Pale Is The New Tan

I have fair skin. But that should not come as a surprise to anyone who has ever seen my mom. She has fair skin too, as do both of my grandmas, all my aunts, my grandpa and both my sisters. I basically come from a very white family. I resemble my mom and her mom in so many ways that it's not unusual for me to be pasty like them too.

I used to want to be tan, but I know now that's not going to happen. I've come to grips with that. My dad was born in Iowa, is mostly German, and should be white, buuuut he's not. In fact, his white in the winter is tanner than my skin in the summer.

I guess my obsession with not being a "whitey" comes mainly from my dad always being more tan than I was. Often he would hold out his arm to compare skin color while asking, "Who's tanner?"

But I have come to a conclusion, pale is the new tan. With the rising concern of skin cancer and sun damage, I have become a firm believer in being white. Yes, I may blind people with my whiteness. Yes, my skin can be used to reflect sunlight. And no, I don't glow in the dark... but that's ok with me because as far as I'm concerned, pale is the new tan.

Don't Sit Down

Everyone in our house knows that my cat Jake doesn't like Spadoodles. He is totally annoyed by her presence and often stalks her like prey. One time when Spadoodles was relaxing on the couch, Jake walked behind her head, and while passing behind, he attacked her head, bit it and moved on.

The other night Spadoodles was, as usual, pestering the cat. Jake has become very social in the last year or so and has taken to sitting on people whenever they are on the couch. He was sitting on Daddy Gs lap and begging for attention by rubbing his face on Daddy Gs hand.

Dad and Spadoodles were joking around as usual and Daddy told her not to sit down on the couch. Well, Spadoodles being Spadoodles, she danced her way over to the couch and pretended to sit down. Although, she didn't get very far. Jake decided to take the side of my dad and whomp her.

Spadoodles didn't really care for the "kitty spank" and became rather annoyed. They ended up having a "batting fight" which is where Jake who has no claws and Spadoodles gently "bat" at each other. (normally Jake hits pretty hard while Spadoodles just kind of bats the air) FYI, Jake normally wins, and this time was no exception. In a moment, Spadoodles ran and screamed to the other side of the room while Jake continued to sit calmly on "his" spot on the couch.

After a few more failed attempts at sitting next to my dad, Spadoodles retreated to the loveseat but continued to eye the other sofa in envy. While this whole escapade is happening, my dad and I are laughing uncontrollably. Hopefully the thought of Spadoodles getting beat up by a cat makes you laugh in an amused sort of way. :)

And just so you know, Spadoodles did eventually get the spot on the couch, but she had to wait until Jake got tired of guarding the sofa...

Time for a Rest

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to never have any time at all to sit down and rest? I'm sure many of you have experienced this I'm-going-crazy-and-may-be-collapse-unless-I-sit-down-soon feeling. Well, the past few weeks (basically since the school semester started) I have been going Mach 10 with my hair on fire.

Between going to school, working full time, serving in children's ministry, finishing homework and hanging with the kids at the 180 teen center every Friday night I pretty much packed my schedule to the max. I was gone 4-5 nights a week and shut up in my room the other few.

But as if I needed anything else to deal with, I started having asthma attacks. After several times needing a ride home from school in Stockton and classes at Millswood (night time classes are held here off campus) I made an appointment to see my doctor.

He put me on two inhalers and told me to be careful about not overexerting myself. I was kind of relieved to hear that it wasn't anything really serious, but something that would just be a nuisance.

One night, though, it became more serious than just a mild case of asthma. I ended up in the ER at 10 o' clock at night with an IV hanging from my arm. After that, my family came to a conclusion: I was doing too much. And I have (slowly and most times unwillingly) come to agree with them.

We need to find a balance between being busy/happy and rested and busy/crazy and tired. It has taken me a while to understand that I can't cram everything into my life that I think I should be able to. I didn't have time to read and study my Bible nearly as much as I wanted because I couldn't find time to make time! That should say something!

My life is becoming more balanced thanks to my parents carefully and patiently showing me how to cut things out and say no. And my asthma is much better thanks to having more rest time and being careful out in the pollen-filled air. Balance is important to the effectiveness of our service. We can be more effective if we limit ourselves to what we know we can handle.

Thanks mommy and daddy g!

Typing While Sleeping

I fell asleep the night before last. Nothing out of the ordinary about that. I normally go to sleep around 11:30 because I stay awake late chatting with people online, writing stuff or doing homework.

Well, two nights ago I went into my room and got ready for bed just like I always do. And then I fell asleep while typing. Sorry to all of you readers who faithfully logged on to ETST to read it. There was no post for you, and I beg your forgiveness. Like my dad says keep short accounts!


There will be a post tomorrow, I promise!

PLEASE forgive me for not posting! I am super sorry! I feel much better now, as I always do.