Lent Begins Today

I have been thinking about Lent.

Here’s part of a quiz I made up last year.

True or False

• I have celebrated Lent once.
• Lent is 46 days before Easter.
• Fasting from food and activities occurs during Lent.
•  Fasting is not allowed on Sundays and so are not counted as one of the days of Lent. This is why Lent is said to be 40 days long.

Finding Unique Thing Sent Me Into A Tizzy

One morning our prof started the class with this question:

What’s unique about you.? If anyone else has the same unique thing you’re out of the class!

Talk about pressure. My brain freezes up when I have to speak in class anyway. Add to that a “unique”thing about me. My brain and tongue were in total frozen mode.

Luckily I was one of the last 4 (out of 12) so I had some time to scan my life for my unique thing.

Thought 1. I’ve moved probably close to 40 times and lived in 3 (4, if you count Texas) foreign countries: Puerto Rico some of middle school; Canada – graduated high school, and England 5 years in early 30’s.

Thought 2. While living in Texas I was part of a scuba diving club. On a trip to Galveston, the club was invited to visit Jacque Cousteau’s boat The Calypso. Also during the dive, my partner and I got stuck/lost (seemed like hours) in the underwater boat we were exploring. He pulled me this way. I pulled that way. Finally we cooperated and found our way to the top by following the flow of our bubbles.

Thought 3. When I attended college in Oregon I worked as a night-time receptionist at a funeral home.

Thought 4. I was a homeschool mom.

Thought 5. I graduated from college 30 years after my high school graduation – almost to the day.

I just could not think of a juicy, recent tidbit. I wanted to say something like:

• I had Christmas lunch with Dolly Parton.
• The book I wrote was on the best seller list twice this past year.
• My weight was “normal” for 12 consecutive months probably because I didn’t eat any junk food and I exercised 6 times each week for the whole year.
• I was celebrated as mom of the year and received a week-long family cruise to Alaska.

Of course, none of these are even remotely true, not even in my imagination. So I gave them Thought 3. Whew! No one else could claim that.

You know what’s sad? That I couldn’t think of something that happened in 2008 or even 2007. If I was thinking, I could have done a search on my blog. This post mentioned some unique things about me. But I bet if I consistently lived with my eyes wide open and moved beyond the caution tape, I could find many such examples.

Classmates unique things?

Unfortunately, I spent so much time freaking I didn’t really listen except to Ronnie Harris.I just HAD to pause my thinking when he said he played in Superbowl 33. Ronnie was a wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons. The game was against the Denver Broncos, who won. At that time we lived in Colorado Springs and since it was John Elway’s last game, I probably watched it. Ronnie is now a junior high pastor. Isn’t that even cooler?

Just think, I had a seminary class with a Superbowl football player! Hey, that’s my first (cool) unique thing for 2008. And I have an autographed trading card to prove it.

What’s your most recent unique thing?

First post of 2008 with some firsts

I am spending the week in San Jose taking two classes for school. This is the first time I’ve been to one of the other campuses for a class. Communicating Christ to the Culture is M-W am and Proving Pastoral Counseling is W pm-Friday. The books I’ve read had helpful information and I’m looking forward to the classes.

Seconds

The hotel I am staying at is lovely. This spacious room would be quite easy to live in full-time. This is only the second time that I’ve stayed in a hotel by myself. I am a little nervous, but the gorgeous surroundings and the friendly staff have put me at ease. There are a few life-sized statues of people au naturel. A little embarrassing to be standing by when waiting for my turn to check in. 

Other Firsts

1. Tried Airborne. Quite a few people I know take this whenever they feel off. I thought I got a great deal at the store. The sign boasted a festive sign of: On Sale! $5.00. So a little bit ago I opened ALL the packaging and popped my Nighttime tablet into a mug of hot water. After downing the drink I discovered I still don’t like fizzy “health” drinks. And I discovered that there are only 9 (although huge) tablets in the canister – so not such a deal.  I’ll let you know if it helps me sleep.

2. Tried an Odwalla bar. It was the Berries GoMega. I really wanted a soda (while shopping with dd today) but dd said my body wanted a “Naked” drink and a healthy bar. Both were actually quite good. And good for me! I’d link to the drink, but don’t remember the whole name. I certainly do NOT want to google for that item.

Well, I’m off to bed and will let you all know about more firsts this week.