This, that and the other

Random fact of the day: I love my crock pot but I hate washing it. Can I get an amen?!

Hearing aids: I'm drawing a blank on this one. What would you like to know?

In other news: I have had a boatload of random thoughts these last few days. Let's get down to business:

1) Finished (?) my federal taxes! Currently seeking math whiz to check my work, though.

2) I had been doing better about not getting worked up in traffic. Usually on the way home, I am grumbling that this person isn't going fast enough or there's too many people for me to change lanes and why oh why must we brake every two inches? Like I am the only person in the whole world who just wants to get where they're going. But the more I've been reflecting on the person of Christ, the less things like traffic annoy me. If I get home at 4:55 or 5:05, does it really matter? Is God any less God? Am I any less forgiven? No. So it's been freeing, lately, not being bound to the idol of Time.

But today, I found myself getting frustrated all over again. The guy ahead of me wasn't going the speed limit, there was no one in front of him but traffic was too tight on both sides for me to pass him. I just wanted to get home because I had things to do. Why doesn't he move faster? Faster, faster faster?! Then I think, why does this matter? Why do I really care if it doesn't matter in the scope of eternity?

And I think sometimes that's just it. Driving and traffic don't matter, so living in the middle of it just seems frustrating. If it doesn't matter, what's the point of dealing with it? What is the point of going through the motions of things like laundry and dishes and returning movies and going to the grocery store and buying stamps and keeping things clean? When an eternity with Jesus is in store for us, when I know that in so many ways, I'm just one breath away from finally - oh Lord, FINALLY - being with my Best Friend, my Savior forever... everything else just feels like dead weight.

Oh I know, I know... it's how we handle those tedious tasks that shape our character. I can learn grace in the midst of traffic. Humility when I get cut off. Perseverance in grocery shopping (what? I hate doing it!). Stewardship in doing laundry and dishes. And whatever I do, do it for the glory of God. And so on. But they seem so trivial some days, like I'm made for something more and I'm just biding my time here.

I like how Michael Card says it in Joy in the Journey:

To all who've been born of the Spirit
And who share Incarnation with Him
Who belong in eternity, stranded in time
And weary of struggling with sin

Yes, that's it. Weary of struggling with sin, stranded in time.

Forget not the Hope that's before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessness
When you were lost

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

I always wondered why that song was a more mellow one. Aren't most songs about joy peppy and upbeat and dance-y? This one, though, I wonder if it's written to fellow weary travelers who love Jesus but are growing weary of this life. We long for something more but it seems it pleases the Lord to keep us here a little longer. There is joy - it just may not always be the peppy, upbeat, dance-y kind.

3) I watched six movies this weekend. Yes, six. It's the cure for the common cold, dontcha know? ;)

The Princess and the Frog was okay. Not up to par with other Disney movies, but maybe that's just me. But then I think that I prefer Disney movies that have no grounding in reality. I'd rather watch stories about glass slippers and dancing dishes and singing mice and fairy godmothers and mermaids and groooovy turtles and Mike Wazowski and a Genie. Of. The. Lamp! (right here, direct from the lamp). Maybe I didn't like The Princess and the Frog because New Orleans is too... real (no the story isn't real, I know, but the setting). Racial division is real. I'm not wild about 101 Dalmatians, either, probably because I am sure that someone, somewhere is all about puppy mills. Tear.

2012 would have been more fun on the big screen, but the graphics were impressive anyway. I'll take The Day After Tomorrow or Deep Impact over 2012, though.

The Time Traveler's Wife was better than the book and I cried. May have to buy that one.

Coco Before Chanel was okay but it was more about Coco Chanel's affairs than about how she came to be a fashion designer.

I liked Public Enemies because I like period pieces, but I would have loved to see more cat and mouse between Christian Bale and Johnny Depp.

Finally, Up in the Air totally deserved its Oscar nomination. Good acting, great writing, awesome message (life's better with someone than alone). Newcomer Anna Kendrick can totally hold her own against George Clooney - girl's got skillz! I may have to write more about this later, it was that good. I could have done without all the F-bombs, though. I mean, really, who talks like that? In normal, everyday conversation? Really? Could we please pretend to be smart and use other vocabulary to express our feelings? So for that one thing, there were times I had a hard time taking some of the dialogue seriously, but overall, definitely a keeper!

I'm write-ed out. I don't know how professional/regular bloggers do it. I have so many thoughts jumbled in my head, they all end up coming out in one big mess. I'm guessing discipline and organization are the name of the game, but really, where's the fun in that? ;)

Welp, I'm off to enjoy The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon, oh Sheldon. I like to think we'd be friends in real life, but honestly, I'd probably just keep him around to check my taxes.

Until next time, friends!