Short Story: Part I

It was a beautiful Sunday with the sunlight seeping through the blinds in their cozy little cottage for two. The air was still and conditions were perfect for an afternoon nap. Maria, was drifting into unconsciousness to the sound of her husband's heartbeat. Slowly, she lifted an eye to capture his sweet face, only to notice his look of consternation. What could be wrong? she thought. A bad dream? A sore throat? A sudden tugging from under her head, alerted Maria to the fact that she was lying on her husband's tie, which was consequently choking him.

..."Be Mary!"

Wasn't the sunshine beautiful today?

another year, another binging fest

Well, today is the day that you and I (mostly I) have been anticipating for basically the past...365 days. That's right, it's my BIRTHDAY!!! In honor of the occasion, I took a long nap yesterday, and when I woke up, I ate 1/4 of a two layer cake by myself--in one sitting. It was completely uncharacteristic of me (a behavior probably encouraged by the 13 movies we bought a few nights ago), and as a consequence for my unnatural action, my body overcompensated and this morning, I weighed the least I've weighed for probably 10 years. As I write, I am on hold with the AVIS car rental company, trying to get a refund on an overcharged rental for my boss. However, it seems like the perfect time to reflect on why I love birthdays (especially mine) so much.

* Facebook. Since there's a notification that today is my birthday, so far I've received 10, no 11 "Happy Birthday" messages on my "wall".
* Early morning birthday/wake-up songs. Thanks Allison.
* In my family growing up, we could eat anything we wanted for breakfast, and we didn't have to practice our instruments. This is still the case. Never mind that I never practice and I chose yogurt and oatmeal.
* Barney considered taking the day off. I'm so glad that he has a job, but it sure is fun when he stays home.
* Cake! Did I mention that I ate a lot of it yesterday?
* I'm a year older, and one year closer to my quarter-life crisis. It seems like something significant is supposed to happen around now...
* Free meals/deserts at restaurants. I usually count the 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after as my "birthday season".

Mostly, I love you all (all one of you who read this blog--thanks Barn!) and am so glad that you've been a part of my life this year.

Back to the hold music.

Marylund or Maryworld?

I had a dream once, that I was made Queen of the United States. Since then, I've decided that if I ever become queen, this will be the new currency.

John E would like this

My brother John E (age 8) has recently been reading the "Star Wars" books. He loves them and has been trying to persuade me of their coolness. Come on! How long have those movies been big? I'll admit that the original Trilogy was pretty good, but the newer movies have only ruined the subject for me. Anyway, I wasn't convinced, but this morning as I was driving, I saw something that made me think that maybe I'm supposed to join the Star Wars bandwagon after all.




Not joking. I saw this face (minus the storm trooper in the back) walking across University Parkway in Provo. Is it a sign?

The Rough Spots Along the Road

I ran a marathon once. It was one of the hardest experiences of my life. I trained for months and months--running day after day, mile after mile. Finally, the anticipated day arrived. I now had the chance to prove that all my preparation and hard work had been worth it. I started running and felt great. Then, at around 18 miles, my body gave up on me. My many months of struggling had been for nothing. It was too hard. I had to give up.
Then, something inside me reminded me that I was ready for this race, and that I could do it despite what my brain was telling me. I started off once again, and finished the race--tired, but triumphant.
Our personal capacities are often more than we know, and many times, we don't find out until they are tried and tested, and then we see if we are enough for the challenges that face us.
Maybe the biggest thing that we learn is that we don't have to carry ourselves through those hard times.

I like the song "Stand" by Rascal Flatts.

"Slow down, you move too fast"

Have you ever been in a grocery store, searching for the shortest line when you think you've finally found it? Then, you end up standing behind a woman who is sorting through her coupons and trying to get her total to add up to an exact amount by having the cashier add and subtract items, then add another until she's satisfied and can dig through her wallet some more to find exact change. We were in this predicament for what seemed like hours (but it was probably closer to 30 minutes--still, that's a long time to be second in line!) at Target the other night. I was feeling more and more impatient to be moving on to our other activities. Luckily, I have an awesome husband who reminded me that we didn't have anywhere we needed to be, and we could afford to be patient. I was especially grateful for his advise today, when the same thing happened at Macey's. It just goes to show that no matter how well you plan and schedule, life always happens and we need to learn how to roll with it.