Do-Gooders

I haven't read the book this interview refers to, but I was struck by the implications of the topic for Christians.

"They don't feel that they have a choice about whether they should help others or not." Those are words which should be used to describe every single Christ-follower. Every Christ-follower should be known as a do-gooder in some way. Clearly God calls each of us to look and walk differently, but a love of Christ and love for others should be a fairly defining characteristic to the world.

Pictures

Not a lot happening around the Jeongle these days. We went to a Halloween party as a Cereal Killer and a Pig in a Blanket. Julie sent me an adorable cat card which I temporarily decorated my desk at work with, turning me into a full-blown cat lady for a few days. And we've babysat for friends allowing me to watch two of my fav movies, The Muppets and Beauty and the Beast. I promise I don't just TV babysit, we did other stuff too. We read stories, played outside, took a cake break, etc. :-D

Great Day!

I got a raise! Woo hoo! It was totally unexpected, and totally awesome.

I bought ticketS for us to visit my mom, sister, and grandma!!! (And step-dad and grandpa and step-sister and Belgian waffle and Norwegian elkhound... we're visiting a lot of peeps) It's a big deal that Shin is going with me because we didn't think he could. So that's doubly exciting.

And possibly more exciting for me in this moment, I RAN A MILE! Now, you may not think this is a big deal. Shin definitely did not grasp the significance. But basically, my whole life, I've never thought I could just run a mile. I have no problem walking forever. I like walking, nay, I LOVE walking. But I've always thought I hate loathe running.

Tonight I was at the gym with Shin and we literally dragged ourselves there just to walk. I was so sleepy and so tired, I was proud of myself for going just to walk. And every time I'm at the gym I always respect the chicks with tight butts who just run and run and run and run and run for. ev. er. So I was telling Shin that I can only run for like two minutes and then I have to stop or fall dead. At the end of our walking time, I wanted to see how long I could actually run - I assumed it would be like three minutes MAX. I hopped on the treadmill and I just kept going!!! It wasn't easy, but I didn't die! I really didn't die! I ran a whole mile and could have done more, but we had to go and I wasn't mentally prepared to go further than that.

Next time... next time I'm aiming for 1.5 miles. :-D We'll see how this goes.

Anyway, I truly a great day. I hope you had a good one too!

This is my blog post

August is almost over. Shin and I started another TOFEL class. I've been writing a grant for my church's after school tutoring program.

We went to Atlanta and visited my dad one weekend and went to GA aquarium. My friend from Atl visited me for the first time in Montgomery and we ate delicious red velvet cupcakes.

I have been tutoring and actually increased my hours even though I'd rather decrease. We've been driving across town, picking up 4 kids, bringing them to church, and taking them home every Wednesday. I'm now an AWANA scripture listener.

I cried at work at something because I have unreasonable expectations of myself and fears of being reprimanded. My boss is wonderful and I overreacted entirely. I am helping plan our upcoming staff retreat.

Our roommates moved out and our house is all ours again. We steam vacuumed the house and I love it being clean.

I started a Bible study with my friend an my sister. It's slow going. My sister moved VERY FAR AWAY to Montana.

God is good. I should write more focused posts more often. This has been too much.

SHIN TURNS 32 ON SUNDAY!!!!!

Olympics 2012

YAAAY!!! The Olympics are here!!! So the opening ceremony was kind of weird to me, but anything featuring Kenneth Branagh is weird. I still got all weepy when I watched the all the volunteers perform. I'm a sap for any event that looks like tons of hard work went into choreographed movement and scripted talent (Russian Folk Dancing Performance, Fiddler on the Roof, Mamma Mia, Nanta). My favorite part was definitely Mr. Bean, the petal torches folding up into a massive torch, and Paul McCartney's close. I also teared up when I watched the Parade of Nations. Not the whole parade, but occasional feelings of awe and pride wash over me when I see tiny teams from tiny countries who are just SO EXCITED to be there. I waved back at Barack and Michelle when they were waving at the team. They probably didn't see me.

I'm really looking forward to this afternoon's swimming matches. I was a bit crushed when I woke up this morning to learn that Park Taehwan was DQed in his 400m. But, I've just learned that he's back in the race, so I'm very excited to see who's going to win!

*Update- Park Taehwan won silver!!!
The only thing is that the Olympics makes me miss my friends and family who love to watch it. Go here to watch all the events LIVE!

Just One of Those Days

This is an incredibly true story...

I woke up and went to work Wednesday morning, with one clear goal. I wanted to use a one-day only Old Navy coupon to get some discount capris and a cute, free tote.

I got to take my lunch early in the morning, go check the mail, and head on over to Old Navy. As I left the post office, I realized I didn't have my wallet ($ & DL). I called Shin, he looked around the house and couldn't find it. I headed home - NOT on the way to Old Navy. Looked around for my wallet. I couldn't find it as my lunch hour slowly ticked away. I called my work and asked my boss to look in my desk- it was there. Also NOT on the way to Old Navy.

Well, I grabbed my old wallet from home that had my temporary *paper* license and my Old Navy credit card in it. I asked Shin which way he thought would be fastest to get to Old Navy, he suggested a main thoroughfare and not a backroad. I left and took the backroad- I thought it would be fastest due to less traffic.

I rounded the corner on my way to the store and a police officer came out of the woods on a motorcycle. I slowed down to let him go catch the car in front of me that he was clearly racing after. I was wrong. He pointed at me and directed me to the curb. I was definitely speeding as I had already wasted 10 minutes on the wallet. Unfortunately, I didn't have my DL with me! I explained to him that I only had the temporary one as I was going back to work to get my real one. Thankfully, he accepted it and was patient with me while I searched through every single piece of paper in the glovebox until I came to the last scrap of paper that was my insurance. He quickly wrote me a ticket for going 21 mph over the speed limit.

I drove off in shame to my stupid Old Navy capris. I called Shin to let him know what had happened and he reminded me that I hadn't obeyed his advice. Fortunately, I have an awesome husband who wasn't mad at me, he just liked informing me that he was right. As I approached Old Navy, Shin asked me where his keys were. I looked in the seat next to me to realize I had both sets of keys. He was stranded at home (late for work) until I could get his keys back to him.

Now I had to race into Old Navy and rush back to the house all before my lunch hour was up! I only had 30 minutes left to get the pants, checkout, run home, and get back to work. The capris had been moved around since the last time I was in the store, but I was able to find them, find my size, and jump in line. The checkout took MUCH longer than I wanted, but I still got out of there with just enough time to get home.

I called Shin on my way home and asked him to grab me a nectarine out of the fridge and meet me in the driveway to exchange for his keys. He kindly agreed and was standing outside when I pulled up.

***Let's step away from this scene for a moment and rewind a couple hours earlier in the morning. At work, we all were just given pepper spray by my Executive Director (for our safety as independent women out and about). I decided to test my pepper spray so I could feel comfortable with it when I put it on my keychain. It was fairly anticlimactic. The pepper spray shot off like it was supposed to. The only problem was that it drizzled down my hand as I let up off the trigger. I went inside and washed my hands a couple times. There was still a bit of a tingle, but no major problems. Now, back to the story.***

I drove off from the house towards my work and was actually going to make it on time- miracle! As I pulled out of the neighborhood, I thoughtlessly rubbed at a slight discomfort in my left eye. My eye immediately burst into flames and exploded out of my face.

As tears streamed from my eye, I attempted to see, keep driving, and look at the clock, I really needed relief. I knew it would take just as long to turn around and go back home as it would to keep going to my work. I didn't have any water, eyedrops, or ice near me. I grabbed the chilled nectarine next to me and shoved it in my eyeball, continuing on to work. I wear glasses, by the way. No simple trick to drive straight, keep the right lens on the eye, and keep a nectarine on the left eye. I laughed out loud the whole way back to the office as I tried not to rear-end anyone in front of me.

I pulled into the parking lot all crazy-lady style and parked my car diagonally like those people nobody likes. I ran out of the vehicle, nectarine on eye, liquid (tears? juice?) running down face, with cute tote holding capris, phone, and keys. I got into my office, ran to the bathroom to wash my eyeball, and had to explain everything to my boss who watched me stumble into the building... she also took the picture below. Oh, I made it on time and I did get eyeball relief after a thorough washing.

So, several morals to my lengthy story: 1. Keep your wallet with you when you go out. 2. Only take your keys with you. 3. Listen to your husband's driving instructions. 3. Don't speed. 4. Don't touch your face after using pepper spray, no matter how well you washed your hands. 5. Thank God for this crazy life, and that this doesn't happen every day.

P.S. I learned from my cop neighbor that I can probably go to traffic school and it will keep my very first speeding ticket off my record and from increasing my insurance.

My cyst

So, I've been hesitant to post about this because I fear people will make a bigger deal than they should. But I'd like to update concerned friends, coworkers, and family in one convenient place (Facebook) and I feel like an explanation is necessary. To answer a few questions you may have:

1. The cyst itself does not hurt and it's not cancerous, I'm having it removed because it is 2x2x1 cm and it's difficult to wear any shoe that covers my foot.

2. I've had this done before (3 years ago). It's genetic and it will possibly come back. Hopefully in longer than 3 years.

3. My surgery is at 1:30pm on Fri, June 15 in Montgomery. I should be home by 6pm. Shin will be with me. The actual operation should only be 30 min. I will be anesthetized (which is why pre-op and post-op take longer than surgery).

4. I shouldn't need crutches, although I do have a pair just in case. I will probably have to wear a special shoe for a few days. I plan to go back to work Tuesday, possibly Wednesday if I'm just super tired or something.

5. I am not worried about the operation as much as I'm afraid of being super hungry. I can't eat ANYTHING from midnight tonight until after surgery. I've had surgery before, but I've never gone that long without anything to eat.

6. I know that makes me a whiney, pudgy American who has no concept of what most of the world lives like AND a Christian with no concept of fasting.

7. I'm going to eat as big a meal as I can handle as late as possible tonight. :-D looking forward to that.

8. I am also looking forward to sitting and not doing anything for days.

9. I know points 7. and 8. also sound a lot like something a pudgy American might say.

The end.

What a Sap

So Shin and I have signed up for the free trial month of Netflix. Before it runs out, we're streaming every documentary of anything we have the slightest interest in. When Shin took his Sunday afternoon nap, I settled in with Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey. It's extremely rare for me to watch anything by myself, but I knew he wouldn't want to watch it with me (I was right).

Anyway, I watched Sesame Street and Muppets as a kid, but don't have any huge attachment to Elmo. I don't have any memories of liking Elmo specifically. I was just curious about a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street. Nonetheless, the movie made me cry. It was the part when I learned that meeting Elmo is the dying wish of terminally ill children. And Elmo hugs and kisses them and they LOVE it. By the end of the film I had tears AND sniffles.

Sigh. All I can say is that I'm a bigger sap than I realized. And I recommend the film, although it's a little slow at parts.

Movie info: http://beingelmo.com/