So, when you are facing the possibility of death in a few days (shut up - it's my blog and I'll be melodramatic if I want to.), you find yourself thinking about a lot of stuff. Here are some of those things.

• If I survive this arduous procedure, I really want to eat at Sammy's Bar and Grill. I drive past it a couple times a week at least, and it is always, always packed. People will wait hours to get in for dinner or Sunday brunch, which always features crab cakes (one of my favorite things). I really want to know what the fuss is about.
• I heard a fantastic sermon this weekend. My pastor is studying in Germany for the next two weeks, and a retired pastor in the congregation is filling in for him. She talked about the environment in which John wrote Revelation (a good intro for some, a good reminder for the rest of us), and talked about how it was aimed at a very specific audience and a very specific situation in the past, and that it isn't meant to be read as some mystical insight into future events. Then she talked about places in the world where religious persecution is still taking place. It was just really interesting.
• I also watched the teenagers in the congregation today, as I was sitting behind a group of the "cool" girls. There is one family that lets their daughters come to church dressed more like they should be hanging out on a street corner in a shady part of town. I'm sorry, but if you have to keep pulling your shorts down to keep your butt cheeks from showing, the are too short in general, and definitely too short for church. Anyway, their oldest was there (she's a freshman in high school) with two friends who don't belong to our church and probably don't go to church on a regular basis anywhere (didn't understand the hymnal, didn't understand the program of worship, and generally had that clueless look). Well, these three girls were absolutely smitten with out cantor who A) is too old for them - he's a senior in college, and B) would probably find their brother far more interesting, if you get my meaning. Meanwhile, one of the acolytes, a young guy who is part of one of the nicest families I've ever met, is making eyes at the three girls. Now, these girls not only didn't notice, they would never notice him because he has a little bit of the geek thing going on, and a lot of the nice guy thing going on. It was really a fascinting anthropological study on adolescent society and heirarchy.
• You know what I miss most about home? Eat 'n' Park. There is nothing like that here at all. For those of you not from the Pennsylvania/Ohio/West Virginia area, Eat 'n' Park is a family restaurant, with good food and pretty good prices. It's basically a step up from IHOP and a step down from Applebees, just to put it on a continuum. The closest thing we have here is Picadilly, which is good, but it is a cafeteria-type place. And I miss Smiley cookies, even though they are actually kind of nasty.
• I'd really like to go on a train trip someday. I know I've romanticized trains far beyond reality in my head, but still.
• I don't know where this compulsive cleaning thing I'm doing is coming from. Generally speaking, mess and clutter doesn't bother me. It drove my parents nuts when I was younger that I could just step over something on the floor instead of picking it up. My principal didn't understand how I could stand to teach in a cluttered classroom. I just had bigger and better things on my mind than cleaning.
• I also would like to see a kangaroo up close and personal.
• My boss's partner is the sweetest guy ever. I'm jealous of him. Why am I always attracted to gay guys?
• I got sunburned for the first time in a long time yesterday. I really need to get my AC in my car fixed. I learned why that is such a big deal here. My car windows are polarized, but that doesn't help if the windows are down.
• Hormones suck. I just recover from having my period, and now I have those mid-cycle hormones to deal with. I had forgotten how miserable that is. (Sorry, gentlemen readers.)
• I found a bra that I love. I had to buy a black bra because the big boss took our group out to lunch at the nicest restaurant in the city, and the sweater I wanted to wear had a fairly open knit. Any other time, I'd deal with the white showing through, but you just don'y do that when having lunch with the founder and CEO of the company at a four-star restaurant. Anyway, I was afraid the one I bought was going to be uncomfortable because the band size was smaller than I uually buy. But it fit perfectly, the cups were cotton-lined, and, if I may say, it made my chestal area look great.
• Mirna, on The Amazing Race, is the single most annoying person I have ever seen on TV.
• I wonder if I'll be able to wear 18-inch chains again now.
• My biggest fear is something going wrong with the anesthesia on Tuesday. That's a lot of control for a closet control freak to give up.
• My second biggest fear is that I won't be unconcious enough, and I'll be able to feel what they are doing.
• My third biggest fear is that the surgeon will slip and accidentally damage my vocal nerves.
• I think it is pretty cool that in the same prayer during the prayers of the people, we pray for the members of the military serving overseas and the suffering people of the countries they are serving in.
• Christians on reality shows are either the worst representatives of the faith, or they get the worst edits possible. I can't decide which.
• I don't think I would want to be on The Amazing Race, but it would be cool to get to do some of those once in a lifetime experiences.
• Louisiana politics suck.
• Sometimes I wonder why US territories like Puerto Rico and Guam and the Virgin Islands don't seem to want to become states. Then I hear things like this week's This American Life and I wonder if I can downgrade myself to territory. If you didn't hear it, download the podcast. It's worth a listen.
• Speaking of which, I find it really funny that I seem to get stuck with all the miltary proposals we work on when I am essentially a pacifist.
• The state of Louisiana legislature is going into session this week, and key on the agenda is how to spend all the unexpeced tax revenue from all the people buying building stuff following the hurricanes. The state has the worst public schools in the country, and there is actual debate about whether to increase funding for the schools.
• OK. I'm going forward to continue my cleaning now. But I just want to say that if Charla and Mirna end up winning The Amazing Race, I may have to give away my TV forever. It makes me sad that the Beauty Queens are the least icky team left. I wish Danny and Oswald hadn't been eliminated this week. And if they aren't dating, then The Donald will be crowning me the next Miss Universe.