Seven Quick Takes Friday (at Camp Patton!)

1. And the lamest blogger of the year award goes to... myself. I know, please, don't everyone be jealous all at once. For some reason it takes an OMG IT'S QUICK TAKES FRIDAY jolt to get me to post. And I don't know why... I love blogging and writing. Perhaps this (incredibly prestigious and not at all made up) award will be what I need to get it going!

2. I had the stinkin' coolest experience this morning. You may remember the surgery I had that I posted about back in July. Well a couple weeks ago the post got a comment from someone whose parents saw my commercial. This girl has hyperhidrosis just like me and had been suffering for many years. I offered her my email address and we've been corresponding ever since. This morning was her surgery! A couple of days ago I thought it might be nice for me to stop in and see her before her surgery. (I live only a couple blocks from the hospital.) But then I thought, is that weird? I mean... I'm an introvert, I'm not usually trying to make awkward conversation with people I don't know. But then my mom wisely told me to go with my gut, and honestly, I would have found it comforting to talk with someone who had personally had the surgery. So I emailed her and asked if I could stop by or if that'd be weird. She said she'd love to meet me. So I got to Cabell this morning and had a really awkward conversation with the  nice lady at the desk. It went something like this:

Lady: Can I help you?
Me: Yes, I'm looking for _____________."
Lady: I think she's here, let me look. (Looks at paper.) She's here, but she can't have visitors yet. 
Me: That's okay, do you know if her parents are here?
Lady: I don't know, but you can look. 
Me: I don't know what her parents look like.
Lady: (Gives look.)
Me: Um, well, see, I don't actually know _________. Dr. Kiev did my surgery too and _________ emailed me and we've been chatting so I thought I'd come see her. 
Lady: (Still looking.)
Me: Oh, I mean, she knows I'm coming!
Lady: Let's look over in the waiting area for her mom. 

Luckily, said lady was SUPER nice. Cause honestly she could have said "Are you family? I can't tell you if ________ is here. Security?" 

3. Anyway back to why it was a cool experince. (Or "stinkin' cool" I believe was the expression.) I got to meet her, talk with her and her mom and generally feel awesome that I'd met someone just like myself. I brought her some hand lotion, like my mom got me after my surgery, and she started crying, so her mom did and me too. I'm just DYING to know how her procedure went and how she's feeling. I can't wait to hear from her!

4. In other news, I had to find this old thing I'd written that I knew was somewhere online. The only thing I knew to do to find it was Google myself (you've done it too, don't lie) and this is what came up:

Dude, I'm not going to lie, it is AWESOME that I'm the only Anna Lafferre in the U.S. and Canada. Sure, Lafferre has been a pain to pronounce and spell all these years, but how many people can say they are the ONLY person with that name in the U.S.? Not many I bet! And I mean I know we're all special,  blah, blah, but AWESOME. :)

5.  I held a kitten at work today. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Once again, if you knew me 3 years ago, you'd be like WTF? Where did Anna go? Until I got Baby Snicks I was not known for my love of animals. I still don't like cats much, but WHO can turn down the opportunity to hold a kitten that weighs less than a pound? I about died. Although I bet Snicks knows I held another furry little one. Yikes.

6. My sister Erin has kindly been working on the dance studio website. She's doing it for free, and I saw the basic format the other day and it is so lovely! She is coming over tonight so we can go over some content-related things but it should be up and running by Monday!

7. This afternoon I've been reflecting on the fact that I have a lot of really good friends. People that I probably don't thank enough or tell enough how much I appreciate their friendship. I am a really blessed person. As the Ellis Paul song goes, "Thank the Lord for the friends he cast in the play he wrote for you." 

Go see amazing Grace for better takes this week! 

7QT Friday!

1. Another week spent worrying about Snicks' poo. Lordy day. I got up Monday morning (thank God it was a holiday from work) and found that he had had a bout of... shall we say... diarrhea at some point early that morning. I spent about three hours cleaning it off the floor, the walls (seriously?) and off Snicks himself. Rabbits do not get baths, nor do they like the water, so hovering over the kitchen sink while clutching a squirmy Snicks and trying to wash his tail end was a really enjoyable way to pass 30 minutes. After researching online and learning that Snicks was to die any minute because he could not survive a bout of diarrhea, I realized he had what is loving and correctly called "poopy butt syndrome" (no lie) possibly because I am an overly indulgent mama who provides Baby Snicks with ample time with his best friend, oats. Needless to say Snicks has spent the remainder of the week hating his life while I've provided him with only greens, hay and some pellet foods. Unfortunately for oats, Snicks has found a new best friend. His name is shoebox and Snicks had enjoyed snacking on him this week. They've grown so close.

2. Also speaking of Snicks, sometimes I look down and I honestly realize that I have a rabbit running around my house. A rabbit. Just roaming. Odd.

3. Has anyone ever realized that "turn it off, then turn it back on" is like the catch-all quick fix for pretty much everything in the world? Internet not working? Turn your computer off then turn it back on. Cable guide frozen? Turn off the cable  box then turn it back on! Too bad we can't use that for things like people and days. :) 

4. For those that know me, you know I have literally been counting the days until the Season 2 premiere of "Once Upon a Time." (23 more days!!!) I am so excited. Every Sunday night I tune in for the weekly dose of fabulous magic to get me through the next week. #MagicisComing is trending on Twitter and I LOVE IT!

5. I love teaching my students in ballet. They are wonderful. This year, I'm teaching Creative Movement to the 3-, 4- and 5-year olds; teaching a class called Dance Fundamentals to kids who are around 7-, 8- and 9-years old and then teaching our oldest students who are all in middle or high school. It makes me so happy to have our dance floor full of kids standing at the barre. Fabulous! And my little ones exhaust me and crack me up. The hardest part is listening to the sound of my own voice non-stop from 5-8:30 p.m. every Thursday. I know it's hard to believe, but I actually do get tired of hearing myself. 

6. This weekend I am headed to Louisville, KY for the wedding of a friend of mine. I'm very excited for her! I'm also really excited to be travelling there and staying in a hotel with my BFF Melissa. What a fun weekend away!

7. I am contemplating a somewhat big life change and would appreciate any and all prayers for discernment. Thank you. 

Adventure Runs in My Veins

I grew up with two younger brothers and two younger sisters. I also taught ballet to little children (still do) and did a lot of baby-sitting. Far past the age where most of my peers had "grown up," I still had Santa Claus at Christmas, I watched a lot of Nick Jr., I built tents out of couch cushions and sheets, I dressed up barbies and read stories about princesses.

It stands to reason that I very well may never grow up. Sure, I have a job, I live in my own apartment and I pay utility bills. But Anna who believes in magic is really the truth. In my heart, I really believe that true love is real, that baby Snicks understands what I'm saying, that real life can be like a fairy tale. I never want to be too "old" to chase an ice cream truck or catch a firefly. I like to dance around my apartment and think really I'm Snow White. I think my life holds more promise than it shows right now and that there is so much more to my life than there seems to be.

A dear friend of mine sent me the link to this blog post this afternoon. It perfectly states exactly how I see the world. In summary (my favorite parts):

"Children revere story, because they live inside it. They live inside it because they understand that we are all more than we seem to be. I am a creator born of the Creator. Adventure runs in my veins. There is winter, and there is cold, and there is dirty laundry, and there are sticky dishes. It is mine to delight in making them all over again, to make a tent of the sheets, and a carpet from the moss – spaces for the sacred ones to gather. There is a promise in that."

Anna who believes in magic, indeed. 

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. Nothing in this world is more irritating than smearing some peanut butter on a mousetrap, setting it out in the evening and getting up the next morning to find THE PEANUT BUTTER GONE BUT NO DEAD MOUSE. I think I spoke too soon, nothing in this world is more irritating than the aforementioned happening MULTIPLE TIMES IN A ROW. I live in a garage apartment and I get mice from time-to-time. I only ever see/catch them when it gets cold out but since I was at the store the other day I decided to get my fall supply of mousetraps, and, oh what the hey, set them. I don't know what is more annoying, the fact that there is a mouse loose somewhere in my apartment or the fact it is outsmarting me!

2. Tomorrow marks the biggest college football game of the season... if you live in West Virginia. Actually if you live in southern West Virginia; our northern counties could not care less. Tomorrow is the infamous Coal Bowl, or when West Virginia University takes on in-state rival Marshall University. There are a lot of stats I could mention and facts I could give, but in short, WVU is a legitimate ball team and Marshall really isn't. They used to be, but not lately. They have never beaten West Virginia. The trouble with me is -- I'm a WVU fan living in Marshall territory. My mom grew up in Morgantown (where WVU is located) and my dad went to school there. I come from a long line of die-hard, bleed blue and gold Mountaineer fans. Alas, I grew up in Huntington because my dad got a job here. (Love Huntington!) I don't now nor have I ever owned a Marshall shirt. I have about 17 WVU ones though. Give or take. Let's Gooooooooooooooooooooooo Mountaineers!

3. As I've mentioned many a time on this blog, I live in an alley in a garage apartment. A lot of people who live on the legitimate street park their cars back there, and apparently one was broken into the other day. Forgive me Lord, but when I heard about it I thought "Thank God it was them and not me." I know that's terrible but I just don't think I could take it. It makes me so nervous because besides locking your car and house doors, what more can you really do?

4. I have to say, I'm a little bit down today. I got paid today at work, and already I am down to only $100 to get through the next two weeks before the next pay day. Luckily I've purchased a tank of gas, but I've bought no food yet this month. Guess Snicks and I will go another two weeks just eating what we have! I know we'll be fine. I think I'm so stressed because I got my bills for my surgery -- one from the doctor, one from the hospital and one from the anesthesia -- and I don't qualify for any type of charity assistance because my insurance covered part of it and it's considered "elective" surgery. (Don't get me started.) It looks like I'll be paying these bills for at least the next seven years. I guess I just feel like a failure in so many ways. I'm 28-years-old but I don't make enough money and I have too much debt to even be able to grocery shop every month. I haven't always been the smartest with money, but nor do I think I'm the worst in the world. Average I suppose. Poor little Snicks didn't end up with the best provider did he? I know this sounds like I'm ungrateful for what I do have, and I know I'm much better off than most, guess I just needed to talk about it.

5. We got started back to dance this week and I'm so glad. It's been a wonderful week there after a really hard year or two. I'm so glad to see my new students and my "old" students. That place is a TON of work, but it's worth every second when I see my students and know how happy they are. One mom told me that, on the morning of what was our first day back to The Nutcracker rehearsals, her 13-year-old woke up and said, "Daddy, I get to go home today." And she meant back to the studio. My heart is full.

6. You may have noticed that I added a quote to the top of my blog. I LOVE IT! As you know, magic is my thing ever since one of my dancers wrote it about me a few months back. When I read this quote, I just knew it would be my favorite quote ever and I had to look at it every day. (I know the design of it is super crappy but I'm really not very good and have little knowledge of web design so I work with what I got!) It just does something to my heart when I read it. It makes me have hope I think. Or the feeling that maybe I'm special. Silly I guess.

7. I hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend. 

Seven Quick Takes Fridayyyyyy

Do you ever read people's Facebook statuses and wonder what compels people to publicize some of this stuff? A couple of years ago, at the end of the year, Facebook had this application where it would turn a random assortment of a year's worth of your Facebook statuses into a collage. It's pretty awesome to look back and see what you posted for a year. So I thought... let's look back at what I've posted this week! Perhaps it'll be a great insight into me and hopefully not too embarrassing! Rules are I can't skip a post... it has to be the last seven I posted, honor system.

1.  Attention haters (you know who you are): I have just returned from the vet with Snicks where I was informed that he weighs 4 lbs. and, as I've been saying, IS AT A HEALTHY WEIGHT!

2. Just heard this on the radio: "Any fool can know how many seeds are in an apple, but only God knows how many apples are in one seed." Really reminded me in a big way -- you never know how many "apples" you're gonna grow with the seeds you plant.

3. Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.

4. I just love old movies! Every time I watch one it just makes me believe in love and happy endings! And really, that's what movies should do. I love leaving the movies thinking Gene Kelly may be just around the corner...

 

5. So excited to be seeing the 60th anniversary presentation of Singin' in the Rain at Cinemark tonight with Erin. Woot woot!

6. What an AWESOME day outside! :)

7. 

 

  Go see Jen! 

BFFs

A fun shot of Baby Snicks and his best friend, oats. They're rarely separated.

As an aside, I was so jealous that all these people could put together multiple pics into one pic on Instagram. I looked all over for where on the app you could do this to no avail. Turns out you need another app (I chose PicStitch) in order to do this. Duh.

7 Quick Takes Friday!

1. Look at this precious photo of Baby Snicks sleeping on his side:

Are you dying a little bit yet? As an absolutely necessary piece of information -- bunnies sleeping on their sides means they are totally relaxed and do not fear that they may be eaten at a moment's notice. I will say, my goodness this picture makes Snicks look a little... rotund. I promise he's not fat! I think I just shoot all his pictures way close-up which makes him look like a bit of a chunk. In reality he's about 4 lbs. He's just fluffy! At any rate, he's going for his yearly bunny physical next week (trying to prolong his life as long as possible ya know) so we'll know for sure his exact weight. 

2. THE TOILET HAS LEFT THE STREET! Woot woot. That's what I'm talking about. Where it went or when or why, I don't know. But it's gone. 

3. So I get a daily delivery of our local newspaper. Because I live in an alley, the paperboy just tosses the paper toward my front door. This morning I went out to  leave for work and get my paper, and it wasn't there. However, I did see the remains of the rubber band and plastic bag it was in. Which means someone stole my paper. Which really teed me off a bit because I really enjoy reading the paper. On my way to work I thought okay, Mother Teresa (yep, I totally brought in the big guns) would be totally fine with someone stealing her paper. Maybe that person needed it. And then I got to work and found out that a college friend of mine delivered her twin girls yesterday at only 23 weeks and weighing only about a pound each, and it really humbled me. A stolen newspaper does in no way exist on the same plane of problems as  17 week premature baby girls. 

4. In case you are at all compelled, some of our sorority sisters set up a donation site for Dana, her fiance Drew, and their baby girls, very aptly and wonderfully named Hope and Faith. You can find it here.

5. Ever since the centipede intruder of 2012, I have been on red alert for  bugs in my house. I read somewhere that you are never more than 10 feet away (or was it 6 feet away?) from a spider. Not cool. (I'm sure Jen and company are cracking up over my little centipede, but this is West Virginia, not Texas, and I DON'T DO CENTIPEDE!)

6. My dear friend Jaye has recently fallen in love with a wonderful man and I LOVE IT. They met only recently, but when you know, you know! I love following their little love story and can't wait till they get married. I LOVE LOVE!

7. My cousin Katie who is 6-years-old sends me mail from time to time: little letters or pictures she's colored of bunnies. So last night I sat down and colored a picture of a dinosaur for her "from" Baby Snicks. I'm mailing it today. I love it!

Go see Jen for more exciting takes!