In Need of a Good Pruning

I know that title sounds kinda kinky, but hear me out...

Today I pruned back two bushes in our backyard. These are butterfly bushes, and we just recently discovered that at the beginning of every spring we're supposed to cut them back almost to the ground. We had never done that before, just assumed that they were supposed to be sort of wildly unkempt and overgrown. But no, that is not the case. So today I went after them, with a giant pair of pruning-gardening-thingies... did I mention our complete and utter lack of gardening knowledge?

I stood outside surveying the task at hand and wondering where to begin. I could hardly even get close to where I needed to cut because of the explosion of branches. Pushing a few aside, I maneuvered the cutters around a branch probably an inch thick, and laid into it, squeezing with all my might until with a satisfying SNAP the branch broke. So I did it again. And again. It felt... good! Good to hack away all the excess, even though if plants had feelings I'm sure it would've hurt like hell. And it got me thinking, "Man, I totally need to be pruned by God." Cutting away all this garbage that I think is pretty when in reality all it is doing is keeping me from growing properly. Being pared down, even though it hurts and it would be easier just to keep expanding out-of-control. Not leaving one single branch untrimmed out of wishful thinking or selfishness, but surrendering every piece to be stripped of the unnecessary. Left exposed so that the rain and sun can reach the roots and make me strong and so that none of the old dead crap can get in the way of new growth.

So I kept cutting and cutting and thinking about this, and when I was done I had two huge piles of branches, and two ugly little stumps of bushes, and two really sore armpits (seriously, what muscles does pruning use, because I don't think I'd ever used them before). I hope I did the right thing and that from the two stumps will spring up new green stalks and that mid summer they'll be in full and fragrant lilac bloom. And I'm praying that I have the good sense to let God prune me, too.

PS. On an unrelated note, Scruffy just came and stuck his nose under my arm as I typed, which is dog for, "Don't forget to post about my new haircut please." He does look pretty keee-yoot! Here he is modeling the new hyena-style do. I swear, if I take half as many pictures of my future children as I do my dog, we'll be set.

Hot & Cold

Well it was a crazy night at the James' household. For the second time in the past few months, our heater stopped working. Last time it broke we paid a semi-helpful man an exorbitant amount of money to fix it, so I was pretty annoyed when I checked the thermostat before bed and it said 62 degrees.

Would this have happened last week, no biggie - we had outrageously beautiful weather and heat and air were unnecessary. The past couple days however, the nights have dipped back down to the 30s.

So to compensate, we bundled up in our finest long sleeves and pajama pants and brought in our two space heaters and set them on high blast, closed our bedroom doors to create a little hot box, and snuggled down under the covers, huddled together for warmth. After a while, nice and toasty!

Ben & I in our pajamas

Cut to me, waking up at 3:30 am, boiling hot. If you know me at all you know that I loathe being hot. So I dramatically flung the covers off, peeled off my leggings, turned off the space heaters, swung open the doors, got a glass of cold water, and flipped my pillow over to the cool side.

Had I not still been half asleep I probably would've realized this was an overreaction because three hours later I awoke in an icebox. Like I think I could see my breath. Like the thermostat said it was 52 degrees.

In one daring move I jumped out of bed, pulled the leggings back on, shut the doors, turned the space heaters to the "tropical heat wave" setting, and dove back under the down comforter. Then, of course, I was cozy and warm and in no hurry to leave my bed and get ready for work.

So, in summation, our heater is still broken. Here's hoping tonight goes better.

A Late St. Patty's Day Treat

One headband with sparkly clovers on springs...

+ One reluctant subject...

+One persistent photographer...

+One near paw-punch to the face...

= Scruffy finally succumbs to the St. Patrick's Day Festivities

We Gave It the Old College Try

Tonight Belmont University, my dear alma mater, nearly pulled off an incredible upset of Duke in their first round tourney game. We lost in the final few seconds by one measely point. It was a really exciting game to watch and I was so proud of the way they played and the recognition they'll get because of it! Great job boys!

























PS. My bracket has veered a little off course... but I am still confident in the mascot method. It will prevail in the end, I'm (kinda) certain!

Putting in a good word for...

Three things I found/stumbled across/was shown that I wanted to share with the world! In no particular order they are:

1. the music of NEEDTOBREATHE - I'm not entirely sure why this band's name is all one word and in all caps, and I don't particularly care so long as none of them come and try to remove their latest cd "The Heat" from my car stereo, where it has been on almost exclusive rotation for about a month now. I love it. A lot. Rocky, melodic, a little bluesy, incredible vocals, lyrics and harmonies that won't get outta my head. Plus the lead singer's name is Bear. Bear! I'm kicking myself in the shins because I had a chance to go see them last year during GMA Music Week and I didn't because I had no idea who they were. Well I know now! And you should too! www.myspace.com/needtobreathe... and my favorite song is "Washed By the Water." And my second favorite song is "Return to Me." And my other favorite songs are all the other ones.

2. the movie "Be Kind Rewind" - Ben took me out for dinner and a movie on the eve of our third anniversary of being married last week and after some de-lish J. Alexander's this is the movie we saw. It was so delightful and whimsical... if you know my movie tastes you know I am especially partial to whimsy and anything that has to do with storytelling and reality blending with fantasy. The last Michael Gondry movie we saw, "Science of Sleep," was a little too kooky for even me. This one was just right! The basic and adorable plot to this movie is that two guys played by Mos Def and Jack Black end up with a store full of erased VHS tapes, and when their angry customers demand to rent movies, they end up reshooting them in their own versions starring themselves. Anyway, I thought it was so wonderful and charming and feel-good, but in a way that you didn't feel ashamed for liking it so much. Which is how I feel about the fact that I own the movie "The Prince and Me" starring Julia Stiles. Don't judge!

3. the blog "Stuff White People Like" - This is a very well-written and pretty darn funny running list of, as the title suggests, things the stereotypical young white American person loves. At first it is a little like, "hey... I like that.... hey, I like that too!" But I'm all for a little snark now and then, so don't take it personally and have a good laugh at your self. Heck, I managed to reference numbers 68 and 69 on the list in the second paragraph of this post alone! Thanks Danielle for sending me this one and brightening my whole afternoon.

Seriously.

This is from one of my favorite sites, toothpastefordinner.com, where this guy posts a little stick-figure comic every day. You will find this especially funny if:

a. you live in Ohio (which he does and references often)
b. you like to make fun of emo people
c. you have a sense of humor

Everyonce in a while he uses some unsavory language, so just a heads up!

Scruffy

In case you haven't been properly introduced, this is my dog, Scruffy:

I know I might be biased, but he is probably one of the best dogs ever in the history of dogs. I took this picture of him at the park a few weeks ago and every time I look at it it makes me smile. Scruffy is hilarious, loyal, quiet, pouncy, cuddly, relaxed, happy. His eyes are the color of caramel, his fur is fluffy and curly, and he has this extra skin around his neck - we call it, appropriately, his "scruff." We think he's about 5 and a half or 6 years old.


He is a mutt in the truest sense of the word... some poodle, perhaps black lab, some kind of terrier, etc. We don't know where he came from, or what his doggy life was like before we picked him up from the Nashville Humane Society. I sometimes think of how adorable he must have been as a little fluffy puppy, and feel sad that I missed that part of his life. I hope that he was loved and happy but the truth of it is probably that he was homeless or abandoned.


While in a sense I am grateful that Scruffy's doggy parents weren't fixed (because otherwise he wouldn't exist), the truth is that there is an extreme dog and cat overpopulation in this country because people do not get their pets spayed and neutered. I didn't know this until doing some research a few weeks ago, but 3-4 MILLION cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters every year because there are simply too many of them. According to the organization SPAY-USA (http://www.spayusa.org/) there are 15 dogs to every one person in America... obviously we're talking about a seriously unfavorable ratio. So please, please, please take your cats and dogs to be fixed. You can find out lots more about why and how through the Humane Society:

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/why_you_should_spay_or_neuter_your_pet.html


Well, I really just intended to write a post about how awesome the Scruff-ster is, but I guess this was a good tangent to get on!

Best Thing About Last Weekend

My 80-year-old grandma receiving and taking her first picture with her brand new digital camera:



I spent a few days in Kansas City with her, my mom, and my two aunts... it was really a blessing to be with them and hear all these amazing stories from these amazing women. Here are some of the fascinating things I found out:

My great-grandmother was always called "Babe." She died when my Grandma was just 15, leaving her to raise her three younger siblings.

My aunt Judy was engaged to a man before she married my uncle Phil. She found out just in the nick of time that this man was already married with five children. They confirmed this by calling his house and pretending to take a survey of household detergent users. Seriously!

My aunt Sandy, like me, loves horses. One of her happiest moments was when my Uncle Bob gave her one on Christmas morning - his name was Buddy, and he was tied up in the back yard with a red ribbon on his head.

When they were growing up, Judy had her own room since she was the oldest and my mom, Sally, had to share a room with Sandy. Even so, they all usually ended up sleeping together in one double bed. That made me smile because until I was about 14, Ashley and I did the same thing.

Anyway, there were more stories shared than I could recount here and several lifetimes' worth of memories and all of it reminded me of how very much I love my family.