Betty White Was In My Kitchen And She Knows My Grandmother

I heard laughter and jovialness coming from our kitchen, so I decided to investigate.

Frankly, I was bit perturbed that fun was happening and I wasn't part of it.

I rounded the corner and peeked into the kitchen.

My father was standing next to my grandmother, who had her arm around the shoulder of another older woman whose face I couldn't see. Clearly, my grandmother dropped by for a surprise visit with this woman. My dad said something funny that sent the rest of the people in the kitchen - my mother and my aunt (her sister) - into hysterics.

I slipped into the kitchen and stood behind my mom.

I finally caught a glimpse of the woman.

It was Betty White.

In our kitchen.

Brought by my grandmother.

I was all kinds of shocked and excited.

I tried to look and act calm, but inside I was shouting "BETTY WHITE IS IN MY KITCHEN!! BETTY WHITE IS IN MY KITCHEN!! AND SHE'S WITH MY GRANDMOTHER!! MY GRANDMOTHER KNOWS BETTY WHITE!! HOW DOES MY GRANDMOTHER KNOW BETTY WHITE?? HOW DOES BETTY WHITE KNOW MY GRANDMOTHER??? THIS IS AWESOMEEEEEEEE!!!"

I whipped out my iPhone and tried to take a stealth photo to put on Facebook, but I just couldn't make it happen. I felt nerdy. I felt like I was invading the moment. And I didn't want to miss being in the moment. So I just held my phone in my hand and went back to laughing. I don't even know what we were laughing about. But my grandmother and Betty were laughing so hard they were crying.

And then I felt something on my arm. I looked down to see what it was.

And I woke up.

Hmph.

Just a dream.

I'm thinking I need to lay off the Golden Girl reruns and Coke Zero before bedtime.

Or it was a message that I need to start being in the moment more with family and friends, and the second I get distracted by something and turn my attention to the distraction, the moment will go away.

Or my grandmother has been holding out on us all these years, and she really does know Betty White. My grandmother knows everybody.

Eh...it was probably the Coke Zero.

Giving Myself Some Beastly Points {Achieving Goals}

So there was this guy running barefoot at the truck. Yeah...barefoot! That was a first for me. He kind of ran on his tippy toes like a 4 year old running through a sprinkler. It took everything within me not to pass him and holler, "Keep going Twinkle Toes!" It was weird, but kind of daring and slightly beastly. It takes a beastly person to run on the Catonsville track and not worry about running over a piece of glass. I admired his lack of fear.

Then there was the tatted dude who was running around the track, sans shirt, so we all could see the time he's spent doing P90X AND his apparent tolerance of the tattoo needle. He looked beastly. But Mr. Beastly Tatted Dude lost beastly points when he stopped to puke.

I was trying really hard not to sympathy puke.

You know what I mean...someone pukes and you feel like you need to puke too.

Anyway, when he hopped back on the track to run another 1/4 mile, he totally regained the beastly points he lost and gained a few extra. Mr. Beastly Tatted Dude was beastly in a mind over matter kind of way because he kept going. I admired his determination.

And then I saw a woman that I know. Compared to the other woman running at the track, she wasn't the fastest and she didn't look as good as the other woman one lane over. But I had to give it to her: she jogged/walked two miles around the track and then ran up and down the full length of the bleachers three times over. I congratulated her on a job well done, but she didn't want to hear it.

Redirected Dreams

As I was packing up "The Go Girl Mobile" for this evening's Soul Surfer movie preview we're hosting, it occurred to me how drastically my life has changed since 2003 when I bought my CR-V.

I thought long and hard about what kind of car I needed. My plan was to open my own catering business, so I knew I needed a vehicle with lots and LOTS of storage space. Plus, I planned on getting married in the next few years, so I needed something with a high safety rating. I could already envision two little car seats in the backseat. And so I landed on the Honda CR-V...in blue, of course. Plenty of room, high safety rating, my favorite color...we were going to go places!

Eight years later, and there's no catering business, no marriage, and no children.

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." -Jeremiah 29:11

If I had told myself 8 years ago that I wouldn't go into catering, and I wouldn't be married by 30, I think I would have died. Just dieeeeed. I can hear my conversation with God now, "GOD! My dream is to be a caterer! My dream is to be married!! My dream is to have children!!! How do You NOT consider this disastrous?? THAT is a disaster! A COMPLETE DISASTER! What's left for me?? Where is the 'hope and a future' in THAT??"

If God had given me a choice between the life I dreamed and the life He's given me now, I would have easily said 'no' to God's plan. I mean, what could be better than my dream? Had I kept following my plans, I would have missed out on the joy of being right where He wants me.

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." Proverbs 16:9

The best part is it's not over yet. I'm so thankful God is the one who determines my steps. He's done a pretty good job :-).

What's the dream you had in mind for yourself, but God has turned it into something better?