Just not my thing..

Camping is in the air! I guess it's because it's getting to be spring (maybe, even though it already feels like summer out there) but last weekend my 2 singles groups that I am apart of went on camping trips. Since I can't be in 2 places at 1 time, I had to choose between them and ended up choosing the one through my church a) because I am really making an effort to get to know these people more than just on Sunday mornings and b) because there was no cost. I have never been a huge fan of being outdoors. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate nature and everything that goes along with it - birds, trees, grass, dirt, wind, bugs, snakes (well, maybe not snakes), other wild animals (well, maybe not those either..), etc. being outside is just not my PLHO (Preferred Location for Hanging Out). But.. since 2009 is all about getting out of the box, I sucked it up.. packed a few necessities in a bag, grabbed my pillow & some blankets (yeah, I don't have a sleeping bag) and set out for my adventure! It took us about 2 hours to get to the campsite from Plano (I met a girl at the DART station where I left my car I know.. but it was really easiest). Once we pulled up, the owner of the house where we all parked (a guy in our class' dad) piled all of our stuff into his truck & DROVE us about 1/4 a mile down the road to the campsite. Everything was set up really nicely - tents on the side (but not too close to the trees), picnic tables to eat or play cards, campfire was going with plenty of seats to sit around it & enjoy being outdoors. We just had a good time hanging out with each other and enjoying each other's company. Several potty break trips up to the house were made for us girls so that we didn't have to do our business all out in the woods (and there were boys around too so you get the picture). Everything was good and well... until it was bedtime. I guess I should say, until some people decided they wanted to go to sleep. My tent actually stayed up pretty late - 1:00am these girls were ready to hit the bed. I was fine with that - I thought I probably wouldn't do much sleeping anyway because the ground is hard and there are all sorts of noises outside that you just don't hear in the comfort of your own bed at home! I laid down and had just shut my eyes when I heard chaos breaking loose outside my tent. Folks had been talking about pulling pranks on other people all night long so I started praying "Please don't let them be doing something to me or my tent!". I was just laying there on this hard ground, looking up at the top of the tent and seeing shadows and hearing whispering and talk of "saran wrap" and "are you sure this is the right place?". My first thought was.. "They are saran wrapping me in this tent!" After I saw/heard the camera flashing and the cheering coming from outside the tent, I decided I'd better make sure that nothing had happened - AND at this point I was thinking "yeah.. guess I'm pulling an all-nighter tonight". One of my tent-mates beat me to it though.. she jumped up out of bed & unzipped the door & went outside & started going off on people for being loud and shining flashlights while people are trying to sleep, and so on.. I was actually glad she did that! Then I could see that WE WEREN'T LOCKED IN THERE!! Praise the LORD! I just might survive after all! LOL I did, however, have to go to the bathroom (again) though so I had to go find someone to walk through the cow pasture with me (dodging cow patties the whole time) or someone to drive me to the house. I found a volunteer & he drove me to the house. When we got back, I decided I needed to try to sleep a little - I think I managed maybe 1 hour of sleep, if that. Ate breakfast the next morning (or same day, however you look at it) & had a nice time of prayer by the campfire before we headed home.

OH, and in case you were wondering about the saran wrap - they wrapped a guy in his car because he was the first one to go to sleep! LOL

The conclusion that I have come to is that CAMPING is... just not my thing! To each their own in this - if you invite me camping with you, please know that I will always consider your request but don't be offended if I say no. Just like if I ask you to watch High School Musical I, II & III marathon all in one day - I know it's just not your thing so I won't be offended WHEN you say no! =)

April Musings

I apologize for slacking on the updates this month. I honestly don't know how the time has gotten away from me. It doesn't seem like it should be almost the end of April. It doesn't seem like I have been at my "new" job for going on 9 months. It doesn't seem like... I could go on but you get the picture. time is FLYING by!!

I have a small problem right now. Clothes. My clothes are too big. Before you say "That's a good problem to have" like everyone else that I have talked to, let me fill you in on why this is not totally a great thing for me right now.


New clothes require money to purchase them. I don't have a whole lot of extra funds right now to replenish my wardrobe. I had a lot of really cute stuff the last time I got down to this size (I am actually smaller now than even then..) but after I gained it all back, I donated a lot of my clothes to charity or gave them away to other people because I just didn't have room in my closet for them. I kept a few things around but styles DO change! So my dilemma at the moment is that some stuff is wayy too big and some stuff either smaller than I can wear right now or just simply out of style!

The other problem - let me disclaimer this first of all by saying that it may be too much information for some of you to handle but never the less, an issue - is that my waist seems to be the only thing that is getting smaller. When I was a certified bra fit specialist, one of the first questions that we were trained to ask to help someone figure out why their size might have changed was "gained or lost weight". My girls just don't fit the mold. Gain weight = (insert size here) -- Lose Weight = (insert the SAME size here). I don't understand it at all. Buying new pants is not an issue but buying shirts - especially when I like to wear button down shirts for work and stuff - I run into the problem of having to buy bigger so that I'm not busting out the top of the shirt (while that serves a purpose in some social settings.. work, at least my current job, is not one of them!) BUT buying a bigger size means that the bottom of the shirt is baggy defeating the purpose of being able to be proud of this accomplishment of the smaller waist that I have worked so hard towards. Dresses are just simply out of the question. I honestly am at a loss here and don't know what to do!! I thought I had it figured out back in the day by wearing minimizers but the ONLY minimizer that I have ever been able to find that I like wearing doesn't work with every shirt...among other things.

I understand that there is a time and a place for everything but putting the girls on the 90% off rack on a daily basis, in a business atmosphere, around older married men, is not something that I want to make a habit of (or ever do at all!). :) There has to be some other remedy for this problem and I KNOW I have some readers who have dealt or are currently dealing with this issue. As always, all feedback is appreciated -- and be sure to include your name (so I can either throw a flip flop at your head or thank you later!) :)

Keepin' it real...