Thanks

I'd like to start by thanking those who left lovely and insightful comments on my post requesting help.

I've narrowed my search for a camera considerably after reviewing the options and sites that were recommended.

Also, though I haven't picked out a new one yet, I will be purchasing a new shower pouf.

On the subject of knowing God's will...

I have accepted an offer for a new job. Although leaving the job I currently have is painful at the very least, the job I'll be moving to is an incredible opportunity. The new company is very excited to have me and I'm very excited to have accepted the position.

The job is going to require some pretty big changes, though. Get ready.

Summer time

We are 100% on a summer schedule these days. It's been crazy how relaxed we have been in the last month or more. It stays light here until around 10:00 (Mini was washing the car about that time tonight) and bedtime hasn't happened much before the 11:00 news these days.

I rinsed the car off with buckets of water since we don't have access to outside water or a hose where we live. That was really fun, let me tell you! After that, I thought I should check my Reader to see if anything exciting had happened while I wasn't looking. Then, I decided to make dinner.

Eggs and toast were the menu tonight. Enjoyed by all. I know. You're jealous. I'm such a pro. HA!

Anyway, the whole bedtime routine has been extremely difficult lately. Extremely difficult is an understatement actually. Fighting. Screaming. Gnashing of teeth. Fists flying. Bleeding noses. I hope you get the picture.

Tonight, however, was a refreshing surprise.

Softie took me outside to talk about something moments after I told the boys to start thinking about getting ready for bed. When we returned, Mini Mann was asleep on the sofa and Middle Mann wasn't anywhere to be found.

I actually did find him. He was already in bed.

I reached for him to get a hug and he was giggling. I thanked him for getting to bed so quickly and asked why he was so happy.

"Because of our family."

All together now....awwwww....yeah, just like that.

I need a little help.

Those 5 words are hard for me to say, but I'm going ahead and breaking the ice with them. I have a few of things that I need answers to.

1. If you have a suggestion to replace my camera that broke during the 9th grade awards this year, please leave me a comment here. Here's some things I'd like the digital camera to have. a. video with sound capability. b. SD card memory (since I already have an SD card with a GB that works just fine). c. at least 7 megapixels. d. I would like it to cost no more than $300.

2. You know those squishy poofy things that get all sudsy in the shower when you put shower gel on them? I use them to scrub off the flaky skin on my dry self. They have the little hanger thing that lets you store them in the shower, maybe on a hook to hang dry? How long to they last? Can you wash them in the washing machine to make them last longer or is that just a waste of time?

3. If you have a big decision to make, do you think you can know that it's God's will? How?

Thanks in advance for your help.

something quick

My boys were actually playing together this morning. This is a rare event in any case, but this morning their play was particularly sweet.

They were pretending to be pirates and were using a couple of decorative ships as their boats. They floated their boats all over the house until they came to a place that was marked with an X. They stopped and pretend dug up the treasure box and carried it over to me together. They were both very excited as they told me of the treasure inside. Gold. Jewels. Gold. Mostly a lot of Gold.

I asked them what they were going to do with all of this treasure. Mini Mann looked up and me and quickly replied, "We're going to bury it and mark it with a Y so that no one will know there's a treasure buried there!"

The Polyphonic Spree

The concert I mentioned in my last post? Who? Where?

It was a really cool venue. Smallish for a concert. Gigantic for a bar. Kind of an intimate mixture. There was some food and drink. It was good stuff. The company was funny and very excited to share her appreciation for a band that I didn't really know anything about.

I had seen them on Las Vegas and heard they were on Scrubs, but that's all the more I knew of The Polyphonic Spree. We were sitting at a table in the area behind and below the VIP's and just before the show started, the lead singer of the band came up and talked to us. He was looking for the VIP table and apparently our smiling faces were more welcoming than the big white signs posted on every chair at the table in the closed inish area that was raised about 6" from the level we were at. It was cool. I could totally tell he was a rock star, even though I had no idea it was the lead singer of the main act. I knew it was a big band, so he could have been any one of the 23 people that were planning to grace the stage.

It was a great show. The opener was a little weak, but the main event was actually amazing. There was sooooo much to look at and try and find (I love sounds!) There really were 23 people up there. The lead singer was more than that. He was the director of a small orchestra/concert band/rock band. It was amazing. Did I mention that?

Their words were clear and I found myself singing along with the rest of the crowd while I was very entertained by the show.

There were times when I was a little weirded out by how much it seemed similar to worship with the singability and the way the music would just hang out and swell and diminish at the direction of the leader's hands. I am so glad that when I worship, it is an almighty God who is the one and only Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and all that was and will ever be. Worship of Him is much more rewarding than worshipping a band. I was moved, challenged. Not to join in with the crowd and offer a praise to TPS. Certainly, I was a gracious attendee. I clapped at the ends of songs and during songs I participated with the crowd. It was just so interesting to watch a crowd of people seemingly fall in love in front of and in honor of the band.

I was challenged to remember that the Almighty God whom I worship provides me with more than a few instruments and entertaining singers. He has provided everything for me. Not only my daily bread, but also the intricate involuntary muscle cells that cause me to continue breathing without even trying. Certainly, there's more than enough ammunition in His bag of blessings to praise Him in all and for all of the moments of every day of my whole entire life.

just like riding a bike...

I rode my bike with mini mann on Sunday evening before heading off to a concert with a friend of mine. On Monday, when I sat down at work? Wow! There are parts of my back end that I haven't used in a while apparently. How to triathletes do it? The bike training? Do you build up callouses on your bum bones?? Dang! It was much better on Tuesday, but I'm almost frightened to get on the bike again for fear of some retaliation of the booty! and yes! there's junk in my trunk, just not apparently in the bicycle cushioning required areas!

I was challenged

I was challenged yesterday during a phone call with a friend that a blog is only really functional if one POSTS on it. So, I'm trying to post today. I have sort of been planning on posting, but have found it difficult to remember a dang thing on the list of things I think about and make during the day.

Soooo....I'll dig into my experiences and thoughts over the last couple of weeks and try to come up with something important to say......

(the repeating dots~that's me thinking~it's actually happening right now~thinking~me!)

A couple of days off work

Last week I took Wednesday and Friday off work. Wow! I got a TON of stuff done! It was amazing. I didn't really have a goal for my time off, but I was kind of tired of tripping on the floor of my bedroom because of all the laundry on it. So, I washed clothes. And folded. And even paired socks! Yes...I was the tortoise through it all. Slow and steady won my race.

But man oh man! It was HOT here while I was off and there ain't no A/C in the ghetto!

It was 98 or something ridiculous on Wednesday while I was sitting patiently folding about 2 GIGANTIC loads of unpaired socks. I got up at one point to get some more of those silly little singles needing mates and when I came back to resume my work on the floor, I realized that the carpet where I had been sitting for the previous, oh, maybe 2 hours, was WET! from my sweat!

I realize that 98 isn't that hot for many folks, but up here in the Pacific Northwest, it's really a record breaking event.

On Friday, we ended up taking the boys to Dairy Queen for a cold little treat! Yummy!!!

Ahh!! It's Friday...

What a week! It's been quite a ride for me this week. Work went from being easy to very difficult and back again to mellow. My silly heart was going in the opposite direction with each change, from crazy crazy to mellow to crazy crazy crazy~

But right now, I'm trying not to think about all that. I'm trying to chill out a little bit. Inside.

So, let's talk about the nasty little thing I refer to as my parkinson's. People! Seriously! I shake. I jerk. It's uncontrollable! And it's funny to me. and frustrating. But not so much that I will go to the doctor for it. He'd probably tell me that I'm all crazy inside, but I don't have parkinson's.

Really, it's probably just some rare yet-undiagnosed condition from which I will neither die from or experience relief from anytime soon.

Or it's panic disorder.

Whatever!

In case you can't tell, I'm shaking like this right now and I'm frustrated and laughing all at the same time while I try to type with fingers that are second guessing their master! Dang shaking!!!

Closed Captioning brought to you by...

Last night, Softie and I went out to Applebee's for dinner. They have televisions all over the place and last night they were playing the same game. It was the Mariners vs. the Tigers. Softie was simply watching the game, meanwhile I was able to read the closed captioning.

It seemed obvious to me that there were two people performing the captioning for the game. One of them was pretty good. She (see how I assume?) kept up pretty well and what she typed made sense. Then there was the other person. WOW! I wasn't thinking that a baseball game could be SOOO FUNNY!

Oh my goodness! At the end of the meal, I just started reading the game to Softie. He just laughed and laughed. I was laughing, too. It was so absolutely hilarious the way this silly person strung non-words together to narrate the game of baseball. She clearly had little exposure to the game and seemed rather unfamiliar with the English language as well, but it definitely made for some good comic relief.

So...about that...

What's my blog's platform?

I was just reading a how-to about blogs and their platforms. It's an interesting concept. I started my blog because I was strongly encouraged to by a good friend. She's pretty much an amazing blogger and I don't in any way expect the greatness that she has experienced.

I just don't think I thought too much about my platform when I set this little thing up. It's interesting to me though, because it's mostly been about my craziness. Crazy Places In My Mind definitely seems to fit the majority of what I've written about. Certainly I've dropped an occasional - I'm a Mom - post, but overall...there's just that one overriding theme. The craziness.

There's a lot more craziness up there. I've actually been working on a post in my head about the different ways that men and women process things. It's been in my head for a while.

I think I should get it out. Soon.

Readers and Counters

I spend most of my time in my Reader to catch up on all the latest posts for the blogs that I read. I often, particularly lately, don't even go to my own blog.

Writing has been more than difficult lately, but I think it might be looking up soon.

Anyway, I just checked my own blog...and am thus posting...and I went to check the stats on my counter.

People. It's just plain sad. My visits are slowly diminishing from decent (for me) to deplorable.

But whatever. Right? It's not about the visitors. It's about the freedom to write virtually without boundaries. Right? It's about me, really. When it all boils down to it, the blogging is about being able to clear my own head.

But on that fancy little counter, I can't help but wonder who some of the people who visit are. There's a lot of IP only, some plain United States, there's several from Seattle, Bothell, Sumner?! But then there's the really cool ones, like France and Thailand, Norway, even somewhere in Louisiana.

Alright, yes, I know. Louisiana isn't that exotic. But I don't think I know anyone there, and I see multiple hits from that area of my fine country.

You know what? Thailand isn't probably that exotic when you're from there. Right? That's hard for me to wrap my brain around, but it's probably true.

The only way to know who's stopping by is to get COMMENTS. There's simply not enough commenting going on. I know, I'm the worst offender of all. Admittedly.

Maybe, I should start giving more of what I wish for. =+)