tomorrow my parents and brother are coming to tulsa. yippee! we are going to the auburn/arkansas football game on saturday in fayetteville. it has been two years since i was able to go to an auburn game and i am so excited. that might not seem like a big deal to you, but before last year, i hadn't missed going to at least one auburn a season for at least 24 years. my parents have had season tickets for as long as i can remember. auburn games have been a huge part of my life! i'm not sure my friends in tulsa know how intense i can get about auburn football. at least three of my girls know - they were with me saturday when i was watching the auburn/tennessee game. they weren't ready for the fit i had when auburn intercepted the ball during tennessee's last drive. i think i really scared them! i can't wait for saturday! peace.

recently i was reading something that chris tomlin had on his website about a mentor of his and some of the wisdom he had gained from that relationship. one of the things his mentor would say to him was, "never be in a hurry." ever since i read that, i've been intrigued by it. i guess that is because time and being hurried have been a recurring theme lately. my friends are all in a hurry and totally stressed out by the schedules they are keeping. the students i work with have so much going on i don't know how they have time to sleep, plus they are in a hurry to grow up. my fellow shoppers and drivers in tulsa seem to be perpetually late for something important, or at least that is what their behavior implies. and then there is me. it seems like i am always in a hurry. my days are so full and go by so quickly that they seem to just run together so that at the end of the week, i honestly can't remember what has happened.

so, this advice - never be in a hurry - really appeals to me. i have to admit, i've already abused it a little. sorry chris. i tend to be late quite often, usually by only 5 minutes or so. but late, nonetheless. so as i'm speeding to my meetings and appointments that should have started five minutes ago, i'll remember - "never be in a hurry" and just kind of blow off the fact that i'm late. i think - yeah, i'm late. so what - i don't want to be in a hurry. there's no use in trying to get there quickly now because i'm not going to hurry. somehow i don't think that is what chris' mentor meant. i think that simple little phrase, if truly taken to heart could change my life or at least the order of it. i would love to write more tonight, but i'm so tired. it's been a long day, plus i don't want to hurry the writing of this blog :) sorry. i know that was so cheesy. anyway, you'll have to wait until later to read part 2. peace.

there is something living in the crawl space above my apartment. something very, very active early in the morning. my guess is that it is a squirrel and it is just doing the natural thing and storing up acorns for the coming winter. i think it is storing up acorns because occasionally, i hear them roll from side of my bedroom to the other - usually before my alarm is set to go off. i like animals in general, but i HATE this squirrel. waking up to its scratching and scrambling just above my head (it sounds like he is about to scratch through the ceiling and join me any minute) is absolutely maddening! maybe gathering season will be over soon and i can have peace and quiet in the mornings again.

kickboxing has been a blast lately. the jumping back kick has truly opened up a new level of kickboxing for me. i'm having so much fun trying new combinations and kicks. i think part of what is so fun about it is there are so many other things i've tried to pick up as an "adult" that are so hard for me and it's nice to have something i'm good at. for example, i've been trying to learn to play the guitar for many years and i'm moving at a very slow pace. my mind knows where my fingers need to be for a certain chord, but my fingers just won't go there. it is hard. but, kickboxing comes a little easier for me which is nice.