Woohoo, this is the 300th post on this blog!

We win!

pideykcn. Exactly the word I needed to express my exuberance.

Edit:

If you would like to view the most current entries on this blog, please visit www.becconingamberlance.blogspot.com. Thank you for your patronage. ppynicu and wpebk

"Excuse me. Excuse me. Yes, you, hello. Do you see this cookie? Do you see how brown it is? Here's another one, see how light it is? They're all supposed to be this light. This one's hard, this one's soft. This one's brown...do you see how light it is? Is there any possible way I could have a cookie that is not burnt? Oh, you don't have any. What a shame. Well, can I have a different kind of cookie? Okay. Because look at it, it's burnt. Feel it, it's hard. And it's for my son, and he won't eat it if it's hard, because that's just disgusting. Does that make sense? Okay, I want an oatmeal raisin cookie. Okay. And I would like a bag with that. Alright, you can have the burnt one we didn't eat. Don't forget your cookie, hahaha!...

...It's too bad you're out of those strawberry cheesecake pastries. Oh, you're out? What, you say you don't sell them? Of course you sell them! I used to come in here and buy them all the time! Well, I know that you sell them. I used to come in here and buy them ALL THE TIME. Excuse me, I know it was here. That's just really, really weird. I know they sell them here. Maybe you don't know what I'm talking about - they had strawberries in them, and they were pastries...Are you sure you don't sell them?"

This was a customer from yesterday. I had just walked in and he was sitting at a table, eating his sandwich with his daughter. He wouldn't stop talking and repeating himself; it was SO annoying. And then this strawberry cheesecake pastry thing...I mean, gosh, I think I would know whether or not we sold them. I kept saying, "I'm sure you're right, but we have not sold anything like that for the time I've been working here." "Oh, when did you start working here?" "September." "Oh, I've been here way longer than you've been here." He really was just trying to ruin my day.

In contrast, I had a really lovely customer the other day. She and her husband were ordering, and she answered all of my questions as they came, but her husband did the whole "ordering the vegetables while we're on the bread" thing. You know, while I'm trying to juggle the meat, cheese, bread, and sizes of two sandwiches, he throws in "and I want everything except jalopenos, green peppers, cucumbers, and a LOT of pickles and no tomatos either, and do you have honey mustard?" And his wife chastised him. "Sweetheart, look - the vegetables and the sauces are way down there, and she's still working up here. I'm sure she'll ask us what vegetables you want when she's ready!" He just grinned at me. They were adorable, and she was sweet, and she understood my viewpoint. Turned out she'd worked in customer service before. You know, I think everyone should be required to have a customer service job so they will respect people who do that work more.

cldcg (something like that, but I typed it wrong because the font was impossible to read)
vklvkw

Edit: Oh, I forgot to tell you a story of a customer I had the other day. I sneezed twice as I was making his sandwich. Both times I turned all the way around to do it. Because, if you think about it, I don't have a lot of options when I'm making a sandwich and I have to sneeze. A lot of people seem to think I'm just a mechanical sandwich maker and they have to speak slowly and clearly as if I am a voice recognition system that takes orders, and I'm not really human so I don't have to sneeze. Really, all I can do is turn around, perform the sneeze, and say "Excuse me" or "I'm sorry" afterward.

This guy, after the second sneeze, informed me, "You know, turning around doesn't help." I was kind of in shock because he hadn't really said anything until that point and I wasn't sure waht he was talking about. "What?" "Turning around when you sneeze doesn't help. The germs still spread." My jaw kind of dropped open. Did he think I didn't know that germs spread? I wanted to say something like "Well, would you prefer I didn't turn, and sneezed directly on your sandwich? I have two directions to sneeze, and I kindly chose the one that was NOT in your face. You could at least thank me." Instead I meekly said, "I'm sorry. I can't help it." Idiot. Okay, I'm done. uqhjim

I have been having so many dreams lately! But they aren't really individual dreams. Each night I dream the entire night, and if I was able to write out everything that happened in each dream I'd have a novel by morning. I'm serious!

These dreams are annoying, mainly because I wake up many times during the night from something I dreamed that was frightening or startling. Also, I don't know anything about levels of sleep, but I suspect I'm not getting very deep sleep. I'm receiving the hours I need, but I'm starting to fall back into my "required nap-a-day" pattern. Last night was particularly bad. I just woke up from it.

It's 9:21 now, and I went to bed last night at 10:30. So, I've had...uh, a LOT of sleep. But I was awake from 4 am to 5 am.

I hate "mindless task" dreams, like in Phantom Tollbooth, where they each had a mission. One person's job was to move an entire mountain of sand to another spot, using tweezers, and only moving one grain at a time. Another had to move a well of water using only an eye dropper. There was another, but I can't remember. They were in this valley of horrible creatures and things, and I remember the main thing in this valley was that nothing ever got resolved. The dog, Tock I think his name was, constantly barked at things that weren't there. Another creature made a pun out of everything Milo said so he couldn't really say anything.

I need to read that again.

But I have dreams like that all the time! I have a job to do, and when I wake up I can't quite remember what the job is. But the job is always something very specific, and by the time I finish it, someone's saying, "No, you did it all wrong. We wanted the one with the yellow stripe, not the blue." And I have to start all over, and by the time i finish that they say "No, this won't do. We need something different." Wasted effort, over and over and over and over again. In The Phantom Tollbooth, Milo and the other creatures did their tasks for thousands of years without realizing what was going on. I never understood that. Why didn't they stop during the first five minutes? Didn't they see how futile this was? And then suddenly they stopped and said, "What are we doing? Gosh, we're idiots. Let's get out of here." Then they rescue the princesses. (I know this sounds like another weird dream of mine, and The Phantom Tollbooth is kind of like somebody's weird dream, but it's a wonderful book.)

When I wake up from a "wasted effort" dream, I feel completely drained and tired. I haven't had a true nightmare for a couple years. But this kind of dream is the absolute worst. Does anyone else have dreams like this?

Last night I worked slightly over three hours and I made over 6 dollars in tips. That's not amazing for someone who does waitressing, but for me it's like, I made 2 dollars per hour more last night than normally. I work today, too. For eight hours. But I have two hours of free time before then.

Better get moving!

wtmyydt
gbxbgba (because the first time I left the window open too long and the word changed)

From now on, whenever somebody does a post on here (i.e. me or becca) or whenever someone leaves a comment, (i.e. everybody else including us), or anytime anyone does anything requiring word verification, type the letters you get into your post or comment. For example, here is a sample entry of mine (may have some parts made up).

Good morning! I had lots of dreams about outer space last night. I'm drinking tea right now. It's good. I had half a bagel for breakfast. I have a paper to write today. Well, I guess that's all for now. Bye now!

Word Verification: scltvpu

Hi! I'm eating Italian Foccacia bread right now. I've had it once before. I just went to Safeway and picked some up there. Why was I at Safeway? I was bored!

Let me start at the beginning. Last night my train came in and I got back to the dorms around 10 or so. I quickly discovered that the "i" key on my keyboard is sticky now, so I constantly have to backspace and since I hate backspacing on blogger because of the lag (I really should just type in notepad and paste here), I eventually might not backspace anymore. So, if you get a sentence that says "Yesterday went to the store and t was really annoyng because ddn't have any money", fll in the 's.

This morning I slept in till 9:00. I showered and got ready for the day, which was absolutely sunny and beautiful. I read for American Literature and went to lunch. Lunch was really good. I mean, I was REALLY hungry. I'd told myself I'd go to lunch at 12, because I wanted to get as much reading done as possible before then. So I was super hungry, which caused me to love lunch and eat a lot very quickly, which is my favorite way to eat. I felt very content after that and ready for all two of my classes today.

My first class was only 1/2 hour long.

My second class was canceled.

It's so sunny out today, I really wanted to go for a hike. So, I asked everybody I could find and made a bunch of phone calls. But nobody was available! So, finally, I walked to Subway to pick up my check and walked to Safeway to pick up bagels and milk. It was fun talking to my coworker Karen, whom i love dearly but never get to see because I don't work weekdays during the day and she doesn't work weekends at all. Sarah quit, and I'm really sad about that because she and I were having some really good conversations and I felt like I was getting to know her better.

This morning I called work to find out what time I work tomorrow (ugh! Of all the keys to get stuck, why dd it have to be a VOWEL?) and my boss answered. Well, it's kind of confusing. I don't really know who my boss is. I have a manager, Aaron, aka assistant manager or something like that. Then I have a manager, Heather, who is my real boss, and the real manager, or the head manager, or somethng like that. Then there's the store owner, Todd, who I met once but couldn't pick him out in a crowd. Technically I am in his employment, but most people who work there never even see him.

So, today I called, like I was saying, and Todd answered: "Subway, this is Todd". I said, "Hi Todd, this is Amber Mull, I'm one of your employees." He was like, "Oh, hi." I asked him, but the schedule wasn't up yet. I hope I didn't offend him. I didn't even think about it till afterward, but I didn't think he'd know who I was.

I almost didn't really put my last name up in the last paragraph. I always hesitate before putting t up online, but I think it's up plenty of other places. Yeah, people could find me, but I pretty much don't communicate with hardly anyone over the internet at all anymore - I mean, people I've met online. There's a few, but I hardly even get on msn messenger at all anymore. Anyway (I keep getting sidetracked!) I almost said "amber mooo" instead, but I thought that might be distracting and confusing. Wouldn't it be funny if that were my last name? Amber Mooo.

I bought Italian Focaccia bread at Safeway. I assume it's pronounced "foh-KAY-shee-yuh" but who knows, it might be "foh-kuh-SEE-yuh" or "foh-KAK-ee-yuh" or, at the suggestion of my roommate "foh-kah-CHEE-yah". Becca, which one is it?

I'm going to get ready for Bible study. And eat more focaccia bread. Is focaccia a kind of bread? Is it redundant to say "focaccia bread"? I'm go ing to have some more focaccia.

Hi! I am now done with choir tour and I'm home for a four-day weekend, the remainder of my spring break.

About this blog: it can't ever be "full" of posts, but our little counter stops counting at 300. Our plan is to stop at 300 and change the name of this blog to something like "becconingamberlance1", and start up a new "becconingamberlance". Really, it'll be no different for you. You'll come to the same address to get your beccamber fix for the day. When we do reach 300 posts, I'll do a backup of the whole thing and do a word count so you can be amazed.

It's just nice to know these things.

Choir tour was...amazing, awesome, incredible. I could never have foreseen the ways that I saw God working. I didn't really even think I'd "see" God working, because I guess I've never seen it so obviously. It was amazing and exhausting and I don't think I could have stood tour for longer than a week.

I've been downloading Age of Empires III trial version during this post (since I'm home now and I'll let myself play it), and it just finished. Goodbye!

Amber

wow, it's spring.

ha.

I am so looking forward to warm weather, you have no idea. I want to be able to run around in shorts, go play outside in my free time, and go to the beach, and stay up late looking at the stars, and all those things that are so much better when it's warm out. Watch Cicadas molt and pick their dry skins off and throw them at people. Catch fireflies! Hum, I guess we don't have those out here, but since I'm dreaming. Try and fit a bunch of people on a hammock, jump on trampolines and lay down on them while they're warm from the sun. Swim. Build sandcastles.

Siiigh...every summer sounds so good right about now.

I'm good though. I'm happy.

What should I blog about today? hmm. There's only 10 more posts (including this one) until this blog is full. I think, anyway, that amber said 300 is the max. So I guess that'll be it. This will just be a grave. a dream has died here, softly go from this place...

ha. I don't know why that song came to mind. Actually, I think it was actually a Dorothy Parker poem first. But, no, I bet amber will archive all the posts and just restart this one or something.

I'm reading two books right now, "The Unfolding Drama of Redemption" by W. Graham Scroggie, D.D (ha, funny, I was just reading this other book I'm about to mention, and last night I read in it that D.D. meant Docter of Divinity), and "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew" by Daniel Pool. The latter was originally only bought for the title, because at Christmas Amber got me all these books that had "Jane Austen" in the title ("The Jane Austen CookBook," "Tea with Jane Austen," "Jane Austen's Guide to Dating," etc.), simply to have this silly collection of Jane Austen books. But this one has been the most interesting. It's really just 19th century history, and it makes a lot of the stuff I've picked up from reading a Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, or Charles Dickens novel make more sense.
And history has always been an interesting subject to me anyway. It's so interesting to see how economy has changed and why, what social and everyday life was like then compared to now, the different eras.

Wow, I don't have much else to say. I think I'm going to go running though. I think I've run almost every day for a week now. It gets way more enjoyable after a week or so of doing it every day, because now I'm getting used to it again and stronger and so I can go for longer without stopping, which makes it better. I don't feel as sick afterward. But it definitely takes pushing myself to do it when I totally do not feel like it at all. Like right now, because I don't really feel that much like running. I think I'm only writing this to convince myself to go. Okay, I will.

-becca

I'm in a very...not me or something mood.

I've had this bizarro headache for two days that won't go away. I don't get headaches. Well, I used to, but that was years ago, like when I was 13 or 14. Anyway, so I sort of feel sick, but then I'm really tired...like really really tired of being home right now. But I had the choice. I still do. I could've gone over and watched Pride and Prejudice (the collin firth one), which I've seen a dozen times, with a bunch of girls that I love to be around, but I don't really feel like it. But now I've been sitting in the living room with my brothers while they play video games and WOW am I tired of this. Pride and Prejudice is starting to sound real good. I'm kind of hungry too, but I don't really feel like eating at all.


Actually, I'm going to go sleep, because I really don't feel good and no one else wants to hear me complain. Not that I've really said much to my brothers.

Wow this was a pretty pointless and probably boring post, but I don't care.

-becca

hey.

I haven't posted in a while.

ha, glad you liked the package amber. And I'm glad that you didn't go into shock from all that girlyness...even though that was kind of the idea.

I was going to call you yesterday.

But I didn't.

I don't really know what to write about though, I just thought I should.

Hmmmmmm.

This morning I read 1st and 2nd Timothy. I really like this epistle. I think because of the encouragement and perspective it gives me for evangelical work and doing what I've been called to do. One verse inparticular keeps ringing in my ear this morning:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

I've thought a lot about what school I should go to; what I want to learn, how I want to learn it, the goals I want to accomplish in my life. I mean, there are things I've always, always, always wanted for sure: To be married, to have kids, to do the ministry that God wants me to do. That's pretty much all I want in life. What ministry, what husband, how many kids - that's all in God's hands. He'll work out the details. Ha, I'm so glad he cares about me, even about the desires I have. I love that I have dreams, that I want to do what God wants but that there are so many possibilities to think about and strive for in a prayerful way, and that I can see more and more of those becoming realities as life goes on, as God teaches me and prepares me for wherever he wants me to go and whatever he wants me to do. And I know in all of that I'll be blessed and be able to bless others in ways I can't even guess.
But what about school? Every one makes school out to be so important. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I know there's a lot I don't know that I can learn. But, I also know that I don't need to go to school to spread God's love and to lead other's to Christ. Can't I learn all of that from pouring over the Bible? It says that not only is Scripture useful for teaching, learning, and training a godly person to do good work, it says that that person can be fully equipped for every good work. And good work is the only kind of work I want to do.
Just thinking. It doesn't mean I won't end up going to school. There are a lot of good reasons for going to school, and there's a lot I want to learn that I don't feel like I could necessarily learn on my own, because I don't feel like I know that much at all. I can learn a lot from other people, there's no reason to go into something without getting all the training I can. I just want to learn what is true and what's really important. I don't need a degree or to just learn opinions. And I'm in no hurry, except that if I did go, I think I'd just want to get it done with so I can move on to other things, but it's just as much a part of life as everything that follows, and the minstries I'm involved in now and then won't be of any less importance than what they are later on.

In the end, I know I don't need to go to school or accomplish any great feat in my lifetime. I don't expect to gain much as far as prosperity in this world goes. What's the point? "For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." (1 Timothy 6:7). I hope if I am blessed with those things that I'll be generous enough to pass it along to others.
I guess what it really comes down to is that I've kept the faith. I'm going to do my best to fight "the good fight" and finish "the race,"(2 Timothy 4:7) but God doesn't ask for perfection. I just want to serve him now and always.


Well well weeell. I think I'm going to go for a run and get some stuff done before work. I thought I was in a sillier mood. Ooooh well.

BYE!

-becca

I just got a package! Actually, I knew it was coming, but I thought perhaps Friday or Saturday. And the post office isn't open on Saturday, so even if it had come on Saturday I wouldn't have been able to pick it up until Monday.

My package was pink. My dear friend becca, knowing my feelings on the color, took care to make sure my eyes would be pleased upon first receiving the package.

Inside was...princess stuff! I got a pink powder puff, a fuzzy pink purse with "Princess" on it and some arm bangles and necklaces inside, a fuzzy pink jeweled tiara, pink grapefruit flavored body lotion, bubble bath, bath salts, and "shimmer powder", and tea and a LOT of Hershey's kisses.

This was definitely the most creative package I have ever received, and it was just what I needed today!

THANK YOU, BECCA! You're the best! =)

Books are amazing.

A good reader is one who will try to understand what the book is saying. A good reader appreciates a book, even if he doesn't agree with it. He can recognize the goodness in a book and weed out the bad.

Mark Twain, in a letter to someone who had asked him what method he used to write, spoke of the role of the "unconscious" in his writing. He talks about how he forms the words and sentences, and he thinks he has a motive, but if someone else finds a motive that he didn't intend to be there, it doesn't matter - it's in the text. The text is what speaks. It has a life of its own. (This short letter is published in a book, "The Art of Authorship", edited by George Bainton.)

Do you realize how amazing it is that the people who wrote these books are dead now, but it doesn't matter because these books are like their eternal children? These books are like people. It is so amazing to me, to think of a book as partly the product of a good writer's unconscious. This means that the text is somewhat free from the author's influence, especially if the author will allow it to be.

Think! If I wrote something profound enough, people might read it 300 years from now, and maybe their lives would be impacted! This idea makes me want to read more classic literature, and to write amazing things. It makes me feel very small to such a great task of writing something that will be read so many years from now, and even impactful. It also makes me more in awe of these authors who did accomplish this task, and may not have even had me in mind when they wrote.

Literature is really one of the only voices from the past that we have.

Also, I have started to think of books as someone's experience, or journey, or story, or some expression of themselves. These are things worthy of my complete attention and understanding and love, not just things that allow me to use my ability to see letters and note how they form words, and how the words form sentences, and say them out loud in my head in a way that makes sense.

Have you noticed that the best readers are also the best listeners? I always thought that was because people who read a lot tend to be quiet and they don't talk a lot anyway, so you can talk a lot to them and they don't talk back. But really, it's because they're used to giving full attention to books, and just allowing the books to tell them their story, without commenting or offering advice, just saying "this is the way it is". Maybe occasionally, the good readers nod in understanding or say "mmhmm", or cry in empathy or smile, or at least get involved emotionally.

I always thought that when people said "books are my friends", it meant they didn't have any real friends so they just filled up their time reading. Now, books seem kind of like people with stories.

I always thought that when people talked about "respecting books" (I was sharing this whole thing with my roommate earlier, by the way) they meant not eating toast while reading cause you might get crumbs or jelly in the book, and don't leave books on the floor for people to step on and for heaven's sake, use a bookmark and don't leave the book upside-down and open on the table because it'll bend the spine! But really, respecting books is like respecting people. You have to listen to the person's story, and not just to the words, but to the person's heart, and you have to want to be a friend, and smile and nod. You can't just pretend, either. If you read a book and you just pretend to respect it, you'll know the difference once you're done with it.

If you read a book and say "This book didn't do anything for me", you may need to think about your motives for reading. Yeah, there's a lot of literary crap out there, and you won't always be satisfied with a "good read". It's not about you being satisfied, though. I think it's about listening to different stories and finding the ones that will help your character or impact your life, whether or not you can nail down the way they do that.

Sigh. Do you all think I'm weird now?

hey.

I'm tired tonight. It's only 9:02pm, but I'm considering going to be pretty soon. And I don't even have to wake up very early tomorrow. Like, at all.

hum.

ha, I hardly know why I'm posting, because I really don't even feel like saying anything. Today feels kind of...long. And, I'm just in one of those moods tonight where I could really really use a big cup of tea, a blanket, and someone to lean on while watching anne of green gables or simply sitting in a dimly lit room and talking. I tried. I came home, took a shower, and went and sat by my mom on the couch, but, that didn't work out too well, cause she was doing stuff and no one was really listening to me. Three of them were sitting in my living room, each with a laptop and in their own world. So I feel kind of by myself right now, and a lot like I don't want to be on the computer. But I had to write a thing for awana, and our poor blog popped up. So I thought I might as well.


haha. I'm not really that sad. Life is really good, I'm just having a tired night, and I'm feeling sad because of other people, not myself really. I think I'll go read for a little while.

-becca