octolilly [through the years]

So, I’m a little swirly tonight. My best friend from college called to say that she and a Boy I haven’t met yet (tonight is the first time I’ve found out about him) are together and discussing rings and dates and she made some comment about my being fitted for a bridesmaid dress.

Augh! WHERE are the days when we flitted across the Bridge of Nations??

Anyway, I put together a little list of my favorite pictures from 2004. Here they are:

In January, we got an ice storm one morning that shut down schools, stores, and most driving. But I braved the danger (hmm, it was only like 2 inches of ice) and walked around with my camera.

It was inevitable that we would run into Romance while on our trip to the Biltmore House. It was Valentines Day. And when we saw her having her bridal portraits made, we stopped to ooh and ahh.

Amber and I swung up to North Carolina one evening for a Jars of Clay concert. This picture captures my memory of the night perfectly. Charlie really got down on the keyboard that night.

This was the first bloom on Mom’s Japanese Maple tree last April.

Although I haven’t written anything on Aelki about the tsunami, the tragedy has certainly been on my mind.

I read the articles, glance through the pictures, and am harshly reminded that I’m on the other side of the world. A co-worker mentioned yesterday that she felt helpless. And then we pondered what it would be like to be able to go there. To help feed the children. To share the Gospel, hold them when they cry, and help rebuild their lives.

And after reading through some of the reunion stories, I feel overwhelmed. It puts the “harsh tragedy” into everyday language. People searching for best friends. Looking for lovers. Missing their children.

There is much to pray for.

Matt: “And so here is the main server, and the backup server, and the email server…”

Realizing that I’m completely zoned out.

Matt: “You know that saying starve a fever, feed a cold? Well, you should eat. Drink Powerade. Stuff your face. It always works for me. You’ll feel better soon.”

And with that license to stuff my face, I just finished off the Largest Barbeque Sandwich I’ve ever seen. In fact, it’s larger than the green-apple candle over on the coffee table, larger than the cd lying beside my phone, larger than circumference of the lamp base on my desk, and yes, I’m home from work. Miserable. Exhausted. Sick. And thinking about how large and glorious that sandwich was.

So, if you are ever sick- travel to SC and order a sandwich from Little Pigs Barbeque.

And on a very odd note, I’m realizing that being sick is causing me to be exceptionally observant. For instance, while studying how large my sandwich is compared to this-and-that, I realized some wildly wonderful things I didn’t know about my place.

My tablecloth has a little plaid hem on it. All the tissue boxes in my house are the Puffs Plus type. I absolutely don’t know how to work the cute little white fire extinguisher near the pantry. From my loveseat, I can see exactly 22 books scattered about the living room.

And yet none of this trivial blathering is keeping me from thinking about why my heart hurts right now. I found my tattered copy of The Sacred Romance a few minutes ago and I think I will curl up under the New and Glorious Electronic Blanket I got for Christmas and read for a while.

Shockingly, I believe I have a craze for the color green now. (Which is somewhat different than my passion for anything and everything the color red) I suddenly discovered this while glancing around my house tonight. And because this discovery has nothing to do with anything, I’ve decided to share it with you.

January (or at least my first Monday of this year) certainly started with a wham and a bang. I feel as though I’ve barely had time to catch my breath after ’04 and now I feel like I am paddling upstream to stay on top of ’05.

A few of us stayed after work tonight to tie up some loose ends. And I’m not sure if it was because a long day of work needs a bit of silliness to be bearable or if it was a small bit of celebration in regards to our opening in two weeks- but we gathered around the parking lot tonight and watched the CEO and one of the stock guys race each other on foot through the parking lot.

And then I traipsed to Wal-Mart to order new contacts and discovered that a South Carolina law prohibits the girl-behind-the-counter from handing me my refills unless there is a doctor present. She was holding the box of contacts. And she told me I would have to return after 9am tomorrow.

Hmm. I wonder if I’m brave enough to swing that green Ketchup?