Punctured: A Snowy Sunday Story

We had our first real snowstorm of the winter today. I woke up this morning and looked out the window to find several inches of accumulation and lots of large, fluffy snowflakes falling.

I got ready for church, bundled up and then took Havana out. She loves the snow and I like to take her out when it is snowing because there's usually no one around and I can let her run around off leash. That's what I did today.

After about 10 minutes, I called her back to me and we headed toward the house. When we got to the entryway, I looked down and noticed red paw prints in the snow. It looked like one of her feet was bleeding a bit.

As soon as she stepped through the door, I saw that it wasn't just bleeding a bit, it was gushing blood. Being a young lab, she ignored my command to "stay" and within a few seconds, there were large puddles of blood everywhere. As she moved around, more blood splattered all around, both from the growing puddles as well as from her still bleeding foot. I grabbed a bunch of paper towels and the masking tape and crafted a crude bandage so I could stop the blood from spurting everywhere. Already, the tile by the front door looked like a gruesome murder scene.

As the roads were snow-packed and icy, I was relieved to find out that the emergency vet was only a couple miles away. I taped a couple more layers of paper towels on her (the blood was soaking through her "bandage" at an alarming rate) and headed out.

Considering how much blood she had lost, she was surprisingly animated when we arrived. As she investigated all the new smells, she tracked bloody footprints all over the lobby and exam room. After a short examination, the vet said she had a deep puncture wound in her paw that had hit an artery (thus the massive amounts of blood.) She would need to be anesthetized and need emergency surgery to fix the wound.

Several hours later, I called the vet and found out that, in the process of fixing her foot, they had discovered a gash several inches long on her chest (the result of an encounter with a barbed wire fence last week) which they also stitched up. They were still having trouble stopping the bleeding, and thinking she might have hemophilia, gave her a blood test, but thankfully it was negative.

I picked her up with strict instructions to keep her off her foot as much as possible, to restrict her activity and to keep the Elizabethan Collar on her for two weeks.

The surprise barbed wire injury.

Here is her paw, which I am supposed to keep dry. With a foot of snow on the ground. Right.

When I put the collar on her, she won't move. She just sits there with a pitiful, forlorn look on her face ...

Poor sweet Havana.

Thanks

Wow. Was this really just eight months ago?

About six weeks after I wrote that I hung out with this new guy from work for the first time.

Today is a day to reflect on what I'm thankful for.

Want to know what I'm most thankful for this year? This ...

Kingdom Coming

Shaun Groves is a passionate advocate for Compassion. He wrote the song Kingdom Coming as a result of his experiences with the poor. You can download it below. For free. No strings attached.

You should. It's a very good song.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

I saw this on another blog I like and learned some interesting stuff.

So speak up ... share your favorites:

1. Movie
2. Song
3. Smell
4. Person
5. Blog
6. TV Show
7. Radio Station
8. Web Site
9. Blog Post YOU’VE written
10. Famous Person

I'll go first.

Music to My Ears

For all you fellow music lovers, I'd like to share with you a few recent additions to my collection, all of which I highly recommend:

The Weepies
Band of Horses
Heidi Talbot
Blind Pilot
Seal

And last but certainly not least ... I was excited to read in a recent post on his blog, that John Mayer is currently working on a new CD.

Finding new music is one of my favorite things in life.

The Grey Goose

We made it home from our road trip! Robert and Wendy are married and off honeymooning in Mexico.

We had many adventures along the way. We picked up a new friend named Hugh. He was 100 ounces and could be refilled for just $2. Which we did ... many times.

The most outrageous event of our trip, though, happened on the way home. I will do my best to recount it for you, moment by moment.

Through a somewhat debatable series of events, I somehow managed to not have a driving shift at all on the drive out. Therefore, on the drive home I felt it my duty to take the first driving shift at the buttcrack of dawn.

We were about 45 minutes into the drive. It was a Sunday morning so there was no traffic and we were cruising along nicely at 80 miles per hour. It still very dark out. The girls were sleeping in the back seat and a Jack Johnson CD was playing softly. It was very peaceful.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, we saw a large dark shadow appear just to the right of the car. It looked like a mini airplane coming in for a landing. Right in front of us. We saw a shadowy blur of a body and wings spanning maybe four feet. The next second there was a loud THUD and an explosion of feathers.

Although the noise was quite loud, the car barely slowed. We debated stopping right away, but the car seemed to be running fine so we decided to wait until it was light out. We figured there might be a small dent and a little blood.

When we stopped at a gas station to fill up a little later we hopped out to assess the damage. This is what we saw ...

Half of a large goose was mangled into Jamie's cracked and broken fender.


And to give you some perspective ...

Thank the Lord the goose wasn't three feet higher. It would've come through the windshield.

But seriously? Jamie had graciously allowed us to drive her sweet new Rav4 across the country and I wreck it by hitting a freaking goose.

Not too much longer, during our next gas stop we happened to pass this ...

I hate Iowa.

Trip Tally

Minutes stuck behind 18-wheelers: 40
Roadkill: 16
Number of electronic gadgets being used: 14
Missed exits: 2
Tub of caramel corn consumed: 1

Road trip with friends: PRICELESS

I Love Technologeeeee!

So here we are on our way to Minnesota. We're in the car in the middle of Nebraska somewhere. Other than a bunch of hay bales and a few rainstorms, there's not much around.

I haven't been on a real road trip in a long time. Never have I been on a trip like this.

We're sitting in the back of the car. The iPod is plugged into the stereo. The cell phone, plugged into the lighter, is connected to the internet. This laptop (upon which I am typing) is connected to the cell phone via Bluetooth. We are taking photos, uploading them on the laptop, then posting them on Facebook.

In fact ...






Ohhhh I love technologeeeeee ...

Stop the Pop

I think I have a pretty eclectic taste in music. I pretty much like a little of everything. The music I listen to depends entirely on my mood. Even the stuff people normally hate (country, rap, pop) I occasionally get a craving for.

But this morning my pop music tolerance was pushed over the edge. On my way to the dentist I heard the new Britney Spears song "Womanizer." Have you heard it yet? It is without a doubt the worst song I've ever heard. EV. ER. I'm not exaggerating. The lyrics are ridiculous (there are about five words in the whole song), the beat is annoying and the singing (if you can call it that) is atrocious.

I was going to give you a sample of the awfulness that is this song, but when I went to link to the video on YouTube, I found out that the majority of the video is naked Britney. I mean buck naked. It's disgusting. I feel a little sad for her, actually. She's obviously desperate for attention.

In other pop music news, did you know that Vanilla Ice has a new album out today? Oh yeah. Hip Hop Classics. But the best part about it? He does three mixes of Ice, Ice Baby. Hello, Junior High, remember me?

Ugh. I feel dirty. I think I'm gonna have to go listen to some Andrea Bocelli just to cleanse my music palette.

So what's the worst song you've ever heard?

The Retirement Party

Today was my parents' retirement party. They actually retired back in May (both were public school teachers) but have been traveling pretty much non-stop since then, so this was the first opportunity to celebrate with them.

The party was fun - tons of good food. Plus, my dad made seven (count 'em ... seven) kinds of ice cream. I have a new favorite now. Orange. Sounds weird but it was flippin' AWESOME.

Also my brother snapped this picture of my mom and me right before we dug into the ice cream. I think it's my favorite one with her ever.



Oh I also like this one with my cousin Katie...



Pretty much my whole weekend was spent preparing for this party. So there's not much else to tell you right now.

A few of us are leaving Thursday morning for a road trip to Minnesota so I'm sure there'll be some good blog posts coming soon ... )

8

Today is my 8th anniversary at Compassion.

Eight years. It's hard to believe I've worked here for almost a third of my life. It's getting the point where it's hard to remember life before Compassion, actually.

A little background for you ...

I spent the last semester of college living in downtown Chicago. I was an intern in the event planning department at the National PTA. As the weeks wound down towards graduation, I thought more and more about what was next. I considered many options, but moving back to Colorado Springs was not one of them. I had this idea in my head that moving back to the city I grew up in was somehow a cop-out. So I applied for jobs all over the country - FL, CA, WA, IL, MI - basically everywhere but Colorado.

I didn't get a single job offer. Not one. Finding a job long distance is very difficult. Finding a job in event planning with very limited experience, is virtually impossible. As the rejection letters continued to come, I resigned myself to the fact that I had to add "Moving back in with Mom and Dad" to the list of options.

So I graduated and moved back to Colorado. I spent the next six months applying for all sorts of event-type jobs here. I applied at many different non-profits and ministries. I went to dozens of interviews. All of them told me the same thing - something I'm sure every college graduate dreads - they really wanted someone with more experience.

In November, I began working at a local coffee shop. Four days into that job, I got a call from Compassion. (Unbeknownst to me, they had kept my resume from an earlier job that I applied for and hadn't gotten.) They asked me to come interview for an assistant job. Desperate for anything that paid more than minimum wage, I was ecstatic. I interviewed with HR, and then a few days later with the managers I'd be assisting. Finally, I got a call.

It was only when I accepted the job offer and asked more about the job that I found out that I'd be assisting the event managers in the marketing department.

So you see, that is how I know God called me here. That is why I've stayed here for eight years. As it turns out, event planning is not for me. But Compassion is and, of course, God knew that. In those eight years I've changed positions. I've changed departments. I've changed teams. I've changed desks. Through it all I've fallen in love with this place and what God is doing here. I'm in a position now that fits my gifts and calling so perfectly that it could only be God.

I don't know what He has planned for me in the future. I'd like to live somewhere else, eventually. Maybe even another country. What I do know, though, is that for today, this is where He's called me.

I love this ministry. I love my job. And I feel so blessed.

Psalm 73:25-26

Whom have I in heaven but you?
I desire you more than anything on earth.
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart;
He is mine forever.

Hope and Change

I've heard the words "hope" and "change" used more times in the last few months than any other time in my life. There are a lot of people in this country counting on our new president to follow through on his promises for a better future. I will certainly be praying that he leads us with integrity and wisdom.

But do you want to see what real hope and change look like?

Read this post.

It is one of the most moving things I've read in a long time.

Oh, and speaking of hope, do you have your own story of hope? Share it and win some sweet books. Check it out.

Eight Hours

This election is the most divisive thing I've ever experienced in life.
I cannot WAIT until it's over.

Eight hours and counting...

At Least My Head Won't Sweat

I've started going back to the gym on a regular basis. In the mornings. For some reason it's always easier for me to go to the gym when it's dark out. Anyway.

A couple mornings a week I go to a spinning class at 5:30 am. That means getting up at 5, which isn't too bad if I go to bed at a decent time. I'm somewhat of a morning person, but I'm still pretty out of it before class. Afterward, I'm wide awake. Usually.

Evidently, spinning for an hour this morning didn't work to wake me up as much as it normally does.

See, I go to a frou-frou gym where there are lots of amenities. They provide all sorts of supplies in the locker rooms like Q-tips, lotion, mouthwash, deodorant, hairspray, etc. So this morning I got dressed and did my hair, and right before I left, I decided I liked how my hair turned out so I thought I'd use a little hairspray. I stopped by the sink, grabbed the bottle and lightly misted my hair. It didn't seem to do much. So I sprayed a little more. Still no hold. I figured it must be some cheap hairspray since it was the stuff they provide, so I went ahead and sprayed my hair again. Nothing.

It was then that I noticed a rather sickeningly, sweet smell surrounding my head. Not the slightly acidic smell of hairspray, but a strong mix of floral scents. Something like what I imagine my great aunt's bathroom might smell like. Finally, it occurred to me that perhaps the reason the hairspray wasn't holding was because it wasn't hairspray.

I realized that the hairspray bottle is exactly the same shape and color as another bottle and I had doused my hair (three times) in spray-on deodorant.

So now my head smells like an armpit.

Nice.