An "I've missed the rapture!" moment.

It's been a long time since I've had an "I've missed the rapture" moment. And to be clear, I wasn't completely awake when this happened, so I was really torn whether or not to post this story here or in my dream blog. I wasn't actually asleep, though, so I decided to post it here, but my mind wasn't fully functioning yet as you will see.

To set up the story, I had grounded my oldest son, Jay, from his iPad last Friday because he was behind on his schoolwork. He had won it in a contest attending some online event at a bible school, and was spending a little too much time gaming and too little time writing chemistry reports. So I took it away, grounded him from everything fun, and locked the offending iPad up in the lock box under the bed. Unfortunately, he had an alarm set for 5:30 a.m. Not just any alarm, but the most annoying song ever composed. The kind that crawls into your brain at 5:30 in the morning and won't leave for the rest of the day.

When it went off on Saturday, I had no idea what it was. I thought Erick was watching a YouTube video in the bathroom while he was shaving. It didn't sound like something he would watch, but whatever. I was trying to sleep. The next time it went off, I thought it was Erick's phone, and I stumbled around in the dark trying to find it and turn it off. Finally, it dawned on my that it was Jay's iPad.

I could have unlocked the box and had Jay turn it off, but I just keep procrastinating hoping the battery will die. Every morning I end up regretting my procrastination.

This morning when it went off, I went to the bathroom and stayed there until it was over. Then I went back to bed. Now this is where my rapture story starts.

As soon as I crawled into bed, I began to scoot over to Erick's side for some early morning cuddling, like a heat-seeking missile. Only there was no heat. I scooted over a little bit more, and touched the other side of the bed. Erick was gone. There wasn't even a warm spot on the bed.

My first thought was, "Oh no, I've missed the rapture!" My second thought was, "Great, now I'm going to have to get beheaded." I wondered if I had missed it because I wasn't really saved, or because of Jay's stupid alarm. Could I not hear the trumpet sound because Jay's alarm was so loud? Or because I had shut myself in the bathroom so I couldn't hear it?

Then I thought, "Wait a minute--if the rapture had happened, Erick's clothes would be in a nice, neat folded pile under the sheets." So I felt around under the sheets, looking for his clothes, but couldn't find any, but then I couldn't remember whether or not he had even been wearing any.

Just about that time I heard Erick cough from the living room. Of course! Erick had just gotten up when I was in the bathroom. He was just in the other room. I had nothing to worry about. I went back to sleep and slept until almost 9:00. Today, I think I'm going to move the lock box to Jay's room and hide it somewhere.

What I did on my summer vacation

Summer was far too short. I haven't even read a single book since I graduated in May. (Did I even blog about that? I could easily click back and see, but I don't really care.) I've been too busy furthering my Spanish abilities and also I was in a play, so I have an excuse. It was an old Doris Day musical called "The Pajama Game." It's about a union dispute in a pajama factory, and the head of the grievance committee for the union falls in love with the supervisor of the factory. So you've got tension, drama, love, and then it all works out and they live happily ever after like every good love story should end. I was just in the chorus.

(Okay, side note. I went and checked to see if I blogged about graduation. And I did. So I don't have to worry about posting a picture of that.)

So yeah, anyway, I was in the chorus, which meant of course that I got to be in all the dances and didn't have to memorize anything. Here is a picture of the cast:

And I also got another job. I don't work in Asset Protection anymore at Walmart, so I can't tell you all sorts of crazy stories about people stealing meat by putting in a fan box or stuffing 77 items in their baby stroller or switching price tags on items. Actually, I never told you any of that anyway, because it's not exactly public information and I wasn't supposed to post it all on the internet. But I do have a lot of really fun stories to tell if you ever want to hear them.

My new job is another job I can't really talk about. I work for the Illinois State Police now in the Firearm Services Bureau, so again, I'm not going to be blogging about that, either.

However, I can tell you about some other fun stuff we did over the summer. We visited my Grandpa Danny over 4th of July, and he's really awesome and has two zip lines and a tree house. I look just like him.

We also had a couple of family reunions and got to see a new batch of nieces and nephews. I figure I have enough now it's okay if I pick favorites, but I'm not telling you who they are, either. (This is a really secretive blog.)

And while we were at my parent's house for Labor Day, we reenacted some old family photos. They were really fun to take. I'll just post the four that turned out the best, since this computer is being a pain and I don't have the patience to wait for them all to load. (It's going to be a stretch for four, but that's my plan.)

This one is my dad with my little sister Vivian (in the red on his lap), my brother David (in the white shirt on the right), my son Jay (overalls) and my daughter Sarah (on the floor.)

Ugh, just restarted my computer because it's running so slowly, and it's still being a pain. It just seems like yesterday this computer was brand new, and that silvery swooshy desktop background felt like something from the future.

So here's the second one picture.

Maybe.

Okay, I gave up and switched to the laptop. Glad that this blog autosaves.

This is my dad with my little sister Robyn.

This is my favorite. In this picture, I am sitting on Erick's lap, and Jay is sitting on my lap. Dad is doing the sideways cheek-to-cheek hug with my little sister Valerie, and my littlest sister, Vivian, is lying on the couch with her legs up in the air.

This is my mom and my little brother Chris, sitting (or perhaps sprawling) on her lap. On the floor is my little sister, Susie. Can you believe I used to change these kids' diapers? And both of them have kids of their own now. I really don't feel old enough for this.

Oh, and talking about being old, my oldest two kids have their driver's licenses now. In fact, Joy just drove off to a Mighty Strong Girls Connections meeting with Sarah and Abby in my car, which I should also post a picture of because it's the newest vehicle I've ever owned, thanks to my new job.

So that's all I'm going to say this time. I know most of this was really random, but I'm not apologizing for not blogging for so long like I usually do. Like I said in a previous post, I don't want to blog just because I feel obligated to. You all get the privilege today of reading a blog post that I actually felt like writing, even though it's a little disjointed and not exactly well-written.

You're welcome.

Reflections on being married for more than half my life...

The other day some of my co-workers witnessed my husband riding in on his motorcycle during my lunch hour just to bring me nachos. Afterwards, they suggested to me that my husband should hold a seminar teaching men how to treat a woman. Sometimes I forget how blessed I am. I take these things for granted and don't appreciate him nearly as often as I should.

Tomorrow we are celebrating our eighteenth wedding anniversary. Our marriage isn't perfect. We've had our ups and downs. My husband isn't perfect. Sometimes he can be really cranky. But I'm not perfect, either. Sometimes I am selfish and spoiled. Just this morning he made me breakfast and brought it to me while I was watching a sweet video he tagged me in on Facebook. Instead of thanking him for the breakfast that he didn't have to make me, I complained that he only made me one egg when I preferred to have two. He immediately took his second egg off his plate and gave it to me.

I suppose I could blame him for being so spoiled. He takes such good care of me that I tend to take him for granted. He goes out of his way every day to care for my needs, from making sure I have a clean towel when I take a shower to telling me every day that I am beautiful.  He treats me like a treasure, and I am so blessed to have him. And yet other times his health problems can make him a real pain.

See, the secret to being married for 18 years is not whether he is perfect or whether I am perfect. It's about decisions. We promised each other before God and witnesses to be faithful to each other until death do us part. And we figured that since we are stuck with each other, we might as well enjoy it. So we take steps to make it work. We hold hands and kiss in public like we are still dating and work to treat each other right. And despite his imperfections, I am blessed to have a husband who works so hard to make happy.

Tomorrow we are headed to Hannibal, Missouri on the motorcycle to celebrate 18 years of togetherness. And we plan to enjoy it. :) Happy Anniversary, Erick! I love you!

Graduation

At last, after five years of hard work, I am a college graduate with a B.A. in Communication Studies from Indiana University East. Last Friday we travelled back to Richmond, Indiana, so that I could walk in the commencement ceremony. I never had a high school graduation, because 18 years ago I was more interested in a wedding gown than a cap and gown, and since Erick and I were pretty much the class of '96, we convinced our parents that a high school graduation ceremony was not necessary. But this time, it was very important to me to walk in that processional, accept my diploma cover, turn my tassel, and bask in the shower of confetti.

My family showed up late, just as I predicted, right in the middle of the prayer, or should I say, the invocation, in which the dignified preacher gave thanks to God for our intellects. Erick and I had arrived the day before for rehearsal, leaving our children with my parents so they could all come up together. They had planned to leave at 2:00...and posted on Facebook at 2:30 they were leaving...and really left at 3:00. Throw in a detour, a Burger King stop, and having to park five blocks away because of limited parking (which I warned them about the night before), and arriving plenty early as planned just didn't happen.

The ceremony was probably similar to other ceremonies. We all made a big noisy fuss every time the words "Class of 2014" were spoken. The new chancellor was adorably short and could barely see over the podium. I got to wear my honors cords and graduated with highest distinction--a 4.0 GPA along with 15 others with perfect grades out of a class of over 600. We sang the IU song, which I had never heard before and has confusing lyrics (what is Gloriana Frangipana?) and my dad (a Purdue fan) sang a parody of it to himself up there in the rafters where they were sitting.

It was fun, it was crazy, I didn't know hardly anyone since my classes were online. I teared up when they asked us to stand if we couldn't have done it without the love and support of our friends and family, and then asked us to turn and wave to them. They all screamed and shouted for me when I crossed the stage, and they also screamed and shouted for any other graduate that crossed if no one else screamed for them.

And now it's over, and everyone wants to know what I'm going to do with my degree. For now, I'll keep writing for Mighty Strong Girls Magazine. It doesn't pay, but it's something that matters, and I have to do something that matters. I'll keep working at Walmart catching shoplifters, because it's fun and it pays the bills. If I get the job at the Illinois State Police that I interviewed for a few months ago processing FOID cards (that's something you have to have here to be able to buy guns or ammo) I'll do that. And I'll just keep walking with God, day by day, and using my gifts to serve Him the best I can.

An explanation of why my blog has been so boring lately

I feel like every time I come post here I start by apologizing for not keeping up on my blog. My life really has been fascinating, but I just haven't posted about it like I used to. This is for a few reasons. First, in many areas of my life right now I can't be as open  as I used to be. In ministry, in my job, even in parenting not everything should be posted for the world to see. Second, the parts where I am an open book, it's easier to post it as a status update on Facebook. When I subtract out the stuff that I'm not going to post and the stuff I already did post, there's not much left that's very interesting. Third, most of my creative writing energy has been directed towards my schooling and my internships. When I come here and blather on without really proofing what I write just for the sake of keeping up a blog, I can't help but be bored by it, especially when other blogs out there are actually worth reading. When I was a kid I kept a diary every day for about eight years. There are entries that say "Nothing happened today" but I felt compelled to write it because I didn't want to skip a day. Then finally, after being married for awhile, I realized that I didn't need to keep doing that. And I stopped. I guess that's how I'm feeling about this blog. Lately when I've posted, it's only because I've done it for ten years and it would be a shame to quit. Do I want to quit? I don't know. I don't think so. I just don't want to post mindless blather just so I can say I kept it up.