Monday, May 5, 2008

MY DAY

Rejoice always. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16

This morning I got dressed and walked into Ethan's room where Jim was helping Ethan get dressed for the day. I asked them if my outfit looked OK. Jim said , "Yes." Ethan said, "No." Then he said, "I have a brain injury. I can't lie. But Dad can." For those of you that don't know Ethan, or that haven't spent much time around him, both statements are true. Ethan does have a brain injury and he has a hard time NOT telling the truth. It is very interesting to live with some one who has a hard time lying. Remember the movie with Jim Carrey called, "Lair, Liar"? I will admit that I have caught him in a few untruths lately which means he is continuing to improve. That is definitely something to rejoice about. I also can rejoice that until Ethan relearns how to be a little more tactful (lie), I will always have an honest and objective opinion about the way I look. He is better than a full-length mirror any day of the week! There aren't too many full-length mirrors that can be called miracles!

I was on my way to get my hair trimmed, and I stopped to talk to Jim in the driveway. Jim looked down and told me not to move. About 6 inches from my foot crawled the biggest and fattest, brown skink you have ever seen. This thing looked like a baby dinosaur. I hate lizards and I hate skinks even more.


This is what he looked like.

When we first moved into this house last July, Ethan and I were here alone while Jim continued to put things in storage. I walked into the kitchen and there was a 10 inch black skink crawling on my kitchen floor. I sat on my couch for 2 hours without moving. Poor Ethan. I wouldn't even get up to get him something to drink. When Jim got home and I told him about it, his look told me he thought I was exaggerating. Until... he saw it. You would not believe the yelling and banging going on in the kitchen. Fortunately, Jim won. It would have been expensive to stay in a motel.

Several days later, I walked down to visit my aunts who live down the street. We shared our horror stories about lizards and skinks. I came home, walked into my utility room, and saw a tail and two legs sticking out from under the spare refrigerator. I lost it. Literally, lost it. Jim at that point realized this was a real phobia and he better do something fast. After moving the washer, dryer and refrigerator out of the utility room, he found the critter. He also found the hole under the dryer vent that must have been screaming, "Skinks welcome! The bigger, the better!" He sealed the hole, and that's the next thing I have to rejoice about. The dinosaurs, I mean skinks, continue to stay outside instead of inside.

One more thing abut skinks. Last summer I googled: how to kill skinks. Do you know what kind of sites came up? Not how to kill skinks, but how to make your skinks thrive. How to make your skinks a garden. How to make your skinks feel like a pet. Sick people out there. Sick people. Jim, being the nature lover that he is, would never let me kill them. But I'd like to try.


I went to get my hair trimmed today and tried to be very specific about what I wanted. "Just a little shorter for summer. Maybe a little off here and a little off there. Don't want it cut close to my head. Don't want it to look like it is fixed." I was proud of myself for being very specific and straightforward. Wow! It felt really good taking the risks off the table. Well, obviously I only thought these words or my hairdresser didn't hear them. Within about ten seconds, my hair was gone. I mean gone. Unless, it was "opposite day" and no one told me, there had been a drastic breakdown in communication. Ya'll, this is really bad. I have a big head and if there is anything that makes it look bigger, it is not having any hair on it! However, it is a good haircut. I can tell by running my fingers through it or well, maybe running a finger through it. Which means it will grow out OK. I rejoice in the fact that it will grow. I rejoice that I did not have a breakdown in the salon. I rejoice for "root pump" and "hair wax." I can rejoice that my electric curlers and my straightening iron will last much longer, as they won't be getting any use in the near future. There is nothing to curl and nothing to straighten. I've already tried! I rejoice that it's just hair.

I also rejoice that God gave me an opportunity to apologize to the nice lady I cut off in the parking lot while I was on my cell phone, whining to Jim about my hair.

I came home and decided to rake some oak leaves. This yard has very little grass and I love grass. I raked and raked. I think I thought raking would make my hair grow. I raked me some really nice, fat blisters on my hands. I also got a huge splinter in my finger which Jim can't wait to operate on. But guess what I found under all the oak leaves? No. Not more skinks. Grass. Real green grass. Rejoice! Rejoice!

I know this post seems totally trivial. And in the big, or even small, scheme of things, it is. But what makes it not trivial is the fact that I shared it with Jim, Ethan and now, you. People that I love and people that love me. Another thing that makes this day totally amazing is the fact that the Creator of the universe, the One who will make all wrongs right, the One who died for my sins and has removed them as far as the east is from the west, well, He spent the day right beside me. That's pretty amazing. He loves me. This silly, vain, skink-hating, hair-loving child of His. That is something to rejoice about!

6 comments:

  1. I always enjoy reading your blogs. You are so blessed to have such a wonderful sense of humor. I have prayed for many years that God would give me a sense of humor, and I actually had a total stranger say to me on the phone the other day. "You have a great sense of humor." Wow! Maybe God is answering that prayer. In the meantime, I certainly do enjoy your sense of humor which so often expresses itself through your blogs. Thanks for Sharing.

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  2. I love it! I loved reading this blog. keep 'em coming!

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  3. Great Blog. Makes the picture come alive. I want a picture of the new non-hair do. LOVE YOU MaryLois

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  4. I can relate, maybe not on the skinks bu on the bad haircut! I had a horrible one the summer before my senior year. I wore a hat for 3 months (LITERALLY)! It was awful, since then I have been very leery of getting my haircut.

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  5. Ok, I must confess...I had to look up "skink." I've never heard of such a critter and I certaintly hope I never see one! Another praise Cheri, you came out of the skink attack without severe bloodshed.

    The last bad hair cut I had I think I cried for a week. Brian thought I was nuts...afterall I have more hair than he could ever dream of having.

    I do think I would rather have a bad hair cut than to have a run in with one of those skinks!

    God really is so great tho. I echo all your praises and have lots more to add, but not on this blog.

    See you Sunday my darlin!
    Gem

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  6. I made the mistake of getting a hair cut the day before we left to go to Valdosta. Thank heavens hair grows. I love your thoughts today.

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