Company Girl Coffee 9/25/09

Company Girl logo This week was a week of new things for me. Monday Tracy and I went to The Museum of Science and Industry to see the Harry Potter Exhibit before it leaves town later this month. That’s the first time I had been to the museum. While waiting for the movie we saw at the Omniplex we saw the Foucalt Pendulum and Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle. We both come from Midwest farm country, so we thought the Farm Tech section for the kids was hysterical. Aaah city people. 🙂 We have a membership there, and I will be going back.

Yesterday I went to another museum in town I hadn’t been to: The Field Museum. For the time being they are having free admission on Thursdays, so I wandered over yesterday and wandered through. I walked through The Ancient Americans, Travels of the Crow: Journey of an Indian Nation and The Native American Indians section. I have to go back when Pawnee Earth Lodge is open. It’s just open certain times of the day. I also went through Inside Ancient Egypt, and got to walk through a tomb that’s part 5,000 years old and part reconstruction, which was really cool. Then I had a cookie before coming home.

We also decided to become members of The Art Institute, so I’m going to head there next week and see if I can get out of their phenomenal Impressionist wing to see other parts of the Institute.

My other new thing is from my thinking through a question in Jen Louden’s The Life Organizer. One of the questions for this week was “How can I nurture my body so that I am taking care of myself in sync with the season?” I usually do well eating seasonally through the spring and summer because that’s all of my favorites: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, blueberries, peaches, leeks, fresh herbs, etc. I start dwindling off this time of the year, and I figured out that’s because I’m not sure what’s in season and what to do with it. So one of the ways I’m going to nurture my body is start learning what’s seasonal in the Fall and learning how to cook it. When I went shopping today I picked up butternut squash, orange acorn squash, and white acorn squash. This week I will be learning what I can do with them. Although I do know you can make some wonderful soup from butternut squash, which I love.

This weekend will be pretty laid back. I plan on doing some writing tomorrow, church Sunday, Sunday nap and some reading. This afternoon’s plan is to clean house and start getting Halloween stuff out. I’m proud myself: I waited until the end of September this year…..

I hope all of your Company Girls and whoever else stops by has a great weekend. And you can click here to visit other Company Girls to get your weekend started out right.

P. S. I’m sorry I didn’t get around last week. I was just too busy with the sermon. I promise to stop by the Company Girl posts this weekend.

Published by Shawna on | Permalink

Company Girl Coffee 9/18/09

Company Girl logo

This week I realized how important and vital self-care is. So Important! I did not realize this until Wednesday. After last month’s bout of depression, My Fantabulous Hubby decided I needed some pampering. So he bought me a spa day. Oh. My Goodness. I have never felt so relaxed or in body ever. And I feel so much better even two days later. I’m still relaxed and at peace. My mind is not racing like it normally does. I really have to prioritize taking care of myself. It makes such a huge difference.

My major epiphany is that I HAVE to take care better care of myself. Self-care has to be a priority, a top priority, and not something I do if I have time. Major, major revelations on how badly I treat my body, and that has to change.

I love how my friend Hiro put this on another friend, Havi’s, blog:

When the care and cultivation of your life is your first priority, your kingdom flourishes, far from the clash and clamor of marching bands, armies or shoes hurled in any direction. Flourishing kingdoms nourish the world around them, the way a river nourishes the land through which it flows–and are nourished by it in turn.

(If you’re wondering “Sovereignty? What the heck is she talking about?” Havi had two marvelous posts up on handling people who throw shoes at us, Destuckifying When the Shoes Are Flying and Sovereignty Casserole. And More About Shoes. If you’re not following both of these wonderful women, you really should be.

I’m preaching Sunday, and the sermon is going well. I’ve really enjoyed researching the Proverbs 31 Woman, and now I need to make some decisions and write the sermon. I’m not totally freaking out, which is the normal Friday procedure. So that’s good. Some of my musings on the Proverbs 31 Woman can be find here and here. After coffee hour Sunday, two psychologists in our church are going to be talking about spirituality and mental health (this is Mental Health Awareness month). I’m really looking forward to it.

I also said no to something I could have went to tomorrow, and I wanted to go to, but it was just going to crunch things up too much. So I said no, so I wouldn’t be freaking out about the sermon and how much I’m behind. Very glad I did that.

I started Charles de Lint’s new book last night, The Mystery of Grace. Charles is one of my favorite writers, and I am so happy for a new book. The man can weave worlds and characters like no one else.

I had a really good week, and I am thankful for it. How was your week?

(There are no affliate links in this post.)

Published by Shawna on | Permalink

An I'm Doing Really Good Update

Hey everyone! I wanted to let all of you know that I am doing much, much better. The change in my anti-depressant seems to be just what I needed, and I have perked up considerably. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, comments, and emails. I really appreciate it.

The Whose Church Is It Anyway? conference went very well. I had a great time and met a lot of wonderful people, including another former Nazarene! My workshop went fine, and I had a great group of patient people. Which is a good thing. I find out on my first workshop that leading a workshop is considerably different than teaching a class, preaching a sermon, or leading a discussion. I am going to need a lot more practice. But my group of people were great in letting me think and change course when we needed to, and they were a chatty bunch. Now I will be more prepared for the next time out and I know that I need to practice, practice, practice.

All of you know the saying “Behind every great (or successful) man is a good woman.” I beginning to think that the opposite is true as well. Not that I’m great or successful, but if I ever to make it to great or successful (whatever that is), it will be because of my wonderful husband, Tracy. While I’ve been striking out on my own in writing, and now speaking, he has been and is my biggest fan. He believes in me when I don’t (which is often), and keeps cheering  me on to do what I want to do and believes that I can do it.

Julia Child said in My Life in France that without Paul Child there would be no Julia Child. That will be true for me as well. If I succeed at doing what I want to do: publish books and travel around speaking, it will because of my husband. Without Tracy Atteberry, there will be no Shawna R. B. Atteberry.

Published by Shawna on | Permalink

Company Girl Coffee 9/11/09

I have been taking part in Home Sanctuary’s Small Things daily challenges for the last three or four months. Owner Rachel Anne Ridge comes up with really great small things to make your life better by creating sanctuary in your own home. Those of us who take up the challenges are Company Girls. I decided to start doing the Friday Company Girls post after procrastinating for three or four months. So here is my first post.

This last week was a little rough because I didn’t sleep well. A pattern that finally broke last night, thank goodness. Part of that was my fault: I was staying up too late. I didn’t get a lot of writing done this week, but I did get a lot of thinking done. Thinking about where I want to go, where I want this blog to go, and who in general do I want to be? A lot of this reflection is due to another wonderful blogger and her challenge this week: Jen Louden. Jen declared this Freedom from Self-Improvement Week. Self-improvement thrives on us thinking we are not good enough. That we  have to beat and guilt and discipline ourselves into doing the right thing. We threw that out this week, and started with the assumption that we are innately good. That there is nothing to fix. On Tuesday, Jen asked these two questions that I’ve been mulling over for this week:

Can I trust myself to be who I am?

Can I trust myself to want what I want?

I don’t. I don’t trust myself. I’ve been thinking a lot about that this week. How not trusting myself hampers me, kneecaps me, disables me. Especially with my writing. I always second guess myself. I always assume I’m not right and it’s going to go wrong. And this has to stop. I need to trust who I am, and I need to trust myself to do what I want to do: write and speak on the women of the Bible. That is what I want to do. I love these women, and I want their stories to be told, and to be straightened out. Several of these women have gotten bad wraps, been marginalized, and just been lied about through the centuries. Someone needs to set the record straight. Someone needs to say to those who can’t handle strong women, women leaders, and career women in the Bible, that yes they are there, and it’s time to stop maligning them on the one hand and stop ignoring them on the other. Their stories need to be heard, and I want to tell their stories. I can trust myself. I can trust myself to do this: to do what I want to do. Not what anyone else thinks I should be doing (mainly the critical judges in my head).

So that is where I have been this week. That is why this blog has offered such meager fare: I don’t trust myself. But I’m working on it. Other people trust me (like my incredible husband), and now it’s time for me to start trusting myself.

I got real cherry to top this week off: I found out I won one of the giveaways Jen did this week: I have a free pass to her virtual retreat in January! Whoo-hoo! Thanks Jen!

Published by Shawna on | Permalink