Does anyone want to attend the broadway shows in Salisbury with me???

Okay, so here is the deal.  I was to go see Cats and Riverdance.  I don't really care about Mamma Mia and Young Frankenstein, but since tickets are cheaper in sets of three or four and I wouldn't mind seeing either of them, I am thinking of buying a set of three tickets (you could convince me to go to all four, if you are going with me).  Jared does not like Broadway. :(  And he does not want to go to any of these shows (I mean, even Riverdance...?!? What?!?).  So, who wants to go to 2 or 3 or 4 shows with me?  Sarah, I wish you were here.  I hear the Civic Center is a terrible place to watch a Broadway play. Is it even worth it?  I don't have to drive two hours...  which saves a lot on gas...   

I have posted the schedule below.   Thoughts? 

 

2011-2012 Broadway in Salisbury Shows
Mamma Mia!             Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 5:00pm
CATS                        Monday, March 5, 2012 at 7:30pm
Young Frankenstein    Monday, May 14, 2012 at 7:30pm
Riverdance                 Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 7:30pm

Chinook Visit

Photos at the Daily Times of the Chinook visit at our plant!!!  The back of me is in some of the photos. And the back of me made the front page of the Daily Times.  Ha ha.  Article here.

reading... c.s. lewis

Two quotes from C.S. Lewis that from things I have been reading lately.  When you are sick you have the chance to read more books than normal.  :)  That may be one of the only good things about being sick.  Everything seems to slow down and there is more quiet time to enjoy. 

"The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment, He has scattered broadcast.  We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy.  It is not hard to see why.  The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose as obstacle to our return to God: a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bathe or football match, have no such tendency.  Our father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasent inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home."

I agree.   I am very thankful for all the wonderful things that God has blessed me with on this earth.  He is good.  Spending time with friends or family, enjoying music, and seeing beauty outside in nature is wonderful.   But this quote is so true, without the pain of sickness and not having everything that we think we desire, we would not long for heaven.  Praise God for sickness because it points us even more towards him.   Which brings me to my other C.S Lewis quote for the day, from the Last Battle.  It is from the end of the Last Battle.  I do love the Chronicles of Narnia so much (not those dumb movies that they have made about them... not to get off topic or anything, but I watched the Voyage of the Dawn Treader while I was sick... they ruined the whole book, the book is a 1000 times better... sorry, I just had to rant).  One reason I love the books is because I fondly remember my mother reading them to us as we went on camping trips.  :)

"Then Aslan turned to them and said: '...you are - as you used to call it in the Shadowlands - dead.  The term is over: the holidays have begun, The dream is ended: this is the morning...'
And for us thsi is the end of all the stories, and we can most truely say that they all lived happily ever after.  But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.  All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

Love Love Love!!  This description makes so much sense to me.  That is all I have for tonight.  I have to finish up a presentation for tomorrow at work.  Tomorrow, Lord willing, I will see all my family!!!  YAY!!!  They make me happy, even when they make fun of me.  I love them all very much. 

Pictures from life (stolen from facebook)

First I just wanted to say that being sick is getting REALLY REALLY boring.  Go away fever, go away!!   Second, I really enjoyed both my sister-in-laws random posts today and I tried to write my own, but being sick also makes you really really non creative.  So instead I offer you a random photo blog.  Photos are worth more than words. 

 Hope danced at the Salisbury Festival.  She is really good.  I ate kettle corn.   Anna had a bridal shower afterwards with lots of good food.  Yum yum yum. 

 Chicago sunset.  From April when I traveled out there.

 My spacious Hyatt Hotel room that has spoiled me forever.  <3 <3 <3 And the food was INCREDIBLE!!!!

 I just can't stay away from toys and engineering things.  How cool is the massive Ferris wheel built from Connects?  I saw this in Chicago.  It actually spun around tool.  Wow wow wow.

 Chicago.

 Proof that I was actually there.

Chicago.

Hope and I went to go see Toby Mac and Brandon Heath in concert.  Toby Mac is old.  But he still puts on a good show.  I enjoyed being there with Hope.  Hope is such a great kid.  I just thought I would tell you, in case you hadn't realized that.  You should spend some time with her.

 Aw, my beautiful sister and me.  Here we are front and center.  I taught her the skills of getting a close standing spot.  My Dad says I have a good worming technique to getting good spots.  Spread your elbows... That is the big secret.  No one likes bumping into elbows.  Second, if they give an inch, take two inches.  Make them uncomfortable.  They will move over more and you will soon be in their spot.  :)   

 Stained glass in Chicago.

 For Mama Cindy, here are all the Shelton/Wingo people in the New York Public Library.  The library is a little bit crazy. 

Oh, and here is a picture of Mike Huckabee and us.  What fun.

Sunday afternoon I was sitting on the couch reading a book, while Jared was taking a nap (I just don't get naps - they make me more tired), and I thought to myself, "I am really cold; I should put on a jacket. I bet Jared has turned the ac really low." So, I put on a sweatshirt and huddled under a blanket on the couch and kept reading my book.  When Jared woke up and saw me he asked if I was sick because he had actually made it warmer in the house than it normally is.  Yikes.  I took my temperature and it was 101.7.  Yikes again.  I took medicine, felt better, was really cold again, was really hot, and tossed and turned all night.

Monday, Independence day, we ran by the Shelton's early in the day to pick up some fabric for a Christmas quilt that we are making.  Jared treated me to a coffee smoothie at Rise Up because I thought it would perk me up.  I was feeling so tired and hot.  We came home and cut all the pieces out for out quilt.  Preview below.  Jared wants to change the light blue color to something else... And we might replace the yellow to all match.  The reds are scraps from Anna's quilt.  The quilt is based on a wooden puzzle that I have, called a Colorado puzzle.  We picked up the orange, dark green, and dark blue from Mrs. Shelton's collection.  The blue actually had a print on it, but it looks solid in that photo above. 

Christmas Quilt

Colorado Puzzle

Jared went outside to cut the grass and I started to read again.   Then because I was feeling particularly lousy, I went upstairs and watched tv.  I was hoping it would lull me to sleep.  Once again, I started freezing.  I had sweatpants, socks, and a sweatshirt on and I was bundled up under two blankets.  I checked my temperature again and it was 103.5.  I took 3 Motrin and sat on the couch in my delirious state until Jared came in from washing my car and told me that I needed to go to the doctor.  We went to Your Doc's In, but they told me I was a mystery.  My lungs were perfectly clear, my tonsils were great, my lymph nodes weren't swollen, but I was radiating heat.  I was so hot.  We stopped by my parents house to drop off some gifts for Sarah, that people at church had given me on Sunday.  Mom and Dad fed me English's chicken and sweet potato biscuits.  Last night again I tossed and turned all night, cold one minute and hot the next. I am sorry, Jared. 

Anyhow, that is how I spend my day off.  It wasn't the best holiday, but it could have been worse.  I could be throwing up or in pain.  I don't mind being cold.  Hopefully whatever this is will pass before Sarah's wedding. 

Happy wedding week, Sarah!!! 
I love you.

A few thoughts...

Yesterday when I went home for lunch, I brought my newspaper in, created my lunch, and sat down to read my paper in peace.  Normally I read the Wall Street Journal during lunch (thank you , Hannah) every day.  I look forward to it because it is relaxing.  However, I opened the paper bag and it was the Baltimore Sun.  What?!?  It was so disappointing.  I realized that I was so used to good writing.  I started thinking that I am really glad that my Mom taught me not only to read, but also to love reading. 

Thanks to Mom for teaching me to read. 

Thanks to Hannah for the Wall Street Journal.

 

Last Tuesday was my birthday.  It was one of the best working birthdays that I have had.  My office (3 interns, 2 full-time employees, and me) all went out of lunch.  We have so much fun together; more fun than should be allowed in an office.  Have I mentioned that I love my job?  I am very thankful for my employees.  I had countless meetings also that day, but they all went really smoothly (that is a huge blessing).  That night my Mom made me favorite foods and a dessert.  Yum yum yum.  Thanks again to Mom.  And on Thursday the engineering department took me out to lunch.  Yay.  Finally, on the weekend, we went to visit Jared's grandmother and go clothes shopping for me.  Jared took me to Georgia House for dinner that night.  It was a great birthday week.  :)

Thanks to my office, engineering, and Jared.

 

My job continues to go well.  I run around all day and never finish everything that I need to do, but I really enjoy what I am doing.  I even have started to enjoy working with some of the people around the plant.  Several of my projects have started to actually make money.  :)  That is always a good thing.  People are starting to work together instead of resist change.  That is another good thing.  This is a job that I never dreamed that I would have the chance to do; if a job could be perfectly designed for me, this would be it. 

 

Have a great holiday weekend.  I am looking forward to relaxing and actually cooking some meals.  Baking is about the only thing that I have had time for recently.  The grill is being used this weekend!  YAY!