Morning and Night

When someone asks me "Are you a morning perons or a night person?" I generally say night. Mainly because on most days I'm in a semi-comatose state for about an hour after I wake up. But I've recently begun to question whether or not that's changing...by necessity. Being a shift worker my schedule changes weekly, but 98 percent of the time I either have to be at work at 5:30 a.m., 5:45 a.m. or 6:30 a.m. Occassionally, I get to sleep in and arrive by 7 a.m. Fortunately, I live about 8 minutes from work. But still. At first I naturally balked at having to set my alarm clock for 4:45 a.m. That's the middle of the night!! But in the past year I have grown to love the perks of early rising: being off work by 2 p.m., sometimes noon or 1:30, thereby having afternoons free to get things done or even nap and then get things done. I've grown to enjoy the silence and freshness of the time just before dawn, and I like to watch the sunrise, to watch the world wake up.

Of course, on my days off, I sleep late. And I'm tired a lot because I usually don't go to bed early enough.

Am I turning into a morning person? Is morning person/night person a strange and irrelevant concept? Just rambling.

Blue Converse All-Stars

Next in my series on remembering friends....(and I promise they won't all involve a pair of shoes).

I have a pair of classic low-top Converse shoes. "Chuck Taylors" as my friend Curt used to call them; and I'll admit something to you all: these shoes are an out-and-out copycat purchase. My first college roommate Sonya Sawyer wore a maroon pair almost every day our freshman year, and, well, in this case immitation is, in fact, the most sincere form of flattery. Naturally, when I wear them now (much less frequently than I did then, but often enough to justify their existence) I think of Sonya. Many things make me think of Sonya, and in different ways; but in relation to my Chuck's, I think of getting to know Sonya. Of finding a friend who grew up in California -- quite a bit removed from my home of Missouri -- but who almost instantly became a soul friend. Sonya knew more about music and liturature than I did, but we had very similar tastes. She was a bit more of a free spirit than I was at the time, but just by being herself she encouraged me to let loose a little. And she always -- and I mean ALWAYS -- understood what I meant, no matter how convoluted it sounded; even if I didn't understand myself.

The best part? Even though we naturally kept growing and changing, exploring different paths, and moving half-way across the country, Sonya is still a soul friend. Guess that's kind of part of the definition, huh?

Do you ever feel....

....like you're just on the edge of crazy?

;)

Red shoes

So I'm starting a new blog series: posts about how certain things remind me of certain friends; I think it'll be a fun way to ponder the impression different people have left on my life, even in small ways. So today...red shoes and Lani Dalzell.

I have a pair of red leather shoes, I think you'd call them mules (they have no back, but a very flat sole so they're not really clogs). They have a tiny bow on the toe, which is rounded. They make my feet look small, they're really comfortable, and every time I wear them I think of Lani Dalzell. Why? you might ask. On a basic level, I think it's because Lani had a pair of really fabulous red loafers; she was one of the first people i'd ever met who wore a pair of red shoes on a regular basis and looked great and natural in them. But on a deeper level, it's also because red shoes remind me of Lani's personality -- her creative and free spirit, her love of life, her sense of adventure, her love, her warmth and her hospitible and welcoming nature. When Jeremy and I first moved to Houston and began attending church at the Tomball church of Christ, we decided to attend Dan and Lani's small group Bible Study (on the recomendation of Curt and Rachel Grubb). We both immediately felt comfortable and welcomed. For me, it was like being at home; like Lani was my big sister and Jeremy and I were just part of the family. That feeling and relationship continued for the next three years. It filled up a piece of my heart, and I miss the Dalzell's a lot.

And that's what I think about every time I wear my red shoes.

New Year's Resolutions

Love 'em? Avoid them? Make them? Break them?

A new year is a nice, well-defined, fresh start and fresh perspective. A natural place to make and re-evaluate goals. For the last few years I've avoided writing down any hard and fast resolutions....my resolution has been to try and set goals throughout the year. But maybe I'd see more success if I made some defined resolutions. Or maybe I'd just dissapoint myself. I'm generally a hard and fast person -- by that I mean I like structure, closure, defined boundaries, etc. But somehow I shy away from that when it comes to goal setting (or resolution making). Maybe I'm just lazy. Maybe I should stop analyzing things so much. :)

So seriously, what about you? To resolve or not to resolve, that is the question.

back to earth

So, Christmas was fabulous, and seeing my family was fabulous. Naturally, the day I get back I get sick and lay around in bed for three days with a fever and a cough and congestion. Let's hear it for sinus infections! But thankfully anti-biotics, rest, and vitamin C work, and now things are back to full form. I hate being sick! Sure, having an excuse to lay around and not do anything is nice in theory, and sometimes in practice, but not when there are so many other things you want to be doing. And I really hate having a cough and I really hate producing so much snot. (gross, I know, but true).

Okay, enough of the H-word. I'm thankful for a return to good health, that's all. :)