top. Tolstoy reading, Austen loving, long walks on the beach, love all animals but cats the best, etc.
b) guys are not men. Guys are men in age only. They live life as one big game, enjoying all they can get, never taking responsibility, expecting the world to revolve around them, consequences be dammed, etc.
What was your favorite class in high school? (And no, lunch doesn't count.)
French. Was my favorite college class too.
Would love to take more classes - or better yet, spend a year in Paris so I could be immersed in the language. I love the way it sounds.
For the record, my father's favorite expression while driving when I was a kid: Get the fuck out of the way, NumNuts!
(I love the package design though.)
