And if they didn’t have noses, they could still get a tattoo of a nose. Reminds me of the first Dad joke I remember, from when I was three.
Dad: There’s a dog that has no nose!
Dad (using deeper voice): How did it smell?
Dad: Awful.
(Cue big laughs. But not swipe right, magical bus-cow laughs, of course. It is a Dad joke.)
Adding this here because I know you love the green stuff.
One of our Agaves has grown the most enormous flower spike. Apparently takes years before they do this and it is the first one for us. It’s so big it has dropped down a bit but it is a site to behold. Both my teenage daughters nicknamed it the penis plant but that was before it got so big it dropped under its own weight 
Haha!! Quite true. Very good point.
Well you definitely gave me a giggle. Thanks for the funnies.
Absolutely! And that thing is amazing!! 
We have those in the southwest but I’ve never seen any that huge! It’s sculpturally stunning. WOW!!!
I don’t know the process for making mezcal but apparently a lot of people grow those for that purpose. I’d rather just have a cool penis plant to look at.
Thank you so much! It was simple but sweet.
That is so dang touching! How are things?!
I’m in the middle of “Everyone is Watching” by Heather Gudenkauf and I can’t remember if that’s one you recommended but it’s unputdownable.
Lower-ish Body
The gym was so packed that it was pretty hard to get a complete workout in. Almost everything was taken, but we did get a squat rack at the start of the workout.
So we did squats, ham curls, and box jumps (not as metcon but more as a skill).
My friend has explosive athleticism and needs to express it. So we did the jumps carefully focusing on landing with good technique and then stepping down.
Then we tacked on some bicep work simply because it’s fun and he wants to build arms.
Other Stuff
This is probably oversharing, but I’m not sure what the appropriate way to leave a church is. It feels disrespectful to just jet without saying a word to anyone. But it also feels weird to draw attention to yourself or cause unnecessary drama by telling someone high up that their congregation is not a good fit for you.
Here’s the thing: the church Chris and I have been going to is full of great people and great leadership. But there are some things we disagree with that I thought we could just ignore, but I don’t know that that’s possible. I genuinely like the friends we’ve made there, and I know leaving would most likely sever those ties.
So it’s tough. Do you stay at a church because you’ve got a handful of friends there even if you disagree with some big issues? To be honest, we don’t really interact with those friends that often anyway. We’d love to, but scheduling stuff is challenging, and I have an insecurity complex that makes me question whether or not people even like me. (It’s weird, I know.)
It just makes me sad to close that door after having plugged in so hard last year. But things have felt off for several months now – almost a year. I don’t really know what to do.
Other Other Stuff
I repotted this gorgeous beast!
This Philodendron Brazil is the happiest, most prolific plant I’ve ever had.
I now have a few other thriving propagated Philo Braziles throughout the house because of it. But the pot holding it was really small (about 5 inches deep), so I figured that after all these years, it was probably root bound and in need of repotting.
But since all those vines were tangled around the hanging tree branch, I needed to repot it without taking it down. And that required some ingenuity. Like a ladder. And a box. Very high-tech stuff here.
So I chopped off the macrame plant hanger (there was no way to save it without hurting the vines or leaves) and set the plant pot on a box on a step ladder.
To my surprise, it was slightly root-bound, but not too bad.
And then I made the pot switch. It did require bringing a huge bag of potting soil into the house and scooping one-half cup at a time into the pot to fill in the gaps.
So here she is now!
Chris also helped me repot Fernando. The roots already outgrew the pot that I put him in a couple months ago. So this enormous pot should work.
I have some thoughts, but only if they are welcome (and maybe via a different medium, if there was more personal info involved, if it’s generally theological stances then that’s cool).
Your thoughts are always welcome!
Ok, without knowing the specifics, there is no perfect church (the old adage if you find a perfect church, leave it, because you’ll ruin it, is daft but true). You say the leadership is good and the people are good, so here’s where I’d land: if the things you mention that you can’t agree on are central to the gospel, the truth of who God is, or issues of sin being accepted, not called sin or being actively welcomed in the church, then I’d agree with the potential decision to leave - in those circumstances given, from what I understand, your involvement is with the church, it would be courteous to first meet with the leadership and discuss your issues.
If it isn’t those core sort of issues (not an exhaustive list) then I’d think about staying. The church is God’s plan, every single member imperfect this side of eternity, no church gets everything right, but we’re called to join in with the mess and work out our salvation in the midst of it. Another saying that comes to mind is that sanctification is most outworked within the context of the church - it’s in the day to day rubbing up against brothers and sisters and learning to live with this weird eclectic bunch of people that we learn grace and humility.
The church I am part of (leadership, preaching rota, home group, prayer group leader, pretty involved!) is actually theologically pretty far from me (so much so that they wouldn’t ordain me if I wanted to be), but they love God and they outwork His love and gospel so well that there’s no place I’d rather be!
That’s my thoughts, if you wanted to further elucidate your reasoning for wanting to leave I would happily discuss more, but also completely understand if that’s personal and not something you want to discuss with a stranger on the internet, in another continent!
As always your response is very thoughtful and I will give it more thought. Mainly my question was about the proper way to exit, not really the why.
We have thought about it for months (prayerfully) and it’s not something we take lightly. I would get into specifics, but I’m not sure that this is the right place to do it. I don’t consider you a stranger though.
Would it be? Because I get the impression it would be presumptuous to take up their time for something that could’ve just been an email.
It’s a large enough church that I don’t really feel like we’re on that level of closeness. I have probably exchanged a grand total of 3 words with the pastor in 2025. I’m not an employee and I haven’t really spent time with any members this year outside of church events. I also haven’t served there in quite some time after burning out and not feeling good about being there. But my decision to withdraw is more than just about my feelings.
Ah apologies, answering a question that wasn’t answered!
Maybe, given the size of your church and lack of closeness with your pastors, an email would be fine I guess, maybe email that leaves the option of a meeting to discuss further is they have any questions?
I always feel a little sad when people who we’ve journeyed with and love and care for leave and would always be happy to meet and discuss, but it may be a different culture in a larger church (not particularly common in the UK, our congregation is around 150 per week and I know most people, definitely everyone who serves and/or is a member/has been coming for a long time).
Given I don’t drink these days, I dont think the time and effort required for this would be worth it for me. LOL I will just enjoy looking at my weird plants and laughing at my daughters names for them.
That looks beautiful and is obviously thriving, must be all the attention you give it. Well done you.
I think you answered your own question, and you know what to do. Be courageous and follow you gut. Time for a change.
No need to apologize! I was all over the place and asked/commented on a variety of weird stuff. I ought to organize my thoughts and edit them down a bit before posting.
I’m grateful for your response because it’s a really well thought out perspective. I also enjoy hearing more about what you’ve been doing. It’s pretty inspiring. You are always welcome to share thoughts here.
Good call! They’re amazing!
Aww shucks. They’re easy to care for so I kinda lucked out.
Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. 
Maybe this is the way.
This makes a lot of sense. I agree with you though. I would never want to just up and leave flippantly. So I think staying has a lot of value in certain circumstances, but I’m just at a strange point where I feel WAY out of place and disagree with a couple of things that would make me feel extremely phony if I were to just go along to get along. But I believe telling someone my concerns would offend them. So I’d rather just keep my mouth shut and quietly leave.
I guess this is what I was hoping you might reconsider, if someone had concerns about you or view that might offend you but they were causing them consternation, wouldn’t you rather have a genuine conversation about it, politely and civilly air the matter and see if there can’t be a resolution? Or at least a mutual understanding and respect of each others differences.
Obviously I’m speaking without knowledge of the matter at hand and don’t want to turn this into me trying to persuade you to do something you aren’t comfortable with, but always worth a different angle on things.
Overall, not too bad. I mean, I haven’t won the lottery or met a hot, rich guy that wants to marry me, but life’s not terrible either. lol
This one was so good!! I’m glad you’re enjoying it! I just finished the new Frieda McFadden book, The Tenant and it was good. I wouldn’t put it on my top five of hers, but still not bad entertainment.
I’m in the exact same situation right now and I’ve prayed about it a lot. Ultimately, God doesn’t care where we choose to worship Him and if something in our spirit is rubbing the wrong way, I don’t think leaving needs anymore explanation than that. We need to be where God wants us, He isn’t concerned with making appearances or how it will look if we choose to leave. He just wants us to find and follow Him. We don’t need to justify how or where we do this to anyone but Him.
I think it depends on the context, but I’m most likely in the wrong denomination, for starters. And it’s basically a corporation.
So sharing my concerns would be like calling up the IFBB and saying, “Hey I have some thoughts about The Arnold Classic that you should consider. And please tell all of the other organizers under this federation that some of the things they do weird me out.”
A mutual understanding would just be what Chris and I currently do: come late, dip out early, and keep to ourselves. Which is okay but I’m not growing there.
I agree! It was good but not her best. She’s really great at telling fast-paced stories but I have to leave space between her books because she kind of has a formula. So, you can predict who the bad guy is going to be.
This gave me a huge sigh of relief, literally! Thank you for setting my mind at ease.
