Spent

Have you ever been so busy that you feel like no matter how hard you try to keep up, life is still passing you by? That's how it's been for the past couple of days. I'm spent.

Today I actually got to the point where I was so overwhelmed that I basically shut down. I was sitting in my team meeting, normally a relaxing and slow-paced time of catching up with each other, and I just sat there like a zombie. The whole time, all I could think about was everything that wasn't getting done. I had spent the last three days working on an enormous project that was overdue, and while I was working on it, other urgent things were piling up in my inbox.

The thing is, with the position that I'm in now, when something doesn't get done, it directly affects the kids we work with. Sometimes in not such a small way. It might mean they have to wait another day before they get an emergency kit after a hurricane or that less money is raised for the Global Food Crisis. It's a lot of responsibility, so it makes days like today - when I feel totally inadequate - very difficult.

It's not just work that's overwhelming me. I feel like I've neglected ... well ... pretty much everything else in my life: my friends, family, my dog, my gym schedule, my blog and most importantly, my time with God.

I'm a strong extrovert, but I've discovered that there's limits to my extrovert-ness and I think I've reached my limit.

I need to recharge. I need to get plugged back into God and His word. It's hard to believe that I started this month off with 12 days of vacation. How quickly I can get sucked back into the crazy pace of life and lose focus on what's important.

If you think of it this week, pray for me. I could use it.

"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." ~Jesus

Micah for your Monday

My sister sent me this picture of Micah wearing his latest Aunt Becky present.

Nothing like a baby's smile to brighten my day.

Done.

The envelope is sealed.
I voted last night.
It is in God's hands now.

No matter what the outcome, November 4th will be an exciting and historic day!

Note to anyone thinking of going to the polls: You might want to get there early. It took me an hour to get through the ballot.

Oak: A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there was a townhouse. It was a nice townhouse with a very good view of Pikes Peak. The problem was, the very nice townhouse had very disgusting carpet. (And linoleum.)




One day, Becky, the owner of the townhouse, decided to go on vacation. While she was gone, some little gnomes appeared, tore out the carpet, and installed some very beautiful oak floors. When Becky came home, she was delighted.




Becky and her loyal lab, Havana, lived happily ever after in her beautiful townhouse with a beautiful view and beautiful floors.

The end.

P.S. If anyone in the Denver area is interested in new floors, I know a great guy ... I mean ... some gnomes I highly recommend.

I Hate Politics

I'm sitting here on the couch in the middle of a mountain of political mail. For the last couple weeks I've been saving the flyers as they came in the mail intending to sit down and sift through them so I can educate myself on the issues and be an informed voter.

My intention was to remain as neutral and unbiased as possible until I could research the facts about each issue and form my own opinion. I'm finding, though, that it's almost impossible to form an opinion on anything without some sort of input from someone else - and by it's very nature that input will always be biased. As I sort through the mail, I see very passionate and convincing flyers on both sides of issues and I'm at a complete loss for who is telling me the truth.

I've discovered that I'm way too much of a feeler to enjoy politics. People feel so strongly about politics and get so emotionally involved they become irrational. It's going on right now on Compassion's blog. I hate how divisive political issues are. I feel like we are giving Satan a wide open door to pit Christians against each other and destroy the unity of the Body of Christ.

I'm putting all this mail in the trash. There is only one source of Truth and I'm counting on it to have some solid answers for me.

Hurry up, November 4th.

I'm going to go find someone to give me a hug.

You Have Really Big Glasses

It's Friday! Let's laugh.

Ever wish songs just sang what was happening in the music video? Well now they do.

Tears for Fears' "Head Over Heels"


And here's another ...

Aha's "Take On Me"


Catch ya on the flip side.

31

Happy Birthday, John.

May this year bring you peace and happiness like you've never known. Thanks for making great music.

A Thousand Questions

My heart beats faster when I watch this video.
Turn up the speakers and get inspired.



It's Blog Action Day today. What will you do?

Winter

Pikes Peak was covered with snow this morning. It was beautiful, but also ominous. Ominous because it means winter's on the way. Even the air has been smelling like winter the last couple days. It seems that somehow we skipped right past fall.

I'm not ready for it. I'm not ready for bitter wind and the naked trees. I'm not ready snow that turns to brown slush and cakes my car fenders. I'm not ready for my front walk to be a sheet of black ice. I'm not ready for the endless reports of school closings and late starts. I'm not ready for the traffic accidents and hour-long commutes to and from work.

But in an effort at optimism, here are a few things I am looking forward to. I am excited to use my fireplace. I'm excited to drink gallons of hot chocolate and Russian Tea. I'm excited because Home Alone will be on TBS. I'm excited because winter means Thanksgiving and then Christmas and the New Year with all the festivities. I'm excited because winter means Eggnog season. I'm excited because Havana LOVES the snow and it makes me happy to watch her play in it. I'm excited because I often wake up to a view like this out my bedroom window ...


Actually, I guess it's not so bad after all.

Thus Ends the Vacation

Inhale. Hold ... and exhale slowly. Ahhhhh. Twelve sweet days of vacation. And for once, I actually went on vacation ... no checking email. No talking - or even thinking - about work. It was glorious!

I'm back at work now and digging out from a mountain of email. But in the meantime ... here are the last of the vacation photos. First, one final photo of Micah. (Sorry for being the crazy aunt who posts one zillion pictures, but I seriously can't get enough of him.) He has a perpetual look of surprise on his chubby little face. The kid's a real life cartoon.


These are from our time in D.C., which is a surprisingly beautiful place. Here we are in the glass house in the Hirschhorn Sculpture Gardens.


They had statues that looked just like us. Weird, huh?


Then we ran into some famous people at Union Station. They wanted their picture with Chris.


My favorite.


Here I am acting like the Washington Monument.


The new WWII memorial is beautiful.


We ended the trip with dinner at an authentic Ethiopian restaurant. Which, judging from a previous injera experience I thought would be gross. Thankfully, it wasn't.

Now ends the photo diary. Thanks for indulging me. Tomorrow I shall resume posting on whatever random topics happen to be on my mind (doing my best to avoid overdone issues such as the financial crisis, the election and climate change.)

Hadley Mountain