Bloggers Block

I can't think of anything to blog about.



See you tomorrow.

Answers

You all are way too smart.

A. I don't weigh 117 pounds.

B. Ironically, my parents used to force me to make my bed. In my mind, there were many more important things than making beds and picking up clothes. I'm sure my parents feared for my future husband's sanity and invisioned my future home being a disaster. Today, I must have the bed made before getting into it at night. No matter if that means making it at 7:30am or 9:55pm...it has to be made before I go to bed.

C. I am not pregnant, but I like to mess with your minds. Although, I guess it really didn't work. You're right...I probably would tell most of you in person first, and then announce it to the blogging world.

D. We really did watch 8 episodes of 24 this weekend. Time that should have been spent cleaning, doing laundry, and other profitable tasks in order to keep my life less stressful during the week was spent lounging with Hubs on the couch and after each episode saying....let's just watch one more. I think that line is straight from "How to determine if you're addicted 101."

E. Probably due to letter "D," the garbage disposal reeks. Bad. I spent some quality time this morning attempting to fix this very problem.

F. I didn't lose my cell phone, but I thought I lost it for a good 4 hours on Saturday. It was on the counter. Right, smack-dab in front of my face.

Guess What?

Which item(s) below are true?

A. I weigh 117 pounds.

B. I must have my bed made at all times.

C. I'm pregnant.

D. I watched 8 episodes of 24 this weekend.

E. Something died in the garbage disposal and it reeks.

F. I lost my cell phone.

Scamming season

Answering the company's main phone line provides for many irritating, but humorous situations. I hear the phrase, uh yeah, you called me, at least once a day. I hear a lot of electronic telemarketer and debt collectors schpeels. But the people that irritate me the most, are the scammers.

Last year I dealt with them, too, but I was waaaaay more nervous. They are pretty persistent buggers calling almost everyday in an effort to get the model number off of our copier. Here is how a normal conversation goes with them (this week):

Me: Company name, this is Heather.

Scammer: Hi Heather, this is Ted. How are you doing today? **Notice he did not give out the name of his business - #1 clue it's a scammer.**

Me (I play along): I'm fine. How are you?

Scammer: Oh great. Hey, we are just going through and updating our records. It looks like we need the model number off of your copy machine. Do you know where that is and could you get it for me?

Me: Sure. Well, could you tell me again what company you from?

Click. Dial tone.

That's right. THEY HANG UP ON ME because they know they I caught-em. I can just see it written in their script book: if asked what company you are from, hang up immediately! I think they should try a different tactic, because that makes them look even more fishy than before.

They will try this story for a couple of weeks at different times of the day until they realize I won't budge and nobody else is answering the phone. Then, they will try something new. Last year they actually got to the point of telling me they were from the repair company that we use when the printers need fixed. In other words, they flat-out LIE to me - which really gets my blood a-boilin'.

So, bring it on scammers. I'm ready for you this year!

Thinking of my Hubs and learning to live

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2

These verses makes me think of Hubs. He is training for a marathon right now. He goes for some ridiculously long runs on Saturdays, and without the goal of the upcoming race it would be hard for him to get out there and put the miles in. When he goes on a run he lays aside all the troubles of the day. He pushes towards his goal and he runs.

He's also been in college for 7 years with the goal of becoming a dentist. There have been tough days and weeks. He's jumped through the hoops of the education system and he's pushed through these past years with a goal. A goal that seemed so far off it would never be within an arms reach as it is today.

Yes, Hubs has taught me a lot about endurance when I am much more of a sprinter. I have bursts where I read my Bible, I pray every day, I am bold about my faith and my beliefs. Then I get tired and I stop to rest instead of pushing through.

These verses remind me that I can't live my christian life with all my sin weighing me down. I would tire quickly from the load. Hubs can't run as well with his hiking boots and heavy clothes - he'd get tired too fast and would never make it the full distance. Instead, he sheds the heavy shoes and wears the lightest clothing possible so he can keep going. I must leave my burdens behind, too, if I ever plan to go the full distance.

They remind me that I must look towards a goal. It's hard to motivate and push yourself without a goal in sight. Hubs wouldn't be running such long distances if he didn't have a race coming up. Without a goal, if he got tired, he could just quit early since there was no reason to run so far. Much the same, if I am not looking towards Jesus, I can easily get sidetracked and start walking...maybe even stop.

Last night I was running on the treadmill. I set a time goal. I was going to run 20 minutes at a certain speed without stopping (I had already done 20 minutes on the eliptical). The first 13 minutes sped by. I looked straight ahead and cranked my music up loud. Then, it started getting boring. I started glancing at the time. My stride faltered and I told myself to stop at 15 minutes instead.

Then, I remembered my goal. Twenty minutes. Non-stop. I looked straight ahead. I got back into my groove, and I pushed through those last five minutes. I met my goal.

When the times come that I lose sight of my goal to glorify the Lord with my life, my stride falters and I get weary. I decide to stop and rest, and then it is hard to get going again. So, I put it off to another day, and another. Soon, I'm out of shape, I have all my heavy clothes back on, and I want to try and sprint to catch up on all I missed.

I'm reminded today that I can run without the heavy burdens of my life. I can run with endurance only by looking to Jesus who endured so much more that I ever will.

And He did it all for me.

Electronic Entertainment

Today is February 17th: the original day for the switch to DTV. I don't know how anyone could have missed the announcement. For over a year, our local tv stations have made sure we knew about this switch. Hubs and I chose to do nothing about it. I will admit that I was somewhat looking forward to seeing what life without TV would be like.

For one thing, I wouldn't have the temptation to sit down and watch TV after a long day instead of working out. Which was happening quite frequently, especially with the colder weather.

And, if we needed a TV show fix, we could pop in the "24" DVDs since we have only watched the first season so far.

And, for the one show that I am really going to miss - "The Amazing Race" - I can catch that over my lunch hour online at cbs.com.

I wasn't too worried about losing my TV channels, except for my morning news. My morning routine includes watching the local news and making fun of the local weather girl and I knew I was going to miss that. However, I had planned to just turn on the radio instead.

And, who really needs TV when we have a wii?


I haven't gotten into Nintendo since my brothers sold our Super Nintendo years ago. But lately, I can spend hours playing Mario Kart and Wii Fit. Hubs and I are becoming quite the racers. We've opened up 3 new racing cups and are dominating the race track. We are also beginning to sound like Jr. High video gamers while we play - okay, maybe that's just me.


I am probably a ton of fun to watch play. I can't just sit still while I'm driving. I get my whole body into every turn, bump, and jump. Hubs can play without the steering wheel. Not me, I need it to really get into the race.

So, I was ready for the switch and our local TV stations said that, despite the government's decision to extend the deadline, they were sticking to February 17th as the day.

Well, it ends up we only lost 1 of our 4 TV stations today - CBS, aka "The Amazing Race" channel. And after all those preparations we made to be ready for the switch...

And the saga continues

We were at the gas station Saturday evening. Fillin' up the truck. Hubs starts putting gas in the tank, but instead of going into the gas tank, it just spills right onto the ground. Odd. Hubs tells me and I immediately get mad at Dakota (the truck). I mean, every 3 weeks something new comes up and he needs fixed again. What's the deal? We give him plenty of attention and drive time. This is ridiculous.

Hubs pays for the gas that we pumped on the ground, and takes a look under the truck. It wasn't Dakota's fault. Somebody had cut out a 8-10" piece of the gas line and, most likely, siphoned gas directly from the tank!

What kind of a person does something like that? It's not good enough to suck someone's gas out that they paid for, but you have to actually cause the person to pay over $100 to fix the mess you made.

After talking with the police officer, Hubs found out that we weren't the first victims of this type of vandalism at our apartment complex. Two days earlier, someone else reported the exact same instance. I guess that made us feel a little better.