the rose of kiev

"I'm going to start calling you Gamma Girl." "Gamma Girl...I can live with that. So what are my superpowers since I'm radioactive?" "You don't get powers, no way." "What?! Spiderman gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gets Spidey Sense!" "Fine, you get to glow green. How's that?" On Monday there was a tad bit of hubbub among my friends when the husband of a pregnant friend of mine began teaching our Bible Study. "So, yeah, we're all playing soccer at Beakman after this and, by the way, all pregnant women stay away from Heather because she's radioactive. OK now everyone, Luke 6 tonight..." Yeah, that made for some interesting conversations. And the nickname of Gamma Girl, bestowed kindly by my friend David. In case you can't tell comic books rotted out his brain from a very early age. As of 11 this morning I am very officially and very very mildly radioactive. I went in (not allowed to eat breakf...

Today was a pleasant surprise as far as hospital visits go. Typically I'll have a visit scheduled in the middle of a perfectly good day which will suck up the middle three-and-a-half hours therefore ruining the day in total. And you know what percentage of those 210 minutes are actual diagnosis?? The same percentage you tip a waitress, a whopping 15%, and that's on good days. But I've seen those medical bills and I'll be damned if they don't get paid for having me breathe the air in their waiting room as well. Typical procedure: arrive in the parking garage and purchase a two dollar token on the way to the endocrinologist office of Dr. Sotos (it means he's a gland disorder expert, and my thyroid is the gland in question). Sit in the waiting room ankle-deep in plastic trucks and puzzles of ducks with 3 pieces missing, occasionally tossed around by the odd 4-year-old with their surly middle school sibling sulking in the corner. And you wait. That's why it'...

This is how you start the day. This morning my dad went to Tim Horton's and got me a mocha coffee (just right) a vanilla parfait (bless him, I love fruit beyond all other food) and a lightly glazed cinnamon roll. We took over the TV as we pleased and I subjected him to my favorite Seinfeld episode - the little chilren whom I am related to are still away at camp and therefore aren't around to make any comments or ruin the punch lines with a loud "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, HEATHER? I DON'T GET IT." I loved camp when I was little but I can now see why my parents sent me. Now I've got my favorite journal set out in front of me, wide open and filling up with thoughts and verses and really thinking about things. Nothing taunts me quite like blank journal pages that I can't fill upon their contact with the air. But the white is disappearing under oodles of beautiful Psalms and verses investigating prayer and whatnot to satisfy my spiritual curiousity, accompanied by g...

I pride myself on my ability to sleep in an infinete number of situations and places. Everything from consistent comfort on airplanes to complete out cold-ness on a sheet on a hospital floor. And here I am at my dad's fiance's and I can't feel tired for the life of me. A comfy bed, a TV with channels that go higher than I can count at this time of night, and a laptop with internet. And I can't fall asleep. When we first arrived in Perrysburg I told Robin I had a craving for fruit, were those cartons of strawberries on the counter up for grabs, I am a shameless craver right now. Turning her back to me she opens the fridge door and this light so bright and pure emanates from it so that I can't look into it. As I'm averting my eyes from whatever holiness is in her fridge, I sense the light shifting and as I look into Robin's outstretched hands I see...a pound of cherries. First off, I love cherries. Passionately. Second, I work at a grocery store so I know what...

Life is weird That's really all there is to it. It's unpredictable, funny, horrible, amazing, quirky, and full of the most incredible surprises. Here is an account of something catalogued under AMAZING and INCREDIBLE SURPRISE: At church yesterday I got my customary doting by a guy friend of mine who has the biggest most obvious crush on me. He's a good guy, he knows I've got a boyfriend, and he knows that I know about his crush. But this high school sophomore kid is still one of my good friends and always funny to hang with. At times his adoring attention makes me feel bad, because I really want him to have a good relationship with a good gal some day (but odds are that gal isn't gonna be me) and I don't wanna distract him from that. But for now he and I are simply good friends, and I guess I'll time take care of the rest. But being on his mind all the time has its big payoffs, and not just in flattery. I was in the lobby not 60 seconds when I feel a body pu...

Well, to my two commentors who sound so aggressive in my (or their) defense, and other people interested, to clarify that last entry is about that one person I tried to be friends with again whom I had extreme doubts about. Well, my doubts were crystallized several weeks ago and that's that. No reason or explanation, just an ugly meltdown among my circle of friends. The swell of drama was over and out of curiousity I went to his blog to see his status, because he never minces his opinion. The entry had nothing to do with me, but I felt a tug to leave something. Knowing how highly he values Scripture I picked out some verses and left the references, reluctant to hit the "post" button and possibly turn the key that unlocked another Pandora's box. But I felt that tug again, and clicked with gritted teeth. I wanted to be afraid, to go back and delete it, but felt that tug a third time to let the stone I threw in the water rest and ripple as it might. And there have been r...