winter, spring, summer, or fall...

This time of year I find myself caught between two loves: flip flops and fall. The "fireworks of fall," as EFO so poetically refers to the gorgeousness of the season here in Virginia, bring me such joy. However, if the leaves are changing that means the temperatures are diving. Which, in turn means that it is time to tuck away shorts, swimsuits, short-sleeved shirts, and the beloved footwear: flip flops. My shoe organizer looks so much more serious with loafers and high heels in it than my multicolor assortment of flip flops and sandals. Today I am wearing shoes that require hosiery too...so not only am I close-toed, I am doubly encumbered by knee highs. So stifling.

At the same time, it was fun to pull out sweaters and scarves and sassy heels. There is a certain coziness to trading my iced-chais for vanilla lattes. The grimace that I had as I packed away my swimsuit, while recognizing that my tan lines are fading, will be replaced by a grin as I crunch through leaves as I walk to my car after work.

I seem to write a lot about seasons. I guess I feel them rather deeply. I have a hard time choosing a favorite because they are all lovely for different reasons. And they are generally all beautiful in their own right, here.

However, on a practical note...if you could say some prayers that the next time I am switching my clothes out for a new season, I'm in a new house, that would be great! The last house fell through (grrr.) and I am looking yet again. I look at the time that passes as just a great time to continue saving...but would love to find my new house soon, and begin to make it a home.

reunited and it feels so good.

I've got my car back. And it looks wonderful. The body shop did a great job on it.

It is worth noting that for the past two years I lived in a house that had trees all around it that seemed to peg the house and surrounding vehicles with acorns. The fall months were humorous as you'd sit in the living room and hear about a dozen slam onto the roof of the house, or on the back deck you'd actually have to watch out for fear of being hit. This also took a toll on our vehicles. My hood had tons of teeny dents in it.

So, the upside to the accident? The damage was so bad that the hood needed to be replaced.

we laughed until we had to cry

While it is still difficult for me to not get upset about the retreat being canceled, I know I was exactly where I was supposed to be yesterday. I can't imagine having missed Laura's wedding and it was such a blessing to be there and witness such a beautiful celebration, such an intense joy. The reception took place about a mile from the campus where I first met her and several other wonderful friends and it was so special to be reunited for such a beautiful occasion. With the exception of the bride, I hadn't seen the others in anywhere from 4-9 years. We left with plans to get together more often and I really hope we're able to make it happen. I forgot the joy I feel with them and the comfort that you feel when you are with people you knew as you began college, when life was so crazy. One of my first memories of these gals was two of them singing to the St. Elmo's soundtrack and last night another one of them reminded me of the lyrics to one of our favorite songs: "We laughed until we had to cry, and we loved right down to our last goodbye." Of course, she and I also had a silly dance to go with it, which she also reminded me of. But these lyrics just remind me how much laughter I have shared with these girls and how many tears as well. There are other lyrics from the same song that say, "you and I will never love again, the way that we did then." There is such truth in that, but in a positive way. The love I have for these friends is deeper at having witnessed them in the most wonderful moments of their lives (their weddings) and the most difficult (a parent's funeral). We have grown into very different women than we were in 1994, and the love we share is so different but so beautiful.

Now, I had worked out an exit strategy with a single friend at the wedding, in the event that a bouquet was to be tossed. My reasoning is simple: I've caught several bouquets and it ain't never done me no good. Gladly we did not need to employ said strategy, there was no toss. I've definitely come to the conclusion that I enjoy bringing home a lovely centerpiece than a caught bouquet. As a result, I've got a lovely flower arrangement on my nightstand right now. And every time I look at it, I smile thinking about yesterday and the wonderful time I had. I laughed and cried and loved, and it is precisely where I was meant to be.

found time

I get my car back on Monday which brings great joy in the form of no longer driving a rental car. I'm tired of remembering small things I left in my car in haste as I tried to gather what I needed before it was towed. Besides that, the rental car ac smells like pee when I turn it on, it squeals when I turn corners, and it attacks me (see my unfortunate events post). My Civic might not be a luxury vehicle but it is what I am used to and I miss it.

I've also put an offer down on another house. I'm not allowing myself to get excited or even mildly daydream about the "what ifs." I will know within a week if I get it and the excitement/nervousness/terror of mortgage payments can begin then or it is back to checking the listings nightly. Having said that, this place is great and I would REALLY love to get it. There are a few contracts in so I am hoping mine is competitive enough to win out.

And, in the "silver lining" category, it is nice to be home this weekend. I was able to have a few of the former roomates over tonight which was wonderful, although the movie we watched was not. What in the WORLD is up with the movie "Attonement." Seriously. I also am able to go to a wedding tomorrow of a dear friend. I didn't realize how upset I was that I'd be missing it until that decision was reversed due to my newfound free weekend. She is a gracious, wonderful bride and although I said (when I called, less than two weeks before the wedding) that I would attend the Mass but not reception so as not to mess with her numbers, she told me I was silly and is glad to have me at both. So, tomorrow I get to share in her joy which brought me to tears when I told her the news.

Not sure what else the weekend holds. Perhaps I'll camp out in front of the house I've got the contract on and just tell people it is a lost cause and not to go in. I think it could be a winning tactic!

photoshop freak

I guess it is not best practice to blog about how many unfortunate predicaments you have found yourself in, and then not blog for several days. Rest assured, my series of unfortunate events seemed to end, for the meantime at least! I do somewhat feel as though I should have a plaque handing on my wall saying " ____ days since last unfortunate event."

One fairly unfortunate occurrence, however, is that we ended up having to cancel our annual beach retreat. This did cut me to the core; the retreat is one of our best and biggest events each year. This year we had to compete with homecoming at the school that most of the kids attend, and rather than the 40-50 kids we were expecting, we would have been pushing it to get a dozen. While we still lost a considerable amount of money on the rentals, we would have lost far more money if we had tried to push through and go with a handful of kids. I had about five minutes where I felt like a useless failure, a horrible youth minister. Then I decided to blame it on the economy, and I felt better.

I decided to throw myself into some other projects since the one that would have taken most of my time this week and last is now nonexistent. As a result, I have the calendar from now through the end of January planned out, which is most excellent. I've also been working on some publicity materials for an event in January so we can get the word out early. This led me to recognize the following: Flier-making is my happy place.

While I have a great love for the mind maze that is Excel, and the gorgeous nature of the documents I create for certain programs we have...I think my greatest love at the moment is photoshop elements. I have tons to learn about it but I have an absurd love for creating things with this program.

And, if you think about it, flier making is a pretty decent, constructive coping mechanism. It kept me from getting upset, and at the end I had a pretty rockin' creation. Just don't remind me that I poured the same kind of time energy into the beach retreat postcards, because we all know how that ended.