Primary

Hey everyone, it's Chris. Melissa still hasn't made me an official contributor on this blog (though it bears my name, too), so I have to hijack her account every now and then.

Today our primary class, while par for the course for us, just had too many moments for me to not record a few of them.

Primary President: Here kids, everyone take a magnifying glass.

Boy 1, looking at me through glass: You look huge. You look huge and boring.

Most of the rest of sharing and singing time were spent helping Boy 2 depict the various escapades of Batman, as usual. He really likes to draw (and misbehave) but doesn't always trust himself to make things as look as good as he would like, so here's how it went today:

Me, whispering: What do you want to draw?

Boy 2: Draw Clayface right here. Do you know what Clayface looks like?

(It happens that I do, of course.)

Me: Sure, he's kind of lumpy and oozing, right? How does this look?

Boy 2: Pretty good. I wanted one of his arms to be a hammer, though.

Me: Oh, well we can change that, it's not too late.

Boy 2: Do it.

Me: Okay, how's that?

Boy 2: Pretty good--now draw Batman over here. Have him swinging from his gun that shoots swings and make him punching Clayface.

Me: Got it.

Boy 2: Clayface can grow more arms for himself, so draw another arm throwing clay at Batman.

Me: Done.

Boy 2: Do you know how to draw a bat-a-rang?

Me, insulted: Of course!

Boy 2: You're really good at drawing Clayface and Batman!

This is the most sincere (only?) praise I've gotten from him--I guess my pictures of the Joker, Scarecrow, and Man-bat in previous weeks haven't really been up to snuff. Maybe I'm really getting better, but I'll let you be the judge.

Work

My sister Mandy has a few really great posts about loving one's own self--she's really easy to love, so that isn't very surprising. But lately, I've been having to teach myself what this means.

I started a new job on Monday, and it was a tough week. I work for someone very important at Duke hospital, and there are so many new things to learn, I still don't sleep well at night, knowing I have to face another day in the morning.

The first day on the job, a woman called to say that her husband's guts were falling out of his stomach...I told her to call 911. It was scary.

Sometimes people are mean.

I make a lot of mistakes. I know that the people I work with probably talk about those mistakes, maybe even laugh about them.

So starting about Wednesday, I started thinking about my sister's posts. About how she loves herself in spite of certain flaws--or rather, because of certain flaws. (She doesn't actually have any of those, but whatever). It's actually what got me through the end of my week. I kept telling myself that I was fabulous, even when my coworkers were rolling their eyes when I asked how to make coffee, or when I thought I looked kind of chubby in my new work pants.

I know that things will get better at work. I know that soon I'll be wishing that I had new things to learn, because I'll be bored with the old stuff. But I just don't ever want to forget that new people--whether they are new at work, or at school, or at church--are trying to remind themselves that they really are great, despite what they may be feeling at the moment. And I really hope that I can be there to help them out.

unrelated photo: of course

Valentine's Day

We had the best V-day. I made a huge mess making Christopher dinner, and he woke up extra early today to clean it up. Want to know what I attempted? Filet mignon with bleu cheese, carrot souffle, pan roasted pears served over frisee letttuce, and chocolate molten lava cakes with dulce de leche ice-cream. I gave the dinner a 3.25 out of 4. Christopher gave it 3.99. He says it's because I wouldn't let him give it a 4 but I know better.

Here's the thing. When the lighting was dim, I could tell that the steak was on the rare side. But when we turned the lights on to clear the dishes, my leftover steak was still on my plate and it looked a lot like it did before I took it out of the package....and before I cooked it....yeah. But on the plus side, the carrot souffle was divine, the pears turned out great, and the molten lava cake's weird texture and flavor was drowned out by the hagen daaz ice-cream.

After dinner we watched "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" which sounds spooky but is actually quite romantic. It features a widow who falls in love with a ghost that haunts her seaside cottage. Kind of hard for me to relate but...whatever.

I love that Christopher will wake up extra early to clean the dishes. I love that he knows I prefer tulips to roses, and I love that he washes down raw steak and weird cake with huge gulps of sparkling cider just to spare my feelings. Happy Belated Valentines!

23

Some pictures from my perfect birthday last week.

For the first time in my life, I was living in a place that wan't buried in snow on January 27. We celebrated by driving to a nearby lake and having a picnic. It was beautiful!

We went to our final Duke basketball game and beat Florida State soundly.

When we got back to our apartment after the game, the door was decorated to perfection by our awesome friends Jared and Carolyn. Yep, we all love The Office.

Besides the door being decorated, there was also a cake waiting on the mat. Christopher lit the candle and sang me Happy Birthday "Madson style" even though it was after midnight. If you don't know what "Madson style" is...well, let's just say, the neighbors weren't happy.

The next night, Christopher took my to my favorite restaurant and then to...Mamma Mia! I was in heaven! During the curtain call there was a big sing-along and everyone was belting out songs from the show and waving their arms. It was the funnest moment! I tried my best to get a video, but cameras are strictly forbidden, so I apologize for the poor quality. Just trying to be sneaky. :)

My family gave me the most wonderful gifts, and Christopher has a way of planning things that make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Thanks everybody--you guys are the reason I'm going to love being 23!