A lesson in failure

I can't stop laughing. I don't know why my Twitter experience was so funny, but I just keep thinking about how hard I tried to make it work, how miserably I failed, and it just makes me laugh even harder. It's like laughing at yourself after you trip really badly. You laugh at yourself after you trip, but then you picture what you must have looked like when you tripped and you laugh even more. You can't really explain it, but it's just...funny.

Initially when hearing about Twitter, I thought, "That sounds really cool, but I don't have a use for that". I was right. Someone told me at the beginning of my experience to figure out what I wanted to use it for. I think the problem was that I never did find a use.

What I did do was feel like a huge loser because I was desperately looking for friends that
a)I actually wanted to follow and hear what they had to say
b)would follow my tweet so I wasn't talking to myself

...that's when I realized... It just all comes down to where your people are...and my people don't use twitter.


Twitter people

People that have exciting lives-My life isn't exciting enough to update people all the time about my current location-If I did, my twitter feed would look something like this:

12:01"washing dishes"

1:30 "rewashing dish that didn't get clean in cycle". Failure.

People that inform a group of people about upcoming events- Potentially this could be great to use with my youth, but I could only find one of them on twitter, and she had her profile locked (smart girl- makes a youth leader proud). In general the youth use facebook for EVERYTHING. I ended up using twitter to post on facebook...? Failure.

People that keep up with current events- I love "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me", but that doesn't mean I'm good at it." Failure.

People that network with other people that are on twitter-...Failure.

Really funny people- I would not consider myself really funny. If I'm funny, it is mostly by accident. Being really funny all the time is also really tiring.

and then there's me:

People who really want to like Twitter and wish they had a use for it...but just don't.

One of my wonderful youth, Rachel, posted this quote today on her facebook, and I would like to end this post with these words.

"Failure. Learn to do it and learn to do it well. It's the only way you get better at anything."

Speak your mind but ride a fast horse

...my new favorite saying.

I went to Babe's chicken for the first time tonight for date night, and I don't know what I was expecting, but I came out of it with a new favorite motto. Just to think all these years I have been unnecessarily getting into trouble, when I all I needed was the horse.

20 Signs that you're a small town girl

1.You strangely love doing housework.
2.A group of people singing old country hymns moves you like nothing else.
3.You need open spaces indoors and out.
4.Your idea of a community event is where you know everyone and you all get together for tons of food, fun, and a little friendly competition.
5.Your Heroine is Anne of Green Gables.
6.You wish there was still a milk man.
7.Your favorite way to spend time is with a small group of friends and family that just casually hang out a lot together.
8.Clothes lines make you happy inside.
9.You love having people over to your house for an hour or a week...and always have the guest room ready.
10.You dream about living in some remote village in a different country and in general just want to live simply.
11.You LOVE kids and family .
12.You truly do believe it takes a village.
13.Your favorite T.V. show is Little House on the Prairie.
14.You enjoy working hard outside and don't mind getting really dirty.
15.You would be happiest if you could walk or ride your bike EVERYWHERE.
16.Cooking for other people is one of your favorite things.
17.Sitting around the fireplace to tell stories and sing songs just feels like home.
18.Laughter is like breathing.
19.Your favorite kind of music is celtic, bluegrass, or anything that makes the elderly tap their feet, and the young get up and dance.
20.You have always wanted to 'raise a barn'.

Snow Day Bloopers

Easter egg hunt...Peter Pan style

I have a confession to make. Until this year, I have gone on an Easter egg hunt in my parent's house. I never got Easter baskets, but I would be lying if I said I didn't look forward to that 15 minutes each year when whatever "kids" were at my house (brothers, Stephen etc.) would race around the house hunting for eggs. Playfully pushing and sabotaging each other was half the fun, and we always just poured the candy into a collective bowl in the end anyway. But there is something about that hunt, that experience that was so intense as a kid, that somehow never stopped being a blast.

This year I guess I turned some kind of corner because this was the first year I didn't go on an Easter egg hunt.

This past Sunday all the youth diligently helped me hide eggs for the little kids at church. I couldn't help but notice their eyes light up as they watched the kids run around, tripping over each other to get as many eggs as they could, watching the parents literally point out the eggs to the kids to help them, and get kinda jealous as the little ones opened their eggs and stuff their faces with candy. Now I knew exactly what that felt like because that was me only one year ago, but I had a feeling a lot of the youth had not gone on an Easter egg hunt in a very long time.

So I decided to give the youth their very own big kid Easter egg hunt. At first I thought that they might think it was stupid, but honestly, if their reaction was anything like my brothers and mine when were were 20 something, I would have achieved my goal. I can't tell you how much joy it brought me to make them stand behind a line and savor the moment as they jumped up and down waiting for me to say "GO!". Suddenly, right before my eyes, they were all five again, and just as determined as when they were in grade school to get the most eggs. Watching them tonight actually transcended any feeling I have ever had going on an Easter egg hunt myself. That is when I knew I wouldn't go on Easter egg hunts anymore. Not because I am too old for them...never...I will probably not go on them anymore because I would rather give the gift to someone else; particularly teenagers because it is so fun to help them rediscover their youth.

There are some things that you just never get to old for. By that I mean, there are some things that never stop being exciting. Going on an Easter egg hunt falls into this category, right next to Birthday presents, dressing up for Halloween and getting a Christmas stocking. Now I am sure that there are some people that hate presents, turn away kids on Halloween and don't do Christmas stockings...I am not talking to those people.

It kinda reminds me of Peter Pan I guess, and the idea that a youthful spirit has nothing to do with how old you are on the outside. I don't know about you, but as for me, I always want to keep the window unlocked just in case Peter Pan decides to show up.