Soundtrack: I wish there was a 3rd Avett brother Edition.

I should apologize in advance for any glaring grammatical faux pas that will more than likely appear in this post. Because y'all, I'm exhausted. There are two primary contributors to said exhaustion. The first being the fact that my dog consumed 6 pounds of dog food while I was in the shower yesterday afternoon. Do you people know what happens when a dog consumes a week's worth of food in 20 minutes? Bad things. Very. Bad. Things. And those very bad things will not only keep the dog up until 4 in the morning, but the dog's person as well. But I'm not here to lament upon my unplanned trip to the vet and investment in the upholstery cleaner industry. My exhaustion is partially attributed to The Avett Brothers show that went well past my bedtime last night. I had the good fortune of being pal Erin's "plus 1" because her hubby was all mus-zak'd out from SXSW. [Thanks again, Erin & Bill!] Added bonus that the show was here in town! I'm going to end up loving this place yet, y'all. I've always liked The Avett Brothers once those two songs of theirs that they always play on the radio became a part of the regular rotation. I began to love them a little when I saw them perform on the Grammy's in the Mumford & Sons/The Avett Brothers/Bob Dylan trifecta that I call musical perfection. After last night's show, it's safe to say that I love them a lot. I even said "HP Avett" a few times in my mind until I realized that they were both married. I'm no music critic and I don't "know music" in the sense that musicians know music, but they were phenomenal. They had crazy energy. Since I can't properly describe it, I would encourage you to check them out for yourselves at one of their upcoming shows. You can check here to see when they are coming to a city near you. To prepare for the show, you can go here to listen to all kinds of their music. Legally! But because we all know that I play favorites, I will not sign off without sharing a [very] few of my favorites along with why they are my favorites.

• Living of Love - "Your heart says not again / what kind of mess have you got me in / But when the feelings there / it can take you anywhere" Yes, yes it can. And by "it", I mean love. And I think they do too.


• Kick Drum Heart - Ok, don't laugh [or laugh if you want] but there's something about this song that reminds me of The Who's "You Better You Bet". Go ahead and admit that you can hear it too.


• Distraction #74 - Just another example of what happens when you "kinda love two girls".


• Sanguine - I just especially love his voice in this one. And the lyrics. Don't forget the lyrics!


• Spanish Pipedream - This is a John Prine song that they covered. Listen to it (when you search for it using your favorite search engine of choice) without tapping your toes. I dare you. I'd say that you have a better chance of finding Jesus on your own.

Dumbed down and numb by lack of sleep...

The Space Between.

Unless one has given up all forms of media for Lent or has spent the last week in a secluded over the water bungalow in Tahiti, you probably know that the face in the picture above belongs to a man named Jamie Hood. Those of us who call The Classic City home are perhaps a little more familiar with his face because it has been plastered on a few billboards around town. If my fellow citizens are anything like me, they were probably on a bit of high alert each and every time they walked out the door to take their dog on a walk near a wooded area that happened to be only a few miles from the crime scene until around Thursday when the authorities narrowed down his whereabouts to a more specific location east and then north of town. [You can take the girl out of Hickory Flat, but you can't take Hickory Flat out of the girl.] The crime that this man committed is heinous. And inexcusable. And senseless. And all of those other one-dimensional words that we use in an attempt to describe a three-dimensional tragedy that will forever impact a number of people far too great to count. But since this picture began to circulate late Tuesday afternoon, the face that I see every single time I look at this picture is an entirely different one. A couple of weeks ago, I visited a local high school in order to speak with a Teen Parent Group about all of the wonders and benefits of higher education that were available to them. Let's be honest: I was probably just as prepared to be the keynote speaker at a robotics convention. Silly me for not anticipating ahead of time the possibility that some of these teen parents may actually have their children with them. I guess there is no other option when the nanny calls in sick at the last minute. I don't incorporate [sardonic] wit and humor to make light of the situation at all. In fact, I probably do it as more of a defense because the whole situation was absolutely heart breaking. You see, in the 10 years that I have been giving presentations to groups of high school students about going to college, not once have I ever presented while holding a baby on my hip. Until that day. And since that day I have not been able to get that precious baby boy out of my mind. He is probably about 18 months old. And like most any other kiddo in that stage of life, he was so busy and full of wonder and happy and easily entertained by something as simple as looking at a Spiderman folder. At least until something shinier caught his eye, anyway. He was the kind of baby that makes you wonder if you could fit him in your purse and carry him home with you. Because the reality is, his reality probably won't be filled with wonder and happiness for all that much longer in comparison to those 18 month olds out in the world living an "ideal" life. His reality is that he has a greater chance of going to jail than he does of going to college one day. So the week's constant news coverage of the loss of a police officer, shooting of another, and search for the shooter has led me to think a lot about the space between. What happens in a person's life between sheer childhood innocence when the natural response is to love all that is in the world and the point of committing murder? How does a person get to the point that he or she feels that the bad choices or obviously very wrong choices are only the ones that they have? How can a person become so hardened that even if he knows that the choice he makes is the wrong one, it doesn't stop him from making it? At what point is it ever okay for one to not have to be responsible for his poor decisions? [Hint: Never.] All of these questions absolutely make me stop and give thanks for grace and love and good people and their positive influence that have been so commonplace in my life. But a little lesson that I've been learning over the past two years or so is that just being thankful isn't my only responsibility. It's really not enough for me to just pause for a few minutes and say "whew, I'm glad that I never have to worry about getting to the point in my life to where I make such stupid decisions" and go about my day of looking at someone's 2009 vacation pictures on Facebook and checking the 5 day forecast to determine if it's going to be worth my time to straighten my hair before rain moves in and ruins the fruits of my labor. On the flip side though, I don't exactly know what is enough either. But I hope that I never become so apathetic by the dismal news that faces us in the headlines each day or absorbed in my own worries that I stop trying to figure it out. As I'm sitting here typing all of this, I notice the time in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. The funeral service for Officer Elmer "Buddy" Christian will begin in about 15 minutes. He is being buried in the cemetery near where I live. All afternoon I have heard the practice shots (???) that I assume are the prelude to the gun salute that will given in his honor during the graveside portion of his service. My heart is very sad for his family. Even though I know nothing about them, I do know a little about losing a family member. And since last Tuesday, his wife and his children have closed one space and entered into a completely new one. It's the space between life when their family was still intact on this earth and the time when it is not. It's probably pretty dark. Of course their grief will be great, but my prayer is that their hope will be greater.

Shamrocks, Leprechauns, & the Fighting Irish.

This subject line [or entire blog post] really has nothing to do with much of anything at all unless of course you count the fact that today is St. Patrick's Day. Or March 17th if you're [insert all other nationalities besides Irish here]. When it comes to country of origin, I think I'm pretty much a mutt. Surely though I've got some Irish in me from somewhere down the line if I look to the pigmentation of my skin as a clue.

There are three reasons why I like this particular day, and none of them have anything to do with the road rising to meet me or the sun shining on my back or whatever.

Reason #1: Cake.I might have mentioned once or eleventy dozen times how much I love the mint chocolate grasshopper cake from The Grit. Well, I made it last night. I won't share the recipe online because then before you know it I'll be like that lady who got mad at Neiman Marcus for charging her 43 million dollars for a cookie recipe so she made it her lot in life to share it with the whole free world. Or at least those of us fortunate enough to have an email address and internet access. You can find the recipe here though. Or if you're like me and fortunate enough to have a friend who will loan you her copy of the cookbook to score the recipe. Speaking of score...

Reason #2: Brackets close at 12:00 noon today, folks!

Have you made your picks? I'm slightly upset that Notre Dame isn't actually playing today because it seems only fitting that St. Patrick be honored in such a way. Or maybe this way all the players can honor him by drinking green beer [errr...gatorade] tonight in preparation for tomorrow's match-up against Akron.

Reason #3: This is just silly and it makes me laugh.

Tripp & Tyler Wishing You a Happy St. Patrick's Day from Andy Waddell on Vimeo.

"After all, tomorrow is another day."

Every once in awhile I like to throw around Scarlett O'Hara phrases even though this fictional Southern belle and I are nothing alike. Unless you consider the shared blessing that we are natives of Georgia and the shared curse that we both have been known to swoon over "the Perfect Knight". And look how well that worked out for both of us. But I'm not here to discuss the [two] parallels between my life and the leading lady in American literature who was portrayed on the big screen by an English actress. Better than a Yankee, I suppose. Oh, I kid!

Just this past Sunday night, I was having a conversation with pals over a delicious and heavenly dinner at The Grit. In this conversation, I might have mentioned that I was going to work harder at loving the people who are the most unlovable because they are the ones who need love the most. How noble, HP.

Fast forward not even 48 hours later to this morning at work. I might have been in a rant to one of those same pals regarding some very unlovable people. Contrary to the belief of some folks, I've got far more important things to do than sit around dreaming up barriers and implementing policy to keep people from going to college. Why would I do that when I would rather be calculating the averages of the winning scores and losing scores in the NCAA championship for the last 10 years to come up with my scores for this year's bracket?

Over email today, another pal and I were discussing options for weekend fun. When she asked what I wanted to do my response was: "Drink. Heavily. Or bust knee caps."

Who is the unlovable one now? Just me...HP.

Later today I decided that I should check myself before I wrecked myself so I listened to a randomly selected online message. Here was the scriptual basis for said randomly selected message: "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." -James 1:22-24

When I get really honest with myself, I know that nowhere in the B-i-b-l-e are we told to drink heavily and bust knee caps. Even though when I get even more honest with myself, I sometimes think it would be really cool if it did. [...Until my knee caps or the knee caps belonging to one of my people were the ones getting busted.]

Because I needed the reminder in a bad way today and will potentially need it again before my morning coffee buzz wears off tomorrow, I'll share what we are told to do: "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." - Ephesians 4:32

The truth is that not every day can be a 10. We are living in a state of delusion if we think that each morning Chesley is going to max out the wizometer by giving the day an 11 before we even wash the sleep out of our eyes. But "[b]ecause of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning..." -Lamentations 2:22-23.

This is great news for a girl like me who knows that while I can't erase today's attitude, when I put myself to bed in about 5 minutes, the attitude will be put to rest too. And because we are loved so much by a God that hands out grace as freely as I handed out eyerolls today, I get the chance to try again and do better tomorrow.

That time Emily Blunt gave me a dirty look.

Have I ever written about one of the times I was in Vegas last year, and we were at the Beatles Cirque show "Love" and sat in front of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt? No? Sorry, I guess that I'm so used to rubbing elbows with the Hollywood crowd that I forgot to mention it. Anyways, long story short, we sat in front of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt at the Beatles Cirque show "Love" and upon my party's discovery and recognition of them at the end of the show, the future Mrs. Jim Halpert was none too pleased with us. Personally I think she was just jealous that her man friend was more popular among my group than she was. Besides, it was around the same time that Pam was out on maternity leave at Dunder Mifflin, and Emily knew the consequences of being caught in public with a man who belonged to another woman. Oh look at me mixing up television and reality.

Anyhoodle, I write all of that as a segue [I love using that word.] to talk about Emily Blunt and Matt Damon's movie, The Adjustment Bureau. Suz and I went to see it the weekend that it opened. Y'all, I love it and I can't stop thinking about it. [That sounds like my life is more boring then it really is, but you know what I mean. Hopefully.] I will not go too in depth here because if you haven't seen it yet, farbeit for me to be the spoiler. Just go see it. I've got a Living Social movie voucher so if you play your cards right and ask nicely, I may take you because I want to see it again. And we all know my hang ups about going to the movies alone. People would probably think that I snuck my cat into the theater with me in my purse or something.

Here are a few vague reasons why I love it:
1. Matt Damon. [Honestly I could just stop there because he's reason enough.]
2. Prior to the movie, Emily Blunt had no formal training in ballet and she played her part as a dancer quite gracefully. Plus, she didn't frown at me this time.
3. I have spent the last year or so of my life pondering things like free will and fate and who is really in charge at the end of the day. [Even though I'm highly confident of who is in charge despite my affinity for sometimes trying to control things beyond my control.] While this is just a movie that was created by mere mortals with the purpose of entertainment for others, it challenges me to think about how free will and fate intersect with each other and how my choices not only effect me but folks around me as well. Nothing like the responsibility of messing with the lives of other people as added pressure to make good choices.
4. Matt Damon. [Oh I said that already, didn't I?]

Seriously, stop reading this and get to the movies!

Soundtrack: Running Edition.

I should begin by explaining that this week's musical montage does not necessarily feature songs to load up on your iPod for actual running. It seems that I've given running up in exchange for watching television. But now that I'm another year older, I have decided that I should reconsider my decision. Especially if I want to keep eating things like Vegan Grasshopper Cake from The Grit as I continue to march toward my golden years.

Today I'm going to focus on a type of running that I am really good at. As in, marathon quality runner. It's running from God. Whoa, this post suddenly got a little heavy. Stick with me. A couple of weeks ago at church we finished up a series on Jonah. By "we", I mean that I listened while Andy Stanley taught. For those of you who have forgotten the felt board version of Jonah's story from VBS, he ran so far from what God told him to do that he ended up in the belly of a whale. [Gross.] But there's more to the story that goes far beyond the felt board version. Andy's explanation is much clearer, funnier, and thorough than I could ever clearly relay so if you find yourself in the situation at work and your office network is down and Internet Explorer is working like a champ, check it out here. The series is called "White Flag". And it's awesome. If you don't time to listen though, after I share my "running" songs, I'll conclude this post with the theme and moral of the book of Jonah, in addition to my favorite quote of Andy's from the entire series. But first, please enjoy the music while your party is being reached...

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen. Ok, so maybe this would be a good song to have playing in the background as you take to the open roads on a cool, crisp morning as you knock out a quick 5 miles. It just so happens that's about what I do each morning...on my drive in to work.

Run by Collective Soul. Remember Collective Soul? Have I got a long way to run? Goodness, I hope not.

Running to Stand Still by U2. I try not to repeat songs in this little soundtrack segment that I do, but I love it. By far my favorite U2 song. And sometimes when we do run, aren't we running so we can get to the place where we can stop? How often when we run, do we know that we're running from something without a single clue as to what we're actually running to?

Run, Baby, Run by Sheryl Crow. Y'all. Sheryl Crow is 49. I hope I look as good as she does when I reach that age [20 years from now - ha!]. Do you think if I resume running that I have a better chance? What? Eating more cake is actually the secret of aging gracefully? Speaking of cake...

The Distance by Cake. Let's all hop in the Delorian and do a little time traveling back into the 1990's for this one folks! Have you all heard their new song though? It's called "Sick of You". Oh how I love Cake. ...of multiple varieties.

Run by George Strait. What's not to love about this song? Nothing. That's what.

Runaway by Bon Jovi. We're all little runaways when it comes right down to it. Now, if I knew that JBJ was waiting for me at the end of my run, I might be encouraged to run a little more quickly. Just sayin'.

Glory Defined by Building 429. You know the good thing for us is that no matter how far or how fast we run from God, we will never outrun him. And maybe while we're running, he's not going to chase us but simply wait for us to come back. Because when the chaos that results from our running gets to be too much or those things that we thought were worth the running prove otherwise, inevitably we will run back to God because deep down in our gut, we know that he's what we need. [I know that was longest sentence ever.] You know, like cake is what we want but vegetables are what we need. And we can only eat so much cake before our teeth begin to hurt. I digress.

So, back to the aforementioned theme, moral, and quote...

The theme of Jonah is found in Jonah 4:2 - "He [Jonah] prayed to the LORD, ...'I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity'."

The moral of Jonah is found in Jonah 4:9-11 - Ok, so I hyperlinked the actual scripture but Andy boiled it down to this: Jonah was a good man but he was concerned with all the wrong stuff. [Yikes...I feel like my name could quite easily replace Jonah's.]

The biggest takeaway for me:

"God is generous with his grace and thorough in his discipline." - Andy Stanley [See Jonah 2.]

A place in my story.

Do you all remember back in January when I was waxing philosophic about resolving to be resolute as my New Year's resolution? Well, at that time I neglected to share with you three readers another resolution that I had made. I know, I know...what is a virtual relationship here in the blogosphere without full disclosure of every detail of my life, right? My apologies. I left out my resolution to join a small group at church intentionally because at the time, the meeting to join said small group hadn't happened yet and I was doubtful as to whether or not I would actually follow through and go. Why? Because I know myself and know that I tend to get painfully shy in new situations that involves me knowing nary a soul, therefore it's easier to just avoid all new situations, that's why. Instead of announcing my intentions here, I asked a small group of trusted friends to keep me accountable. I love those people.

So. All of that to say this: I've recently joined a community group through church. As a means of getting to know each other, we each spend about 15-20 minutes telling our story. There's no right or wrong way to tell one's story, but I went with the book's suggestion when putting my story together. I do love a good set of clear instructions which probably explains why I would be tickled pink if God spoke directly to us in a loud audible voice from Heaven. I suspect he would sound like Morgan Freeman if he did communicate that way. Or I guess it would be that Morgan Freeman sounds like him...oh never mind. I digress. The recommended format is that we shape our story around 3 key people, 3 key events, and 3 key places. For the sake of your sanity, I'm only going to feature one place in this post.

The place I'm writing about today is Muir Woods. I've talked about it before, but in case you need a refresher, it's a national park just north of San Francisco. It happens to be one of my favorite places in the world. I've been fortunate to visit there twice.

Once in 2006...

Once in 2009...

I wish the picture of me in 2009 was a full body shot because one could see that I'm wearing the same shoes that I was wearing when I was there in 2006. Obviously my ability to select shoes that can withstand the test of time is much better than my ability to select travel companions that can withstand the test of time. Oh, my hilarity cracks me up.

The first time I traveled to Muir Woods, I loved it because it was a place that I had never visited. There's just something exhilarating about exploring unknown territory. The entire day was just one of those fun and carefree days. Good conversation, good times, good memories. I found myself wondering at the end of the day if things could possibly be any better than they were at that one particular moment in time.

The second time I traveled to Muir Woods, I was in the early stages of love. If you've been fortunate enough to be in that fun and giddy stage of life, you know that the sky is always bluer, the birds' songs are always more melodious, and apples are a little crispier and sweeter. [And the phrases used to create imagery are a little lamer.] Needless to say, that visit to Muir Woods was almost more than I could handle because I was in a place that I loved with a person that I loved. I knew life could not be any better than it was at that particular moment in time.

I believe that God creates places in this world like Muir Woods for multiple reasons. His creation is beautiful, and he wants us (who are part of his whole creation) to enjoy it to the fullest while we are here. For me, Muir Woods is a sanctuary of sorts. We all have places like this. If you don't, please put it on your list to find one. The trees are so incredibly tall that it's almost as if while you're in the woods, they are serving as a shield from everything else happening in the world. There's a stream that runs through the woods, and while it's one of the most peaceful, quiet, and calm places I've ever visited, the water adds just enough background noise to remind visitors that they are standing in place that's full of life. But I also believe that God takes great delight in wowing and wooing us. Muir Woods is merely a taste of what else he has done and is going to do. It's almost as if he's saying to us "If you think that's something, just wait until you see what's coming. Just wait."

Until July 2006, I had no idea that Muir Woods even existed. Had someone told me when I was there the first time that in three years I would be back there and then described what my life was going to look like at that particular place in time, I would have never believed that someone. The reason why is because I was at a good place in my life in all areas so the thought that it could be better would have been unfathomable. But...sure enough, when I was there three years later, I was in an even better place in my life. I'm sure one of the reasons why I love Muir Woods as much as I do is because not only is it a great place to visit, when I was there both times, I was at a great place in my life.

I don't write this to paint life as just one big never ending series of puppy dog, rainbow, and yellow baby chick moments. I write this because through Muir Woods I have learned and am beginning to understand more clearly that the God who put little old me here in this world is the same God who put those big old trees here. And while some of those trees are so big that it hurts your neck to look all the way to the top of them, God is bigger than those trees. And just when we think we've discovered and experienced all the greatness that this world has to offer, God brings us to a new place (both geographically and in life). It's a place we could not have gotten to without all of those other places in our past. At the end of the day, our current place is merely a link to our future.

I'm quite thankful that there's beautiful scenery and good company along the way. More than that though, I am thankful that as the scenery and company changes, the One who created it never will.

Soundtrack: Soundtrack's Back Edition.

The only thing that I am consistent with these days is my inconsistency in everything. Even my feelings on some of the following songs are somewhat inconsistent. Bless my heart.

She is Love by Parachute. I heard this song on some tv show the other day (shocker!) and loved it. But now that I have given it another listen, I can't really remember why I loved it so much because now I'm not even sure that I like it. But don't let that stop you from loving it.

Stones Over Rushing Water by NeedToBreathe. Oh my goodness, I love this song. Always. But for the life of me I cannot figure out why NeedToBreathe [why do bands/groups do weird spacing things with their names?] is touring with Taylor Swift.

50 Ways to Leave your Lover by Paul Simon. My last soundtrack edition's reference to Paul Simon put me on a bit of a Paul Simon kick. Interestingly enough, in all of the 50 ways, I've never once heard Paul advise Peter to become a cheater.

The Old Apartment by Barenaked Ladies. Ok, so when did the BNL revival begin? Or am I the only one who has heard this song no less than a trillion times in the last 3 weeks on the radio and on Pandora. I had to feature this one especially after last week's episode of Community when Jeff Winger got into an argument with the rest of the gang over the lameness of BNL. Wait, wasn't that on Community? Or was it How I Met Your Mother? Y'all. I'm a prime candidate for the next episode of Intervention. My invention? Something to reduce the amount of tv shows in my DVR line-up.

Notion by Kings of Leon. Don't knock Kings of Leon. Even if you get the notion to do so.

Stay or Leave by Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds. I hope these two never have to sing this song about their own relationship because I just love it when they make music together.

Love and Memories by O.A.R. I'm telling you people, the O.A.R. station on Pandora is spinning some good stuff these days. Who knew a bunch of guys from THE Ohio State University would ever be so good at what they do? Silly me, it's THE Ohio State University...of course they were always going to be revolutionary.

Neon by John Mayer. Was it just me or did Johnny boy look a little rougher than usual at The Grammy's? I've never understood the intrigue with him as a person, but I heard his version of this song that he played at Eddie's Attic the other day on the radio and I became slightly intrigued with him. Or perhaps just the song on the radio. When listening to his music on the radio one doesn't have to actually watch him sing. Which makes his music better. Yes, as a matter of fact, I am a licensed critic.

Grenade by Bruno Mars. "Tell the devil I said hey when you get back to where you're from." That line makes me giggle. Typically I change the station faster than one can say "lame song" when I hear this on the radio. I happened to hear this part when I was scanning the other day, and now I'm trying to incorporate it into my conversations at least once a day. Thus far I've been unsuccessful because I typically don't find myself in situations when I'm conversing with spawns of Satan. Well, not anymore, anyway.

And lastly, my favorite Grammy performance from Sunday night: Mumford & Sons + The Avett Brothers + Bob Dylan all introduced by David Letterman = my serious consideration to just become a groupie now that I've got an advanced degree.

That's all for this week. Maybe next week [or whenever I return] I'll compile a little theme-based soundtrack for the masses. Cover songs? Duets? Suggestions?

That time I yelled at God. And he whispered back.

Earlier this evening, I had a strongly worded conversation with God. Allow me to set the stage...

I got back to Athens around 9:15, unloaded my car, and fished my keys out of my purse that Mary Poppins would have totally carried had she carried a red bag. Typically when I put the key into the deadbolt and turn it, the deadbolt clicks over and I proceed to open the door, and well if you know how to read, then you should know the next step so I won't insult your intelligence by explaining it. No such luck tonight. The lock will not budge. So instead of heading inside where dinner, exercise, and The Grammy's awaited, I loaded Cash back up into the car and headed to my least favorite place in this entire town: Wal-Mart. Darn you Target for closing at 9:00 on Sunday. Of course like always, adding new frustration to my already currently increased frustration level only made this new situation seem a little more overwhelming. On the short commute to retail hell, I might have asked God a few questions. I might have asked them with a raised tone of voice. I might have even been yelling a little bit. Or a lot.

Questions might have included: What do you want from me? Isn't enough, enough? Can't something just be simple for once? How much longer are you going to keep this up? What have I done to deserve this? What have I not done to deserve this?

Once inside Wal-Mart, the search for first, WD-40 and second, a Wal-Mart associate when I couldn't find WD-40 ensued. I was not very successful. So what did I do? Called my mom, of course. I might have gotten a little bit snippy and impatient with her when she couldn't tell me immediately where to find WD-40 at the Wal-Mart two hours away from her house. I finally found the WD-40, swung through sporting goods to buy Cash some tennis balls because he might have been on his best behavior ever in that short drive over in which I was interrogating God. I got back home, brought out the WD-40, sprayed the lock, inserted key, and turned. ...Obviously I didn't yell loudly or clearly enough.

Or maybe, just maybe, I was too busy yelling that I wasn't taking time to listen. Earlier today I went to church. It was a great message centered around this passage of scripture found in 2 Chronicles. Allow me to share: "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Does a humble person yell? Is there a thesaurus in the universe that includes "demand" as a synonym for either pray or seek? Did I get locked out of my house at 9:00 on a Sunday night as punishment because I'm a wicked person? All of these questions share the same answer: No.

Will God forgive me of my ugly sinful yelling tirade? Yep, when I ask humbly.

Did God provide a solution to my problem? Obviously, because as much as I love my smartphone, I certainly don't have the patience to type this much on a touch screen keypad.

Was it the solution that I would have imagined or preferred even? Nope.

And why not? Because I couldn't do it myself. I had to depend on others to help me. I had to be an inconvenience. I had to ask for help. I had to wait longer than I preferred.

Do I enjoy asking for help? Not one little bit.

Does God know this? Yes.

Does he also know what I need even better than I do? Yes.

I think the picture of this broken key and the whole 2 hour ordeal of getting inside my house is a great illustration of life in general: We're all broken. [Even when there are no obvious cracks on the surface.] None of us are beyond repair. [Even when it looks like or feels like we are.] We can't fix ourselves by ourselves. [Even when we try with all of our might.]

Life Lately.

Hello, my three readers. It's been awhile since I've blogged. My absence is not due to lack of excitement [I just love the subjectivity involved in the definition of this word.], but more so out of lack of time, energy, and words. At least once a day I think to myself "I should blog about that" but then it seems that I never get around to it. All of this writing in my head is very similar to the process that I used throughout my entire stint in graduate school. For example, I literally sat down on a Saturday night to begin the process of typing my entire applied project and I finished it around midnight on Sunday night. Typically this kind of stuff should be completed over the course of a semester. My independent study last spring? I did it all in one weekend. My portfolio that was a summation of my entire 3.5 year program? Oh, I spent about 4 days on that one. What can I say other than I'm gifted? [And extremely humble.] All of this to say that maybe one day I'll just sit down and crank out like 30 posts all at once. Please, don't hold your breath.

Today though I bring you just a brief update of life in my little world so call the kids, grab the popcorn, pop the top of a Coke Zero, sit back, and enjoy.

Let's talk household expenses first. [Sweet mercy, I'm an old and boring lady, but I like to think that excitement over these things is a sign of maturity.] Y'all, last year my electricity bill for mid-December to mid-January was over. the. top. expensive. I live in a one bedroom shoebox. I was away from that one bedroom shoebox almost half of the month, yet my bill averaged $4.81 per day. I called the company to find out if maybe they accidentally sent me the bill for the people who live in the 2 story, 3 bedroom home complete with hot tub and sauna in the neighborhood across the street. No such luck. I got the statement a couple of weeks ago for the same billing period this year. Cut! In! Half! The average was $2.40 per day. Yes, the reduction is totally worth a frostbitten nose and blue fingers and toes. To celebrate, I became a Vegan.

Well, only for like an hour for a couple of weekends. Ladies and gentlemen (uh, dudes out there...why are you reading this instead of checking scores or something on espn.com?), I present to you vegan Grasshopper cake from The Grit. This is the stuff that elastic waistband pants and dreams are made of. The Grit is probably my favorite eating establishment in all of Athens. If loving a restaurant with an all vegetarian menu is wrong, then I don't want to be right. Seriously, come to Athens. I'll take you to The Grit for lunch and then you can enjoy some of my extra hearty crockpot chili for dinner.

It's good for me to be a vegetarian in moderation. I know a crockpot is a thing and I shouldn't place a high level of value in things, but here's the truth: I like this thing better than some people. There are some people in the world who complicate one's life. Crockpots? They simplify one's life. Need I say more? And by people, I certainly am not referring to these two...

This shot is of Mu and baby Lola at our annual Ladies' Tea Party that our family does each January. I look forward to this event each year because not only is the company fantastic, it's the one time a year that I eat chicken salad and drink hot tea in addition to lamenting over the fact that the circumference of my head is so stinking big that there's only one hat in the entire tea room that fits me. If I were Jackie Kennedy, I would have had to have all of my pillbox hats specially tailored.

After our tea party that day, I arrived home to find this waiting for me in my mailbox...

It's official. I really did graduate! Even though I walked across the stage back in December, I've spent the weeks that followed with my fingers and toes crossed and my breath held in the event that something went awry and I didn't actually graduate. It wouldn't have been all that surprising considering my habits as a student that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I only wish that the above picture came with audio because if you think I looked good, you should have heard how good I sounded that week. Well, good for an 87 year-old man who has been smoking since the age of 14 currently suffering from a case of pneumonia. I hate getting sick. Good thing that I don't very often.

In other news, I've decided that my new favorite Dorito is the taco flavored kind, my new favorite television shows are The Closer (because I've got mad detective skills like Brenda Lee Johnson) and Blue Bloods (because my childhood crushes are revisited: Donnie Wahlberg AND Tom Selleck in the same family!) and my favorite Pandora station is O.A.R. (it's not as lame as it sounds, trust me). And when I'm not at home eating taco flavored Doritos and watching cop dramas [Who am I? It's like I don't even know myself anymore.], I can be spotted out and about in the town that I am slowly growing to love with fun friends.

...as evidenced in the photo at the top of this post. Uploading and arranging pictures in Blogger is as much of an exercise in patience for me as standing in line at the local Wal-Mart is. Do you guys like my haircut in the picture? What? You can't tell that I had it cut because it's still so long that it falls behind my shoulders? Oh, well, yes...that's true. I however feel like I'm suffering from phantom limb because I had about 3.5 inches cut off on Friday. I decided that a haircut was easier than going through the process of legally changing my name to Rapunzel.

So, all of that ramble to say in short that Life [Lately] Is Good.