school lunches

Do you remember what your favorite meal at the school cafeteria was? Mine was burritos. In elementary, the beef and bean burritos were awesome! They always served cheese sticks with them and I always loved them too. In Kindergarten, we had cheese sticks for snack time. (I had a full day of Kindergarten)

I remember one time the lunch lady monitor made everyone clean their plates. I had bought my lunch and that day they had peas for the veggie. I hate peas. So, when the lady wasn't looking I stuffed the peas in my milk carton.

In high school, we had the option of the pizza bar. I usually had pizza if I was buying my lunch. My friends liked to bring their lunches, so I started doing that with them. I usually did what was cool at the time, whether buying your lunch or bringing it from home. My mom would sometimes pack me chips and candy, so I became real popular with the guys when I was in elementary school. I usually couldn't eat all of it, and if someone asked I usually gave it to them.

Hymns

During the sermon last week at church, I pulled out the hymnal and looked through it. I have a problem with tuning out sermons sometimes. Especially if I have heard it before. I tried to see how many hymns that I recognized and started singing them in my head.

Why are the hymnals still in the rack behind the pew if we never use them? Do some of the senior saints still use them in the first service? The first service occasionally sings a hymn, right? I wouldn't mind singing a hymn every now and then for some variety. I did grow up on them so I don't want to totally disregard them now. My two favorite hymns are "It is well with my soul" and "Blessed Assurance." I like a lot of other ones too.

My parents occasionally go to the "Wilderness Church" at Silver Dollar City on Sunday mornings for service. I can imagine being in the log cabin church with the big window overlooking all the trees. Everyone is singing hymns out of the hymnal on the old wood pews. It reminds me of Little House on the Prairie. My mother said she always leaves feeling refreshed and at peace. Sounds awesome to me. I wouldn't mind experiencing that. Call me old fashioned again.

Kane

Rosebud. What does that mean? Dust and I watched Citizen Kane Tuesday night. All through the movie I wanted to know what Kane's dying words meant. I actually guessed that it was probably his sled. I don't know if it was in my subconscious somewhere or not. I remember the line Rosebud from the tv special on the top 100 quotes from movies. I don't remember if they showed the sled in the furnace or not on the tv special.

I thought the movie was excellent! Dust teased me because I used to think that "black and white" movies were boring. I love when movies give great character development. It made me think about how someone's personality could change so much. What made him become so controlling and vicious? Was it because he hadn't been in control of his life growing up? His mother didn't help him any by sending him away to boarding school. Power and riches were handed to him. When he was a young adult he thought it would be fun to run a newspaper. That "fun" that he had turned into wanting to control what mass audiences thought.

I guess the older one gets, the more set-in-their-ways they become. Especially if the person isn't married. With Kane, his two wives didn't have much of an influence on his personality. That goes against my theory. They were both pleasers or enablers so maybe that has something to do with it. It is a fictional story so maybe I shouldn't analyze it too much.

lingerie shirts

The cami or the spaghetti strap shirt has been in style for awhile now. I have seen them in stores recently in multitudes. Practically the only shirt you can buy anymore is the "lingerie" shirt as I like to call it. Does is it bother anybody else that girls and women are walking around in what looks like their underwear? Putting a jacket over it maybe helps a little, but it seems very inappropriate to me. Do women wear a bra with these shirts? I am sure there are women that do not wear a bra. Some of the cami's have a shelf bra made into the shirt. Do women wear strapless bras with these shirts? To me, the only occasion on which a woman would wear a strapless bra is with a fancy strapless gown for a wedding or the prom.

I am reminded of the Seinfeld skit where Elaine is upset about a woman wearing a bra as a top. Kramer and Jerry get into an accident because they were looking at the woman wearing a bra as a shirt walking down the street. If I remember correctly, she had a jacket on but it wasn't buttoned.

It makes me sad to see women's fashion going towards provocative. Mainly because young girls want to model after them. And a lot of girls' clothing is designed after women's styles only in a smaller size.

Where does one find the balance between wanting to be fashionable yet still wanting to have a respectable wholesome image? It takes some shopping around, but there are still stylish options out there that are not slutty. I guess one should only wear what they feel comfortable in. I have never been much of a fashionable person so missing out on the lastest thing hasn't bothered me too much. I definately wouldn't want to be a teenager right now. When I was a teenager there really wasn't that many provocative clothing out there. The cool thing was long sweaters with stirrup pants.

last one picked

Do you remember picking teams for sports in P.E. at school? The P.E. teacher would pick two people to be team captains and off started the picking. I always prayed to God to please let me not be picked last this time. It did happen on occasion, but for the most part, I was usually the last person picked. It was so embarrassing standing in the line-up while being "checked out" by the team captains. It can really affect a person's self esteem. I was always relieved when the coach decided to number off everyone in choosing teams. I wouldn't have to go through that humiliation for that day. There was one time when I was the first to be picked! But that was because my best friend was the team captain. Wow, what a thrill that was!

My elementary and junior high school P.E. experiences were always coed. That made things worse. The guys would always say, "Come in closer, Golden is up to kick," when playing kickball. That made me so mad--I wanted to kick that ball in their face! I was almost always out at first base. Guys making fun of how weak I was has really scarred me from playing any sports at all. I usually got yelled at in volleyball because I didn't go after the ball or attempt to hit it. I felt like there was so much pressure put on me.

Well, I am no athlete and I am ok with that. Sports isn't everything. Maybe they saved the best for last. : ) (Wasn't that a cheesy song?)

upscale meals

Have you ever felt the need to go to an expensive restaurant when a special occasion arises? Or if you have some extra money and you want to go out to eat. Once you are at the restaurant and look at the menu they usually don't have much of a selection. The vegetables are usually steamed or barely cooked at all. It is usually some weird vegetable like an asparagus and all the time I keep thinking that I am eating Junior Asparagus from Veggie Tales. I usually comment on how it is luke-warm and I am going to spew it out of my mouth. I prefer vegetables to be cooked not raw. The mashed potatoes usually don't come with gravy. I should be excited that I am at a classy upscale place. The atmosphere is always enjoyable but the food leaves something to be desired. The types of food and arrangement usually come across stuffy and snobbby-if you can attribute those characteristics to food.

I have realized that I would much rather eat at a mom and pop's diner than a place like J Gilberts. I want to feel like I got a good deal moneywise on my plate of food. If I don't eat anything on my plate at an upscale place, what is the point of going there? I have buyer's remorse when I spend $20-$30 on my meal alone. Does anyone know of a good diner?
(How was that for pessimistic?)

art and butts

Dust and I went to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. I usually find it hard to control my laughter when I am at any art museum. Another aspect of my humor is laughing at bare bottoms. When I see a naked butt I laugh. There was this big brass butt sculpture that looked like a bird bath. It had 3 legs coming out with 2 of them wearing red heels. I saw a lot of rears and some breasts. There was an arrangement of toys on a rug next to a tall plastic wrap looking Godzilla. Because I am interested in toys, I studied most of them. There was a naked anotomically correct boy baby doll. I had not seen a boy doll like that before. The Ken doll never had privates. He was flat in the front. I tried not to laugh because the security lady kept watching us. That really made me nervous. I can't enjoy myself when someone is watching my every move. There were too many security guards in that small museum.

There was a decorated platform looking thing with pillows on it. I assumed it was art and I wasn't supposed to sit down on it. If someone wasn't paying attention they could accidentally walk on it. Art can be anywhere so you really have to be observant.

It bothers me when I see a picture that looks like a kindergartner drew it. How is that art? I could do that. There was an arrangement of photos with an annoying white strip in each one. It looks like someone had problems with their camera. I know I shouldn't criticize the art. Maybe it is because I don't understand it. I know I should respect it, but it's really hard.

"it's like rain on your wedding day"

That song kept going through my head all day. "And wouldn't you know it figured." It was my fifth anniversary and boy did it rain! I was glad it wasn't my wedding day. We had no rain and plenty of heat on that wonderful day five years ago. Our anniversary was romantic in spite of the rain though. Dust and I enjoyed our dinner at George Brett's. We had never been there before, so it was a neat experience for both of us. When we stepped out of the restaurant, the rain was coming down in buckets. We did remember our umbrella and dashed into the Discovery store.

We had a reservation at 7:30 for a "Cinderella" stage coach ride. (Surreys on the Plaza) We walked over to "Surreys" early and asked if they would still be having them tonight. With the loud thunder and lightning I thought it might scare the horses. The man said it would probably clear up by 8:00 and to come back then. I was so excited to see the lighted white Cinderella coach coming down the road a little after 8. There was no rain and it seemed perfect for a ride. Our horse was named Charlie and he did not have gas. No beef-areeno for him. It was sweet of Dust to do the ride with me because I think he gets embarrassed at that sort of thing. It was fun watching the people point at us. All the little girls got excited and wanted a ride too. Dust laughed at the fact that I could have had a princess crown for $10. "Your kidding me," he said. Our "driver" Randy was kind enough to take our pictures in the coach.

My Prince Charming was there and I definately felt like Cinderella.

my sabbatical

I am going to take a sabbatical from blogging. I need some time to go over things that I have already written to make sure that I don't repeat myself. I also need to do some brainstorming.

When I looked up sabbatical in the dictionary, it referred to a sabbatical year. I definately won't go that long. What am I saying, I will probably be posting again next week or tomorrow. Other bloggers take sabbaticals but don't realize it or let anyone know. Sabbatical also comes from the Sabbath rest. Why don't you ask Dust his opinion on the Sabbath rest?

winning isn't always everything

If you know me you know that I'm not a competitive person. And you also know that my husband is very competitive. There have been a few times in my life where I have shown that I like to win.

When I was a child, my mother would take my brother and me to the Putt-Putt golf course. Not to toot my own horn, but I have a knack for putting. On each hole, I had to get a lower score than my brother. I was very ticked if I got a 5 and he got a 4. My brother was also competitive when it came to putting. He wanted to win also. My mother would say that it was a lose-lose situation for her because whoever lost would be crying on the way home. I still like to win at miniature golf but I don't cry anymore if I lose.

I also like to have the highest score in bowling but that usually doesn't happen. My average is somewhere in the 80's or 90's. I did beat my husband the first time we went bowling when we were dating. That was a fluke game. I think I scored over 100.

I enjoy playing cards and board games but it is usually for the enjoyment. It is always nice to win but it doesn't bother me if I don't. I just like the social atmosphere. There is one game that I generally want to win and that is Rack-O. The cards are numbered 1-60 and are dealt to you to put in your rack. By taking turns by drawing a card or taking from the discard pile, you have to get your numbers in chronological order. I also like word games because I am generally a good speller. Dust was saying last night that I should try out for Wheel of Fortune. The only thing is would I have enough strength to spin the wheel and are my arms long enough. : )

movie nights

I just finished watching Jersey Girl. I don't think it did too well in the box office. I did like the movie, however. I thought it was going to be a romantic comedy, but it ended up being more about the love between a father and daughter. It was a tear jerker. Ben Affleck isn't the best actor, but he did do a decent job.

It looks like Thursday nights are going to be my chick flick night. Dust and I did join Blockbuster online-so here come the chick flicks for me and the sci fi for him. In our que, we try to space it out where there is my movie, his movie, and then our movie. It has worked out great these last two weeks. He watches his sci fi on Monday or Tuesday and I watch mine on Thursday. That leaves the movie we both want to see for Friday or Saturday.

We actually have a lot of classics on our list. There are a lot of old movies that I have heard quotes on, but have never seen. The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock is our next movie. I just added the Godfather movies to our list. This is going to be a lot of fun.

"I'm not cool, that's ok, my God loves me anyway"

Have you ever heard that song play on the radio station Calvary 88.5? I laughed when I first heard it because I thought it applied to me. It helped me accept my non-coolness. The song is extremely cheesy though. "I'm not cool, I don't care, how I'm supposed to do my hair."

There are a lot of times that I just don't care if I'm cool or not. I like to be somewhat in style, but I don't care about being on the cutting edge. I think that people who make remarks about what other people are wearing are being superficial. There are definately more important things in life.

In college, I had no money so it really didn't matter if I wanted to be cool in terms of clothes & etc. I was always jealous of the girls that came back from the mall with bags of new clothes. How could they afford to go to Evangel and have tons of new clothes? Their parents must have been made of money.

I do understand that in order to be relevant to my peers that I should care about how I look. This is my continual struggle--to be relevant. Of course my apathy seeps into other areas of my life also.

There are some items that I have and love because they are tacky. Like my grandmother's gaudy turquoise dishes that are on display in my kitchen. They are so ugly that I just gotta love them.

I guess I will go back and forth from embracing my uncoolness to caring about being relevant.