Go Skins! Beat Dallas (oh yeah!)

This empty nester thing is keeping me much busier than expected. I am wayyyy behind on blogging (again) and must get up to speed.

A couple of weekends ago, we headed to NoVa and stayed at the Rumbaugh Hotel, where Kristy and Matt were kind enough to host us. We were also there to attend the Redskins vs. Dallas game.
By now the entirety of the world should know the Skins beat those pansy Cowboys (girls). Yeah....um how 'bout them Cowboys, again? Ha! Victory is delicious!

For those of you from my McLean Bible Church days, we also went to church there with the Rumbaughs. Danny had never seen Lon in person and was surprised by what he saw. My thought was, "Wow, he's aged." But that is not fair considering I haven't seen the man in 20 years. I've probably aged (a little?) in that time as well.

It was a sweet visit for me to catch up with Kristy. She has been a faithful friend through the years and I am always blessed by the heart she has for others. Her life is plenty busy with her girls Ally and Lexy. You'll see in the pics they are adorable! Matt is working on his MBA at Mason and so he spends lots of time at the library. Like most of our out of town friends, this is a couple we wished lived closer to us :(

As far as the game goes, it was a fun experience. It was my FIRST ever NFL game and although we had fun, it is an environment much to be desired. It is always shocking to "enter into that environment" where rampant drunkenness and debauchery and male ego and hoochie mammas seem to be the norm. In fact, the couple sitting next to us were passed out before the 1st quarter was over.

Its sad to think this kind of experience is not a family event. Expenses not considered, you certainly don't want your daughters (of ANY age) there, or your sons. I don't mean to be catty or crass or terribly critical, but I am appalled by what women of all ages and shapes and sizes are willing to wear in public. Or rather what they are willing NOT to wear. I guess if you have the money to spend on the really, really GOOD seats, you are somewhat "removed" from this scene, but there's no shortage of projection of Redskin cheerleaders showing way too much of their Skin. Save yourself the money and just buy your teenage boys a Playboy instead of spending money on tickets so that they can see the cheerleaders and their booty and boobaliciousness all over the place.

I got some great pictures of McNabb McFabulous (which is still to be entirely proven). He is a smiley man. Also, I was aghast at how HUGE these professional football players are. I had no idea they were all Goliaths. They do not even look human.

Overall we had a great time. I always have a great time with Danny. And no matter what the environment we're in, this man makes sure I am safe. It is such a blessing to be married to your best friend :)

On our way back to Raleigh, we stopped in Richmond and met up with Beth for lunch. As usual it is always a joy to get some Beth time :) !!

P.S. It was a good football weekend also because JMU beat VA Tech!!!

Big Sister, Big Influence

As some of you might remember, I meet weekly with a young lady I call "Kim." (See this post for the back story.) Well, I have spent lots of time with her since that post and we are fast friends, if not more like little sister and big sister.

Yesterday, I picked her up and she spent the day at my place ..... like 8 hours. I enjoy hanging out with her, but usually after about 4 hours or so I am exhausted. Why? It takes a considerable amount of mental and emotional effort to be engaged with her, mostly to explain "life" and how it works.

Simple conversations cannot be taken for granted. What does compassionate mean? What does grateful mean? How do you explain thankful? How do you explain how a mortgage works? How do you explain why I don't need to hang out with "guy friends" now that I am married? All this to a young lady that lives a large part of her life in fear because she knows she's "slow" or "different" and because she just doesn't understand life and how the world works.
Don't get me wrong ...... I love my time with her. She is a joy. But I have a new appreciation for parents of children/adults with mental disabilities or even children with emotional issues. This doesn't even compare to what they might experience. We have a lot of fun together.

"Kim" is in a state of big sister Jacqueline worship. You would think I'd like this, but it makes me increasingly uncomfortable because I know that I must be very careful in how I influence her. She wants the same car I have. But did she want a Toyota Corolla before or after she knew me? She likes how I dress and thinks everything I do is great. She wants to live in my neighborhood and wants to buy a townhouse just like mine.....

There is great responsibility here. I know that my words and actions could sway her in the direction of good or bad (whether intentionally or not). I am praying for wisdom from God as He has created a situation I was not prepared for. This is different than training a child, because she is not a child or my child and I need to treat her as an equal, an adult.

What started out as something that was slightly out of my comfort zone and fun, has turned into a situation I feel a great responsibility for -- I am not complaining. I marvel at the hand of God.

Remember, she is Chinese and was adopted by an American father and Iranian mom. Although she is Chinese, she has been raised Muslim. But she is definitely American in lifestyle.

I love that God is not random. I love that God has assigned her to me to sanctify me. I love that what I expected to be an occasional fun outting has turned into a humbling relationship that requires me to depend on Him because I am accountable to Him.

The Effects of the Fall

If Adam and Eve never sinned, do you think they would be hard bodies at 40? Last night, Danny and I went to our first kickboxing aerobics class together. Another result of empty nesting.

After last night, I am wondering why we didn't sign up for a basket weaving class instead. This class is through the rec center and has about 20 students. Danny is only 1 of 2 men there. The Asian instructor is in her 40s if not older and pretty impressive. With a full on 80s club playlist, we did warm-ups, punches, kicks, etc. We had a good time considering the pain I was in afterwards. Danny loves all things physical excercise-ish.

It was sad to see how out of shape and uncoordinated I am. Sigh.

I could barely walk. There are only so many squats this sista can endure. But it did make me miss my Tae Kwon Do days..... you know, when I was a young 30-something....