A running list of things I'm thankful for

High time I started recognizing this stuff. I am thankful that:

My husband took care of my three fish that died
He doesn't let me carry laundry up the stairs if he can help it
He kills creepy crawly things for me
He holds me when I cry

My dog still makes me smile
Days are sunny
Pizza is a part of my life
Chapala Mexican Restaurant exists
A&W makes such fabulous diet sodas

More to come...

The great hair debate of 2008

As usual after six months, I am bored with my hair. I have loved my current hair cut for around six months and have gotten SO many compliments on it. But alas, my love for it is fleeting. I've wanted to try really short hair for a while now and I need some good opinions. :)

I fell in love with Holly Kiser's hair on Make Me a Supermodel. It's daring, edgy, feminine...all the things I've always strived for in my hair.

So...I need votes. Anyone think this is a good idea? I'm probably going to do it anyway...or something similar.

My love affair with TIME magazine

Just when I think the magazine can't get any better...

A while back I wrote about my deep concerns about adolescent obesity. Coincidently, TIME magazine's newest issue focuses on this topic for their cover story! It is a fascinating read.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine

Branson trip

Thought I would update everyone on the rest of our trip.

After probably 30 hours in Bolivar, our car was fixed (and paid for!) and we headed to Branson Friday afternoon praying that our car would not have trouble again. We made it and we had no other car troubles after that.

Friday night we ate at the Fall Creek Steakhouse. Someone had told us it closed, but we drove by anyway because...holy cow they throw rolls at you. :) We arrived expecting it to be closed, but it was open, in a huge new building. Apparently the old one had burned. We were very excited and needed this relief after the previous day. We waited about 25 minutes or so only to be underwhelmed by the food. It was boring and seemed mass produced. Glenn had ribs and they were not good. I had soup and what was supposedly a wonderful salad bar. Yeah, I had some lettuce, cheese, sesame seeds and dressing. Boring. The only fruit on the salad bar was pineapple. Great. The only fruit I can't eat. Thanks. So we were disappointed, but still thankful just to be settling in.

After a much needed good night's sleep, the next day we experienced the fabulous breakfast at our hotel and set out early in our hiking clothes to hike some trails. The guy at the hotel told us to go to Dogwood Canyon because this place I had found on the Internet (Lakeside Wilderness Area at Lake Tanycomo) he hadn't heard of. So we headed to Dogwood. We had hiked this before with my mom and brother and it is gorgeous! However, after probably an hour of driving to get there, a sign stopped us dead in our tracks. No pets. :( Our whole purpose for hiking was to get the dog out of the hotel room and have some fun. We love hiking with Frankie. We were devastated. This trip just wasn't being realized the way we imagined. So we headed back toward Branson a different direction. We decided to try and find the lakeside trail, which by the way, was not known by the hotel attendant OR a gas station attendant. We didn't find it either. We did stop at Table Rock Park or whatever it was called and ate lunch and walked around a bit. The water was beautiful. But this is where we discovered that a majority of the trails were flooded over because the water was so high. that was disappointing.

We left and drove around downtown to see the new modern area. It is so different, according to Glenn. I don't remember it enough to know the difference.

We got cleaned up at the hotel and headed out to the World's Largest Toy Museum that afternoon. It was fantastic! I wanted to go more, but I think ultimately Glenn enjoyed it more. After that we headed to the Dinosaur Museum and although we had fun taking silly pictures, it was underwhelming. I was really looking forward to it as most people don't know I really wanted to be a paleontologist when I was a kid. Crazy. I know. Can you imagine me digging in the desert? Anyway, on the way to the museum we stopped and had a little piece of Heaven in Branson: funnel cake, topped with strawberries, topped with ice cream. It might be the most fantastic thing I have ever eaten. :) We ate the whole thing and we were so full!

That night we decided to try and find an authentic Mexican restaurant and we did! El Portal on 76 is a fantastic place with great peach daquiris. We got our fill of Mexican (on our already full stomachs!) and went home to sleep the night away. We also tried to see the new Noah the Musical this night, but it was sold out ALL weekend. :( Guess we should have gotten tickets earlier.

Sunday was our shopping day...OK, MY shopping day. We went to the infamous (that's when you're more than famous) Tanger Outlet Mall only to find most of the stores gone and the ones left were not for us. The Gap was gone, so that was disappointing. We headed to The Landing, Branson's new east side, to peruse the new shops there. I found a Charlotte Russe and Maurices! I was in Heaven and finally found a pair of dark jeans and a couple of shirts. I was really hoping Glenn could find some clothes, but alas, not very many grown up boy places to shop. It was sad.

After shopping, we took a nap (it wears you out you know...) and relaxed until our 5 p.m. show. We had free tickets from our hotel to see the Bart Rocket Show. He does comedy, magic and ventriliquism. We weren't that excited about going, but hey, it was free. And it was fantastic! I definitely recommend Bart Rocket to everyone. He is great. His ventriliquism was some of the best I've seen and he was so funny! His 2-year-old son also came out at the end and did a booty shake to some Justin Timberlake. It was adorable.

We stayed an extra day to make up for the one we lost on the way in. So, Monday we slept in and made the thankfully uneventful trip home. Frankie was an angel in the car. He slept a lot and just did so well. He was pampered at Boxcar Willie Hotel with fancy dog bowls and a home made treat every morning! We really enjoyed having him with us on this trip. Through all the stress he was comforting and mostly calm. We truly appreciate this and love our dog very much!

So all in all, it was a good trip. We always love the laid-back and friendly setting of Branson. Setbacks will always be there, but we have grown as a couple and continue to fall more in love through all situations. I saw a side of my husband that I haven't seen much: He took control of our bad situations when I was crumbling. I dearly love my husband. And just for him I say: Shoji Tabuchi. And from now on you can call us the Swarzeneggers. HA! (we're trying to come up with a new name to give at restaurants as Shipps doesn't work so well and Glenn sounds like too many other things)

From back in KC...peace and love...and good car fortune.

Vacation woes and God's traveling mercy

Today, Glenn and I (and Frankie) left for a short trip to Branson. We knew it would be a risk driving my 9-year-old car, but we couldn't justify, nor afford a rental. So we took the risk. Everything was going great. We stopped at the Osceola Cheese Factory, picked up some cherry white cheddar (some of the best cheese I've ever had, and I've had a lot of cheese!), and headed out for our last leg.

Just north of Springfield, about an hour and a half north of Branson, our car started sputtering. Thank GOD we were near an off ramp and we just made it off the highway on top of an overpass when the car died. We coasted to the side of the road.

Not long after a gentleman in a white truck and cowboy hat stopped to help us. He drove down the road to a repair shop and got their name and number. We called, but they were really busy and had no tow truck. Luckily I had renewed our AAA membership yesterday and was on the phone with them when the man offered to tow us a mile down the road to Bolivar, MO. The tow was an experience, for sure! We pulled into a repair shop and they said they could get us in in an hour or so.

We went back to the car to wait and I broke down. I cried and cried and Glenn prayed with me. I haven't been on vacation forever and this was not going to ruin it! Did I mention we have to entertain the dog this whole time? :)

About 20 minutes later they got our car in (much sooner than expected) and maybe 30 minutes later they told us the timing belt tensioner had broken. The part will not be here until tomorrow morning. The bill was going to be $275 and Glenn and I decided the best thing to do was get a hotel room for the night in Bolivar and head to Branson tomorrow. Not how I envisioned my vacation, but I'm trying to roll with it.

So we found a hotel (that took dogs for a reasonable price), unloaded our mounds of crap and called a taxi to take us there. After we got settled and ate some food, Glenn got a call on his cell phone. The man who gave us the tow was on the other end and told us he had paid our bill. HE PAID OUR CAR REPAIR BILL. We are needless to say in shock and in tears. This man was an angel for us today. All he said was that we should pay it forward. Believe you me we will. And after some detective work, we found his name and address and we will send him a thank you card with a picture from our vacation.

We felt today that things could have been a lot worse, but we were definitely not happy about it. Then God slaps us and says, "BE THANKFUL". I don't think we truly were.

So from our hole in Bolivar, we're doing good and are very thankful. Here's to happier times in Branson tomorrow!

Oh, and did I mention we saved $30 by staying here instead of Branson? :) So far this trip has made us money. HA!

Prayer

I've been thinking an awful lot about prayer in the past year. One year ago I was pleading with God incessantly to get me out of a town/job that were unfulfilling to me. He obliged. And the timing was perfect, I might ad. But prayer has had me somewhat stumped.

I began thinking, maybe our prayers have become too self-centered. Maybe we expect that just because we ask God for something, He's going to give it to us. Maybe we feel like we deserve things or are entitled to them. Whatever they are, it can be crushing when it doesn't align with God's will. Oddly enough through all the struggles of last year, I felt at peace with accepting His will.

So my connundrum comes with me asking myself what can my prayers change? Who am I to argue with God's will and who am I to assume I know what I or others need? I started thinking about prayer in the Bible, the most important being The Lord's Prayer. The Message puts it this way:

"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what's best— as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes."

I love the idea of praying simply. That prayer pretty much covers all of our needs. Pray it daily!

Sometimes I think we pray to comfort ourselves. If we can just petition God about this, we will feel like we've done something. So I started thinking about Jesus praying in the garden.

"Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, 'Stay here while I go over there and pray.' Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, 'This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me.' Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, 'My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?'"

His human side is making one last-ditch effort to say "Man, I really don't think I can do this!" But even through his sorrow and anguish, he is ever conscious that God's will is more powerful than his desires, and ultimately more important! Could Jesus have changed God's mind with this plea? Thankfully not!

Take what you will from this. I hope it means something to someone. For now, I'm changing the way I pray. Simplifying.

Update: Glenn and I were discussing this and he brought up a point that I thought extremely relevant. Sometimes we think that by praying we are not worrying, when in fact we usually are. Just another thought.

Why David Archuleta is a Tool

Ugh...don't get me wrong, he's a nice kid, but he's not great. But he will win.

After last night's performances, I was cemented in the fact that Cook is a real artist and Archuleta is a tool, ready and willing to be molded by the American Idol minions. Sure the boy can sing, and that's exactly what the producers want -- someone whom they can make money off of. Honestly, Cook is better off persuing the route of Daughtry. And he will be much more sucessful than Archuleta. Mark my words!

Last night, Cook showed that he is versatile, has a great vocal range, is creative (that's been a season-long showing) and is just an all-around more talented musician than the 16-year-old "prodigy". Gosh I hate that word. Clive Davis is a genius in the two songs he picked and finally someone tackled a U2 gem.

Archuleta sings the same song every time with that same nasally tone, squinted eyes, bobbing head, lip-licking and odd hand guestures. He's awkward and I really have a hard time believing serious, deep songs coming from a teenager. Although I respect teens a great deal, they have not experienced the hardships of the world or the facets of love...how can they convince me they are singing these things from their hearts? Also, give up on the humility after the judges comments. I just can't take it anymore. Grow a pair and at least act like you think you're talented and deserving of the praise they give you.

David Cook is humble in a way that is not annoying. Maybe I'm a bit biased toward a KC boy, but seriously, he should win, even though I don't want him to. He's better off.

And thanks David Cook for the small slam about Archuleta repeating a song. It's about growth and a repeat will never be as good as we remember it.

Shipps...out.

Adolescent Obesity

Something has been weighing heavily on my heart for a long time now. With American obesity at what I'm sure is an all-time high, I am greatly saddened by obese adolescents.

Now I was never a small kid. Actually I was pretty big. Not fat really, just big. In fact, I haven't grown a lot since 5th grade. My feet are and since then have been a size 9 and I've never worn a pants size below a 9. Ever.

But this is just ridiculous. I see overweight and obese children ALL the time. It's out of control. And for the most part their parents are obese and teaching them terrible habits. Children don't realize the expectation they are tuning their bodies to when they eat and eat and don't exercise. Adults have a hard enough time taking weight off; just imagine a generation of adults who have always been obese and have taught their bodies that this is the way it goes.

I mostly blame parents. Children can't be expected to have self-control. This is a concept I'm still learning today! Letting children eat whatever and whenever they want is detrimental to say the least. Setting them up for disaster. And it makes me very, very sad. How difficult is it to set some boundaries? How hard is it to say, no you've had enough?

We can't keep teaching our children that obesity is the norm and its OK to be that way. It's not. It's truly not.

I have struggled with weight my whole life, it seems. So I can show some sympathy to the love of food. But this epidemic has gone too far. I'm tired of seeing 8-, 9- and 10-year-olds eating twice as much as me and constantly going back for more food. But I feel helpless. You can't tell someone how to raise their children. If they don't feel bad that their kids are going to turn out exactly like them, there is little I can do. Except feel the sadness.

A link from my friend Mandy: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24842630/

My New Hero

Driving in Kansas City is not the most joyful of experiences I've ever hard. Since moving here, one thing I dearly miss is open roads and a lack of stoplights. Lately construction has been really bad. Going into downtown they have closed two lanes on I-35 and we were lucky enough to have to go down that way for my dad's graduation last Saturday. It was backed up for miles and while I will not question the validity of having two out of three lanes closed for miles when you're working on a 1/2-mile section of the highway, I will say that this construction phenomenon led me to see one of the coolest things I've seen in my whole life.

The way home was even more backed up than the way there and as we were nearing the end of the merging of the final two lanes, my hero emerged. One car, dismissing the line that spanned for miles, and obviously in a state of higher importance than the rest of us, decided it would be OK to barrel down the ending lane and bypass the rest of us suckers stuck in the line of eternity.

Now I see this all the time. People who think they are more important or their time is more valuable, so they scoot around and wait until the last possible second to merge, thinking...well they will have to let me in when I'm out of room. I have been guilty of letting these fools in to save myself from eminent danger. And mostly because I don't have the cahones to do otherwise.

This is where my hero comes in. Seeing the overly self-important person coming in the merging lane, a man in a humble car moved into this lane in front of him. We thought...what is this guy doing? At first we thought he was trying to pass people. Until the other car came whizzing by. He held his ground and prevented the car from going around everyone else in front. The car swerved around in an apparent fit at seeing the demise of his evil plan and finally accepted his fate. My hero had blatently told this jerk: Not today - you have to wait like the rest of us.

Honestly, we laughed and cheered and thought...why haven't we thought of doing this before? Seeing it done, I think maybe I could have the cahones do to it in the future. Here's to you Mr. cut-off-the-jerk-trying-to-pass-everyone-in-the-merging-lane-guy! You are my new hero.

China

Like most of the world, I've been following the devastation in China that began one week ago today. Beginning with an earthquake and followed by massive aftershocks and landslides, the death toll is expected to reach 50,000 people.

Because of its proximity, I always think of 9-11 when disasters happen. Thankfully, this is the worst tragedy I can remember in the U.S. as far as number of victims. I say thankfully because
2,752 people is so small in comparison to 50,000. Though I would never be so bold as to say those nearly 3,000 lives are less important, but it's a perspective issue. Because they were Americans, that number means more to most than 50,000.

I can't even begin to imagine what has happened in the past week in China. For the most part I am grateful for this. On the other hand, I can't ignore it and some part of me wants to see the gruesome details and hear the heart-wrenching stories so that I will be forever changed. With a heart more deeply tuned to world suffering and tragedy in the aftermath of the wrath of nature.

In my small world, the earth seems like a relatively safe place. And then I see the awesome and magnificent power it can unleash and I am humbled, feeling ever so much smaller.

A big story coming about now is the shoddy construction of old or hastily built schools that killed many children in 6,900 classrooms. Can you even comprehend the number of children? In one town, one in seven people was dead. As I think about the floor I work on, I imagine one out of every seven people being gone and it is unbelievable.

In addition, it is estimated that 5 million people are now homeless in China. When I think of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it left here, it is almost something I am just now able to grasp. But 5 million? No. I cannot even begin.

God bless those affected and the survivors who have a long road ahead.