LoL#16: Almost (T)here

I couldn't decide if the subject of this e-mail should be Almost There or Almost Here, hence the weird parenthetical T. I think either phrase applies about now though, and I guess it's just a matter of perspective anyway - Are you waiting for something or is something waiting for you? For some/most of you it's approaching the wonderfully interesting finals week (best of luck!!); for others it's eager anticipation for LoTR: The Two Towers (BTW, 6 DAYS LEFT!!!); or maybe it's just the time of year to get excited about the holidays.

Before I get too far off my original point (if I actually have one...) a couple shoutouts: Big super fun birthday shoutouts to one of the sweetest cheeseheads in WI, Jacklyn D (she turned the big 21 on Sunday!!!) and also to the always super spiffy Natalie U (she celebrated her 22nd Yesterday!!!) And also another shoutout to Beth who commented on my previous use of Bcc "to protect the innocent" I purposely left all recipients visible just this once, for you! :)

So anyhoo, life is pretty routine these days aside from the fact that I might possibly be potentially coming down with a cold and/or sinus infection. I hate getting sick. Not that I think there's anyone out there who actually enjoys it (the exception being playing hooky, but that doesn't really count as sick and besides, at one time or another we all wanted to be Ferris Bueller or even Cameron Frye...) but I have this tendency towards denial anytime I'm coming down with something so I'm just going to make NyQuil my new best friend for the week and be back to my hyper chipper self soon. (Yes, I did just use "chipper" to describe myself....blame the NyQuil...)

The good news from work is that Jim got a new job. (For those of you who missed the schpiel Jim's the guy who's job I sort of unintentionally stole) He's got some management type job helping fund new Biotech companies. And of course this prompted Alex (the doctor I work with) to want to start his own company cause "zat is vere all zee real money is at" (with Russian accent). But there's this whole joke in the lab that Helen (the lab manager) always calls Alex "Sparky" after the protein SPARC (my new best friend...next to NyQuil) so she said that if he started a company it would have to be "Sparky's Biotech". To which of course I had to add in the suggestion that it sounded better as "Sparky's Biotech & Pet Supplies" Of course after that it all turned into jokes involving radioactive dogs.

So yeah, back to my original intended subject of "Almost (T)here" [with the weird parenthetical T...and no I'm not even going to question if parenthetical is a word or not....it is now.] Hard to believe that Christmas is just two weeks away. I certainly don't have all my shopping done let alone, Christmas cards, Christmas cookies, etc. etc. But my family was over and we trimmed our Christmas tree tonight.

It's three inches shorter. :) hee hee...get it... "Trimmed" the tree... it's shorter....okay. That was lame. sorry. We did DECORATE our tree though and it looks quite awesome. We've never had a theme to our tree, it's pretty chaotic - like my family - but each year my siblings and I always got a new ornament so now I have a box full of 22+ ornaments made of memories (plus wood, plastic, metal, glass, yarn, or even macaroni).

That's a pretty warm and fuzzy note to end on.

Sentimentfully Yours,

lisa :)


p.s. and yes that's "Sentimentfully" not to be confused with "Sedimentfully". I'm full of warm happy thoughts, not sand and silt. ;)

p.p.s. This is the more serious note that just wouldn't fit with the rest of where this e-mail went but should still be said about now, call it a PR since some of you were asking about that. I had a really cool time at church on Sunday. First, I ended up sitting with a friend from Illinilife that I didn't even know went to my church (Georgie T!! Nat, Slovett and some other folks may remember her from the pillow-fighting days of the "One Holy Passion" conference in 2000) Second, there was a really cool message about Salt & Light and I was really challenged to start thinking/praying about doing something big for God in my life. If anyone has any insights/prayers for me along that line of thought, I'll be forever greatful. Otherwise I guess I'll keep ya'll posted. :)