if you know me well, you know that i hate to be cold. i have often claimed that it actually hurts me to be cold. my whole body kind of tenses up. i'm sure you've thought that i was being a little dramatic and slightly annoying. i've thought i might be overreacting, that it was all in my head. but today when i walked outside into beautiful, warm 80 degree weather, my entire being - head to toe, soul & spirit joined together in one huge "hallelujah!" there was a permanent smile on my face and i actually wanted to skip everywhere i went. i know it will probably get cold again before spring comes for good, but this weather is great! i hope you get to enjoy it today.

it got up to almost 80 degrees today. it was heavenly!

tomorrow is the beginning of lent and i am pumped. i have to admit i'm a little surprised at myself and how much i'm anticipating this season. it's like i'm desparate for it - hungry and thirsty. maybe things have been a little more dry spiritually than i thought. but i know water and food are coming!

in anticipation of lent i did a few special things today. first, i'm giving up sweets for lent, so i had a big chocolate raspberry brownie from panera this afternoon.

second, i bought a bunch of plants. this winter i have managed to kill all my plants. the sad thing about it is that all my plants are the plants that "anyone can keep alive." all you have to do is water them once a month and they'll be ok. needless to say, their decaying leaves were a little depressing. so i got rid of all the old plants and replaced them with new ones. a couple of them have flowers so it will be cool to watch them grow during lent.

next, i cleaned up my apartment. it wasn't too bad, just very cluttered. i kind of had this sense that my space needs to be set in order so my mind and heart can be set in order. it's probably because i've been thinking lately (thanks to larry james) about the way God redeems things. i think i had redemption nailed into the spiritual realm, but in the o.t. when there is talk of israel being redeemed it is described in terms of people being healthy, having jobs, having food to eat, being at peace with neighbors, but also, the land itself is healed and is prosperous. i'm thinking i want the renewal and redemption that lent is all about for my mind and heart, but also for the very space i'm inhabiting.

last, i got a new cd. i didn't really plan that out, but i was in walmart and i can never seem to leave there without something that wasn't on my list. anyway, i picked up the new death cab for cutie album, "plans." although unplanned, it was a good move. it provided the perfect soundtrack for repotting plants. maybe it will be my lent soundtrack. a few lines relevant to lent...
i want to live where soul meets body
and let the sun wrap its arms around me
and bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing
and feel what it's like to be new...

my family moved into the house my parents live in about 28 years ago. it is located in hoover, alabama - just south of birmingham. it sits up on a hill (which my dad has always hated to mow) and has azalea bushes in the front. the backyard overlooks the driveway which is home to the basketball goal that i spent countless hours practicing on. it has 4 bedrooms and one bathroom (i don't know how we survived!) upstairs. downstairs there is a den, kitchen, living room, dining room, guest room, and bathroom. we also had a basement that at one point had a very cool playroom in it. i always felt it was perfect for us.

i loved the house growing up. every thanksgiving and christmas of my life i've spent in that house. since i went away to school at auburn, it has been a constant, consistent place to come back to. there have been changes over the years, but never too much at once. so many of my memories involve that house.

through the years my parents have made comments about wanting to move, being tired of the hill, needing a bigger kitchen, etc. i just always dismissed their comments. they wouldn't really move. they couldn't. the cosmos wouldn't allow. things would somehow be off if that house wasn't ours. recently, my parents mentioned it again and again i just blew it off. i got a call on saturday from dad. he said they were working on the house and he had questions about some of my stuff that is still there. i think they are really serious this time. i have some very mixed feelings about that. i feel like so much of who i am is bound up in that house. it is my home. but, to be fair, i don't live there anymore and i don't have to mow the lawn. still, how are they going to fit all of us during the holidays? i'm sure they'll figure it out. other than my emotional attachment to the place, i'm excited for my parents. it could be kind of exciting!