Five Things I've Learned From Football

People who know me know I LOVE football. You don’t even have to know me all that well to know this. It’s right up there with my middle name and the fact that I’d rather have a cup of coffee, thank you very much. With all the hoopla surrounding the Super Bowl, here is a list of five things I’ve learned from watching football.

1)     You can’t dwell on the good or the bad; you just have to move on.

If the quarterback is sacked, if the receiver drops a pass, if they get caught in a foul, the game doesn’t stop. The players don’t have time to dwell on their mistakes or even their victories. They have to move on. The clock just keeps on ticking and they have to keep on playing.  

2)     When you get hit, you have to get back up.

Those players take astounding hits, hits that make you think there just is no way they won’t be carted off the field on a stretcher. But up they bounce, sometimes a little slowly or shakily and sometimes with the help of one of their teammates, but up they get. This leads me to #3. 

3)     Football isn’t a solo sport, and neither is life.

No matter how great a player Eli Manning is, and he certainly is a great player, he doesn’t play alone. Without his front line to protect him, he would never have the opportunity to throw the first pass. Without Jason Pierre-Paul knocking down passes and Mario Manningham making an astounding catch, the Giants can’t possibly win.  

4)     Other people will take credit for your good work and criticize your mistakes.

I notice that after a game we say (and I include myself) “We Won!” But I wasn’t out there taking hits or making passes. I can’t even take credit for great play calling. I didn’t even mow the grass, for heaven’s sake. But even worse than that, we also tend to say “They Lost!” and then pick apart what “they” did.  

5)     And finally, it’s not over till it’s over.

When the play is over, there’s another play. When the quarter is over, there’s another quarter. When the game is over, there’s another game. And even when the season is over and it just didn’t go our way and we completely screwed everything up, guess what, there’s another season. Just wait for it. It’s coming.

Jerusalem, Fin

To continue... More Jerusalem photos.

This is an excavation from the time of Christ. It is a Roman road and pillars. It is blocked off and is still an ongoing dig. Since this was the Sabbath, there wasn't any work going on.

This is the Dome of the Rock in the background on our way down to the Western Wall. Don't laugh. it was raining and cool and I was trying to stay warm and dry. I wasn't covering my head for religious purposes.

We are told to be circumspect in our attire and dress modestly, but the only place I saw a sign asking for modest clothing and for people to cover their heads was at the Western Wall. And even then, the only place was in the enclosed prayer areas near the wall. The courtyard farther away from the wall did not have any signage for head coverings.

It's a good view of what the city looks like, overall. Very square sandstone-colored buildings, palm trees. It's really beautiful. Those stones on the ground are everywhere, and let me tell you, they are just as slick as they can possibly be. And not a hand rail in sight. And Jerusalem is not flat. Everywhere we went was either up hill or down hill.

There weren't many people around due to many different things. It is winter, fairly early in the day, and the Sabbath. It was probably a good time for us to visit without having to deal with the crowds.

This is the Jaffa Gate, the main entrance to the Old City, and close to where we parked. See those slippery stones again??? They're everywhere! And that flat courtyard is just lulling us into a false sense of security. It'll be the last flat spot we see for a while!

Jerusalem, Part I

Mike and I took a trip to Jerusalem and visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. We were fortunate when we visited that it was not very crowded. Today is Shabbat, so there weren't a lot of people around. And it's the middle of winter, so the weather was on the cool side with some intermittent light rain. And we went early.

When we entered the church, we were greeted by some women lying on a long stone, prostrate, kissing the stone. It was a really odd sight. I asked Mike, on the sly, what on earth those crazy people were doing????? He told me the stone is supposed to be where Christ was laid after He was taken from the cross. I have to admit, it set a creepy tone for the entire visit.

Apparently, the top of the hill over the burial site was taken off to expose the tomb. Then the church was built around the supposed site of the crucifixion, where the body was laid, and the tomb. If you look at the frame in the middle of the picture, you can see the actual mountain. The blocks around it are where the church has been built around the site.

This is a beautiful mosaic in one of the chambers of the church.

I have to admit, I like this graffiti a lot, too! And, yes, I DO love Jesus!

And this is the chapel that has been built over the top of the supposed tomb where Christ was laid. Again, they took the top of the hill off exposing the inside of the tomb and then built this chapel over it and the church over that. There was a priest or monk or something at the entrance of the tomb rushing people in and out and yelling at them for taking too long. Wow.

Overall, I have to say the experience was not what I expected. For better or worse, I'm glad I went. Mike had done more reading and had a better idea about what to expect. I just got a whole "Disney World" kind of vibe from the whole place and I guess I'm a little iffy on the whole experience. I'll post a few more pictures later this week.

I Look at Hands... All. Day. Long. And a (not so) Subliminal Message

I wish I could take pictures of the lovely ladies who come through and their gorgeous jewelry. I'm not a big jewelry person. Don't get me wrong, I like jewelry, but I don't tend to wear it. Partly because I just don't think it suits me but mostly because I'm allergic to nickel, common in most metal jewelry.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Anyhow, the jewelry here is just gorgeous. Big and rustic, mixed metals, unusual shapes, large colorful stones. What I wouldn't do for even one picture! It'll be a mission - finding pictures I can take of those gorgeous rings. There are a lot of diamond-encrusted jewels as well, but I prefer the other more unusual things I see on a daily basis.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

The other thing I see all day long that just befuddles my mind is the weird and tacky nails. Who is doing these ladies nails and when did she lose her sight??? They are really awful... incredibly thick, very long, often very pointed, heavily painted in garish colors, and heavily jeweled. I guess it's just the style here, but the nails don't tend to look very healthy, usually thick and dark. Go here for a little taste. *shudder* What are they thinking???

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

And in case I was too subtle for you...

Let me just say...

Four little words...

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

It's a long story, but I blame Hannah...

Most Popular Posts

View of the city of Haifa and the lovely weather we've had lately. Blech!

I've posted about 80 times and Blogger keeps track of how many times each page has been viewed, not including emails if you've signed up for those. I was looking through my list of blogs today and noticed that the most viewed blog posts were the ones I would expect, i.e. My First Post, Wedding Photos, Photos of our New Apartment, and our Moving Photos.

But there are a few surprises, at least to me.

The most searched item is "Sharon Fruit." I guess I'm not the only person wondering what the heck this thing is!

The second most viewed post is Boys in the Women's Restroom. Apparently, this is the burning question on everyone's mind... How old is too old???

And the top most viewed post?  Froop. What??? I love the stuff, but why is everyone so interested???

Thanks to everyone for keeping up with us. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to pictures from, I don't know, an actual Israeli tourist attraction???? Well, me too! We've had a couple of trips cancelled due to illness or weather. Luckily, we actually live here so we'll get there eventually. Hang in there!

Peek Inside My Closet

I'm not the messiest person in the world. In fact, it could be said that I'm one of the neater people you might meet. But the bottom of my closet would beg to disagree!

Every day after work, I come home and change clothes first thing, throwing my dirty clothes in the hamper, hanging up jackets or pants that can be worn again, and I kick my shoes off and leave them in a pile on my closet floor. Why, oh why, do I do this??? It wouldn't be all THAT difficult to put them in their place. And then on Saturday or Sunday, I put them all back in their places to begin again kicking them off willy nilly on Monday afternoon. Poor Mike! At least he doesn't have to share a closet with me here.

And another thing... How many pairs of black flats does one person need??? That's obviously a rhetorical question since I seem to have so many pairs. They are obviously the shoe of choice for the hard working woman in Israel. Well, me anyway...

So, How Was Your Week???

So this is pretty much how my week went.

Sunday: Mike goes out of town for work. I begin feeling sick about noon. By 6 pm, I'm having chills and running a fever. Up all night with chills and fever, aching joints, and MASSIVE headache.

Monday: I decide "Hey. I know. I've been up all night and am incredibly sick, but I'm not running a fever anymore and we're going to be swamped at work. Yeah. I think I'll go to work." Um. Yeah. Anyway. After one hour at work, I realize I'm an idiot and throw in the towel praying I haven't inadvertently infected my entire workplace. Luckily, my coworkers are lovely and supportive and I head home where I proceed to turn the heat in the house up to about 80 degrees and I lie in bed feeling fairly sorry for myself the rest of the day.

Tuesday: Feeling better but having learned my lesson from the previous day, I stay home and rest all day only managing to keep down water, juice, and soda.

Wednesday and Thursday: Feeling much better and I head into work where I am completely swamped but happy to know coworkers can't live without me and looking forward to a relaxing 3-day weekend with Mike in Galilee.

Friday: Find out Mike has to work on Saturday and the wind, rain, and cold weather we have had all week will continue all weekend. Boo. Weekend cancelled.

Can I just say, that even though it was a thoroughly awful week, preceded by an even worse couple of weeks. Yep. That's right. Worse. I am finding myself thankful for so many things.

I'm thankful for a husband who loves me, watches over me, and cares for me. He is such a blessing.

I'm thankful for my health. Even though I was sick this week, I'm reminded I'm not usually sick and I'm so thankful for that.

I'm thankful for being swamped at work. I like to be busy and being busy at work makes me very happy. I'm also thankful to have coworkers who missed me while I was gone and seemed genuinely happy to see me back.

Mostly, I'm thankful for God who is with me through good times and bad. For in him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28