PSA: Flu vaccines, go get 'em.

There will be 2 flu vaccines this year: a trivalent one with the 3 current seasonal strains, and a monovalent with the pandemic H1N1.

Reasons from the CDC for not putting these two together can be found here.

I suggest you get both vaccines, if possible. Odds are you won't die from H1N1 (at least not if it continues to follow current trends), but you'll save yourself a couple of weeks of feeling like you've been hit with a Mack truck full of mucus and give your body immunity.

If you're an IU student/staff/faculty, they'll be giving the seasonal vaccine at the health center and at various locations (e.g. the library) all over campus beginning in the next month or so. I think it will be a little longer before the pandemic H1N1 vaccine is available at all and/or to the general public (higher risk populations will get it first.)

And if you're scared of needles, I'll even come with you and hold your hand. :)

Read the introduction

If the first few pages of a book are titled "Introduction" or "Preface" or are numbered with roman numerals, 4 times out of 5 I won't read them. I guess I usually view them as wasting my time... come on, let's get to the real stuff! But despite my typical impatience for these pages, I do recognize their importance in many cases, like Tolkien using the intro to explain about hobbits in LOTR (especially helpful since I picked up The Hobbit last summer and never finished it) or Willard using the intro of The Great Omission to explain his reason for writing on discipleship. The introduction offers important pieces of information that will come into play later or shed light on the next few steps of the story.

So many times, I find life to be the same way, I can see that place that I want to be and the kind of faith that I want my mustard seed to grow into. But I feel like God constantly has to reign me in a little... keep me from getting ahead of myself. He promises to get me there eventually (or someplace better that I can't even see), but He wants me to read the introduction first so I'll be prepared, learn to walk so that I can run, go through this trial so that I can learn to handle the next, lean on Him with this small weakness so that I'll automatically turn to Him when bigger strength is required. I can try diving right into the first chapter, cutting a few corners, but then I only become discouraged from the pieces I'm missing and my inadequacy causes a constant struggle.

So my advice: read the metaphorical introduction. In hindsight, you'll be glad you did.
and if you get impatient... remember, as I was once told during a momentary panic, the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

WAKE UP.

A record setting move for me: this morning I hit the snooze button on both my phone and my alarm clock every 5 or 7 minutes (respectively) for 2 solid hours. 7:00, 7:05, 7:07, 7:10, 7:14, 7:15, etc. Yeah... THIS IS RIDICULOUS.

Tonight, I'm moving the alarm clock and my phone out of reach from my bed. This dependency on the snooze button must stop. Otherwise I will be forced to purchase one of these technological marvels (which I promise you I would hate with a passion), both suggested by the YH ladies this evening.
The Puzzle Clock. "When the alarm goes off, the pieces go flying! Quickly assemble the puzzle by matching the colors and shapes to turn off the alarm off."
I don't do anything "quickly" in the morning for at least an hour. And you know that one of the pieces is inevitably going to roll under the bed. The clock would get unplugged before those pieces would get put back. This would just make me angry.

SnuzULuz. "It's human nature not to give your enemies gobs of cash so that they can grow big and dominate the world with their totally wrong, stupid and invalid point of view. That's why everytime you hit the snooze button, the SnūzNLūz will donate a specified amount of your real money to a non-profit you hate."
What a wonderful way to start your day. With hatred. And a cause that you are completely against. I mean, I guess it would make you think a little harder about pressing that snooze button.

Moving the clock and being a little more disciplined should do the trick, I think. Better than waking up angry and anxious, which I predict would be the result of either of these alarms. However, if I could get an alarm clock that yells "MEGAN, GET OUT OF BED!" like my mom used to do up our stairway, that would do the trick.

Exotic barnyard fowl

Kind of on a whim, I decided to take a drive after work this evening through rural Monroe County. It was a great evening for a drive. Partly sunny and just cool enough to roll the windows down and just listen to the hum of the engine, a few twittering birds, and the buzz of summer insects. I was driving along enjoying the country roads lined with trees and corn and soybean fields. A dilapidated barn, some cattle, a couple horse farms. Something caught my eye on the side of the road and I noticed this beautiful bird standing in the ditch beside a corn field. It had a shimmery blue head and neck and a little tuft on top of its head. By the time I stopped and got out of the car, I was positive that it was a peacock (although no eyed tail feathers, so a peahen if you want to be biologically correct.) Wot?! What is a peacock doing along the side of the road in rural Indiana?! I tried to take a picture of her, but she ran across the road towards a fence. That's when I noticed a few other birds, same shape and size but white ones this time. A peacock farm?! Sure enough. I googled peafowl breeders and there's one listed in Bloomington, Indiana on the same road I was on. Weird.

Full circle

My brother, Chad, was about 2 years old when our Uncle Lee began dating Danielle, who is now our aunt. It didn't take long before Chad was in love. He thought Danielle was pretty much the coolest person ever and put on his best 2 yr old flirting act whenever she was around (including being right by her side wherever she was at, note picture.) Whenever we would see Lee and Danielle out somewhere, my mom would tell Chad, "Look, there's Uncle Lee and Danielle" and then whistle. To a 2 yr old who copies everything anyone says, a whistle comes out as words: "Wooooo wooooo." So for Chad's toddler years, my aunt was affectionately known as WooWoo. Uncle Lee and WooWoo. (Actually it was more like Uncle Wee and WooWoo because Chad had trouble with his L sounds back then. :) )

Now, Lee and Danielle have their own kids: twins, Bobby and Haley who just turned 2. Haley loves to point out and name all of our family members in the pictures at grandma's house. She always stops a little longer at Chad's senior picture and she likes to be close by whenever Chad is around... sitting on his lap, playing with him, etc. Danielle commented this week: "I think Chad is Haley's WooWoo." :)