Thanksgiving

This last weekend was great.  Beautiful weather, four whole days of no alarm clocks, some kitchen therapy, loads of friend-time, and food.  So.  Much.  Food.  Here's a random sampling of what my Thanksgiving weekend looked like:

Pancakes.  Fried until crispy in pure, unadulterated butter.  I cockily told myself I had this food weekend thing under control.  One pancake and an egg, I said.  I think I stopped at three and a cheese-laden omelet.  An auspicious beginning.

 

Sweet potato with marshmallow meringue, and chocolate pecan.  I need meringue lessons, for what it's worth.

Notice, no photos of buckets and mops, or leaf rakes, or piles of bills and receipts.  What's the old saying? "Eh, don't sweat it; it'll still be there, waiting for you."  Yep, it is.

Anyway, a random list of things I am thankful for, in no particular order:

• Friends.  All of them.  They make life awesome, on so many levels.

• This:

Because they are mine and I wouldn't trade a one for all the gold in the world.  (Even that black-haired stinkpot in the back row.)

• The way that the smell of coffee makes everything better.

•  My aunt.  Because it is so awesome to have one person (aside from my mother, who is biologically obligated) who thinks I am totally cool, regardless of whether that fact is true or not.

• Music.  Ahhhh, music.  And great speakers.  And intense volume.  

• The person who figured out how to dig cocoa beans out of their pod, and then ferment them, dry them, roast them, grind them, press them, mix them with sugar and milk and stuff, all to create chocolate.  I am eternally grateful.  While we're on the subject, the people who invented cake and croissants are pretty huggable, too.

• Mountains and oceans.  Because there is nothing quite like nature at it's biggest and most dramatic to remind a human being just how puny and temporary and insignificant they and all of their "situations" are in the whole scheme of things.  

• Possibilities.  The fact that I haven't seen the Northern Lights yet doesn't mean I never will.  Not to mention all of the amazing things I haven't even imagined that are still yet to come.  (Hark! This applies to you, too, Dear Reader.)

• Freedom from fear.  Or, maybe more accurately, the ability to recognize fear, look it in the face, kick it square in the pants, and send it packing.

• The view from my front porch:

I know.

• Second chances.  It's a gift to know that even if I screwed up today, I can start over tomorrow and I never have to make that mistake again.  What a joy, to be able to mitigate shame with forgiveness and determination to be better.  (And such a comfort when I just stuck my foot in my mouth or grouched at a colleague.)

• Kids.  Because their joy and ability to love without reservation feeds my soul and takes my breath away.  Why do grown-ups have to outgrow that, anyway?  (I vote we just don't.)

• Books.  Because when you read, the world is your oyster, regardless of whether a plane ticket is in the budget or not.  Trust me, I know this.  

• A heavenly Father whose mercies are new, every single morning.  All I have needed, His hand has provided.  This, right here, is Everything.  (And it is His presence that gives meaning to all of the rest.)

What are you thankful for?

Girl's Night Out

Last night was an Out Night.  Now, believe you me, I am a pretty big fan of In Nights (you know, the kind where you shuffle around in sweats and bare feet, read a book or watch some Netflix, raid the pantry...that sort of thing).  In fact, I don't know if I should even admit this out loud, but you know how in romcoms, they always portray the sad loser girl going home to eat takeout alone at the counter and then curl up on the couch in ugly PJ's to watch a movie with nothing but a pint of Ben & Jerry's and maybe a goldfish to keep her company?  The whole scene is designed to project the depths of misery and loneliness and I always sit there and think gosh, that looks like my ideal Friday night!

Anyway, I totally digress.  Last night was an Out Night, and in spite of my love for In Nights, Out Nights are very beneficial from time to time.

Straight No Chaser was playing at the Florida Theatre (what a great, old-school glam little venue, by the way), so a few of us loaded up on a Tuesday night and headed to Jacksonville for burgers, milkshakes, girl talk and some great a cappella singing.

So, let's take this in order, starting with burgers and milkshakes.  Shockingly enough, I hadn't tried M Shack, even though one of their outlets is a block away from my office and burgers and fries would definitely be my last meal of choice.  Sadly, I was in more of a social than a serious burger-eating mode last night, so I didn't really do the place justice (I even forgot to take pictures, so the mouthwatering image below is a stock photo, tee-hee) but I can tell you that the Marshmallow Brulee milkshake and the Crab Fries (no seafood, just seasoning) are pretty darn good.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com, a totally awesome site introduced to me by my friend Aletta, full of gorgeous, totally free high-res photos.

Actually, let's do this out of order.  Next, let's talk about the music.  Straight No Chaser is a 10-member, all male group, in the great college a cappella tradition (what, you didn't know there was a great college a cappella tradition?).  They had their breakout moment a few years ago when their version of 12 Days of  Christmas went viral (it is pretty clever) and they've been at it, ever since.  If I were to be perfectly honest, they had a few painfully pitchy moments, and, let's face it, Take6 makes everybody else look like mere children, but it was a really fun show, anyway.  Among the highlights?  Their version of All About that Bass was adorable, they did some great Stevie Wonder covers, and Jerome Collins pretty much owned everything he touched (not to mention his racially inappropriate humor, which cracked me up, thanks to the corrupting influence of a racially inappropriate pretty good pal of mine).  I lost my heart on the last number of the night, though - Dylan's To Make You Feel My Love (which is already basically one of my favorite songs of all time, sucker that I am).  They did it unplugged, mics and in-ears on the ground, and my heart melted into a puddle around my feet.

The real highlight of my night, though, burgers, milkshakes and ten cute guys with good voices notwithstanding, was spending time with my friends.  We were a carful of girls ranging in age from sixteen to fifty, with interests and backgrounds as wide-ranging as our ages, and we enjoyed every minute we had together.  We talked about everything from school and careers to travel and music (and listened to Jasmine sing, which in and of itself is an event worth writing home about - that girl's talent is pure uncommon) to beards and bullying, to wanting to fall more in love with Jesus and find ways to touch lives and make a difference.

Let me tell you, I've done my share of female socializing.  We girls are talkative critters - we're wired to communicate and connect, so when we get together, we tend to cover some ground, conversationally speaking.  All of that verbal firepower has the potential to do some damage - everybody's heard (and probably witnessed) the gossip and cat-fests that can occur when a bunch of girls get going, and the results aren't pretty.  That being said, on the other hand, you just cannot beat what happens when a bunch of like-minded, big-hearted, Jesus-loving chicks get together.  Age, class, marital status, background...none of it matters.  What matters is that we lift up, encourage and inspire one another, and each of us walks away determined to do life better, whether it's screwing up the courage to take the plunge you know you need to take, being a better wife and mother, making a stand against bullying at school, or just handling life's hurdles with grace.  Sometimes, it's that little extra boost that motivates you to register for that art class or clean out that closet you've been meaning to tackle.

I saw and loved this on a friend's Facebook wall not too long ago. Let's face it - we have the power to be our own worst enemies, or we can be some of each other's most valuable cheering sections.  I know, speaking for myself and my own experience, I treasure more than I can express those of my girlfriends that fill and have filled that role in my life, and if I can turn around and provide that same sense of connection and joy to them, well...then we've set up a real winners' circle, haven't we?

Make it Count

I am going to go ahead and do something that I find really annoying. I'm going to write a post that contains an entire song's worth of lyrics, and probably even a link to the song itself.

I first heard Point of Grace's  How You Live a few years ago, at a time when my life looked very different from what it does now.  I fell in love with the song and lyrics then, but over time, I kind of forgot about it.

I spent a sobering evening with some dear friends recently, and as I was thinking about it this morning, those lyrics slowly started to resurface.  You'll see them below in just a minute, but I would like to go on record and say that the longer I live this life of mine, the more passionately I believe in the message that they convey.  

We get one chance at life.  I know for a fact that I want to live with my heart wide open.  I want to embrace the truth, love what is mine, and live in peace with my Creator and with myself.  No regrets, no looking back, no bottling things up.  I want to say what needs to be said and give without reservation.  In short, I want to make it count.  That, my friends, is a life well-lived.

So, enjoy.  And yes, I am going to link to the song at the bottom, because I don't know about you, but I tend to "get" stuff better when it's set to music.  (And yes, I know I am totally carbon-dating myself with this Point of Grace and Cindy Morgan business.  Loud and proud, loud and proud!)

How You Live [Turn Up the Music]

by Cindy Morgan

emphasis added by yours truly because I like those parts an extra lot

Wake up to the sunlight with your windows open

don't hold in your anger or leave things unspoken

wear your red dress, use your good dishes

make a big mess and make lots of wishes

and have what you want but want what you have

and don't spend your life looking back

Turn up the music

Turn it up loud

Take a few chances

Let it all out

'cause you won't regret it

Looking back from where you have been

'cause it's not who you knew

And it's not what you did

it's how you live

So go to the ball games and go to the ballet

go see your folks more than just on the holidays

kiss all your children, dance with your wife

tell your husband you love him every night

don't run from the truth, 'cause you can't get away

just face it and you'll be ok

Turn up the music

turn it up loud

take a few chances

let it all out

'cause you won't regret it

looking back from where you have been

'cause it's not who you knew

and it's not what you did

it's how you live

Wherever you are and wherever you've been

now is the time to begin

So give to the needy and pray for the grieving

even when you don't think that you can

'cause all that you do is about to come back to you

so think of your fellow man

make peace with God, make peace with yourself

'cause in the end, there's nobody else

Turn up the music

turn it up loud

take a few chances

let it all out

'cause you won't regret it

looking back from where you have been

'cause it's not who you knew

and it's not what you did

it's how you live

Watch here.  (Seriously, it's actually a pretty good video.  I'm kind of choked up now, having just watched it.)