What, No YouTube Page Yet?

there's a church just down the street from jon's apartment complex. i noticed as we passed by that the notice board in front read, "follow us on twitter! sunday service 10:00". i remarked that this seemed odd to me - jon hadn't noticed the sign, though, so we didn't explore the topic. however, after taking me to the airport, he did see the sign and the following text conversation (which spanned a couple days, in between other discussions) took place:

j: what if we were at this church down the road, and the priest says, "let's bow our heads. let us pray." and he pulls out his cell phone and says as he types, "weeeee aaaaaarre praaaaaayyiiiiiing."

k: i was wondering how that works. i mean, do they put up all the important parts of the sermon, or just things like, "bingo on wednesday"?

j: "taaaaakinnnng up offffferrrrrring platesssssss"

k: lol. "paaarrrrishioneerrrrs cheeeapskaaaaaates this weeeeeeeek"

j: haha. "baaaaptiismmm waaas a suuccessss."

k: "fiiiiivve peeeeeople laaaaaate. dooooooonnn't lettt this be yooooouuu nexxxxxt weeeeek"

j: "baaabiieeeeess suuuckkk duuuuuring serrrrrmon. loooove, faaaaaaather jooooones."

k: hilarious!

j: have we worn this out?

k: probably, but it's still making me giggle....

j: "pleeeeeeaaaase doooo not maaaaake chaaaaange in the offerrrrring plate. thanks broootherrr phiillll."

k: too funny! "iiiit's caaaaalled a crrrryyyy rooooom for a reeaaason - thaaaat's where the cryyyyying braaats goooo..."

j: (whispers as he types) pleeeeaase god, heeeelp usssss. this orrrrganissst is the reason baaaaabiiiies cryyyyyy!"

ok, so maybe that was all way more entertaining to us than to anyone else, but it's totally a good point - apparently my aunt's church is on facebook... why, exactly? don't you have a bulletin for that? it just seems kinds odd...

Quote of (Quite Probably) the Month

text from john last week:

"a lesson that only needs to be learned once: never make a hot pepper sandwich and then scratch your balls."

*don't worry - john and both his balls have fully recovered.

Just Let Me Have My Delusions, Please

actual text conversation between me and john mario last friday night:

me: this is a new experience - watching old people dance the electric slide to "mustang sally." at the american legion. that's right - i'm living up my friday night!

john: wow, not quite like teh friday nights we had 10 years ago, huh?

me: right? and i'm having fun. oi. please don't mention this to anyone. i don't want to sound as sad as i've apparently become... :)

john: dear, i'm off this weekend. right this moment i am removing bits of adhesive from my living room wall. party on.

me: excellent. we are sad together.

john: and apparently sad apart as well.

john: the only possible thing more sad than what i am doing right now is that an hour ago, at work, i was looking forward to it.

me: yeah... let's not share this with anyone... we have reps to uphold.

john: i hate to tell you this, dear, but these ARE our reps.

me: yeah... i just wanted to hold onto the illusion...

*sigh* it's so sad being old...

It's The Little Things

i just spent the most amazing week with jon in alabama (yes, kids, i know - but it's not like the deliverance-type images you're conjuring in your heads). seriously amazing. we didn't do anything special really, just spent the week doing every-day-life stuff: driving around, visiting with friends, wandering around the beach for a bit, renting movies, and the like. and i wouldn't have changed a minute of it. everything was so... easy. like we've lived together for ages and already developed routines, and just fell back into them. so obviously, we work really well together - we have similar interests and spiritual beliefs, we both believe family is important, we are very compatible physically (and not just that, gutter-dwellers, but also things like kissing, hand-holding, lounging on the couch together - don't get me wrong, though, there are no complaints in any area...). but sometimes it's the little things that assure me that this will work. like the following conversation, which took place on the walk back to the car after lunch at a beach-side restaurant.

j: orange beach is celebrating their 25th anniversary, so there are lots of activities and things going on this week.

k: very cool.

j: and every place is celebrating. you know when we went to my store and i ran in to get my check? they had cupcakes and drinks and stuff out for the customers for the anniversary.

k: nice!

(pause)

k: wait, there were cupcakes and you didn't bring me one?

j: well, i didn't know you'd want one.

k: um, i pretty much always want cake. just for future reference.

j: duly noted. cake good.

k: unless it's chocolate cake.

j: it WAS chocolate.

(pause)

j: you don't like chocolate?? what's wrong with you?

k: no - i just don't like chocolate-flavored stuff. ice cream and cake and things. it doesn't taste like chocolate to me.

j: (nods) it's like watermelon candy.

k: what?

j: watermelon candy. if i gave you a piece of candy, you could put it in your mouth and immediately say, "hey, that's watermelon!" but if you then took a bite of an actual watermelon, they taste nothing alike.

k: you're so right! why do we call it watermelon flavor then? grape flavoring's sorta the same thing.

j: and grape-scented stuff...

see? i realize a lifetime of conversations like these doesn't sound like the stuff dreams are made of, but really? i can't wait. :o)

Officially Counting Down...

yes, i know i'm a big fat dork. please shut up. it's just that i'm crazy excited, and clearly this excitement has robbed me of my senses temporarily. hopefully, i will be able to return you to your regularly scheduled karen shortly...

Apparently, the Hedgehogs Take Their Cues From Humans - Or Vice Versa

the camp i'm working at this week is in a nature center. so to keep the kids quiet, they show them nature videos at lunch. today's selection was on nocturnal animals. this is from the part about hedgehogs:

"the male makes a curiously jerky approach to the female, accompanied by snorting and snuffling.  occasionally, to encourage her, he gives her a shove."

yeah, that sounds about right... especially around the teenage years.  :o) also, this is clearly a definition of "encourage" i am not familiar with...

From The Small Obnoxious Girl Today:

"yo, yo, yo! my name is jo*, i gots a 'fro**, i wear my pants down low. wooooooooooooorrrd!"

*incidentally, her name in not "jo"

** nor does she have a "fro"; she is korean, so she has the standard "long, black, shiny" 'do.

Why I Heart Edward Monkton

(and, sidebar: wow, have *i* been slacking... i haven't written a blog in over 2 months! and i know i've had internal monologues to share in that time. ah, well...)

I Have a Little Student... She Is Small and Very Funny

if you've never seen the kids show "charlie and lola", well, you should.  it's supercute and clever and funny - the kind of show parents actually like watching with their parents. (or the kind jen and i watch even if gray isn't in the room...) anyway, one of my kindergartners reminds me so much of lola that i've actually started calling her that, which is ok by her since she "loves that movie".  (actually, when i called her that yesterday, she said - hands on hips - "actually i can't be lola.  i don't have butterflies in my hair!") she doesn't have the british accent, but because she lived in the u.k. and went to pre-school there, there's an english formality to her phrasing and cadence. she's pretty awesome, and she entertains me daily.  and for those of you not in the know, here's a little glimpse of the kind of shenanigans i get to witness daily...

Can't You Just Do Something Stupid? I'm Used To That...

just a note, first:  this is a departure for me, because i'm not a big "share my private life" sort of person. i mean, i'm not secretive or anything, but... you know,  i think it has something to do with how people relate to me as an empath - people tell me all sorts of things i don't need (or sometimes want) to know about what's going on in their lives.  it's like subconsciously they pick up that i'll understand them and their point of views, so if they feel confused or need to talk something through, they seem to automatically come to me.  but because people are generally self-concerned creatures (and i'm not being mean, it's just human nature), if i start talking about my issues, i don't get the same concern from others.  so i've just gotten used to keeping to myself, which is fine, and all-around easier as far as i'm concerned.  but this is not the point of this blog; this is just some exposition so you know where i'm coming from.  rob mentioned something yesterday that made me rethink some things about myself, and that's the point of this blog.  ok, tedious explanation over.

i've never been that girl that gets lots of showy attention from guys.  i don't know that i've ever (to this point anyway) really had any romance in my life - again, i just don't seem to inspire that from guys. and i'm generally ok with that... or, rather, i've gotten used to it.  i've never had it, so i really don't know what do with it.  and really, i'm not a need-to-be-pampered girly-girl; my best friends have always been guys, and i only have a handful of really good girl friends - and generally, these are girls who are a lot like me.  plus, the universe seems to think that i shouldn't be allowed to have relationships, so that's another thing i've (unfortunately) gotten used to.  so i've been completely thrown off lately because i suddenly have a boy who's romancing the hell out of me. i'm loving it, don't get me wrong, but after 32 years of not ever having it, it's totally throwing me for a loop. 

i was mentioning this to rob the other day, and said that i'm just not the type of girl that guys feel like showering with romance and sweetness. rob narrowed his eyes and said, "well, it's more that you inspire guys to run around doing stupid things to see if you're impressed by them, instead of seeing if you're impressed by flowers." i started to object, and then realized he was absolutely right.  as much as i might roll my eyes about it, i like my boys to be, well, boys.  so it makes sense that i would attract the guys whose idea of romancing or wooing someone is not necessarily hearts and candy.  and while i wouldn't be surprised if this one did something random and silly to get my attention (which he does from time to time), he spends a lot of time being sweet and honest and making me feel like the most desirable woman in the world.  which, again, is awesome, but.... different.  and taking some getting used to.  though i have to admit, it's pretty addictive...