Huh?

Apparently, Gov. Mark Sanford is to blame for Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer's lead foot.

It makes perfect sense. If a government official isn't given a driver/security detail, he obviously has no choice but to drive at excessive rates of speed. (78 in a 65 isn't so bad, but 101 is, IMO, a bit of a problem...)

Speaking of the Easter Bunny...

I'm adding a bit of an "edge" to my blog this evening. Isn't that a prerequisite to popularity? ;-)

I received this comic via email some time ago. It's not original with me, but I don't know who should receive credit for it...

Monica, remind me sometime--I ran across a few comics that I'm sure you'll enjoy (I say that sarcastically) that I'll have to post in your honor.

The "Music Wars"

Here's an interesting article.

Quote of the Day (March 28)

"And, as we all know, Christians worship the Easter Bunny!"

--Ralph Bristol, commenting on the removal of Easter decorations from the St. Paul (Minn.) City Hall

(Note: I'm not commenting on whether I think the Easter bunny should have remained; I just thought the comment was funny.)

Taxes and upset stomachs

I'm in the middle of doing my parents' taxes, and am being interrupted rather frequently by my brother, who is doing his taxes and has questions. (I guess I'm the expert, since I photocopy tax returns for approximately 25 hours/week. Oh, and I took a tax class once.) :)

I'd been feeling a little guilty for being at camp this past weekend, since I missed the family party for my great-grandmother's 90th birthday. (In my defense, I will say that the party was originally scheduled for yesterday evening, but was rescheduled after I'd committed to work at camp for the weekend.) Now, I'm feeling relieved that I wasn't there. Why? Out of the 8 family members there, 4 (so far, that I know of) have come down with a nasty stomach bug. (The doctor said it's not food poisoning.) Fortunately, none of my immediate family has gotten sick yet, but I suppose it's still possible--especially since my mom spent today dropping off ginger ale, medicines, etc. at my grandparents' and aunt's home. My great-aunt also got sick today. Pray for her especially--she's in a nursing program, and if she misses even 1 day of class she won't be allowed to continue.

And pray that nobody else will get sick!

Oh, and a praise--my car is fixed. It cost a pretty good chunk of change, but at least it's running smoothly now... I was starting to worry about whether I'd need to buy a new car before grad school! (I guess if my current car keeps up its pattern of needing fairly significant repairs every 3 months, I'll have to.)

Car trouble III

My car died. Again.

Thankfully, it didn't die on my way to or from camp this weekend. And it happened after I left work today, but before I had reached a major road. (I can imagine stalling in the middle of rush hour traffic. Somebody would probably shoot me!)

I'm praying that it won't be too expensive to fix... and that it can be fixed so my car will be reasonably reliable. I'd really prefer not to have to buy a new car before grad school, but if mine is leaving me stranded on a regular basis, I don't think my parents will be too happy about letting me move three hours away to a place where I really don't know anyone.

I think that maybe God is teaching me to trust Him to provide what I need. I've never really had to before (even though I know that everything I have is what He has provided and that He could take it away at any time). I've always had a nice house in which to live, enough clothes (even when I have "nothing to wear"), more than enough food to eat (sometimes I think I'd be better off with a little less of that!), my entire education paid for, a scholarship that more than paid for my textbooks, a car that my parents owned and allowed me to drive (while they paid for repairs), good health insurance...

Now I'm facing three semesters of school for which I'll need around $20k (for tuition), finding a place to live, paying for my own (crappy) health insurance, paying an arm and a leg when I need medical care (which, thankfully, hasn't happened yet since I went off my parents' insurance--knock on wood!), maintaining a car that seems to be developing an alarming pattern of needing repairs on a quarterly basis, rising gas prices... This is definitely testing my faith and revealing to me how pathetic my level of trust in the Lord really is.

I'm also learning that it really doesn't get any easier to focus on God when I'm out of school. Sure, I don't have homework anymore (for now!), but I have taxes, work, bridal showers (not for me!!!), the occasional ministry...

My weekend...

I spent another weekend at camp--working in the nursery again.

Working in the nursery makes me laugh, because I'm mostly clueless when it comes to dealing with small children... or large children, for that matter. I suppose it's good that I'm getting some experience with other people's kids, because otherwise, any children I may have in the future will pretty much be doomed to either (1) an early death, or (2) a very traumatic childhood, resulting in emotional scars that will remain their entire lives.

Anyway, I'm sure the teenage girls working in the nursery with me thought I was a complete idiot when I held up an infant and asked, "I just fed it. Am I supposed to burp it or something now?" (The answer, actually, was no, because the kid was asleep.)

On a more optimistic note, I did manage to wipe up spit-up without gagging... it helps not to look at it while you're wiping it up. I also learned that it's a bad idea to wipe a four-month-old's hands with a tissue--apparently, tissues are fun toys. Oh, and I changed a poopy diaper--I think that was the first time. Maybe I'm weird, but I have a harder time with spit-up and snot than with diapers.

Maybe I should just find a guy to marry who already knows how to take care of kids (and cook and clean). He can be a stay-at-home dad. We won't start our family until I'm at least a tax senior (in a Big 4 firm, of course), pulling in $60k-80k/year...

Riiiight. :)