Archive for October, 2007

• Evolving (not a finished dissertation…be patient)

  Date: 2007.10.23 | Category: Evolution, random thoughts | Response: 0

  I hate to admit it, but I’m not the person I should be. More times than not I disappoint myself with the way I interact with the world and how I tackle the work that is before me. There are always people who are doing it better than I ever could; people with more passion and skills than I can dream of. This is a difficult place to be – knowing these things about myself. No one wants to feel inferior or seemingly lacking in what you need to do what’s in your heart to do. There are these dreams in me…they are screaming and pounding at the concrete that holds them in.

  I wonder how often throughout our lives we are confronted with choices – big choices – HUGE choices – the kind of choices that no matter what decision you make it won’t make everyone happy. I am confronted with these choices now – mountains placed before me without an easy route to the other side. The person I am right now can not make these decisions. I must become the kind of person that allows themselves to upset the waters once in a while. I must learn to be OK with uncertainty enough to take a flying leap off the edge and see what happens.

  Flying leaps are not popular moves for people like me…

• Monday Morning Brain Dump

  Date: 2007.10.22 | Category: random thoughts | Response: 0

  It’s that time again…

  • Yesterday was fun…great worship in the service (I have a great team!) and we had a really productive rehearsal last night. (again, I have a great team) They are working so hard on their music for the Christmas program – it’s going to be fabulous!
  • I still can’t get my IPhone activated – I’m on hold with apple support right now – pray for me…
  • This is a busy week – tons of stuff to get done for the Christmas show and still get normal stuff done, too. Help!
  • Mom and Dad are off for a week of vacation in the mountains – they deserve it. Have fun…
  • My house is a mess and I can’t seem to get motivated to do anything. We need to have all of the floors replaced and I need to paint and finish hanging pics but I just can’t get excited about that. (I can, however, get excited about my new IPhone – if I can ever use it!)
  • The staff here at The Rock are studying the book “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day” by Mark Batterson - if you haven’t read this book already you should. If you find yourself at a place in your life where uncertainty is looming and you sense change coming…you must get this – it’s amazing.
  • I’m trying to evolve. (I’ll post about this later today – stay tuned)

  I Love You All! Thanks for reading.

• After a long day…this is what I found

  Date: 2007.10.22 | Category: poetry | Response: 0

  Thank you, Mr. Woods, for this…

   

  Cold Pre-Winter Curtain
  So this is how the autumn comes:
  flooding my pasture,
  drenching the weeping corn stalks,
  floating pumpkins off protesting
  the injustice of too much rain
  and not a wink of frost.

  When it’s dry, the land scratches by
  instinctively,
  barely moving or breathing,
  inching through the suffocating dryness,
  content to exist another day
  still standing,
  reaching toward the sun.

  But let it rain the gray streaming rain
  of southern pre-winter,
  the cold curtain falling on
  summer’s last act,
  the silent breathless moment
  preceding the uproar impending,

  And all the world revolts:
  roots unroot,
  crops harvest themselves
  to futility,
  and for a moment,
  the pattering once so soothing
  now seems to me
  a thousand angry footsteps
  stomping through the hills,
  claiming what is owed them
  rightfully,
  only rightfully.

  Christopher Caleb Woods

• I Have The Best Husband….Ever…

  Date: 2007.10.21 | Category: family is everything | Response: 0

  So – last Monday was our 8th anniversary but we were in Rochester visiting his family so we couldn’t really celebrate. I had Megan come over tonight and keep the boy so we could go to dinner and catch a movie. (We saw Michael Clayton – and it was incredible)

  When I got home from shopping earlier this afternoon, Don told me to close my eyes and he gave me this small box. I fussed at him last week because I have NEVER….in 8 years….been surprised by any gift he’s given me. I fussed at him hard….I was tired of the predictable… So, he made me guess what was in the box. Ummmm….coasters? a very small cookbook? socks?

  I wasn’t even close. I opened my eyes – the clouds parted – the angels began to sing – and I saw before me what I never dreamed Don Printy would ever….and I mean ever splurge for. Brace yourselves – he bought me an IPhone! I am speechless at this point. My husband just does not do things like this -

  So I have to say that even before this he was the best husband I could ever dream of. He is loving and hilarious, a fabulous father, amazing provider and a big hunk of sexy love (did I just type that? I’m channeling my brother)

  I am a little bummed b/c AT&T has their system down until 8am tomorrow morning so I can’t activate until then. Oh well…gives me something to look forward to tomorrow!

  I Love You, Smoochie!

  (after the fact blog post addition….my brother is a dork…read his comment on this post and then tell me I’m lying…)

• It Only Got Worse

  Date: 2007.10.17 | Category: random thoughts | Response: 0

  So…after the first emergency brake screeching last night (see post below)..we sat in the terminal for about two hours waiting to hear something – anything – meanwhile Reagan was WAY past his bedtime. You have to understand me – I am the bedtime Nazi – 8:00 at the latest for my boy. He’s a great sleeper and I don’t want to unsettle that routine. We ran him around the terminal for those two l o n g hours and tried to keep him entertained.

  Finally, they came over the intercom and announced that they had fixed the problem and we would be boarding shortly on the same plane. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Abrupt stops mid-takeoff are not my idea of a reassuring start. But – what choice did we have? Sleep on the airport floor? I don’t think so. I had already checked hotel availability in NYC for the night. The cheapest I found for something that wasn’t a rats nest was $300 for a few hours of sleep. I don’t think so…

  We boarded a few minutes later and had a normal taxi to our runway. We started to take off again and then just before lift off…..the pilot slammed on the brakes….again. I was on the verge of freaking out at this point. You have to understand something else about me before I go on. I have flown from LA to Korea in a typhoon and slept through the whole thing. I’m not the type of person who is typically fearful – but now I have this amazing this bundle of love to worry about. This is another level completely.

  We sat there for a few minutes and then watched as our plane was surrounded by 15-20 firetrucks and ambulances with the lights flashing. What? Are you kidding me?!! This is not happening….is it? Reagan was quite amused by the whole thing. The combination of sleep deprivation and pretty red flashing lights was almost too much for him to bear. He was a giddy mess. I was a different kind of mess.

  So there we were – 11:00 at night sitting on the runway at Laguardia with planes landing all around us and the whole NYFD surrounding us. Seriously, I was not OK.

  Then – we took off – we freaking took off without one word of explanation from the crew of that airplane. Not once did they give us any information – it was as if nothing had ever happened. Don’t you know that every noise – every shake and shimmy – every bit of turbulence that we felt on that flight home was tortuous. I have never had an issue with US Air – every other flight has been normal – but they really screwed up on this one. They WILL be hearing from me today – they WILL be hearing from my husband today – they WILL be getting a written complaint from us this week. What were they thinking? OH – they can’t see all those FIRETRUCKS out their windows – they’re probably all asleep. Give me a big fat break…

• Stuck

  Date: 2007.10.17 | Category: random thoughts | Response: 0

  

  So – we boarded on time…but crept along the runway for about an hour. We finally started to take off then the lights flickered and we slammed on the brakes…got towed back to the gate…got OFF the plane and now we’re sitting in the terminal with no information and it’s past Reagan’s bed time…

  For the sake of Pete -(who is Pete, anyway?)

• Last Day of Fun!

  Date: 2007.10.16 | Category: family is everything | Response: 0

  

  Don and Reagan played football every night out in the yard…FUN!

  

  Grammy and the Boy!

  

  Tons of butterflys at the children’s museum – Reagan loved it!

  

  

  
  

  
  

• Can We Stay A Little Longer?

  Date: 2007.10.14 | Category: family is everything | Response: 0

  

  Reagan LOVES his Poppy. He loves to crawl up in his lap and play office with all of the stuff on Poppy’s desk!

  

  We had so much fun doing the corn maze at the pumpkin farm. It took us about an hour to find our way out – Don is not much of a navigator..:)

  

  Reagan had a great time with his cousins Rachel and Lauren. They kept him entertained all day yesterday!

  

  I’m sorry, but this is just scary. Don’t they have a weight limit on these things?

  

  The best train conductor ever.

  

  He kept running into the middle of the corn husks and jumping out at us. He said he was a “Scary Monster…RAAWRRRR!”

  

  Still a scary monster – but he sure is a cute one, isn’t he?

• How To Really Be On Vacation

  Date: 2007.10.12 | Category: random thoughts | Response: 0

  So, I had a conversation with Don on the airplane yesterday. I’m really trying to be on vacation – for real. The next few months are going to be killer and this was the last possible moment that we could steal away for a few days before the madness truly kicks in. It’s difficult to allow your brain to be “off”, though. You all know what I’m talking about. It’s difficult to allow ourselves the opportunity to be slackers.

  But I must – I must take advantage of of the next fews days to relax..enjoy family time..enjoy the amazing fall weather they are having up here in Rochester. All of the stuff will still be there waiting for me when I get back.

  So – to all of my wonderful friends (and more importantly my amazing family who never stops working), call me if you have a moment and just want to say hi- but I don’t want to talk any business. My brain…my heart…my spirit needs a rest. I won’t be going to church on Sunday morning – I’ll probably be here at Starbucks again doing a bunch of nothing.

  Now listen my fabulous friends and collegues – learn to take a break every now and then. Allow yourself the indulgence of focusing solely on your kids on a regular basis. Allow yourself the opportunity to go on a date with your smoochie and leave the cell phone at home. Let yourself be more than your job. We are not our jobs – we are not solely “pastors” or “worship leaders” or “property appraisers” or “secretaries” or whatever your Monday-Friday job dictates. We are so much more than that! We are these amazing beings that have so much to give and so much to receive. Let yourself be more than you are right now. We are always growing, always evolving – His mercies are new every morning so why do we stay in a rut? I don’t want to get to the end of my life and regret that I didn’t go all out. My heart has really been breaking lately because sometimes I don’t see how I am leaving a mark and I desperately want to.

  So – that is why I am taking a break – why I don’t want to live my normal life for the next few days. I need to reboot. I’ll be ready to kick some tail come Wednesday morning – but for now I am breathing a little deeper and kissing my son until his cheeks are sore.

  Love you all – see you when I get back!

• At Starbucks with Grammy

  Date: 2007.10.12 | Category: family is everything | Response: 0

  

  Reagan is having a great time with his Grammy in Rochester! (I’m having a great time b/c I’m at Starbucks…:)