Author / Bethe

by Bethe

Please feel my pain

I had (got?) to work a business expo today for work. The event was surprisingly fun, although one booth kind of put a lid on my fun.

My booth was right around the corner from an OPEN CASKET! Yep, the local funeral home had a booth near mine, and somebody thought it would be a positive marketing tactic to bring a casket. Because we all love to be reminded of our own mortality. Yep, I think I’ll stop and get a chair massage, grab some chips and salsa, pick up a few highlighters and a koozie, and then go by the funeral booth to talk about dying.
by Bethe

Better late than never

This is what I’m meditating on:
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
–Psalm 130:5-6
There’s so much to these verses. It talks about our source of hope, of being patient, of our soul longing for Christ. I love the metaphor of the watchmen… I can imagine him sitting on the wall of the city, waiting and watching, standing at attention, fully focused and committed.
Also, go check out Psalm 121, you’ll love it.
by Bethe

Get some perspective

It’s election night. I find it all very entertaining… it’s kind of like Christmas morning, you finally know what’s inside all of that pretty packaging. Sometimes you get what you want, sometimes you don’t.

However, I wonder about all of the folks out there who have completely lost perspective. I think it’s because the campaigns began almost two years ago. That’s a long time, and we slowly became more and more invested in the process. Which is good, because folks should care about politics. But I think the unprecedented attention has made everybody lose their minds.
Guys, I think if Obama wasn’t really an American, we would have known it by now. The mainstream media may lean a tad liberal, but I guarantee that the bloggers out there would have dug this up. Or some rogue reporter looking to make a name for himself. So take a deep breath and don’t worry about that.
He’s probably not a terrorist either. In fact, he’s probably a decent guy. As is McCain. And McCain isn’t George Bush. I really don’t care for either candidate. But I also have enough confidence in my country and in our political process to know that we will survive. Either guy is going to make some huge mistakes. And we will survive. He will take credit for good things begun by Bush. He’ll get blamed for things that began long before he took office. We will survive. No matter who wins, I don’t think we will see the radical changes that have been predicted. The sky won’t fall, the world won’t come to an end. Because our government is overwhelmingly inefficient. Sometimes it frustrates me, sometimes I find it strangely comforting. Change comes very slowly and with a lot of resistance.
So instead I’m going to sit back and enjoy watching the political process in action. It’s highly entertaining. And it makes me so very thankful to be an American.
by Bethe

The Election

Tomorrow is the election. Thank goodness. I think everybody around me has lost their mind. I promise you that the world will not come to an end if Obama wins. And America will not spiral out of control if McCain wins. We survived eight years of Bush. And eight years of Clinton. And we will survive the next eight years. That’s the great thing about our country. I mean, we survived Jimmy Carter. And Nixon. 

by Bethe

Prison Blog

Today was a good day… except for the part where I almost went to prison.

Okay, maybe not prison. But I almost committed a class-B misdemeanor. Okay, maybe 30-40 counts of a class-B misdemeanor. But I did it with very good intentions.
I was trying to save the world and be a good American. Some patients at the hospital where I work had asked if they could vote on election day from the hospital. Being the patient-focused, pro-democracy girl scout that I am, I called my county elections office and got the scoop on how I could help these nice patients vote. 
Long story short, they told me that I would have to personally handle the whole process for ALL of our patients. Luckily I found out before it was too late that this is against the law–an individual can only assist ONE person with their voting from the hospital (which makes sense, because a bad, anti-American girl scout hater could hypothetically stuff the ballot box this way).  If you assist multiple people, it’s a misdemeanor. I was going to do that 30-40 times. Oops. 
Thankfully I realized my mistake and didn’t break the law. I won’t be going to jail. Which is a good thing, because I’ve got a lot going on right now and am not sure where I would fit that “time” in.
In other political news, I have a big work event Saturday night, and my State Representative will be sitting at my table as one of my guests. It will be a lot of fun if he happens to be reelected tomorrow. If not, it could be awkward.
by Bethe

Love a challenge

My good friend David has challenged the blog world to write a post every day for the month of November. Apparently November is National Blogging Month. It also happens to be my birthday month, so if you’re looking for a reason to buy me a present, now you have two! (just kidding… I’ll settle for a funny-but-meaningful-and-heartfelt card and some cash).

I’m sitting here at Starbucks, trying to finish a long research paper due on Friday (I’m on page 18 of 20… almost there), and because I’ve consumed massive amounts of coffee, this blog may be a bit scattered. Which is why I will employ the numbering system… so I don’t confuse you. Or me.
1. I hate it when furniture companies pay homeless people to stand on the street corner with those giant “going out of business” signs. It’s absolutely terrible. First of all, why don’t you just follow your city’s regulations like the rest of us advertising folks and get a sign permit? Or run an ad? Or buy a billboard? But no, you would rather pay a homeless man in cash to stand there and humiliate himself and make me sad as he stands for hours at a time, in extreme weather conditions, holding your sign. It breaks my heart. Really. It makes me hate your store and makes me VERY glad you’re going out of business. If you really ARE going out of business. So tacky.
2. I’ve been asked to serve on an advisory board for my local school district’s school board. I’m so excited about this! We have our first meeting tomorrow night. This one excites me because I’m absolutely fascinated by education, and I love my local school district. Plus, the superintendent is the one who asked me, which was pretty special. So tomorrow night I’ll be putting on my big-girl suit and meeting with the superintendent, the administrator of curriculum, a few teachers, and five other community representatives. Yea! I wonder if these folks know that on the inside I’m really a huge dork who’s only pretending to be a grown-up. Please don’t blow my cover…
3. Today was Tiffany’s baby shower (shout out to Tiff, one of my few faithful readers!). It was a lot of fun, and not to brag, but I think my gift was the best. I made her a few custom-onesies with special sayings on them. My favorite was one that said “I want to be just like Bethe when I grow up.” I’m thinking about mass-producing them and then handing them out for birthday parties, baby showers, wedding presents… this could be the next big fad! Let me know if you’d like your own special version (Joel, I expect you to be first in line!).
Back to that paper… maybe…
by Bethe

LOVE Target!

I love Target. I went there at 6:30 tonight, Halloween night, to start working on my costume. Not only did I find the biggest bra in the whole wide world (because I’m going to be Dolly Parton… shhh, don’t spoil the surprise!), but I came home with a new orange jacket, a ton of jewelry on clearance, a red patent leather belt, and a red terry cloth bathrobe! What I should have bought instead was my weekly groceries, but I left my list at home, and I was in a totally ADD mood. So it was a bra and jewelry for me tonight!

Now I have to go find the correct material to stuff my super-gigantic bra for tonight’s Halloween party. I promise to post pictures soon!
by Bethe

Hospital Blog

For all those who have been praying for my sister’s surgery, I want to say thank you. It’s so neat to see people rally around someone you love, and I can tell you that she is so moved by the support she has gotten from her friends and her church family. I write this blog as I sit in her hospital room, chuckling at my sister’s witty sense of humor, even with her head slightly cloudy from her pain medications. She is a real trooper, and I’ll be so glad to have my favorite playmate back up and running very soon! 

In the meantime we’re having a bit of a party in her room. And by party, I mean I’m sitting here doing homework while she catches up on her sleep. Tomorrow night she and I will be having a slumber party… there’s even talk of painting her toe nails a new fabulous color. A girl may be sick in a hospital, but that’s no excuse for not looking fantastic! If only I had planned ahead and bedazzled that drab hospital gown… sparkles would definitely add a spark to her stay!