On Our Way To Crazy

Are you watching Glee? I know people either love it or hate it. (Or don’t care about it either way.) (Which I guess is true about everything. So maybe not so interesting.) I love everything about it. I love the characters, I love the songs, I love Mr. Schuester. It makes me cry every week. EVERY WEEK. If Glee was a movie, it would be one of my all-time favorites.

We went to the flea market the day after Thanksgiving. The flea market is an amazing place. I got three vintage necklaces for $5, which was awesome, but our big find was actually a gift for our niece. This guys was selling old block letters from a printing press, do you know the kind I’m talking about? They are big wooden blocks with letters carved out of the tops, and the letters are backwards so you can print with them. Anyway, we spelled out her name (Olivia) with those letters and are going to glue them together to make a nameplate for her. Because her name is pretty symmetrical, only the L is backwards. I’m not gonna lie, it’s adorable.

I am pretty convinced that I could be an awesome furniture refinisher. A couple of weeks ago I made Aaron pull over on the side of the road so I could pick up an old desk that had a big FREE sign on it. I want to sand it down and paint it. We’ll see if it happens.

The problem is that I just want to buy a bunch of furniture. The flea market is a bad place for someone like me. If I had gone alone I would have come home with a trailer full of tables and lounge chairs and lamps that all just need ‘a bit of fixing up’. It’s a problem.

I love the prep days in advance of holidays. Making shopping lists, baking, planning parties, wrapping gifts. It’s almost a disappointment when the actual event rolls around.

Tonight we had care group. We got to go to a friend’s house, sit around with people we love, eat cookies and just hang out. And we didn’t have to do anything to make it happen. Letting go of being in charge of that group was the best decision we’ve made in a while.

The band makes a video every week to post on their website. They are really funny guys, so the videos tend to be pretty funny as well. But the one this week has a moment that made me SMOKER LAUGH. Like I was actually in pain after I saw it because it hurt my chest to laugh like I did. You can watch the video here, and pay particular attention right at the end. The guy who at around 2:40 says “I think I saw that” is the one who you see at 2:41. I realize that it might not be as funny if you don’t know them, but oh my gosh, I laughed so hard.

I am so glad there’s only one more day in November. I love writing, I really do. But I am tired of trying to put something together at midnight in order to keep it up. I am glad to be almost done. Thanks for reading.

I’ve read a couple of posts lately about Christmas lists. Specifically, about what to ask for from your in-laws. This is quite the conundrum.

Does your family do Christmas lists? We always have. As a kid, they were very very important. We got that huge Sears toy catalog in the mail and my sister and I would page through it, looking for things to put in our letters to Santa that we left on the fireplace with the cookies and milk. I remember one year running back into the living room on Christmas Eve to add a last minute gift idea to my letter. My mom was very careful to make sure I understood that Santa had probably already left the North Pole and I may not have made it on time. Very thoughtful.

Lists were definitely simpler then. You just asked for stuff. Whatever you wanted. The bigger the better. You probably weren’t going to get much of it, and that was fine. I just enjoyed the process. It was a precursor to my favorite things to do now – read magazines and make lists.

It’s a little more complicated now. Lists are definitely helpful if your family is really into gifts like ours are. I want to make sure we get gifts for people that they want. In a perfect world we would all be so in tune with each other that we wouldn’t even need lists and the gifts would be perfect every time, right? Well, we don’t live in that world. And that’s okay. But what do you ask for? And from who(m)? How much should things cost? WHAT ARE THE RULES?

It’s one thing to send a list to your own parents. I try to follow the same rules from when I was a kid. Ask for whatever! Get what you get! It’s fun! Your mom doesn’t care! She will just laugh at you if you get crazy! It’s all good!

But the in-law list is a little more stressful. They want a list, so you need to make one. But what is reasonable? Do you just list general ideas and hope for the best? Can you be specific, with links and instructions on setting up an Etsy account? I don’t know.

Either way, the list making is fun. I try to ask for things I would never buy for myself. Not because they are expensive, but because they seem frivolous. These are the things that make good gifts. They’re the things I try to buy off other people’s lists, too, so don’t ask me to get you socks. Not gonna happen.

I was walking around Target this morning looking for giant plastic bags, big dangly earrings and decorative pears. You know, as you do.

While I was examining the ziploc offerings, I overheard a conversation between two employees on the next aisle. Let’s call them Zak and Sara.

Sara: Oh my gosh, Zak, did you see that family that came in yesterday?
Zak: What family?
Sara: It was this huge family, tons of people. All the kids and women kind of spread out all over the store and the men were hanging out in Starbucks. After a while, one of the guys got up and BLEW A WHISTLE.
Zak: What? A whistle?
Sara: Yeah. And then all the women and kids started showing back up at the front of the store, and then they all just left. It was so weird.
Zak: That is really weird. Did they buy anything?
Sara: Nope. I think they were gypsies.
(Me, in my head: GYPSIES? Awesome! I want to be friends with the Brentwood gypsies.)
Zak: Gypsies? What are you talking about?
Sara: Oh, well, you know. Hispanics.

WHAT? Hispanics? Gypsies? Is there some kind of roving band of hispanic gypsies I don’t know about? Is there anywhere in the world where those two things are connected? What on earth was she talking about? Is this a thing everyone knows about but me? I hate being out of the loop.

Would you like to hear another story about music I loved in college? No? Good. I am tired of telling them.

This one’s not interesting, anyway. Every girl you knew in college loved Jennifer Knapp. LOVED her. We bought that first record and we wore it out. We listened to the second one until the CD broke.

It’s always hard to find good music for girls. In Christian music you get teeny-bopper pop and you get old lady ballads. But for the legions of teenage girls who wanted their music to be, you know, good, there weren’t a lot of options.

Jennifer Knapp came along and sang what we were feeling. Not only that, but she sang it like she meant it. There was emotion. It was real. And we ate it up.

Then she disappeared. And we were depressed. And there were questions and rumors and some drama. But we moved on and she moved on and then I found Brandi Carlile who was like Jennifer Knapp part two.

And then, you guys. She came back. There was a new myspace. A couple of new songs. A tour date or two on the west coast. Then one day a couple of weeks ago I checked the Belourt for movie times, and lo and behold, a Nashville date. November 18.

Y’ALL. She is so amazing. The place was packed. She came out and started immediately with an old one (I can’t remember which one, my short term memory tops out at two hours), and when she finished the whole crowd went crazy.

It was fun to hear the old songs again, for sure. But the new stuff is killer. KILLER. I cannot wait for the new album.

I love living in Nashville for a lot of reasons. Today, it’s the perfect storm of old favorites moving to town and a little extra cash on hand that led to me seeing Waterdeep and Jennifer Knapp in the same week. So awesome.

I love all the kids in my youth group. I really, really do. But I have to say that the girls in my junior high class are the coolest kids in the world. They are funny and sharp and sweet and totally adorable. Our hour of bible study together is the highlight of my week.

I got in trouble with Aaron today for always falling asleep during the Cowboys games. Apparently it keeps him from fully being able to yell at the TV.

This year is our first Thanksgiving with a real dining room table. We have seven people coming over, and I’m thinking of doing it up all fancy-like with place settings and table decorations and centerpieces and nameplates. Thoughts? I’ve never done a dinner like that before. I think it would be awesome.

Wednesday night in youth group we are making Christmas decorations for the youth room and watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I can’t wait.

This weekend I’ve been taking care of a friend’s two huge labs while she was out of town. I mean HUGE. I was kind of nervous about it, but it has been super fun. They are awesome. Yesterday we spent an hour in the backyard just throwing the ball around. You guys know I love Miles more than my luggage, but he is not very playful. He likes to sleep. A lot. It’s been fun to hang out with more active dogs.

The other day one of my youth group parents brought me a couple of bottles of his HOMEMADE WINE. I love my job. And my church. And that particular parent.

Last week Aaron was watching his idol, Gordon Ramsey, on some food show or another. Apparently on the show he made a ceasar salad. Aaron was inspired. I don’t know what kind of crazy technique he thinks he is using… it just looks like making a ceasar salad to me. But they are delicious ceasar salads. And I would know. We’ve had four since Thursday.

Yesterday I cleaned our house from top to bottom. Cobwebby corners to dusty baseboards. There are a lot of days when I wish this house was a little bit bigger, but yesterday was not one of those days. I polished floors, scrubbed cabinet doors and vacuumed behind the bed. This place looks awesome. I want to have a party now but people will just mess it all up.

It is truly amazing to me that Miles has any fur left on his body. By the time I was done yesterday there was multiple dogs’ worth of fur in the trash. He is a shedding machine, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

When we were in Texas last week my parents taught me a game that they were calling Zonk but it turns out is actually Farkle. (My mom doesn’t like that word.) It is fun and simple, and I am TERRIBLE at it. I don’t know how you can be skilled at a game that is pretty much based on luck, but there is definitely a skill level that I do not have. The other night I decided to show Aaron how to play. Bad idea. He smoked me three times in a row by THOUSANDS of points. I hate that stupid game and both of its stupid names.

Aaron is going out of town this week to do some Very Important Band Business. I will sustain myself solely on wine and hummus and Golden Oreos.

I hate it when commercials fake me out by being really cute and sweet in the beginning but turn out to be ads for cheesy diamond jewelry.

I could really use a few more adults in my life who actually behave like adults. Is there some kind of condition that makes people allergic to the idea of JUST SAYING WHAT THEY MEAN ALREADY, SERIOUSLY, YOU ARE MAKING MY LIFE SO VERY DIFFICULT.

The other day, in honor of the time change, I made a ‘dark and moody’ playlist. I figure if I have to drive around in the dark starting at 5pm, I should at least have some appropriate music to accompany me. There’s only one problem – I really really love it and listen to it all the time. So now I am weirdly moody and kind of emo all the time. At least I fit in with the kids now.

Question. If you got this card in the mail at Christmas, how would you feel about it?

Cool or lame?

Two years ago I signed up for NaBloPoMo. The idea is to post on your blog every day for the month of November. I did really well that year, until the very last day, when I totally forgot about it and blew the whole thing.

So this year I am trying again. I don’t feel great about my chances, honestly, but I am rolling with it. I think I can do it. I set up an alarm on my phone to remind me every day. It’s all about baby steps, right?

Wish me luck! And, you know, leave me some comments. I need the encouragement. Don’t make me beg. I’ll do it. I’ll need something to post about around day seventeen.

I was reading through my notebook from last year’s youth worker’s convention, looking for some game ideas, when I found a couple of very important thoughts I wrote down. They’re not dated or titled from any particular seminar, so I’m not sure where I heard them, but I think they may be the wisest bits of wisdom I picked up while I was there.

And now I will pass them along to you.

“Just because I love God doesn’t mean I have to disrespect Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen.”

and

“There’s always that one guy who has completely unnecessary sideburns and a newsboy cap, and if that sounds a little too familiar than you should maybe look into that.”

You’re welcome.

We are completely obsessed with reruns of The West Wing on Bravo. I don’t know when or how often they come on, but we have about 25 sitting on the DVR.

I really actively disliked Studio 60 when it came on. I didn’t understand all the preaching and uppity-ness about sketch comedy. But preaching and uppity-ness about liberal politics? That I can handle. It’s smart and funny and has great characters. I love it so much.

I have listened to Dashboard Confessional’s Dusk and Summer about a thousand times in the last week. It is the perfect end of summer album. Go download ‘Stolen’. I’ll wait here.

I have a church music pet peeve I need to share. It is so awkward when songs have lyrics that describe an action that we aren’t actually doing. It feels weird and disingenuous to sing lines like “awestruck we fall to our knees” or “we stand and lift up our hands” if we are not actually doing those things. But it feels fake to do them just because we’re singing about it. I mean, it’s one thing to lift your hands and spin around in the youth room. It’s another to falsify your awestruck-ness.

Also I hate it in “How Great Is Our God” when the line ’sing with me’ is on the screen. Who are we talking to? Why is that in the official lyrics? I do not understand.

I have a very distinct memory of these cookies that my mom used to buy when I was a kid. They were like little shortbread bites, but they were hollow and the middle was filled with chocolate. They were excessively delicious – nice and crispy, and then you would bite into them and this chocolate frosting-y stuff would burst out. I can’t remember the name of them and they are nowhere to be found.

Then today I am wandering around World Market looking at all the crazy food they sell. I am in the Japanese section, looking at the different Pocky flavors, when I come across something called Hello Panda. What is Hello Panda? Just a delicious Japanese cookie, then and crispy on the outside with chocolate frosting-y stuff in the middle. Also, THE MOST DELICIOUS COOKIES EVER. They aren’t the cookies I remember, exactly, but they’re pretty darn close.

Things are on a major upswing with the youth group these days. Well, an upswing with a weight tied around it. Our Sunday mornings have been great the past few weeks… it’s amazing what school starting will do for you. We have a ton of new kids and have been having some really good discussions in our small groups. I am thrilled.

The weight wrapped around it comes in the form of our youth space. Remember that house we were working on to renovate and turn into a youth building? That is pretty much dead in the water. The combination of this recession and unknown and potentially astronomical structural repair costs have put the project on the probably not happening list. I don’t know what the future of a permanent space for our kids will be, but we do have a temporary answer. We have taken over the conference room and a couple of other rooms in our church office building and I am frantically working to get them cleaned and painted and youth-ized. So, at least for a little while, we’ll have some space that’s ours.

We had more kids than can fit in the room today, though, so it’s a mixed blessing.

I recently bought skinny jeans, tall boots, and a lumberjack plaid tunic. I am trying to be cooler than I am. Lord help me.

Last week was our last Sunday night as care group leaders. Remember all those concerns I had a couple of years ago when we started this thing? Turns out I knew more than I realized. It was just too much.

Lucky for us our group is full of amazing people and we had no trouble handing this thing off to another couple. We will just be… members. We can just show up and participate. I don’t have to plan or clean or worry that no one will show up. I can’t wait.