deceit

I went to Target last week to purchase bath tub cleaning supplies. Of course I walked out with 5 other things that didn't have to do with Lysol or Scrubbing Bubbles. As I stood in the check-out, I was tallying up my purchase to see how much the total would come out to be. In efforts to save money, I asked the cashier to take back the pint of coffee Haagen Dazs that was finally on sale.

In my head, I rationalized, 'Even if it's on sale, it won't be worth adding the extra $3.25 to the bill.'

As I was paying for my order, the gentleman behind me laughed to himself and told me, "You have so much self-control. Most ladies don't..."

Self-control? It was more of an effort to save money. Haha! I think the world is trying to tell me something...

rendition

I can't seem to get this version of the cult classic 'Disarm' out of my head. JPW and Joy Williams send chills down my spine. So much reverence and longing in their voices.

Simply amazing.

Mondays

I've got a bad case of the Mondays. Not only did I wake up late and with muscles aching (right before my practical exam today too!), but I also had to wage war against my coffee machine as I hurried to get out the door!

My cheap machine sometimes folds the filter over, causing the grinds to drip out with the rest of the coffee. On the filter cup, there's a little stopper, so coffee won't drip unless the carafe is underneath it. Being the smart girl I am, I figured that if I poured the coffee back into the barrel with the filter, I could filter the grinds out... Bad idea.

Coffee maker = 1, Alice = 0

The stopper didn't work for jack! Instead, I ended up with coffee spilling onto the warmer and as I struggled to find something to put underneath the machine, there was coffee all over the kitchen counter! Now I was already 5 minutes late and there was a brown drippy mess to clean up.

So I guess this means war.

Sugar cookies

"As Harold took a bite of Bavarian sugar cookie, he finally felt as if everything was going to be ok. Sometimes, when we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies. And, fortunately, when there aren't any cookies, we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture, or subtle encouragement, or a loving embrace, or an offer of comfort, not to mention hospital gurneys and nose plugs, an uneaten Danish, soft-spoken secrets, and Fender Stratocasters, and maybe the occasional piece of fiction. And we must remember that all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are effective for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems strange, but I also know that it just so happens to be true. And, so it was, a wristwatch saved Harold Crick."

- from "Stranger Than Fiction"

Thanks Melissa for my sugar cookie today. It reminded me of this quote.

guilt

I just had a cupcake for dinner at 10:50 pm. So much for new year's resolutions...

hope is irresistible

This semester has been tough with usual 14-16 hour days and seriously no time for anything besides school. I'm at about a third of the way through the semester and in spite of how chaotic life has been these days, I find myself really blessed with the little things that keep me from going nuts:

• finding the single parking spot next to my apartment upon coming home after a late night in lab
• being famished at school and yet finding a hi-chew on my desk (happened twice with two different friends!)
• having friends offer me their dixie cups, plaster, PVS material, acrylic, help, etc. after a rough day in lab re-doing a ton of work
• an understanding boyfriend who not only always drives up to Hollywood to meet me, but also shows up at my apartment with groceries cause I didn't have time to go
• friends to commiserate with during those long nights!
• a friend who would sort through extracted teeth for me and take x-rays of them (in addition to her own) because she knows I'm still trying to get faculty help on other work
• the unexpected text message from a friend saying she was blessed by the praise set during Sunday worship
• church friends who always keep me in the loop and meet me more than their fair share of half-way even when I'm always MIA
• a certain friend in lab who never fails to crack me up with his absent-minded tendency to lose things and replay youtube videos of 'Glee' numbers
• having gym buddies to burn off steam on frustrating days

Just to name a few...

it was always you ♥

happy 3 years, love!