Excuse me, Officer...

My job at Cyber Cafe on MTSU campus is, if nothing else, entertaining. At any given time, I can see 10-15 gigantic (fake) "diamond" studs in guys' ears, insanely inappropriately tight pants... on guys, insanely inappropriate amounts of cleavage (which make me think I can hear fathers' screams from all across the country), Quidditch robes worn as regular clothes, unbelievably colorful tennis shoes, no shoes at all, and the list goes on and on...

The kids are usually very nice and make me laugh. They are, for the most part, good natured kids that are just enjoying college and their friends. It's a fun atmosphere to be around.

Last night, however, I experienced one of the funniest things I've seen. A kid comes in that's skinny and about 6'1" or 2", brown, curly, shaggy hair, dressed like a skater... baggy pants, colorful jacket, bright cap turned partly to the side w/ the bill flipped up. The catch was, he looked like he was about to hurl. He was pale... I mean, PALE... as in his lips were the exact same color as his forehead. He had a green tint to his face, even, and a fine sheen of sweat across his face. His eyes were totally bloodshot. He, not surprisingly, was weaving all over the store area. He could barely stand up. He looked like someone that had been playing that game where you put your forehead on a bat, spin around and then try to run somewhere.

When he came in, I happened to be standing in the front talking to an MTSU police officer. They come by and chat with me sometimes. I appreciate the police presence, especially between 12 and 2a.m. Well, the police officer was leaning against a closed register while we talked. This kid staggers over to him and holds out his sandwich and drink like the police officer was going to ring him up. Did I mention, that the police officer was in FULL uniform... gun and all. Clearly, not a Cyber Cafe employee. To me, that spoke volumes about how messed up this kid was. I pointed to the other register and told the kid he could pay there. When he staggered away to the open register, the police officer and I kind of looked at each other and kept watching the kid. Was he handicapped? Did he have Cerebral Palsy? We were trying to figure out if he had some kind of disability that made him walk that way. As we watched him running into people and weaving around the store, we decided it was definitely chemically induced. Needless to say, he got taken in. Turns out, he was 19 years old, drunk, and had pot in his pocket. Oh, did I mention, he was on probation already? Guess what for? Possession of marijuana and under age drinking!!Apparently, he's not too bright if he's going to violate his probation doing the exact thing he was on probation for, and then ask a police officer to ring up his sandwich.

Epiphany

Yesterday I was hanging laundry on my line outside. There were crunchy leaves on the ground. The temperature was about 72* and there was a cool breeze blowing. The kids were playing nicely with the dog and the birds were chirping. The sky was that beautiful, crisp, 'fall' blue without a cloud in it. That's when it occurred to me that if the storms over the last couple of weeks were what pushed this beautiful pressure system into place, it was TOTALLY worth it. Yes, my laundry backed up... (thanks mom and dad for letting me bring a couple of loads over to dry last week). Yes, my kids and my dog got MAJOR cabin fever. Yes, it was not the easiest 2 weeks of my life. But, this cooler weather with low humidity, now, is absolutely perfect. It couldn't have gotten here without the storm system that moved through, though... I'm definitely not a meteorologist, but that's what it looked like was happening on the weather channel.

Standing there in my yard on the first fall-like day of the season, I realized that applies to my life, too. Eric and I have had major storms over the last couple of years. We've even had some HUGE disappointments and let downs in the last few months, but if those storms are what it takes for us to have the right perspective and enjoy the beautiful 'weather' that's coming our way to the fullest, then it was TOTALLY worth it!

I'm not naive (or arrogant) enough to think that I'm the first person to compare those 2 things, but I'm glad God brought it to my mind while I was where I could fully appreciate the cause and effect fully.

Interesting...

Tonight at work, a girl came through wearing hiking boots, pleated-front, high-wasted, olive colored khaki pants, a sports bra, a very light scarf-completely around her neck- and... what looked like a Quidditch robe... un-fastened down the front. Where do you buy clothes like that?

Lex is 2!

My 'baby' is now 2 years old! His birthday was Septemeber 6, so we had a family party for him at mom and dad's lake house in Manchester on Labor Day. My In-Laws, along with my nephew, Judah, were able to drive up to be us for it. We had a great time and Lex was in heaven. Here are some pics:

AbiLyn was relaxing on the deck before the party.

Lex and cousin, Judah. Lex put on that life jacket and wouldn't take it off...

AbiLyn was helping him open his very first pair of Chuck Taylors.

He had plenty of help opening his presents!

New soccer ball and Nike cap.

New Tricycle ... he pronounces it: By-gee-cull... very cute.

I made the cake, this year, and Eric decorated it.

Lex didn't know what to think. He never would blow out the candles!

We all finished the party out by playing some T-ball with Lex's new T-ball set. Here's Lex getting some help from Uncle Brian.

All in all, it was a really fun party!

Does Anyone Else Hate Crossing Guards?

Ok, so I know Crossing Guards are good and necessary. I'd like to picture them as helpful, white-haired old ladies in a bright yellow shirts, holding the traffic at bay while they assist adorable little 1st graders across the street. Usually, I have no trouble with them. Occasionally, though, I have an incident like yesterday.

AbiLyn HAD to go to the bathroom. I was breaking all speeding laws trying to get her home in order to avoid pulling over on the side of the road in the middle of Murfreesboro. Then I came upon a school zone. Well as much as I wanted to, morally, I just couldn't speed through it. I hit the zone at about 20mph and had coasted down to about 17 by the time I was reaching the crossing guard. That old bat started waving her arms at me, signalling for me to slow down and then reached down and got her infamous whistle and started blowing it at me! There were no cars around me to compare my speed to and she had no radar gun. Could she really tell I was going 2mph faster than was posted. And is 17mph that much worse than 15? I couldn't believe her reaction. It didn't help that I was truly risking a humongous mess if I didn't make it home quickly enough...

It was one of those situations where I left it, able to do nothing, wanting to explain myself to a complete stranger.

Welcome, Eric

My husband, Eric, started a blog. He's posting a lot of his sketches/illustrations on it. I'm really looking forward to hearing what all he has to say... :)

You can find him at www.ericdroke.blogspot.com.

Ahhh, Marketing to College Students

I am now, thankfully, employed by ARAMARK food service at the Cyber Cafe on MTSU campus.

We have 2 restaurants in the cafe as well as a small "convenience store" area. When I say small, I mean, like one small stand of shelves. That stand is packed, of course, with Ramen Noodles, Cup-o-Soup, and Bowl-Apetites galore. When it comes to the hygiene part of the shelves, there is 1 type of soap, 1 type of toothpaste (no toothbrushes), 1 type of shampoo, etc. There is even only 1 type of pain reliever and antihistamine.

Guess how many types of condoms....
FOUR!