Saturday, October 24, 2009

Make a Difference Day


Wenatchee, like many other communities in the United States, participates in the annual "Make a Difference Day." The youth from my church decided they wanted to pump gas for breast cancer. So they made shirts and signs and tried to look their cutest (as you can see in the above pictures) as they approached wary motorists and asked if they could assist in pumping their gas and washing their windshields for donations. One man actually gave them a $50 bill and told the story of his wife who died from breast cancer.
They broke into teams and at the end of 2 hours they made $300+. Not bad I'd say. What was odd was that the group of all girls collected about 75% of the donations irking the other team with the token boy. I told him blond hair girls will always get more donations than boys. It's just the nature of the game. I'm not sure he was really satisfied but such is life. I'm just proud of these cute kids who braved a cold Saturday morning for a cause completely outside themselves.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Sudoku - Fun Past Time or All Consuming Addiction?

It's a good thing I firmly believe in moderation in all things. It's an even better thing I don't go into the hard stuff like coffee, alcohol or cigarettes. It's a good thing because I think I just may have an addictive personality - especially when it comes to puzzles. So far over the years I have found myself becoming obsessed with mine sweeper, word twist, spider solitaire, mahjong, bejeweled, hexic, word fill-it-ins, and now sudoku. A little silly don't you think?

I have no cross stitching or quilting project to keep me busy in my free time and I am in between books so I find myself filling spare moments and spare hours with sudoku. Matthew looks at me with a questioning "You're doing ANOTHER one?" look clearly etched on his face. He says he's fascinated by my zeal but I can tell he's worried. I find myself going to bed with numbers and sequences running around in my head. I can't seem to clear it enough to doze off properly.

I think it's finally getting to the same point as all my prior obsessions. The point where I know the only way to clear the addiction is to cut myself off cold turkey for a month or so. Just until I can come back and play objectively once again. When I can complete one puzzle and be done with it instead of doing five or six. Wish me luck.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Random Musings about Pregnancy and My Life Sans Children

I might have mentioned this before, but sometimes I have to keep myself from reading friends' blogs for fear of becoming despondent with my jealousy of their little feet pitter-pattered lives. In those times, I catch Matthew watching me, sometimes out of the corner of his eyes, sometimes openly staring; I think to catch the first signs of my unraveling. Somehow I find it comforting to know he's on guard.

Anyway, this morning is not one of those times. This morning, as I find myself yet again, unpregnant I am filled with gratitude for this time of life. As my sister says, I really do lead a charmed existence. Yesterday I worked and then took off for an hour bike ride in the glorious fall weather. This morning I sat in bed after Matthew left for work and finished a lovely book (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society written all in correspondence style which is probably why I feel so reflective today). I'm hoping to finally get enough motivation to work today but feel no real compulsion to do anything worthwhile. It's actually kind of nice. Nice to have the feeling and even nicer to be able to actualize it. I'm sitting here in my PJs and bed head at 10am with the sun streaming in the window and I am at peace with the world. It's a wonderful feeling.

But that said, just in case anyone is wondering, it's been a solid two and a half years since Matthew and I have officially started "trying" for children. We obviously haven't been successful and for whatever reason right now I don't feel right about furthering infertility treatments. So we wait. I'll be 30 in another month so I wonder how long the Lord is going to have me in this odd sort of holding pattern but for now it's okay. I'm learning and growing and hopefully building the necessary muscles in my calves, thighs, shoulders and bottom to make long rides more enjoyable.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Clue

I am an unwitting master at the game of Clue. You can ask my husband or any of the very few people we've had over to play games. They look at our closet full of games see that one, reminiscent of their childhoods, and want to play. Even when I mention I have won an inordinate amount of rounds they still maintain their desire. If nothing else it enhances their resolve to prove me wrong. Even Matthew's father, who has a complete Clue strategy falls prey to my crazy luck. I don't have any strategy to speak of, but somehow luck favors me in such games. Any other game, like Boggle, Uno, Monopoly, or any other game that involves any skill inexplicably belong to Matthew, but Clue is mine. Anyone want to play?