Learning from Angels

I currently belong to a Bible study made up of seven other women. They've been a great source of inspiration and education over the last year or so that I've known them. Recently one of the ladies had both her knees replaced. When the other women in the group started talking about taking over meals until our friend had recovered I thought, "How nice." But I never offered to do so myself. Until about the second week of recovery when again, the group discussed who would bring a meal on what day. This time, I volunteered for one. I must admit I was a little shocked and very nervous. What the heck was I going to make? How does one go about dropping off a casserole dish full of food I'm not even sure my husband would eat? However, all these other women were doing it, I figured I could too. I'm certainly glad I did. The lovely lady who had her knees redone gave me rave reviews and I felt like a million bucks for helping out someone who needed it.

So when the opportunity came to do it again, I jumped at it. Again, I was faced with the same fear and intimidation. I couldn't believe that doing something nice for someone else was making me feel this way. But I was determined to get over it and make sure I performed a good deed. I got up early today and ran to the gym, the grocery store, the car wash, post office and bookstore. I made it home in time to prepare a quick and hearty meal, complete with dessert. I ran it over to the new "patients" house only to find she didn't answer her door. A little concerned I called, rang the doorbell and even tentatively peered inside her windows, all to no avail. Finally, I left the meal on the doorstep and a message on the machine and left praying that she was okay.

Later I received a call from her. She had actually been taken to the Urgent Care clinic in town because her pain was so bad. But she was extremely grateful to come home to a comforting and stick-to-your-ribs meal to digest with her stronger meds. Hearing how much she appreciated my simple offering made me feel like the Queen of the World. I can't remember the last time I felt like I had really made a difference in someones life. Today changed that.

I will forever be grateful to these women for teaching me, not just through talk, but through action.

Thank you Ladies, you are truly a blessing!!

Working off a Big One

I finally found a good use for the Body Ball I told myself I had to have. Check out this video and see why at least somebody's getting excersize in our house. Also, please don't mind all the mismatched furniture or the Costco size box of DVD's. We're trying to find our "decorating style". Although honestly, the box of DVD's is just because we're lazy.

Bon Week-end!

Such a Pretty Author

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting one of my favorite authors, Jen Lancaster. She was in town promoting her new book, Such a Pretty Fat. I've only read the first two chapters and I've already had to change into dry pants. You will laugh your ass off when you read her creations.

The great part about Jen, and why I think she has such a HUGE following (they had to keep adding chairs before the reading last night), is because she is 100% honest. She doesn't pull any punches and she doesn't have anything to hide. Jen Lancaster is the master of saying the things we all wish we had the big brass ones to say. So thank you J.L. for standing up and being such a beautiful addition to this crazy world.

On a side note, I was so damn gobsmacked to be in her presence (not too mention trying to hold in all my crazy so that she didn't run away from me screaming) that I forgot to ask her a few things. So on the off chance that you actually do get/take time to check out my blog Ms. L., here are some things I'd like to know (or share with you):

1) Please don't think your hair was anything but FAB last night. With blonde streaks done that well, there is never such a thing as a bad hair day!



2) Can you please advise as to when/where and if ever we'll see your books on tape? Also, I know people who are available for the cheap fee of being your new BFF if you need a "voice" for said books on tape.


3) While you've been on tour, have you actually had time to check out all the cool bookstores you've been to? I'm a HUGE book junkie, being in a b.s. without actually buying something seems like a crime.


4) I totally think that you should've made the man-kilt purchase. No man thinks he wants to wear one until he actually gets it on and can feel the wind in his hair, if you know what I mean. ;0)



5) And finally, have you been doing the Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) trick in your hotel rooms? Ya know, where you throw water on your bed so that housekeeping will give you fresh sheets and then you wipe down everything with antiseptic wipes? My girlfriend stayed in a hotel once where she found - brace yourself - toenails (!!) in her bed!!! EEEWWW!!! Just an FYI.

I hope you are now home and safely tucked in your own bed, sans toenails.

If you'd like to respond to anything you see Jen, you can E-mail me at jennings.abigail@yahoo.com I'd love to hear from you!

In the meantime, enjoy the wine and pearl "resistance bands"! We can't wait to have you back again!!

Bonjour mon amies ! J’espère vous est bien ! Moi, j’adore au jour d’hui ! J’étais déjeuner avec mon professer de français. C’était super !

Hello my friends! I hope you are well! Me, I adore today! I just had lunch with my french professor. It was great!

She is a lovely woman with a fantastic story that starts off in Conneticut and ends up in France - c'est manifique!! That was the highlight of my day!

School itself however, has been a very precarious ride lately. The system at this institution sucks for transfer students. So, as a result, I will be attending a completely different university for summer classes. Normally, I'm a pretty relaxed person whose game for anything. But this is making me nuts. Now my commute will be longer, I have to learn a totally different (and much larger) campus, AND I'll have to spend at least fifty bucks on buying a new sweatshirt to support my new-secondary-other-soon-to-be-alma-mater. (Okay, really I'd buy just about anything to spend fifty bucks. You should see some of the shoes I've brought home, but I digress.)

But the silver lining (because there always is one people!) is that the quarter is only four weeks long - woohoo!! It's a bit more work than a normal quarter because they have to cram a lot of information into those four weeks, but totally worth it!

So that's the latest. I'll keep ya'll posted.

Au revoir et bon journee!!

Share a Little Love

(My bulldog puppy in flight at nine weeks old)
Obviously I'm a sucker for all things bulldog. I suppose I was born into it. My mother attended a high school whose mascot was a bully so the loyalty was in my blood. As an adult I have acquired a 15 pound bronze bulldog by my front door, a bulldog mug from England and, let's be honest, if I could tolerate the pain I would have a bulldog tattooed on my ass. But recently I became even more of a bully-lover, nay, a bully advocate.
Bulldogs are a very misunderstood breed. Most people think of them as junkyard dogs that hang around old cars ready to attack and eat the trousers off anyone who crosses their path. But bullies are actually meant to be indoor dogs. They have the biggest hearts and could be classified as "lumps of love". However, their senstivity doesn't stop with their hearts, they also have very sensitive skin and eyes. They require frequent baths and, sometimes, daily wrinkle cleanings. Because most of the public has the wrong perception of how to accomodate this breed a lot of these dogs end up with several medical problems that their owners either don't want to or can't afford to address.
Bulldog rescues across America are designed to take these dogs off the hands of those who can't care for them. We recently donated to help out a pretty bully girl at http://www.cascadebulldogrescue.org/ This organization offers help for english and french bulldogs (mine are of the english persuasion, hence the mug mentioned above). They start out by rehabilitating the dogs and getting them the medical help they need before even considering putting them up for adoption. Health comes first.
I can't believe, that as a dog owner, I haven't donated some form of help to a rescue facility before. But I am hooked. My man and I agreed that we'd donate to these pups in need every year in lou of buying each other gifts for holidays, etc. What a nice feeling to know that we can make a difference by helping out God's creatures AND we don't have to worry about getting each other a card!!
To find out how you can donate to a breed of your choosing, click here

Only have time for a quick post. It's midterms people!! AAAGGGHH!!

I wanted to share an artist I discovered. This little lady and her music has a very soothing (but still motivational!) effect.

The artist is Natalie Grant and her voice is AMAZING!! Check out her website here. Or check out her MySpace page where you can listen to the music and watch a couple of videos. My personal favorite? "In Better Hands".

Enjoy!!

Heaven awaits change

I read a great article today by Chi-Dooh Li of the Seattle P-I. He spoke about change. It's certainly something we're all hearing about with politics flooding the airwaves. But how many of us actually do change?

I know a lot of people who changed their garbage cans. They now have one specified for recycleable materials and another for waste. Some people have even changed their cars or the way they get to work. These folks do deserve kudos. Change in any form is never easy. Heck, I can't even manage to floss regularly. But how do we go from wanting to change to actually doing it?

I suppose it all comes down to baby steps. One day at a time. Look at how quickly the organic market took off. Why? Because people were willing to change the way they saw milk, eggs and soap.

Education is another the key. As Li said in his article, "change begins with you and me, our own desires and our own pocketbooks." Do we even know what that means anymore? How about finding out where more than just your dairy products come from? Where do your clothes come from (Singapore?), your long distance service (Bangladesh?) or even (yikes!) your make-up (baby rabbits?).

Of course we all know Rome wasn't built in a day. I haven't even got a clue what's in my make-up, let alone know where it comes from. But maybe, by drawing attention to it in this post, I've started change, one letter at a time.