Date Update

Rocketman.

Let me begin by saying Rocketman was very nice. I can honestly say I had a very nice time and I am pleased that I put my foot in the door in the online dating world.

Next, let me say that I will likely not have a second date with Rocketman. While he was very nice and pleasant, I can't say I was all that enthralled with what he had to say. Sadly, I was a little bored. Therefore, I must move on...

I thought we were on the same page because a second date was not requested. However, when I got home he texted me and said he had had a nice time and wanted to know if it was okay if he called me this week. A very nice and gentlemanly thing to say. Too bad I hope he doesn't call. Which leads me to the part I hate the most about dating...rejection. How do I do it in a way that is nice and respectful? I'm still learning that process. I don't think I will ever master it, quite frankly.

I realize that in this adventure called online dating, it will inevitably go both ways and I will feel the sting of rejection; but for now I regret being the one to be doing the rejecting.

Rocketman

Date #1

Tomorrow I am meeting Rocketman for a drink at 8:30. I know it's kind of late, but he doesn't get off work until 7, so 8:30 it is. Rocketman works at the airport. He's 33, never been married and has no children.

Rocketman wanted to meet for coffee last week, but I just wasn't quite ready for that at the time. So, I told him I was going to be pretty busy with school starting the next few days and that perhaps we could wait until things settled down a bit. He was very nice and said we should talk on the phone when I was ready. After I sent him my number and then after some further thought, I decided I'd rather just meet him in person. So, on Thursday when he texted me asking me if he could call that evening, I said said I wasn't available, but that perhaps we could meet this next week. Monday was the day we decided upon.

I have come to realize in my 33 years of life that I tend to get emotionally connected quite easily and it always leads to heartache, so, I'd rather just meet in person and see if there is any reason to keep talking. I wouldn't say I'm nervous, necessarily, I can talk to anyone, but there are times when my social anxiety kicks in and I just want to bring out the autism in me and sit in a dark room and rock back and forth. Maybe I'll do that from 7-8 tomorrow evening. But then again, maybe not.

Mundanely Speaking...

I'm not sure why it's a daunting task for me to keep up with my new online venture. Somehow, though, it always seems to be the case. I promised I would write about it so here goes.

So far I've got email from a pilot, a history professor, an IT person, an airport ramp guy and a cancer survivor. I am trying to keep an open mind, and to be quite honest they all seem to be very nice. We'll see, I suppose...

They all seem to like my profile(I know this because they tell me so) and for the life of me I can't figure out what it is about my profile that they like. It seems prety mundane to me, except that I spell out the fact that they probably shouldn't bother if they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus. It makes me wonder if they view me as the "good" girl they should pursue. Which, vulnerably speaking, makes me wonder why it is that the men that I shouldn't date are interested in me, but the men I should be (and usually am) interested in don't seem to reciprocate. I don't mean to start a pity party, I just am truly trying to figure it out.

A New, Yet Old, Familiar Venture

Several years ago I entered the world of online dating. It didn't work out so well and it ended up putting a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. I swore I would never do it again, and I didn't for about 3 years.

A couple of months ago a friend urged me to try again. Then a few weeks ago 2 more friends urged me to try again. So, here I am, in front of my computer screen, again, waiting for Mr. Right to reply to my wink.

I'm sure you are asking why I would venture to do this again when it hasn't worked for me in the past; well, quite frankly, I still don't think it will work. I just figure it is a good way to pass the time and it makes for some very funny and perhaps intriguing stories of which I will share with my bloggy friends.

Perhaps you all can venture with me and help me weed out the good, the bad and the ugly of the online dating world (Jaime, I know you are especially excited).

I'm back!

Hello friends,

It has been a while, but here I am again. In 2010 I had 2 goals: a)buy a car; and b)buy a house. I didn't realize that the two would be so close together. I bought my car in Februray and my house in April.

It's hard to believe that I have entered a world of figuring out how and when I'm going to water the lawn, mow the lawn, plant flowers, kill weeds, and many other things that come with home ownership. I suppose I always figured buying a house is something that you do when you are married. Clearly, that is not happening anytime soon, so I figured now was as good a time as any. There are times when I need help from my friends who know what they're doing, like fix a leaky faucet (who knew teflon was such a great invention), install ceiling fans, hook up a washer and a dryer, and paint. Thankfully, I have learned to put away my pride and ask for help when needed. Yes, even in buying a home, God is growing me.

Now that it has been 3 months, I will finally post some pictures of my home. Sadly, I think they are all pre-moved in, though. So, maybe I'll add some more at a later date.













Not really sure why I don't have a picture of the front of my house, but picture a brick house (I know that's hard to do in North Texas) with white siding and a brick planter in front of a concrete porch. :)

The red kitchen and dining area is my favorite part of the house. Thank you, Jaime, for helping me paint. Believe me when I say it was a bear to paint above the white cabinets!

Much love,
Marci

Oh Henry!

I was terrified to buy a new car, not because I was so attached to the little Saturn, but because I was scared of budgeting a car payment into my very expensive lifestyle (that was a joke). But with the check from the insurance company, due to an unfortunate-for-her-fortunate-for-me rear fender bender and the fact that the little Saturn had a hole in the water pump, I figured it was time. So my search began...

This is what I learned while shopping for the perfect car...

1. Carmax is kind of like Best Buy for cars...you can get a good deal, but if you are wanting information about particular cars, they probably don't have it. Go to the actual dealership of the model you are looking at for specifics.

2. Never bring the car you are intending to trade-in until you have negotiated everything else already. You just might leave with a new car, when you were still planning on shopping some more.

3. Car salesman really want a sale, and they will try to keep you in the building until they wear you down and they get their sale. It's okay to say no and walk away. Don't feel sorry them, it happens all the time.

4. They really don't want you to shop at another dealership....really!

5. After you have negotiated what you think is a good price and they have taken off all of the anti-theft insurance and tire treatments that they automatically add in to the price...it's not quite done because they will try to wear you down again in the financing stage. The financial guy even made an excuse to leave so that his boss could come in and try to wear me down some more. Here's a hint...just say "no!" None of that stuff is worth it, seriously people, what are the odds that your car will be stolen? Slim to none! And Discount Tires is pretty good about getting nails out of tires... Jaime said that she could see the guys computer screen when he was looking up the numbers and if I were to buy all that stuff, for the prices they were quoting me they would have profited by 50%. Shady.....

All in all, I am very pleased with my car! I feel like a got a really good deal and I would buy that car all over again! However, I am very thankful that I will not be in the car market for another 10 years.

Henry Hank

Poor little Saturn. She was on her way out...

I had to add water and/or engine coolant twice a day in the end...

Sad as it was, I signed the paperwork to buy a new car...

Thanks to Elbert, the Hyundai sales guy, he helped me find....

Henry Hank!!

Double Trouble

Spring is in the air, which means, it's that time of year when spring sports begin to dominate everyone's Saturday. Soccer...baseball...and tennis?? Yes, Tennis! It is by far my favorite sport ever! I love to watch it, play it and talk about it! For years, one of the coaches at the tennis center where I play has asked Jaime and I to join one of his tennis teams. Until now, we've always had an excuse as to why we can't make such a commitment. This year, after a wonderful trip to New York to watch the U.S. Open, Jaime and I decided we were ready to join a team. When we announced our plan to our coach, his eyes lit up and told us to come join his team the following week for a "try out." I suppose the try out went well, because 3 months later we are still practicing with the team and yesterday we played our first match of the season!

I went in with some nerves, being unsure of how this would work. Especially since Jaime and I were not playing together, so I am still feeling out my new partner a bit. I thought this would be pretty easy because it was a placement match so the league could determine where our team, "Double Trouble," belongs within the league. Let's just say, we belong at the bottom of the barrel. My partner and I lost 0-6, 0-6 while Jaime and her partner didn't fare much better at 1-6, 2-6. This could be a really long season...but at least we're out there playing our favorite sport!

We Don't Need No Education!

Today my student came into my office and asked me why the Vikings lost the football game last night. I then informed him that the Vikings lost because they scored less points than the Saints. Thankfully, that seemed to satisfy him because I certainly did not want to get into a debate with him about fumbles, passing and running yards or interception percentages.

Additionally, I have figured out what is wrong with our current education system. It's the people writing the textbooks that don't know what they are talking about. I was working with some students last week on a following directions activity from a book I have at school. They needed to listen to my instruction and through the process of elimination figure out which title was the title for the book of the week.

Now, I'm fairly certain I have referred to my weakness of flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to therapy and this particular activity was no different. I had previously just taken a glance at it and thought it was a great activity and trusted the publishers enough to not look too closely. So, one of the statements was, "The book of the week is NOT the one with the name of a country in the title." Now I am confident I have a pretty good knowledge of world geography and nowhere in my many years of education did I learn that Africa was a country. Please don't think I am bragging when I tell you that I am absolutely positive it is the name of continent!

Community

I pride myself in being independent. I make a decent living for myself, make big purchases by myself, take long road trips by myself, go to church by myself, etc. When there is something that I need to take care of, I usually like to do it on my own and don't like to bother people too much with my problems.

However, when it comes to carpentry, I know absolutely nothing, and to be quite honest, have no desire to learn. So...when one of my dining room table legs decided to detach itself from the tabletop, I knew I needed to bring in some reinforcements.

I swallowed my pride (there's that nasty word again) and called my friend and asked her if I could borrow her husband (I knew he had tools) and his friend (who also happens to be my friend) for an evening of fun with tools. I bribed them all with pizza so they very kindly agreed.

After dinner and one trip to Wal-Mart later, my table is fixed and ready to play games upon---and eat upon. Now that, friends, is community! Serving God, by serving people! Thank you Mark and Gary, for spending an evening with tools, for me! I am quite thankful for my friends who were so willing to take precious time to help me out!

Silence

I'm sure that some of you may agree that silence is often a wonderful thing. Our world is so full of sounds that when you begin to listen and hear nothing it can be glorious.

Today, I think the silence is deafening. But it's a different kind of silence. I look at my phone and I hear crickets (no, it's not my ringtone, which happens to be crickets), but the crickets I hear are in my head (yes, I may be crazy). I sent a text message to a friend today about a scripture verse I had just read. I was looking for the meaning of a particular word within the context. I received a response that confirmed what I had originally thought, although I must admit I've been feeling particularly skeptical today, so I responded with the suggestion that perhaps Paul's words (which are actually God's words, as it is in God's Word) would hurt people struggling with pride, not help them.

I immediately sent a new text saying not to worry about me, but I can see how many people might not be altruistic (altruism should be a topic for another day) in the way they put these words into action. And then there was silence. The silence is driving me crazy! Even now, my eyes keep darting over towards my phone. Marci, get a grip and let it go. But I can't because I just want to explain myself a little bit more. Perhaps one more text would put me in a better light. Why am I so worried about what people think of me? Perhaps if I got it into my thick skull that the world does not revolve around me, I wouldn't struggle with pride so much. :)

The particular scripture I was meditating on today was 1 Cor. 9: 24-27, which says:
Do you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessley; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

P.S For more motivational pictures like the one posted above, check them out at www.despair.com

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Tomorrow is my last day of Christmas vacation. I realize that I am very blessed to have a two week break, so I will not complain about that. But, I still have to prepare myself for the second half of the school year. I figure, what better way to do that than to remember some great verbal gems from the first semester and look forward to the verbal gems I will undoubtedly hear in the second.

One of my students and I were playing a game similar to 25,000 dollar pyramid. My young friend was trying to describe countries in Africa and Asia. Her clue: "It's a place where they have black hair." Hmm...what country in Asia and Africa do they have black hair? "Oh," she said next, "they also eat a lot of rice."

One of my young friends was upset about a test score and during our group session, he commented about his test and then said he was the "stupidest" kid in his class. Another young friend, in trying to make him feel better said, "That's not true, I know someone stupider than you."

On another occassion, a young friend of mine reported to the group that she was going to go visit her sister at Texas Tech. Well, someone in the room told the group that Tech's mascot is the Red Raider, while another said Texas Tech is TT for short. I asked my young friends what the Red Raiders say at football games, I made the hand signal and started the phrase "get your...." Well, one young friend, taking a stab at it said, "Get your TT."

But my personal favorite was when we were interviewing a 16 year old who clearly did not want to be talking to a roomful of adults(who could blame him?). Anyway, he would consistently provide us with one word answers, even when asked open ended questions about topics he enjoyed, such as 80's and 90's rock. So, finally, in desperation, after he was asked a question and he just kept staring at the ground, one adult asked him, "What would Kurt Cobain do?(WWKCD)" Not exactly sure I want my 16 year old basing their actions on Kurt Cobain, but sometimes we'll do anything for a response. I realize that this is a verbal gem from an adult friend, but we're all kids at heart, right?