Author / Bethe

by Bethe

Just the facts, ma’am

I had someone else tell me yesterday that I’m the most organized person they know. I get that a lot. Which is hilarious, because it’s a TOTAL ACT. Seriously. My life feels like chaos about 99% of the time. The only 1% of the time that I feel organized… is when I have advanced warning that someone is coming over. And that only comes after a mad scramble around my house, with me shouting things at my dog and peeling my laundry off the fan. Or something like that.

I would like to present you with Exhibit A: My car. Here is a list of the items currently in Snowflake, my trusty (and dusty) white 4-Runner. 
-My sassy gold wedge sandals.
-A card table that belongs to a co-worker.
-A yellow chair that belongs to my church.
-About 4 pairs of pantyhose (the moment I leave work and that dress code behind, I shimmy right out of those torturous stockings… usually right there in my car. Those horrible things should be banned forever… I HATE pantyhose).
-A case of Diet Coke.
-A case of water. (I’ll be well prepared in a natural disaster).
-A 30 lb. dedication plaque for a patio we’re about to open up at work.
-About 5 umbrellas. None are within reach during a rain storm though… I have to crawl over two sets of seats to get them. Poor planning.
-A first aide kit. And a roadside rescue kit (a quite stylish roadside rescue kit, actually).
-A gift certificate for some free tennis shoes.
-800 coupons.
-Several CDs. Several pairs of sunglasses.
-A spare jacket I wore about three months ago and subsequently forgot about.
-Two school bags. About 400 pages of research for my upcoming paper. And 12 highlighters.
Yep, folks, there’s my list. I’m not preparing for an event… I don’t have a master plan to take all of these items and use them for something productive… I just haven’t gotten around to unloading my car. I’m busy. And I honestly don’t know when that will happen. Maybe in June?
So remember that the next time you want to label me as “organized.” Instead, label me as a “good actor.”
by Bethe

Today in incomplete sentences

Today…

–Came home sick. Sound like a frog, or a boy in puberty. It’s lovely.
–Took a nice nap. Was so tired/worn-out… stupid, stupid allergies. Had an agreement… don’t have time to be sick. Allergies didn’t keep their end of the bargain.
–Discovered a new sno-cone stand. Love summer. You can go barefoot at a sno-cone stand and nobody looks at you funny.
–On t-shirt at the sno-cone stand: “The only place where it’s okay to eat the yellow snow.” Think I need to buy that. Would that be inappropriately off-color?
–Am still flirting with Twitter. Not sure I see the point. Still. Would rather just call a friend.
–Am about to spend the evening with Beth Moore. Or at least, a DVD of Beth Moore. Still love this Esther series… good for my soul.
Will write in complete sentences when I feel better. Maybe.
by Bethe

In honor of Earth Week

I recycle. But I’m no environmentalist. I work in marketing, so I’ve probably single-handedly destroyed half a rain forest in my quest to promote my company. But all is okay, because of this nugget of good news…

I’m thin. And apparently, thin is the new green. Check it out.
So before you get that next Sonic strawberry milk shake, ask yourself, “Is this good for the environment?”
And then drink it anyway. Because being thin also leads to osteoporosis. I say, pick your poison.
by Bethe

Prayer

First of all, please know that I’m still laughing about that padded bra story. That’s pure greatness.

But anyway…
I teach Sunday School at my church. It’s one of the greatest joys in my life, and also one of my greatest stressors. There’s that verse in James about teachers being held to a stricter accountability, and I take that really seriously. It’s tough coming up with a new lesson, week after week, and being constantly reminded of areas where I tend to struggle. It’s scary to have 20 girls staring back at me as I teach, probably thinking “This girl is such a whacko…” as I spill my coffee in class and expose myself for the real goober that I am. 
But it’s also one of my greatest joys because I get to dig deep into scripture, strengthen my relationship with Christ, and then help other women my age catch a glimpse of all his greatness. And forgiveness. Grace. Peace. Hope. Love. Protection. (I could go on and on.)
Plus, I’ve already made a bazillion mistakes, and hopefully my own former mess-ups, insecurities, and overall stupidity might help the next girl avoid them. It is my unique privilege to encourage other girls, and I end up being blessed by watching behind-the-scenes as girl after girl matures and enjoys walking side by side with Christ. The girls in my class are such an encouragement to me… they really have no idea.
Each week I send out an email to my class with prayer requests, church announcements, and I try to include whatever random scripture I happen to be obsessed with each week. Sometimes you just can’t get enough of a promise, and I’m tempted to tape it to my forehead so everybody else can enjoy it as much as I have.
Here’s the scripture I have sent out in my past two weekly emails. I’m sure you may notice a theme… praying expectantly. These verses bring me such hope.
“In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and He answered me by setting me free. The LORD is with me, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The LORD is with me, He is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.”  –Psalm 118:5-7

“O LORD, hear me as I pray. Pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I will never pray to anyone but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” –Psalm 5:1-3

I love that the first one says Christ answered my prayer by setting me free. It gives me goosebumps. And then the second verse… where it says I pray, and then I wait expectantly. (sigh)  LOVE it. I plan on memorizing both, so that the next time I hit a rough patch, I can start spouting these promises of hope. In the meantime, I think I just might have to tape an index card to my forehead. If you see me with a big red welt on my forehead, you’ll know that it’s just scripture memorization. Or another curling iron mishap. Either way, nothing to worry about.
by Bethe

What’s a little salmonella?

It turns out that I may not be the domestic goddess I thought I was. One of my guests from yesterday’s dinner party went to the ER today with salmonella. I really don’t think she got it at MY party… I had 17 guests, and only one ended up getting horribly sick. Those are pretty good odds if you ask me…

Besides, just because I soaked all of my vegetables in raw chicken juice before adding them to my salad doesn’t mean that people should get sick. That’s what immune systems are for.
If Martha were here, I know she would be shaking her head in disappointment. I still have so much to learn!
by Bethe

The Luncheon

Today I had 17 people over for Easter lunch. It was a blast! One of my joys in life is throwing parties. It’s right up there with Christmas and getting a tax refund.
I did my best to decorate in Martha Stewart style… check out the floral centerpieces… I made them myself (total cost for four of them… less than $20)…


Everybody brought a dish… I’ve never seen so much food in one place. It was a regular feast.


It was such a good day… I am so blessed to have the best family in the whole world, and some pretty cool friends that sometimes feel like they’re part of my family. 


Happy Easter, and praise Jesus for all that this day means. 
by Bethe

Cookin’, and hangin’, and wishin’, and dreamin’

I have so much in my head that’s just begging to spill out onto the page, but it will have to wait. I’ve got somewhere between 15-20 people coming to my house for Easter lunch on Sunday, and I’ve got tons to do to get ready for it! I absolutely LOVE hosting people at my house, and can’t WAIT to have everybody here together. Most of the people, besides my immediate family, are other single people from church whose families are out of town and needed some place to go. It has become a tradition to host at least one random person at our family holidays, but this year is definitely a new record! I figure, the more, the merrier! I’m so happy to have friends take part in a special celebration. Plus, I like an excuse to cook for hungry people.

And in true Bethe-the-overachiever form, I am determined to have a well-decorated dinner party! So my good friend is coming over to help me hang curtains on Saturday (the ones that have sat in a box since they arrived in early January), I need to plant some spring flowers in my garden, and I need to figure out how I’m going to seat 15-20 people in my rather small dining room. I have purchased perfectly color-coordinated placemats and napkins for the occasion, and even found some of my discontinued dishes on E-Bay so that I could increase my collection from 9 to 15. I’m not sure what the other 5 people will eat off of, maybe a paper towel or something. I’ll be sure to buy the 2-ply just in case.
In other news, I found out that my research article is going to be published next month in a major academic journal! We got the official approval this week, and while you normally have to wait months to see your work in print, ours just fell into place and it worked out that it’s coming out in the very next edition! Ten months and 28 pages later, I think it just might be worth it! My professors are happy to have a student get published, I got a free trip to Miami out of it, and I learned a thing or two along the way. Of course, the next time I get published, I’d prefer to actually get PAID for my work. But that’s the beauty of academia. 
by Bethe

The good, the bad, and the ugly cry

Today started out very badly. I got up at 1:00 a.m. to register for my LAST TWO graduate classes. I had hoped to take two relatively easy electives in July… a simple 4-week session that might turn out to be a bit intense, but then I’d be DONE with classes and only have my thesis to write this fall. I could practically coast right into graduation in December.

But best laid plans, right?
I woke up at 1:00, only to be locked out of the enrollment site. I was trying to beat all the other students who were also gunning for those two easy classes. So I tried again at 6:00 a.m. And again at 8:00 a.m.  That’s when I got the bad news…
I can’t take those two classes, because I am not in that program. But the catch-22 is, I am required to take electives outside my program. And I’ve already taken just about every class my program offers. So I’m stuck. There’s literally  no summer classes for me to take. Which means I now have to take two classes this fall. And then DELAY my graduation until May 2010 while I finish that thesis.
That’s when the tears started to flow.
I had been so excited about the possibility of being finished with grad school in only a few months. I’ve been on this merry-go-round of demands for the past three years, and I’m tired. I haven’t had a good night’s rest in months. I’m ready to quit. The only thing keeping me going was the knowledge that I’d be finished in December. Until now.
So I cried. Those big, ugly, crocodile tears. The kind where the mascara runs down your face, and you don’t even care. Thank goodness my office has a door, so nobody else witnessed my extreme moment of weakness.
Thankfully, the head of my department is also my professor this semester, so after a frantic phone call to him, he started working to see what he can do (bless him). It looks like they’re going to try really hard to find me some random classes to take. But of course, these random classes won’t be nearly as easy as the other two.  I will continue to have no life this fall… something I thought I might get back. But no, probably not.
Thankfully, my very bad day got much better, because it was Opening Day for my beloved Rangers, and my friend scored me third row tickets for the big day. A few hours of sunshine and baseball helped me gain perspective (or at least helped the tears stop). My team won, and someday I may even look back on this little class scheduling snafu and laugh about it. 
But right now I’m just going to try not to cry. And I’m going to finish off the ice cream left in my freezer.