Long time, no talk

I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve talked with you guys! So, today, I’ll let you know a little of what’s been going on! Ready? Let’s start with Thursday. . .

Thursday was the last day of work before a long Easter weekend. And I needed a long weekend. Granted, I did take the Friday before off, but this was a Friday with no plans and no car repairs on the horizon. Thursday was a LONG day at work, then I went home, took some pseudophedrine (that I had to sign my life away to get and I promise, I don’t even KNOW how to make meth!) and basically vegged out on the couch. I read Max Lucado’s book, That’s Why They Call Him Savior and spent a lot of the night crying. I’m just very thankful for who God is and how He loves us. I don’t serve a God who doesn’t know what it’s like to be me, to feel alone, to be betrayed or hurt, to know that the people you love the most don’t understand you, to know moments of joy and happiness. After this weekend and the refocusing God has been doing in my life, all I can say is thank you. Over and over and over.

BUT, I didn’t sleep well on Friday night. I’d go to sleep and wake up a few hours later, wide awake and full of anxiety. Then, it stormed and the scaredy dog needed comforting. I guess this is what’s it’s like to have a 2-year old. It also displays how impatient I am! I finally pulled myself out of bed on Friday morning around 9:45 a.m. Yes, 9:45 a.m. Mindy called about 15 minutes later wanting to know if I wanted to go to Cool Springs with her. She was going to Sam’s and then shopping for an Easter dress. I was up for that, but that also meant I had to get off the couch and make myself presentable to the world. I sort of achieved this and off we went. While we were eating lunch, it started to storm and even hailed, yet still, we set off for Cool Springs. In the car, we started listening to the weather reports, all of which were tornado warnings and things sounded bad in Murfreesboro. We went on into Sam’s, where a tornado warning was quickly declared and all employees and guests had to go to the center of the store to wait for the storm to blow over. I’m not sure why the center of the store was the safest place, but we went. At least there were some clothes to look at. And this amazing bedspread/comforter deal in which you got a comforter, sheets, 2 kinds of shams (regular and euro) and several decorative pillows. There may have even been a bedskirt. I was sort of transfixed by this! Mindy and I spent the afternoon looking for a cute dress for her, but weren’t finding much. Really, there were some very matronly selections out there. Mindy is fun and nice and young—stop trying to dress her in frumpy stuff, clothing designers!

Friday actually feels like two days. Later we attended the Good Friday service at church which was appropriately somber and uplifting. We grabbed some cheap Mexican food and went on to the Cannery Ballroom to see Ten out of Tenn, which I’d basically strong-armed Mindy into doing. Parking was a mess, but after we got that figured out (and I made people MAD!) and picked up our tickets, we went in to the ballroom with our “over 18 stamps” and the awkward standing around. Cannery Ballroom is one of those venues that you have to stand for the show and people get there early so they can press up to the stage. This show was 18+, so there was a large contingent of youngish girls there all dressed up in these little dresses pressed up against the stage, I think in an attempt to lure the attentions of one Andy Davis. Which I will admit I wouldn’t mind doing myself. But these girls got on my nerves! So did the girl who talked loudly and stupidly from the minute she got there about everything and anything that all added up to nothing and decided to stand right behind us. After her grating voice went on and on about the time she got really drunk on a Long Island Iced tea, Mindy and I bailed and moved to a new location. Bye, annoying girl! While I was EXCITED about Ten out of Tenn, I was not excited about the 30 minute delay in starting the show. I love you guys, but if a show is supposed to start at 9 p.m., it should. Or at least sometime around there. Not 30-45 minutes later, which is when things finally got started. In short, the show was great. Trent Dabbs is adorable and I think I love him; Jeremy Lister does not look the way I imagined and I like him even more now; Andy Davis rocks my world and his velvet blazer and his crazy dance moves (I heart you Andy and my friend Brandy and I are currently fighting for you. You MUST CHOOSE!); Butterfly Boucher is both immensely talented and a little frightening; Erin McCarley is a great singer but needed a little more clothing on; Matthew Perryman Jones is GREAT; I still don’t know who K.S. Rhoads is; Tyler wore his tank top, but I liked him much more than the other time I saw him and he obviously LOVES what he is doing; Katie Herzig has the most beautiful voice and I really need to get her album; Griffin House sang one of my faves (“The Guy Who Says Good-bye to You Is Out of His Mind”—Griffin, I’m going to make this my theme song!) and then did the infamous war protest song. (Griffin, Griffin, Griffin. I don’t agree with you about this war, but you have a right to your opinion.) We left before the show was over though, because of the late start, the fact that we were both exhausted, and Mindy had to work at the gallery the next morning. And when you strong-arm someone into going to something with you that they’re only moderately interested in, you should take care of them! Thanks for going, Mindy!

Saturday was a lazy day. I felt pretty crappy and I spent most of the day sitting on the couch popping sinus meds and watching stupid TV shows. I did get up and take a shower (aren’t you guys proud?) and went out to pick up prescriptions with wet hair and no makeup. Y’all, this doesn’t happen in Mandy World! I also stopped by the gallery to give our dear girl Mindy some ibuprofen for a pounding headache. I’m sure she LOVED my crazy wet hair. On Saturday night, I ended up watching a Lifetime movie. Oh, go ahead, laugh! It was a Nora Roberts Lifetime movie to boot, yet I got sucked in and watched the whole thing. Even though I figured out who the killer was halfway through. There were some good quotes in this movie, though, when the heroine was talking to her love interest. She told him he had said two things to her that no one had ever told her: I won’t leave you alone and you matter. Those words kind of hit me upside the head, because I think they’re the words God has been trying to get through my head in some kicking and screaming against Him I’ve been doing. Yes, I think it’s weird that I can get an understanding of God through a Lifetime movie, but I do believe God uses weird things to get our attention. And it was like He was saying, Listen. I love you. I won’t give up on you. You matter to me. Easter is my proof of that. Just let it go and trust me.

Sunday brought an early rise since I needed to make a salad to take to my Sunday School teacher’s class for our Easter dinner and I had to be at church at 8:30 a.m. And I can’t tell this story without saying resurrection happened at my church yesterday. A woman in the congregation fainted or as I like to say, “fell out.” The service stopped because it became clear a medical emergency was happening. I really got scared when I saw the men helping her bring in an AED. The woman apparently had no pulse and was for all intents and purposes, dead. They carried her out into the hallway and continued to work on her. Eventually, the pastor came in and began the service and later, the guys working on her poked their heads in to say she was OK. A doctor plays in our orchestra and ran back there to help. I honestly didn’t see much of this because I just started praying. Just when I was pretty sure God couldn’t work miracles, He did one in our church service. Otherwise, both services were good and dinner afterward was fun. I went home planning to take a nap, but never really did. I read and watched some more badly acted Lifetime movies. Mindy came over later and cooked me dinner. Yay!

It was a full weekend, but a good one.