Fortunate falls

I checked out this CD from the library, and then somehow, it got misplaced. I cleaned up my 15 square feet of bedroom and couldn't find it, so the next place was to check my car. I grabbed a box of garbage to take out while I was at it and headed downstairs. And managed to trip/slip on the stairs. Which led to dropping the box of garbage. Which led to a mess. So I started cleaning it up, and whadaya know, the CD was in the box.

Had I not slipped, the CD would have ended up in the garbage, and I never would have found it, and who wants to pay for a CD that they don't even get to have? So, it was very fortunate that I happened to slip on the stairs, because otherwise, the CD would be in a landfill right now.

I'm crossing my fingers that this is a life lesson, that sometimes you have to fall for fortune to favor you. I'm really hoping that is the case, because if so, then something totally awesome is headed my way. 

No kidding...

Real comment made by an announcer for the mens high bar at the Olympics, made roughly 30 seconds ago: "It is just unreal. Just when you have a reason to get a little full of of yourself, life smacks you down." Which is why I prefer not to get full of myself. It saves a lot of trouble.

I actually had a job where, I kid you not, every time my boss told me what a great job I'd done, within a few days I'd botch something up pretty good.

Anyway, Olympics. I gotta say, I really love the Olympics. I have next to zero coordination, so I love to watch people who have that talent. But, I hate the commentary. Honestly. Do we have to make it so dramatic? I know it's a big deal for them, but the broadcasting is just a smidge (smidge=loads) over the top. I get that these people have had their ups and downs. But I don't know anyone who hasn't. I don't know. It just gets too melodramatic. I just want to watch them perform. I don't want to go on an emotional journey through their life. And, couldn't we see a lot more events if they didn't take 15 minutes to biograph every athlete for each event they perform in? I just find it turns something worthwhile and good into something ludicrous. Then I can't help making fun of it, and then people end up laughing, which just isn't fair to the athletes.

I think the real problem is that the commentators were miscast. They were shooting for some prime time drama, and ended up with the Olympics. There is only one thing to do, and that is to mock them. Which works for me, because I was definitely meant to be cast in a comedy. I've been making my niece laugh all night, which is my equivalent of a gold medal. Go team me!

Bits and pieces

On Tuesday of this week, I was driving home late at night, and there was the most fantastic lightning storm. I wish I had been able to get pictures or video, but even if I had, they wouldn't really be as good as the real thing. It was so incredible. I kept wishing I could just pull over and watch. But it was so beautiful.

The next morning it rained, and I love rain. There were puddles in the gutter and my nieces and nephews went out and played in them. I used to do that when I was a kid. I loved playing in the gutter. (Hmmm, that doesn't sound so good...) We'd build dams and splash up and down, whenever water ran through the gutter--watering the lawn, rain. The kids had so much fun, and it just made me happy to see.

I made a cake for my sister's birthday. It's kind of become a tradition. She and her family were expats for a while, and they tended to be visiting the states around her birthday. Somehow, it always ended up that she was traveling between grandparents houses, and would often stay with me on or near her birthday. So, the kids and I would make her a cake (her husband usually had to be back at work, so he couldn't be there). And the last couple of years, I've been nearby, so we've done the same thing. This year, she requested this one, which my niece and I made once before. It was just a little too rich. We'd also had leftover frosting and ganache from the last cake. I had just enough frosting to frost the layers (I made it into 2) and sides, but not the top. But there was enough ganache to do the top. So, that's what I did. Then the kids helped me decorate with Peanut Butter M&M's.

 It was perfect. The first cake had been just a bit too rich--we had frosted the entire thing, and then put ganache on our individual slices, because the place the cake was on didn't allow for ganaching. It would have dripped over the sides. Anyway, with all the frosting and the ganache, it was too rich. But this way--without a layer of frosting under the ganache, it was just right. Not too rich, and the M&M's were a nice touch. I mean, what a perfect touch for a Chocolate Peanut Butter cake. Anyway, it was a beautiful cake, and I was so pleased. It seems silly, but my sister seemed really excited, and it made me feel so good. Just a little thing, but I needed it.

Anyway, just a few little tender mercies. And I'm sorry if you are now salivating and craving cake. Place an order, and I'll see if I can put in a good word with the Cake Fairy. 

Lesson Learned

So, I have been thinking for a while now (a while being equal to sometime between the last few months and the last decade. It's a ballpark figure of a word) about how, when we have a hard experience, we sometimes look for lessons that we learned from the experience. Having been through some rough patches recently, I've had a lot of opportunity to hear about what I might learn from the experience. And frankly, it annoys me.

So many of the things we learn seem so trite. At times, I have wanted to look at the person and say, "I went through this inferno to learn that piddly lesson? You must be joking. The tuition was incredibly disproportionate to the learning outcomes."

What I have decided in all my pondering and pain is that it isn't about learning. Learning is far less useful than we think. For example, I can learn how to be an archivist. But that doesn't make me one. These hard experiences are really about becoming. It isn't enough to just learn something from them, some trite little lesson that we can store away and will probably never need again. We have to become something. When I am in a hard time, I find very little comfort in what I could learn from it. For example, I am looking for a job, and it's a rough situation. What have I learned? Well, for starters, job hunting stinks. Also, that it's hard to be patient. And that I hate limbo. What future applications do these little lessons have for the next rough patch? Not much that will do anything to really change a situation.

But, I am becoming more patient. I am becoming better at trusting God. I am becoming someone who really tries to find something good in life, even though I don't always succeed. I am becoming stronger and better. What value does that have next time I'm in a rough spot? The next time I am having a hard time, I will deal with it better. I will be prepared with the basic skills I need to weather it--patience, faith, courage, strength. I have seen that happen. A few years ago, I had a bout with clinical depression. I have been looking back at that, and honestly, I don't know what I learned from it, other than depression is pretty hellish. (Sorry, it is just the most apt word to describe it. Not trying to be flippant). But, what did I become? So, so much. I look at what I became, and I wouldn't trade that for not having had the experience. Learning is good, but becoming is redemptive. I can do a lot of things if I can become better for it.

So the next time someone you know is having a hard time, don't tell them what they are learning. Help them see what they are becoming. It is hard to have the big picture perspective when life is hard. If you can help them see even just a piece of that big picture, then you will really have helped them.

Ad Lib

I've been applying for jobs, and contemplating what type of interview questions might come up. There is the classic "What is your greatest weakness?" (I had an interview, and they specified I could not use the words "workaholic" or "overachiever" in my answer. I gave them 50 points).  It got me thinking, do they ever ask what your strength is? Because, I think I know the answer to that question. If there is one thing I'm good at, it's winging it. Seriously. I've been doing it for many years.

I suppose I really shouldn't say I'm good at it. I have no idea how successful I am at winging it, I may just be kidding myself. But, I can say with a great deal of certainly that I have no clue what I'm doing. I know I'm supposed to be an adult and all, and that implies having some sort of plan and experience and knowledge about life, but I don't. If there is a manual or something out there, I'd love to see a copy. I get up in the morning, and fake it through the day.

Most things, that is okay. I mean, when I make decisions about when to get an oil change, or what to do after work, it's not that crucial what happens. Should I shop at Store A or Store B? Eh, pick one, act like you have a clue. No biggie. But there are some decisions, some things you do, that it kind of does matter. For example, starting a new job. Now, I think there is an element of winging it in that situation, no matter how qualified you are. You are trying to do a good job, impress your employers, get the hang of things. You can never know exactly how things are going to go, so yes, you wing it. And being able to wing it is really important in this case. Because it means that you can deal with the unexpected. Winging it gives you a lot of creative thinking skills. And that is very useful in life. Because life is never what you expect.

Little Pleasures

A couple of nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night to a fantastic storm. I may have mentioned htis before, a few dozen times, but I really love rainstorms. I was a little stressed that it was in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep, because I was really tired. But, I still appreciated it.

I also enjoyed the rain from the day before. There was a rainbow, and it was a nice little bonus at the end of the day.

Last night, there was a really nice sunset. It was one of those blazing suns, and it made my drive home nicer.

It's the little things that really make life better. 

Skill Set

So, last night I went with my sister and her kids to one of the campus eateries. I would say cafeteria, but this is not cafeteria food. Cafeteria food makes me think of funny smells and for some reason "food like substances" comes to mind. Not that cafeterias are always like that, there is just that connotation. Anyway, back to the story. We go to the cafeteria, and the rule is salad first. I become the hero because I get the three-year old to eat salad. (Amazing what bacon, ranch, and sitting on someone's lap will do). Then he decided I was going to eat pizza, so I had some. and then we toured the other food options. En route, he picked up a peach. Somewhere during dinner, he took some bites out of it, and he kept saying, "It has funny eyes!" He had eaten a face onto the peach--eyes and a mouth. I am not sure if this was intentional, but it was pretty impressive. We finally figured out what he had done when he started chasing people with his peach monster. I myself ended up with some peach juice patches on my clothing. (He was very proud of that peach monster, but he did finally devour the whole peach).

The Peach Monster (he is poking one of its eyes)

One of the highlights of this outing was the soft serve ice cream machine. The kids love it. I saw it and wondered if I still had it in me. I worked at a fast food place the summer after my freshman year, and made a lot of soft serve ice cream cones. There is a certain knack to making them look good. It has been a long time since I worked there, and I haven't made a soft serve cone since, but I figured I'd give it a go. It was like riding a bike. I served up some beautiful ice cream cones, I must say.

So, the good news is, if I fail to find a job, I can fall back on my skills as a soft serve server. Or, if anyone needs help getting their 3 year old to eat veggies, that is part of my repertoire, too. Now those are some skills, my friends.