For those who remember the debacle with my subdivision over Project Common Ground, this might be of interest.
 
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Nicole and I were talking about this just today, in fact.  The question is:

Have you ever significantly changed yourself to suit someone with whom you were either in a relationship or just wanted to be.  Did it work?


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So I've been making a concerted effort to live 'healthier' lately. I'm modifying my diet, I'm walking on our new treadmill. This actually started well before New Years, but I guess this is still the time of year for such things, so it's probably natural.

At any rate, I've been really trying to make a habit out of the exercise, at least. My homemade treadmill desk (credit to Pangie!) makes walking every day much easier and more enjoyable, so it hasn't been hard to maintain that habit at all. I barely know I'm walking, and now I feel almost agitated when I'm working on my laptop without walking at the same time.

So today the boys are supposed to go on a field trip to the Daniel Boone Home. I was fretting over this to some of my friends because I wasn't sure I'd have time to work in a good walk on the treadmill AND the field trip. Melalvai suggested I get a pedometer and use that to measure how much I walk on the trip, and Pangie then offered to send me one of hers, as apparently she has many and was happy to send one my way. Awesome, right? What a great friend!

That was a few days ago, and last night a big padded envelope arrived from Pangie. And I mean BIG. Like... 9x11? And it was pretty hefty too, so I thought, "My goodness, how big is this pedometer?" I opened it up to find that it did, in fact, contain a (thankfully small) blue pedometer and a huge pile of envelopes and stuff. I glanced at the envelopes, not sure what they were, and set them aside while I played with the pedometer. I think I figured the envelopes and such were literature or something, since Pangie and I always talk about things like nutrition. It wouldn't have surprised me if she'd sent me recipes or some literature on nutrition or something, given my late enthusiasm for such things.

By and by, I had exhausted the features of the pedometer and turned to see what else she'd sent me. I turned over the top envelope on the stack and was surprised to find it was a stamped and addressed envelope from me to misaochankun. Pangie and I have sort of an in-joke about Thank-You cards, as we both understand and even approve of their purpose but still have trouble getting around to writing them. I don't mind the actual writing, myself; I just hate scrambling to find current addresses and then making sure I have stamps, and all of that. I always tend to put them off until it's too late to reasonably send them, and then I feel guilty. She once pledged to me that if she ever sent me a gift, she would make sure to include a self-addressed, stamped Thank-you card so that I wouldn't have to worry about it.

But this wasn't to her. It was to Misao. My mind whirled in instant guilt. Had Misao done something for me and I'd forgotten to properly thank him? Had he said something to Pangie? Was this her way of gently letting me know I was remiss? What had I forgotten?!

Around that time, I realized that there was not just one of these envelopes, but many. Plus a blue envelope and a gray square one that came from something called 'The Face & The Body'. I picked up these two and opened them, and then I realized what was going on.

My friends got together and got me a 'Mom's Escape Day' at a SPA! OMG. OMG! Andy saw the look on my face as the full comprehension of what this was washed over me and he asked me what it was. I showed it to him. He said, "You're going to cry now, aren't you? Oh look! There she goes!"

I swear, I have the best friends in the whole wide world! This is no courtesy little 'sample' package, either. This package includes a Swedish Massage, a facial, hair styling, make-up, and they even feed you lunch and give you flowers! FOUR HOURS of being pampered! It's just the sweetest thing I have ever seen in my life!

To demonstrate just how unbelievably grateful and touched I was by this, I sat down right then and wrote out all of the thank-you cards and put them in the mailbox. I also wrote E-mails to the couple of people for whom Pangie didn't have addresses. It seemed like that was absolutely the LEAST I could do!

I always say NarniaMUCK is my Nerdy Little Secret, but never let it be said that I'm ashamed of it. I have made some of the best friends anyone could ask for thanks to that game, and I hope they all know how much they mean to me. And to those who contributed (or even wanted to contribute but just couldn't), thank you so much and I love you! You guys are the best!

More timeline. Feel free to ignore.

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It's hard to think clearly when people are patting your back.
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Once again, I find myself reminded that interacting online with 'Dog People' is bad for one's health.

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I'm mainly posting about this so I can establish a timeline later if I need to. :)

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I'm experiencing a dilemma... I'd like everyone's honest insight into it, either in comments or mailed to me, whichever. ;) Thanks in advance, and please don't worry about offending me with your thoughts. I really am not leaning toward one side or the other at present.

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'You are SO fired!' -- a tale of love and intrigue from the house of Boeyink

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Prayers requested for my friend, Yvonne.

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Sometimes Bible study is really interesting.

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Aha! I get it now!

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We learned today that Ivan had to be put down, finally. :(

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Note: Noah is 6. He does not know how to read.

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Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 29 again!

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Because it's a MESS.

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Woo! Flooring! Woo!

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And yes...that is the 'fangirl' sort of squee, not me quoting Flaco.

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What not to do.

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Well, we survived another week of crafts at Zion's Power Lab VBS this year.

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