Breathing and Believing. Just Me.

Okay, so in an effort to find something to write about I thought I would be intellectual and post Dictionary.com's "Word of the Day".

There was only one problem as the word for today was (Os·tra·cize).

I already know that word.

And there is just something wrong with the whole "word of the day" system if you already know the word. You lose all momentum in the whold effort at bettering yourself. In just one short moment it takes away all of the mystery and sucks the life right out of the experience.

Bummer.

A few years ago I bought my roommate a word a day calendar for her birthday as we had spoken about the desire to increase our vocabulary. In order to gauge whether we really knew the word we decided that each day we had to successfully interject it into a sentence at work. If we got away with it without any strange looks or remarks then we would pass the word for the day roommate test.

Below I've written a transcript of my first "word of the day" trial sentence.

(the word was "cash cow")

Me: (to my boss) "Wow Cath, those extra shifts I pulled were quite the "cash cow" for me, wouldn't you say?" (wink wink, nudge nudge)

Cathy: "Huh?"

And that was the end of that.

My poor roommate Becky lost too as she said she couldn't pull it off without laughing. I can't imagine why using the word "cash cow" was so difficult for her. She's a pre-school teacher; she must use the word cow at least ten times a day.

So, needless to say between my lame attempt and her laughing fit we decided it was an effort in futility.

(prepare for segway)

Since we are talking about words I thought I would introduce you to my two new favorite words: smarmy and snarky. Oh yea, and and "stink" (okay, stink makes three). I use stink a lot if I am frustrated. You know, "STINK, I can't believe I forgot to do my eight-week report!" It's just so useful!

So my question of the post is "do you have a favorite odd word, one that you use a lot or you just feel is special to you"? Do tell!

Ps. In my new attempt at bettering myself I decided that for Christmas I am going to ask for a book from Amazon called "An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned in but Probably Didn't".

Look for a smarter me in 2007!

(No, I'm not running for office.)

Posted by Brenda at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Brenda at 8:37 PM | Permalink | Comments

I have an all-time favorite song.

It's Every Breath You Take by the Police.

Gosh I love that song!

And when I say all-time, I really mean all-time. I could listen to that song 24 hours a day and never get tired of it. I even stood my ground when a guy I dated thought I wasn't "Christian enough" over it.

Please.

So what is your all-time favorite song?

(Any song from Chicago 17, Shackles (Mary Mary), Swinging on a Star (Bing Crosby), Before the Throne of God Above (hymn) and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer...all come in a very close second : )

Posted by Brenda at 7:04 PM | Permalink | Comments

It's a little known fact that I am extremely accurate at "wastebasketball". You know, whenever you want to throw something into the trash, you aren't close by, so you wad whatever you have into a tight little ball and attempt to make a basket?

Well I'm really good at it.

I'm so good I would say that with a good, well weighted piece of trash, I have at least an 80% accuracy rate.

At least, I said.

I know I'm bragging a bit here but raw talent is raw talent. What more can I say?

If you are ever around and want to challenge me to a wastebasketball war I am up for the challenge. I feel a bit bad though, knowing I come into it with such an advantage. But if you think you are up to it...

Wastebasketball.

Bring it on.

Posted by Brenda at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments

Today, without warning, the electricity went out in our town for a few hours.

And since this has become pretty much a monthly occurance I'm starting to realize that this may be a little taste of what my life is going to be like living in a small town in Hungary. Generally we don't have it too rough here. Other than being very small town'ish things are pretty normal and comfortable. But then every once in a while something like this happens and you get a quick reality check that it isn't home.

Ugh!

For someone who doesn't like the the unexpected, the whole thing just doesn't make sense to me. What if my laundry is midway through a cycle? What if I am microwaving something for dinner? What if I am getting ready to go out and I can't use my hair dryer or curling iron? What if, well what if I'm inconvenienced?!

Did I say that I don't like the unexpected?

This experience has also made me realize (although I already knew it) how much I depend on my computer. I was practically at a loss to know what work I could catch up on that didn't require something from my laptop. Emails? No. Research? No. Internet phone call to a teammate in the US? No. Reviewing lesson plans on my computer? No.

Ahhh!

I ended up writing out my ESL lesson plans for next week by hand (who knew I could still write!), read a few chapters of my Alpha Course "Questions of Life" book which led me to do a doctrinal study on the sovereignty of God (that's a whole other blog entry), and perused through a few chapters of an old book. It actually ended up being pretty fun and I probably got more done than normal since there was no TV or other distraction going on in the background.

Imagine that.

At one point Sharon called (did I mention that this was an equal opportunity Petofibanya outage?) to say how glad she was that our mobile phones still work during situations like these. It was all fun and rejoicing until my phone battery started beeping.

Ability to recharge my phone?

No.

Posted by Brenda at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments

I love my sofa.

(it's an IKEA Ektorp sofa in Idemo Light Green)

In fact I love it better than my bed.

I always have.

I have a beautiful bed. I bought it from IKEA, chose it carefully, and was thrilled when their wood version Ektorp full sized bed came out with curly, girly kind of headboard. I also loved the fact that it had a sleigh like base. Ahh... I love to look at that bed.

But nothing beats sleeping on my sofa.

I've always been this way. As a kid I would beg my mom to let me sleep on the sofa. I can tell you every sofa our family ever had and how comfy it was to sleep on. I don't really know why I like it so much better than a regular bed. Maybe it has something to do with having my back up against something. Maybe it's because sofa cushions are more comfortable than bed mattresses. Maybe I should have bought a daybed. All the glory and shape of a sofa but in a bed. Maybe the designer of the original daybed liked to sleep on sofas too.

As an adult I've resigned myself to the fact that my bed is for sleeping on and the sofa is only appropriate for when I'm sick or for the occasional nap. But I have to admit I try not to smile too much when I graciously give up my beautiful bed to a guest. Bet you didn't know I was so nice, did you?

So tell me, is your sofa extra comfy too?

Posted by Brenda at 9:02 PM | Permalink | Comments

The whole Amish thing hit really close to home and I was sad.

But I'm feeling better now.

So I'm back in the saddle and blogging again.

Stay tuned... : )

Posted by Brenda at 8:43 PM | Permalink | Comments

From first through third grade my best friend's name was Beverly.

She was Beachy Amish.

She is a mom now with a family of her own but I still think fondly on those days when we were little. I remember I would go to her house and put on one of her dresses, she would fix my long hair just like hers, and in just a short time I would blend right in. I often envied her childhood and I loved pretending that I was one of them. She had so much of everything; brothers, sisters, millions of cousins and a big old farm to play on. To this day I still sometimes make grammatical errors from things I learned during that time spent with her. I ask if something is "all" meaning gone, and often want to throw a "not?" on the end of a question to make it more of a statement. Back then my creative mind loved the fact that even if just for a moment, I could be a little Amish girl too...

But yesterday for several little girls near where I grew up, to be Amish, was a tragedy.

At the Georgetown Amish school near Paradise, PA ten girls, ages 6 to 13 were lined up facing the blackboard, their feet were tied together, and then they were shot execution style buy a seemingly normal guy.

A normal guy. Unbelievable.

I am still awaiting a call from home to find out whether I knew any of the families personally. But it's a small community and at the very least I am certain that we have friends who were related to the victims. I drove past the shooter's house every day on my way to high school and he bought all the premeditated supplies at the hardware store my parents use as well. The Amish school was only a mile or two from his house, one of my supporting churches is within walking distance and friends of mine were involved in the medical care of the girls who made it out.

It's a small world.

So I'm sad. I'm sad for little girls who will never grow into women. I'm sad for a family shattered by the loss of a husband and father and the knowledge of what he's done. I'm angry that sin has such a hold on our world. I'm sad for the loss of innocence in a community that is generally one of peace and simpicity. I'm sad that this community is more about a religion than a personal relationship with Jesus as "religion" isn't going to comfort them during this time. I'm sad for our Amish friends and neighbors who are always the first ones to help us out in a crisis. They live their lives quietly but they love well and will grieve deeply.

Today I'm grieving along with them. And for just a moment I feel Amish again.

Posted by Brenda at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments

Fall is my absolute favorite season with winter a close second and then spring and summer following in that order. Yes, I know, I'm weird in that everyone else's favorite, summer, is on the bottom of my list. It's funny, both my mom and grandmother mentioned to me this week how excited they were that winter was coming...

(Apparently it's a family thing.)

So, without further ado here's my list.

1. Leaves turning colors (in particular the color red as tree leaves don't turn red in Hungary. it's all very sad.)
2. Penn State Football (win or lose!)
3. Pumpkin Patches
4. The smell of fall burning leaves? (you know, that smell.)
5. The anticipation and promise of a new beginning (September has always inspired me waaaay more than the New Year)
6. School supplies! (even as an adult I love, I mean really really love, school supplies!)
7. Cooler weather
8. Bonfires and hayrides
9. Jackets and sweatshirts
10. Thanksgiving

What do you love about fall?

Posted by Brenda at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments