Cabbie

Another Vegas story...

We got into the LV airport about 10 PM (LV time), which felt midnight to us. There was a tremendously long line for a cab. Fortunately (I guess), there was a guy hanging around inside the airport offering to take us "to the front of the cab line" if we'd follow him. So... after being depressed at the length of the line, we took this guy at his word and followed him. He took us to a short line of cabs, we tipped him handsomely ($10) and he told us to go to the first cab. The cabbie there apparently didn't see the guy bring us over, so he said "are you guys supposed to be here?" Obviously, the answer to that question resides in whether or not the gentleman who brought us over was authorized to to so. Since we didn't know the answer to that question, we sort of looked at him dumbfounded. He repeated his question, and he probably got three different answers from us. We finally told him, "that man told us to come over here." Anyway, the cabbie got really snotty with us. Someone in our group said, "sir, we just want to go to our hotel." Anyway, as soon as we got in the car, I made some comment about liking the song that was on the radio (that John Mayer - "Fathers be Good to Your Daughters," or whatever it's called). The cabbie abruptly turned the station. Then, some discussion ensued between me and the girls about Wayne Newton. I mentioned how there was kind of a soft spot in my heart for him given that we grew up listening to a Wayne Newton Christmas record. Not five minutes later, we saw a Wayne Newton sign and the cabbie started bashing him, saying "DON'T EVER PAY MONEY TO HEAR HIM!" "He's terrible." "He can't sing anymore." Anyway, we had decided early on NOT to tip this rude jerk. When we arrived at our hotel, the cab fare was $13.80. So, I pulled out $14 and handed to him when he had unloaded us and our luggage. We all started walking toward the hotel. Then we heard the cabbie shout, "Lady, lady, lady." I really didn't want to turn around but finally did. He came up and handed me my change - $0.20. What a prick! Anyway, I just smiled and accepted it graciously, saying "oh, thank you."

What a nice way to start the weekend!

The Kiss of the Blue Man

Well, I'm back from Vegas! We had a good time... definitely a better time than I did last September (though I would still have picked another location to visit had it been my choice)! Our flight out last Thursday was delayed four hours, so we left the airport, hung out at Abuelo's restaurant (dined on chips, salsa and coffee) and went to see a movie ("In Good Company"). We eventually got to Vegas. Highlights from the trip included - hanging out at a lounge in the Bellagio watching the dancing fountains. One of the fountain shows was accompanied by "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" by Rachmaninoff. Ooooohhhhhh.... I LOVE that piece of music! There was also an excellent band there. Altogether, we were there for about 4.5 hours! After that, we went to see the Blue Man Group. It was very interesting. For those of you who don't know them, see http://www.blueman.com. You probably know them best from their Intel commercials. The music is truly fascinating, but the show ends with the Blue Men unrolling toilet paper from the back of the auditorium and feeding it all the way up through the audience. The audience gets involved by grabbing the TP and throwing it on to the people in front of them. So... at some point, the entire auditorium is covered in toilet paper. It just keeps coming. In addition, there are strobe lights, so it's very chaotic. Everybody is laughing and covered in toilet paper. So - at some point along the way, I realized that my purse was no longer in my hands or lap (where it had been through the whole show). I started to freak out, thinking "oh my gosh, I think I may have thrown my purse with the toilet paper!!!!" Keep in mind, the strobe lights make it difficult to see anything but flashing toilet paper. Fortunately, I found my purse on the guy in front of me - kind of wedged between his back and the back of his chair! Even better... after the show, the three blue men hung around outside to greet people. (I was told that sometimes they'll dab a little bit of blue make-up from their faces and wipe it on people as they're exiting.) I wanted a picture with one of the blue men, and I asked him if I could have a little (blue paint), and I kind of pointed to my cheek. Then he kissed me on my cheek and left a BIG BLUE lip print!! ;) One of the girls took a digital picture, so I'll have to upload it when I get it!! All in all, it was a good trip... and I even came home with a little money. (See what happens when you DON'T gamble!)

Well, I have some sleep to catch up on. I'll catch you all later!

Atrophy

Hello, good people. As you can see, it's getting quite late; however, I thought I should write a short spot while I have the chance. Some of you may know that I'm heading out of town tomorrow for a co-worker trip to Vegas. Could be interesting, so I may have some interesting blogs when I get back. :) This week (to date) has been a bit saddening. You know... sometimes you just get in a funk. I haven't felt like getting up to Jazzercise this week, so I've been laying in bed until the last possible moment, getting up just in time to get ready and make it to work at a reasonable time. Tonight, however, was a bit more encouraging. Our small group went bowling tonight. (We're not meeting tomorrow night given my excursion to Vegas.) We had 18 people, which included several six visitors. We had a good time. Afterwards, me and two of the guys decided to hang at Starbucks for awhile and visit. You know... I had to do a personality profile this past week, and I determined I'm "reserved," which is supposedly the opposite of "interactive." However, I've noticed lately that I seem to come alive when I'm entertaining people - whether it's for a movie/games/etc. at my house or greeting people who visit our Sunday evening service ("The Gathering"). For one thing, it forces me outside of myself. It's difficult to be sad or depressed when I'm serving a group of people. Also, it gets lonely here sometimes, so I really enjoy the interaction with others. Anyway, things seem to be a bit better today. I'm actually kind of looking forward to this trip - if not LV itself, then maybe the break from work. But... that means I have about a gazillion things to get done!!! So, I best quit blogging for now. I'll catch you all up when I get back!

The Problem of Pain

I heard an interesting quote tonight, and I would love to tell you who should be credited with the saying; however, I honestly don't have any idea. Feel free to enlighten me if you do...

"People don't change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing."

Similarly, by C.S. Lewis, from his book The Problem of Pain:

"Now God, who has made us, knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him. Yet we will not seek it in Him as long as He leaves us any other resort where it can even plausibly be looked for. While what we call 'our own life' remains agreeable we will not surrender it to Him. What then can God do in our interests but make 'our own life' less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible source of false happiness?"

Wow! If you haven't read this book, please do. It's quite thought provoking, yet very simply logical. Without pain and discomfort in our lives, we would not recognize our need for God! C.S. Lewis has many other fine points as well. For example, without pain there is no free will. Consider (in a purely physical illustration): Man A wants to run over Man B. A world with no pain would disallow the Man B to be hurt in the incident or experience pain by Man A's actions; however, that would negate Man A's ability to exercise his free will to run over Man B. Anyway, it's a very fascinating and informative read. And, it also gives a certain amount of comfort in painful situations... of which we've all faced at one point or another (or are facing right now)!

Card Sharks & Homework

Well, as you can tell it's very late (actually... very early)! I had a few friends over to play cards tonight. I thought I might have a difficult time finding people to play, because I kind of organized it at the last minute (this morning). But, we actually had eight. We had dinner... spicy chicken & rice. Everyone brought side dishes, dessert, etc. Then we played Texas Hold'em (for chips only) and Phase 10. Finally someone phased out circa 1 AM. It was a good group, though, and much fun was had. I've been rather bored lately, so I'm glad they could all come and hang out for awhile.

I don't have much planned for tomorrow - house cleaning and some homework. YES... HOMEWORK!!! I've signed up (and paid) to take a class that will teach me how to become a "Budget Coach." Our church participates with Crown Financial Ministries to offer certain "financial stewardship" classes. These classes help people set up budgets and recognize that 100% of their money is God's (not just our tithe). Sometimes people in our church and community request to have someone help "coach" them in setting up a budget and making financial decisions that will glorify God. That's where I come into the picture. So... for the next ten weeks, I'll be getting back into that school mode - reading, studying, doing homework, etc. The goal is that by halfway through the class, we'll be assigned to an individual or couple to begin coaching. It will be an interesting process, but I figure this class will be good for several reasons - 1) it will give me something to do, 2) it will encourage me to LIVE by a budget (I generally HAVE a budget, but don't really have any financial plans or goals, nor do I evaluate my budget performance), and 3) it will allow me to use my accounting/finance background to serve in a very tangible way. I'll let you know how it goes!

Sword Sharpening

Tonight was small group night. Mine's called "Foundations." We had a good group tonight (not that we don't normally have a "good" group). We had 11, and that included four visitors! And... two people joined us who had not been in awhile, though several of our regulars were gone. It was great, because even the visitors chipped in and made comments. We obviously spent some time in introductions, but when finally dug in and studied the first two chapters of Ecclesiastes. It was a good reminder that life is meaningless without the purpose we derive from living for God. There was some great discussion. Boy, I really enjoy doing this... having people over, making people feel welcome, facilitating/teaching from God's Word, getting to know new people. It was really great! I love those guys. :)

II Corinthians 5:15

"And [Christ] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

Wow... what an incredible challenge!

The Bug

The little blue bug, with its Charlie Chaplin eyebrows,

sputters playfully through the city street.

He seems happy and content to carry his cargo.

He's not bothered by the bits of rust creeping in at his seems

but fweems gleefully with each kind touch and meaningful observation.

He is quite aware of the playful jabs that are exchanged in his presence.

But that is his gift - the gift of laughter, smiles... amusement.

Hairdryers

I often wondered what would happen if I got up one morning to get ready and my hairdryer wouldn't work. Well... I found out this morning! My hairdryer has been acting up for awhile, so I really should have replaced it by now. The "high" setting is more like a "super, super low" setting. It eventually gets my hair dry, but it takes forever! So... this morning, it made it's normal little groaning sound, but then I noticed that the coils were red but nothing else was happening. So, I shut it off and cleaned out the filter (hoping that would help). It wasn't long before I realized the dryer had died. I figured I had two options - 1) take a personal day... wait for my hair to air dry, try to fix it as best I could and then venture out to get a new dryer. Or, 2) call a friend. Well, I had some responsibilities this morning at work, so I opted for #2. I called a girl I work with and asked if she could bring me a hairdryer. She graciously said she would. She showed up at my house about 8:10 AM with said hairdryer. I quickly finished getting ready and got along to work. Although I took the hairdryer to work with me, I decided to leave it in the car and give it to her a bit more privately. Well, you guessed it! I forgot to give it to her. So... I wonder what she'll do in the morning? :) Just kidding... I called her and offered to take it to her house this evening. She said she could put her hair up in curlers and avoid needing it in the morning. Thanks, Stacy!! You'll all be happy to know I bought a new hairdryer this evening and shouldn't have another fiasco of this magnitude (for a while, anyway).

I'm late for bed. So... GOODNIGHT!

Nudity

Well, it's Sunday evening, so I thought I'd give you a quick briefing from this weekend. (Not to worry Mom, the title is no reflection of MY activites this weekend!!!) Mike and I had a good time - mostly shopping, eating and watching movies. Last night we were fortunate to have been invited over to Tim & Laurel's for a nice steak dinner. We ate and then watched a movie, "Without a Paddle." It was okay, but I much preferred the movie we watched the night before... "Calendar Girls." It's the movie (based on a true story) about a group of women in England (or thereabouts) who decide to pose nude for a calendar in order to raise money to benefit a Leukemia unit of a local hospital (as a memorial to one of the lady's late husband). The women... in their fifties and sixties were mostly reluctant but decided it was for a good cause. It was interesting to me the effect the posing had on most of the women. Though they were nervous and out of their comfort zones, they seemed to gain a new perspective on life and their own bodies. None of them had perfect bodies, and yet, they were all beautiful. Anyway... for an over-modest woman like me, it made me think about own body and am over critical at times. God made our bodies, and though I believe he expects us to exercise discretion in regard to how we use them, I think sometimes we go a bit overboard and act like they're something to be ashamed of (particularly if we don't look like supermodels). NOTE: Despite this enlightenment, don't expect me to appear nude in a pin-up calendar any time soon. :)

Addendum Re: the "Blue Chair"

Hello, people! I made a shocking new discovery last night!!! As I mentioned, my friend Mike is in town for the weekend. Last night, we were out running around, and we stopped by my office at work for a tour. While touring MY office, I obviously had to share with him the famed chair incident (of which I wrote in yesterday's blog). While looking at the chair, I thought... this chair looks more BLACK than BLUE. Mike agreed that the chair was black. When we moved on to the sales room, we noticed that there was a distinct difference in the color of my chair and the color of the two chairs in the sales room! Although they were the same STYLE, they were most definitely NOT the same color! I'm obviously not a very observant person; any normal individual would have made that observation immediately and used the explosive piece of evidence during the aforemention conversation with his/her supervisor. What's funnier still... the chair in my supervisor's office is most definitely BLUE. :)

The Importance of Chairs

I don't have much time to write tonight, as I have a friend (Mike) coming to visit me for the weekend! I'm very thankful, as I was staring at a lonely, boring weekend ahead. So, company is a good thing.

I forgot to mention yesterday about the chair episode at work. I received an email from my direct supervisor, advising me that I was sitting in a blue chair that matched two of three chairs in another room. I would have to give up my chair so that the chairs in the back room would all match. Keep in mind... I've been sitting in this blue chair for a year now, and the chairs in the room I sit in have NEVER matched. I was also told that a mysterious "green" chair should make an appearance and be available for me to sit in. I went to visit with my supervisor and let her know that I was not exciting about giving up my chair. She again explained how important it was for the chairs in the sales room to match. Then she made the comment that there were only THREE blue chairs (two of them were in the sales room). I proceeded (without much caution) to make her aware that SHE was sitting in a similar blue chair, and SHE sits in a room by herself - with no other chairs to match. Anyway... she said something like, "well, I guess we could pick chairs based on seniority." (Time lapse.) Later, said green chair finds its way to my room. Said green chair is one of those $40 Office Depot chairs with about four pieces - bottom, back, arm-rests and wheels. Yeah... that WASN'T going to happen. I'm not sure how things worked themselves out, but apparently there was enough pushback from other non-green chair people that the chair switching did not happen. (Though who's to say I won't get into the office on Monday morning to find my comfy blue chair gone and a ratty green "stool" in it's place!)

Bloggin' Rahija Fam 

C'mon and Join the Blogwagon!

I have to give credit where it's due - my bro-in-law, John, recommended the term "Blogwagon," and it sure seems to fit! Since I started my blog (yesterday), my sister decided to start one. So... we're a bloggin' family now (save Mom & Dad). I spoke with Dad today, and he's all but assured me he will not join the blog craze. It's not that he doesn't like the idea of it, it's just that he stays so busy with work... and he figures Mom can do his blogging for him. (Congratulations, Mom.) In fact, if I know my Mom at all, she's probably setting up her own blog site as we speak (likely with aid from John or David).

Well, my day was fairly exciting. The company I work for recently acquired a similar company here in Tulsa. Today, the employees from the other company actually moved in to our office! So, our head count just jumped 50%! Needless to say, this afternoon was a bit chaotic. But, it felt a little like Christmas, too. I got a new flat screen monitor at work!! Very chic. (Just wish I had one at home now.)

On a more interesting note... a friend of mine (Matthew) emailed me today to say that he happened upon a dead squirrel yesterday evening. That wouldn't be so unusual except that the squirrel was IN HIS HOUSE!! He took several pictures of it - the dead squirrel, the squirrel removal and the squirrel in the trash can! What concerned him more than finding the vermin in his house was wondering what all it had done while it was ALIVE in his house. Ha!

Well, I best sign off. I have some (blog) reading to catch up on, and I need to get in bed. Sleep tight, y'all.

~Krista

P.S. - As you can see, I figured out how to add a picture. Maybe tomorrow I'll figure out how to link to a picture. (Aren't you impressed I figured that out all by myself?!)

Welcome to my Life

Well, you're probably wondering how I got here. Yesterday evening, my sister called me to show me something her husband had out on his website. I don't visit his website with much frequency, so she had to do a bit of directing to get me there. Once I found it, I was directed to his latest blog. Attached was the very first picture of my newest niece/nephew. By now you've probably gathered - my sister is pregnant (about 10 weeks along)! So, I was able to see a little blob from a sonogram that I'm told is our newest family member. Although this is very exciting, I'm digressing from the original story. While at my brother-in-law's website, I noticed his blogging and links to my brother's blog. After reading a bit, I was truly amused and intrigued. Then, last night as I slept, I received an email from my sister-in-law saying that she was starting a blog. So... HERE I AM!! I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and check this thing out. I've been a long-time "journaler," so I expect this to be a medium I will enjoy. And, I also like the fact that I can let my family and friends know what I'm up to these days. So, welcome to my life. I hope you enjoy your stay. (I also ask for your patience, because I'm a novice and not so computer literate.) ~Krista