Immokkalee

Softie and I headed south this weekend and participated in our first community service in MONTHS! I've been nearly dying inside without actively participating in activities that help people since moving to Florida.

A couple of weeks ago at church there was an announcement that anyone who wanted to was invited to join a group in Immokkalee, Florida to bring much needed supplies to the families of the migrant farm workers who live in that area.

I also thought it might be a good way to get connected with people at our church who like to do the same type of thing we like to do.

We arrived late on Friday night at the church where we were invited to stay in preparation for the next day's work. We were greeted by floors on which to sleep and, well, we didn't know that we were supposed to bring sleep gear. Softie slept in the car, but I braved it in the house with the women. On the floor. The Very Hard Floor. Thank goodness we were going to be handing out blankets the next day. Otherwise, it would have been a very cold night on that floor.

Here's a pic of some of our group getting ready to head out for the day's work. We started with a reading from Isaiah as well as a word that was given to one of the volunteers that God was going to show up BIG time for him.

When we got to the empty lot in the small town, we were met with a line of people that had already gathered in hopes of being fed and maybe getting some shoes. I think what they walked away from there with was so much more than just a full belly and some gifts for Christmas. There was some preaching and it was awesome to see and hear it being translated simultaneously into both Spanish and Creole so that most everyone would be able to understand the Good News of the Season of Christmas.

I snapped this photo of a little girl playing Duck Duck Goose while the set up was happening. She was so sweet and innocent looking. In this town where her future is so uncertain, it was sort of sad to see that in her eyes at such a young age.

As usual, the rest of the pics are up on Flickr. I hope you enjoy! We sure did!!

She's going to have an affair with my drink because i'm going to marry it!

I just feel like posting something today.

Your Scholastic Strength Is Deep Thinking

You aren't afraid to delve head first into a difficult subject, with mastery as your goal. You are talented at adapting, motivating others, managing resources, and analyzing risk. You should major in: Philosophy Music Theology Art History Foreign language

What Should You Major In?

Your Vocabulary Score: B

You have a zealous love for the English language, and many find your vocabulary edifying. Don't fret that you didn't get every word right, your vocabulary can be easily ameliorated!

How's Your Vocabulary?

Your Mind is 61% Cluttered

Your mind is quite cluttered. And like most clutter, it's a bunch of crap you don't need. Try writing down your worst problems and fears. And then put them out of your mind for a while.

How Cluttered is Your Mind?

You Are Running on 82% Adrenaline

Your Adrenaline Level: Very Dangerous Life is passing you by so quickly, you hardly can notice what's going on. You definitely need to slow down before you crash hard!

Are You Running on Adrenaline?

Christmas Letter - the results

I have read your responses in both the comments and the poll results.

I will write a letter encapsulating the entire year.

It will be one page and will not focus on much of anything. Hopefully the pictures will make it nice.

And, I'm thinking I'd better get started on it pretty soon or it'll be a New Year's letter before too long.

A funny thing happened at Walmart.

It was a small thing and not nearly as funny as this, but Softie's reaction was priceless.

So, we're walking through WalMart and lo and behold, I look up and I saw a familiar face. Me! Here!

The worship guy at the church we've been attending was with his family. He looked up and we shared a surprised hello. I thanked him for the worship today.

Softie, shook his head and walked away muttering under his breath, "Figures. That didn't take very long."

My parents always teased that they couldn't bring me anywhere without running into someone I know. Apparently, that's not something I'll ever outgrow.

Fun with a friend

I made it to Chicago without any issues. The icy weather arrived the first night I was there. I worked from the hotel on Tuesday and by the time I needed to head off to the site, the 1/2" of ice had thoroughly melted. I had originally thought that the site was 4 miles from the hotel, but it ended up only being about 1 1/2 miles instead. I was glad since we worked late into the night.

All in all everything for work went very well. I was onsite the following day and there was no issues to speak of. YAY!

Then....I went over and visited with my friend since high school.

We had dinner with C's parent's at their house. Her brother was in town from Michigan with his wife and their two sweet little kiddos. I'd never met any of the little ones and hadn't seen anyone else in C's family in 9 years since her wedding.

I got to meet her daughter who is exactly the same age that Sweetie was when C met her.

It was an awesome time filled with sharing memories, food, stories, and making new memories. C and I stayed up until almost 2 am talking. What a treat!

I feel so honored to have had the opportunity to get together with her. Especially since they just found out that she and her little family will be moving to Barcelona, Spain in just a couple of months.

Oh, and yes, I told her about the shaving story. Initially, we spent more time trying to remind her of what visit I was talking about. Then I learned from her mom that there may be something even better than Cetaphil. Apparently, there's something with brown sugar that's just amazing for your skin.

I shared my blog with her too. Hopefully, she'll get one going soon too so she can share all about life in Spain.

Video update

I inadvertantly uploaded the wrong video for that last post. I deleted it earlier this morning, and NOW the correct video is present.

YAY! I hope you love it!

Sweetie ROCKED the house!!!

a couple of things I've been thinking about lately.

I went on vacation a few years ago. Actually, it was before I even met Softie. It was actually before Middle Mann was one year old. He's 13 now.

Anyway, I went to visit my best friend from high school and we stayed with her family for 3 weeks. It was a ton of fun. Her mom worked at a school for special kids as the director for the aquatics program there. There's a lot about my friend's mom that I really thought very highly of. Much of my parenting process is based in large part on the kind of mom I observed her to be. She trusted her kids and she let them negotiate and explain why they wanted what they wanted. I had never seen anything like that in the past, and it really made sense to me.

Anyway, sometime during my stay there, she mentioned that she didn't use shaving cream when she shaved her legs. She just shaved 'em. My skin was never soft enough to do that. I was born with dry skin and I didn't think there was much chance of my skin ever really being soft.

Then, a different friend, just a couple of years ago, gave me the gift of a lifetime. She introduced me to Cetaphil. While this might not seem all that important to the average person, but to me? It was the nectar my skin had been longing for for all of my life. That might sound like an exaggeration, but really? it's not.

Ever since I started using Cetaphil, my skin is all soft and wonderful! and as a result during the last couple of years, I've been able to start shaving without shaving cream. It's really small, but I think it's an amazing time saver, and it reminds me everyday of the way that two completely separate relationships intersected at my life.

AND MOST RANDOM OF ALL!?! Tomorrow, I'm getting on a plane and I'm gonna go see my friend. The one from high school. It's been several years since we've seen each other, and I'm really excited about it. Wait, I'm getting on a plane for work. As a bonus, I'm going to be able to see my friend. I might even get to see her mom too.

Christmas letters

I was thinking this year, I should probably write one of those fancy little Christmas letters I often receive from my friends and family.

I tend to think lots of things about these letters. Some of them are amazingly well thought out and presented. Some of them are just downright corny. Some are pleasant. Some are boring. Some are so full of details, it's like you were with them for the whole proceeding year.

So, I'm a little stuck about which kind of letter I should write. Should it be funny? Should I write about the whole year, or just the time since I moved across the country?

I'm also wondering about the fact that I've never written one of these letters before. Well, I've never written one that's ever been read by anyone other than me. Should I write about all that's happened since, what, like the beginning of time? When should I start? This is the question I struggle with the most.

Maybe I'll just put a little survey up to try and address this. Random people! Please vote!

Mostly, I just want to see how well my new printer will work. How cheesy is that?!

my house...it's current condition.

I just wanted to give y'all an update on my house.

It's dry.

The fans are gone.

This makes me happy.

We do, however, still have just bare concrete floors throughout the previously water soaked areas of our home. A couple of visitors came by this week and said it was cool. Kinda industrial. The way the make new flats on purpose. Of course, they did concede that generally, those intentionally industrial looking floors for the cool people of the world are shiny, polished, and well, a little more finished and on purpose looking. That's not our experience here.

I've decided that I'm calling it the inDUSTrial floor. Mini Mann has been coughing pretty much since the flooring came up.

In spite of that, I decided today that I was tired of not living in a home. Well, not really living. There's been furniture all hodge podge for a week and it ended today. Today, I finally moved into this house. In fact, everything is now in a place that makes me feel like I live in a home. I like it this way a lot. It's all homey. Well, without a real floor, but it's really nice.

It's been a little while.

So, it's interesting. With the pressure of NaBloPoMo off, I haven't really felt like blogging. I think it was brewing for some time prior to the end of the month. I think it was brewing like that for a lot of people.

However, this...I had to share. Please enjoy, and if you find yourself relating, maybe pick something up from there.

HA!!!

I hope this means today is my lucky day!

Now I can tell you about the flood at my house

Picture this:

Yesterday, I'm in Tampa and things are just wrapping up for the week when I get a text message from Softie asking for our landlord's phone number. I asked why he needed it since I happened to know that LandLord was just over at the house that morning to pick up his mail.

He said there was water everywhere and he needed to call him. So, I asked why was there water everywhere and he said that the toilet had overflowed.

Now, I know that I tease about being the man, but I'm pretty sure that if the toilet was overflowing, it's my husband that I would call before I'd call LandLord. That man barely speaks English.

Anyway, I gave him the number and about 30 minutes later, while I was driving home, I got a call from him. Softie.

He said that he had left the house earlier with Mini to get Sweetie from school. On his way out of the development, he saw Middle's bus coming to drop him off. Now, this isn't amazing or anything, it just gives you a little time line. Middle is 13 now and generally, he's pretty low maintenance. He watches TV. Get's himself a drink. Goes to the bathroom. Pretty much without any reminders.

Well, apparently during the less than 60 minutes that Softie was gone, Middle had to pee. So, he did. No trouble there, right?

Except that there was a faulty something in the toilet and the water didn't stop running. It was apparently running pretty quickly too. Too quickly, in fact, for the toilet to keep up with the draining. And since the toilet is just the friendliest creature in the house and the floor looked so dry to it - or something - it decided the share as much water with that little floor as it could. It shared and it shared and it shared.

Apparently, our house is built on a bit of an incline...toward the front of the house. Nice thing about that? The bathroom is in the back of the house. Softie said when he drove in the driveway, there was water coming out of the house, through the garage, and into the driveway.

Doesn't that sound nice?

There was a solid inch of water all over the house. Except the back. The kids bedrooms. Hmm...

Anyway, I kept driving the 2 hours from Tampa and arrived just after the nice man from ServiceMaster. When I got home? Softie's little slipper shoes were completely soaked through and his socks were wet all the way to the top. When he showed me our room, Mini was jumping on the carpet and there was so much water that the splashing was seriously getting his shirt wet.

Mr. ServiceMaster had already given the news to LandLord that it is going to probably be about a $15,000 job to clean up. Why you ask?

Water in Florida just doesn't drain like in a desert. The water here, well, the water and the laminate. Apparently, there's a problem with the snap together floor. There is a little water proof blanket underneath the snap together floor. Notice the word BLANKET? Yeah, it's very absorbent. The law of the land apparently says that if there's a water problem (read:flood) the laminate must be removed from the premises.

I cried a little. I'm still not feeling 100% from being sick earlier this week. When the whole crew arrived around 10:00 and said it would be a couple more hours before they'd be done with phase one, I thought we could wait it out. That the kids could just go in their beds and sleep, while I rested comfortably on the couch and the worker bees did their work.

That was before I heard the sound of the removal of laminate. That sound and it's accompanying splintering rips for about 5 minutes. Ugh! I was fried. There was no way we could stay here and it was getting late.

I looked online to see if I had enough Marriott or HiltonHonors points racked up to stay the night somewhere nice. Not so much.

So, I made a couple of phone calls to the next hotels on my list...which were all. booked. up. I sorta felt like Mary. NO ROOM! A cattle stall was actually sounding pretty good by then.

Um, yeah, so I got out June. She's our little assistant in the car. She tells us how to get places and what's around. So, June and I looked up hotels near here. First one. No room. Second one. No room. Third one's a charm. Right?

Yeah, not so much.

Anyway, I packed up the kids and we hopped in the car. I told Softie I'd tell him how to get there and where we ended up once we ended up there. Once quick check to see if everyone had eaten, which Softie said they had, we shared a quick kiss, and then the kids and I were off.

10 minutes later we pulled up at a Rat Hole. Roach Motel. Ewgh. BUT! I was tired, they had room, and we were there. I paid the woman through a tiny little slot in a window. Then. She handed me 3 more towels through the door that she unlocked and slit open just enough to push them through. Safety was ooozing out of this place. Let me tell you.

We opened the door to our first floor, picture window wall room and there was a TV, a table, 2 beds, sink. It looked pretty normal, except for the holes in the wall over the beds. Not kidding.

We discovered that there were actually 2 TV's in the room. One was tucked into a little dresser thingy. There was one remote. It didn't work on either TV and the TV that was hiding...didn't work at all.

I told the boys to get ready for bed, and Mini told me for the first time that he hadn't eaten dinner. What? But I'm hungry. My tummy is hurting.

Here's where I got my MOTY nomination during all this.

I informed him that we were not going to order Pizza Hut at 11:00 a night. That he didn't choose to eat like the rest of the kids or whatever, and that there's something absolutely amazing about going to sleep when you're told to. The grumbling in your tummy? You Can't Feel It When You're Sleeping.

Lies. I know. But he bought it. sooo...that was settled. Sweetie and Middle in one bed, Mini, me, and Softie when he finally arrived (sometime after I fell asleep for the first time of many times last night) in the other.

There was no blanket on the bed. There was a top sheet and a bed spread. Mini Mann wanted it all up close to him, and I was like, "I don't want that think anywhere near my face!" Oh, and the pillows were like that too.

Sleep was restless. Cold. Hot. Uncomfortable. There was the stress of whatever was going on at the house. The sense of disaster and displacement. The realization that....needless to say, my crazy head was SPINNING!

When Sweetie woke up in the morning, she was just about to get in the shower when she realized there was no shampoo. There was some really weird soap that someone probably received as an inheritance from their 130 year old grandma. That soap was then sold to the motel owners at a flea market some 20 years ago. Yes. It was that bad.

Since I'd just been at the Marriott in Tampa and I'm a good little hotel guest, I had all the essentials from that hotel packed in my suitcase. Thank goodness. Oh! I also had deodorant for her. and a toothbrush. and lotion. that's when I made up for putting my kid to bed hungry.

Softie was getting ready to leave with Mini to get him to school on time. He was trying to hurry Mini along when suddenly Mini shouts, "What? I can't go to school! I am STARVING!" Softie didn't know I put him to bed hungry, but luckily, he had some snacks in the van that he was willing to share. So. There. The kid was fed.

Whew.

Then? I knock on the door of the nasty motel room. I stumble to the door and open it. The motel lady, the one with the towels slipped through the door the night prior asks me if we're almost ready to check out. WHAT? It's 7:30 in the morning? You seriously just knocked on my door to find out What?!

We were out of there by 8:30. NEVER TO RETURN.

I did need to swing by the house and get the right color shoes for the day. and when I got here, this is what I saw:

from the garage door looking in.

Just past the kitchen

bad toilet...

my bedroom

The rest of the pics are over on Flickr. There's so many fans and dehumidifiers runninng at 100 degrees. and the noise? Yeah. There's that too. We're apparently going to find a little bit nicer place to stay tonight. Mr. ServiceMaster thinks he can turn the fans off tomorrow.

While that's not flooring, at least we can move our stuff back to where it goes.

enjoy!

Can't post. House flooded. More tomorrow,

I feel like poop. I'm going to sleep now. Hopefully i'll feel better tomorrow,

I really love these quizzes.

Who'd have known I could be a holiday! Thanks Jen!!!

You Are Valentine's Day

You are a true romantic who places the ultimate importance on love. You are warm hearted, and you find it easy to care for people. Love is what drives you - and you have a love to give. You enjoy making someone's day. You're full of surprises. What makes you celebrate: Being with the person you love on a special day At holiday get togethers, you do best as: The sentimental one On a holiday, you're the one most likely to: See it as romantic and special

What Holiday Are You?

I heard this term for the first time only a week ago!

Last week, on my flight home from Denver, I sat next to this very nice man who referenced the landscaping in his yard as zeroscaped. Huh? Did he just say that? What the heck is that? What? Huh? I'm sorry, have I already said, huh?

So, then I'm hanging out in my Reader, and low and behold, my wonderful friend references xeriscaping, and I'm all, huh? Did she just say that? Thank goodness she linked to the wiki for me, since I wasn't even sure I'd heard the word right in the first place!

And now? WOW! I feel so environmentally friendly in my yard now! I will post pics later this week when I get home. There's a little butterfly garden in the back yard that looks just like the first pic in the wiki! WOW! Me! GREEN?!

Big Steps

I'm in Tampa. It's a busy time this week at work. We're progressing our fancy little project on to the next level.

Even though I haven't been here from the beginning of the project with this company, I was pretty closely related to the beginning of the project ~ just from the other side of the product. I feel quite a bit of pride about the progress.

It's graduation week for our team.

That means that it's almost time to take on a new project. I'm really looking forward to getting to take a bigger hand in what's coming. It's exciting! I can't wait!!!

Depending on your time zone...

There are exactly 5-6 days left of NaBloPoMo.

While I know it takes 3 weeks to create a new habit, I must say that the pressure to post every day has been rather difficult since my last trip. I think you've probably picked up on that by now.

It's not that there's nothing to say. I haven't even introduced you to two of my children. You don't know how Softie and I met. You don't know lots and lots of things.

Maybe once the pressure is off in a week, I'll let you in on more about those things. Or, maybe I'll use that little list I just created and post about those things the rest of this week.

I'll be headed out in tomorrow around noon for Tampa. I should be back later this week. Thursday or Friday depending on how things go. Hopefully, I'll come up with some good fodder while I'm gone. That'll spare you the quick pics of me.

hee hee hee

The trouble with cartoons

Mini Mann was begging for his new favorite cartoon this morning. He was so excited since Mr. Announcer said it was coming up next!

After he left the room to tell his brother that Back at the Barnyard was coming up next! I said to Sweetie, "You know what? That show kinda bugs me."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because, the main cow dude has an udder."

Mini Mann comes tearing in the room and informs me, "Mom! All cows have ooooders. Cows have ooooders and that's what makes them cows."

Despite our best efforts to get him to say udders, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He said that udders just sounded gross. "Well, I say ooooders. You can say whatever you want, but I'm calling them ooooders and all cows have 'em"

What a nut!

Forgiving myself

I was this over here and I couldn't resist the challenge.

1. I forgive myself for watching too much TV.
2. I forgive myself for sleeping every single chance I get and some chances that I just take.
3. I forgive myself for thinking my value is based on what I do.
4. I forgive myself for yelling at the boys before I figure out what's really going on.
5. I forgive myself for not folding my laundry as soon as it comes out of the dryer.
6. I forgive myself for not folding my laundry until after it's been washed again.
7. I forgive myself for not folding my laundry pretty much unless company is coming over, and sometimes, not even then.
8. I forgive myself for not cooking as much as my husband.
9. I forgive myself for hating that I have to take anti-depressants.
10. I forgive myself for not being big enough to solve all the problems I think I should.

I'm really cutting these posts to close to the end of the day.

I'm finding it interesting this year as I participate in NaBloPoMo that life for the regular bloggers of the world that this year's contest has been particularly difficult. It could be that we're in the top of the 7th inning just waiting desperately for the chance to stretch.

There is a lot of profound locked up in me and I'm feeling a little afraid, for some crazy reason, to start letting it out again.

I've been all surface here. Talking about today and the here and now. Originally this was supposed to be a place where I vented out all my feelings and some of the darkness I harbor. It would appear to the average onlooker that I must have gotten it all out. In that vein, I feel a little, ummm...well, insincere.

It's definitely good to have a place to journal everyday, but the journaling doesn't empty out my soul the way it did in the beginning. There isn't a relief following each post. Well, there is a little relief. Relief that I got my post done for the day.

I'm going to try and get back on track with my heart here. There's certainly lots that's better in me than last year when I started, but I'm not whole. I don't get things done I should. I don't stop and listen like I should. I don't play like I should. I don't bear my soul like I should.

I know that when I do, things get all stirred up inside and I feel alive again.

DUDE! I need to post something!

I've been working on my Flickr account for more than an hour. There's so many different ways to organize your pics over there, I could stay busy for a week straight! Tags. Sets. Collections. Batch organize. Edit tags. Geomapping. How intricate should I be with this? I'm rather amused by all the options. It's making me feel oddly creative. So, come on over and check out some new sets I've put together. I'm not done by any means, but I didn't want the day the get away from me without my NaBloPoMo post for the day! :)

Last one...I think

You Are Not Stupid

You got 10/10 questions right! While acing this quiz doesn't prove you're a genius, you're at least pretty darn smart.

Are You Stupid?

interesting....I thought I'd score higher on this one.

I Am 30% Weird

Not enough to scare other people... But sometimes you scare yourself.

How Weird Are You?

I really like this one...

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a warm hearted and open minded person. It's easy for you to forgive and forget. You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. You feet may be on the ground, but you're head is in the clouds. You see yourself with pretty objective eyes. How you view yourself is almost exactly how other people view you. Your near future is calm, relaxing, and pretty much what you want. And it's something you've been anticipating for a while now. For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

and now, I'm expected to come up with something to say...

I just had another phone/IM date with the coolest chick in the world that I didn't make and I gotta tell you, I'm tired out! I miss her soooo much and these little dates have really helped to soften the loss.

Love ya, baby!!

I figure I should at least get all the kids out here...

So, it would appear that my boys have the same issues with sex recognition that I have...






Sorry boys!

Today was a most amazing day.

It's somewhat difficult to explain, but all in all, it was a great day. It started just after midnight. I realized I've paid off the oldest of my credit cards and then I got a few text messages from my most awesome friend. Then, I went to sleep until I woke up on my own. (Nothing is better than that!)

We all got up this morning and the kids and I headed off to church. We've been going to this church for quite a while. Sweetie's been getting kind of involved in the youth group and has even brought her friend with her a couple of times.

The worship was amazing. Something else, sort of nerdy was cool about it too. The drummer was having a hard time hearing the lead vocal and was trying to express that back to the sound booth who obviously wasn't responding to the poor guy. So, nerdy me just couldn't let that keep going on, so I hopped out of my row and jumped to the back of the room to let the sound guy know that his drummer couldn't hear the lead vocal. That actually felt pretty good. I haven't spent a whole lot of effort paying much attention to the little things like that during a service. It wasn't distracting or burdensome for me to notice it. I just felt pretty sympathetic to the poor drummer. I guess there's a special place in my heart for drummers. Plus, this particular drummer and I have the same haircut, so I just couldn't resist. He needed help and he wasn't getting it, and then he did. I think helping out that way made me feel kind of a part of things in a way that I haven't in a lot of weeks. Like since August....

The sermon was good, and the drama team came out and did the drama that I posted a couple of weeks ago and Sweetie actually posted the real live video from our drama team today!

Then, there was an alter call.

I don't tend to think these opportunities generally apply to people like me. The type of person who has been a follower of Christ for most of her life. The type of person who most people around her would generally say has a strong faith that seems to direct her footsteps.

I must say though, that this girl who fits the above description has pretty much been phoning it in with God lately, and today, during church, I really felt like it was time to be done with that auto-pilot relationship with God.

I'm not sure where God wants me to go from here. I'm pretty sure it'll involve some real prayer and not the throw it up and hope it gets through the roof of my house. I haven't said much of a prayer that would probably get through the stratosphere lately. And I'm pretty sure God is higher than that.

I'm sure I'll drop the ball again, but I'd like to be able to get it back on the bounce instead of after I'm standing around wondering where the ball went only to find it right behind me. Again.

OMG! My kid is BEAUTIFUL!

Yeah, I had to do one on her, and now I'm posting it...so she'll still have to come up with something for today. Muahahaha!

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

I totally stole this from Jen

I totally stole this idea from Jen over here. I find it a little strange that the top two matches are extremely varied in age. Ewww!!! and most of the rest of them...I don't even know!



Well...I guess 4 out of 8 isn't bad. I wonder how the outcome may change if I used a different picture....maybe I'll give it a try and see what happens.

Okay...this is just wrong! 4 guys? TommyLee? and what's up with the old person on each attempt?



Okay, now it's your turn. Go give it a shot for yourself. I want to see how this works out for other people.

lately

Lately, I've been really struggling for material here. I'm not exactly certain why this has occurred, but today, while I'm flying I hope to be able to remedy that. I might even work on some drafts mid flight in order to try and at least go back to making this place a little more interesting.

I have really been enjoying NaBloPoMo this year. Last year, it really felt like a chore sometimes, and then I failed.

This year, I am determined not to fail.

This past week, there have been several times where random silly things happened and I thought to myself, "excellent fodder. must remember." I don't capitalize in my thoughts...sorry Grammar Goddess.

Then, when the day came to a close and there was finally time for me to gather my collective thoughts and throw them out here, there was nothing. Sitting here in the airport, I am remembering a couple of little bullet points for your enjoyment.

• I had a Mazda 6 this week from the fine folks at Hertz. The key was one of those really fancy ones that doubles as an automatic unlocker/alert anyone who can hear my cry for help thingys. There was a shiny button on the one corner that, when pushed, popped out the key itself. This provided me with untold moments of pleasure. I felt like one of the guys on West Side Story with my switch key that sort of felt like a comic blade. I tend to fidget with anything in my hands as often as possible so I'm sure you can imagine how much flippage the key thing got this week. Once this week, in the midst of my flipping, I apparently hadn't cleared the airspace where the switch key was intended to be in time and totally nailed my index finger. My poor finger was numb and stinging for about 30 minutes after that. Way to go ME!

My second idea has just escaped me. So, I suppose there will only be one bullet point in this fine post. There will be more later!!

I've nothing to say. Tomorrow is travel day! I'll be home in the afternoon with my crew. My phone's display is looking pretty sad. I'll pro


Edited to add (because mobile blogging is not my friend...): bably need to replace it soon. More tomorrow.

I'm tired and mostly brain dead...

There's a big part of me that would like to write the title to this here post and leave it at that.

I feel like the creativity is running away from my brain. I went out to dinner tonight and then walked around Target for a bit. Unfortunately, while trying to point on things, almost every single time I attempted to put multiple words together, they got all jumbled. Either the completely wrong word, a non-word, or a mix up of the starting sounds. I was the queen of that tonight. I'm not even completely sure that the words I'm writing right now are even making much sense.

Then, I was watching TV here in my room, and the show Dirty, Sexy, Money was on. I can't help but think that Mr. Sutherland has horrible breath. I don't know I imagine this, but I'm pretty sure about it.

Is that so wrong?

Phone dating.

The last two nights, I've had 3 different phone dates. It's been wonderful fun connecting with the people I love with dedicated phone time.

My first date was with the Girls' Moma, I went to bed shortly after and slept pretty well.

This afternoon, on my way back to the hotel, I tried Softie. No answer. I tried the house. No answer. So I called Sweetie and lo and behold, 58 minutes later, I hung up. When I called Softie immediately following, he said I seemed tired. I kinda was, but it was completely awesome to have that hour with my girl. I love her heart and how she shares with me all the awesome silly crazy important details of the moments of her life in my absence.

Then, this evening, after the kiddos went to bed and Dancing with the Stars was over (YAY! Jennie's still in it!) Softie and I hooked up for a nice phone date. About an hour later, he was tired and went to bed.

We have always gotten along so well on the phone. I really do love him. I'm more than glad that we made it through the last couple of years.

Wow, I really need to come up with something to say.

I'm not feeling very creative. I updated my MySpace page today. I'm not 100% happy with it, but it was quick and it's different now, so that makes me happy. I'm hoping that my kiddo will see it and get an itch to fix it.

I took a nap today after work. WOW! That was a great nap. It actually gives me hope for a good night sleep tonight. I'll just have to lay down and and think to myself...don't mess up your hair. Then the sleep will be deep and sound.

I'm really hoping that's what happens. I'm giving it a shot starting about 10 minutes from now.

Hopefully, I'll have more to say tomorrow.

CU THEN!

this is me ~ today

I woke up a little early this morning after a pretty horrible night filled with more tossing and turning than sleeping.

Instead of jumping into the shower and getting started for the day, I decided to turn on the TV and see what I could find. I ended watching a the last part of The Ringer. I couldn't believe what time it was when it was over. I was supposed to be downstairs in precisely 15 minutes. So much for the shower. I made it my job to get the rest of the hairs on my head to look mostly like the bedhead I was trying to hide.

So, after a day outside in the wind, how do you think I did?

Okay, so I've been kind of a lazy blogger the last couple of days.

I've actually been very busy.

I mentioned that Thursday was a travel day. Friday was the Big Day. We installed software on a server and then on about 30 or so workstations. I had lots of help, but we still weren't back to the hotel before midnight.

Then yesterday, we took a drive up to Estes Park in Colorado. It's approaching winter here, and while it's generally a pretty arrid area, there's a lot of rocks and dead grass, or croppy looking areas. Lots and lots of the dead croppy stuff. We went into the Rocky Mountian National Park and drove a good 2/3's of the open roads.

Today, we thought we'd try something a little different, so we went north about 35 miles into Cheyenne, Wyoming. To my surprise, we ended up on I-80 for a little bit and actually took the same exit I had with my kids just a couple of months ago.

It's Sunday and we started at 9:30. Needless to say, there wasn't much open at that time of day in the fine town, err, umm, city that is the capitol of the state of Wyoming. We did see the capitol building and a really big cowboy boot outside of the biggest train station I've ever seen. We had to cross over a pretty big bridge to get from one side of it to the other. The bridge was actually a little bigger than the one I crossed with the kids to get over the Mississippi back in August.

Unfortunately, the bridge and the boot were about all there was in Wyoming. We looked into heading over to the Cabela's in Nebraska, but it was just too far.

We ended up coming back into Loveland, grabbing a quick lunch, and then heading back into the National Park. We drove through the third we missed yesterday and saw a bunch of neat things. Mostly nature and wildlife, but still, it was neat.

We went up to Bear Lake and took some pics of the ice that was starting to form on the edge. It snowed a couple of flakes while we were up there. We saw a herd of probably between 400-500 elk, just hanging out in a prarie munching on the grass. We stopped and I was able to snag some video. They were making all sorts of noises with them all together like that, I hope the video does it justice.

Alas, dusk arrived and we headed back out of the park and straight to the hotel. I'm going back out in a little bit for some dinner and to pick up the pics from Target that were taken yesterday. Then, I'll be back here, in my room, learning all there is to know about Encounter Notes.

Tomorrow, we're back on site and the troubleshooting and training will begin!

These are some of the elk inside the park at Rocky Mountain National Park. They hang out en masse just inside the gates. Here, they are safe from hunters, and we question evolution...

We're here!

Hi there. I'm running pretty short on time so here's my quick post so i don't miss a day! Maybe when i get done working i'll be able to post more.

Travel day

Today, I traveled.

The flights were good. In fact, landing in Denver, I didn't even know we were that close to the ground. The landing actually surprised me.

I was anxious this morning when Softie was driving me to the airport. I think mostly because this is my first time without more senior co-workers from my department. I will be met in a few days by the Fabulous Miss A.

My anxiety was replaced by desperate hunger. By the time we landed, got luggage, got the car, and started driving, the grass on the side of the road looked tasty! Thank goodness a restaurant was located. Food was consumed. And I feel normal again.

Ahh...now, I will sleep.

We're doing good so far...

We're almost one week into NaBloPoMo and still going strong. I'm gonna be traveling tomorrow and I'll be out of town on business for a week. I'm really hoping that I don't lose track of a day and end up missing a post.

I know that the quiz from a little while ago is kind of cheating, so I'm throwing something else up just to not feel like I cheated today.

I have noticed that I've been posting more than once a day. I can't help but wonder why I've been able to come up with so much to say during the last week. Has it been particularly interesting around here? Not as far as I can tell. We always have lots of fun around here. And I really wasn't holding out good topics for November.

Maybe I'll be able to make a habit of it over the next three weeks.

I saw this quiz posted by a couple of bloggers today. Real people that I really know! We're all far apart, but our bond originated with the same person and the blogging has just spread from there.

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

We're all brilliant!

Does it own the crazy or share the crazy?

I've wondered recently a little bit about my online 'name'.

Everyone's Crazy

That's me. But what does that really mean?

It all boils down to the apostrophe. Where is the ownership?

I tend to think that I am everyone's crazy friend. I also believe that everyone is a little crazy. When things are boiled down to the barest of who we all are, I think we're all a little crazy. Somewhere, deep down inside of the places we all try to hide, there is crazy.

Embrace it! Own it! Don't let it own you!

Mini-Mann ~ He's a crazy dude

Today, my daughter was given a phone number by a boy on the football team. He handed her a tiny little folded up piece of paper right before practice.

When I got home, she told me about it and showed me and the Fabulous Miss A, who came home with me after work for some quick dinner. Mini Mann saw it, took it, and said he was gonna call the number. He found the phone and dialed all 10 digits before anyone realized what he was doing.

He really did it. He called the guy. Mr Football Dude hung up and then called back to see what was going on. It took a couple of calls to get him to admit who he was. The last time he called back, I talked to him and told him who had called and who I was. That I was sorry. And that she would probably call him sometime.

Meanwhile, Sweetie was DYING on the inside.

After her recommendations to me about what I could have said, she promptly started texting him her own apologies.

Can you believe he did that?

OVERSHARING AHEAD ~ You have been warned!

Sometimes pooping is as much work as delivering 3 babies!

At least it was tonight....

OMG! For real! I was in there for 45 minutes. Sweating. Pushing. It did not take that long to get all. three. kids. out. I pushed for about 30 minutes with the first. 6 pushes with the second. And about 10 minutes all together for the 3rd. The downside of tonight's experience? There weren't contractions coming every 2.5 minutes to help me finish the job!!

Ugh! I'm so tired now.

The upside? I came up with 3 posts for today while I was in there.

(this is one of them)

Dancing with the Stars

I've read some blogs that track the reality shows and I by no means feel qualified to do this, but I'm gonna anyway.

We've been watching DWTS for about, well, I think a month. We did see the teasers on the Disney Channel and we happen to have a mini-love for the Cheetah Girls, so it made sense to use this season to finally get caught up in the drama of this fine reality show.

Okay, so last week, when our favorite little Cheetah Girl was voted off, or rather, didn't have enough votes to stay for another week, my Sweetie was all kinds of cranked off at the show. She seriously had to find someone back home that she could call and vent to. Someone who wouldn't care to know the outcome 3 hours ahead of time. The friend was located. She promptly made fun of the Sweet One for being so passionate about a TV show. I certainly hope said friend was reminded of her passion for Grey's Anatomy.

So, last week and this week were kind of downers. We were so hoping that Cheetah would have made it farther, but I'm not 100% sure how I feel about all of the contestants this week wearing little Cheetah paw prints on their bodies. It was like they were somehow diminishing the reality of this reality show. Like, they were calling the voting public out for their decision, or lack there of.

Now that our favorite is out of it, I'm going to root for Jennie Garth. She probably won't win since there's still a Spice Girl and Edyta's partner. I do like Julio. He's got game! Sweetie is now stuck between Jennie, the Spice Girl, and Mr. New York City (Edyta's partner).

I'll update tomorrow after the results show to see how we're doing.

For sure, there isn't rooting for the Osmond in our house.

Randomness - Middle Mann style

Dude needed a haircut, so I got busy with that after dinner tonight. He's pretty cute. He doesn't hesitate to tell things like they are.

Tonight, after the haircut, we were finishing up and doing the final brushing down to get all the little hair slivers off.

In the midst of our work he proclaims, "Uhh. Mom. Thanks for the hair on my arms, but. uhhh. I think I already have enough. I mean. I like it. but. uhhh. I have enough. Ooh. My chest too. Uhh...yeah. Mom. There's already enough on my chest too. Uhh..."

Yeah, just like that.

Completely random, yet interesting....

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those crazy Bible characters

I've been thinking in the silly quiet parts of my head about the Bible. I've been wondering about some of the heros from the Old and New Testaments and the kinds of people that God chose to use for His kingdom. I've been thinking about this is relation to my own retrospective look at myself.

Don't get me wrong here. I don't think I'm like one of the people in the Bible. Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, the 12 disciples, or Paul. What I think is an interesting thought process to consider is how they felt inside themselves comparatively to how I feel inside about myself.

As best as I can tell, they were averageish people. Just going along through their lives. Livin'. When all of a sudden. Seemingly from nowhere, this great big God took ahold of their lives and made them into what He wanted them to be. All that He did in their lives was ultimately to bring glory to Himself.

We are shown a series of snapshots of their lives. We don't know the details about the parts of their lives that aren't written. What they thought about in their alone times. What kinds of parents they were. How marriages of that day compare to today and what kind of real life partners they were. Certainly, there is no shortage of downfalls among the greats of the Bible, but all in all, what does that do to the story except bring even more glory to God?

For me, the humanness of the heros of the Bible gives me hope. It also makes me wonder what my life would look like all written down. I suppose that the story would certainly depend on who was writing it. I wonder what God would write about me.

Halloween Recap

If you know me, then you know Halloween is not my favorite holiday. In fact, until Softie and I got together, there was no Halloween at my house. Since he determined all those years ago that the kids desevered to play along with the stupid holiday I have made it very clear that any Halloweening that would be done in our house, would be done by him.

Unfortunately, this year was very different. I don't think he intended it that way, but it is how it worked out. The day before and the day of Halloween, Softie had a pretty high fever. So he asked me very sweetly if I could please help it to happen this year. So, I did.

We started Tuesday night with the pumpkin carving.

Then, on Wednesday, Mini Mann made it through the school day without his Power Ranger costume, but as soon as he got home, it was Power Ranger all the time.

I took both boys out trick or treating. We had the Red Power Ranger and the Teenage with a T-Shirt.

That Middle Mann is really growing so fast. I almost can't believe it.

Anyway, we all made it back home with only a few bug bites and LOTS of candy. We gave away all of our candy. All in all, it was a good night. Still not my favorite, but it didn't completely suck.

One thing I wish I could figure out about blogging...

I wish I could figure out how to set my posts to publish in the future. Any suggestions are welcome.

NaBloPoMo - Part II

During the last year, I've learned a lot about myself. Today, I will try and pull out some specifics. I don't think I have enough energy left right now to link like I did yesterday. Which leads me to my first discovery of myself.

I sleep a lot! I love napping.

Softie seems to have nailed down why I sleep. He thinks it's mostly because of stress. When my craziness starts to take over, I nap. When I've had a hard day at work, I nap. When someone dies, I nap. When I get a day off work, I nap. More days than not, over the last year, I've napped at least once.

I've also learned that I do have feelings and can be thoughtful. Maybe not thoughtful in the ways the other women are thoughtful~like with remembering birthdays and other special events, buying gifts or calling just to check in, but in the ways that make friendships deep. In the listening and in the real impact I allow people to make in my life. That's news to me. I really don't tend to think of myself as considerate or thoughtful. Maybe I'm not considerate, but thoughtful - at least in my own heart I am thoughtful - mostly full of thought when I forget to share all that goes on inside my heart.

I've been able to more publicly embrace the parts of me that completely suck! To point out, out loud, that I'm not alone in seeking nominations for Mother-of-the-Year for dropping balls on my kiddos. I don't believe I've literally dropped any balls on my kids. I might have thrown a couple at them, but they were soft. What?!

Tomorrow, I'll talk about the people I've gotten to know over the last year. Each person is different and though most I've not met in real life, I feel a special connection to each of them through blogging.

I can't believe this happened

In the midst of my introspective view back into the history of my blog, the phone rang.

In the last year, the mention of a ringing phone here in a post hasn't been particularly good and tonight was no exception.

While no one died, my dad was on the phone. He briefly asked how my day was and then asked if I'd be willing to speak some encouraging words to my mother. It was at that point that I realized that this wasn't just a phone call from my dad. Something had happened.

She fell again. My mom. They're in the hospital, just getting out of x-ray. They're pretty sure she's broken her other arm.

I'm beside myself. I cannot believe this happened.

my Blogiversary!

Today is my blogiversary. Last year I started blogging to participate in NaBloPoMo.

I blew it last year and failed to post one day and thought all hope was gone that I would keep going with the blogging. But I've made it a year, and what a year it has been!

When I look back over my writing, I can see in myself that having a place like this has helped me to grieve out loud, learn about myself, and connect with new people.

I'm much further down the road of grief than I ever thought I'd be. Last year, I never thought I'd be able to say that. I couldn't imagine a day that I wouldn't cry about her being gone. One more year removed, I can honestly say that it's been about 4 weeks since I cried about her absence in my daily life. Writing that down feels a little callous compared to how sad I was this time last year, but I know that it's not callousness but a wholeness. It's a wholeness that I didn't even realize was possible in the middle of the lowest parts of my grief.

It's kinda cool to be able to go back and see that.

I guess I'll write more tomorrow. I'll talk about what I've learned about myself. Stay tuned. I will make it this year.

Halloween

I promised a post today, but I'm really really tired. So, you can check the pics over on Flickr and I'll post a little something tomorrow.

Which also happens to be the first day of NaBloPoMo!!

What do you do at work? I made this spooky cupcake today during a mandatory meeting today.

My kid says some crazy stuff.

Mini Mann is going through the really fun stage of learning to read. He's really beginning to grasp the idea of phonics and how the letter sounds are useful for things like spelling.

Last night in the car on the way home from dinner, I hear the boys arguing. About how to spell Middle Mann's name. Mini was going to die before he acknowledged that the second letter was an E.

"Uuuuhhh...Mommy? What letter makes the uuuuuhhh sound? It's a U isn't it, Mommy? Like Ugly and Umbrella? It's a U. Right? Right?! Right!"

"Um, yes. Uuuhhh is U like ugly and umbrella, but the letter in your brother's name isn't a U, it's an E."

"That's just not right. I'm pretty sure it's a U, but whatever!"

church home?

We've been going to a church here for a few weeks. I've enjoyed the worship and the messages really seem to be speaking directly to me. They've been about community the last couple of weeks. Of course, they're pushing small groups right now. I'm not 100% sure this is our new church home, so the idea of jumping right in to a small group is a bit overwhelming.

That said, the idea of building a community is very important to me. Especially since I'm missing my community back home very much. I guess I don't just miss the people, but the familiarity of how I lived my faith out in that community where I was so comfortable. I was very grounded by my community and my routines.

I'll get there here. I'm hoping that this time without a community will help me grow closer to God by myself.

Moblogging

I hooked up with mobile blogging today, thus the couple of pics off my phone. I'm hoping that mobile blogging will make NaBloMoPo more successful for me. I'll be traveling quite a bit in the coming month and I'm pretty sure there'll be days there where actually getting logged in and posting something of significant value will be difficult. But, now being able to blog from my phone will make it much simpler to just get out what I'm thinking quickly and send it off.

Also, maybe it'll make me a little better at the whole blog it when it happens because I'll forget in about 5 minutes problem I have.

we found the webcam

It's funny to me. When we moved, we unpacked about 2/3's of the boxes during the first couple of days that we lived here. There was so much that we needed to get out so that we could feel like we were home.

Once we got out all that we needed, the rest of the boxes moved out into the garage and now we only get into them when we find something we're missing. Interesting to me, that the things we're missing are usually found in the first or second box that I look in. Also of interest is how much other stuff I find in each box that I really had wished for in the last few weeks.

So, I found my webcam. The one I got for Christmas. So, if you wanna chat, I can video chat now. YAY for me!

The sunset at St. Augustine

I love customized drinks!

Some stuff from the last week or so.

I bought a new toy. I know you're jealous...mine is the silver one with 160 GB of storage. It's going to take some time to fill it up, but I'm ready for the challenge.

I was in Puerto Rico. For a week.

In case you weren't sure, unless you have a very diverse exposure to the ecoli available in the waters of this region, do not drink the water. Not even the nice bottled water provided by the hotel. It's bottled from water deep in a well in the beautiful native land in which you dwell. I believe it may, in fact, be the festering grounds for the evil creatures that climbed inside me and made a home. My body loves me so much, that it kindly, and quickly saw to it that all the evil creatures were expelled mercilessly within 12 hours of their entrance.

Going to PR and leaving your family for the longest ever in the history of their lives is the perfect time for amazing lessons to be learned at home. It is not generally recommended that these lessons involve the 6 year old and his encounter with jumping off a toilet, a slippery floor, and the edge of the door. Softie did a great job at stopping the bleeding, locating a health care facility in the area, and encouraging the doctor to take his time and stitch him up nicely. Heck! It only took 14 stitches to get the job done.

I did take some beautiful pictures on the plane ride home. The Carribean is absolutely breath-taking.

Sweetie started her own blog!

AND! We went to the ocean yesterday. The Atlantic ocean. We've official gone from sea to shining sea. Pictures are coming.

Deep thought of the day.

It seems to me that the longest term consequence of choice is the reality that no matter what happens afterward, the pain of the choice that has already been made will, for the remainder of our days, change the reflection of ourselves to ourselves. For the better or the worse.

Puerto Rico at night

Puerto Rico at night
Originally uploaded by Everyone's crazy

I haven't mentioned the Parkinson's lately, have I? The other skyline pics I took last night were WAY WAY worse with the shaking. I think I need a tripod.

The Island of Enchantment

This new job of mine is working out pretty well. Although I miss my family something fierce, I get to go to cool places like Puerto Rico on business. For a whole week.

I'm kinda glad I know my way around blogger, since all of the directions are in Spanish. It must have something to do with the IP address, but it's a little disturbing. Spell check isn't getting anything right, so I'm sorry if there's errors.

I'm actually on my first trip with my new boss, so I'm learning from the best how to do this business travel thing.

I'll try to post some photos in a little bit. We are actually working while we're here, but I'll work harder tomorrow to take pictures than I did today. There really is a lot of beauty here.

Random Facts of Recent Days

• There were two rattlesnakes killed about 20 feet from my front door today.
• Apparently, there are also Wood Scorpions near the rattlesnakes.
• There is a doctor who lives across the street is maybe 24 years old. That seems wrong to me.
• My tummy has been upset again today. Really. Upset.
• I've been thinking about putting together my 100 things.
• Apparently there wasn't as much on my brain as I thought.

Did you ever wish?

We live in Gainesville now, as I've previously mentioned. There's lots of nature around here. New to us nature. I tend to avoid things I don't know about, so if you can imagine, I don't even want to accidentally walk through the grass if I accidentally park too close to the yard. Yes, I back out and try again so that the nature touching doesn't happen.

There's all kinds of different bugs and plants and lizards and frogs. I'm used to slugs in the rain, but there was a moth in my garage the other day that looked oddly like a bat. I'm still not convinced that it wasn't. Eugh!

Okay, so here's what I wish. I wish I had one of those really cool computer identifier thingys they use on CSI where they put in the partial fingerprint and it scans through the whole database of the world and finds the bad guy. I would take pictures of all of the nature around here and run it for processing. Then I would know if I should be knocking over the mushrooms or cooking them up for dinner. Whether I should make friends with the nice moths or call pest control for the bats.

By the way, the mushrooms here are big enough for me to believe in Smurfs. They spring up almost overnight and go through a crazy lot of changes before they get kicked over by my brave husband.

A little about the Sweet One...

So, about 15 years ago, I met this really sweet little baby. I'd worried and worried for the preceeding 9 months about many things. Not the least of these was what in the world was I going to do with a baby. I was only 17, after all.

I'd spent a good portion of my pregnancy puking mostly out of anxiety. Seven months to be exact. In fact, I threw up at least once every day until that fateful day when I decided that I would keep her for my very own.

So, then she was born. Labor wasn't that bad, really. The nurses weren't the greatest. They didn't have any faith in me to be a good parent. I didn't know exactly what it meant to be a good parent, but I have always been stubborn, so I knew that I'd figure it out and Rock the House at it.

She was an easy baby. Very easy. She nursed right away. In fact, the first full day she was alive, I had to go to a nursing class at the hospital. The teacher made all the other new mom's check out my kid, the barracuda. Ewww...I was 17. These women were all looking at my boobs and this kid, umm...sucking on them?! Ugh! I didn't really want to breastfeed, but my mom strongly encouraged me to. Looking back, I'm really glad that I did.

She met all of her milestones ahead of schedule including being fully potty trained one week after her 2nd birthday.

The final day of potty training wasn't my shining moment in parenting, but I think it bears mentioning. If you spank the crap out of your kid for pooping in their panties after they "promise to Jesus" they won't do it again doesn't actually scar them for life. It does, however, make for very funny fodder later in their lives. It will not earn you, the mommy, a real nomination for Mother-of-the-Year either, no matter how many times you hope that it will. For the record, after the whooping, she didn't poop in her pants again.

She's always been very verbal, though initially she didn't want to let on to this fact. I actually had to set the monitor back up in her bedroom so I could hear her. She'd play with all of her friends (stuffed animals) throwing tea parties for them in her crib. Once she'd perfected her language skills, she decided to share with us in full sentences from the beginning.

She's always been a planner and when she was about 4, I had to make a rule that she was not the one who would be making the plans for what we were going to do each day. No lists, sweetie. You're not the boss of our day, I'd have to tell her. Even at that age, she was a better person than me.

The first day of school scared the crap out of me. I was terrified that she'd tell her teachers what a crazy mommy I was and they'd take her away from me. I found incredible comfort in the fact that on the first day of school, her teacher told all of us parents that she'd believe half of what the students said to her about home if we promised to believe half of the stories they brought home about what was happening at school. Perspective. It's a beautiful thing.

We've always talked pretty straight with each other. I decided long before she was born that when she asked me hard questions I would answer them with all the truth available. We still follow this plan today.

She has grown into an amazing young lady. I can't get her to earn a B in school to save my life. She's all about the A's. She makes amazing choices in her friends and with her values. She is all I ever could have hoped for and I am thankful every day that God made her His kid in spite of my crazy motherly input.

God Tube

I just got a link to this from my Dad. It's pretty powerful. Kinda makes me think about all that I let get in the way and how amazing God is to be willing to still take me back. And not just take me back, but take all the crap I come with.

quiet

I'm quiet today. It's spreading to my heart. Life isn't always easy. Not that it's really hard right now. It's just quiet.

I don't want to say that I'm looking for trouble. I just have had so much going on in my life for so long, that these empty days are geniunely boring. It's a simple life here in Gainesville. For me.

Being new in real life kinda brings to light how much I don't share here.

That may sound strange, but for the last 15 years or so, the people around me have watched my life change and grow and, well, they've been there. So, there's not much back story required. At least about the day to day stuff that makes up my life experiences. At least the ones that people seemed to mostly be interested in.

Since I'm new in real life, I find myself re-telling some who I am and where I came from types of stories.

I think I've been using my kids to make friends.

I say this because when I think about knowing people in Washington, I think about the being known that goes about as deep as 'how was your day?' and 'what's been going on with you lately'. I've habitually answered those questions with answers that tend to lean heavily on the kids. People seem to like me, but I've long believed that if they really knew me, they'd change their minds. They'd realize that they probably, more than anything, pity my kids for having the mom they're stuck with.

That said, I realize that y'all don't know a dang thing about each of my children except for the day to day stuff that I do share...which I know isn't much. There have been many times that I've wanted to reference something specifically about one of them, but y'all don't know that there's some other historical stuff that directly relates to why what recently has been encountered has relevance.

So, I don't share any of it.

Would it be weird to spend a bit of time going back in history and letting out some history on each of my kids?

Part of the reason that I'm even thinking about doing this is because the other day when I was googling something, I realized I've lived a lot of life and that since I have a blog I could actually, possibly be a resource for someone who was googling something that I have talked about. But since there's no backstory here, I don't share anything that anyone would probably even dream of finding useful.

Watching football

I am just sitting here with Softie, watching TV the way we do when he's driving the remote. We watch everything. Sports. Car Dealership infomercials. Sports. Commerc...nope...movie on HBO. This is a fun way to watch TV, though I must admit that it did take some real getting used to.

When we first got together, watching TV with him would drive me crazy. He'd flip to this show and that show and ask me what was going on. Like I knew anymore than he did. We just turned on the show! Remember? You're driving the remote?

It's not like that anymore. I don't have the attention span I used to, so flipping around between 3-10 different shows works for me.

In the midst of it all, I have all these short term exposures to the oddities that are resident in this human race of ours. In life, I tend to try to relate just about everything to something else. Something that I have personal experience with. So with that knowledge in hand...a snippet of tonight's TV experience from my perspective.

I've noticed that when football players get a touchdown, it's fun to watch the guys around the actual play maker. Usually, the main guy is gettin' down with his bad self and someone will run up and be all hip to the step. They slam into each other with coolness dripping from their jerseys. They are the two that the shot is intended for.

But, I find it interesting that there's usually another player or two around this exposure of coolness whose complete dorkiness is revealed on camera for the world to see. He tries to get in on the action of the celebration, but he really ends up looking very much like a big oaf. Jumping up after the other two. Trying to make it back down in time to throw his arm up and high five the play maker's....umm....head. It's really funny.

Next time you're watching the news and the sports come on, don't watch the play maker...watch the poor sap behind him, trying to be cool like his teammates.

Delurking 101

Today is the first blogging holiday I remember ever hearing about. I've learned about many since then, but this Delurking Day is really something.

There's a flutter all over the internet apparently about the decrease the number of comments that are being left. Delurking Day to me is mostly about admitting how much I suck at leaving comments and making a day just so that I can run around to all of the blogs I read and let them know..."hey, I read".

The other thing that Delurking Day offers is an opportunity for me to not be the only person who does this admitting. You too, can hop outside of your reader and join in the fun of letting people know you read what they write.