More Randomness...

Wooo hooo! Stella has got her groove back! 4 miles in just over an hour! For my efforts I received 1 blister, 2 holes in a fav. pair of socks, and countless aches and pains! Yet, when I check the "calories burned calculator", I only burned 246! That was only enough to cover my breakfast! Maybe... I should have had Wheaties instead of Fruit Loops, huh? *sigh* Oh well. At least my latissimus dorsi muscle thanks me for the workout. :)

I think the looks and comments of my fellow walkers are hilarious. Not only do I look like I threw on random clothes in the dark, but I don't generally try really hard to be attractive when I walk. Okay. So I don't try at all. So a dude has to be either color blind (meaning my choice of walking attire) or desperate to try to "hit" on me! Roger that, Jen? lol And then yesterday I pass two..ahem...slightly large, young women of my own race and I hear one say, "I know, girrrrl." And the other one repeats, "I know, girrrrl". And I smile politely and keep truckin' past, thinking, "Are they talking to me or each other? If it's me they're talking to, what do they "know"?" Then there are the slightly patronizing nods of the older generation as if to say, "Humph. About time you young people realize that you all need exercise. That's what's wrong with this generation today..." Yada yada yada. Then are my favorite. The Hispanic, older gentleman who encourages you without saying much. Just a nod of encouragement. He's my new buddy. I don't know his name but I call him Pedro in my head. Oh, and tomorrow morning I need to remember to take some left overs food that can fit into a pocket (??) for my new homeless friend named Greta. She's of the canine persuasion. What random individuals I run with nowadays. Pun intended. :)

Okay, so in reading the news yesterday (Yahoo is good for something, sometimes!) I understand that because of her answer to one of the final questions from a pageant judge, 22 year-old Miss Philippines lost her chance to win the crown in Vegas. "What is one big mistake that you've made in your life, and what did you do to make it right?" Baldwin (judge) asked. "You know what, sir?" She responds. "In my 22 years of existence, I can say there is nothing major, major, I mean, problem that I have done in my life." And then Miss Perfect smiled serenely as if that answer alone would grant her favor from judge and crowd alike! Haha! I LOVE it!
So not only does she think she's been perfect for 22 whole years, she's SUPER self confident as well! Normally I'd say this is a great characteristic but sweetheart, WHAT were you thinking?! I mean, even I could come up with something better... been a better leader to my peers, helped the poor more, found a solution for world peace? I dunno...

No more pencils....
no more books...
No more teacher's dirty looks!
Out for summer!
out till fall,
We might not come back at all
.... school's been blown to pieces.
-Alice Cooper, 1972

Funnies

Two Blind Pilots

Two blind pilots both are wearing dark glasses, one is using a guide dog, and the other is tapping his way along the aisle with a cane.

Nervous laughter spreads through the cabin, but the men enter the cockpit, the door closes, and the engines start up. The passengers begin glancing nervously around, searching for some sign that this is just a little practical joke. None is forthcoming.

The plane moves faster and faster down the runway and the people sitting in the window seats realize they're headed straight for the water at the edge of the airport. As it begins to look as though the plane will plough in to the water, panicked screams fill the cabin. At that moment, the plane lifts smoothly into the air. The passengers relax and laugh a little sheepishly, and soon all retreat into t heir magazines, secure in the knowledge that the pl ane is in good hands.

In the cockpit, one of the blind pilots turns to the other and says,"ya know, Bob, one of these days, they're gonna scream too late and we're all gonna die."

The Dog that takes you into the..ahem...Bar

Two men are walking their dogs (a doberman and a chihuahua) when they say to each other "I'm thirsty." They see a nearby bar and walk up to it.

Unfortunately, there was a sign on the door that said NO DOGS. They thought for awhile to try to figure out what they should do with no luck. Suddenly, the man with the doberman said, "I have an idea! Do what I do."

The man put on his sunglasses, walked up to the door and tried to get in but a big muscular man stopped him. "Where do you think you're going?" asked the big man. "This is my seeing-eye dog." said the man hoping for good feedback. "Alrighty mister, go right in." said the big man. The doberman man walked in.

The second man slipped his sunglasses on and did the same as the first man. "Where are you going?" asked the big man. "I'm going into the bar, this is my seeing-eye dog." he said. "A chihuahua?" asked the big man with suspicion. The other man, playing his part yelled, "They gave me a chihuahua!?"

Money (my favorite!)

There was a man who worked all of his life and saved all of his money. He was a real miser when it came to his money. He loved money more than just about anything, and just before he died, he said to his wife, "Now listen, when I die, I want you to take all my money and place it in the casket with me. I wanna take my money to the afterlife."

So he got his wife to promise him with all her heart that when he died, she would put all the money in the casket with him.

Well, one day he died. He was stretched out in the casket, the wife was sitting there in black next to her closest friend. When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said "Wait just a minute!"

She had a shoe box with her, she came over with the box and placed it in the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket down and rolled it away. Her friend said, "I hope you weren't crazy enough to put all that money in the casket."

"Yes," the wife said, "I promised. I'm a good Christian, I can't lie. I promised him that I was going to put that money in that casket with him."

"You mean to tell me you put every cent of his money in the casket with him?"

"I sure did. I got it all together, put it into my account and I wrote him a check."

The Dancing Visitor

There was a star danced, and under that was I born.

My good friend Shakespeare penned that many moons ago. Lately I have been feeling very confused about my place in this world. One day I'm bursting with life and the possibilities that exist. I'm dancing around my room or singing at the top of my lungs in my truck on the way home from work. These are private concerts. Entrance upon invitation only, don't you know. Yet I'm very exclusive of who gets an invite. Yep, just me and Jesus. :)

There are days when I feel the best of me is ready to begin...

I'm feeling optimistic about my life and what is ahead. Soon my truck will be paid off and I can start tackling my credit cards in earnest. My room is coming together, so excited! All I have left to do is paint my vanity, buy a mirror for my dresser and maybe some touch up painting on my walls. Next on the renovation list is our office at church! Can't wait...

My job is getting easier to handle. I'm learning what to stress about and what to let go of. lol Makes a difference. I'm learning to organize and Excel is now my BFF. And my support team is AWESOME! Which helps tremendously.

I can honestly say that I ♥ teaching Sunday School now! I have the Beginner Class for another couple weeks and it's so much fun! It's so rewarding to hear them learn their memory passages and watch their eyes light up when I teach. I've gotten to crawl around on the floor with them and build tents made out of 100% cotton. (sheets - lol) They won't dance with me though. They do however, like to see me do it. Great entertainment. However, that will change soon. Back to the Primary Class and the drama that comes with that crowd. (How can 9 -10 year olds have drama already?!)

I have been on 3 week long vacations so far this year (All paid! Woot woot!) The first one really wasn't a vacation but it was a trip. And I was off work. And I had a good time, despite the reason for going. Then we went on the Most Amazing Road Trip Ever to Florida. Good times. And of course, my solo journey to SoCal for a few days. Coming back home was an event in and of itself but otherwise, it was a good trip. Lost a brother, though. And another one bites the dust. *Sigh* And I will be going on another vacation shortly. Don't know where but it will be somewhere East this time. :) Yay!

Then they're days when I feel I'm letting go and soaring on the wind...

Jaci makes it sound so fun and carefree! Me? I feel like I am plummeting towards the earth with no parachute. Those neat, little squares of earth that are seen from the airplane window suddenly something...different. Yes, there are days when I feel so lost, that I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going. Days when I stare in the mirror going, "Who are you?" These are the days that even though outwardly, everything is normal, (I'm not tearing my hair out or running around screaming at the top of my lungs and waving a butcher knife) in my mind there is just a big, bold question mark.

Wherever I go, I'm just a visitor in my own life.

I read that quote in a book recently. I believe it has to do with Eastern philosophy, the whole "zen thing". And yet, it makes sense in our own faith, as well. Page number 24 in the hymnbook. However, when I read it, I felt sad. Because that would mean that The Visitor has no home, he's a vagabond. Homeless. A bum. His whole life, he's on the outside, looking in. Never belonging. Shouldn't one at the very least, feel at home inside his own skin? Yet, I feel like that lonely man sometimes. No matter how hard I try and seek to find "the real me", somehow the answer seems to elude me. Maybe Michelle is playing hide and seek. Who knows? There is a restlessness in me that mirrors the restlessness in The Visitor. What am I doing here? Why am I here? Why doesn't anything feel right?

The Dancing Me is more fun. ☻