Following Directions

Recently, I realized that I drink very little liquid of any kind throughout the day. I usually have a Coke first thing in the morning, but other than that, not so much. So, I bought a new water bottle in the hopes that it would inspire me to drink more water throughout the day. This is the kind I got. I like it. It's BPA free and it doesn't leak and it's pretty (and it was on sale big time at Target).

This morning, I decided to fill my water bottle up with Coke Zero instead of water. The directions that came with the water bottle said not to do this (yes, I read the directions for a water bottle). They said that because the bottle seals, if you put pop (or soda for those of you who don't speak Yankee) in it, pressure could build up and bad things could happen. I chose not to listen to the directions and did it anyway. The directions were correct.

Rise and Shine

Sometimes, you just don't want to get out of bed. Sleeping in must be an innate desire rather that a learned one - which is good news for those of us that like to sleep in. It's not our fault. It's in our genes.

Also, for those of you who think it's a good idea to just let your grandkids come up with a name to call you, take a lesson from Harper. The name she came up with for my mom is Da-Dom. Not something sweet like Nanna. Da-Dom. I don't know if it's going to stick or not, but so far it has.

Bullet List Monday

I don't know why I like to do bullet lists on Monday mornings. It's probably because my brain is functioning at about 30% and I can only process short snippets of information. So here goes...

• I think John Mayer's music is brilliant. However, I'm not very fond of him as a person. Well, I guess I should say that I'm not fond of his public persona because I obviously don't know him personally. Sometimes I have a hard time reconciling this. Does anybody know what I'm talking about.

• My daughter takes her shoes and socks off 3 seconds after we get in the car - every time we get in the car. I love this new pattern. I'm being sarcastic.
• MLK Jr. got it right.

Book Sneeze

I recently found out about a very cool program. It's called BookSneeze. Basically, this company will send bloggers free books to review in exchange for the blogger posting a review of the book on his or her blog. You pick out a book, they send it to you for free, and all you have to do is read it and tell people what you think. Did I mention it's free?

The first book that I requested is called The Selfless Gene. It's about the quest to reconcile science with God. Totally up my alley. Look for my review in the next few weeks (I'm a slow reader, remember?).

This is a great program. Any of you who have blogs should sign up - which you can conveniently do here.

Proverbs

So...I've been reading through the book of Proverbs lately. One of the churches in our neck of the woods has challenged everyone to read one chapter of Proverbs every day for the month of January. 31 chapters in 31 days. I'll be honest. Proverbs never really excited me all that much before. Don't get me wrong. There are some catchy life lessons in there, but it always seemed like more of a bathroom book (sorry if that offends anyone) than one of the better books of the Bible. However, as I read through Proverbs, my opinion of it is definitely changing.

I'm only on chapter 13, but God is really using this challenge to do some heart surgery on me. I am being confronted with things that I don't really like to acknowledge about myself like how I struggle with being prideful and self important. It's also giving me a new appreciation for just how valuable wisdom is. I know a lot of stuff. But, I have a long way to go in the wisdom department.

I would encourage everyone to start reading through Proverbs. Start today. It's well worth it. If you want to follow along with the Crosspoint 31 day challenge, they have a blog where they post daily thoughts about each chapter. Some good conversation happens in the comment section of that blog. Check it out. All the cool kids are doing it.

Last Night and Today

A couple totally unrelated things for today:

1. M&Ms make my child crazy. It's not the ingestion of the M&Ms but the managing of them that turns her into a lunatic. She has shed many a tear over who gets to hold the bag and how many are in the bag. Last night she got mad at me for saying the word M&M. Apparently, she was the only person allowed to say it. I wish I would have had the video camera rolling as she spun around with fire in her eyes and shook her finger at me while yelling "No Mommy!"

2. I am profoundly out of shape. I went to the gym last night and really pushed myself on the treadmill. It wasn't horrible, but I know I have a long way to go if I want to run this 10K in May. On a positive note, I got new running shoes. I actually went to a running store and got fitted. They make a huge difference. This is the kind I got. Love them.

3. This is what I am doing at work today. I dissect out these tiny blood vessels from a mouse and then thread them onto these ultra tiny hollow glass tubes that are surrounded by liquid. Then I tie them on with threads that have been unwound from a surgical suture - these are the threads that make up a suture (a whole suture would be way too thick). Then I add chemicals to make the blood vessels contract and relax. All of this work has to be done under powerful dissecting microscopes. I have steady hands and I'm pretty good at manipulating very small things. I haven't found a use for this skill outside of work, but I'm sure one day it will come in handy.

Water Bug

Harper had her first official swimming lesson on Saturday morning. Besides the fact that she was cold (it was an indoor pool but she was still cold), she did exceptionally well and we both had a lot of fun. Harper has always been a water bug.

We took this picture the first time Harper ever went swimming. She was just over 3 months old.

This one was taken in Florida when she was 6 months old.

We have 5 more weeks of lessons to look forward to. Look out Michael Phelps. Here she comes.