Reflections On Being In Texas: A List

1. I used to think that Dallas was so spread out that it just takes forever to get anywhere. Since being back here, I’ve come to the realization that WHERE I LIVE is just really far from everywhere. Shoot…
2. All I’m saying, is that I have driven next to more semi trailers in the last two weeks than in the last four years combined. And I didn’t miss them.
3. Remember how I used to use this blog as an outlet for my Alaskan Weather Woes? Don’t think for a minute that just because I no longer live in Alaska I’m not still going to point out that it’s still cold there. It’s still cold. As in negative 10. And I think I moved to Texas at the perfect time of year.
4. The journey of this year? The changes I’ve been anticipating and experiencing? All of the unknowns? In case you were wondering? None of that has changed…
5. I love living in a place where everything is so new and yet so familiar. I am in such uncharted territory, and yet I feel so at home. 

A Simultaneous High and Low

Well, folks, I’m happy to report that The Last Song has now officially been read listened to by me. Completely.

Turns out there are lots of miles to drive in Dallas, and some unpacking I needed to do, so between that and the 20 minutes I sat in my car after arriving home one afternoon, the audio book is over.

I think I’ve said this before, but I’m always a little sad when I finish a book. I’m a character person. I like learning the stories of others. [Incidentally, I think this might be what I like most about meeting new people.]

So, the book is over. And for the most part I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t suspenseful. There was no mystery, really. But it drew me in well enough. There is only one regrettable item to this whole affair.

Yesterday, after finishing the book, I researched the movie (due out in January) and realized the main character is going to be played by Miley Cyrus.

And I am so not pleased.

The book-turned-movie has now lost all credibility – turns out it’s being produced by Disney. No surprise there. As a wise old songwriter once said, 

“If that’s what it is, then that’s what it is.  At least until Disney can rewrite it…”

 

 

Why’d it have to all end this way, huh??

Less Than Impressed

The only three books on the music business in the whole of Barnes and Noble, Grand Junction:

On Why I Was Glad to Get Out Of Canada

Jeremy and I made the mistake of going to Tim Horton’s  two days in a row. Tim Horton’s is a Canadian restaurant famous for donuts, I think. And while the donuts are tasty and the coffee is sweet, their service is terrible!

And even worse than that, they don’t take Visa. Who doesn’t take Visa?? So when they politely decline my credit card, I am obviously forced to give them cash or go without. This wasn’t a problem in Whitehorse.

In Canada. Paid with American money. No big.

So the next day, we go back to Tim’s in Ft St John, and of course the guy behind the counter is impossible. When I asked him if I could get a donut instead of hash browns he said, “Go for it.” Like, um…  okay. And then he tells me they don’t take Visa, which I’d conveniently fogotten, so I pulled out my American cash, as I’d done so innocently the day before, and he LAUGHED at me.

And all of a sudden I was THAT GUY.

Can you imagine if you’re working at Starbucks and some dude comes in and hands you a Canadian dollar bill, like it’s nothing? I guess maybe I’d laugh too. But it’s not like we weren’t in the middle of nowhere, with plenty of people just driving on through; I would kind of think they’d be used to it by now.

In any case, with the embarrassment, and the constant worry of cash versus credit and the inevitable butload of conversion charges I’m going to end up paying, feeling like an “American Tourist” every time I got out of the car, let me just be honest when I say that I was actually relieved when we crossed the US border into Montana.

Oh. And I guess this means they probably sussed me out.

I Hate Feeling Sick

Turns out, I don’t feel good today.

It’s hard to be witty or thoughtful when your insides are churning.

Could You Just Be Normal For Once?

I’m not a fan of small talk, I’m really not. So when I go to Starbucks and they start asking me if I have big plans for the day, or how my “Monday” is going, I just want to look at them and say, “Really? You’re asking me that right now?”

I just don’t like canned conversation.

So this guy, every time I go there (and I’ve overheard him do the same with other customers), when I place my order in the drive thru he says, “Okay. That will be ready tomorrow at 3 pm. But stop at the window and say hi to me.”

“Really? You just said that? Come on…”

But today, not only did he say THAT, when he handed me my drink (a gloriously frosty caramel beverage) he also said THIS:

“You can hardly even tell there’s chicken in it.”

REALLY? YOU JUST SAID THAT??

I mean. COME. ON.

I Vote Yes! and No! (But Mostly Yes)

I live in an apartment now. I mean, for like, two months I do. And my roommates are great. Just great.

You know how you can’t live with just any of your friends because you might acidentally hate them afterward? But then there are people that you know and then live with and then suddenly you’re better friends than you ever knew you wanted to be? 

That’s them.

I realized when I moved in with them that I haven’t lived in an apartment/roommate situation in over 6 years. Since then I’ve lived with families in houses, renting a room, staying with my brother, etc. This spring I lived on my own for 4 months and I enjoyed it.

But Guys? Having roommates is FUN. I thoroughly recommend it.

But the flip side to living in apartment?

The VAMPIRIC OLYMPIC GYMNASTIC HOPEFULS who live above us.

They never sleep.

They are constantly running and jumping and crashing and stomping.

Are they TRAINING??

They never sleep. Did I mention that?

9 pm – crashing

11 pm – crashing

1 am – crashing

430 am – crashing

7 am – crashing

I don’t know how they do it. It’s like very loud walking (and falling?). Except where are they walking to? And why are they never getting to where they’re going? I seriously cannot understand it. WHAT is going on up there?

But I can tell you this…  I live here. And I love my roommates.

And I have to sleep with earplugs every night.

Letter to the Editor

Dear Christian Radio Station,

 

There is more to Christian music than Jeremy Camp, Newsboys, Third Day, and whatever pop hit/easy listening single happens to be popular at the moment.

There is no good reason on the face of this earth that I should hear the same song playing on the radio when I get in my car as when I got out of my car 4 hours earlier, let alone a song that is entirely too annoying to still be getting radio play.

That being said, Testify to Love was popular over ten years ago. LET IT DIE.

In anticipation of hearing the depth of music that is out there, 

MJ

A Lesson in Mercy

A couple of weeks ago I told you that I got a traffic ticket. (Well, mostly I told you that I almost killed a man, but let’s not split hairs…) What you don’t know is that the day after paying that ticket, I got another ticket.

For the same thing.

At the same intersection.

FROM THE SAME COP.

 

Immediately, and for two weeks straight, my mind has been reeling with evasion strategies. “I don’t deserve this. I’m a safe driver. I can’t pay two $100 fines!! Maybe if I just plead my case…  Maybe if I just rely on my previously stellar driving record….” Unfortunately, in all reality, two tickets in one week does not a stellar driving record make. 

So finally I decided on trying to offer community service in lieu of the fine, and to ask for a reduction of the driving “points” against me. I gathered my courage, practiced my speech, and headed to the courthouse.

I told him what happened. I told him what I wanted. And he said no.
Just simply, “No.”

And I walked away thinking, “Why? What does it matter to this judge whether I pay my debt with money or with my time? Why is there no mercy in the court system?”

 

But I got thinking about this today, and I got thinking about how I’d used my own traffic ticket as an analogy for my 11 year old niece a couple of days ago. “Sometimes we are disciplined for wrongdoings we didn’t necessarily intend to do,” I told her. “We weren’t malicious; we made a mistake. But how will we learn if we aren’t disciplined?” I got stuck in a bad driving habit, and let me tell you, if two citations in a five day period doesn’t make you sit up and take notice, I’m not entirely sure what will.

And I started to wonder how I would have felt if the judge had said, “Yes.” What if he had given me mercy, and essentially given me what I wanted? Would I have learned the same lesson in all of this? Would I continue to drive on high alert, cautious, aware of my actions? Or would I have learned, perhaps subliminally, that my infractions aren’t really that big of a deal?

 

Maybe sometimes I ask God for mercy, and he says “No.” Revolutionary thought, right? Can you imagine a loving God who would say No to mercy? But what if he does? And what if it’s for our own good? And what if we only truly learn what he intends for us to learn when we are disciplined as though we were his very own children?

Mood Fail

Today as I was leaving work a construction guy outside my building said to me (in a pretty hefty southern drawl), “Have ah ever told ya you look lahke Reese Witherspewn?” To which I replied, “No! But thank you!”

I thought the whole thing was kind of funny because:

1. He said “I” as in “Have I…” and I’m thinking “Wha? When would you have? We’ve never met before.” And, 
2. My response was actually a lie, if when he said “I” he actually meant “anybody,” because just last week my friend Kate commented on this photo that I look like Reese. 

Crazy, right? I mean, that’s a pretty big compliment – and the first time I hear it is twice in one week?? NICE. So I walked away feeling kind of happy.  

 

And then I almost hit a person on a bike with my car.
On the way to the police station to pay for a traffic ticket.

 

B U Z Z.

K I L L.