Strike a Pose

I have a new weapon of choice. I bought a new digital camera yesterday! Can I get a big WOOHOO please?? Thanks! I've been researching cameras for a couple of months now. I needed to upgrade before my trip to England next May, but I wasn't sure how far to go. I nearly went with a DSLR [Nikon D40], but then I decided I wasn't quite ready to take that plunge. Call me chicken, but I'm just not ready for that yet.

Instead, I went with a new Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H50, which was still a hard choice to make. I had several digital favorites to choose from. I particularly love Nikon cameras, but the one Nikon I had my eye on got some seriously harsh reviews, and I was torn what to do! No camera is perfect, but the fact that the camera is rated as sluggish doesn't sound like a good thing. So since, I have been using an older Sony Cyber-Shot model for a couple of years, and I've been rather happy with it, I chose to do a SERIOUS Sony model upgrade, and I think it was the right choice for me.

I'm sitting here at work just dying to go home and take that camera out for a spin! I need to visit the IMA gardens this week and experiment with shots and lighting. I can't wait to play with the 15x optical zoom. I'm giddy with excitement actually. It doesn't take much for me to get all excited. After all, I'm such a kid at heart, and photography winds me up on most days anyways, but I'm overly excited today!

So...consider yourself warned!! I'll probably have my camera with me next time we meet. I'll probably smile sweetly and say as charmingly as I can muster: "Can I take your picture? Pretty please??" Hee hee!! Come on. You know you don't really mind. Just strike a pose already.

How to Perform a Tracheotomy

I love the interesting conversations that swirl around the office first thing in the morning. Today, Carl’s survival calendar gave how-to instructions for a tracheotomy. He left them on my desk to tackle first thing. I read the directions squeamishly, and then honestly confessed to both of my attorneys that I didn't think I could do it. They were very disappointed to hear that I would not be able to administer this life-saving technique, but I just don’t know if I could make that first incision. YIKES!!

One of them said: You mean, you’d just let me die?

Me: Ommmm...no, I’d run for help and find someone else to do it. I just don’t think I have it in me to cut open someone's neck.

Him: I don't like hearing that.

Me: Well, maybe it’s a good thing we are having this conversation then. At least you know ahead of time that I can’t do it.

Then we started talking about whether or not a person could do it to themselves. I said I’d hold a mirror up so that Carl could see to make his own incision, and then we realized that he’d probably be unconscious, and that could pose some problems for this self-surgical procedure. Hmmmm...

OK, so maybe I could do it if I had to, but I certainly wouldn’t like it. It’s not like CPR. I doubt they have practice dummies that I can rehearse this on. OOPS! You just cut a major artery! Your patient has 2 minutes to live. See, there’s a reason that I didn’t go to medical school or become a nurse.

So what about you--could you do this procedure to save a life?
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

1. Find the person’s Adam’s apple (thyroid cartilage). Move your finger about one inch down the neck until you feel another bulge, the cricoid cartilage. The indentation between the two is the cricothyroid membrane, where the incision will be made.

2. Using a razor blade or knife, make a horizontal incision about half an inch across and half an inch deep.

3. Pinch the incision open or place your finger inside the slit to open it.

4. Insert a tube in the incision, roughly between ½ and 1 inch deep.

5. Breathe into the tube with two quick breaths. Pause five seconds, then give one breath every five seconds. You will see the chest rise and the person should regain consciousness if you have performed the procedure correctly.

Update on the Life of Mel

CHURCH: I have decided to continue attending College Park Church for the time being. I’m now enrolled in the November membership class to learn more about the church doctrines and direction and to get a fresh perspective. I have attended this church for 5+ years, but I never went through a membership class or really ever considered joining the church. Hmmmmm...I guess I have committal issues that I didn’t know about. HA! Anyway, we’ll just have to see how GOD directs and where HE leads me, but I’m actually feeling better about things--just deciding to commit to attend for the next few months. I’m kinda excited to see what will happen next. Don’t stop praying!

JOB: Work is insane right now, the piles keep building, the projects keep arriving, and I keep getting stretched into a million different directions at once. I’m an organized freak. I like things tidy and orderly, and it’s hard for me to deal with clutter and chaos. But I’m working through it and trying to keep my sense of humor.

1. I need to be thankful that I have a job. Yes, I confess, at this moment, I envy all those who are independently wealthy or married into money and don’t have to work, but a pampered life probably gets old quickly, right? [Come on, just nod your head and agree with me!] So that just wouldn’t work for me. I’d be bored silly.

2. This is not just a challenge. This is an opportunity to develop character.

3. A paycheck is a pretty nice thing to have, and I feel pretty convinced right now that I prefer working to destitution.

COMPANY COMING: My friend Lisa from Cincinnatti and my sister Barbara from Kokomo are coming to my place for a girls-only-weekend tomorrow. We’re going consignment and secondhand shopping on Saturday, which is fabulous since Diet Girl is in need of a new fall and winter wardrobe. Since starting on this diet, my sister and I both had to get rid of most of our colder weather clothes. I’m excited and am hopeful that we will find some great bargains. WOOHOO!! We always have a good time together, and I’m looking forward to having visitors. [Just a small side note here: Lisa and Barbara, I cleaned last night, but it was a quick once-over job,and so please don’t go looking for dust…(see “JOB” above).]

FUN PLANS: I have 2 weekends away with girlfriends coming up after this weekend, and so my October has really gotten busy. I can’t believe how quickly November will be here, and that means Thanksgiving. I’m hoping to make it to Michigan for the festivities this year, but I’m not sure yet (see “JOB” above).

Well, I hope everyone is well and enjoying the start of fall. Drop me a line, call me or comment on my blog any time. Sorry if I have been bad about communicating or returning calls and emails lately. I’ll try to do better, but…(see “JOB” above).

Flat on My Face

In the Stepping Up Bible study, Beth Moore likes us as participants to lie flat on the floor, face first and spend time with GOD every morning before starting into the homework. It's a great idea. I like it. It's a fabulous humble reminder of where we need to be before our GOD. And on the weekends, I can handle it. I eat a little breakfast, get right on the floor for a few minutes with GOD and then jump right into the study. However, it's not working as effectively at 5 AM during the week. You understand that my alarm just went off like 2 minutes prior, and so when I hobble out to the living room and lay down on the floor and start to spend a few minutes with GOD in prayer, I fall right back to sleep. Sorry, LORD!

But other than that little hiccup, I am really enjoying this study in the Psalms. I enjoy the honesty and directness of the Psalmists as they share with GOD about the current state of their affairs. They openly pour out their hearts to GOD, they share about their own struggles, they tell GOD how they feel, they complain about what so and so is doing, they indicate that they are frustrated and hurt. They are transparent with GOD. I can appreciate that. It's real.

But lately, I feel like all my conversations with GOD have been about the rough stuff. So today, I just want to praise HIM and thank HIM for HIS continued faithfulness. HE has been showing HIMSELF so mighty and gracious in my life, and I am so grateful to having the high KING of Heaven so active in my life.

Thank YOU, LORD, for your unfailing love and mercy in my life!
Thank YOU for protecting me and keeping me safe!
Thank YOU for comforting and restoring my soul!
Thank YOU for your healing touch!
Thank YOU for the peace you provide as only YOU can!

This Bugs Me, Mel!

One of my attorneys sent me an email with the above subject line and the mini-clips of the 4 news stories below.

Critters 4, Humans 0

1. A 17-year-old boy in Reno, Nev., accidentally set his family's house on fire trying to kill spiders. [Reno Gazette-Journal-AP, 8-18-08]

2. A woman in Santa Fe, N.M., accidentally caused severe fire damage to her home while trying to torch a rattlesnake. [KOB-TV (Albuquerque), 7-27-08]

3. A 26-year-old man in Mobile, Ala., accidentally caused $80,000 damage to his home and a shed trying to kill a swarm of bees. [Mobile Press-Register, 6-4-08]

4. A Buddhist monk accidentally burned down his temple in Ojiya City, Japan, trying to destroy a hornets' nest. [MSNBC-AP, 9-4-08]

These clips made me laugh out loud. No, I'm not happy to hear that people torched buildings and caused damage. That's not funny. What is ironic and comical is the extreme measures people take to deal with their fears or to eradicate creepy crawlies! I identify with it. I really do. Although, I must admit that I’ve never tried this method myself in dealing with my fear of spiders. And upon further thought, I think it's best that I don't try it. I'll stick to my bug-spray, then kleenex-squish, shiver-as-I-flush-twice method for now. It works for me. And about the 2 flushes, since I know someone will comment...it's necessary. It really is! Have you not watched any horror movies? The bad guys always come back. One shot to the head is not enough! I don't want any of these spiders returning for a 2nd round, and so the double flush method is a proven warfare tactic for yours truly. Don't laugh!

What I Thought I Wanted…**

I’m glad GOD doesn’t give us everything we want. That HE doesn’t act like a personal genie in a bottle where we get whatever we wish for. If I had everything my little heart had ever wished for, I would be an incredibly miserable person.

1. I don’t think George Clooney could make me happy. Sure, I’d love to live in an Italian villa, be able to travel around the world and spend my money how I pleased, but I think that jet-setting lifestyle would get old pretty fast.

2. I doubt that I’d be all that fun to hang out with if I had gotten on the all-time bestseller book list by my 30th birthday. I’d be cranky and ticked that everyone would keep asking when my next book would be coming out. Come on having one book on the best-seller list is a big deal. Stop pressuring me, people!! HA!

3. I think I’d be bored to tears if I lived in a lush English country estate with my husband as a titled member of the nobility and had to hob-nob with the uppercrust of society. Come on, I’m just not all that refined, and having to attend all those snobby events and pretend that I like to dress up. I get chills just thinking about it.

No seriously, there are lots of things over the years that I thought I wanted. Things I prayed about and asked GOD for, and today looking back now at those things and those periods in my life, I can clearly see how GOD was protecting me from my self. Yes, HE protected me from my self. I didn’t need that other job, that relationship wasn’t what HE wanted, and more of this or that wasn’t in HIS plan either.

Sure, I can’t help but wish for life to be a bit easier than it is. This has been a difficult year for me, but GOD never promised me an easy, carefree life. HE has promised however to be here with me, to never leave or forsake me. HE is here with me in the difficulties, the stressful times, the health scares, the aching moments, the job woes, the inner turmoils, etc. HE has given me more than enough already. HE gave HIS SON. HE has more than provided for my needs and continues to do so. I already have all that I need. It is sufficient.

And what should my response be? Gratitude! Thank you, LORD!

“I keep wanting You to be fair
But that’s not what You said
I want certain answers to these prayers
But that’s not what You said...

What it was I wanted, what I got instead
Leaves me broken and grateful...

I want to be broken, peaceful, faithful, grateful...”**

**What I Thought I Wanted by Sara Groves

W I D E Joys

Yesterday at work, I got a widescreen monitor at my desk. I’m loving it. There was a a legitimate reason for ordering this new monitor for my desk, too. HONEST! I do LOTS (read: an overabundance of paper work) of patent application filings, and recently we have started efiling them. Basically, that means that we are electronically filing patent applications with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). It’s quicker and easier than paper filing, and it also saves us money (however, not on our car insurance).

Anyway, under the USPTO’s new system, the screen is wider than my laptop screen. No really it is! So I’ve been tabbing and scrolling over a lot lately to get to the stuff I need on the screen, and my boss found out about it, and decided I needed a bigger monitor. WOOHOO!! So, she put in a request for a flat regular screen that was larger than my laptop screen. Well, then our vendor came back and informed us that the widescreen, flat monitor would actually be cheaper. So sad, right! So, now I have a nice widescreen monitor at my desk, and it’s pretty nice.

Stepping Up

Last night, I attended the 2nd week of the Beth Moore Bible Study I’ve joined with my friend Heidi at her West side church. I am really enjoying it. Beth Moore is quite a powerful and energetic women's speaker, and her teaching has been doctrinally sound and so uplifting. WOW! Each week there is 5 days’ worth of homework, and so I have my work cut out for me, but there is just so much to glean from the Psalms of Ascent.

I don’t quite know how this Psalm series escaped my notice until now. [Kaleb, you posted 2 of those Psalms on the very first day of the Bible study, which made me chuckle.] OK, so am I the only one that didn’t know that Psalm 120-134 were called the Psalms of Ascent? Seriously, people! I know I’ve read these Psalms before, more than once. I even have a few of the verses memorized, but somehow I have never really studied them and didn’t know they were called the Psalms of Ascent or Songs of Ascent.

Last week in our Stepping Up study, Beth Moore related the history – how these Psalms were sung on the journey as the Jews would make their pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the 3 yearly feasts and how there are 15 Psalms just as their were 15 steps in the Temple between the Court of Women (the furthest point women were allowed to go in the temple) and the next innermost court, the Court of the Israelites, etc. And I was just sitting there dumbfounded and just soaking it all up in bewilderment! How did I not know about this?

It’s exciting in a way...how GOD’s Word isn’t stale, how HE continues to reveal new things to us along the way or in my case numerous new things lately. It’s been overwhelming, humbling and bittersweet at times, but all in all, it’s been awesome!

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.
Open the eyes of my heart.
I want to see You.
I want to see You.**

**Open the Eyes of My Heart – by Paul Baloche

My Church Search: Still Slightly Disconnected

I confess, it is becoming increasingly harder not to have a church home. I’ve visited quite a few different churches over the last few months, and yet I don’t feel any closer to making this critical decision.

I’ve been going back to College Park Church on Sunday mornings pretty regularly. I have always liked the worship, and I’m really enjoying the new pastor and his excellent teaching. He keeps things real and direct, and I’ve been convicted nearly every Sunday. GOD has been revealing so much to me through those services. This last week I was sobbing at the end of the service and glad the lights were dim so I wouldn’t scare my neighbors with my hysterics.

BUT...I am still missing that sense of community and being involved in the body. I want to be active and involved in ministry and community, and this is where I got stuck last time when I attended College Park regularly. I don’t want church to just be a Sunday morning experience for me. Throughout the week, I am working on my relationship with my LORD and SAVIOR, and GOD has been so faithful and patient with me in that regard, but there is still something missing.

I’m missing that kindred fellowship with other believers. I’m missing interaction with other members of the body in their own unique ways. I’m missing people. In short, I’m wanting to be part of a team again. I’m missing having people involved in my life and me being involved in theirs--calling each other out when we need it, encouraging each other to keep on, building one another up in Christ, assisting each other when there is a need (physical, emotional, etc.), praying for one another, counseling one another, meeting the other where they are in the midst of their struggles and pain, serving alongside one another, etc.

I have a few Christian friends where we have that kind of transparency and real relationship with each other, and I'm thankful for those open friendships, but I’d like to build on that and find a church community practicing that type of raw, honest living--together.

LORD, guide me and direct my path. I know that YOU are with me in my search.

"MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."
- Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude -

Diet Girl Celebrates 6 Months

Today is my 6-month anniversary on Weight Watchers, and I'm pleased to report that I am down 54.6 pounds. WOOHOO!! I celebrated last night by making Devil’s Food Cupcakes. How ironic is that! I’m celebrating a diet by making cupcakes. Sounds crazy, right?

Well, these are special cupcakes, and actually I was making them for a dinner party tonight. No, I’m not telling you the secret ingredient, so don’t try to weasel it out of me or beg or try to bribe me with donuts or ice cream. I’m taking this one to the grave with me. [HA! Just ask, and I’ll share.] Anyway, these cupcakes are 3 Weight Watchers points apiece and that includes the icing. And I must say, they are pretty tasty in all their chocolaty decadence, if I don’t say so myself. I naturally had to sample one last night along with a 1-point Dove miniature ice cream bar, which is another favorite thing. So I had cake and ice cream at my private celebration. It was a beautiful thing!

Together, my sister and I have lost 96 pounds since April 1st. Now, that’s exciting! That’s more than an Olympic gymnast. She and I are going consignment and secondhand store shopping again next weekend with my friend Lisa. I can’t wait. Diet Girl really needs to buy clothes for colder weather. Yes, fall is definitely coming. I’ve enjoyed the delicious chill in the air the last couple of days, although not perhaps as much as my sister. She swears she can smell apple cider when she steps outside this week! Hmmmmm??

Stay tuned for further Diet Girl updates. Thank you to one and all for your encouragement, for your questions and concerns, for your diet tips and tricks and for your ongoing inspiration. The work is not done, but I’m on my way and thankful for the results thus far. Thank you, LORD!