Am I the only one out there who still needs to do their taxes?. . .

I have a pretty severe obsession with 2 things: pizza and pancakes. For as long as I can remember I have always enjoyed those 2 things. I am particularly fond of Perkin's pancakes. They're so good I can enjoy them even without any syrup. Most other pancakes just aren't complete without the syrup. It makes me wonder what they put in their pancakes and how bad they are for me. But that's beside the point right now.

New Question:

Who's up at 4:00?

...

Tuesday

5:30 AM

Laying in bed basically twiddling my thumbs

5:45

I accept the fact that I'm awake

I'm dead tired and ticked off that I'm wide awake

I start praying for people who come to mind

People who are walking in extreme valleys right now

I can't rest

Who's up at this time?

6:00

I start writing blogs in my head

and eventually decide to get up and write them for real.

Today I worked out in the morning – something I haven’t done for a long time. I forgot how chatty the morning crowd is. I am there to work out, NOT socialize. Unlike most of the morning crowd. It’s seriously as if these women have nothing better to do. They’re not on their way to work. Their husbands support them. They’re just out and about cruising around in their Lexus SUVs. They’re CERTAINLY not breaking a sweat. They putz around and are frequently in my way when I switch stations.

While I was working out I overheard two things that hit my heart:

1) A woman whose mom is ill, has been ill for awhile, and is living in a nursing home 2 states away! She said her siblings take care of her, and she was quick to say she always tries to go see her a couple times a year. A couple times a YEAR?!? I guess that’s all it takes to appease her guilt of not being with her.

2) Another woman later in another conversation about cigarette smoke said when her mom (a smoker) would leave after a visit to her house, she would have to open up all the windows and let it air out because she never had the nerve to ask her to not smoke in her house.

I can’t imagine not feeling comfortable enough with my mom to ask her for that courtesy, not to mention the fact that she would never be that discourteous to me!

I am so grateful for a wonderful relationship with my mom. It hasn’t always been that way. I was a horrible daughter when I was in junior high and early high school. I have blocked out most of those details. But I grew up, moved on, and moved out. And I came to realize how much I appreciated her.

Especially in the last couple months as I’ve gone through the valleys of life, she has been there for me. Always. No matter what. She is my rock. I’m so thankful to God for her.

Yesterday with my 2:21 work dismissal, I was unexpectedly blessed with free time. Since I hadn't even planned to be in the area, there really wasn't that much that I wanted to do. I had this afternoon off, and I didn't know what to do with it.

I wandered around the library for awhile, picked up a couple books. I was hoping for a movie to catch my attention, but none did (yah, if you're paying $4 at Blockbuster instead of 25 cents at the library, you should adjust your ways). At home I looked online for any matinées showing; again nothing was interesting me.

Then I started thinking how I've been blessed with this afternoon off, but many others have not. Including my sister-in-law, who I knew was having a really rough and stressful day at work. I'd never been to her office. I could see it for the first time, AND surprise her and hopefully make the rest of her day a little bit better. This met my personal requirement of having Two Reasons to go somewhere (I'll get into this some other time), so I found directions off the internet and headed out.

I stopped to pick up a bouquet of fresh flowers, coffee, and cookies. I thought those would be 3 good things to help brighten her afternoon. And it worked. She was surprised, and she told me later that it was definitely the highlight of her day and that the rest of the afternoon went much better.

There's a song that we sometimes sing at the mega-church. And I have to give credit where credit is due - I think we got it from Mars Hill (a mega church in/near Grand Rapids).

It's all about how we've been blessed and loved and changed for the better, but it doesn't stop there. It says that with all these good things that have happened to us, we should share it with others. Not just a pay it forward/do a random act of kindness thing, but more so that are called to do this. This is our responsibility. Ok, maybe the song doesn't say all that, but that's what I believe.

Here's the chorus:

I have been blessed - now I wanna be a blessing.
I have been loved - now I wanna bring love.
I've been invited - I wanna share the invitation.
I have been changed - to bring change, to bring change.

I encourage you to take your blessings and share them with others. Some of you may be thinking right now, "What blessings? I haven't been blessed." And that's because others haven't been doing their job. So, go, be a blessing. People need it.

Two Easter treats I like to splurge on every year. The Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs seem to taste so much better than the regular peanut butter cups (then again I don't really eat those much, so I'm probably just making that up).

And of course the classic Cadbury Creme Eggs. Don't mess with the caramel or orange. Just give me the original! And, is it me or do the size of the eggs shrink every other year as the price goes up? Oh well, they're still good!

Since the great Spring Blizzard of the Midwest forced me to cancel my plans of visiting my soon to be married friend, Velvet, I ended up going in to work today. I figured I can definitely save the vacation day for later, namely June.

We got a company wide email from the President about 2:20 saying Easter weekend was to commence immediately and we could all go home. What a nice, unexpected treat!

But even better than that, I decided since I was in town, I'd go to the Good Friday service at my old church. I forgot how liturgical/traditional they have become as I have gone in the other direction, becoming accustomed to a more contemporary style of worship. So I was real fidgety and antsy during the service, but that's beside the point, and maybe it was just due to lots of coffee consumption anyways.

Walking into the church, I was surprised to see my dear friends D & B who moved to Ohio a year ago! D & B were leaders of our college group back in the day. I have many fond memories from time spent at their house (some of which they weren't even there for, but that's a story for another blog), being their girls' first babysitter, and always enjoying visiting with them.

I'm not the best at keeping in touch with people; in fact I hadn't talked to them since August (!), but that doesn't mean I don't think of them. I was actually just thinking about them earlier this week. I forgot how much I missed them. I forgot how much they meant to me. Until I saw them today. I actually started crying.

I'm thankful that I have friends like D & B and that we can still feel connected, even with time and distance separating us. I think some friendships have connected souls, friendships like D & B's, who will always hold a very special place in my heart.

About an hour ago I got a call from a concerned friend alerting me of tomorrow's weather forecast. I researched the forecast for my entire 8 hour route, and it is not looking good.

Snow accumulating 6 to 10 inches, one inch per hour, sleet, strong winds, hazardous to near impossible driving conditions. Pretty much a blizzard that I would be driving into all day.

I think I have to cancel my trip. I just don't have it in me to fight thru a blizzard for an 8 hour drive that will probably end up lasting more like 10 - 12 hours.

I am so disappointed. So much I was looking forward to this weekend, and now the weather is making me change my plans. Argh, frustration!!!

I saw this posted at a locally owned coffee house in Indianapolis the other day.