i said i would NEVER do it again...

anyone else out there ever find it hard to stay focused? 

*NOTE* this picture has nothing to do with anything... 

which totally makes my point

if you ask my mother ( or my dad or sisters or friends or anyone who knows me, for that matter) you'll find that i specialize in this area of expertise... unless of course the thing i'm focused on is low priority and slightly ridiculous.


this would explain why last night i found myself setting my alarm clock for 12AM so i could take a quick nap before i braved those hours where night blurs into morning... all to finish a project for work that went out this morning.  yep... leslie does not like to focus until it is absolutely necessary.


the best part is that not 5 hours earlier i said with vigor and conviction to a friend who happened to be within earshot, "i will never pull an all-nighter for work again.  i don't care if i'm behind.  i won't do it." 


but the sad reality of the situation is that i did... and i will again.  we all know it.  why try to pretend otherwise.  i have been known to be called "the queen of procrastination" a time or two, but thought that as i grew up i'd mature a little.  nope.  it seems i'm only getting worse.


so the question is what can i do about it?  


scratch that... i don't want to know... truth be told if i open up the comment box and see a bunch of helpful tips on how to become responsible i might (will) end up slightly (totally) bothered (annoyed) and wonder why no one understands that this is just the way i am!  


oh boyza, i'm sounding more immature by the minute... oh well.  i guess it's just the way i am.

the gift of healing

this:

is "the last of a long line of" drano bottles used on 

this:

my sink.

are you on the edge of your seats yet?  well, let me start at the beginning ("a very good place to start"... wow, 2 random quotes and this story hasn't even started yet!)


about a month ago... actually over... february 1, to be precise, my dear and faithful kitchen sink developed a clog in the drain... a nasty clog indeed.


so what did i do?


i poured 1 bottle of drano down the drain... did it help?  nope.
i poured another bottle of drano down the drain... did it help?  nope.
i poured 3 and 4 and 5, yes 5, bottles of drano down the drain... did any of it help?  nope.


so what did i do?


i prayed.


and this was no ordinary prayer either... this was a desperate, laying on of hands, "Lord, please heal my sink" kind of prayer.  seriously.  i put my hands on that sink and i prayed a prayer that went something like this:

"Lord, i feel really stupid doing this, but i'm just gonna do it anyway.  so Lord, please heal my sink.  i NEED you to heal my sink!  i know You can do this.  i believe You can do this.  and if you don't that's okay, but PLEASE heal my sink.  i can't afford a plumber right now.  i can't afford to keep buying drano right now.  so in the name of Jesus, sink, you be healed!"

then i stood back, took a deep breath, and turned on the water.


no dice.


so what did i do?


i went to indiana for the weekend and forgot about it.  and when i came back it was still there.
then i went to tennessee for the next weekend and forgot about it.  and when i came back it was still there.
so i went to ukraine for 2 weeks and forgot about it.  and when i came back it was still there.


do you know how annoying it is to have your kitchen sink clogged for over a month?  i do.


but this wednesday, march 9th, something happened.  i was talking to my friend at my kitchen table.  the sink was full of water because i'd braved doing the dishes even thought draining the sink would take no less than 2 hours.


suddenly we heard this massive GULP come from my sink.  i went over to let the rest of the water out and to my astonishment the entire sink emptied beautifully.


"erica!!!! my sink just emptied!!!"


she didn't seem to grasp how amazing this was.  i turned on the water and let it run for a few minutes... no clog!!! it just kept flowing down that beautiful beautiful drain!!!


"erica!!!  God healed my sink!!!  He healed my sink!!!  He just waited a month, but He did it!!!"


i started jumping around my kitchen like a complete crazy and have been kind of giddy ever since.  


so if any of you have any appliances hanging around the house that need to be healed feel free to give me a call.  it might take a month, but i have this feeling that i've uncovered a gift here.


what do you think?
(ooh, maybe i shouldn't ask!)

spaseebo. ameen.

we were about to eat dinner and they asked me to pray.  this had happened before, and every time I had responded with, "you want me to?" to which denis would reply "yes, we let women pray here." which would then result in a heavy eye roll from yours truly.

of course, we still went through the same "pre-prayer" routine but this time when i opened my mouth to pray i decided to forgo the whole english thing...

"dorogoy Nyebyesnee Otets,

spaseebo.

ameen."

boy did that get a reaction.  i only said "dear Heavenly Father, thank You.  amen." but i like to tell myself they thought i was pretty cool from that point on... then again i was wearing sneakers in the middle of a harsh ukrainian winter... but that's another story for another time.

me n my homeboy

yesterday i flew home from ukraine.  1) i didn't have access to my car and 2) i really didn't want to think about cooking or buying groceries so... 


i called my sis to see if she could pick me up and let me hang out at their place for a while (aka for dinner).  then i fell asleep on her couch at 9 and have been here ever since.   do i sound lazy?  oh no.  i call it jet lagged.


about a half hour ago she had to run to pick the girls up from school so she gave Hudson the option of going with her or staying home with aunt leslie, to which he responded,


"i want to stay here with aunt leslie so she's not all alone"  aww.  how sweet.


so we passed the time playing with photo booth... a great hit, let me tell you.

oh hudsy boy.  i love you.