Meet Gomer

Sure, she looks like a nice Christian lady here. But, don't let her fool you. Gomer is the trifling, unfaithful, adulterous woman in my life -- otherwise known as my car.

My car was born in 2001. I got my car when I graduated from high school in 2002, so my car was one year old when I got her. She is now 7 years old (I've had her for 6 years...just in case you can't do the math), and she has 75,000 miles on her. Not bad, huh? You'd think.

Until January of 2007, her name was Malibuyah (a combination of malibu and booyah to describe her awesomeness). We had so much fun together. It seemed like she'd never let me down...friends forever!

However, almost a year-and-a-half ago, Malibuyah decided she wanted a makeover. Her back left tire had a continual slow leak, and she quit on me one day on my way to the mall in Jackson with my buddy Kathryn. Malibuyah started blowing smoke and breathing fire. I was genuinely concerned for her health, so I took her to the doctor. I thought she might have a cold and need to take it easy and drink some fluids. Not so. The doctor (Dr. Mechanic) said she needed a new head gasket. Boom. $1,100. She couldn't wait until after Kurt graduated from seminary to have that procedure done . She wanted it right then -- on a single income budget. She then got a plug in her tire for $80. I couldn't afford to get her a new tire (cosmetic) after she just had expensive major surgery.

After that, she seemed normal again for a while, but my trust in her was definitely shaken. When would she turn on me again? At what point would she decide she needed more surgery? I'll tell you at what point -- right after we moved to Tupelo. She quit on me again. I thought I had simply run out of gas, but my "E" light had just turned on, and I was on my way to the gas station. Diagnosis: new alternator. New alternator! "Malibuyah," I asked her, "what's wrong with your current alternator?" Who knows...she wanted a new one. Also, new battery, new brake pads, new tires. About another $1,000 total.

After this $2,000 makeover in less than 2 years, my confidence in my friend, my faultless companion throughout college and early marriage, had completely failed. Thus, I changed her name to Gomer.

She is no longer Malibuyah because she is no longer awesome. She is unfaithful and untrustworthy. I thought I might name her Israel because of their repeated unfaithfulness to God in the Old Testament. But that is 1.) a boy name and 2.) not specific enough. I chose to rename her Gomer, the adulterous wife of Hosea. No matter how faithful Hosea was to her, no matter how he sought after her and cared tenderly for her, she remained unfaithful to him. I don't deserve the nickname Hosea, even though I am comparing myself to him in this situation. (Hosea prefigures Christ, and I am nowhere near the faithful believer he was). But you absolutely can call my car Gomer.

Sadly, she will not be graciously redeemed as Gomer eventually is by Hosea and as God's people are through Jesus Christ. I will never trust her again. I will tolerate her for a few more years (if she lasts that long, the trifling you-know-what) and then bid her a long-awaited adieu.

Molectomy

Today my grandfather, who has been a doctor for almost 60 years (that's right - SIXTY) removed 2 of my moles. One mole was under my right arm and the other was right under my left collarbone. They are actually still there because he froze them off. Ever experienced that? It stings, burns, and causes your skin to sink in before it comes back out. Eventually the moles will peel off or some crap like that. I'm thankful to have a doctor in the family who is readily available to help me and who also loves me as his daughter.


If I haven't said so before, my grandparents have been the most important people in my life for the last 15 years. (I added Kurt 3 years ago). If you have ever heard my Christian testimony, Tom and Martha Braddock play a LARGE part in it. (And probably for this girl, too.) I find it hard to believe that I could ever love anyone more than them (besides Kurt). If I go on anymore, I might weep tears of thankfulness on my computer, and Kurt would not be happy if I flooded my Mac.

I know this entry doesn't feature any dry wit or forced humor, but I had to get emotional for a bit. I LOVE MY GRANDPARENTS!!!!!!!! Peace out, moles.

Me oh My!

The other night I was doing laundry and Kurt was playing Halo 3 on his XBOX 360 in the other room. I'm sure this playa was involved somehow. Anyway, I heard Kurt say "If someone doesn't laser that warthog, I'm going to be so mad!" I just died laughing at my own ignorance. I had no idea what he meant, and I never thought I'd hear a sentence like that. Apparently someone must've lasered the warthog because Kurt was in a great mood the rest of the evening. Sam, if it was you, thanks brother.

Laura T tagged me to play a "get to know you" game. I don't normally do these, but I really like Laura T. We have a TCBY bond that's practically unbreakable. She promised me that she'd sleep outside Cool Scoops in Starkville every Friday night for the next 6 years or until they bring back TCBY.

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people, posts their names, and then leaves a comment on their blogs, letting them know they've been tagged. Here goes...

-What was I doing 5 years ago? I was completing my freshman year of college at MSU...I think I had mono at this time 5 years ago. Blah.

-Five things on my to-do list today (or things I did today):
1. Go to work
2. Go to lunch with Kurt
3. Go home and change clothes before church
4. Go to church & visit with Emory and Ginger in the nursery
5. Go to bed

(I should've filled out this questionnaire tomorrow. Kurt and I are getting our wills written, I'm going to the dentist, and I'm going to a wine tasting with my mother-in-law. Big day!)

-Five snacks I love:
1. Cheddar pretzels
2. Cheese Nips
3. Cookies
4. Chips
5. Candy

(Ya know, just regular snack food!)

-Five things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Travel EVERYWHERE!
2. Get treatment/surgery for my fallen arches (poor feet)!
3. Never clean again!
4. Buy all my clothes from JCrew at full price!
5. Give lots of money to Christian organizations and charities!

-Five bad habits I have:
1. Being late (worst one)
2. Worrying
3. Not exercising
4. Cursing
5. Being a control freak

-Five places I have lived:
1. West Point, MS
2. Starkville, MS
3. Jackson, MS (worst place)
4. Tupelo, MS
5. The beach (I live here in my mind at all times.)

-Five jobs I've had:
1. Legal Clerk - West Point, MS
2. Technical Writing Tutor - Engineering Dept., MSU
3. Executive Assistant - Jackson, MS
4. Assistant Editor - Tupelo, MS
5. Newswriter/Editor - Tupelo, MS

-Five people I want to fill this out:
1. Ginger
2. Sarah
3. Anna
4. Becca
5. Laura

The Bird is the Word

Last week on Thursday, I arrived at work at 8:00 in the morning. (I have a slight tendency to be late, but this entry will not cover that topic). My boss had not yet arrived. I was sitting at my desk checking my email alone in the office when I heard a bang and a rustling noise outside my window. The sound startled me. (Side note: I am easily startled and I HATE getting startled.) I looked around the office and out my window and saw no one. I knew my boss would be arriving soon, so I needn't fear. Right? Wrong. My boss didn't arrive for another 2 hours. However, the noise continued. I finally figured out it was an apparently angry robin that kept banging into our glass door and sliding down it. It kept perching itself on top of the door hinge outside and, as I came to notice, crapping a LOT. Then it would fly away and come back with full force into the window and slide down, smearing the poo all over the glass.

We have windows both beside and above our glass door at work. The windows above the door have a mirror-like sealant on them. I came to conclude that the robin was having a war with his reflection because he was pecking the window incessantly.

Before I realized that's all he was doing, I was scared. I thought he saw me walk in the office, got offended somehow, and was trying to peck the door down to get inside and claw my eyes out. Here are a few chats I had with friends throughout the morning as I avoided going near the door for fear of the bird:

Me: a bird is trying to get into this office and it's freaking me out
it keeps flying into the top of our door
i'm scared
Kelly: lol
Me: it just flapped its wings up and down the door and flew into it a bunch
the bird just saw me
Kelly: lol
Me: sorry to keep bringing it up, but this bird is pissed
Kelly: no i think it's really really funny
Me: it's a really pretty bird
but it's angry
here it comes again
Kelly: lol
whats it doing now?
Me: it just flew up to the perch again

Me: oh, and there's a bird that's trying to get in this office and kill me.
Anna: oh man..look out for killer birds
Me: it keeps flying into the door and flapping its wings on it
Anna: haha
Me: it flies up to the top and sits there, and then goes crazy on the door as it flies down
i think it saw me a minute ago

Me: there are like a zillion birds circling the street outside my office
maybe it's a plague
i'm really scared
the bird was not swayed by the other visitors
it's still outside
just flew directly into the door
Anna: weird!
i don’t get it
maybe something died in your office building

Me: Bird not giving up
Anna: haha..i love the play by play

Me: Bird still here. more aggressive
Anna: so weird! What does that little fella think he's doing?

I also called Kurt to tell him about how afraid I was! He ended up coming to see me, but he brought no weapon to my aid.

Ok, so that was Thursday. Friday, it was still there. Same psychotic activity again. The weekend passed. Yesterday: STILL there! So, my boss asked me to find a way to get rid of it. (As if I hadn't wondered what, besides Kurt's BB gun, would shoo away this pest!) I decided to Google "How to get rid of annoying bird." I found some hilarious results :

* For the past 2 years I have had a mockingbird attacking my truck mirrors and glass. He/she also attacks the house windows. Now all that would be okay but he/she will poop and use it's wings to smear the poop all over the mirrors as well as the truck and home windows. I have tried fake owls and even a dead one, no good. Pie pans and various blowing things...no good. Short of shooting him/her, I think you will just have to live with the pest until it dies of old age in about 15 years.

* Throw something at it.

* Sling shot - no but seriously just find the tree with the nest in it during the day and knock it down. It'll probably go away.

* No seriously a pellet gun.

* Buy a cat?

* A pellet gun would be more accurate, but be careful. A lot of towns these days have made air rifles illegal. Shoot it out the window. Seriously! Why go through the discomfort of ear plugs? No one will see you shoot the darn thing. Shoot it and bury it in your garden. It's the circle of life.

* That bird is taking revenge until it dies or you move.

I'm inclined to believe the last one is true because that freak was back again this morning. I wonder if you have experienced such annoyance from one of God's creatures. Any tips on blotting out it's existence from my life without intentionally killing it?

Lesler Besler Turns a Quarter

On Wednesday, March 19, Leslie Anne Palmer turned 25 years old. Leslie is my older sister by 14 months. She is delightfully flighty and loves television. Since the day she was born, she's known the latest gossip about every celebrity and knows every soap opera actors' names (living or dead) by heart. She is an incredible dancer and a great actress. Growing up, she would walk around the house doing cheers and shut herself in her bedroom and dance to NSYNC to relieve stress. She is a currently a wife, a thespian (Yes, you can be married and be a thespian), and a preschool teacher in Jackson, MS. She also tans beautifully.

Leslie had many nicknames growing up, mostly given by me and my annoying friends. The best one I coined was LESBIE Anne (lesbian), a play on her name Leslie Anne. I gotta tell ya, she loved it. I mean, she asked me to call her that in public all the time....sike! Butthole was another name I sometimes called her, but that wasn't in fondness. Laurette called her Lesloonta. I mean, it's Laurette, so there's no logical explanation for it. Kelvin called her Cherry Brass. Don't ask. My grandmother called her La La (pronounced lay lay) and still does. One time at a church camp in high school, she got hit on by a fellow camper. It went something like this:

Boy - Hey, what's your name?
Leslie - Leslie.
Boy - No, you're attractive.

Speaking of my hot sister, everywhere we went ALL the guys liked her and not me. Let me tell you, it got so old. I mean, tennis camp, church camp, Summer Scholars, the beach (especially the beach), it was Leslie Leslie Leslie! (She's Marsha; I'm so pathetically Jan). Leslie went to prom with a high school junior when she was in the 8th grade! That should tell you a little about her blooming pattern - EARLY. (Side note: Me, I'm a late bloomer. Still blooming. Since Leslie got all the male attention growing up, I purposed at an early age to develop a killer personality. Check. Since I am still blooming, I am just now reaching my "glory days." Leslie's glory days were in high school and college. It's over for her. But mine have just begun. Look out, everyone, Marty's got the whole package!) So, yeah, Lesler was a total babe. I still meet guys who remember her and are disappointed when she doesn't remember them. In some ways, I'll never escape the camp days of "Leslie, why won't your annoying sister leave us alone?" or "Leslie, why is your sister watching us (kiss) out the window?"

I've been her tag-along my whole life. I've lived in her shadow. But there's no place else I'd rather be. She's my big sister, and I love her very much: bad sense of direction, leaving our plane tickets in a gift shop in the airport, being a cheerleader and a dancer every year in jr. high and high school when I only made it once, winning pageant after pageant....and all.

The belly of the beast

It was Friday, March 7th. I was walking down the sidewalk when I noticed my shoelaces were untied, so I bent down to tie them. All of the sudden I was sliding at lightning speed headfirst down a chute that appeared straight but was winding and curvy. Powder kept getting into my eyes and in my nose and mouth. Each time I took a breath, I inhaled the powder and coughed violently. I held my breath for as long as I could, taking short and shallow breaths when necessary. When I was able to squint some to see in front of me, it seemed green, but I was falling so fast that I couldn't make out anything clearly. After a few minutes of free-falling down the slick slide (unable to stop myself no matter how or where I grasped), my body slammed onto a floor filled with that same horrible yellow powder. I landed with a thud and it sent the powder exploding into a cloud around me. I lay there unconscious for some time. When I awoke, the powder overwhelmed my senses. There was so much of it, my throat began to close and my eyes puffed up and started watering. I was coughing and sneezing violently. My ears and head ached. I resolved to crawl back out of the tunnel as quickly as I could, but the powder was too overbearing. I could do nothing but lie there on the ground. After I rested a bit, I gained enough strength to climb back into the chute. I could barely crawl on the slick surface, but I managed to go slowly to ensure that I moved up and forward. It was very tiring, and I had to stop frequently to rest. But I feared that my head would explode if I didn't get out of there fast! The further down I was, the thicker the powder was and the less I could breathe. I only climbed a short distance during the day, all the while fighting to see through my puffy eyes and trying to breathe through my clogged air passages and closed throat. At night I slept fitfully in crooks in the curves of the chute away from the direct airways that carried the horrendous powder. The closer I got to the top, the better I could breathe. I fought and fought until I finally climbed out today.

Where was I? In the belly of the flower that swallowed me when I bent down to tie my shoes. The yellow powder was the overdose of pollen that hit me two Fridays ago. Ok, that story didn't actually happen. It simply recounts my journey through the worst case of seasonal allergies I've ever experienced. Ever. For the past week-and-a-half, I have taken ibuprofen around the clock to help with the headaches, ear aches, and swollen glands/sore throat (which I thought I had gotten rid of when I got my tonsils out 2 years ago). I took a Claritin a day as well. It was miserable. It literally knocked me down. I didn't miss any work, but I surely felt terrible whenever I wasn't in bed. So, that's what has kept me away from my beloved blog for almost two weeks.

In other news, I got another job. It's part-time to go along with my current job. For now, it's on source is onenewsnow.com. AFA is a conservative Christian family advocate group that does radio broadcasts, a magazine (the AFA Journal) and news. AFA is known nationwide, but it started in Tupelo, and the headquarters are still here. I am enjoying writing for them. I hope the "as-needed basis" turns out to be often. I am thankful and amazed at how God has blessed my desires to have a career in writing and editing. In Jackson, a much bigger city than Tupelo, I couldn't find a job doing those things. When we decided to move to Tupelo, I gave up hope of pursuing my dream because it's a smaller town and I didn't foresee any opportunities to exercise these talents. Boy am I delighted and surprised to find that both of my jobs allow me to write and edit! God is good.

A few weeks ago, we received about 3 inches of snow. Below are some pictures from it.
Our deck

Kurt with a neighbor's snowman

Me with same said snowman

Our Winter Wonderland

Back of Wonderland

Snowy neighborhood

This crazy weather...

I thought spring had finally arrived from the pleasant weather earlier this week -- clear skies, a crisp breeze, sunshine...but overnight it turned to cold dreariness -- white opaque skies, cold wind, rain (in case you need a definition of dreary weather). The power went out four times last night. Ode to friggin' joy. A storm was raging, so I didn't sleep much. Now the temperature has dropped dramatically and the weathermen (and weatherwomen) are predicting snow. I'll believe it when I see it. And, if I see it, it will be from inside my warm house looking out the window. I really really really dislike cold weather. I could live on the beach and see the sunshine and waves every single day and NEVER see any snow (except maybe on TV) and be totally content, nay, overjoyed! (Hint Hint, Kurt). I can see out the window right now and it just started sleeting. Just as I suspected: time to put down the laundry and bundle up on the couch with some hot tea and a good book.


On another note, my grandfather went bowling on Wednesday for the first time in 30 years and scored 143. He got 3 strikes and 3 spares, according to Grandmom. Granddad will be 84 in August, and he still practices medicine. He's in pretty good health (obviously), and he usually spends his Wednesdays on the golf course or the tennis court. However, the weather this past Wednesday was bad, so he went bowling in Starkville at Bulldog Lanes. Ha! My grandmother went with him, but only as his cheerleader. She didn't bowl. They are the cutest, sweetest people on earth! Apparently my grandfather used his old bowling ball and shoes that he used to wear 30 years ago. So cute!! Laurette's granddad is pretty cute, too. Mert and T.N. currently share the title of World's Cutest Granddad.

I heard that Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong retired as President of Mississippi State University today. Overall, I think that most people are relieved. I don't even know the man. I just think he has a funny last name. I know that some friends of mine who are still students at State were pretty ticked off about Fogie (my own personal abbreviation for him) wanting to mow down all the daffodils. However, I am concerned about higher matters, vis-à-vis, the following: I think Starkville and MSU need to hire someone who will get TCBY back to Starkville (and get rid of Cool Scoops, right LT?). That's my main concern (which is clearly why I have no vote in who they hire). I tried Cool Scoops last weekend, and it was good...not great. The yogurt's texture and flavor are far below that of TCBY. Tupelo doesn't even have a TCBY, and I am both saddened and ashamed. Anyway, if anyone knows or talks to our next MSU president, please be sure to voice my concerns. I think it'd make a huge difference in the lives of the Starkville residents and MSU students.