Creepy old men.

My sister and I have been talking for a while now about having a "big kids' movie night," with a movie the little guys aren't up for seeing quite yet, and a glass of wine in hand. Not something we typically do, but a fun once-in-a-while occurrence. Tonight was the night. The sister's job: grab the movie. My job: grab the wine.

Now I am NOT a wine connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I'm pretty sure today was my first day buying alcohol. I'd only been into a BevMo once before, when a friend introduced me to a delicious dessert wine over the holidays. So I knew what I was looking for, just not where to look for it. Roamed for 10 minutes before I finally asked for help...and then discovered I was only about 6 steps away. Figures.

Then there was the old man at the checkout--definitely an interesting fellow. Our conversation went something like this...

Him: "You've got such a great smile!"
Me: "Thanks."
Him: "Really! Your smile just brightened my day!"
Me: "Ummm...thanks. Glad I could brighten your day."
Him: "So do you come here a lot?"
Me: "Nope, this is my first time ever!"
Him: "Well are you going to come back?"
Me: "Ummm...maybe."
Him: "For the wine, or for me?"

Lol. Oh slightly creepy old men working at BevMo. You sure are an interesting breed.

The Giving Week: Saturday

Today, on my one day to sleep in all week long, I rose at 6am, donned what are pretty much my work clothes, and headed out the door. My location was a little bit different than normal, though. Instead of heading out to any of a dozen parks, nature centers, or beaches, I set off for a work friend's house for a day of epic adventure: hiking the Bridge to Nowhere. Little did I know it wouldn't just be with a few work friends and their spouses, but also with some old high school buddies of one...adventures with strangers, always exciting. We forded rivers, passed crusty old gold prospectors and fly fisherman, and about midday made it to the bridge--just in time for the bungee jumping! Now THAT'S a tiny danger we'll have to save for another day...

Oh yeah, and this morning before heading out the doors, Betty Crocker and I made blueberry muffins, which were met with great rejoicing. After all, who can say no to fresh muffins on a Saturday morning?

The Giving Week: Friday

This afternoon I gave a friend a ride when I was already basically running late. And you want to know something? I still made it in time to my next scheduled appearance. And we got a few minutes of good face time to catch up. Amazing how it all works out.

The Giving Week: Wednesday

Today the golden shoes finally found their home. And they were met with much rejoicing--on all sides.

The Giving Week: Tuesday

I guess something I'm learning from this whole giving week thing is this: while sometimes giving is rather spontaneous, so often it's a well-planned out action. Not just something we do in the moment--although those are some sweet moments--but often something we do as the result of a seen need. Sometimes it's a lifesaver; other times it's just a blessing.

Today at work a friend mentioned a podcast he's been wanting to listen to, but can't get old episodes of anymore. So tonight I'm burning him a cd of 21 episodes, and am excited to hand them over when next our roving paths cross.

The Giving Week: Sunday

Today I shopped around a bit and, in the process, came across some shoes on clearance that my sister's been eyeing but unable to find in her size. I was debating on whether or not to save them for her birthday in about a month, but I think it'll be more fun to just surprise her with them out of the blue one day. I don't do stuff like that too much, and I'm kind of excited to spring them on her.

Funny...if I'd just bought the shoes for myself, I would have been excited at the find and the price, but that wouldn't have lasted too long. But buying them with the intention of giving away...now that thought makes me smile. I'm going to have to remember this for my next bad day...

Day 3: successful plotting for a soon-to-be-successful give.

The Giving Week: Saturday

At this point, I'm not quite sure what this summer is going to hold. I don't know where I'll be living or what I'll be doing, whether I'll still be in So Cal or trying on another state for size. But one thing I do know: I won't be living here anymore. So in preparation for whatever lies ahead, I've decided it's time to clean out closets, whittle down all the stuff I've accumulated over the last almost-2-years living in this apartment. Today's project: my closet. I filled a giant Target bag with clothes that no longer fit or I just plain didn't wear anymore, and handed it off to my sister. One thing's for sure: it was way more fun to see how excited my sister got at the contents of the bag than it has been for me to keep shoving them around in my closet.

Day 2 of The Giving Week: success.

Pizza pizza.

Tonight the roomie and I grabbed a $5 pizza for dinner...yum yum. On our way out of the pizza shop with our trophy, a seemingly-homeless lady came up to me and said she was trying to get some money together for a pizza herself. I honestly had no cash on me, but offered her a slice of ours instead. I got a big smile and a "God bless you!" as she took her slice. Not a big thing; honestly, I wonder if I should have just gone back in and bought her her own pizza. But it did feel good to give, even just a little bit.

One of my best friends gave me a devotional book for Christmas: Inspiration for Girlfriends by Ellen Miller. To be honest, I've never been a big fan of these often-cheesy and fluffy devo books, but I've been loving reading Miller's "Truth Nuggets" every day. And on January 6, the entry opened with these words:

"I believe we rob ourselves of joy by not giving something away--every day."

So this week, that's my goal: to give something away every day. I'm not quite sure what this will look like all week long, but I'm excited for the challenge, excited to bless some people in some small (or maybe not so small...?) ways. We'll see what God does with this one...

Take that.

I've never been a cusser at any point in my life. Growing up, "crap," "pee," and "shutup" were bad words; anything beyond that was simply unthinkable. Even now in my 20's I'm proud to report I've never had cause to cuss anyone out or give them the bird.

But tonight I flipped off Tony Horton. He's had it coming for a long time now.

Me in a classroom

Our fearless leader for our 3-week theology series at church was off traveling the world this week...and he asked me to step in. So up I got in front of 17 or so 7th-graders, and did my very bestest to fill them all in on "How do we read the Bible?" A few of the punk boys tried to push back, shouting out wrong answers and other randomness. I took a page from my how-to-deal-with-annoying-kids-in-the-field manual...and pointedly ignored them. They shut up eventually. All in all, my night in the classroom went relatively smoothly. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give myself...7.

Shuffle.

We were missing some key middle school leaders at church this morning, so those of us who remained did a bit of shuffling around. My usual support and sometimes-announcements role changed; this morning I was in charge of running the game. Nothing major, just a 20-minute or so ice breaker is what we normally do. So I busted one out that I've played at camp--in Sequoia, in Ukraine, in Big Bear--with great results. And while I wouldn't say it was a total flop, I wouldn't say it was a total hit either. Mostly I blame it on it just being a weird morning in general; maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better. In any case, the humiliation was of the mildest form, and I live to fight another day...

Front and center.

Monday I received an e-mail asking if I wanted to work Friday; yesterday it was finally confirmed. Today I showed up at the office to grab my animals and supplies and find out what the heck I was doing. 3 animals, 20 minutes, no big deal really; I've done it a million times before (more or less).

Then I got to the park with my critters and the park people sent me towards the giant outdoors stage. Then they sent me up on the stage. Not how I normally teach, it gave me a little bit of a thrill/chill. The kids came up and kept me company, and they were way into what I had to show them, so it didn't turn out so weird after all. All in all, a good night.

Utah.

Chatted with my Mormon friend at work today about life, Utah, missions, our different faiths, and just barely scratched the testimony surface. It wasn't anything earth-shattering, but it was the first conversation of this type I've had with him, and I didn't back down or wimp out, and it was good. Hopeful for more...

Standing on the edge of me.

Yesterday I started to feel a burning in my soul for something new, something exciting, something scary. Don't quite know what that something is yet, but I sure am anxious to find out!

Today I shared these thoughts and feelings with my bff and mom. Can't help to have more people praying for clarity too, right?

Introduced my sis and a couple of out-of-state childhood friends to one of my favorite Hollywood music venues tonight! The new artists were good, but catching up with friends and hanging out with my sis made the night pretty fantastic. And I DID get to hear Amy Kuney again, after far too long. And guess what song she opened with...?

Beautiful morning, it's a beautiful morning
Dressed up in summer and tied with a bow
Let's be courageous and face tiny dangers
And let's climb those fences with signs that say "don't"
Beautiful man, I'm a beautiful woman
Find simple pleasures wherever we go
It's the simple things that make us feel at home

Cock-a-doodle-do!

Christmastime has been full of busyness and not a few tiny dangers, including...

>Cooking and having a few family members over for dinner.

>Airport traffic--'nuff said.

>Hung out with the bff's boyfriend for the longest time yet, even took him and her on a road trip to the mountains!

>Played some broom hockey with complete strangers...and it was awesome.

>Walked an icy hill in total darkness.

>Attempted to drive several icy hills...and backslid all the way back down.

And then today...an early morning run to the airport left me much to close to work to drive back home, but with 2 hours to kill before the day officially began. So I found a Starbucks, drank a chai, and briefly conversed with a man who seemed to be the unofficial mayor of that particular shop. Definitely interesting. Starbucks are quite enjoyable at the buttcrack of dawn, I have to admit. If only it was easier getting out of bed...