Me vs. the cricket

This is the part of summer I dislike....well, besides the heat. Bugs. So, I know I'm sheltered because bugs here aren't the biggest, and thankfully the snow comes and they die!

I was picking up some toys by the window and I saw a cricket. I jumped pretty high...then I tried to calm myself down. Its only a cricket. I raised one in elementary school for science. It will be just fine.

I found something to put over it...but it hopped away. Those little buggers are quick. Eventually, not without a little squealing and frustration, I got the cricket outside my house...I thought. It was between the screen and the wood door. I even put something in the corner to try to catch it if it came back in through a crack.

Not 5 minutes later its in my house again! ARG! I didn't want to kill it the first time, but now I didn't care. I hit it with my broom, and knocked it around, but it was still alive. finally, I got it in something and took it further outside. And I put bug spray in the corner outside where it came in.

so, if I won...then why do I still have the creepy crawlies?

Peachy

Hooray! Turns out I saved the name of the photo with an extra space on the end, so that is why it wasn't uploading. :) If I took a picture today...half the pie would be gone.

As easy as pie

Or not.

OK, so I have forgotten how to upload pictures to my ftp server. I've got this terrific picture of this fresh peach pie I made yesterday, and now I can't figure out how to put it here


hmmmm I guess I'll have to wait until Roger gets home to determine what my issue is.

Hi, I'm Melli, and I'm a perfectionist.

Hopefully, I'm working on recovering from this...but I know I've had this going for a long time, so we will see how long it takes God to make the changes needed in me. He's got my whole life.

I always knew I was a perfectionist in school. I wanted perfect grades....and that one B on my high school transcript still bugs me. It was then that I learned not to risk. I got the B in Jr. AP English (yes, I did go on to get an English Degree in college). At my school, grades weren't weighted, so I chose a much less challenging English class as a senior, so that I would get the A. Why risk getting another B. Its easy to explain it away to scholarships....which did supply almost all the money for school. But I didn't like to fail....and in high school a B was failure to me.

Fast forward....I didn't set lofty goals for myself in college....but I had to keep my grades up to keep my scholarships, so I did well, but let go of perfection in this area...for now...

If you would have asked me just a few months ago, i would have told you that I'm definitely not a perfectionist at home. My house is messy and never ready for company. I am now realizing that somewhere down deep, I figured that if I didn't have the time and energy to do it right, that I just wouldn't bother. If I couldn't have it all perfectly clean all the time, why try? Flylady has a saying that is starting to resonate with me "housework done incorrectly still blesses your family" Wow...so a quick sweep or swipe that doesn't hit every corner is better than nothing. I don't have to wait until I have time to scrub the kitchen floor on hands on knees to clean it.

Now that I am teaching, I see my perfectionism in "school" coming back. At the end of a 3 hour session, these people get to rate me. And it isn't always pretty. i've gotten some mean comments. And I've gotten some that are probably accurate, but not very fun. I have spent way too much time thinking about what these people have said. I do need to improve, and I do want to work to do it. But I'm never going to please all these people, so its time to let go of that.

The biggest conviction I've felt in this area though, comes to risk in relationships. If I can't spend all kinds of time with my neighbors or if I feel like a student will think I'm dumb, I'm less likely to try. God wants me to get started, do what I can and not expect perfection as I try to reach out to people. Just 5 minutes listening to a neighbor's frustration is better than nothing...even if its not offering to bring her a meal or watch her kids for her. And sitting down by a student is worth it, even if she does get up and leave. The effort I made to honor God through building relationships is not failure.

Speaking of

Broncos....preseason started last night.

We won our game against San Fran which, of course, is supposed to mean nothing since its preseason....but really, it still makes me happy.

I've been reading Andrew Mason's blog on the denverbroncos.com website, so I'm up on what has been going on recently. Personally, some of it is still over my head. On a women's scale of football knowledge, I'd say I'm a 7+, but on a men's scale, I'm probably about a 4. I'm not into stats and all that. And I don't follow anyone, but my Broncos.

(I might follow the UNC Bears if they get covered well enough this year. Now that they've transitioned to Division One, I hope they will get more than a tiny random paragraph in the Rocky Mountain News.)

So I have a long sleeved Broncos shirt, but not a short sleeved. I've been looking for one. And I'm wondering why a lady would wear a pink Broncos shirt...and not the home colors? I mean, even "predominantly orange" can be feminine. Only my 4 year old would insist on pink...but then she told me she wants only pink clothes.... I guess it would be easier to match.

Give me Orange and Blue in my closet.... :) Happy Football season!

It's beginning

to sound a lot like Christmas around here. yes, its true...my kids requested Charlie Brown Christmas CD for playtime music. If I had a dollar for every time Katrina asks me when Winter will be here, I could have a lovely steak dinner at Elway's.

Sparkling Jewels

There was nothing in Middle Earth like the sparkling simarils which held the light of the two trees...nothing so beautiful nor so destructive to the Eldar.

What does that mean? It means I really enjoyed reading the Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. I have heard people say it is hard to read...and indeed they might be right, but I loved it. In the introductory material by Tolkien's editor/son, he mentions that it was labelled as "old testament" in a negative sense. My knowledge and appreciation for THE Old Testament perhaps gave me greater understanding as I read the tales that Tolkien birthed into a world of his own imagination.

Its really been a summer filled with Tolkien for me...I watched the extended addition movies by Jackson (again) and read the books (again) then picked up The Hobbit, which I hadn't read since Jr. High, and watched the animated movie of that from my childhood. Then, I was on to the Silmarillion...which is really 4 different works in one book.

I then tried to read the Book of Lost Tales, but I was disappointed in that it is interrupted with much commentary, which I'm sure some people love, but for me it chopped up the stories. Some of the stories were the same as in the Silmarillion, but I guess I'm not really studying Tolkien but enjoying his work at this time in my life. Perhaps someday I'll explore the linguistic study of Sindarin or Quenya...I enjoyed my linguistics study in college (English and Spanish), but that's just not where I am in life right now.

Now what do I read?????

Mmmmmmm

There is this delicious dessert cookie that I grew up with called Whoopie Pies. I don't know why they are called that...btw. But they are YUMMY! Roger has also had them when he visited Amish country. They are yummy chocolate cakey cookies filled with a thick luscious frosting. They are not small (at least not how I make them). I highly reccommend them.

Our buddies at Nabisco just came up with Oreo Cakesters. Now these are about the size of regular Oreos, but they are as close as anything coming off of a machine could be to Whoopie Pies. We each had 2 last night...and they are definitely tasty.

So here is the page from Nabisco, if you want to know what to look for when you are shopping. :)

Happy 131st most beautiful of states!

I am truly a Colorado girl! We have decided to make Colorado Day a special day to celebrate in our family...so the kids and I are headed off for the Colorado History museum this morning. We'll eat at Chipotle (A CO original company)....and then tonight with Roger we'll be off to Beau Jo's for real Rocky Mountain Pizza!

There is no place on earth I'd rather be!