Customer Service

Today I tried to refill some prescriptions from our mail-order pharmacy. As I am about to do this on-line, I realize my son has only 11 pills left and we are leaving on vacation on Saturday for a week. So I call the customer service phone number to ask if it is possible to have them shipped to our house by Friday. As I begin to explain the situation to Helen she interrupts me to say, "On the bottle it says you can order as early as June 26 so you don't run into this kind of situation."

I don't remember exactly what I said in response to this...something like "Thanks" or "I see"...but I know my voice was dripping with sarcasm. What I was thinking was...Do you think I am an idiot. I obviously see that I missed the boat here and I don't really need you to reprimand me for it. What I am looking for here is some help!

The answer is no, Helen cannot help me. I need to call our doctor and have him send in a 30-day script to the local pharmacy that I can get this week.

You gotta love "customer service"! *written in my most sarcastic tone*

The definition of insanity

So after much searching and praying and worrying and beating myself up, I found my wedding band. And I found it as I thought I would. I was just going about my business when it showed up. I was stripping Luke's bed and the ring fell out of his blanket onto the floor by my feet. I was so relieved and grateful.

In the process I found that Albert Einstein's definition of insanity is very true! Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I looked in the same four places at least 3 times each this week. I was getting so frustrated and feeling hopeless. I'm not sure why I never thought to look on Luke's bed - he suggested it the night it went missing but for some reason I didn't think it could possibly be there. Boy was I wrong!

Thanks God for bringing it back to me. I know several of my friends were praying for it to be found. Thank you dear friends.

Laura's Rules for Running

1. Stretch before running.
2. Be sure to use the bathroom right before running.
3. Run on the shady side of the road even if this means zig-zagging a bit.
4. Don't just run the 1/2 mile loop around the neighborhood over and over since its too tempting to quit early in front of the house when tired.
5. Enjoy the wildlife, ie: flowers, rabbits, birds. (Watching a muskrat run away is very comical with it's little tail sticking up as it's back end bounces up and down.)
6. Skip songs that may be demotivating, like "Its the End of the World as We Know It" or "Another One Bites the Dust". Stick with motivating songs such as, "All Things are Possible".
7. When finished with the run take the shortest route home, even if this means cutting through your neighbors' backyards.
8. Stretch and drink plenty of water when finished running.

I've lost it

I've lost my wedding band. It gnawing at me. I think its somewhere in my house but have yet to find it. About a month ago I looked down at my engagement ring to see that the diamond was missing. It was missing for about 1 1/2 hours and then, thanks to God, I found it on the living room carpet. My wedding band has been missing for 24 hours now.

I've been searching around the house for it all day. At one point I thought I found it inside our sofa. I called my husband to rejoice with me. Then I cut open the bottom of the sofa. It turns out it was a Mexican coin - 5 pesos. (don't ask where it came from or how it got there because I have no idea) I was bitterly disappointed.

I find when things like this happen that I am superstitious. Maybe that's not the right word, but I wonder if God is trying to tell me something. Like maybe I am being careless with my marriage and taking it for granted. I don't know. I'm probably reading too much into it. But I am praying that God will bring my wedding band back to me.

looking for some running partners

So I have officially signed myself up to run in a 5k at the end of July. Its not the first 5k I've ever run in but I am trying really hard to stick with a 'training schedule' this time so I feel ready to run it. (although the adrenaline rush when I finish a race is just as good even if I'm not totally prepared ahead of time!)

I have only run in two other 5k races ever (and these were in the past year). One I trained somewhat for and one I intended to walk but decided to try a slow jog with a friend at the last minute and amazed myself that I ran almost the entire race. I actually am not very athletically inclined at all but the old body is beginning to decline and I want to be healthy and strong as I age.

So I am asking a few of my friends to be my running 'partners' as I train. To be a running partner you do not have to run with me while I am training or run in this 5k race or even run at all. If you could just cheer me on and ask me how I am doing with my training that would be excellent! (although I LOVE that Lauren is willing to run with me at my slow, short-legged pace once a week!) Another option as 'running partners' is to sponser me $10 - I need to raise at least $100 to enter for Young Life. (I'm close and would love to raise over $100.)

So for those of you who are on board here's my schedule this week. On Tuesday I am to run for 8 minutes, walk 2 minutes and repeat 4 times for a total of 40 minutes. (I did this Saturday and that last 8 minutes just about killed me!) Thursday and Saturday I am going to attempt to run 10 minutes, walk 2 minutes and repeat 4 times for a total of 48 minutes. It will be a minor miracle if I actually complete these 48 minute runs. Thankfully, I should be able to run the 5k in under 40 minutes, I'm aiming for about 35.

Thanks for all your encouragement and support my friends!

Digital vs film

I don't like digital cameras. I prefer using my 35mm. The photos come out so much better, clearer, crisper. And I can't stand that the digital cameral doesn't actually 'take' the picture until about 2 seconds after I push the button. When I am trying to capture a moment with a young boy, this just doesn't work well. Or when I was trying to get a photo of a dolphin as it briefly came to the surface of the ocean, this definitely didn't work. We called these photos 'where wildlife was'.

I just got some film developed that has been sitting in my camera for almost a year. I was using the digital more because I can see them instantaneously and upload them onto my computer and all those other features that are supposed to make digital cameras state of the art. But now that I've seen these photos, I am thinking that I will go back to my 35mm. I like the quality so much better. And I like holding the photos in my hand better than looking at them on a computer screen. (I know - I could print the digital photos, but who keeps up with that?) And when I get my film developed, I also have the photos put on a cd so I can have them on my computer too! I'm just afraid that pretty soon there won't be any place to buy or develop film anymore!

These are from our vacation on Saranac Lake last summer. I love how the sunlight falls in each photo. BTW, it was an amazing vacation for our family!

Sam chillin' on the hammock.

Jay down by the dock.

James and Luke fishing.