Quick Up-a-ma-date

I thought I would do a quick update, because for those of you who are addicted to anything, you know you have to feed the addiction. I could be addicted to worse things than blogging, so I figure I am alright.

Mom and I are going to Aberdeen today. We are out of eggs and other staples.

Witticism is a word. Did you know that? It is my new favorite word.

From My Uncle Jim

Recently, I got a letter from my uncle Jim. (Click on it to read it, but read this first.) I wasn't expecting it, although I did send out support letters for my Africa trip. (I am going with a group from my church to South Africa in July for ten days; it does come with a large price tag, so I was encouraged by someone to send out support letters.) I should probably explain first that this is my dad's brother. Even though I send out letters to every relative on my dad's side, I wasn't expecting anything (and am not expecting anything from anyone else). You see, if you don't know me very well, my parents are separated. My dad has been really distant and not a part of the last 6 years of my life. Everyone on my dad's side of the family has said they haven't taken sides, but they don't keep in touch with me. I have sent letters to my grandma and aunt, but even when they visit, they don't come over. They came to a play I was in and as soon as it got over, they were the first ones out the door. So, no one on that side of the family is a part of my life much right now. That's why I was happy about this letter. It was unexpected. He doesn't have much money of his own, but he sent me some money still. I really appreciated this letter and found it quite hilarious. I don't agree with everything he says, so don't think that his views are mine, because they aren't. If you giggle a lot while reading it, then my goal was accomplished. My mother and I both laughed while reading this. (And you don't even have to know him to find it funny, because honestly, I hardly know him myself.) It was nice to hear from him. It was nice to know that at least some of my relatives support me.

(P.S. Rev Ike? Tell me that isn't funny.)

Throwback Thursday (Strawberry Dress)

Yay for strawberry dresses and weird faces. (I have no idea what was the cause of my brother's and my odd facial expression. And no, I don't think I can make my face like that anymore.)

Menial Day-to-Day Happenings

As far as eventful things happening in my life, not much is going on. However, when it comes to menial and slightly pathetic things, many happenings are happening. Take this morning, I was done with my shower and noticed a small bug on my shoulder. Why, yes, ladies and gents, I have gotten my first tick of the season. Good thing I have a dog, or else my getting a tick despite my never going outside would be odd. I hate ticks. Not as much as my brother, he is just paranoid when it comes to ticks.

I went downtown (or uptown, if someone would like to explain the difference to me) with my mother and grandmother today. It was actually a lot of fun. My grandma just talks to everyone. I am not sure if that is because of her age (she is old) or her personality (she talks to people a lot). It was funny. My mother also just randomly talks to complete strangers, telling them details of her life that I don't think they really care about. I don't know if I should say, "behold, my future," though, because I do say random things, but I don't think I am outgoing at all. So, the strangers I meet in the future are lucky, because I will never tell them why I have a cat.

My body aches. For some odd reason, I thought it would be a good idea to start lifting weights with my brother. It has only been two days now. I will admit it is a nice bonding time with my brother, but I am weak and pathetic, so I am in pain. Whatever, summers makes me want to be healthier. Plus, I am a little sick of the pathetic state I have been in for the last almost 17 years of my life. Enough is enough people. But my body aches nonetheless.

Do you know what word I really like? Nevertheless. It makes me happy inside.

Unsend Button

Why didn't anyone invent the "unsend" button? You know, when you realize you didn't really want to send that email? I think it would come in handy. There is a lot of smart people out there... someone go make it happen.

Broccoli, Short Sermons, and A.D.D.-Filled Meetings

I am currently snacking on some dinner mints. Not because I just eat dinner, which is apparently the largest meal in the day. I only ate leftover Subway for lunch, so hopefully that isn't the biggest meal of my day. I do, however, know how to snack healthy. Okay not, but I have been enjoying a lot of vegetables lately. I discovered that broccoli is probably my favorite. Which is weird, considering that most kids are usually like forced to eat their broccoli.

So, I preached Sunday night. And as per request, I suppose I shouldn't just not say how it went. I didn't realize looking at my notes that it was going to be incredibly short. (My notes made up three pages after all.) There wasn't very many people there, what with it being Memorial weekend and all. It was a little weird, since Pastor wasn't there. I think everyone could tell that I didn't really know what I was doing. I wasn't trying to look at the clock, but I noticed that it was only 7:30 by the time I was getting done. I was once told by Pastor that I shouldn't worry about length. I just should say what I want to say and not think about how long or short it turns out to be. To let you know how short it was, I was told by someone that it was good, because he "falls asleep if it is any longer than 15 minutes." So his wife said, "You kept his attention the entire way through." She also said it was good. So I should stop being too hard on myself. I got my point across. The main theme of my sermon was that God is the only hope we ever had or need. It was the first time I ever preached out of the Old Testament, if you want to look up the verses. It was Exodus 14:10-14, 29-31 and Psalms 46:1-3, 10.

Tonight I have an Africa meeting. I think we are practicing the worship music that we will be taking when we go this summer. We need a lot of practice, so hopefully we are all focused tonight. I can say that, but I know most of the time, I am the non-focused one. When the A.D.D. kicks in, the A.D.D. really kicks in.

Memorial Day and Indiana Jones

My family knows how to celebrate Memorial Day, we are going to the new Indiana Jones movie today. It's not really like that's how we are celebrating; my brother really wanted to see this movie and because it is Memorial Day, he has the day off from work. So, we are going to be heading to Aberdeen pretty soon. I will admit that I am not as excited to see the movie as my brother and mother are, but I am all up for seeing it. I happen to love watches movies in theaters and am really sad that it costs as much as it does. (But, I am all for buying cheap candy at Wal*Mart first and then shoving it in my suitcase-like purse and going into the theater.) There is just something about watching a movie at the same time as many other strangers, laughing at the same stuff, crying at the same stuff (yeah, I doubt there will be any crying, but whatever), you know, just experiencing at the same time. Plus, I love the crazy cold air conditioning that makes you wish you had brought a coat. I really just love theaters and wished that I could go to more movies. I think the last time I was in a theater was for the movie The Bourne Ultimatum. That was like last summer. Depressing, isn't it? I know. It is. Well, feel free to invite me along to any movies this summer, I would love to go.

As for Memorial Day, I just want to say that I never got a chance to meet either of my grandfathers, but they both served in WWII. I would like to say they were both honorable, but they had there flaws. However, they doesn't change that they were brave enough to serve. I would have loved to meet these men.

In Less Than an Hour

So, in less than an hour, I will be preaching. Well, not just preaching, but like leading the whole service (except worship, which is a large part and I can't sing, so it is a good thing I am not in charge of that). Pastor Tim is gone, Pastor Jeremy is gone, so I guess that just leaves Pastor Annie? Ha, ha. Yeah, no that looks too weird. I don't feel as confident as I normally do, but with God, at least, there will be a... service.

Pray it's God's words and not mine.