Adventures on ice

Over the weekend, a group of friends and I went ice skating. We had a good time, even if our feet and ankles were pounding with pain! A time like this jolts you into the reality that your body does not take well to falls and bumps like it did as a child. Amazingly, I did not fall but many of my comrades did. :)

When I do things such as ice skate I feel like a child again. I remember going to the roller rink in the 80's, loving every minute! I was quite good at Limbo...probably couldn't get past the first round now! Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from the evening.

Thoughts after lunch

Before I return to work, I will share the typical exchange of comments, statements and questions at lunch with some coworkers. I'll explain what all this means after I quote a few.

Mindy: I'm so excited about my vacation that starts July 3! I'll be moving into a new place during it, but I'm ready for a week off!
Coworker: Yeah, at the end of July, I get to take ONE DAY off! But some around here, not you Mindy, get to take a whole week at a time. Oh, poor them.

Mindy: Do we know when the new Zeus light parts will be here? That will be a nice product.
Coworker: Well, whenever it gets here, I'm sure the bosses won't think about how much more work there will be for us. No, they'll just bark at us and demand we get the new stuff out immediately!

Mindy: I got stuck in traffic while grabbing something to eat for lunch. Thought I'd never make it back.
Coworker: At least you get an hour for lunch. I barely have enough time to shovel it in then get back to work.

Mindy: The long weekend was nice.
Coworker: Would be a lot better if we didn't have to come back.

Do you see the pattern? No matter what I say, the coworker always has a negative comment. Nothing is ever right or good or fine or promising or fun. Their remarks don't leave me in a mad mood; instead, I feel sorry for him/her. Such a sad thing to go through life with that outlook. Never happy, always complaining.

My relationship with Jesus makes all the difference. I have a joy the coworker does not. I have the ability (God's grace) to live life with an optimistic attitude. I'm pessimistic by nature but The Holy Spirit enables me to see the glass half full.

One more thing...the reason I get to take a whole week off at a time is I don't take a day off every other week! I save them up then take a real vacation. We get so many hours each month for time off. If you don't use them as soon as you get them, eventually you will have a good amount of hours to take off.

New Bible study

Hello all out in blog-land...if anyone actually reads these things :)

Last week marked the start of a new Bible study I'm in at church. We are diving head first into Daniel! My mom raved about this study the whole time she worked through it back at my home church in Kentucky. When my church here in Nashville decided to offer it on Wednesday night before choir practice, I jumped on the opportunity.

Only one week into the lessons and I am already loving it! Beth does such a wonderful job of bringing out things in a verse that you've simply looked over for years. She doesn't make up stuff, she just helps you clearly see the wonderful depths of scripture!

I'm excited to study this book with Beth Moore and the ladies at church who are taking the class. It is nice to be around other women in the church. I find myself only associating with the ones in my Sunday school class. That's not a healthy habit for my Christian walk. Maybe I'll make new friends through this study.

Home sweet home

Hello from Kentucky! Father's Day is tomorrow and I drove into Somerset today to be with my daddy. I couldn't wait until tomorrow, so daddy got his gift today. I was so excited to give it to him because I knew he would actually like this gift. My dad is extremely hard to buy for. Many people say this about their dad, but it is so true for mine. Anyway, dad got a book called "The Nascar Vault". The book is filled with pictures and memorabilia from the past and present of famous Nascar moments.

Suzanne, my cousin, and Philip, her husband, came to dinner. I was cooking up dinner when they stopped by so they joined us. Sometimes I like spontaneous gatherings like this one. And the guest of honor and the one who held everyone's attention was Noah, their six (or so) month old boy. Oh! He is precious and downright adorable! Suzanne took a good one of me with Noah but I have to wait for it.

Last night while driving home from the mall, I heard a dedication on Delilah for a friend of many years. It got me thinking of my dearest and best friend Christina. We have known each other our entire lives. We grew up together, went to the same school, same church. We are even related when you go back a few people. Christina and I became best of friends by high school and the friendship has grown stronger through the years.

I cherish that I have a friend who has known me through every phase, every boy-crush, every turn, every joy, every heartache. What a privilege and treasure to have such a dear friend in my life.

Steve, my brother, and I went to Stacy's house to watch a movie. Stacy is a life-long friend of my brother, as well. Runs in the family, I guess. Anyway...I noticed on the walk by into my parent's house the scent of home. I can't even give a description of it. It simply smells like home. There is a big difference between the smell of pavement and lots of cars to the smell of open spaces and fragrances from nearby flowers and grass. A twinge of homesickness came while I enjoyed the clear sky above Somerset, Kentucky. The stars are so bright here.