Addiction: An Observation

As an exercise, I was asked to use my super sleuth observational skills regarding something difficult in my life. I've struggled with my very passionate, and at times, addictive 'personality' (though I'm not certain it's cemented as part of who we are; the Lord can make all things new.) But I'm often like a huge pendulum that operates on its extremes, 95% of the time. I decided to turn my self-reflective stream of consciousness into a poem, as I have always enjoyed writing poetry. I love the way you don't have to make complete sense or tie up any loose ends (not that I worry about that much when writing sentences, ha!) I love poetry's perfect imperfection: a complete thought can be conveyed without making it grammatically complete. So here's my shot at observing addiction; these thoughts stemmed from how an addict of any kind seems to mirror their addiction:

lying limp and lifeless on its edge
drained of its contents, remnants remain

once holding sweetness, brimming with energy in its flow
no more

it gave of itself until it had nothing left, a shell empty and hollow
tossed sideways, covered up and forgotten
to be replaced by another just like it
one more, another, then another...no satisfaction gained

it’s almost as if its insides foster unsatiated appetite
the more you taste, the more you want
the closeness must be broken, severed
never to have another like it.

Can you guess what I was observing? Click here for a pikkie representing one of my addictions (honestly, I'd probably be addicted to tree bark if I could get it in a drive thru!) Here's my prayer for all of us who struggle with addiction: May the Lord bring us to a place of relying solely on Him for comfort, balance, and life itself.

Princess and the Partay: A '33-Mendous' Birthday!

First things first...thanks for all the birthday wishes and for participating in my 'You scratch my back and I'll send you a free Seryn CD' giveaway (and for the record, the word "Prezzie" is short for "Present", not to be confused with "Pretzel" or "Puzzle." Just teasing you, Princissy!)

And the Seryn CD winner is....

Chrissy is one of my longest, 'we still talk & visit' friendships that I have and I love that she supports my dreams, hopes, and life. The beautifully recorded CD is already on it's way to you in a pink package (what else?!)

For everyone who participated, thanks a million! Even if you didn't, I still love you. Kind of. :) But you can still pick up the Seryn CD and check it out, or order them up at iTunes. 

On to the birthday festivities:

I have rarely, if ever, had a friend throw me a party on my actual July 2nd bday. As you can tell from my last post about this, summer birthdays can sometimes be lacking in the friend department (though family is always sweet and accommodating). This means that all the fun school birthdays, surprise parties, birthday lunches, announcements, etc. as a kid were not able to be done. And even as an adult, my workplace forgot to give me my "Birthday Jeans Pass" one year. (Jean passes at my school were like water to a thirsty man. But it's all good, because my lovely office staff accidentally gave me 2 this year...another perk of summer birthdays: they couldn't remember. I wore both and told myself it was for missing it the year before. Ha!)

Now don't get me wrong, I've had many friends who've more than made up for this summer bday prob. Bless them for trying to make my day special in May, late July, the fall, you name it. I feel loved. And I've thrown together my own shindigs on my actual day as well. But there is something about having another person gather friends, make dinner, and bring presents to open on my actual day that you fall/winter/spring folks just can't understand (and probably are thinking I'm going on and on about something ridiculous!) But you holiday birthday people are picking up what I'm layin down, right??

So--a big thank you to my sweet friend Ashley and to my friends who came...I enjoyed every minute of it. Right down to the wee hours of 1:00. You can check it out on Ashley's blog post, but here's a few pikkies:

I knew my birthday was going to be awesome when I got this e-mail first thing in the morning...

Sarah & I listened to him sing 'Happy Birthday' and then we sent it as a voicemail to my mom for her belated birthday wishes. We heard her chuckle from the next room--you gotta love a 60 year old Belieber!!

For the party, I wore my Pink birthday Tom's...

Here was the sign Ashley made outside her house...so sweet!

 The centerpiece...she sewed these cuties together with a piece of thread.

Blurry, but you get the idea...I was told they were 'sparkler' candles. If you must know, I'm terrified of fireworks because my delinquent brother shot a bottle rocket up my corduroy skirt as a child. Haunts me to this day. But they weren't so much 'sparklers' (picture Chris Farley air quotes here) as they were 'little sparks every 10 seconds and then re-light when you blow it out' candles. For some reason, I couldn't handle it. I laughed so hard, my sister had to blow it out from the side.

Here is one opening presents. Yay! for more Tom's (can you tell I love them??); yay! for the Vera Bradley bag & keychain; yay! for my Justin Bieber Never Say Never DVD! (though I opened that one earlier this month...) My friends know and love me well.

I wore my new chocolate Tom's the next day in fact. Here they are:

I must say that I had a very laid-back, relaxing birthday with people I loved...that is the best present of all (do I sound like an after school special yet?) And thank you to all my friends who have made me feel special every year, whether celebrating with me on July 2nd or October 2nd. I even have a best friend (that's you, Amanda Hill!) who sends me packages and makes me wait until my actual birthday to open them. She knows I can't stand the suspense, but does it anyway. Man, I love my family & friends!