things i cannot begin to understand

I have realized lately that there are many things in life that just don't make sense to me. Here is the short list:

1. Marathons. The Chicago marathon is coming up in a few weeks, and for the life of me I cannot understand marathoners. I can appreciate the fitness aspect, as I myself enjoy a short run (usually 5 miles or less) fairly regularly. But 26 miles is a bit extreme. I think I will even say crazy. Do people know what happens to you when you run 26 miles? Consecutively? You lose your bladder/bowel control. That alone is enough reason to not run a marathon. You also burn about 3 days' worth of calories--which is not nearly enough motivation to get me in public and not be able to control my bowel functions.

2. Skateboards. Call me old, but I saw two guys walking down the street last night--one walking, the other on a skateboard. And they were traveling at the same speed. So what's the point of a skateboard again? Unless you are Marty McFly, I'm going to say skateboards are unnecessary. And will leave you with more muscles in one leg than the other. Which may leave you looking a little lopsided.

3. Fergie. I cannot think of one single song by Fergie that I have heard without knowing it was her and thought, "Oh, I like that song, I wonder who sings it." Not one. So let's state the facts here: she is really not that talented. She is really not that attractive. Her songs are terrible. But hey, at least we know she can spell the word "glamorous."

4. The evolution of the word LIKE. This has plagued me for years. Like is a word meant to be used in comparisons--his eyes are blue like the sky, or as a verb--I like pizza. Like is not a filler word for when you don't know what else to say. Like is not a substitute for a comma. Like should not be inserted between every other word you speak. Like used to be a word relegated to a specific people group--the Valley Girls, the preps. It has devolved so far that I now hear it when talking with kids starting at the age of about 6. Preservationists of the English language, we must take a stand against this word!

5. Chicago's Olympic bid. If Chicago gets the Olympic bid, I sincerely hope that I do not live here by that time. The preparations are going to be awful. In the five years I have lived in the suburbs, not once have the tollways been free of construction. Let's imagine this for the next five years as well if we get the bid. Sure, the aftermath will be great--nice paved roads that will only have to be resurfaced every year or so after the winter cracking, giving us MORE construction...I guess I'm just not that into the Olympics. Boo if you must.

6. Women's fashions. This needs no explanation.

7. Genetics. If you know me and my sister, you know that we are nothing alike, and yet we have nearly the same genetic makeup. This baffles me. In my family, the oldest cousins in each family have very similar characteristics. The rest are a hodge podge, to say the least. Why is this? If someone could interpret DNA to me, this would be very helpful.

8.Why we continuously choose to live life in a stupor. So this is the serious one. Tuesday I was at school walking to class in the rain, but the sun was shining. Over my building I saw a perfect arch of a rainbow. I looked around me then and realized that no one else was noticing this. How is it that there is this remarkable world around us at all times and we consistently close our eyes to it? We become absorbed in our own little worlds, which contain none of the majesty of the greater world around us, the canvas of the great Creator. Too often we walk in a tunnel. Let us step into the light.

life lessons in small paragraphs

Several things happened over the weekend: we played Clue with some friends, my parents came to visit, and a crisis was averted by the church being the church.

I feel that each of these deserves a brief description, and then it will take all my effort to find a common denominator and actually turn this into a coherent blog post.

Friday night we went to dinner with some good friends who are getting married next month, and afterward played about three rounds of the game Clue. I haven't played this in years, though it was a favorite of my sister and I. I learned something important though: this is not a fun game to play with boys. Neither of us girls won a single game, even when given the advantage of having an extra card, and the reason is simple--guys are willing to risk it when they're 90% sure. I have to wait to be 100% sure before I will take a guess, because it is worse to be wrong and not be able to play the game anymore. Anyone want to make a life connection here?

Saturday my parents came up. This has probably been the biggest adjustment for us in our marriage--learning to deal with each others' families. I love my family. But I have known them for 27 years and have had time to grow accustomed to their quirks. Lucas immediately sees these quirks. I could tell by the time they left on Sunday afternoon that he was really ready for them to go home, and I don't mean this in a bad way. I have the same exhaustion factor with his family sometimes too. Our parents are really different, and it makes being around the other's family trying at times. I can't imagine going into a marriage without having met my in-laws. THAT would be crazy.

While out with my parents, I received several texts wondering if I had checked my email. A man that had been on my worship team at my previous church had sent out a mass suicide email, and by the time I even heard about it, he had been taken to the hospital and updates were being sent out by several staff members. In a tragic situation, it was good to see that the church was caring for its people. It always makes me wonder how people can get through life without a support system like that. When things are hard in my life, I always know that I have the assurance of God's love and my family (biological or not), and that sustains me. I know that I am not meant to go through life alone, and I don't believe God intends that for any of us.

As far a common thread here, I'm coming up short...maybe you can pull all the threads together but I'll leave it with that. When you braid all three threads together, you come up with the stuff of life.

marriage is...

Lucas and I recently celebrated our first year of marriage, and when I said, "Can you believe it's been a year already?" his reply was, "Can you believe it's only been a year?"

This year has been full of challenges and learning experiences and frustrations and just plain fun. These are a few things that marriage means to me. I would love to have you add to the list.

Marriage is...

-hard work.
-compromise, compromise, compromise.
-learning to love yourself the way your spouse does.
-ridiculous amounts of tickling. Not because I think it's fun...because Lucas does.
-accepting the fact that I will never be allowed to make tacos again.
-giving each other permission to be ourselves.
-learning the language of a NERD.
-listening to my husband regale me with his victories on WoW. (If you don't know, don't ask. Really.)
-bringing the crazy down a notch.
-keeping Mountain Dew in the fridge at all times.
-imagining the next fifty years.
-sharing your soul with another person and knowing it will be cared for.
-living with the clothes on the floor because they WILL get picked up in the next day or two.
-watching movies that you normally wouldn't watch in order to snuggle on the couch.
-talking things over before you make decisions.
-becoming less self-involved.
-speaking your other half's love languages, even if they are not yours.
-having someone around to do the home improvement projects you can't handle because you're a girl.
-putting SOME of his books on the bookshelf.
-wiping the hairs off the bathroom counter. Again. And then appreciating that he shaved.
-not what you expect.
-more than you could have imagined.