Only me Archives - Trinkets of Thought

Sometimes, one question remains: Why Me?

October 19, 2007 by Maren 4 Comments

Something Random:

Recently, I went into a Neighborhood Walmart (just the grocery store). In an effort to conserve energy, they now have sensored lights on the freezer/fridge display sections. The lights only come on if you walk past the doors. At first, I thought they were broken, but as I walked passed them, it was like the red carpet was being rolled out and every food item caught my eye. Shamefully, I must admit that even though I was not shopping for any more frozen food or refrigerated items, I was tempted (and yielded) to walk by every single refrigerated door to make the light come on. I know what you’re thinking: It doesn’t take much to amuse me. Sadly, you’re right.

Something Fun:

Last night, with the help of friends, I planned and executed a surprise party for Michael’s 3-0th birthday. All was going as planned, minus the fact that it was supposed to be outdoors ‘if the weather was nice’ and it didn’t look like that would be possible. Michael and I cleaned our house in preparation for people to come over to our house (for what he thought was to be Bible Study). At 6:45, I told him that I had other plans, a ‘you and me’ date was in the plans, and that Bible Study had secretly been canceled. (Michael hates canceling ANYTHING). Thankfully, he didn’t mind, though, he did give me a hard time about canceling.

My “Date” Plan to get him to the Surprise Party: Michael was to go on a treasure hunt. I had worked on a labor intensive clue for him to solve at Barnes and Noble–He was to search for children’s book by the author and then use words from the titles to form the clue. It was planned out ‘perfectly’ (or so I thought). The second clue was going to take him to his surprise party.

BEFORE WE COULD EVEN LEAVE OUR HOUSE: Michael questioned the idea of going on a ‘treasure hunt’ when the TORNADO SIRENS were blaring in our neighborhood. Dilemma time: What was I to do? I wanted to keep the surprise party a secret, yet the tornado sirens are sounding, and I had to get Michael to HIS surprise party!!! He suggested we postpone ‘our date’ , but I think my impatience got the best of me, and he said we could go. The hesitation about leaving put our timing offtrack and thus threw the Barnes and Noble plan out the window.

DRIVING TO THE PARTY: I broke down…For you see, I had it all planned out ‘perfectly’, and the tornado warning was NOT IN MY PLAN! For any of you that know me personally, drama is my forte. To say it mildly, I’m not passive, and I broke down crying….perhaps wailing would be a better description. Though I don’t remember my exact wording, the implication of my ranting was to the effect that my plans had been ruined, though slightly more wordy and dramatic than that… (Picture with me: sirens still sounding; To the west, the clouds look absolutely perilous; The radio is blasting with TORNADO WARNINGS not tornado watches….and then, there’s a hysterical Maren)

MY REACTION: Somewhere in the mix of emotions, despair entered. Because of the weather, NOW NO ONE would come. In desperation, instead of having Michael drive us to do the treasure hunt I had him drive us straight to the party. Yet, (INCREDIBLY) somehow, even after all of my ranting, Michael thought we were going to get a clue for the treasure hunt…NOT going to a party!

SURPRISE: He truly was surprised and didn’t expect people to be there and had no idea about any party until 10 minutes beforehand from a wailing wife. Many friends came, and even some from out of town, which was also a WONDERFUL surprise to ME, too! And the best part? Plan B was in the basement of my friend’s home. A perfect place to have a party when the tornado sirens are sounding… It worked out just great!

Something Fun for Everyone:

ENJOY THIS VIDEO, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A MOM!!!! THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO!

It’s official–I’m crazy.

August 10, 2007 by Maren 6 Comments

Michael and his parents, who have been visiting from Ohio, this week have been working on projects around the house during the work days while I’m at work. Many of these projects have been in the kitchen and I’m thankful for what has been accomplished. They are always so kind and helpful–TERRIFIC-EST inlaws EVER, and its fabulous to have them here!

SOOOOOOOO…Last weekend, my sister-in-law made me some cookie dough for the freezer (THANKS SO MUCH, LAURA!), and IT HAS BEEN WONDERFUL being able to pop the dough in the oven to have cookies available for my in-laws throughout the week. SO VERY NICE!

Last night, I baked about 3 dozen of the cookies, thinking that Michael was having additional guests over. Today, the cookies were mostly gone when I got home from work, so I went to pop some more in the oven. Slight problem: My favorite cookie pan was nowhere to be found. Like previously mentioned, there have been projects going on the kitchen this week, so I figured that someone moved it. I frantically searched throughout the cupboards in the kitchen, but was unable to find my special tray. It was nowhere! I started to presume that my neighbor (the one who knows the color of my kitchen and peeks in my windows) was perhaps envious of my amazing stoneware pan, and had come into our house under the cover of darkness to steal it. There was no explanation!!! That is, until I opened the oven door, and sitting in the oven was my cookie pan from last night! Why is this a big deal, you ask? There were a dozen cookies still on the tray. It’s official. I’m crazy.

Admissions of a notorious Forgetter

May 29, 2007 by Maren 8 Comments

Shamefully, I admit, I do a TERRIBLE job at remembering my friend’s birthdays. AND, even when I do, it seems I can’t win. Three times in the past month, I have forgotten the birthdays of friends. I have friends that are so thoughtful in remembering, and I’d like to be the friend who remembers that sort of thing, but no matter how much I try, I come up short time and time again.

This past weekend I forgot the birthdays of some of our closest friends in Louisville. The husband and wife (a true example of the thoughtful friends I was just referencing) have birthdays a day apart–yep forgot both. I didn’t remember until we dropped in at their apartment, where they casually told us they had been celebrating birthdays earlier! OOOOOOOOOOOOOH, did I feel terrible. And of course, I didn’t even come close to remembering.

BUT sometimes, I do a little better… I knew that my coworker’s bday was this week—Knowing my consistent failures in this area, I had it all planned out. I kept looking at my calendar and making mental notes not to forget, because I’m ever so much aware of my horrible fault. I’d already purchased the card, and had planned the present for a couple of weeks. I was going to fix it all up tonight and give it to her tomorrow on her birthday. I even reminded my boss that her birthday was tomorrow because we usually celebrate in the office and she is usually the ‘social planner’.

“I am on top of it this time!” I complimented myself.

When she came in today, I wished her a happy birthday EVE–ONLY to have her tell me that TODAY is her birthday. You see, I had in my mind that her birthday was on TUESDAY (which it is). The problem with this is that because of the holiday yesterday, I got thrown off and was thinking that since this was the first day back from the weekend, TODAY was MONDAY! GRRRRRRRRR!

Will I ever win this battle? My brother and brother-in-law share the same birthday as me. You would think that this would help me to remember theirs; but for some reason, they still only receive belated birthday cards from me…In fact, that’s pretty much the only card section I peruse through, because buying a card early is a VERY RARE oddity for me. Sigh. My lack of planning is obvious. I’m trying to work on it–perhaps today’s defeat will help me to become one step closer to timely “Happy Birthday”s!!!!!

You’d think I made it up…

April 2, 2007 by Maren 11 Comments

So, today, I came to work with my shirt on inside-out. Um…what is it with me? Maybe next week I should wear the whole outfit. I think this is a very clear indication that I’m getting up too late and there’s not enough time to get ready. Perhaps I should increase my 20 minute morning regimen…

On another note, during my pre-xanga days, Michael and I went to a B&B in a podunk town in Indiana. The new owners had just purchased (fully furnished), but per the sales contract allowed previously scheduled guests to keep their stays (which included us). The owners were nice and hospitable and kept mentioning how they just had to leave the metropolis they came from to ‘get away from the hustle and bustle….’ Something just wasn’t quite right. The owner kept throwing $ figures around…i’m talking hundreds of thousands… For instance, “This piano was one of 6 in the world. It’s an original made for royalty. Although it costs $400,000, we can only insure it for $250,000.” AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. We’re talking original oil paintings, antique furniture, etc. etc. etc. It wasn’t that I questioned the items he was showing us. I truly believe in their authenticity, but something about him was just not worth trusting–it was all the money figures being casually mentioned. Being the natural born skeptic that we are, when Michael and I got home Googled the man. ONLY to find out that he was being investigated for somehow rigging medical insurance cases–were talking HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS HERE. Just googled him again this week to find that he’s been indicted…I think it’s safe to say, we stayed at a B&B with a convict. Yikes.

In other news, I’m reading an excellent apologetic book called, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Having met some friends who question the truth of the Bible, we have found that when discussing biblical issues, i.e. moral absolutes, they don’t just accept, “Well the Bible says…” as the basis for them to believe foundational truths. Since they are searching out if the Bible is true in the first place, they don’t automatically accept using it as a starting point to defend a moral position. From a logical perspective, this book walks the reader from logically thinking through the existence of God, the reliability of the Bible, and also the claims of Jesus. Great book to help as we share with others.

One last random thing– You know at pot lucks, there’s always ONE person who brings a gourmet-slave-all-day-in-the-kitchen-yummy-dish that makes them look like a honorable version of Martha Stewart? Meanwhile diminishing you to the level of the kid with a new Easy Bake? Well, we have one of those at our church. They brought a terrific dish (Butternut Squash Lasagna) to Thanksgiving potluck, and I instantly fell in love. I know it’s more of a fall recipe, but while it’s on my mind, just thought I’d share. I baked it on Saturday–I had some pumpkin puree left over in my freezer that I needed to use up. If you know me well, you know that I despise grocery shopping, but I am the queen of creative substituting. This recipe was no different as the substitutions abounded (no milk, amaretti cookies, mozzarella cheese or fresh basil), so we’ll just say that mine was a more healthier version, but it is definitely a favorite.

Here’s to Randomness & Happy Monday!