I had church in my car today

I had to do a little traveling to meet some volunteers today. I guess I didn't think through enough that the fair is going on and I may be stuck in traffic for, oh I don't know....45 minutes.

However, I was stuck in a long line along US 50 near a park. It was pretty around. There were trees, a breeze and some sunshine. So, I plugged my iPod into my stereo, put it on shuffle and listened to whatever came at me.

I have a variety of contemporary Christian artists on my iPod. Normally these days I just skip through those because I don't feel like listening to people sing how great God has made their lives. It's a process people...I know I have a ton to be thankful for and I am.

But this song came on...I felt compelled to leave it...sing on top of my lungs...and do a little praisin' that I haven't done in a very long time.

Chili

I'm  beginning to cook like a grown-up....after all these years of being on my own. I've created an amazing chili recipe just from gut instinct twice now. CJ said it's the best chili ever. So, there you have it!

I wish I had more time for these simple pleasures.

Faking it in Pictures

Why are we so afraid to let people know that we don't have it all together? I'm a Facebook stalker, and don't judge, you probably are too. I mean, really, who hasn't accepted a friend that you were unsure of just to check out their pictures and not thought, "Oh my God, they've lost all their hair since high school (gained weight, look better, nice looking spouse, etc.)" I'm 100% sure I'm not the only one that's had these thoughts. But it's the very fear of these thoughts that Facebookers go out of their way to make everyone believe their life is about as perfect as you can get. You see the perfect poses, beautiful smiles, light hitting your hair just right so you look amazing. Who is going to post that bad picture? You don't want anyone seeing that. And, that's completely acceptable and understanding.

But here's the underlying problem with "faking it in pictures" as I call it: it makes people feel like crap. Is that your problem? Probably not, people are going to feel like crap no matter what. But I want to connect with that real person. The person who isn't afraid to say, "my life is a mess right now," or "I don't have it all-together, but I'm trying the best I can."

I have two major aversions in life: 1) dishonesty/liars 2)hypocrisy.

Funny thing is that these two are extremely related. Isn't hypocrisy (saying one thing and doing another) a form of being dishonest?

Let me make myself clear however: I do LOVE reading my friends updates on the good things going on in their life: baby's being born, weddings, doing well in school, the long-awaited vacation, a new car/house, new pets, daily frustrations that I may be able to offer support in, etc. What grates on my nerves is the blatant, "look at me, look at me" updates and photos. And you know these people. And just a little confession, I've been this person too.

I know writing all this is going to make every single person who reads it wonder if I'm talking about them. I'm not talking about any one person. It's just a general observation.

But as I type and think, I believe that the flashy photos and attention grabbing updates are absolutely no different than my blogging. After all, I want you to read and must confess that I know more than the three people who "follow" my blog read this, but I do get sad whenever I see I still only have three followers. So, at the end of the day maybe I'm just jealous and want attention too. Hmmm, something to reflect on further for myself.

Weird post tonight, I know. So, to all my dear friends (and I wouldn't have you as a friend if you didn't mean something to me at some point in my life), keep the photos and updates coming. For the most part, I LOVE reading them...just don't feel like you have to fake your life to impress others. A little humility makes people love you alot more. Humans yearn for connections and relationships. And, we can't do that with the people that make us feel they are way out of our league.

Badger, Badger, Badger, Mushroom Mushroom, a Snake

I did not have a good day today. It was just...eh...

But really, I've had justifiably bad days. So, I can't categorize it into a bad day either. I guess at the end of the day, I sit here and think...it was just another day of my life crossed off the calendar and I can't redo it or undo it, so, I'm going to spend the next hour that's left not worrying about it.

So, tonight, my mom gave me the inspiration for writing this entry. Here's the backstory:

Last weekend I was at IHOP with my mom, CJ and Ken. Now, if you know my son, CJ, you know that he's a special blessing if you like a really good comedic show. I swear he has natural talent and a very amazing gift to make people laugh. And he's had this since, well, he's been able to talk. He has comedic timing that people would love to have. All on his own...perfect timing!

Like, when watching this scary movie called, "The Messenger," there was a scene when a ghost was coming out of a wall. The three-year old CJ says, "I'd be selling." Okay, it was hysterical.

Or he'll "make-up" sayings that I wonder if he's heard somewhere, but claims they're his, such as, "I don't have money but I know alot about the governor." I have no idea what this means, but coming from a seven year old it's funny.

So, back to IHOP last weekend. We're eating our food when CJ decides to get out of the seat and stand next to our table and move his hands up and down while singing, "badger, badger, badger, badger, mushrooms. badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, mushrooms," etc.

There are two funny moments about this. The theatricality of CJ and Ken's face. We had no idea what he was doing. After further questioning, CJ tells us that his uncle Andrew showed him a video on the computer. Then panic sets in...hope it was G rated, LOL.

So, Ken calls Andrew to find out what all the badger business is about. I'll post below and I do hope this is another (of the many) reasons to stay off the crackpipe!

A Video from New Orleans starring Liz Vessell and random street performers

I've had a couple of really productive days at work. Is this what it feels like to not have ADHD...boy, am I jealous for those of you who don't suffer from it. I'd probably be like, a world dominator by now if I didn't suffer from it.

But, in the end, ADHD won when I got home. Well, that's not entirely true either. I continued to work up until about an hour ago. This time trying dig myself out of all the emails I've accumulated.

Speaking of emails, who else thinks this is becoming less efficient and more of a nuisance? I, for one, sent way too many emails to co-workers in the last two days. I've been like an email crack-addict. Wouldn't be more effective to just give people information face-to-face? But, who wants more meetings? Hmm...I have no answers.

So, I finally stopped working and turned to a project I've been meaning to get around to...getting the video off of my phone and storing somewhere online. I'm not exactly a savvy tech person, so this has been a chore.

But here is a little something fun that I uploaded from my trip to New Orleans. A little background: I wanted to take a still picture but my video setting was on. So, everyone just posed as I tried to take the picture. I decided to just let them know I took the picture, moved my camera over a little (thus the shot of the police cruiser) and then went back to recording because they were so good!