Help Wanted: Apply Within

EXCITING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS!!!

EARN LOADS OF CASH* AND HAVE FUN DOING IT!

Seeking self-disciplined individuals to train to train (no typo) one extrodinarily cute puppy how to behave politely with guests.

Individuals must be available for puppy training-training prior to puppy exposure as immediate exposure can lead to weak cuteness thresholds. In addition, puppy training trainees must be willing to undergo — but not encourage — possible slobber, nipping, and jumping. Prior experience helpful, but not necessary.

To apply, please submit resume and application information in the comments section of this blog. Applicaiton questions are as follows:

1. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being immediate caving to cute puppy antics and 10 being stoic as a rock towards cute puppy antics), rate your cuteness threshold.

2. What is your availability?

Positions available immediately. Prior experience helpful, but not necessary.

*Cash paid in full at the time of puppy training completion. Cash may be paid in Monopoly money.  

Dayenu Thanksgiving

Back in April I wrote a post about a segment from a book I was reading at the time called The Year of Living Like Jesus by Ed Dobson. Today, with it being Thanksgiving, I wanted to revisit this concept of Dayenu.

Dayenu is one of the traditional Jewish Passover prayers. It describes the great acts that God did in freeing Israel from their Egyptian captivity, and at the end of each verse exclaims Dayenu (p. 97), which means, “That alone would have been enough; for that alone are we grateful.” It conveys thankfulness, contentment, and faith… knowing that God is good and what He has already provided is more than enough for us.

What a beautiful and all-encompassing word that expresses true thankfulness. So often we focus on asking things of God, but showing little thought and gratitude for what He has already done for us. We say, “Thank you for this food, and please give me _____.” God wants us to make requests known to Him and he delights in fulfilling them. But He is so loving, so gracious, and so generous that he is worthy of far more than just our requests. We could never truly express the abundant and authentic gratitude worthy for him. But I think Dayenu is the closest we can come, even in its simplicity.   

You sacrificed Your life to redeem me from the death I deserved because of my sin.

Dayenu.

You chose to adopt me into Your family, in spite of my unworthiness.

 Dayenu.

You have given me a wonderful, loving family that has nurtured me and helped anchor me as I have grown and matured.

Dayenu.

You have provided me with health and home.

Dayenu.

You have given me friends who have encouraged me and laughed with me and loved me and challenged me to love You more.

Dayenu.

You have shown me deeper love than I could have imagined through Tyler — which is still only a fraction of the love You have for me.

 Dayenu.

You answered our prayers by providing Tyler with a teaching job earlier this year.

Dayenu.

You have been my comfort in times of grief, my strength in times of desperation, my contentment in times of waiting, my love in times of loneliness, my joy in times of disappointment, and my companion in times of celebration.

Dayenu.

Dayenu is a concept that infuses so much richness to life. It is not just about what we are thankful for, but really learning how to be thankful for those things. It is meaningful on such a day as today and at Passover… but would truly change our lives if we lived it out daily.

All of these blessings alone were enough, Lord, and for these alone am I truly grateful.  Dayenu.

Another Week

Another week has gone by with minimal blogging. From the bottom of my heart I apologize. I believe I’m officially going through a dry spell, which will hopefully not be too extensive… but no promises.

Work has gotten a little better, but we’re still very busy. We are very short staffed for how busy we are right now and although we are hiring 8 new people, it’s going to take a while before they can help out with the busyness because they will need training. Which takes a longggg time.

I had the hiccups last night at work while I was poking… if you’ve ever been around me when I have the hiccups, you know that they very closely mimic convulsions. I think I held my breath for the whole 2 minutes it took me to spike the donor’s solutions and put the cuff on her arm and scrub her arm with iodine (and try my best to control my convulsive hiccups so I didn’t accidentally paint her sweater with iodine).  To no avail. The hiccups would not go away and I was praying she couldn’t tell. I made sure to poke her in between hiccups though. *whew*

Did you ever hear that story about the girl who had the hiccups for a year?! I don’t know if it’s true or not, but honestly… how could you endure hiccups for a year? I would have a serious mental breakdown. And the rest of my house would probably be broken down too in my alternating fits of convulsive hiccups and thrashing frustration that they wouldn’t go away.

No word on the house.

I am really liking these homemade aprons that are popping up on etsy.com and in cute little boutiques around here. One of my friends just received a super cute owl-print apron from a friend of hers who made it herself! I was so jealous I wanted to steal it from her! But it’s so unique I know she would see it in my apartment and recognize it as hers.

So I guess I will maybe just *cough* get my own for Christmas *cough* maybe… Here are a few I am admiring…

Apron #1: Click HERE

Apron #2: Click HERE

Apron #3: Click HERE

Apron #4: Click HERE

Apron #5: Click HERE

This last one is almost too cute to be an apron… it really should be a sundress. All of them really would make cute sundresses. *sigh*

Let’s take a poll, shall we?

What’s on your Christmas list??? I really mean it, people. I need ideas for my family (and from my family too! *hint-hint*).

DiScoMboBuLAted

As you can probably tell, I haven’t really felt up to blogging lately.

I know my comment que will now be flooded with desperate requests for me to keep blogging, but don’t worry, I haven’t given up on my blog just yet.

It’s just that the shock of the house stuff really set me in a weird mood… disappointed and lethargic.

And work last week was suddenly SWAMPED! We were so slammed, I was constantly scrambling to do 17 different things at once while carrying on 6.5 conversations at the same time.

Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating a little.

But only a little.

I was SO drained by the weekend that I just felt like collapsing.

Then on Sunday we went to church and then to meet my parents so that we could ride with them to my brother’s college so that we could go celebrate his engagement and watch his fiance’s mad volleyball skills in the school’s last conference game of the season. Whew!

Yes, my lil’ bro is engaged, friends!!! *sniff* He’s just growin’ up so fast, he is!

I mock-sniff, but I actually was quite emotional about it all… I just can’t believe it! And hearing him tell the story of his engagement??!! Wow… and seeing the looks on both of their faces? I’m so happy for them!

I think maybe I am emotional partly because I feel so far removed from their lives. They live 2 and a half hours away so I really hardly see Casey, much less Amanda (his fiance). I love my bro so much, but really hardly know him as an adult and that makes me sad.

Ok, adult-ish.

Anyway, I’ll wrap up the sappy stuff here for you. But I will tell you, given permission, the proposal story would make for some really great blogging material. He’s a romantic, that boy. I trained him well.

Anyway, all of this is to say that if my blog posts seemed discombobulated before, they would have been 23 times worse had I blogged anytime in the past week.

So… a couple more quick updates for you:

On the house: Nothing.

Actually, my attitude has (gradually) changed… who am I to question God, What do you mean you want to save us $16,000???

Really, Cheyenne? You’re complaining to God about THAT?! God has been so good to us and is blessing us greater still by providing for us in ways we didn’t even ask! 

On work: We have still been busier-ish, but it’s slowed down a little this week. I dreaded going into work a couple mornings, but this morning God woke me up 10 minutes early (4:30 am) and I read from my Jesus Calling book and then read the verses that went with it. I read Deut. 33:25, “As your days, so shall be your strength.” Amen. That was exactly what I needed. When we look ahead at the day and take inventory of the strength needed compared to the strength we feel, it just doesn’t match up. But God knows just how much strength we need and provides it as we need it.

I feel like I had something else to tell you about, but I just can’t think of it now… maybe it will come back to me so that I can write another post sometime before Christmas.

My 100th Post

Today feels like a good day for a multitude of random ramblings for you. So here goes:

* I’ve never really liked candy corn. It looks so good when I see other people (like my hubby) munching on it. And then I try it, and, meh… it’s okay, but one piece is quite enough for me. Which is very odd because generally I have a SUPERsweet tooth and will happily devour any sugar-filled treat. Other than skittles — they make me bite my cheek. Skittles and Candy Corn. If ever the world would end unless someone gave up Skittles and Candy Corn, I would be your man. Well, woman, actually.

Spread the word.  Just in case.

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* Did I tell you that I got that promotion I had applied for?  The one in which, during my interview, my mind was in pinball mode? I was pretty surprised when they called me into the office to tell me. My charming stutter and pretty nose must have them confuddled them into thinking my pinball-answers were appropriate.

Just kidding about the pretty nose. It’s from Anne of Green Gables and it makes me laugh.

And yes, I did just make up a word.  Did you catch that? Sneaky, eh? hee hee hee. 

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* DEAL TIP FOR YOU! But before I tell you this tip, let me give you the fine print of our little contract here: YOU MUST HEREBY SWEAR TO NEVER COMPETE WITH CHEYENNE IN SCAVENGING FOR GREAT DEALS ON THIS WEBSITE OR YOU WILL BE PROSECUTED AND FOREVERMORE BANNED FROM THE PREMISES OF THIS BLOG.

*clears throat*

So if you are looking for a great deal somewhere, my first suggestion (which is one I have suggested before) is to go to retailmenot.com. There you can find all sorts of coupon codes and printable coupons to use for different retailers. Next (and this is the BIG news for which the fine print applies), go to giftcardgranny.com and find a gift card for the retailer. Giftcardgranny.com has many retailers’ gift cards at a discounted price. The best deals are usually on pretty expensive gift cards, but if you’re about to buy some big-ticket items (as we are now for our new house), the deals for Home Depot and Best Buy and Sears can save you at least 20%! And that’s not even counting the coupons and sales you find online or in the stores! I am TOTALLY excited about this! And, familywhoisreadingthis, please forgive me for any obscure-dollar-amount gift cards you may be getting for Christmas. Ooo, unless I buy gift cards with my gift card…. heh, heh, heh.

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* I saw our neighborhood gang again today. They really better watch themselves or they’re going to get killed. It was tempting to run them over today, but I restrained myself. Don’t they realize what time of year it is? I sure hope there are no gangs over at our new house.

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* This is my 100th post! Yippee! How anticlimactic to post random ramblings. So sorry.

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* It’s very windy here. Very windy. As in, so windy, I really should have written this whole blog post in italics. But that would get annoying. So I have reigned it in. But seriously, folks, if I could show you how windy it is right now, my italics would have to be italicized. Or possibly even horizontal. That would make things interesting to read.

Alright, once again, my juices are drained. That’s just what you’re gonna have to deal with today. If you want creative and thought-provoking, head over to my dear friend Anna’s blog (and wish her a happy birthday too!). But don’t tell her I said that!

Second Annual Mother-Daughter Shopping Expedition

H-h-h-helloo out th-th-there.

Please forgive my chattering teeth as well as any future spelling errors which I will attribute to shivers.

It’s a bit nippy in our apartment right now. 64 degrees. But I just can’t bring myself to switch the thermostat to heat. It looks beautiful outside. If I didn’t know any better, I would guess 70 degrees. But I know better than to fall for Fall’s seductive powers. I know to at least bring a jacket when I give into her beckoning calls.

Meanwhile inside, I am sitting here anxious and waiting, wasting time on my computer that could be spent cleaning. Or blogging. Well, at least I am accomplishing something right now.

“Why anxious?” you say? Well, remember how I told you about that “pinball” interview I had at work? Well, I still haven’t heard anything. And waiting makes me anxious. And last time we talked, remember how I said we have two houses we want to look at with our parents? Well, that’s not until Thursday — a whole 2 days away still! And waiting makes me anxious. Oh, sorry, I guess I just said that. Now I’m repeating myself repeating myself.

Please excuse my quirky humor this morning. I just can’t s-s-seem to th-th-th-think straight in our apartment’s arctic climate.

Anyway…

How about an entertaining story to distract us all from the anxiety of pressing news and decisions that we can do nothing about at present?

Oh, good I was hoping so.

So this weekend my mom and I went on our second annual shopping trip. And by trip, I literally mean trip. Oh, well, wait, not “trip” like a drug reference, I promise no drugs were involved (though at times, things did get pretty trippy). I really, truly meant “trip” as in “overnight expedition.”

We started our journey at Pier 1 and I found some really cool float frames for really cheap. In preparation for our trip, I had researched every possible store we would want to stop at and scoured the internet for coupons. Saved me 30% at Pier 1. Cha-chinggg!

Then we went to the outlet mall and scored some serious deals. Surely you know by now that my absolute favorite store in the whole wide world is Maurice’s, right? Well, with my coupons, I managed to get everything for about half price! Sure, I may have purchased a super cute vest that my husband finds more hideous than last year’s fashion scarf. But that didn’t surprise me too much. I tend to not be much of a trend-wearer myself, so the occasional trendy item tends to be a turn-off to him. But I think deep down he likes to see me take occasional risks. As long as they’re occasional. Which I have no problems with.

The other store that made my jaw drop at the register was the Hanes outlet. Approaching the counter, I had in hand 1 of the most expensive sports bras, 2 pairs of running shorts, and a moisture-wicking shirt for Tyler. And would you guess what it cost me??? $51!!! What??!!! Yeah, that was my reaction too. Execpt with fist pumps and hollering and gradual de-escalation as I realized what a spectacle I was making of myself.

Ok, ok, so I didn’t actually physically act that out. But inside I was doing some major celebrating and would have acted it out if it would have been socially acceptable.  

I suppose you are wondering where the “entertaining story” bit comes in. Well… let me just tell you…

After the outlet mall, we hit up a fancy-schmancy 2 story mall in Novi, then programmed my Austrailian-speaking GPS, Richard, to take us to the mall near our hotel which had a Cinnabon. You see, I negotiated an awesome price on our hotel via priceline, but unfortunately it did not come with a free continental breakfast. The only Cinnabon near where we live is at the airport, so when I discovered this Cinnabon so close to the hotel, I knew it was destiny that brought us together. And, seriously, think about it… Cinnnabon vs. expensive continental breakfast… is this even a fair contest?

We made it to the Cinnabon with ease, then programmed Richard to direct us to our hotel. By this time it was 9:30 pm and we were starving. As we pulled out of the mall parking lot, I saw a Chili’s and started drooling at the thought of their fajita pita and french fries. Oh man, if I ever needed a fajita pita, it was right then. But we really wanted to get to our hotel so we could get settled and relax during out dinner, so we took note of the Chili’s and drove on. Richard took us right off of the main drag, then 4 grueling miles of traffic to turn right again for a mile and then left for another mile or so. At each restaurant we passed, we took note, thinking “this will be more convenient from the hotel.” But by the time we were on that last mile, all civilization seemed to be reduced to dark residential neighborhood. We were scratching our heads when in the middle of a stretch of houses Richard confidently announced, “You have reached your destination.”

Uhh…. I don’t know what hotels look like in Austrailia, Richard, but this isn’t it.

So we pulled into a gas station and called the hotel. The only thing we can figure out is that he took us down West Maple instead of East Maple, because we had to go quite a ways down that street to finally arrive at our hotel.

Thank goodness!!!

At the check-in desk, the lady handed us a paper with a bunch of recommended restaurants that were close to the hotel. And can you guess what was at the top of the list?

Yep, Chili’s!

I was so excited, I felt another celebratory spasm coming on. But I think my blood sugar was just too low for it to manifest, because all I could do was drop back into the passenger side seat with a dazed look of happiness on my face. The directions were nice and clear: turn right off of the street the hotel was on and another right onto the street Chili’s was on. It was a quick drive.

Now, I realize at this point my directions may have seemed a bit superfluous. But do you realize how many times we turned right?  Quite a lot, actually. And everyone knows that 3 rights take you right back to where you started.

And that is where we found ourselves. Right back where we started at the Chili’s that had first activated my salivatory glands. Why on earth Richard had taken us the long way around, I do not know. But he came dangerously close to getting strangled with his own cord, let me tell ya.

And it my steak fajita pita was bliss… pure bliss.

The rest of our trip went fairly smoothly. Other than the fact that we reserved the hotel by another 3 story mall (different from the one the Cinnabon was in) that ended up not opening until noon the next day. In an effort to return home at a decent hour, we chose to bypass this mall. Which meant we drove all the way to Troy (and all the way around Troy) for a Cinnabon! Mmmm… they were so good though. Maybe it was worth it.

Yeah, it was definitely worth it.

And Mom and I had a blast. We laughed and ate and walked and talked. Thank goodness the men in our lives are so gracious as to allow us to leave them to fend for themselves for a weekend (although Tyler did get all crazy and run 7 miles. And decide he wanted to start cutting his own hair – which actually turned out pretty good).

So probably the more accurate perspective would be, “Thank goodness the men in our lives trusted us enough to let us out for a weekend.”

So thankful for such a great time with my mom.

And I have to also add that my hubby looked pretty good today wearing the sweater and pants I bought him.

Success!

Like A Pinball

Today I had an interview for a promotion at work. Can I just tell you how much I love interviews? Good, because I was going to anyway.

I tried preparing for the questions by trying to guess what they would ask and planning how I would answer. But my pinball-mind just kept jumping from one idea to the next to the next, and everytime I would try to refocus on hitting my target, I kept getting stuck in those spastic bumpers

*ding-ding-dingggg-dingdingdingdingding-ding*

Wonderful.

And unfortunately, my “preparation” only prepared me for verbalizing the mental pinball fiasco going on in my head.

Fantastic.

Ya wanna know what I think? I think we should just do away with the whole interview idea anyway. Throw it out the door, stomp on it with golf cleats and rip it to shreds. All it tells you is whether the interviewee is a good interviewer or not. And this interviewee is not.

For me, interviews are more akin to a psychoanalytic word association session.

Interviewer: blah, blah, blah, why do you want this job, blah, blah, blah

My thoughts: Job… Steve Jobs-Yahoo News-Highestpayingjobs-EnvironmentalEngineering-Recycling…

Interviewer: blah, blah, blah, 5 words to describe you, blah, blah, blah…

My thoughts: Words… Adjectives-Nervous-Fumbling-FootballFumble-Lions-Losing…

Interviewer: blah, blah, blah, conflict, blah, blah, blah…

My thoughts: Conflict… Headbutt-Headache-Asprin-Nap-Bed-Weekend…

Interviewer: blah, blah, blah, weaknesses, blah, blah, blah…

My Thoughts: Weaknesses… Week-WorkWeek-LongWeek-Weekend-Bed-Sleep

Interviewer: blah, blah, blah, leadership, blah, blah, blah…

My Thoughts: Leadership… Leader-Liter-Pop-Bubbles-BubbleBath-Book-Bed-Nap…

Do you see where this was going? Yeah, me either. Except to sleep maybe.

I suppose the interview went a little better than that. But it’s just so hard to focus when you’re already nervous. And I did not leave this interview feeling very confident. Had they given me the questions on a piece of paper and watched me type my answers to make sure I didn’t cheat, I could have presented a much more professional and coherent self-representation for my interviewers.

*sigh*

Oh well. Who knows what will happen. Whatever the result, I will be content. I’m just glad that inverview is over.

Now I think I will look for some asprin and consider taking that nap.