I realize Im late to be saying this but if you haven’t seen the show GLEE yet, go to iTunes and search for it. The pilot episode is on iTunes currently for free! Yes! Go download it and love it as much as I do. GO! NOW!

Been reading Anne Lamott’s “Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith” lately. I enjoy her style of writing and boldly honest words on how she views her faith and life. A lot of the times, I dont agree with her theology but then at the same time I find so much joy in hearing her heart on what she has learned with her relationship with God – which seems very different yet very much the same as mine. Thought I would share with you some spots from this book I have taken to write down in my notebook. Enjoy.

“We start by being kind to ourselves. We breathe, we eat. We remember that God is present whenever people suffer.”

“I make Sam [her son] go because the youth-group leaders know things that I dont. They know what teenagers are looking for, and need – they need adults who have stayed alive and vital, adults they wont mind growing up to be. And they need total acceptance of who they are, from adults they trust and to be welcomed in whatever condition life has left them – needy, walled off. They want guides, adults who know how to act like adults but with a kids heart. They want people who will sit with them and talk about the big questions, even if they dont have the answers; adults who wont correct their feelings or present not to be afraid. They are looking for adventure, experiences, pilgrimages and thrills. And they want a home they can return to, where things are stable and welcoming. I mean, how cray can you get?”

And this one is for my Canadian family who I love the fact they read my blog:
“If you havent already, you will lose someone you cant live without and your heart will be badly broken and you never completely get over the loss of a deeply beloved person. But this is also good news. The person lives forever in your broken heart that doesnt seal back up. And you come through and you learn to dance with the banged up heart.”

It all started Saturday night when I was on Tweetie, an iPhone app for Twitter. After trying to post, my home button on my iPhone wouldnt take me “home”. I pushed the home button repeatedly and nothing. Tweetie is still on my screen – not frozen mine you, it moved around and functioned fine. iPhone just had no interest in taking me to my home screen to perform other basic iPhone functions, such as a phone call. I restart my poor little iPhone thinking maybe he just needs a quick nap to recharge himself. After the short nap, I turn the iPhone back on to reveal a black screen with a picture of the iTunes symbol and the white cord below it – commutating me I need to plug iPhone into my iTunes. WHAT IS GOING ON freak out is slowly taking over me at this point. I promptly get Chaz out to connect iPhone to iTunes and pop open iChat to see if my brother or Jason happens to be online – my go to Mac guys cause really if I was completely honest, Mac stuff still confuses me. A lot. Thankfully, Kenny, my Apple Genius of a brother is on-line and its very nicely coaching me through this process. I have to return my iPhone to factory settings. I have done this with my mini iPod before, so this isnt too scary to me (after I triple check with Kenny that I will still in fact get my personal stuff back). I do this three times before my iPhone catches on and reloads itself. I unplug iPhone from Chaz and think all is good, I did what the little pictures told me to do. BUT WAIT! My home button is still not taking me home. Kenny said he couldnt help me without being on my side of the coastal line so take it into the Apple Genius Bar. I go to apple.com and get myself a little appointment between churches.

I figured out between Saturday night that my Sunday afternoon appointment that everything seemed to be working fine on the iPhone cept for the home button – so I could say go text someone, but if I then wanted to check my email I would have to shut iPhone off to get to that function, and so on for each different application I felt like using. Lovely, right? Oh and then, Jason called me, and I could hear him just fine but he couldnt hear me. Great. Everything on my phone is working fine except for my phone part! Mr. Genius told me to fix my iPhone it would be $200, which is a cost of a new 3G phone. I was sad of course at this news. I love my iPhone. It had been so good to me and really, this is the first real major problem any of my Apple products have given me. Jason and I talked about it and he thought I best wait till June when there is a strong chance that they’d release a new iPhone instead of buying a 3G. Which by the way, I held a 3G in the store and I didnt even get excited about it. I didnt like the thing. I know most dont see the difference, but there really is (theres the little bit of geek in my shinning through in that comment). But the idea of having a “normal” AT&T cell phone till June…. I dont know how to explain it other than this: do not get an iPhone unless you are ready to never go back a normal phone ever again. I say this as someone who never saw a need for an iPhone. Jason talked all about it when he was a MacWorld when they announced it. Willing to break his current Verizon contract to make it happen. I didnt know what to do with all the crazy talk but got him to wait till our contracts where up to get them. Yes, I know I will live not having all my networking at my finger tips for a month. Just understand, when you are used to that, its hard to let go of it. Im also one who doesnt mind keeping her phone in the other room and forgetting about it for hours. I may really like this time of lack of technology.

But then I sent my brother a whiney IM: “Poor dying iPhone!” Kenny promptly asks me what color of tee the Genius was wearing, rich blue, which apparently is a real Genius (why would they let nonreal Genius behind here I wanted to ask). He told me that he understands my woes by saying he would swap out my dying phone with the same generation of iPhone for me until June. So really, I dont have to use the very nice AT&T phone that my friend loaned me for a whole month because my brother understands that once you have an iPhone, there really is no going back. This sad story isnt just to tell you how I can not live without my iPhone (I could of!). Just to warn the rest of you noniPhone users – do not get one unless you are ready to never go back. And that I still love Apple, even they are over my head most of the time.

The lack of blogging is not because I lack thins to say. Its quite the opposite really, I have so much to say I dont even know where to begin. I had great plans drawn out in my head to write all thats been going on, but I never felt I had the words to say it. Or that words would be enough. Now that the moment has come and gone many times over, I can not go back and try to save it by making the best post ever in the history of blogs. Instead, I will just stop putting off writing anything on here and write about the here and now. Maybe all my thoughts, emotions, photos, stories, the new things Ive learned and so on will show up here someday. As of now, they simply cant. You, dear reader, wouldnt want the verbal vomit that would be my attempt to try and catch you up on my days that have not been captured here. I do want to thank those who have been so close along side me as this space has been silent. Recalling past month’s events to a dear old friend today really reminded me of all of your kindness and I thank you so so so much for it. From the things I didnt know I needed, for praying for my family whom desperately need it. So, in the few tiny words that dont seem enough, but come from my heart, thank you so very much.

Lately, I have still been keeping up with the run/walk. Some days are better than others (like today, totally kicked my butt and reminded me of why I truely do hate working out) but Im enjoying the outside time if nothing else. My neighborhood is loaded with gorgeous trees that cover the roads as a shade for my walk/runs. They cant not however, cover the humidity that is creeping in on North Carolina warning me that summer is right around the corner. This is just to line up with tomorrow being Senior Sunday at church. Class of 2009 will stand before the church on stage and I will sit before them being as proud as ever of each single one of them, and try not to cry. Looking back on my blog from last year I didnt even mention Seniors stuff that over takes the month of May for me. Dont get me wrong when I answer “Im really busy with Senior stuff.” I love every single bit of it. I love planning stuff for the Seniors, I love being with them as their parents bless them onto their new season in life. I love spending a weekend with them in hopes it helps them prepare for college. You forget somehow in spending time with them and building relationships that they will graduate high school and go on to grow outside of all you’ve known them in. And its so good for them to do this, but, as my friend and partner in crime at the church said last year “They break your heart every year.”

Carla wrote an article about a very fond time of my life, my year in Alabama (where this whole blog began!) with her as a roommate and our love for coffee (before my Starbucks days). You should take a moment and read it, its delightful (and full of coffee songs!)

Second, Im probably the last person on the interntet to see this video, but I think its very funny and have to share it. Are you on Twitter?