Emma Creek Classic

We had perfect weather for the Emma Creek Classic 5K walk/run today. Abby and Emma each had a personal best time, we had doughnuts and fruit at the finish line, and we cheered on our dear friend Brandey who won 1st place in her age group! Emma is always recognized for being one of only a few if not the only "Emma" in the race. There were 1,023 participants this year - WOW!

On our way to the race I turned on our "running music" to help us get nice and PUMPED for the big race. There were cars everywhere, and I of course, couldn't sit still while listening to inspiring running music, so I "arm danced" in the minivan while singing loudly. Abby looked back and said, "Mom, Emma like completely shrunk behind you."

She did come out of hiding once we parked, and she was confident I and the music had stopped.

While we raced, Greg and Grace had bonding time buying mulch and cereal at Wal-Mart. Once they came home, Greg put a promised Little Bear video in for Grace while he did some work in the garden. After a bit, he tried to open the front door to check on Grace but found it locked, then he tried the garage door, same story, and finally he went to the back door, and yes, our little brilliant 4 year old had decided to completely lock herself in the house. Not one of those doors was locked to begin with. Greg banged and yelled until she let him in, wondering what the neighbors might be thinking. Movie privileges were definitely over right then and there, and Grace had to stay with Daddy outside until we came home.

We'd love to host anyone who wants to join us next year!

Signs of Spring

I do believe spring has indeed sprung, and I am filled with gratitude to my Creator. It is gently raining at the moment (between some much more powerful thunderstorms), and I'm sipping coffee, feeling rather content that my new flowers are being sovereignly watered. Saturday was the BIG FLAT SALE at our fabulous local nursery that also happens to be located right next to our neighborhood. Greg and I picked out two flats of vinca, trailing vinca, salvia, petunias, portulaca, and tall grasses that I planted in lovely spring weather on Saturday while the girls all played in a nearby giant mud puddle.

My newly planted pots; here's hoping and praying they'll only get better:

The progress on the side garden Greg has been working on (I love it! It's like a childhood secret garden dream come true. Grace and I go hopping from stone to stone again and again):

The bouquet of dandelions Grace picked for me:

The wild tulip Emma picked for me near the mud puddle:

This Saturday is the big Emma Creek Classic 5k walk/run held right here in our little town. The purpose is to promote fitness for women and girls, so it is an entirely female event, and last year there were over 600 participants. I have jogged one time since, um fall, I think; so I'll be walk/jogging at Abby and Emma's pace (if I can keep up). We're looking forward to it, especially because there is a yummy doughnut and fruit breakfast thing right as you cross the finish line (it is for chicks, after all). We'll miss my mom and sister who have joined us the past two years and the cute "Bluebonnet" team t-shirts we have specially designed for us. Maybe next year.

Mr. Rude and the beautiful day

Today was absolutely gorgeous: warm sun, no wind (major thing for Kansas), green grass, budding and leafing trees... I made my very first from scratch bierocks today. I'm not sure exactly where they originate, but this is a VERY LOCAL thing. We sell them at the coffee shop where I work and they are generally highly sought after wherever they can be found. A bierock is a beef, onion, and cabbage mixture inside delicious, homemade, sweetish dough. Mine came out YUMMY! It felt like a big "living in Kansas" accomplishment.

Tonight was the weekly women's Bible study I'm helping to lead, and it was wonderful. I treasure these women and their openness. I always come into the evening tired after working at the coffee shop from 1-6 and leave refreshed and energized.

Sandwiched in between making bierocks and going to Bible study on this beautiful day was an encounter with MR. RUDE. I truly enjoy my barista job. I love my fellow employees and the delightful people I get to talk with who come into the shop. I love coffee. I love our fabulous bakery items. I didn't so much love MR. RUDE (but I tried).

He walked up to the counter, and I super cheerfully greeted him, "Hi there! How are you doing today?"

He didn't say anything, looked at me with an undefinable expression, and finally held up his hand like the letter "b" in finger spelling and said "That's the best I can do." And then he laughed heartily at his joke.

I had no response to that - at all. So, I smiled and waited quietly for his order.
He ordered.
I rang it up, and told him his total.
The REALLY BIG PROBLEM was that I accidentally hit one wrong key, and so his total was not right. This was a REALLY BIG PROBLEM, because it made him super duper angry.
So super duper angry was he that he yelled right at me very loudly about how when he added up what the cost on the menu board was it came out to..., and he doesn't care what my register told me, and many more super duper angry things. I was feeling quite terribly flustered at the great intensity of his anger, but I began to turn the screen, so we could figure out what I had entered incorrectly together.
This somehow threatened him and made him EXTRA SUPER DUPER ANGRY, so he began yelling that this was MY MISTAKE and I needed to fix MY MISTAKE. This was his favorite saying for awhile.
Until about now, I had not really had much of an opportunity to say anything, because he could not use his ears while his mouth was yelling.
So finally, I said as nicely as my red-faced self could, "I UNDERSTAND THAT I MADE A MISTAKE. I am simply trying to find what it is and thought you could help me identify it."

What is funny is that when I finally said that, he realized something. I don't know exactly what it was, perhaps that I am 35 years old, perhaps that EVERYBODY COULD HEAR HIM, perhaps that maybe he wasn't being very nice. But he back-peddled very much and said all at once, "O that's fine, (smile with lots of icky syrup) all I need is for it to be made right, that's all I ask. Boy it's just beautiful today, isn't it?! Way too pretty to be spending it inside working, huh?! By the way, I hope you don't think I was grumpy at you. I'm not grumpy at all. All I ask is that it be made right, that's it! (BIG, BIG SMILE)"

He then proceeded to put almost the amount that was the difference between my mistake and my "making it right" into the tip container. Go figure!

The moral of the story is "Don't let MR. RUDE spoil a beautiful day," and "Even if I was 17 and a high school dropout, no one should be spoken to that way," and
"Never take your own revenge, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Romans 12:19-20
Okay, slightly out of context, but we did give him a mocha.

The Great Emma Post

THIS IS THE GREAT EMMA POST:

Emma turned 10 on Sunday. She had a small party on Friday (a pseudo sleepover involving pizza, ice cream nachos, fun crafts for their bedrooms, pajamas and watching Pollyanna), then I drove her two guests home at 10:45 to sleep in their own beds).

FUN ROOM CRAFTS:

Here is the scoop on Emma:

FAVORITE DINNER: fish tacos

FAVORITE DESSERT: flan

CURRENT FAVORITE BOOKS: the Lily series by Nancy Rue

INTERESTS: ballet, violin (she had a recital on her birthday), crocheting, sewing, cooking, reading, playing tennis, anything creative, playing with friends

HOBBIES: collecting Breyer horses

FAVORITE MOVIE: The Parent Trap with Haley Mills

FAVORITE BIBLE PASSAGE: Psalm 23

PET PEEVE: tight shorts

CURRENT FAVORITE SONG: They will Know we are Christians by our Love

FAVORITE BANDS: Jars of Clay, Jennifer Knapp

We love you, Emma, and we are so proud of you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!