signs of fall

1. The crisp air in the mornings and evenings

2. Rain, mist, drizzle, and downpours (all in one day even!)

3. Red and yellow leaves accumulating along the sides of the streets and across lawns

4. Socks are become a regular part of my wardrobe again

5. Halloween decorations and costumes filling the store aisles

6. Groups of kiddos on street corners, waiting for the school bus (7am??? So early!)

7. Waking up to the dark gray of pre-dawn, rather than bright sunshine

8. Pumpkin spice lattes

introduction to middle school 101

I'm starting to volunteer with our youth group at church, and Wednesday night was my first time hanging out with them. I've spent much more time with high school kids, but there's a lack of female leaders for middle school (as in, they don't have any), and so I'm testing the waters to see if this would be a fit. Holy cow, do these kiddos have a lot of energy! I was exhausted after just 15 minutes, both physically and mentally. Not to mention their wholehearted and blunt curiosity. My favorite part of the evening was facing a barrage of questions thrown at me from a group of 6th and 7th grade girls:

Girls: Which kids are yours? (Um, do I look old enough to have middle school CHILDREN??)

Me: Actually, I don't have any kids.

Girls: Are you married?

Me: Yes.

Girls: Where is your husband?

Me: At home.

Girls: Why isn't he here?

Me: Well, he had other things to work on tonight. (i.e. avoid the craziness that is youth group)

Girls: Do you want kids?

Me: Yes, someday.

Girls: Are you pregnant?

What? Excuse me? I had to laugh at that one. And by the way, the answer is no.

rantings of the compliant one

I need to vent. I’ve spent my day running to and fro, meeting one need after another that in my mind, were not nearly as urgent as the creased brow on the face of the person making the request might have indicated. I’m not a rude person (usually, although I suppose some might argue with this). I generally do what people expect of me, and unless they’ve got me in a particular funky mood, I can do so with a fairly pleasant smile on my face. Sometimes I can even issue quite a genuine apology for the trouble the person has encountered… even in cases where I have absolutely nothing to apologize for. But come on people! Grace! Grace! You do not NEED everything done for you right this minute. It is not my responsibility to anticipate and therefore answer every single question that you might possibly come up with. And just because it is not done right this minute, does not mean that it is MY fault. Maybe you let the ball, drop, huh? Maybe you didn’t respond to a really important email that I sent out. Maybe you didn’t even read it! Maybe it is unrealistic to expect the world of one person, and maybe you should learn to take a little of the burden off of those people who you generally rely on so heavily! Don’t give me excuses!!!

Okay, I know sometimes I am the one demanding something outrageous of another person. I can be whiny and annoying, too. I know that. I accept that. We all have our bad days. So I am not condemning the world while maintaining the illusion that I don’t dish out every bit as much crap at times. All I know is that today I am tired of accepting responsibility for errors that were not mine, I am tired of smiling at people who are irritating me, and I am tired of being praised as “such a helpful person”. For once, I’d love to be the one to say, “Well, that was stupid, wasn’t it? Better luck next time!”