The Hangover, Raleigh Style

We woke up in the parking lot of JR. A strange smell pervaded the car - cheese and garlic...
We got out of the car in a daze, looking at each other.
"Are you Beth Parent, world famous author of Onward Hoe?" I asked.
"Why yes, I am. Are you Elaine F. Bayless, world famous author of Birds, Bees, and Church Trailer Thieves?" she replied.
"Yes I am."
"Where are we?"
"We're at the ULTIMATE SHOPPING ZONE," I replied, gesturing at the sign.

"But how did we get here?" she asked.
"I don't know, but I think there are some photos on this camera," I replied, and we began to look through them.
At first, we saw only confusing photos of some strange hair styles.


But then we saw some more revealing photos.
"I think we were in Wilkesboro," said Beth. "I grew up there. Yes, this is definitely the Wilkes Co. Library."
"And is that, is that?"
"Yes, that is Zach Gali,,, gali,,, well, that's Zach the really funny guy from the Hangover."
"Oh my gosh! Look, you're making him laugh!"
"No kidding! I wonder what I said that was so funny?"
"Not sure, but it was good."
"So how did we get to Wilkes County?"
I shrugged. "That's not my car," I pointed to the vehicle we had awoken in.
"It's mine."
"Strange," I said. "And I think that smell... Yes, look, that's the pizza I had for lunch! It's all coming back to me now."
"But if we went all the way to Wilkes County and I don't remember that, what else happened?"
"I don't know," I replied, a chill to my heart. I caressed the beautiful emerald ring on the ring finger of my left hand. "And I don't know where this came from, but I'm keeping it."
Beth nodded in agreement, then looked up at JR. "Well, we might as well shop," she said, and I agreed.

Rebellion

I have been counting calories (only 1500 per day) since January. I've lost, oh, maybe 5 pounds, depending on the day and my water weight. I've been hungry a lot. For hours a day. I've been working out, doing cardio and hot yoga.
And today I woke up and just wasn't ready to do it anymore. So I poured a big bowl of cereal - no counting of the mini-wheats today. I didn't go on my morning bike ride, because my body was sore all over. This week, I'm just rebelling. I just ain't doing it this week, I'm not counting calories, I'm not trying to make good decisions about what to eat, not going to work out unless I want to, etc.
I'm sure this is a temporary rebellion. If not, oh well. I'm healthy, I'm at a healthy weight even if my body isn't cover girl perfect, and I'm just plain tired of being hungry all the time. Eat protein. Nope, still hungry. Eat vegetables and fruits. Nope, still hungry. Wanna know what quenches my hunger? carbs and sugar.
So i'm just going to let myself go this week, give myself a week off from all my disciplines. Tomorrow I'm planning to join a road trip to go see a comedian do children's story hour at a library. This is a week to relax.

Waiting on Godot

We are in a season of waiting. Poor Dale has been waiting to find out if he has a job since June. He finally interviews on Wednesday, and we're really hoping he finds out next week if he gets to keep his job. (I'm completely confident he will).
Waiting for this has definitely put a lot of waiting in some other areas. We want to do some work on the house, but can't really make decisions until we know about the job situation. We are considering some other big decisions and those also must wait. All of our travel for the rest of the year, including a potential mission trip to Guatemala for me, are waiting on this decision.

I hate waiting.

Psalm 46:10 says Be still and know that I am God. But the Robert Alter translation says Let go and know that I am God. I need to let go. God has it all under control, and the waiting is not just wasted time. There are things we must attend to. And hopefully, sooner rather than later, we'll be moving forward again.