Like a Kid in a Candy Store

There are so many good options. They are all so tempting. I always end up spending more money than I had planned ... when I go in a bookstore, any bookstore.

I've been like a kid in a candy store three times this week:

• I bought books for a spirituality course I'm taking in March
• I bought books for my final semester of seminary
• I bought books for fun fiction reading

And my shelves are full of new books. I can't wait to crack each new cover. Well, I won't actually crack each new cover, as I like my books to stay in excellent condition. So perhaps it's more accurate to say I can't wait to open each new book and delve into its pages.



Ahhhh .... heaven.

Snow Came Down in the South!

It snowed! And I loved it. It reminded me of winters further north, albeit with much more snow than the light dusting outside. But still, it was snow!

I stood outside in the big flakes. I tried to catch some on my tongue. I kept the blinds open all night so I could watch the snow fall. I soaked it up for all it was worth.

I laughed at the news reports and those who were freaking out. Then the next day, it was all gone.

But while it lasted, it was beautiful. I really am a northern girl at heart.

A Preaching Image

I preached today at my home congregation. My grandparents attended the service. Upon greeting me prior to the service, my grandma asked me,

"Are you going to wear your toga today?"

English is my grandma's third language ... so she was pretty close. Definitely made me smile at the mental image.

Is it fall yet?

It's the middle of October. Yet the weather report still includes highs reaching into the 80s. I need it to be fall. It should be time for sweaters and scarves, for hot apple cider and pumpkin patches.

Guess even after three and a half years in the South, I'm still a Northern girl at heart.

6 Random Things About Me

I have been tagged by 1-4 grace to do this. I'm generally not a fan of such things, but seeing as how it's been a while since I've posted, what the heck.

There are some rules to it, but my CPM tells me I need to break the rules more often, so I'm throwing them out the window. They won't even be listed here. If you would like to participate, consider yourself tagged to do so.

1. I'm addicted to Sudoku.
2. I love to play board and card games, but watch out - I'm very competitive.
3. I love to read and it can be very dangerous for me to go into a bookstore.
4. I love mint chocolate chip ice cream.
5. I wish I was fluent in American Sign Language.
6. I'm a solo car jammer (as in, if I'm in the car by myself I'll crank up the music, sing along and drum on the steering wheel)

I can only take so much

The week so far:

• organist resigned effective immediately by letter on Sunday morning
• choir director resigned in person on Monday
• emergency personnel committee meeting this afternoon

• house I am living in does not have A/C
• I was supposed to move to condo on the beach this afternoon, but that fell through unexpectedly on Sunday evening
• therefore I live with the windows open ... but that means I woke up to a house that smells like a campfire because the wind has brought the smoke and ash from the Georgia wildfires down to Florida
  

When will it be Saturday?

Vacation cannot get here soon enough!

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time

She wears a "G" for generosity;
She wears an "I" for interest, too;
She wears a "R" for real life sportsmanship;
She wears a "L" for loyalty, for loyalty;

She wears a "S" for sincerity;
She wears a "C" for courtesy, for courtesy;
She wears an "O" "U" "T" for outdoor life, outdoor life;
And that's the kind of girl I want to be ... a girl scout!

Yes I was a girl scout ... for three years.
And yes, I still remember the song.

But even better than that, I now to get support other girl scouts by eating their cookies!

My reward for finishing up my sermon: a glass of wine and some thin mints :)

Did you know ...

Did you know that if you sleep on the same side of your head every night, the hair on that side will not grow as fast as the hair on the other side?

I didn't ... until I went to get my hair cut this week and my hair dresser told me what side I sleep on.

Help

I came home from work on Monday to a cold house. I discovered that the pilot light had gone out in the heater. Being an independent chick who has grown up with a gas stove, I tried to relight it myself.

Didn't work.

At this point, I was hesitant to try it again and potentially have large flames emerge in a house that was not mine nor even a church member's. After a few minutes of hating to bother someone, I decided to call a church member to come over and help me out. He was happy to do so. He came over and he was able to relight the pilot light on the first try, doing the exact same thing I had done.

He was glad to have been able to help. It was a good reminder for me to ask for help.

Hello Again Recap

Life has been busy. It really hasn't stopped too much since Christmas. And so I've been negligent about posting on my blog. So here's a recap of some highlights in the life of Emily:

• Getting to preach the incarnation on Christmas Eve = amazing! However, trying to celebrate Christmas with my family the way we've always done it was pushing it. I realized that Christmas traditions will need to change drastically when I become a pastor.

• Internship church secured new housing for me since I had to move out of the senior citizen community (not because I was kicked out, but because the lease was up ... in case you were wondering). New housing is the house of a local college professor who is on sabbatical. I moved half my things over one day after work and the plan was to move the rest over the next day on my day off. I tried to wash my hands after moving day one ... no water. After a few days of playing phone tag with the home owners, the water was turned back on. In the meantime, there were a few days when I would go to three houses after work: the two houses I was living between and the pastor's house to care for his cat while he was on vacation in Mexico. This made me feel like the keeper of the keys.
  
  

• A Friday night in January I managed to misplace my keys three times within an hour. Yep, that sure confirmed that I was stressed out and exhausted from work stuff.
  

• I gave the invocation at a local park dedication on a Saturday in January. Who knew a park dedication ceremony could take an hour and a half? But I did get to help cut the ribbon with fancy scissors :)

• I helped lead session training last weekend. Led the group through some team building activities. They went well, but it was interesting to facilitate them as they had never done anything like this before.