Caffeinated Randomness - Comfort Zone

Please don't laugh when I tell you this, but I'm having lunch alone at Starbucks today.  Alone!  I never, ever, EVER have gone to a restaurant alone.  I always thought I would be completely self-conscious to eat alone, thinking everyone else who came to eat in pairs would be looking at me.

I guess that's a little egotistical, huh?

I've been wanting to come here ever since I got my laptop, and that was over a year ago.  Whoa, I guess it's about time.  The reason it worked out today is because I'm waiting to meet a friend who had a lunch appointment and is meeting me afterwards.  I didn't want to drive home just to eat lunch and meet up later, so I thought, Hey!  This is a great day to go grab a sandwich at Starbucks and write away at your blog, girl.

And so I agreed to the little voice in my head.

So as I sit here at my table, typing away at my laptop, I am okay.  Very much okay.  Nobody is staring.  {Not that I've noticed, but I've been pretty much looking at my sandwich, iced tea, and computer screen.} 

Finally, another bridge crossed.  A victory in getting out of that old comfort zone.  I think I'll be doing this again.

Click on over to Under Grace and Over Coffee for more Caffeinated Randomness!

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Unbelievable!

Oh, you guys!  I just had to post my little blog this afternoon to let y'all know.  I've been talking to myself this afternoon.  Just kept saying to myself for half an hour the word Unbelievable.  Over and over again.  Do you know what was so unbelievable?  That I ran for 5 minutes today...and did it 4 times.  That's 20 minutes of running!

You have no idea how that thrills me.  I didn't even feel motivated to run today.  I just sort of pushed myself to throw on my running clothes and drive to the park.  I had every intention of only running 3-minute intervals.  But then I got there, and I told myself I was gonna do 5.  And I did.  Almost as if someone else took over my body.  It sure didn't feel like me.

Do you know what this means to a girl who stunk at sports, was always picked last in gym class, was last to finish running laps around the soccer field, and was told to run faster or we'll lose?  I tell ya, it means A LOT. 

I AM an athlete.  I CAN run.  Just watch me...

Who Needs a Dishwasher?

I did something this week that has revolutionized my life. Okay, revolutionized might be too big a word for the transformation, but it's going to make my life in the kitchen so much better.

I've really struggled not having a dishwasher in this house. My dear husband has been such a help, taking dishwashing duties upon himself most of the time. Sometimes, I admit, it becomes a contest to see who can hold out the longest on not washing dishes until we can't see the countertops any longer (I'm kidding), but he really does do most of the dishwashing.

I read on the FlyLady website that if you do not have a dishwasher but want to keep your sink shiny and free of dishes, you put a dishpan under the sink to fill up with dirty dishes until you're ready to wash them. How ingenious! Why didn't I think of that?

So I ran out and bought a dishpan. (I bought the biggest one they had.) Problem was I didn't have any space under my sink because we store cleaning products down there. Well, I took off for a couple days out of town, and while I was gone my husband did some rearranging. Bless his heart, he actually made room for the dishpan, so we were on our way.

Tonight after dinner I could see that the dishpan was about as full as I would really want it to get, and it was time to wash. I pulled it out of there and got my dishwater started. Would you believe I had those dishes done in 10 minutes flat?!? It even surprised Rich.

I can do this!

It's Been a Full Friday

I thought I would just tell you about my day. It's been a pretty full one, especially as I have marked a very important victory in my life. It's something I would like to share.

First, of course, I worked at the church office this morning until noon. Fridays are "iffy" because it's the day to publish Sunday's bulletin, and you just never know what might hit. It depends on the amount of phone calls that come in, if the pastor (that's Dad to me) gives me a last-minute project, or if there just happens to be a plethera of announcements that need to be put in the bulletin - all of these things factor into how easily Friday mornings will proceed. Today was a pretty easy day, but it became a cruncher there in the last hour. Last-minute things arose, and normally I could just stay a little late in order to complete them. Today, though, I needed to be out the door at noon.

That brings me to the next part of the day. I got to meet a friend for lunch, someone I only see about every couple of months. We have much in common, particularly our fastidious nature of organization. We're pretty much perfectionists, and we enjoy laughing at some of the crazy things that we think "have" to be perfect in our worlds. So we had a fun time catching up this afternoon.

Afterwards I went to Starbucks. Now before you get after me for indulging in my peppermint mocha and feeding my ungodly addiction, I'll have you know that I did some checking at Starbucks.com and found an acceptable beverage to "put on". (You know, the put off-put on principle of the Bible? If you're going to put off an ungodly behavior you need to replace it with a godly behavior. And yes, drinking is a spiritual thing.) I ordered a Short, Non-fat, Vanilla Creme, No whip - a.k.a. steamed milk with flavored syrup. It was the best thing I could find at 100 calories. It does have its flaw of 18g of sugar, but it's a much better choice than the 310 cal. peppermint mocha that has slowly resulted in my demise. So I was an overcomer today. I conquered that Starbucks beast. Woot!

(As a side note, have you heard this word "woot"? I just heard about it the other day on the news... something about how it is a new word that has been added to the dictionary. Its definition is like a victory cry in celebration. Hopefully, I am using it appropriately. I get tired of using the same old words like "cool" and "yay". )

Okay, now back to the rest of my day. I came home and made dinner, which was okay. Nothing spectacular. After that I finished up my First Place Bible study and then decided to run back out to try that Christmas shopping thing again.

This time I knew where to go and what I was getting. I got exactly what I needed, and I was really happy. Woot! (See, there it is again.) I even made an extra stop, and I found another Christmas item I had been looking for. I guess these things need to be done in phases, or so it seems.

So now I've been home and unwinding from the day. I've been reading blogs, but I'm not all caught up yet from all the afternoon posts. I see I have a few comments on mine, and that's always fun to see. Thanks, you guys!

Can't wait for tomorrow morning. It's time once again to attend First Place, and I get to do that weigh-in thing. I've already taken a peek at the scale today, and things are looking good.

That's all for today...

Psalm 27 Thoughts

I've been thinking about my Psalm 27 study, and I've had plenty of opportunities in the last week to put what David learned into practice in my own life. I've got an enemy...sometimes it's Satan, sometimes it's fear, sometimes it's a person, and sometimes it's just my own flesh. Whatever the case, the spiritual victories only come when I choose to set my mind on the Lord - allow Him to hide me in His pavilion and the secret place of His tabernacle. No foe can grab me there. The moment I choose to live in the spirit by setting my mind on the reality of the presence of God, I triumph over the enemy. Physically, I may be bruised, hurt, persecuted, even killed - but spiritually God holds my soul in the grip of His hand.

Oh, how I want to live there... all day, every day.