"Testing, Testing, Testing"

The month of March has not been my best as far as my exercise habit is concerned. Because of Spring Break and baseball season and various other commitments, I have had more days NOT exercising than days where I was exercising. On the days when I am not at the gym, I hear a voice in my head saying “testing, testing 1,2,3, testing”. It’s like someone is testing a microphone except the microphone is fine and I am the one they are testing!

I started my exercise habit last November and I have done well. I have really made it a habit and a consistent part of my life. Occasionally, I have even missed it when I had to skip a day. In the past, when I have recommitted to exercise, something like the month of March always happens. I go great guns for the first few weeks; I hit a little slump; and I quit altogether. This time, I just listen to the voice saying “testing, testing, testing” and I smile.

Yes, I am in a little slump with my exercise. It is a test. This time, though, I am going to pass the test! Maybe this time is different because I committed to exercise for my health and not just for some short-term goal. Maybe this time is different because I have come to see my exercise as something that I am doing for myself. Maybe this time is different just because my attitude is different. Honestly, I don’t know why this time is different. I just know that I am not quitting.

There may be a couple of more days of voices before I get totally back on schedule. That’s ok. They’ll go away soon enough. Until then, I don’t mind the company while I am walking!

Reading the Difference

With the Spring Reading Thing fresh on my mind, I have been thinking about reading. Not just about what I will read, but about my process of reading. I don’t want to overthink this but I have come to realize, more than ever before, what I read and how I read it is different, regardless of WHEN I read it.

When I read for information, the act of reading is secondary to the information that I obtain. There seems to be more of an interpretation element to that type of reading. Just think about it…street signs, bank statements, receipts, notes from school, price tags…all things that we read everyday without thinking about the reading. In a sense, we take that reading for granted because we do it so automatically.

When I study or research something, I read with a pen and paper. There might be thoughts that I need to record or phrases that I need to capture. There might be an idea for an article or a blog post or a chapter that I have to record before I go to something else. There might be a web site or a job lead that I need to remember so that I can come back to it later. In this sense, reading is work…or it might lead me to write something, which is my work. I always have a READ FOR WORK pile (articles, newsletters, newspapers, job descriptions, etc.) and a separate READ pile. They are not labeled and anyone else would not know that they are not the same – just stuff to be read. To me, those piles are totally different animals and not always friendly ones.

As a writer, I sometimes feel I have lost my ability to read for pleasure. Because I enjoy the elements of written communication AND because I look at all written communication for ideas and examples, I struggle to turn that part of my brain off and just enjoy reading for its own sake. Honestly, I don’t know if that is a choice that I am capable of making. After all, if I am a writer because the ability and the passion for writing is actually ingrained in my physical being, is it possible for me to only be a reader sometimes? That is not to say that I want to be a disengaged or passive reader. Sometimes I would just enjoy being a writer that has escaped into reading – not evaluating or experimenting – just reading. What a difference that would make!

TUESDAY TIDBITS

It’s not too late to get started on the Spring Reading Thing 2007!

Place your order today for the Maryland Women of Worship Devotion Guide – Available April 1, 2007! I have 2 devotions that are being published and I am excited about seeing it.

Check out DietFacts.Com for nutritional information about many foods and restaurants. The site was started in an effort to help diabetics with planning their diets but has become a good reference tool for anyone concerned about health and fitness.

No, they are not new but I have just discovered Space Bags. Someone gave me some for a gift. I tried them and I am hooked. Now, I walk around my house looking at anything that needs to be stored and wonder if it would fit in a space bag. Not to mention, it is lots of fun to watch the vacuum suck all the air out!

Check out this contest by Nabisco and Wheat Thins and you might win $5000! The deadline for entering is April 16, 2007.

Spring Reading Thing!

Katrina at CallapidderDays is hosting the Spring Reading Thing 2007! I’m joining the challenge to finish some books that are on my nightstand and start the new ones that I have waiting in the wings.

Here is my list…

PROFESSIONAL READING:
6 Figure Freelancing (Kelly James-Inger)
Complete Idiot’s Guide to Making $ in Freelancing (Laurie Rosakis)
Reading Like A Writer (Francine Prose)

FICTION:
The Myth of You and Me (Leah Stewart)
Best Friends (Myrtle Moody)
The Next Thing On My List (Jill Smolinski)

OTHER READING:
The Price of Privilege (Madeline Levine)
Creative Correction (Lisa Whelchel)
The Power of a Praying Wife (Stormie Omartian)
The Power of a Praying Parent (Stormie Omartian)
Moneyball (Michael Lewis)
The One That Got Away (Howell Raines)
In An Instant (Bob and Lee Woodruff)
French Women Don’t Get Fat (Mireille Guiliano)
Ready or Not: What Happens When We Treat Children As Small Adults (Kay Hymowitz)
Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys (Dan Kindlon/Michael Thompson)
The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism is Harming our Young Men (Christina Hoff Sommers)
Last Dance (John Feinstein)

Tuesday Tidbits

• My “guest post” on the BLOGS FROM THE ROAD section of Executive Traveler goes live today. Check it out!
• Mighty Goods is a shopping blog! It has some neat things that are not what you find everywhere you go. Plan to spend a little time there.
• The Washington Post site has a technology article today with some tips about removing spyware from your computer. When you have a chance, read “How to Free Your PC From Spyware”
• If you need a little motivation to get your spring fitness regimen going, sign up for the Family Circle Magazine Walking Challenge. It is something you can do with your whole family!
• Only 12 days until Opening Day for Major League Baseball. Go Braves!

Really?

Last month, I was chatting with one of the other moms at the “preschool PTA” meeting. We got to talking about what we had done in our lives before children. Turns out, she has degrees in engineering and had worked, for several years, on an off-shore oil rig.

“Wow! Really?” was all I could manage to say!

Later, I started thinking about the things that I have done/am able to do that people don’t know about. I have never done anything as impressive as working on a oil rig, but there are skills that others don’t know I have.

Here are a few of them…

LAY TILE – I have tiled backsplashes and bathrooms. I can operate a wet saw and grouting is fun since you have an excuse to make a big mess!

HANG, SAND, and MUD SHEETROCK – The first time I did this was on a church mission trip. Later, I helped my boyfriend (now husband) finish a room in his house so he could sell it.

LAY SHINGLES – Again, a church mission trip taught me this skill. Anyone that was young and fairly agile was sent to the roof. Actually, this is kind of fun for Type A personalities like me!

OPERATE A PRESSURE WASHER – Talk about fun!

REFINISH FURNITURE – When I got my first job out of college and moved to another state, my mother and I spent 3 solid weeks stripping and refinishing furniture for my apartment. It is one of our fondest memories; it is hard work; and it is very rewarding!

So, what can you do that others might find interesting? Send me a comment with your talents and share them with all of us.

Big Church

I don’t know about how it works where you are, but where I am, “big church” is a big deal! It is something of a rite of passage to get to be old enough and to be well-behaved enough to go to “big church.” When I was growing up, just walking into the sanctuary brought a sense of quiet and awe. It was as if God, himself, was sitting quietly and patiently until the next worship service. I know, now, that God inhabits his people and that a building and a room are just that. I wish, however, that the sense of awe at the sight of the sanctuary were still present.

I have a totally different perspective on big church now that I am a parent. I do find myself thinking about the issues of reverance, awe, and respect for the place of worship and how I want to instill those things into the minds of my children. There are practical aspects, though, that I fear I spend more time thinking about. How do we sit close enough to the front so that the kids can see while still being close enough to a door to be able to make a discreet exit if we need to? What kinds of activities will be appropriate for them to do to entertain themselves and not make noise? How much of the service should we make them pay attention to? Will I sit between and/or beside them? And on and on and on…

Because we are in a church that has a more traditional, formal worship service, there are some things that are specific and appropriate in the service that we attend. I want my children to know those things. I want them to see that those rituals and elements of worship are important to me and my faith. I want them to behave appropriately, just because that is what we do in church!

Yesterday, for the 1st time in our own church, my whole family sat together in big church. I couldn’t have been prouder, not because they behaved nicely and sat relatively still. I’m just proud to have the opportunity and the responsibility to share “big church” with them. May they come to love it as I do and share it with their own families some day!

Antique Mommy also has a post about “big church” today. Check it out!

Happy Anniversary!

Mr. and Mrs. James Kevin Langston

March 8, 1997

10 down, 40 to go

When my husband and I got married (10 years ago tomorrow), he said that he thought we should plan to re-evaluate the deal at 50 years. In honor of making it through the first 10 years, here are 10 lessons I have learned so far:

1. If the argument doesn’t start until 9:00 p.m., it’s almost impossible not to go to bed angry. Inevitably, one of you will say your peace and go right to sleep while the other turns and churns all night. If you can manage to fight earlier and quicker, nobody will lose any sleep.

2. Buying an artificial, pre-lit Christmas tree has eliminated our biggest fight of the year. It makes the holidays easier. I have been known to use it as a piece of furniture and, until 1 strand of lights went out (right in the middle), I was apt to turn it on even when it wasn’t decorated.

3. Laughing helps almost everything and, if you are lucky, you can laugh with your spouse about most anything. A sense of humor will ease tension and help you not to take yourself so seriously. I’ll take someone funny over someone rich any day!

4. Nothing smaller than a king size bed is big enough! No explanation necessary.

5. It’s easy to forget you are on the same team. With jobs and children and competing schedules, make sure you are focusing on the right “enemy” and make sure that enemy is not your spouse. If you don’t guard your own attitudes and egos, no one else will either!

6. Seeing our hair turn gray together makes me feel like we have accomplished something!

7. It is possible to have graduated from Mississippi State and Ole Miss and not really care about SEC football. In our house, the Southern Living subscription is in HIS name and MY fall Saturdays are planned around the televised game schedules!

8. It’s all in the presentation! Choosing what to tell, when to tell, and how to tell is definitely an art and a balancing act. Sometimes, saying nothing is appropriate also, but I have not learned that as well as I should have.

9. It’s important to have current wills and life insurance policies and even more important to know where those documents are kept. There is no guarantee that our next heartbeat won’t be our last. Wills and life insurance won’t take the grief away but they can make some of the practical things easier so you can deal with grief adequately.

10. Holding his hand still gives me chill bumps and, if I had the chance, I would choose him all over again!

All About the Girls

My daughter, age 3, and her best friend, age 4, get very excited about GIRLS CLUB. Since they both have brothers living in their homes, it helps to have a time to get away from them.

One of our strategies for dealing with the “yukky” boys is “Girls Club”. We go out to eat and do fun things with NO BOYS. No brothers and no Daddys! Since I am the one that started all this, my daughter doesn’t mind me tagging along, but her friend really has to be in the mood for her mom to get to come along. I guess she sees her as part of the reason that boy is in the house anyway!

Today was a “surprise” Girls Club lunch! Neither girl knew it was coming and I picked them up from school early. We headed for lunch at Pizza Hut and then home to skip nap (maybe the highlight of the whole event) and play until time for ballet. The picture above is them playing a game.

I am really just the driver, but I love listening to them. They giggle and squeal and laugh so hard that they can’t breathe. Sometimes, it’s just all about the girls!