Here are the invitations I came up with for our upcoming Girls Group Mother/Daughter Tea Party...it's been awhile since I've done invitations- I had fun with them even though it was a simple design...very girly- I like it!
So I am reading this really phenomenal book called "The Meaning of Everything- the Story of the Oxford English Dictionary" by Simon Winchester. As most of you know, I really like words and I thought, well, what better to read than a history of the OED (yes, I realize the nerdiness in this statement...oh well). I am enjoying two things about this book 1) it reads more like fiction than non-fiction and 2) Mr. Winchester employs many new words I have never heard of and/or words that I recognize but could not define. He's also pretty masterful with these footnotes that contain the more humorous aspects of history or nuggets of trivia.
My two favorite trivia nuggets so far:
1. If you were to write "what!?" the combination of the '!' and the '?' is called an interrobang.
2. The word "paperclip" was first used in 1875
I'm also finding it pretty funny (probably as only I would) that I am using a Merriam-Webster dictionary to look up the words I don't know...(and yep, I am TOTALLY writing the definitions in the book as I go :) ). That's probably why I couldn't find the definition of "machicolated".
Some of my new favorite words:
1. bellicose- war-mongering, belligerent
2. erudite- scholarly
3. malapropism- humorous misuse of a word
...looking forward to the second half of this book....
I've had several people ask "so where's your Next blog?" Next as in the conference I went to this past weekend. It's coming folks...I'm still processing the amazing messages I heard. So until then, here are a couple of pics to tide you over. We took 13 people to this conference (more than double from last year!) and it was a great group. Dustin and Megan are our singles group leaders and Dustin was a trooper, having to hang out with 12 women for 4 days...I'm sure it was really rough... ;-)
So after at least 6 months of research and pricing and questioning and praying...I finally got a bike today!!!!
Seriously, I think I have now spent about 6 hours in bike shops asking questions and trying bikes and probably annoying the serious bike guys with my ignorant novice questions.
I was supposed to go check out a bike I had found on craigslist this evening. The components were good (Shimano 105- which is what I was looking for), the price was good, but the frame wasn't exactly what I had in mind.
A co-worker of mine is an avid cyclist and told me to go to the bike shop where he gets his bikes. So I did. I walked in and said "this is what I want and this is how much I want to pay, what do you have?" And lo and behold the owner said, "oh, I have something your size" and he pulls out this:
So, have I mentioned that I love triathlons? This was only my second, but at least I know now that me loving my first experience wasn't a fluke.
I just finished re-reading "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom. You should read it. One of my favorite parts is this conversation between little-girl Corrie and her father. She asks him a tough-adult question (they are traveling on a train and he has his work-bag with him). Here's their conversation after Corrie has asked her question and dad hasn't answered yet:
" At last, he lifted his traveling case from the rack over our heads, and set it on the floor. 'Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?' he said. I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning. 'It's too heavy', I said. 'Yes,' he said, 'And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a heavy load. It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you."
And the parallel that I drew:
God is the same way with His children. He doesn't overburden us with all the details of His plans, He gives us the knowledge we need at the exact moment we need it- not before, and not after. Perfect timing. He knows when we are strong enough, prepared for the next step-whatever that might be. And we, as His children, must trust Him to keep His plans, to carry that knowledge for us, until that perfect moment arrives. Wow.
That's the sound of my ego being deflated. Here's the scenario:
This past Sunday, we had people over (duh, if you read my blog, you already know that). Among them was my pastor and his family. Conversation between me and Grady (my pastor):
Grady: So, you do triathlons?
Me: Yep!
Grady: When's your next one?
Me: Next Sunday
Grady: So show me your muscles, you gotta have muscles right?
Me: Yep! ::makes arm muscle::
Grady: That's it!?
Me: WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT'S IT!? :: tone of righteous indignation::
Grady: Well, I was expecting some serious guns if you do triathlons
Whoosh.
Thank you Grady, for keeping me humble.
