My weekend

Hello, everyone! I just thought I'd check in really quick, because I haven't posted in the past two days.

Let's see.... my mom and dad got home on Friday night!  I'm so happy, except poor Mama has a cough and Dad didn't sleep well last night. But they are here safely, and I'm thrilled.

Yesterday we went to the mall and had lunch and I picked up some nail polish, and then shortly after we came home, I went to babysit.  Those kids are dolls.  Of course, they have their little problems, but they are simply gorgeous.  The oldest boy has some trouble liking anyone who has to "boss" him around, so imagine my surprise when we were watching Cars and he snuggled up to my side!

I die.  It was so cute.  And then the middle boy promptly jumped into my lap, elbows a'stabbing.  The little girl, however, is very independent.  The only time she will sit in my lap is when I fix her hair.  She's got dimples and big brown eyes... so sweet!  But she's a fiery one, that girl.

I came home around eleven, and went to bed.  Now I've just had breakfast and am trying to think of something interesting to say.

Nothing.

Well, have a nice day, dear readers!

A quick funny

Alright, I just had to share some pictures with you that absolutely cracked me up this week. :)

Ha!  Ah Farside comics, how you delight me.

Oh goodness.  I don't know why, but this just made me fall out of my seat laughing.  Poor T. Swifty.

This is adorable.  This is my absolute favorite scene in Princess Diaries, and I thought this picture was so cute!

Y'all, this is one of my favorite shows.  It never ceases to make me laugh.

This is so silly, but it's so entirely the case.  Every time I try to take a jumping photo....

I hope that made you laugh, everyone.

And if it didn't well....  I'll pray for you.  ;)

Houston, we've got a problem

So, I have a therma-care heat wrap on my right rib cage right now.  Strangely, it's hot.  Yes, I doubted the heating qualities of, you know, a strip of paper with some weird lumps in it.  I don't even want to think about how it got hot like that.  Ah, modern technology.  How you..... confuse me.

Why do I have a strange heating paper thing on my right rib cage?  Well last night, I was adjusting my sleeping position just as I was drifting off.  I always, always, always sleep on my side, so I was flipping from my back to my right side.  I guess I flipped too fast or something, or maybe I'm ninety-two, but as I was resting onto my right side, I gasped because I couldn't put my weight down on it.  It hurt!  So I laid on my back, which I hate, hate, hate to do, and didn't move all night.

Well.

This morning I got up, and I totally can't twist at all or bend down.  At all.  I told Gammy and Bebob about it, and they felt bad for me, so I popped an ibuprofen and went about my business.  Gammy and I did some laundry and I started bending down to throw some jeans in the washer, and YOUCH.  I groaned all the way down and all the way back up.  Gammy took pity and gave me her therma-care heat thingamajig, which, again is weird.  WEIRD.

It hurts super bad, and I don't know why.  I feel like I'm just like a walking injury; I rarely go a month without getting into some sort of mess.  It's just getting ridiculous.

And let me say, it really hurts to pull adhesives off your back.  Just, you know, in case you ever need to pull heated adhesives off your back.

Thankful Thursday

I'm going to try (TRY) to do a Thankful Thursday every day that is a Thursday from now until Thanksgiving.  What am I thankful for this Thursday?

1. The overwhelming mercy and love I receive from Christ.  I've really been a lot more "open" with him lately, if that makes sense, and I really sense a change.  Talking to God, no matter what it's about, really helps me a lot, and it keeps me sane.
2. A best friend.
3. Our apartment here in Roma
4. Cookies. Nom.
5. Espresso.  Even if only to fend off the ensuing headaches from not drinking it.
6. Trench coats, boots, leggings, and jeans.  It went straight from summer to winter with no Fall to be had.  It's cold!  
7. My wonderful parents.  I just don't know what I'd do without them.
8. My grandparents' visit.
9. Willie, my brother.  I love that guy.
10. Velcro rollers.  Sometimes a girl just needs a little bit of hair height to feel better, you know?  As they say, "The higher the hair, the closer to God."  Ha.

Thanks for joining me!  

If you like, no pressure, really, just shoot me a comment with things you're thankful for!

Where have you BEEN all my life?

Today, I'm talking about friends again.  They are a powerful thing.

I'm going to be completely honest here and say that I have not always been wise in my friend choices.  The people I have associated myself with have not always been godly people who encourage me to do the good and right, as opposed to what feels good and right.  It is such a hard thing, especially for teenagers.  We're in our most formative years, and we have to choose carefully who we pick to help us find a shape.

I am incredibly blessed to have a best friend, and today I had to make a decision that was difficult for me.  It wasn't life or death, and it really, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't all that important.  But in that moment and at that time, it was and still is really hard for me.  I told my best friend about the decision, and almost to my surprise, she started telling me how proud she was of me!

Here's the thing:  if I had mentioned the decision to any one of my false friends that I have known, they would have mocked me.  They would have told me that it's no fun, and that I was not "living" enough.

So today, I am feeling ecstatic about my newfound real friendship.  I told her all day I felt like something was amiss and that what I had wanted to do wasn't really what I needed, and so I prayed and I realized that that small little inkling and nervousness was God telling me exactly that.  I didn't need any of that in my life.  My best friend told me how she was so happy that I was being sensitive to God's will instead of my own, and that it was wisdom that I was getting.


That is what false friends do not encourage.  Wisdom.  Real friends are complete advocates of wisdom.  Not culture wisdom, but godly wisdom.  Wisdom enough to be able to discern what you do and do not need, and to listen for the answers that God provides.

And today, I am thanking my Heavenly Father for giving me a wise friend.  You could not be any more amazing than you are, Lolo.


*PS.  Her name isn't really Lolo.  That's just what I call her. I'm just protecting the innocent by not putting her real name on my blog so she doesn't, well, die of embarrassment.

Rain, rain, don't go away

Rain.  I love the rain.

Yesterday, my grandparents and I had to wait in the cold rain for the bus and then hurry down a block to my apartment in it, and I complained about it.  But you know what?  Soon after, I had to go put on my fun leopard print galoshes and my raincoat and go pick up a month bus pass for November.  And you know what?

It was delightful.

There was thunder rumbling in the dark clouds above me, my hair was three inches too frizzy from all the nature it was enduring, my fingers were cold, my face and nose were pink from the elements, and I was utterly windblown.  But I loved every moment.

Splashing along in my boots through the puddles to the cross the street, I felt like a little child.  I felt like a little child who feels the need to put on her swimsuit and run around in the driveway when it rains, just because.

As I stood in front of the little stand where I got my ticket, I couldn't get my umbrella to open.  I fought with it for a while, and finally gave up.  I tilted my face up towards the sky and felt the rain drip down my face, fast and cool, and I splashed happily back home.

I love the rain.  When it rains, I like to stand on the balcony and hold my hands out just to touch.  I want to feel the little bursts of life-giving water that, if they could talk, would proudly say that they had touched the sky.

"Sing to our Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre!  He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills."

Psalm 147:7-8

"For he draws up drops of water; they distill his mist in rain, which the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly.  Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion?  Behold, he scatters his lightning about him and covers the roots of the seas.  For by these he judges peoples; he gives food in abundance.  He covers his hand with the lightning and commands it to strike the mark.  Its crashing declares his presence..."

Job 36:27-33

Next time it rains, next time the thunder rolls, next time the lightning bursts through the clouds, I will remember it's from his hands, and it is beautiful.

Fair warning, and, an explanation

For what seems like forever
But really, it's not
Nothing funny nor clever
My brain's in a knot

Blogging evades me
I can't seem to write
Not a teense or a wee
Throw the line, but no bite

Drinking gallons of coffee
Hoping for thought
At a white and blue screen blankly
I stare all for naught

Oh, now I am distracted
My mind starts to drift
Blogging thoughts are subtracted
As through my thoughts I do sift

I think about colors and rainbows and ponies
My mind's in a tangle
Smart thoughts feeling lonely
With my own mind I wrangle

So I leave you with this
That I sometimes won't post
I'm terribly remiss
I'm just a terrible blog-host

Some day to my complete shock
My mind will awaken
I'll post and post around the clock
Maybe two posts, maybe ten

You'll get so sick of me you'll cry
As I'll type all the more
So be thrilled with my state of mind-fry
I'm much better as a bore

I'm not saying that we're done
No, not on your life
Oh darlings, you I couldn't shun
Just don't expect sharp thoughts like a knife

Trick or treat, rub my feet, I think I had too much to eat

What a lovely, lovely weekend!  I wasn't able to blog because I was actually out of town with my grandparents. We went to the magnificent city of Siena, and then to the absolutely breathtaking coastal town of Orbetello.

On Friday morning, I got up, finished packing (noticing later I had forgotten my allergy meds... great) and then we were off.  It's been terribly cold, so we were bundled up!  We took the bus to the metro station, and took the metro to the other metro station, Termini, where there are also long-distance trains.  We got on one of these "real" trains, and we were officially off.  The initial train ride was maybe an hour, and then we took an hour long bus ride to Siena.  So as you can see, public transportation is becoming my forte.

Once in Siena, we walked around after getting a quick lunch.  My goodness!  Siena is unbelievably beautiful.  I want to live there so, so, so badly.  It has great views and quaint shutters and brick buildings and iron balconies and everything else you picture when you think of Italy.  It's built in a very hilly area, so it's interesting to see the dynamics of houses and churches built on different levels.  Y'all should really go.  Really.

After a day and night in Siena, we hopped on a train with our friend David and his friend Angela.  They both teach in Siena, and David is a family friend.  We all went by train to Orbetello, which is a city on the coast.  It's breathtaking!  Except... it's windy.  So windy that I got WIND-BURN.  And I was freezing the whole time.  But, it was all worth it.  We met Sabina and Massimo.  They are friends of David and Angela, and they're lovely.  Massimo (nicknamed Massi) is my age, and we hung out a lot because he's trying to work on his English.  And, this weekend, there was a festival, which was so much fun!   They have the funniest tradition though... people buy a wine glass, wear it around their neck in a baggy, and then are allotted twelve small tastings with that glass.  It was funny to watch people with glasses hanging around their necks!

We also briefly saw a beautiful port town, Porto San Stefano, and it was gorgeous.  And we had some yummy seafood.  I ate quite a lot this weekend.... :)

All in all, I had a wonderful weekend.  I'm exhausted, cold, still damp from all the rain, my feet hurt, and I think I'm coming down with something.  But I wouldn't give the weekend back for anything!  It was marvelous.  I hope to go back soon!!

Ciao, mi amici (and oh, I hope you all had a great Halloween!)