Week in Review (a lil’ in advance)

Categories:Mixed Bag

Okay, I am one who is paralyzed by daunting tasks. When a project grows to mammoth proportions I am not one skilled in breaking it into small steps. I hide. I nap. I stress. I take a hot bath. I eat very decadent things in monster servings!

I am not one who eats an elephant one bite at a time. I curl up over the HVAC vent on the floor with a blanket trapping all of the warmness around me and drift off to elephant-free places. And I will do that until the elephant is standing over me, threatening to snuff me out in one gulp. And it is only then that I can unhinge my jaws enough to take him down all at once.

If I do not have time to clean my whole house, I tend to clean nothing. If I don’t have thirty minutes to call someone, I won’t call at all. And you guessed it, if I don’t have an hour to blog, then I won’t blog at all. So that’s where I’ve been. So prepare yourself as I unhinge and devour a week of blogging in one post:

Monday: Our fav-o-right plumber paid us a call to check on a leak in our guest bath. We happened to be eating dinner as he was finishing, and he stepped into the kitchen to announce, “Well, I found the problem; it is the seal.”

Campbell chews on that with her green beans. Then she turns to me and asked, “How did a seal get in here?” 🙂

Tuesday: I ran at the gym and listened to a great sermon. Totally think podcasts are better for longer workouts than music. They totally take your mind to a different place, so you’re not so focused on how long you’ve been going. And in the end, you walk away having gotten a spiritual and physical workout. Can’t beat that for efficiency! And I definitely recommend this sermon by Matthew Barnett from the Dream Center in LA. It is serious stuff, but there was one part where I started laughing so hard that I had to stop the machine I was on, and just crack up. I’ve never done that before (it was the prayer he memorized in Bible college). Check it out!

Wednesday: I just kinda vacantly pondered why I am so drawn to tragic works of art. The Bell Jar. Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Love Story (1970 movie). “Mother to Son.” I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. And anything by Nicholas Sparks, for Pete’s sake! I think it is a testament to an artist’s craft if he can make me cry. I think it is so difficult to capture the depth of pain in a song or a poem or a movie. Cheaply done, it can come off seeming quite hokey. Anybody else out there a connoisseur of tragedy? I found this facet of my interests a little disturbing as I am generally a joyful person, I think.

Thursday: Tonight was Trick-or-Treat for my mom. Apparently, in my own confusion, I mentioned to her about coming over to trick-or-treat on Thursday (she always goes with us and wears a costume too – yes, she is the bomb!). She took off the afternoon to get her costume ready and drove over for T-o-T. She just trusted that I knew what I was talking about – big mistake. I felt so so so so so crummy! Like she said in her good-natured Grammy way, it was Trick-or-Treat; the trick was just on her 🙁 I am so scattered…

Friday: I love costumes!!! Dance costumes. Halloween costumes. Themed-party costumes. Love ’em. What are you and/or your lil’ ones dressing up as this year? If you’re not dressing up, what would your costume be if you were? Really considering a New Year’s Eve costume party…

Saturday: Checkin’ out this and this! Let’s go nuts!

Sunday: You know where to find me. McNair Science Building @ FMU @ 10:30! NewSpring Florence gathering together once again…

Pic o' treat
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3 Comments

  1. Jenn in GA
    October 31, 2008 at 12:16 pm

    nice to hear from you after a quiet spell! i have been called “all or nothing” by some folks too, so i get where you’re comin’ from on tackling tasks. my excuse is that i was a journalist and lived by deadlines, and without one i have a hard time being motivated.

    the 14 yr. old never did halloween–didn’t see the point when his mom worked at a chocolate shop and would bring him goodies without any effort! will be anxious to see pics of your cuties!

    see you in a week!

  2. Melanie Turner
    October 31, 2008 at 7:33 pm

    Oh, I am so relieved to know that someone else hides from the elephant. I was JUST thinking about all I had to do, so what did I do? I sat down and read blogs, checked e-mail, Facebook…totally ignoring the laundry, dirty dishes, etc. Part of it is selfish…I just got Cole down for a nap & Will is still napping so I’m stealing a moment for MOM.

    I cracked up about your mom coming for T-O-T last night. Poor thing! I hope you at least got some cute pictures of her!

    Will is going to be a cowboy…Cole a clown. Should be fun! Happy Halloween!

  3. Mary Nell
    Mary Nell
    November 1, 2008 at 2:58 pm

    Missed reading you this week…nice to catch up! On costumes: Ellie was the cutest duck every for Halloween. On eating an elephant: I just used that quote with a student who is SO far behind on his work. I am a classic procrastinator myself. On tragedy: You have to check out Jodi Picoult if you haven’t already (My Sister’s Keeper is my favorite).

    Glad the launch of New Spring is going so well! Keep us updated.