Something so very sad happened last week.

Something that makes my heart cringe.

And my ears burn.

And my tummy flipflop.

I broke...

I broke my camera.

Well, I broke my lens, tried to fix it, thought I had it, put it on the camera, it didn't work, and now it's stuck.

And now it's stuck.

Here's what happened: I was taking pictures on campus for work, was switching lenses, when the macro fell out of my hands. It broke into two pieces. Two. It's only supposed to be one piece.

Now, no more pictures. I have to mail it to a camera store. They estimate it will be 8-12 weeks before it's back in my home. Back in its home.

BooHiss.

I will be 24 tomorrow.

Oh boy. But before that, I'd like to think back on 23. The good things.

I quit my job as a reporter and got a new job

... and moved to College Station.

I ran a half-marathon.

I bought a car!

I got back into art and creating

and fell deeper with Jesus.

Let's see what 24 brings :)

Work 'till noon:


Then it's home to this:







WAHOOOOOOOOOO!

TAM TIME!













I think she's cute :)

I'm wondering...

Can grapefruit be a carrier of food sickness?

I threw away everything I thought it could be... the hummus, chicken salad and chicken.

I didn't think it could be the grapefruit.

Now, I'm wondering.

(photo stolen from her sister's facebook :) )

Today is Robin's birthday. Today, on this wonderful 11th (Robin's favorite number) day of spring time March, Robin was born.

Growing up in the wonderful town of Muleshoe, TX, Robin learned the joys of family, ranching and the wittism of a cleverly named mule early. The oldest sister of four siblings, Robin has a sensitive nose-- she likes Pine-Sol, detests Raid. She loves Africa, reading books that matter, and cutting others' unruly hair.

She's a writer, a sister, a daughter and a creative spirit. She can stand on one foot, wiggle her nose and tell you directions anywhere. Give her a Styrofoam takeout box, and she'll turn it into something you feel guilty throwing away, even after the last bite of leftover McAlisters. Give her a classroom full of fourth graders and she won't pull her hair out. Quotes are her poetry. Big smiles her offering.

She thinks she still has a lot to learn, but I think she is oh so wise.

One of my favorite memories of my two sister-girl cousins is the mental image of them dancing around to the soundtrack of Chicken Little.

Quiz one: What song is a given on a movie about chickens?
Answer: Shake a Tail Feather.

I can still see them. They were halfway-wee bitty, probably around age 9, and we were in the older girl's bedroom. She had this ladder to get up to her top bunk, and the younger one used it as a performance prop. Standing with one foot on the middle rung, shook her tail feather. The older one turned on the disco ball lamp and, on two legs, shook her tail feather. With the overhead light turned off, disco ball flashing and some sort of holiday string of lights filling the darkness, they both shook their tail feathers.

It was sweet.

Also sweet, meeting my Lauren friend at the half-way point between T-town and CS. Our plan was to drive toward each other... and stop in which ever town our roads met.

Turned out to be Buffalo.

There's not a lot to rock in Buffalo. We encountered very clean restrooms, a Dickey's bbq restaurant, and a park. We flew on the swings, teetered on the teeter totter, got dizzy on the merry-go-round, and broke the barrier of sound on the slide.







Quiz two: Why aren't teeter totters found in "today's" playgrounds?
Answer: Because people fall off of them and hurt their bums.



Ouch.
I think my rear is going to turn purple.

Shaking a tail feather would be very painful right now.

Jason, Elizabeth, Anne Catherine and Rose Elizabeth were in town just last weekend.

Cute girl :)

I haven't run in a week. I could pile up some excuses, but... the point is no runs. Six days.
Boo.
Baa.
MerrMerr.

I knew that my afternoons would be full this week, so I set my alarm for 6 a.m. Monday morning and never changed it.

Did I run early? Did my persistence work?

Uh, no. I continuously turned off the alarm and slept an extra hour. The one time I did actually get up, rain got the best of me less than a mile in, and I turned back.

So, anyway, I was praying yesterday for my family and friends, and that I would get back to running... be alive in the day... use His strength he offers to me... that kind of stuff.

Well this morning, somehow a pillow knocked over a mug of hot tea I had been drinking last night. It spilt all over the carpet and the books I had piled beside my bed.

I jumped up, moved the books away from the dripping, and ran to grab a towel. Guess what time it was. 5:59 a.m.

I could not stop laughing.

P.S.-- I don't take pictures like I did in the olden days. So, I'm posing a challenge for myself. Take at least one picture every day. I'm going to expand my creativity and the way I look at photos and words.

It's going to be a mighty gut experiment.

All in, raise your hand.