Contents Under Pressure

I recently spent the night out of town for work, and took a cooler since it was a car trip. In the hotel room, I simply could not open the bottle of flavored sparkling water I took with me. In fact, I blistered a finger with my multiple attempts.

I used my trusty Leatherman Micra to cut the plastic tamper ring from the cap, but it didn't help matters. By that point there was no way I was giving up.

Guess what worked like a charm?

Lego Librarian

Bet you didn't know there's a Lego minfigure modeled after me!

Fantasy

I know we shouldn't ask to exchange or even necessarily be released from our trials. I also know that people who seem completely unburdened aren't really so.

Nonetheless, I can't help but sometimes wish I could turn in my thornier problems for a different set. I know it wouldn't be easier, but I like to delude myself that it would.

Lost and Found

Monday was a good day for a reason besides the paddling trip. Here's the story:

The weekend of baby E's birth, I lost a beloved (expensive) ring. It was a crazy weekend of little sleep, lots of driving, and a medication mishap*.

My sweet mother and my lifesaver almost mother (Gwen) both said the ring would turn up. After searching the house and chapel thoroughly (I played the piano that Sunday at church and put the ring on the music rack while I played), I felt it was gone for good. I even bought a (much less expensive) substitute ring to try to make up for the loss.

Monday night I was looking for a sock in a pile of clean laundry on the guest bed, and there was the wayward ring, on the bed in plain sight. I'm still astounded.

The story has so many lessons for me I probably can't list them all. You have probably mastered these lessons by now, but apparently, I haven't. Here are a few:

• Trust a wise mother (or two) when she tells you something.
• Never take off a ring to play the piano at church.
• Don't run out of medication you're supposed to take daily.
• Don't let the same pile of clean laundry sit for six weeks.**

I realize that in the whole of life, I would have been just fine if the ring was lost forever, but I'm so grateful for the small mercy that it came back to me

*Google "effexor withdrawal" if you really want to know more. If not, I'll just say that it's truly awful.

**To be honest, it's a perpetual pile that I keep adding to and taking away from.

About Pastimes

The kayaking post got me thinking about all the things I do, pretend to do, read about doing, or would like to do:

• reading
• sewing
• baking
• candymaking
• knitting
• woodworking
• gardening
• kayaking

These are activities that come to the top of my mind, though I know there are others I've thought about from time to time (I still want to learn to play the marimba). I don't have the time or money to do all of these things now, and I don't anticipate retiring early in life with lots of money to spare.

Sometimes I wonder if I would be better off dropping some things from the list of aspirations and spending my time on the few activities that are left. *sigh*

New Obsession

The latest pastime I'm eager to read about and maybe try is, in case you didn't know, kayaking. Here's another view of Monday's outing:

Monday was a two-hour guided "meditative paddling" tour at a local lake. The water was as calm as possible, it wasn't too hot yet at 7:30 am, and the lake was practically deserted. I had a great time, though my 15 minutes of meditating was more just 15 minutes of looking around (we were in a large creek at that point).

Unlike some other pastimes in which I'm interested, this one requires significant money or some connected friends to enjoy to the fullest. I don't have any kayaking-connected friends, so it looks like I'll be saving my money if I want to pursue this. My next baby step, however, is a three-hour private lesson (five or less students) a few days after my birthday. After that, I might try a rental on a local river before school starts again.

I'd call the lesson my birthday gift to myself, if I hadn't already bestowed that title on the tickets I bought to see my favorite dreamy multi-talented performer in concert the week before my birthday.

What Did You Do Today?

I went paddling!

Baby E

Necessities

Why every single girl needs a station wagon.

Tick Tock

What is it about one am that makes everything look so bleak?

Hard Things: An Update

Into week three of the Beachbody workouts, I'm exercising about three days a week. Not great, but it's three days more than before.

I can do 14 modified pushups and 6 honest to goodness no knees pushups, which is huge. I couldn't do a single real pushup before this.

You won't hear any crazy "I lost 16 pounds in three weeks" stories from me, but that's ok. I'm trying to make this about the journey and not the destination. Also, with only a few exceptions, I have always been a late bloomer and a slow starter, and at this point in life there is no point in fighting that.

Modern Times

In Primary Sunday, I told a chalkboard story about a father and grown son who lived on either side of a tall mountain. I asked the class how the father and son could communicate if they were unable to travel over the mountain. First two answers? Text and Skype.

lol

Not Above Bribery

I took these to Primary last week, hoping to entice E into behaving in class. He was unimpressed.
I'm trying green tomorrow.