I am glad the work week is over.
A weekend with no plans sounds just right to me.
One good thing did happen...
We got approval to wear jeans through January 4th.
Not that I needed approval all the other days I wore jeans.
You couldn't pay me any amount of money for that little coupon.

I get abnormally excited when I conquer Free Cell.
Yes, I play games at work.
What else am I going to do when I have someone rambling about their Peekapoo for 15 minutes.
Seriously.
No, but for real... the best is when I don't get it right the first or second time....
I keep trying the same puzzle.... moving the cards around differently each time.
As soon as I solve it, my face lights up.
That is probably way too much excitement over an electronic card game.
But now you know...

I'm starting to become more and more aware of people's feelings.
I always felt aware of them before, but now I feel like I am suddenly aware of the feelings of the people I have always found hard to get along with, annoying or strange.
It's like before... they just bothered me in some form or fashion.
Now I want to look past that annoyance and realize that there is a person in there that may get hurt if I am sarcastic or short with them.
Everyone wants to feel loved and wanted.
No one wants to feel like they are a bother or hindrance or burden.
So if I wouldn't want someone to poke fun at me or make me feel that way....
Why would I make someone else feel that hurt just because their personality happened to rub me the wrong way in that moment?
I really want to pay more attention to my words and how they're coming across.
Just thoughts running through my head....

It snowed here tonight.
There is something about snow that lights me up and turns me into a kid again.
We didn't even have a lot of snow when I was a kid... but it really puts a huge silly grin on my face.
I think God knows that.
He knows how to get me to smile the best.
I'd like to think that  is why it is suddenly snowing right before Christmas when all last week it was 60 degrees.
In the best said words of Coldplay, "God put a smile upon my face."

I just teared up a little during the new Pixar movie "Up"
My friend Rebecca couldn't have been more right.
It is a cartoon animation of The Notebook.
I am so grateful to God to have been given Chad.
I know Chad loves me like that guy in "Up"
He always will.

We had a fun weekend.
We drove out Saturday late morning to Williamsburg, VA to visit our friends there.
We ate lunch and hung out.
We went apartment looking (since this is where we will be moving in 2.5 months!!
We shopped a little and went to the 2nd largest Yankee Candle Co in America!
The largest one is in Massachusetts.
For a candle store, it was a lot of fun!
They had a "Holiday Room" that had trees and decor all around it.
The ceiling was dark and full of twinkling stars.
There was a HUGE wooden bridge going across the middle of the room.
And every 3-5 minutes it snowed.
That's right... indoors... snowing... on you.
It was magical.
In addition to that they had:
Live Music
A Santa and 2-3 elves for picture taking with the kids
A fudge shop
A homemade popcorn and candy shop
A candle making studio
A wax studio where you can make a wax mold of your hand
and more...

I made Chili tonight for the first time.
I also made cornbread.
It rocked our faces off.

- - -

See the snow falling on me?

And on Chad?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAfpq6EPKck

A few weeks back I was watching "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"
I like watching game shows that challenge my own head knowledge.
This one is one of the easiest.
And Wheel of Fortune - WAY easy.
Jeopardy remains - and always will be - the hardest. (Though I get some every now and then)
Anyway.
This guy was asked what large, commonly known island is located in the Mediterranean.
It was a 2nd grade geography question.
He then responded that the only large island he could think of was Hawaii.
He then did a confident dance and locked that answer in.
The 5th grader to his left looked at him in disbelief and then stated with his nose in the air:
"Sicily. Sicily is the answer."
If you are going to go on national TV to answer 5th grader questions, make sure you aren't going to absolutely humiliate yourself by your obscene lack of what should be common knowledge.

Chad and I found this app on my phone the other day.
It made me laugh a little and wince a little all at the same time.
Here is the blurb for it:

"From birth to death to his resurrection and eventual triumph, how much do you know about Jesus Christ and His life on earth? This quiz shows you the Jesus you may not know....from the simplest facts to the most intriguing plot twists of a fascinating life! At $2.99, you have little to lose and knowledge about one of religion's most beloved figures to gain!!"

What the heck?
I am sorry, but I think it's ridiculous to pay $2.99 for a phone app about Jesus trivia....
Wouldn't this qualify as some sort of den of thieves?
Of all the apps that are FREE (tons of them!) shouldn't this one be?

Random thought today.... I can't wait to quit my job and go back to school.
Fall 2010 here I come.

Word to the Wise:
If you are ever in public...
Whether it be a store, restaurant or even your car in line at a red light....
Please, PLEASE, do not begin to tweeze your overly long and curly neck hairs.
Krista and I saw a lady doing just that at a red light in Tyler a few weeks ago.
I can't find a picture of this online, but imagine long hairs protruding from your jugular.
It's gross.
It does NOT need to be tweezed in public.
I'd rather not know they existed at all, thanks.
Have some decency for the rest of us, will ya?

You know what else I hate?
The song, "Big Yellow Taxi"
If I hear one more catchy line about paving paradise I may just start investing in a cement company and begin paving paradise myself.
Starting with the artist and recording studio that made that song.

Quote from last night at Jalapenos:
Me: "I'm gonna write a Xanga post about how obsessed I am with these beans!"
Chad: "That quote is enough."

I went into a Capital One a few weeks ago to close an old checking account that still had a little bit of money in it.
I walked into the bank...
They closed my account...
They handed me my remaining balance in cash...
I walked out...
I never ONCE had to show I.D. or prove in anyway that I was who I said I was.
I didn't even need an account number.
I ONLY gave them my name and even that was wrong.
They still had my maiden name and all my I.D.'s now say Cardwell.
What the?

Off to work for the day....

- - -

"Sing to me the song of the stars.
Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again.
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again.

So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now, you're my only hope."

'Only Hope' - Switchfoot & Mandy Moore

This guy has been EXTREMELY influential in my life... like extremely...

He was just in the hospital getting a tumor removed from his head.

His attitude and mentality is humbling and amazing.... check it out... watch this video:

http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/?p=363

(I can't embed the video for some reason.....)

Thanksgiving was great.
Food was most excellent in the afternoon.
Not so much for dinner...er.....supper.
I'm in the South now.
Good to see my other family....the in-laws...
We saw a lot of Chad's dad, Margaret and her family.
We hung out with Zane A LOT.
It's always good to see him.
We haven't seen Chad's Mom at all.
She has been unexpectedly in Little Rock all week.
Her Brother-in-Law (Chad's Uncle) had surgery to remove his voice box.
He is only 50.
He smoked nearly his entire life....now he will have to always breathe through a tube in his throat and talk with assistance of machinery because they removed his entire voice box.
They even have to strap him down to his bed because of the trauma of waking up to discover that you are no longer physically able to take in air through your nose or mouth.
I cannot wrap my mind around the thought of not being able to deeply breathe in cool, crisp air through my nose.
For Thanksgiving I am thankful that I had enough sense to stop smoking when I did and that the grace of God helped me not become too addicted.
I am praying that other well loved family members of mine have a revelation of the dangers they are exposing themselves to and the potential misery of their futures through a life of smoking.

Anyway, Chad's Mom has been taking care of him and her sister (his wife) in the hospital in Little Rock all weekend.
We are headed there with Zane to see her now....

More to come later....

One of the best songs ever... one of my favorites...

When God Ran - Shaded Red

Almighty God,
The Great I Am,
Immovable Rock,
Omnipotent,
Powerful,
Awesome Lord,
Victorious Warrior,
Commanding Kind Of Kings,
Mighty Conqueror
And the only time,
The only time I ever saw Him run...

Was when He ran to me,
took me in His arms
Held my head to his chest,
said my son's come home again
Lifted my face,
wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said son,
do you know I still love you?
It caught me by surprise,
When God ran...

The day I left home,
I knew I had broken His heart
I wondered then
if things could ever be the same
Then one night,
I remembered His love for me
And down that dusty road
ahead I could see
It's the only time,
The only time I ever saw Him run...

When He ran to me,
Took me in his arms
Held my head to his chest,
Said my son's come home again,
Lifted my face,
Wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in his voice,
He said son,
Do you know I still love you?
It caught me by surprise,
It brought me to my knees
When God ran...

Our air conditioner makes this sound everyday like there is a little man inside constantly crinkling a bunch of wadded up tissue paper.
It's really annoying.
I wonder if he thinks about the fact that we have to listen to him crinkle his tissue paper everyday.
Then again, we don't think about what he has to hear day in and day out from the two of us.
Chad whistles and hums everything all the time.
There are constant new songs and melodies being made by Chad every night.
I often talk to myself about random things that just happen to cross my mind.
At least 15 times tonight alone, I sang the Dawson's Creek theme song.
And still he continues crinkling his blasted tissue paper.
We could all do more to get along better.