Thankfully busy.

It's been a busy last few days, in which I haven't had much access to a computer. Rather than trying to backlog entries for the last few days, here's the shortlist of what all's been going on lately...

>Tried out a new cookie recipe late on Monday night...and then put it to the test by bringing the finished products to work for a special Thanksgiving treat. And they passed the test, with flying colors. Thanks, Taste of Home cookbook!

>Got up at 4:30 in the morning so I could learning a new program at work...not in the field, in the schools! Went and observed/team taught (or at least attempted to team teach) at a special needs school, which made the experience even more unforgettable. And did it all with one of my favorite office friends from work!

>Lots of good girltime and girltalk with an increasingly-closer friendship that I have been very thankful for lately! God, guys, life, faith, family...my heart is pretty darn full right now.

>The delving into of a new tv show--The West Wing--with aforementioned girlfriend. Not too shabby...

>Watching The West Wing while sipping a glass of Martin & Weyrich Moscato Allegro...yum! I'm not much of a drinker, don't know much about alcohol in general, but this was a delicious treat. AND I felt SO refined and grown-up! :)

>Thanksgiving with the fam was a delicious and delightful experience, as usual. Got there early to help out and scored some extra-special, pre-crowd grandma time...awesome.

>Black Friday shopping! Ewww, definitely NOT my favorite thing to do! But other than having to run to 2 different Border's to find a particular Christmas gift (and use the 50% off coupon good only for a day or two!), it was pretty smooth sailing. No parking spot battles, no insane lines, most of my big Christmas shopping done...and I didn't go out until noon! THIS is how we do it.

[and for the big one...drum roll please......]

>I GOT MY HAIR CUT!!!! One of the scariest things for me to do, I have this deep-seated fear of beauty salons for some reason...but today I conquered.

Yes, I haven't been around my computer much these last few days. Yes, life has been busy. But life has been FULL--full of family, full of friends, full of new and challenging and exciting experiences. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Fire! Fire! Fire!

Had the family over for a dinner/popcorn/movie night at my apartment tonight. 7 of the 11 of them made it (8 counting me!) and it was a fun night. Mom made soup, a sister and I made popcorn, and the littlest sister alerted us all to the fire in the bathroom with her almost-unnoticed cry of, "It's smoky in here!"

I though the flame in that Thailand candle holder seemed to be burning a little bit too big and sideways tonight...


Thanks for the alert, kid!

Question: which bear is best?

Tonight I shook Rainn Wilson's hand.

1062.

That's about how many miles I've put on my car since last Sunday...all but about 320 of which happened in the last 36 hours or so. That's what happens when two great friends get married WAY up north and you have to work Friday and can't carpool up with anyone so have to drive yourself up on a whirlwind trip...whew. But it was WAY worth it. :)

Groovy

I am NOT a dancer--never have been, never will claim to be. I even had a dance-inclined friend tell me one time, "Some people just don't have it...." (Other than the hokey pokey, I've got that one DOWN! And really, that IS what it's all about, right?) But thanks to the encouragement of some friends and the natural high that came with a very special occasion, tonight I got my groove on. Just a little.

Oh Moms...

Got this Facebook message today from my mom's bff, who was also like a second mom to me all growing up. Currently both my real and fake mom are off on the east coast at a homeschool leaders training...apparently this is what happens when you get a bunch of homeschooling moms together...

"kbroccoli,
Your mother is betrothing you to Bob Smith [not real name, ha]. Do you need my help in any way? I am making myself available.... I'm here with her, him, and his mother. He knows nothing of this plan, but the mothers are in kahoots.
He IS a hot catch... loves God, reads well, wears NICE shirts, nice looking, owns homes, mature....Want me to find you a job on the science curriculum development team? What are you looking for in a guy? (that was your mom's question) :)"

Oh Moms...

Cook's Corner.

Went to a biker bar out in the canyon tonight, with a bunch of old and new friends from work. Not a place you'd typically find me hanging out, but every now and then I make an exception for work friends. It's always an experience, that's for sure. Tonight I had one old friend announce to everyone else, "She doesn't drink!" as they're all nursing their beers...thanks for the spotlight, my favorite. Then, some Heineken-toting, cigarette-smoking guy from the bar came over and joined in a conversation about Burning Man...and eventually the two of us got to talking about our travels in the Holy Land, random. Oh yeah, and then when I was heading out the door, everyone stood up for hugs...including one new friend who I think scored some cheap thrills off of me. Awesome. All in all, definitely a fun/interesting/out-of-my-box night. Thanks, Cook's.

The talk...finally.

For months I've been saying I need to talk to someone at my church about starting some kind of young adults' group. Today I finally did it.

Uhhh...

I travel a lot for work. Like, pretty much every single day. Not too incredibly far, but some good distances from one end of the OC to the other. Been trained at most every single of the dozen-or-so sites my program runs, and can teach most all of them at a moment's notice (and have done so many times).

But today I was sent someplace new. Someplace I haven't seen actually run in 6+ months, someplace that runs way differently than all of our other sites. And not only did I have to go there today, but I had to teach there too--15 4th-graders were looking expectantly at me to tell them all about the Capistrano and San Onofre Breccia formations. And I only sorta kinda knew what I was supposed to tell them; definitely had a few moments where I would say something and then pause, thinking frantically, "Now what do I do next?!" Yet somehow, the day flew by, the kids didn't revolt, and everyone was smiling when the bus pulled away. And now I've got a new site [mostly] under my belt.

Soulpancake.

Two days ago I received a "So-and-so has been tagged in an album" notification on the Facebook, with the "So-and-so" being a musician I've really been digging lately. So, of course, I clicked...and found myself looking at an album containing not only Andy Grammer, but Ellen Page, Ted Mosby (Mr. HIMYM...don't know his real name!), pretty much the entire Office cast, and more. What the heck was this event, I thought, and why wasn't I invited to it?

Turns out Rainn Wilson started some web site a while back: Soulpancake -- "a place to speak your mind, unload your questions, and figure out what it means to be human." It wasn't long before I'd made my way over to soulpancake.com...and proceeded to spend an hour there reading different posts and discussions. Definitely caught my interest, the discussions were very relevant to life and faith and a whole lot more, and the opinions expressed diverse yet respectful. So of course, I signed up for an account and bookmarked it prominently.

The pictured event that originally caught my attention was the release of a "Soulpancake" book just a few days ago. So today after work, in all my dirty, dusty glory, I stopped by B&N and perused a copy for a good long while. Think I might have to pick one up next paycheck.

Whee!!!

Our church's annual Fall Festival was last night, and I signed up to help out. Checked off several different options on the bulletin flier before I stuck it in the offering plate; I figured they could squeeze me in wherever they needed me, I didn't mind. When I got an e-mail from the children's ministry lady asking if I could work both shifts, I agreed. 3 hours one night didn't seem so bad, and I didn't have any other plans. Then came the postcard reminder: 3 hours, guarding a "bouncer." Madness, to be sure. What was I thinking when I agreed to both shifts?!

Well, when I showed up at church last night, to my joy I was assigned to the giant 2-track inflatable slide that loomed at the end of the parking lot (which, of course, I had to test out immediately!). And for the first 90 minutes, I was working with a couple of middle school students I barely knew but really liked! Can you say sweet ministry opportunity?! :) The three of us had a blast manning the slide, and the endless line of kids (and adults!) kept us busy and made the time fly by.

The night was great, the company awesome, the costumes cute. All in all, a very happy Halloween.