I'm too tired for Things I Love Thursday...So here's a Thursday Tag instead! :)

I AM: a friend, a teacher, a sister, a daughter, a writer, a reader, a listener, and soooo much more

I WANT: time to do everything I need to do and still have some time and energy left for those things I want to do.

I WISH: All my friends lived closer to me!!!

I HATE: not being able to fix things for people. Not like plumbing or electrical things, but those emotional, hurtful, unfixable things.

I MISS: being able to hear from people who are now gone.

I HEAR: kids laughing and playing and being released from the stress of End of Grade Tests.

I WONDER: why. A lot.

I REGRET: Very little. Even the things that would make most people say, "I wish I could do that again - differently" I don't think I would. Without those mistakes I wouldn't have learned what I now know and I would be a very different person. And I'm not sure that's a good thing.

I AM NOT: good at giving up control.

I DANCE: only in the kitchen...and then it has to be the "kitchen dance".

I SING: LOUDLY in the shower and in the car or just hanging around the house - and ALWAYS with ABBA, but I sing more quietly when around other people.

I CRY: when I am sad, angry, too happy, hurt, at Oreo commercials, basically, all the time! I'm not a weeper. It just seems that EVERY emotion, good or bad, can cause me to tear up pretty easily!

I AM NOT ALWAYS: patient. I am not always right. (Someone else should write that down!! I don't say that too very much!)

I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: words and music, messes and organized stacks!

I WRITE: things that are important, things I want to remember, things I want to forget, things that make me think, things that make me laugh. I write at night, in dark rooms with only enough light to see what I am doing. I write things that many others will one day see. I write down things that no one will ever see. I write when I am upset. I write when I am happy. I write when I am confused. This year, I forgot to write...until just recently. Its kind of like I suddenly remembered who I am again.

I CONFUSE: laughter with happiness.

I NEED: a nap!!!!

I SHOULD: finish something before I start something else! I should work ONE job only! I should REST a minute!

I START: lots of projects...at the same time

I FINISH: every book I start....eventually! Some take a little longer than others!

I'M GLAD: that I have been blessed with the friends I have.

I LIVE: life really fast. It fills up so quickly and it passes before I know it. Someone slow this down!!

I PRAY: at the strangest moments and I often say the strangest things. I can just see God shake His head at me...of course, He's not shocked by what I am saying! It's not like He didn't know it was coming!!

I SEEK: peace.

I WOULD RATHER: work with children than adults.

I PREFER: to not play games in relationships - in any relationship. I want people to just tell me what they think and feel (tactfully, if possible) and then move forward!

I KNOW: how to make people laugh - usually.

I MUST HAVE: chocolate, books, alone time, music and friends - these are not in the order of importance...usually. :)

I HOPE: to one day find the right man at the right time to share the rest of my life with - but, more importantly, I hope to continue to be the kind of person who is VERY happy with life the way it is...to not sit around thinking that something is missing just because I'm not married or I'm not a mom, or something like that.

OK girls....this is a philosophical tag, but fun nonetheless! Enjoy...and TAG - YOU'RE IT!! Bina, Brooke, Sarai, Kim, Maleah, Beth, Laura - go for it!

Wacky Wednesday Tag

1. YOUR FULL NAME: Lori Jean Gilbert...it could be worse, right?

2. WHAT COLOR PANTS ARE YOU WEARING RIGHT NOW? Black

3. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? grilled fish (not for breakfast...that was dinner last night!)

4. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Anthony Giordano - weird! but true!

5. THE WORST ADVICE YOU EVER GOT: "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it is yours. If it doesn't, it was never yours in the first place." I would like to have plunged a fork directly into the eye of anyone who ever told me this when Rob and split up. It was so helpful.

6. ONE THING YOU SWORE YOU WOULD NEVER DO: have a pet bat?? I don't know. I'm sure there are lots of these.

7. NAME SOMETHING YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX: sense of humor, sense of responsibility, sense of commitment, great smile

8. SOMETHING YOU ARE PROUD TO SAY THAT YOU CAN DO: Sign Language

9. SOMETHING YOU ARE NOT SO PROUD THAT YOU CAN DO: Get easily frustrated!!!

10. SOMETHING YOU WISH YOU COULD DO: Trust more easily

11. SOMETHING YOU SAY TOO OFTEN: This is a no brainer! "ShutUp!" and "Friend" are frequently uttered

12. SOMETHING YOUR CHILDREN WILL LOVE YOU FOR WHEN THEY ARE GROWN: probably the same things they are embarrassed by: my sense of humor, laughing too much or too loud!, hopefully they will love that they can talk to me without fear of judgment. HOPEFULLY.

13. YOUR BIRTHDAY: May 22, 1974

14. YOUR COLLEGE DEGREE: Bachelors in Education (Deaf Ed., Elementary Ed., Middle Grades Ed., Secondary Ed., Special Ed. and a Reading Certification - I couldn't pick one!)

15. BEST REASON FOR DOING THIS QUESTIONNAIRE: This was more fun than the stuff I SHOULD have been doing. Besides, I've been tagged by everyone I know! :) There's no one left to tag...except Maleah who has apparently given up blogging for the year! :)

Fun! I have a new tag to be done....I'll have to find it and post it next.

PS

I meant to write this yesterday, but I was so excited about blogging again that I just forgot!

More Wicked thoughts:
I know that the songs Popular and What is This Feeling are crowd pleasers. Stephen Schwartz even talks about them being "bubble gum songs" that are just there as extras - to bring the crowd in. They are fun and I love singing along with them as much as the next person, but the song that is my new favorite is For Good. Sitting in the theater with two people who are friends like this to me as well as thinking about the amazing friends in my life just made this an even more amazing song - move over Michael W. Smith. A new friend song has hit the world! I just thank God for friends that have touched my heart like this:

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

Because I knew you
I have been changed for good

Thanks friends! I love you all!
Sarai, Brooke, Bina, Kim, Reuben, Dana, Becky, Maleah, Beth, Sarah, John, Jen, Laura, Wendy, Chris, and all the other incredible friends that I have whom I have UNFORTUNATELY not named in this list - I am a better person because of each and every one of you!!!! If I left you off, please chalk it up to a blonde moment.....It wasn't on purpose!

Superbly Wicked Sunday

Well, I missed Wonderfully Wild and Wicked Wednesday...or whatever it was supposed to be! Truth be known, I've missed most of this month. I seem to have spent it trying to catch up with myself. My writing today is not an indication that I am caught up, but that I am avoiding everything else that needs to be done. I am actually sitting at school with a mile-long To-Do list and not enough time to do any of it. So blogging wins! :)

First of all, can I just tell you how incredibly blessed I am to have the friends that I have! And what a great Christmas gift...to be celebrated for 5 MONTHS while you anxiously await the arrival of the big event! After our 3 hour interpretation of Wicked all the way to Atlanta (thanks to Brooke's narrative recitation and Sarai's musical rendition...I was in charge of transportation and tech support) we finally made it to our AMAZING hotel room (yeah for Priceline!) where somehow, I became birds and Brooke picked up a little German.

We spent an amazing day at IKEA (See Sarai's blog for the dirt on that experience!) I became the U-Turn Queen! The Cheesecake Factory was INSANE! Nothing can be wrong with a trip to Old Navy or Bath and Body. After all of these incredible experiences, it was hard to even fathom that the best was yet to come!!!

We dressed ourselves up and made it to the theater in plenty of time. I did a superb parking job regardless of what the people in the BMW thought. :) For 2 hours and 45 minutes we were completely drawn-in to the magic of Wicked. I won't belittle the experience by saying that we "rejoycified" or that the whole place was "swankified" but I think magical is a perfect description of the evening. The show was incredible....singers, actors, set, orchestra, everything. Including the people I got to have this experience with. (Who were smart enough to buy their souvenirs (the exact same shirts, keychains, hats, etc.) for a fraction of the cost at which they were offered to us at the theater....we are brilliant, ladies.) It was an amazing night. And to be able to go "home" to our hotel room and have more treasure from the Cheesecake Factory - it was the perfect ending to the perfect day.

To finish the weekend up with breakfast from Cracker Barrel and more singing and shopping was also perfect. It was a great trip. It was a wonderful experience. I'm just glad to have shared it with P-friends! ;) Love you girls!

Ok...look soon for the top ten list! It's gonna happen! :)

Now...must go finish getting my classroom ready for some end of grade testing tomorrow. UGH!!!

Monday. THE Monday.

And all of life comes down to just one thing -
That's to know You and make You known.



Aside from the fact that I think that this is actually TWO things, I LOVE this song and it is stuck in my head this morning...but I'm ok with that.

Crazy day today. Toothache - ugh - I MUST suck it up and call a dentist. Feelin' behind here at school. Must go to Asheville and Mars Hill after school. It's just one of those days!

Everyone should just hang in there!