funny apartment listing

Although Katie and I have decided on a new apartment, I still enjoy perusing through Craigslist.com. It's so addicting! So I was browsing through apartments and I came across one that made me laugh a little.

I am offering my basement for rent which is a small one bedroom apartment....
Do not miss this opportunity..... The house is located in the Petworth area...
Most of neighbors are young marrigments or old people, and always you can find a parking spot on the street.
Love Perseus.
Marijuana lovers stay away( Smokers in general ).


Who signs their advertisements with love?!! "Hey, I'm renting my apartment...Love April." So weird, and the name Perseus really makes it sound great!
You can read the full post here.

update!

My car is back!!!

Yesterday Kevin gave me a ride home from work. As we were driving down the street to my apartment I noticed my car parked right out front. The thief stole the car, and then returned it. Who does that?!

There was no damage. They didn't rummage around, they didn't steal anything at all. They just needed to borrow it I guess. They returned it to the street, right where they got it, and they even locked the doors again for me. How nice! I'm concerned because I think they have a key that works with my car.

It was comical trying to explain everything to the Police Officer again. It all just seems so bizarre, maybe a little fishy.

I'm very VERY thankful that my car was returned safely. But I'm also a little worried that they might borrow it again.

So dear friends...send me your ideas! What kind of person do you think borrowed my car? What story should I believe?

my car was stolen

My car was stolen yesterday.

Whilst baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies, some ugly stupid bandit took my car. It was 1:00 in the afternoon, right in front of my apartment, kids playing in the schoolyard next door, my neighbor pulling weeds out of his garden, traffic rushing both ways....and somehow the brave and mean person made off with my car. Not cool!

So after the inconvenient hassle of calling 911, waiting more than an hour for the police to arrive at my apartment, and then calming myself down, I reminded myself that while I nervously wonder if I'll ever see or drive my car again...there's really nothing I can do about it. I just have to wait. I just have to deal with whatever happens. The only thing I CAN do is check my emotions.

In an effort to keep myself in a cheerful mood I have been imagining possible scenarios for the thief. My friends have been helping me.

Possibility Number 1: (creatively constructed by Kenton)
Susie just got word that her mother is in the hospital after a tragic accident. She needs to get to the other side of the state as quickly as possible so that she can see her mother in her last moments of life. How will she ever make it in time? The bus isn't going to come for another 20 minutes! Oh wait!!! There's a fine looking car right there! She always wanted to know what it was like to drive a Ford Taurus Station Wagon! And just the other day her big brother Bobby taught her how to hotwire an engine. While stealing is wrong, my loss may have helped a young girl see her mother for the last time.


Possibility Number 2: (creatively constructed by Chris)
The thief is actually the most nationally WANTED sex predator Bruno Thunder. The dumb guy took MY CAR! And when the police find him, Oprah is going to find out about my heroic loss! It will be because of MY CAR that this predator will be caught. And then I'm going to be on TV and Oprah is going to give me brand spankin new car and probably some money too like $100,000.000! Wow, I'm so lucky!


Possibility Number 3:
(you fill in the blank--send me your ideas)


On a serious note, this has made me stop and think again about "stuff" and how easy it is to become dependant upon my possessions. I started to think about what my reaction would have been if something else would have happened. What if my house was burglarized? What if my cat was harmed? What if my laptop was stolen? The things we accumulate in our lives can be very valuable. I am thankful for the privilege to have a car, or to be able to live on my own or to have a good job in a great city. But when I took the bus to the coffee shop to vent my frustrations, and when I had to depend on some friends to give me a ride home, I was reminded again how beautiful this gift of community and family and love can be. God provides for our needs even when we feel like things are being taken away from us. Well....even when things ARE taken away from us. It is okay that I am annoyed. It is okay that I feel inconvenienced. It would even be okay if I needed to cry, or if I was mad. But it's okay BECAUSE I know that God will provide. And if I didn't believe in God...I'd still find a way to be comforted. I could calm myself down by refocusing or by the encouragement of other people. But it is exciting to me to watch my life move forward and around, and to know that there's a bigger picture.

Okay, well I'm rambling. For those of you who believe in God, and if you believe that God answers prayers, please pray....


....for my Dad. It's really HIS car. Pray that he can feel at peace until we figure out the damage, and still at peace if there's more damage than we expect.

.... for the person/people who stole the car. Pray that they would learn that stealing is wrong.

....for me, so that I will feel safe.

...for my car :-) Please pray that we find it soon.

visual DNA

Hey, this is really cool! It's amazing how much visual icons can express your personality!

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

This describes me very accurately!

As for music, it's the soundtrack to your world. It gives you focus and concentration.

Your choice of drink reflects your love of the stability and comfort of routine.

almost perfectly beautiful

Well, I already told this story to a few people so forgive me if this post is lacking in my usual original and exciting flair :-)

So last week I had the great honor of participating in a women's conference held here in Milwaukee. It was a conference for business women, organized by our firm, and hosted by many amazingly successful women. There was a cocktail party at first where over 300 women gathered together, and then everyone split off into many different groups for dinner and discussion on various topics like Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Science, Government etc. My job...."registration and coat check". Yes, I'm living quite the prestigious life!

So after I had everyone registered and directed to their dinner I was invited to join the Women in Government discussion. It was incredible! We sat around the dinner table in a beautiful lakeview condo and listened as current and former Wisconsin Women Senator's gave their input into women in governmental leadership. It was so fascinating and inspiring!!! The food we ate was so gourmet that I don't even know what it was! I'll just call it "yum!".

So after a riveting discussion, and maybe a little too much wine, we broke for dessert. I stood up and started to head towards the desert buffet and I was cornered by a woman who acted as if she had been drinking wine since breakfast time.
She said, "Darling...you are gorgeous!!!". I smiled and said, "Well...thank you!"
And then she said, "But I'd like to give you some fashion advice."
So proceeded to tell me that my skirt was too long. It made me look short and frumpy. And my suit jacket should be a brighter color (instead of black). And I should show some cleavage because after all....flaunt what you have! And my eyebrows need a good waxing, and high heels would compliment my very very sexy legs.
I could hardly keep from laughing. I just commented in agreement as if she were a wise older mentor.
And then she said, "I watch this show every week on TLC, it's called What Not To Wear". At that, about 5 other women gathered around me to continue commenting on my fashion (or lack thereof) and how my outfit would totally serve as a great example for the show.

I was very amused! Of course I can always use some good fashion help, and if I had an appropriate budget I would thoroughly enjoy a day with a personal shopper. But how funny it was to be singled out by a group of highly successful drunken women! It was an evening to remember forever!

After a long days work, some fascinating discussion, an amazing meal, fine wine, and a little social entertainment...I slept very very well that night!

pictures

This is proof that April went running.

Actually, it's really a picture I took of myself to try to be cool.


Dude, what's up with my hair?


This picture was taken facing West.




This picture was taken from the same place facing East.



The ice is breaking up in the water. It looked pretty cool.

Lake Michigan is a great comfort to me.

running is stupid anyway

Today after church I had this great desire to go running. Those of you who know me well, know that I HATE running. I think it is terrible torture, and extremely boring.
But for some reason, today seemed like a good running day.

So I went down to the lake, and took off running down the path.
That lasted about 5 minutes. Whew...what a workout!

No, really, my feet were in so much pain I almost cried. My running turned into walking, which turned into me finally coming to terms with the fact that I will probably never be able to run any distance w/o pain. I hate admitting there is something that I cannot do, but maybe I just need to find more joy in the things I CAN do....like power walking.

Today was a gorgeous day to be outside. I walked for over an hour through the park. Spring is in the air! The ice on lake Michigan is melting into mini glaciers. There were families out walking. There were puppies everywhere. There were little kids riding their bikes with training wheels. There were people flying kites. I even saw a caterpillar! And then I stepped in a huge pile of animal crap. That wasn't so lovely.

I am so thankful for fresh air, for the privilege of living here in a city that is beautiful. I am thankful for the ability to walk (instead of jogging) and for a great Sunday afternoon of free-time.

Tomorrow I will post pictures that I took throughout my afternoon.

Happy Sunday, Happy Spring!

more thoughts on sacramental living

....and I'm back! I'm drugged up on DayQuil, but I'm here! :-)

I am still thinking about sacramental living. I am fascinated by moments that bring me closer to something inside of myself. Are those moments bringing me closer to God? For my earlier thoughts, please see my post from a few days ago.

My friend Jasie posted some thoughts on sacramental living.Please read her entry, it's very very good!

I received a letter from a dear friend yesterday. It was a letter full of humble honesty. My friend said, "I hesitate to share this, in fear that you will think less of me..." and I had to stop reading. I just sat there. I wasn't afraid of what I would read. I wasn't afraid of being disappointed. I thought, "How could I think less of you?" The letter continued to speak something more profound than words could utter. The letter was beautiful.

That connection, that sharing, that honesty is sacred to me. Those are the moments I live for. Those are the moments where I am reminded of what it means to be human, and to seek after my God. Those are moments when I am reminded that I am not alone in my humanity. Those are moments when we human beings sparkle with holiness.

Why do we fear that our honesty will cause rejection? Why do we fear that this pure connection will make us feel stained? It doesn't matter if our confessions are right or wrong or justified or embarrassing or huge or dark or mediocre. Friend to friend, soul to soul, heart to heart, seeker to seeker....we come together with this one huge thing in common--We have the ability to be real, to be plainly human. Let us not forsake this great gift. As we make room for these sacramental moments, we truly truly catch a glimpse of who God is, and who he created us to be.

Thanks for listening.

entertainment

Yes....I'm still sick, but I don't have any more stupid stories. yet.

Meanwhile, when I'm not sleeping, I'm entertaining myself with my new favorite website.

Guaranteed laughs await you.

www.askaninja.com
Enjoy! And when I'm feeling better, I'll write some more substantial stuff.

being sick makes me air-headed

I am really sick this week. YUCK! My head is so clogged up, I think it's also preventing my brain from functioning properly.
I thought I would entertain you with some of my actions these past few days.


-Yesterday morning, my sister wrote me an email and asked how my day was going. I replied to her with this long, drawn out, whiney, and gross email about my head being full of sickness slime, my voice sounding like a young boy going through puberty, and how I just wanted to go home and sleep but I can't breathe therefore I can't sleep....blah blah blah. And then instead of sending the email to her, I accidentally sent it out to all of my coworkers. So the catering department, the concierge service, all the other receptionists....they got my lovely nasty email. I was so embarassed! I was quite relieved that I didn't say anything totally inappropriate, because it wouldn't have surprised me.

-I have been walking around carrying my hot water bottle like a new born infant. I know you aren't supposed to fill it with boiling water, but I do. Last night I took it to bed with me and accidentally fell asleep with my leg on top of it. I have a huge burn blister on my leg now. Nice!

-Yesterday when I got home from work and I stood at my apartment door for a good 10 minutes trying to get the damn door open. Seriously, for some reason my key would NOT work!!! After a long time I realized I was trying to open the door with my car key. Oops.

-Last night I was hungry and the only thing that sounded appetizing was a bowl of cereal and some toast. So I poured my bowl of cereal and when my toast was done I took it out so I could butter it. And then for some reason I put the butter in my cereal instead.

Today is a new day!


Oh, and this morning I decided that I am changing my New Year's Resolution from:

"Make my bed every day"
to "Make my bed more often".

I like that better!

Happy Friday to you all! Best wishes to you for good health and smartness!