I'm Incredibly Cool...Except When I'm Not

Here's a little Friday Funny for you, in case you were starting to think I had myself put together.

As you've been hearing, I've had a bit of a chipmunk problem this summer. This past weekend I caught our 11th chipmunk. When I first saw him in the cage he was running back and forth, back and forth, running into the walls at times. I had to think back and make sure I didn't bait the trap with a Red Bull. Nope, just an apple core.

When I went to pick up the trap and put it in the car, he was clinging to corners in the most unbelievable positions, hanging on the bars of the cage with his hands for a moment, then bolting to the other side of the cage and peering out there. He was crazy - no, crazier than crazy. He was the craziest chipmunk yet. I named him "Craziest."

I drove with Craziest to a friend's house to help them with some home improvement projects, with plans to drop Craziest off in a nice woodsy spot on the way home. Craziest stayed safely in the car while we all tore out pipes, flooring, and even did some landscaping. Toward the end of the night I remembered my little friend in the car and got very excited to show him to my people friends. I said, "Oh! You have to see the latest chipmunk! He's crazy!" I couldn't wait to show them all of his antics, and be known as that crazy/weird/cool friend who keeps chipmunks in her car.

I flung open the car door, dug into the box where his cage was, and proudly held him up for all to see. I couldn't wait for him to run around and climb into the corners. Man, this was gonna be so cool! I watched as he stayed curled up on one end. Then I realized he wasn't really moving at all. His little beady eyes stared blankly to the sky. Craziest was dead!

Once I realized this traumatizing fact, it was no longer cool to be holding the cage. In fact, it was rather creepy. I did the only rational thing possible - I gave it to Zac saying, "Ew ew ew ew ew!" the whole time.

Talk about embarrassing. Dead chipmunks are not near as cool as live ones. Thankfully, I have some great friends and they actually offered to let me bury Craziest in their yard. I think they were a little crazy to offer that! But, seeing as it was the only good option at this point, I took them up on their offer and we buried him near the hydrangeas. Rest in peace, Craziest, rest in peace.

The First Cold

I am sick. I caught my first cold of the season, and I'm not exactly sure where it came from.

Could it be from work? I heard some of my coworkers have been sick.

Could it be from church? I taught Sunday School last weekend and I know kids aren't great about washing their hands.

Could it be from school? I was a gym teacher substitute all last week and saw an average of 225 kids a day. That's a lot of germs.

I suppose it doesn't matter where it came from, all I know is that it's here with me now. As much as I want to be that heroine who's grace-filled and joyful even in sickness, I can be kind of a crybaby when I'm sick.

I feel slow, achy, dirty, and gross. When I breathe, I have to breathe through my mouth only and I sound a little like Darth Vader. When I eat, I have to take small bites, hold my breath, chew quickly, then gasp for a breath. Either that or chew (very unladylike) with my mouth open. My nose is like a faucet, and I am averaging one lotion kleenex box a day.

Now, you're probably wondering why I'm telling you this. The fact is, I'm wondering why I'm telling you this too. Overshare? Perhaps. But stick with me.

I feel gross. I feel ugly. I feel - Ugh.

In the midst of this, my husband came over to me and kissed me on the forehead. In the car yesterday he quietly placed his hand on top of mine. He wrote me a note when I stayed home from work and hid it for me so I'd find it later. The note talked about how sorry he was to know I was sick and how he hoped I felt better. In that note he also wrote how much he loved me.

My husband loves me. In my snotty, gross, sicky-self me, he loves me. He sees the piles of used kleenex by the couch, he hears me at night with my tossing and turning and coughing, and he loves me.

I can't help but think about God's love for me when I think about this situation. God sees our gross selves - not only the snotty noses, etc., but he sees the sin in our hearts. He knows our deceitful thoughts, our judgements, and our apathy. God knows all the gross stuff about us - the really gross stuff - and somehow he still loves us.

That's quite a humbling, powerful love.

Another Perspective on Adoption

There's a blog I read from time to time called "It's Almost Naptime!!" by Missy Dollahon. She recently had a great post on adoption. She too is adopting from Ethiopia, and I love how she framed adoption in this post. It's certainly worth a read.

Please note that by posting a link to her blog that I am not suggesting I feel exactly the same way she does about each of the statements she makes. Rather, I see this as a beautiful piece which uses a powerful analogy for adoption.

Enjoy! I know I did. :)

24 Pounds of Tomatoes

I got a little crazy at the farmer's market last weekend. I saw the usual small containers of tomatoes for sale with 4-5 tomatoes in each...then there were the flats. I don't know how many tomatoes were in the flats, but my head was filled with all sorts of crazy ideas just looking at it...salsa, tomato soup, stewed tomatoes, dried tomatoes, creamy tomato basil soup, bruschetta...

Before I knew what was happening, I was giving the farmer some money and he was packing up my flat of tomatoes.

When I got home, I felt a little sheepish. I had a large garbage bag full of tomatoes and I somehow had to sneak them past my husband and get them into the kitchen. I'm not sure why I didn't want to let Zac see. Maybe I thought he'd disapprove on some level, or maybe he'd think I was crazy. I had my mind set on salsa, though, and I stop at nothing to get salsa.

I found a salsa recipe online and began to process the tomatoes. I had to put them in boiling water for 30 seconds and then immediately put them in ice water. This enabled me to take the skins off. Then I had to cut up the tomatoes. All 20-some pounds of them!

Needless to say, I was in the kitchen for quite awhile. So long, in fact, that I left my post at the stove twice for meals. Yes, I was in the kitchen for 8+ hours.

When all was said and done, I had 14 beautiful jars of salsa that I have in the freezer to use throughout the year. Take a look at my project!

Sunrise Thoughts

I didn't mean to time it that way; I just got lucky. I stepped out of the house for my morning walk, turned to walk toward the east, and stopped. There before me was a sky of purple and pink... and that was only the beginning.

As I walked eastward I watched as the pinks became orange and then golden. Each puffy cloud bottom was another piece of canvas for the sunrise to paint on. I watched as it got more and more brilliant, each moment thinking it couldn't possibly get any better.

What a gift that sunrise was to me this morning. As I thought about it, I realized how much more beautiful a sunrise is when there are clouds. Without clouds, sunrises make a steady color transition from the horizon to the sky. With clouds, there are added flecks of pink, purple and gold across the sky, sometimes in the most unexpected and stunning combinations.

We need the clouds for a magnificent sunrise.

How true this is in life too. For me, the clouds are my rough spots in life. These are the times when things don't go how I want them to; the hardships, trials, and the question marks of life.

God paints most brilliantly on these tough times. He turns my deepest despair into places where I feel his comfort the most. He turns cloud bottoms into life lessons, growth, friendship, and faith.

It's the clouds that make life so much more interesting, and so much more beautiful.