Thursday, September 29, 2011

morning musings...

On a orange Thursday morning I put on my new running shoes...
"You may be the first person in Memphis- in TN - to have these shoes," the man told me yesterday at Fleet Feet. "They are fresh from the truck and you are the first to buy them". That's not why I bought them... but after I slide them on and check them out in the mirror, I can't help but feel very fashionable...
Eat your heart out Kate Middleton...

I start my run, I start out slow. The tunes of Grey Reverend resounding in my ears. His guitar and his voice awaking something in my soul....
I stumble home after a mile, the cat meows to great me (or demanding me to refill her food bowl)
I let the dog out of his kennel. He stretches in downward dog fashion, and then bows to me and stays like that until I pick him up (maybe he's just doing reverse downward dog but I like to pretend he bows to me every morning. He's quite the gentleman)
I put on his leash, take him outside and he marks all his familiar territories.
A friend drives by, honks, and I wave: Good Morning!

I receive a text from my mom about my Fifth Grade sister:
"Good morning. It's funny how to put on some tight jeans and a pretty blouse and your whole personality changes (Nena) watch out world!"

I text back: "Oh gosh, that spells t-r-o-u-b-l-e"

She replies: "that spells uniforms next year"
And, as my sister looked in the mirror this morning, she probably felt very princess-like too...

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Tuesday Musings....

Feeling bad for the lack of posts, I shall repost this little ditty that I found on
Andrea's blog.

I promise to post about my vaca to Barcelona with the fam soon... but there are just so many pictures it seems daunting...maybe this weekend?

Nonetheless, here is a little quiz to get me past not knowing what to post about to stall my Barcelona post:

1.Somewhere someone is also eating four cookies for breakfast?

2. Currently, "The Tale of the Three Brothers" in JK Rowlings "The Tale of Beadle the Bard" is my muse. I know, not what you expected. But, recently, I've been thinking a lot about death... I really did not mean for that to sound morbid. You see I've been listening to a sermon series by Matt Chandler entitled "Transitions" that talk about death and it really has me thinking about my purpose. I was journaling just yesterday and that story came into my head, about one man who had a cloak to hide from death and "many years later, he removes his cloak and gives it to his son. Pleased with his achievements, he greets Death as an old friend and chooses to leave with him as equals." It made me think of Paul's words to Timothy in 2 Tim 4:6-8 "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." I feel Paul met death as a friend, and, I, Lord willing, would like to be there too. Jonathan Edwards, in his lifetime, made around 70 resolutions in his Christian walk. Number 9 is: "Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death." I know, I know, it's Puritanical, but I'm starting to see it as a good discipline. I think that this has been so great for me to do these last few days, it has put a great deal into perspective for me, and as odd as it may sound I feel like, for some reason, before this time, I somewhat have viewed myself as immortal...not intentionally, I just forgot that I may not live to be 103, that I may not have all the time in the world, that really in the grand scheme of things I'm just a little wrinkle in time, I'd like have some effect here...

3. It would stink if my little sister gets into trouble for not having her homework...because it somehow ended up in my purse....

4. Coming home to my husband and a clean house (after some major psyco cleaning last weekend) are my favorite things about today.

5. Life is kind of like your crazy Aunt Sally?

6. If I could have anything I wanted I would want more time to do the things I love, for the things I love to be what God loves.

7. A funny thing happened the other day... I live near a college campus so it's always pretty noisy around our neighborhood with the college kids and their crazy shenanigans. At dusk I was putting in a light bulb on our front porch and these two guys were walking down the street singing "I can show you the world, shining shimmering splendid" and then they stopped and proceeded to sing the same line again until the "shimmering splendid" part, to which they paused again. I then proceeded to bust out "tell me princess now when did you last let your heart decide!" they then started cheering and clapping and I bowed and went back inside.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Book Review! ( The Paris Wife)

The Paris WifeThe Paris Wife by Paula McLain

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I do believe Hemingway would roll over in his grave had he ever caught sight of this book much less read it....I kidd... maybe. I tried - really tried- to like this book seeing as it got some raved reviews and seeing as how much I am intrigued by Hemingway, esp after reading A Moveable Feast; HOWEVER I felt as if 1) the characters were flat 2) Hadley as narrator was inconsistent, one moment loving Hemingway and the next hating her life and while I understand a thwarted woman must feel this way, I didn't feel as if I could relate to her or believe her. I wish the author did more with that. 3) The narration killed me. We were in Hadley's head most of the time and sometimes it was boring/ a little romance novelish 4) The author pretty much ripped off a bunch of stuff from Hemingway's works, I understand that it is based on actual events but having read Hemingway it felt unoriginal. I really don't mean to sound like a hater and there were some brilliant moments in this book. I especially like the line, I wish I had the book so I could quote it, where Hemingway doesn't feel like anything is true unless he tells Hadley but is torn when he realizes the truth about his affair will break her heart twice due to the fact that he is having an affair with her best friend; but I can list those moments on one hand. I finished it b/c I wanted to see how Paula would handle it all and found myself unmoved by the novel as a whole.