come awake

Are we left here on our own? Can you feel when your last breath is gone? Night is weighing heavy now—be quiet and wait for a voice that will say, "Come awake from sleep, arise! You were dead—become alive. Wake up; wake up! Open your eyes. Climb from your grave into the light."

Bring us back to life.

You are not the only one who feels like the only one. Night soon will be lifted, friend—just be quiet and wait for the voice that will say, "Come awake from sleep, arise! You were dead—become alive. Wake up; wake up! Open your eyes. Climb from your grave into the light."

Rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise—to life. Rise, arise to life! Arise, arise, arise, rise, rise, arise, rise, shine, shine, oh... SHINE! (wake up wake up) The light will shine! (wake up wake up) Rise—light will shine. (wake up wake up) Shine, shine, shine.

He's shining on us now.

—David Crowder Band

unrest

Lately things have been BUSY. I'm not sure how or when life got so busy, but it did. Sometimes when I hear people talking about TV shows I wonder when they have time to watch television. Seriously, I am either a terrible steward of my time, or terribly over-committed. Perhaps I am a little of both. Or, perhaps I have different priorities. I go down rabbit trails often, but they are quite enjoyable rabbit trails. But they often leave me tired. I need alone time, but I get lonely when I'm alone. Today was restful. I went to see a movie by myself and enjoyed every minute of it, then went grocery shopping, and then made dinner. But right now I'd love some human interaction in addition to the feline interaction.

Lately I've been missing my house. Missing laying in the hammock looking up at the stars. Missing drinking wine for hours on end in the backyard. Missing the space and all the big windows and sunlight and hardwood floors. Missing the kitchen and the yearly canning of salsa. Missing not running the air-conditioning. But yesterday while driving I passed a woman mowing her lawn, and I didn't miss that at all.

And there are a whole lot of other things right now as well...things that I love dearly but don't want any part of. Or things that I want badly but don't feel like working to get. I just feel sort of outside myself. There's nothing to write. I've just been reading. Like, I have nothing to give. Nothing to contribute. But I'm not sad. I'm just...not at ease. You know how when you get so tired that you just can't sleep? It's like that. It's broken and beautiful all at the same time.

why i'm not particularly prolific lately

Too... pretty... outside... to... blog...

flattery

This morning Jordanne, Becca, and I were having breakfast at Einstein Bros, a bagel shop right around the corner from Shawnee Mission East high school. We were in line and the woman in front of me turns to me and says, "Do you girls go to East?"

I look at her and say, "Ma'am, I'm thirty-one."

"Wow. You don't look thirty-one."

"Well, I know I don't look seventeen."

something i've learned about myself today while being fitted for a groomswoman's dress

Stores I do not enjoy having to go into:
bridal shops (even though I did get to see my friend Amy who took my measurements)
the Gap
The Body Shop
Dean & Deluca
The Jones Store
Victoria's Secret
Ann Taylor Loft (or anywhere else that sells "business casual" clothing)

Stores I do enjoy, and sometimes go to just for fun:
Barnes & Noble
Nordstrom (My one "mall" exception. I mean, have you seen their shoes?!)
Target
Bass Pro
The Home Depot
Backwoods
the Apple Store
Best Buy

The bad news is that every time I am in a friend's wedding, or need cosmetics, or need clothes I will have an anxiety attack about shopping. However, the good news is that one day I'll be sitting around the house with the man of my dreams and I'll say, "Honey, let's go shopping," and he'll respond with, "YESSSS!!" because he'll know full well that what I'm in the market for will either be power tools, camping equipment, an iPod accessory, or a novel.

Or maybe shoes.

well said

Me: "Are you really going to drive all the way to California?"

Aaron: "No, I'm going to ride my motorcycle."

Me: "Really? Is that safe?"

Aaron: "No, it's not safe. But it'll be fun."

now THIS is the dialogue of three intellectual giants

Me: I was craving egg salad yesterday.

Cari: I make incredible egg salad.

Me: Yeah. Cause there's mayonnaise in it.

Cari: Miracle Whip.

Me: Yeah.

Scott: Don't you eat Miracle Whip by itself?

Cari: I used to.

Scott: I eat mustard by itself.

Me: Mustard's not as bad as Miracle Whip.

Scott: Yeah, after awhile it just tastes like pickles. And I like pickles, so it's all good.

why do the funniest things happen at wal-mart?

Tonight Aaron and I were at Wal-Mart, and as we went through the self-checkout lane, when it asked if he wanted to perform the transaction in English or Spanish, Aaron selected Spanish. One of his items was cat litter, and it did something squirrely in the bagging area. The machine kept speaking the same thing over and over to him in Spanish, and I can't translate it perfectly but the jist of it was, "a store employee needs to come punch some numbers into this machine before you can proceed."

So while we're waiting for a store employee, the machine keeps repeating the same thing in Spanish, in that recorded female voice that it has. So Aaron just keeps saying to it, "Why thank you. I'm glad you find me so good looking. Wow, you shouldn't. I'm blushing..."

It was funny enough in and of itself, but when the employee came over and punched the numbers into the machine to make it proceed, she said to the gentleman in line behind us, "I can ring you up at Customer Service." He looked at her and said, "No thanks. This is way too entertaining."

fifty-five, sunny, and breezy

I must say that this is fantastic weather lately.

FOR OCTOBER.

Middle of May, and I feel like I should be at a football game. It is nice though. I like snippets of other seasons thrown into the monotony of the normal.

well said

Annoyed Starbucks patron (who was trying to read) to us: "Girls! Girls!" (as if we were in high school) "This isn't Grand Central Station!"

Me, being the mature person I am: "Yeah and it's not a LIBRARY either."

i won't use names to protect the innocent...er, i mean embarrassed

Tonight at our bible study as we were gathering our purses and stuff to leave, my friend said, "I tried to pay for my dinner with this," as she pulled a card out of her purse. I looked up and realized that she was not holding a debit card, or a credit card, not even a library card or a Blockbuster card. Instead, she was holding a Victoria's Secret gift card that said, "FREE PANTY" in large block letters on the front of it.

I soooo wish I'd been having dinner with her tonight.

the velvet touch of a sleepy afternoon

Last night I was driving home listening to the shuffle funtion on the iPod (of course), and Dancing Virginia by Jump, Little Children came on. I truly don't think I've listened to this song in ten years. Before I knew it I was smiling ear to ear, reminiscing by myself of days of old when Jump was just a local band that we'd see at the Music Farm in Charleston and the Handlebar in Greenville. It was only, like, two bucks to get into the show. I remember saying hey to Jay (Clifford, the lead vocalist/guitarist) one time and he was all, "Dude, I love your shirt." I was wearing a Mickey Mouse ringer tee that was old and ratty that I'd gotten at a thrift store. I said, "Yeah, well I like yours too." He said, "Wanna trade?" and I said, "No, I like mine better than I like yours."

Man, those were good days. We'd always stop at Krispy Kreme on the way home and get a dozen donuts between three of us and drink coffee. By the time we left there it'd be 3:00 am and we were so wide awake on sugar and coffee that we'd never go to sleep. Then after our 8:00 am classes the following day we'd all come home in the early afternoon and fall asleep—one of us in the hammock chair, one in the papasan chair, and one on the couch with Rico the cat—with Cowboy Junkies in the CD player. I was so happy.

And the coolest part about all those wonderful memories? As happy as I was then, I'm even happier now.

well said

Julia's law school professor to her: "Julia, you need to come to my office so we can have a talk about your procrastination."

Julia: "Can it wait?"

princess charming

Today I got hit on (unfortunately) by a really creepy guy working at the Cingular store. I was simply trying to upgrade my phone and well, let's just say it was REALLY uncomfortable and the guy was WAY out of line. I just kept politely ignoring his comments of, "and no, if you're wondering, I'm not currently seeing anyone," when I tried to ask him about text messaging and, "I'd love to spend more time with you," when I said I'd have to think about it and come back later. Jordanne, on the other hand, had my back and actually said, "That was pretty inappropriate," to his face.

So later this evening, Jordanne and I were telling Melissa and Patty about the debacle, and Jordanne was telling them about how the guy kept touching my hands showing me the features on the phone and then came to the window and peered at us with his hand over his brow as we drove away. One of the girls said, "Well, Amy, you just need to stop being so charming in public."

As I was defensively saying, "But I wasn't!" Jordanne piped in with, "Oh she wasn't being charming, believe me. She was just being normal Amy."

Eh. No wonder I don't have a boyfriend.

"i want to take you to foggy london town"

So tonight as Sean and I were leaving, I said, "I need to get me a big Coke. At the Sonic." Sean agreed, "Yeah, with some vanilla." So off we headed to Sonic to get some soft drinks for the road.

Ten minutes later we're flying down the highway barely talking because we're sucking down our vanilla Cokes. He says, "Man, this is tasty." I say, "Yeah, and it's pretty filling, too." Upon uttering those words, I immediately start quoting Anchorman (a favorite of mine and Sean's) and say in a perfect Ron Burgundy voice, "My, this burrito is tasty, but it sure is filling!"

Sean looks at me and in all seriousness says, "When did you eat a burrito?"

phone conversations

Sean: Hola.
Me: Hola.
Sean: That's Spanish for, 'What's up, hooker?'
Me: That's ho bag to you, mister.
Sean: Oh sorry. I didn't get the memo.

---------------

Julia: Yeah, what do we know? We're the masters of disaster.
Me: Yeah, you and me, the arrangers of disorder.

---------------

Me: Hello.
Cari: You're not at the drag show.
Me: No, I missed the start of it. But now I can go with you. And you're better than a drag show anyday.
Cari: That's good to know. ...I think.

it's official, i've lost it

I just looked over to where the cats are playing and said OUT LOUD, "Guys? Can you stop being so obtrusive?"

well that was random

Today at lunch, as Jordanne and I sat minding our own business, the weirdest thing happened...

We were eating at Red Robin, outside, and had oddly enough been seated right next to two friends of ours who happened to be dining there as well. It was a nice day, mid-seventies with a humid breeze and the occasional thunderstorm. It was a nice lunch, we had tasty burgers, endless fries, and a friendly banter with our friends David and Shibu a table away.

When all of a sudden a gust of wind came upon us, lifted the tarp on the roof, and dumped all the water that had pooled in the low places ALL OVER US. Okay, not all over US, but all over the couple sitting next to us. It just got my leg and a little bit of my food. And scared the bejeebers out of us. We moved to a different table, and laughed and laughed as almost everyone on the wait staff came out to assess the debacle. The funny part was, the water just kept coming. Every couple minutes, more water.

And then our waiter, who was the only person on staff there taking it remotely lightly, said, "You guys didn't realize you were eating lunch at Oceans Of Fun, did you?"

Oh, and the BEST part of lunch? After David and Shibu left, our waiter informed us, "Your friends picked up your tab." Talk about the best brothers in the entire world. I love our guys.