Star"Big"Bucks

It is unbelievable to me that people will pay almost $4 for a cup of coffee. What could possibly be so good that a person would stand in line for 10 minutes and then willingly hand over $4 (AND sometimes a tip)? Yet more often than I'd like to admit, I find myself in line at Starbucks. I'm always a little shell shocked when the cashier tells me how much the Grande, Non-Fat, Sugar-Free Vanilla latte I ordered costs. I mean, come on...there's no fat and no sugar...what could be in there that would warrant $3.92?? And, to top it off, they don't even offer any sort of a "Frequent Drinker" card. You know, like a buy 10 get one free sort of thing. Here's the part that really gets to me though...Even knowing all this, I still LOVE Starbucks. It's like a relationship that I know I need to end, but for some reason, I just can't say good-bye and walk away. Don't pretend you don't know exactly what I'm talking about. I guess we all have our burdens to bear and being caught up in a love affair with Starbucks is mine.

I know what you're thinking..."What happened to Ice, Ice Baby - Part 2?" Don't worry, it's on the way.

Ice, Ice Baby – Part 1

I’ve sort of been sulking around for the past couple of weeks. Last year at this time we were just returning from our first trip to Hawaii. This year, however, I am painfully reminded every time I look out my window, that spring is still a LONG ways away and there are definitely no palm trees swaying around here. It seems that rather than the sunshine and warmth I’m praying for, the Lord has seen fit to answer my prayers in a different way, a way that can be summed up in one word. Ice.

Not only has it rained on top of all our snow and then re-frozen into an icy tundra in our yard and surrounding property, but for some strange reason, ice has become an integral part of our recreation lately.

For starters, my Grandparents took my son and me to his first Hockey game last weekend. He absolutely LOVED it. I knew he would think it was great, but I was worried that by the end of the first period, he would be ready to head for home. Not only was I woefully wrong, but he was pretty adamant that we buy tickets for the game the next night as well. (We didn’t). He came to the game wearing a T-shirt with the team logo and carrying a cow bell and hand clappers for the appropriate noise-making. Before the game even started he had added a light-up hockey player pin and a puck to his collection, and by the time the second period started, he also had a hockey stick in hand. He’s considering changing his desired profession from Race Car Driver to Hockey Player and has already left black “puck marks” all over the white trim in my hallway. Either way, I’m doomed.

Secondly, my son and husband have recently become infatuated with ice fishing. I have issues with this on so many levels that I think I better save some of my dissertations on ice fishing for my next post. Let’s just say that my enthusiasm is not quite at the same level that theirs is and I have never prayed harder for spring to arrive.

Inspiration

There's nothing like looking down the card aisle at Safeway at 5:15pm on Valentine's Day and seeing it FILLED with a large group of men frantically looking for cards to inspire a good blog post. Actually, "frantically looking" is not the correct term. They were all standing with their hands shoved in their pockets just staring at the rack, as if by osmosis, they would be able to read and pick out a card. Obviously, picking one up with your hands was against the unspoken rules that were in place at the time. It was so funny, I (unintentionally) laughed out loud as I passed by. I hope they didn't hear me!

On the other hand, I'm happy to report that my husband bought me a beautiful card and a bottle of perfume that he had to make a special trip out of town to get. He is definitely in good graces these days...still riding the coat tails of the new chair in the living room and now expensive perfume....Hmmmm, I don't know what he's up to, but I sure like it!

Where God Leads

Okay, okay…I’ve noticed. You can stop reminding me. I know it’s been a couple of weeks since I posted anything new. I’ve had a bad combination of an abundance of stress and a lack of creativity, which I suppose often go hand in hand. I’d like to say it’s all behind me and I have something wonderfully witty to share with you. However, that’s not really the case. There’s been a lot going on both physically & mentally for me. My last post was Feb 1st. February 2nd was the 5 year anniversary of the death of my daughter. Try as I might, I could not find the words I searched for to express my feelings this and every February. In my last post, I mentioned a new job opportunity. Tomorrow I will spend the morning finishing up my last day at my old job and the afternoon starting my new one. The decision to change jobs has been an extremely difficult one. I have had nothing but great experiences and making a change was the farthest thing from my mind. But God often leads us down paths we don’t expect. The question I ask myself is, “Do I have the faith to follow Him?” My change in jobs is also accompanied by a physical challenge I’ve been struggling with. I believe it’s been correctly diagnosed as an inner ear problem, but whatever it is, it’s certainly an inconvenience that I don’t have time or energy for right now. As I make these transitions, I can only solicit the prayers of my family and friends, and pray myself to hear that gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit that says, “Follow me.”

New Balance

I’ve been thinking about it, and the way I’ve got it figured, if I come home from work in the afternoon famished and I pig out on Oreos and chocolate peanut butter Hershey Kisses that are stashed in the cupboard (probably left over from Christmas), as long as I spend 15 minutes half-heartedly walking on my treadmill and make sure that I have cottage cheese (the ultimate diet food) on my plate at dinner (in addition to the mashed potatoes, gravy and dinner roll smothered in butter) then it all balances out right?

And you thought this post was going to be about running shoes.