To my young friend:
You don't know that this is written for you. I doubt if you will ever see it. Maybe I'll actually mail it to you, once my prayers have been answered. But for now it will stay here in a little corner of cyberspace. If I thought you would be receptive I would tell you these things in person, but at the moment I think it would fall on deaf ears. These are things I want you to know. Truths I feel I have learned and want to pass to you.
1. I have loved you since you were born and I first held you. And I will Always - with a capital "A" love you. You will always be part of my family, even if we are not related biologically. And even when you do things that I don't agree with. No matter what I will love you.
2. Your mama loves you. No matter how much it may seem like she doesn't sometimes, I've known her many years and she loves you more than words can say. Sometimes Mamas have a lot to deal with and it just doesn't come across as well as it should. But I know from everything she tells me, how proud she is of you, and how many wonderful things she wants for you. She may seem really mean sometimes, but a lot of that is just being protective of you.
3. You really are a good artist. I don't just say it to flatter you. I think you honestly have talent. As you grow up and you show your work, you will get rejected. But don't let that get you down. It is no reflection on the quality of your work, it is just a reflection of difference in people's preferences. Just because one person or even one committee of people doesn't like your work, does not mean there won't be a different committee or person who will. That is the nature of art. Just know for a fact that you have a good eye and a good passion and that, my little girl, will take you far in the art world.
4. Our actions have concequences. If we do good, most of the time we will have good results. If we do bad stuff a lot of times we'll get bad results. Sometimes consequences are long in coming. Sometimes they are swift. Sometimes bad stuff happens when we do good stuff and good stuff happens even though we do bad, but as a rule you reap what you sow. We can be forgiven for what we do, but we still suffer the consequences of the action. Keep that in mind before you act on any impulse. Someone once said of jumping off a building and then realizing you had made a mistake... "God will forgive you, but gravity won't."
5. Nothing and no one can separate you from the love of God (look up Romans 8 it's a very comforting book). When everyone else seems to be abandoning you, or not paying attention to you, you can absolutely count on God. Trust me. Better yet, trust Him.
6. People will be mean to you. Some people will be mean to you even when you are nice to them. Some people will use you. Some will break your heart. Some will make fun of you. It will hurt and it will make you mad. But know that they don't have any clue about who you really are. The only one who knows you inside and out is God and He felt like you were worth dying for to save. And know that you don't have to retaliate. They will get their come-up-ance. It may not seem like it at the moment, but it will happen. See #4 about consequences of actions.
7. Boys think differently than girls do. Even if your best friend is a boy, and you feel like you are totally on the same wave-length. You can bet the he thinks differently than you do. Keep that in mind when you think they "get" you, or when you think you "know" what they are thinking. Chances are it probably isn't that accurate. You'll have moments when they do "get" you and you communicate well, and you'll learn ways to communicate better. But the fact will remain that they think different.
8. It sucks to be a girl your age. But you'll get use to all those changes, and at some point they won't seem so bad. They'll always be a bit annoying, but it won't be as bad. You'd be amazed at all the mechanics going on in your body. It is a magnificent machine in there, and once you realize how well it works together you'll be slack-jawed at the complexity of it. It won't make those times of the month any easier.. but at least you know it has purpose and can wonder at the complexity.
I was going to make this list 10 things long. But I think I've covered the important thing, and I can't remember what the other two were. But just know I love you. Know that I'll always be here for you. And that I will always say prayers for you, whether you like it or not.
Sincerely, your aunt zann
Monday, January 29, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Books!!!
First off, thanks to all for the prayers and comforting words. I know my parents and my Aunt Margie appreciate them. My parents were unable to make it up for the funeral due to weather in the various locations along the route, but they plan to make a trip up in the near future to comfort their friend, and I'm hoping to get down to comfort them this weekend.
Now on to the topic at hand... BOOKS!!
Queen Mother (all hail Queen Mother) tagged me. I can't tell you how happy that made me. I think I was just needing to be tagged. But I'll get into that in another post on another day. Today I'm going to discuss a favorite topic - BOOKS!!
1. A Book that Changed Your Life:
I'd probably say On The Anvil by Max Lucado
because it came around to me at just the right moment in time and
helped me through an incredibly difficult time in life and Mr.Lucado just has a way that speaks God's words and comfort to my brain.
2. A Book You've Read More Than Once:
poetry by Sara Teasdale. I remember things too well so I don't re-read
other books very often, but poetry is different.
Island: A survival guide, that includes detailed
instructions for food, shelter and escape.
Junie B. Jones any of them in the series and most
recently "No Paint" a wacky retelling of the three little pigs, and
just about anything by Terry Pratchett.
A Coroner's Journal
by coroner, LouisCataldie
6. A Book You Wish Had Been Written:
"How
to effectively communicate with and get your Husky to hush." If you did
not know, huskies are notorious talkers... Sasha is no exception.
7. A Book You Wish Had Never Been Written:
Confessions of a Teenage Baboon by Paul Zindel - seriously I hated that book and I was forced to read it in 9th
grade. It was a bad attempt at being Catcher In The Rye, or The
Outsiders, but failed miserably. Of course I had to read both of those
too, and although I remember liking Catcher in theRye slightly more
than the Outsiders - I didn't really like either of those either. I
guess I'm not much on male teenage angst books. I did like A Separate
Peace by John Knowles though, and the Great Gatsby, so all the books we
were forced to read we not for naught.
8. A Book You're Currently Reading:
Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado
9.
A Book You've Been Meaning to Read: There's a list, do
you want it? Here's the first few on the list
Lewis, Several Terry Pratchett Books, and thesequel to Artemis Fowl (That's right, Did, I finally read it!!)
Is
it weird that I love books but don't read much? Well, not read like my
other friends read. I enjoy reading but mostly hate novels. There are
exceptions, of course, likeSharyn McCrumbs mysteries, or Some of
Pratchett's books for grown-ups and of course the late great Douglas
Adams, but for the most part I don't really like novels unless they are
in the youth section of the library. Go figure. I love lots of novels
I've read from there though. I'll blame it on my short attention span.
If you don't grab my interest in the first chapter, you've pretty much
lost me for good. I'm not a detail person, and tend to get too bogged
down by too muchdescription or back story. I like things that cut to
the chase. And I suppose that is why I like kids books. Maybe I just
have the attention span of a kid? I also read a lot of non-fiction as
long as it is broken into short chapters and a I do read magazine
articles.
Raise your hand if you ever would have guessed that or remembered that I use to work at the public library? Anyone? Anyone?
Yeah,
I barely remember it too, but it was one of my favorite jobs that I've
ever had. I loved shelving the books and getting first pick, and
helping with research (thankfully, you wouldn't think it, but I do get
to do a lot of that in my current profession). But most of all I loved
working in the children's section. I loved the colors, and artwork. The
creative writing. I mean you look at some kids books and think "I could
do that", but then you'll look at others like, ShelSilverstein , for
instance and think "Wow, that's deep. But not too deep for little kids
to enjoy it." - genius. That job led me to a possibility of a career as
an illustrator. Not that I'veachieved that yet, but since I do have
several paid projects floating around out there. I think I can consider
myself an illustrator. I've also seriously considered going back to
school and getting my Masters in Library Science. There are just two
things keeping me from that. Time & Money. I'm not even finished
paying for my first stint in college, paying for more is a miserable
idea to me. But I would so love to work in a library again.
Until
then I will just continue to build my little library of reference
books, art books, children's books and folklore. Someday perhaps myillustrations will find their way onto my shelves. Maybe even my writing (haha
) who knows. I'm thinking about making a t-shirt that says "Thank you
Mr. Gutenberg" in typewriter font. Wonder how many people would get it?
My guess is not many remember who first made marketable literature
available to the masses.
And Inkling, this is for you. My little joke of the day. If Mr. Gutenburg's machine broke down, did it make him de-pressed?
Okay.. I think it is time to get off here and go stick my nose in a book or something. Goodnight.
P.S. Don't ask me what's up with the formatting here. Seems like this happens everytime I run spellcheck on something. And I don't know how to really fix it. So I apologize for the look of this and hope you can still manage to read it.
Now on to the topic at hand... BOOKS!!
Queen Mother (all hail Queen Mother) tagged me. I can't tell you how happy that made me. I think I was just needing to be tagged. But I'll get into that in another post on another day. Today I'm going to discuss a favorite topic - BOOKS!!
1. A Book that Changed Your Life:
I'd probably say On The Anvil by Max Lucado
because it came around to me at just the right moment in time and
helped me through an incredibly difficult time in life and Mr.Lucado just has a way that speaks God's words and comfort to my brain.
2. A Book You've Read More Than Once:
poetry by Sara Teasdale. I remember things too well so I don't re-read
other books very often, but poetry is different.
Island: A survival guide, that includes detailed
instructions for food, shelter and escape.
Junie B. Jones any of them in the series and most
recently "No Paint" a wacky retelling of the three little pigs, and
just about anything by Terry Pratchett.
A Coroner's Journal
by coroner, LouisCataldie
6. A Book You Wish Had Been Written:
"How
to effectively communicate with and get your Husky to hush." If you did
not know, huskies are notorious talkers... Sasha is no exception.
7. A Book You Wish Had Never Been Written:
Confessions of a Teenage Baboon by Paul Zindel - seriously I hated that book and I was forced to read it in 9th
grade. It was a bad attempt at being Catcher In The Rye, or The
Outsiders, but failed miserably. Of course I had to read both of those
too, and although I remember liking Catcher in theRye slightly more
than the Outsiders - I didn't really like either of those either. I
guess I'm not much on male teenage angst books. I did like A Separate
Peace by John Knowles though, and the Great Gatsby, so all the books we
were forced to read we not for naught.
8. A Book You're Currently Reading:
Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado
9.
A Book You've Been Meaning to Read: There's a list, do
you want it? Here's the first few on the list
Lewis, Several Terry Pratchett Books, and thesequel to Artemis Fowl (That's right, Did, I finally read it!!)
Is
it weird that I love books but don't read much? Well, not read like my
other friends read. I enjoy reading but mostly hate novels. There are
exceptions, of course, likeSharyn McCrumbs mysteries, or Some of
Pratchett's books for grown-ups and of course the late great Douglas
Adams, but for the most part I don't really like novels unless they are
in the youth section of the library. Go figure. I love lots of novels
I've read from there though. I'll blame it on my short attention span.
If you don't grab my interest in the first chapter, you've pretty much
lost me for good. I'm not a detail person, and tend to get too bogged
down by too muchdescription or back story. I like things that cut to
the chase. And I suppose that is why I like kids books. Maybe I just
have the attention span of a kid? I also read a lot of non-fiction as
long as it is broken into short chapters and a I do read magazine
articles.
Raise your hand if you ever would have guessed that or remembered that I use to work at the public library? Anyone? Anyone?
Yeah,
I barely remember it too, but it was one of my favorite jobs that I've
ever had. I loved shelving the books and getting first pick, and
helping with research (thankfully, you wouldn't think it, but I do get
to do a lot of that in my current profession). But most of all I loved
working in the children's section. I loved the colors, and artwork. The
creative writing. I mean you look at some kids books and think "I could
do that", but then you'll look at others like, ShelSilverstein , for
instance and think "Wow, that's deep. But not too deep for little kids
to enjoy it." - genius. That job led me to a possibility of a career as
an illustrator. Not that I'veachieved that yet, but since I do have
several paid projects floating around out there. I think I can consider
myself an illustrator. I've also seriously considered going back to
school and getting my Masters in Library Science. There are just two
things keeping me from that. Time & Money. I'm not even finished
paying for my first stint in college, paying for more is a miserable
idea to me. But I would so love to work in a library again.
Until
then I will just continue to build my little library of reference
books, art books, children's books and folklore. Someday perhaps myillustrations will find their way onto my shelves. Maybe even my writing (haha
) who knows. I'm thinking about making a t-shirt that says "Thank you
Mr. Gutenberg" in typewriter font. Wonder how many people would get it?
My guess is not many remember who first made marketable literature
available to the masses.
And Inkling, this is for you. My little joke of the day. If Mr. Gutenburg's machine broke down, did it make him de-pressed?
Okay.. I think it is time to get off here and go stick my nose in a book or something. Goodnight.
P.S. Don't ask me what's up with the formatting here. Seems like this happens everytime I run spellcheck on something. And I don't know how to really fix it. So I apologize for the look of this and hope you can still manage to read it.
My cookie
| You Are a Black and White Cookie |
 You're often conflicted in life, and you feel pulled in two opposite directions. When you're good, you're sweet as sugar. And when you're bad, you're wicked! |
Funny, it's kind of like the "girl with a curl" poem. Which is also accurate to me.
I was tagged by Wandering Heart, I tag anyone else who would like a cookie. :)
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Make new friend but keep the old....
Sad news today. My mom just called. My Uncle Grant passed away this
morning. This is not my dad's brother. This is not my mom's brother.
But he might as well have been to both. He and his wife Margie, are one
of those special relations known as life-long friends.
Grant was a tall, quiet man, with mischievous eyes. That's what I will always remember him for. That and his soft spot for a geeky, history obsessed little girl. My parents met Margie and Grant when both couples were stationed overseas. Margie taught my mother to cook. Dad and Grant worked together on base and became fast friends. Growing up we heard many a tale of their adventures together. One of my favorites was when Dad and Grant were babysitting Grants oldest daughter, while Mom and Margie went to do something. The men decided they needed to run an errand too so they dropped the little one off at a base baby-sitting/daycare thingy, and when they went to pick her back up they came close to accidentally taking the wrong baby home.
When they all came back to the States the relationship became a long distance one as mom and dad returned to their southern home and Margeand Grant returned to one in the great white north. But there has never been a month that has gone by I don't think where a phone call was not exchanged between them. All my years growing up, I can remember anticipating the first major event of the holiday season, which was the
opening of what we referred to as "The Margie Package". Every year, Marge and Grant would get us a little gift, lots of candy, stuff from their state, a calendar for mom and dad, and Margie's famous "Nut Balls" (I think most people call them Mexican Wedding Cookies), and my mom did the same for their bunch. I remember a couple of times when they came to visit us. We met them for vacation in Ohio one year and went to Kings Island. Another year they came to visit us and we took them to Mule Day. Then we visited their home and I had my first plane ride. And one time they came down to visit us and we took them to the re-enactment of the battle of Franklin.
This is where I bonded with my Uncle Grant. I had just finished elementary school, was about to start Jr. High and I'm not sure what started it, but something had sparked and interested and obsession with me and the Civil War. I of course really had no interest in the war itself or the causes of it. I was completely caught up in the perceived romance of the era. Big fancy dresses,big fancy houses,unrequited love, oppressed women becoming spys and heroes , the inner struggles, that kind of thing. I read books about it. I watched documentaries. I visited historic landmarks repeatedly in the area anytime anyone would take me. Even became the (probably) the youngest member of the (my hometown) Historical Society. I tried my best to collect enough authentic garb to attend the Antheneum Girls School, but frankly it was far more than we could afford as were authentic costumes. I day dreamed about it. It really was an obsession. I think I might have even asked my mother if I could bind my feet at one point (which was a popular 1800's trend), but thankfully she said no. Well, it turned out that my Uncle Grant shared my interest in history. Hequietly toured the battlefield with the rest of the family but he came to my rescue as I was just about to purchase what I thought was an authentic piece of civil war history... a rusty pocket knife from a peddler at the field. He helped me recognize the piece as being more modern. I left disheartened but with my money. But following Christmas (which was just later that month), my Uncle Grant sent me a real piece of history. He sent me a real 1863 penny and a note. I still have it. It is a treasure. It made it even more of a treasure to me when my mother told me. "you hold on to that. Your Uncle Grant doesn't write notes to many people, I for one have never gotten a note from him, so the fact that he wrote you is very special."
At an awkward preteen age, I don't think that there is any more special of a gift to receive, than to hear "you are special" and have evidence to the fact. My Uncle Grant did that for me the year I graduated high school as well by sending me an ornament that he had picked out himself for me, with a handwritten note. I don't know what happened to the ornament. My guess is that it is with Mom's ornaments somewhere. But I have the box and the note. And every year when I get out the Christmas stuff I take that out and read it.
Grant suffered from Diabetes and smoking probably exacerbated the progression of the deterioration of his kidneys. He had been on dialysis for at least 6 years, as that was why they couldn't make it to my wedding. And though I'm not sure of how exactly he died, I'm told he had been in a coma since Monday. I don't know what his relationship with God was like. And I ask that you will send up a prayer for his wife and grown children, and dear friends that he leaves behind. And I hope that at some point in a letter or note that I wrote back that I made it obvious, but if I didn't let me say it here.
"Uncle Grant, you were special too."
morning. This is not my dad's brother. This is not my mom's brother.
But he might as well have been to both. He and his wife Margie, are one
of those special relations known as life-long friends.
Grant was a tall, quiet man, with mischievous eyes. That's what I will always remember him for. That and his soft spot for a geeky, history obsessed little girl. My parents met Margie and Grant when both couples were stationed overseas. Margie taught my mother to cook. Dad and Grant worked together on base and became fast friends. Growing up we heard many a tale of their adventures together. One of my favorites was when Dad and Grant were babysitting Grants oldest daughter, while Mom and Margie went to do something. The men decided they needed to run an errand too so they dropped the little one off at a base baby-sitting/daycare thingy, and when they went to pick her back up they came close to accidentally taking the wrong baby home.
When they all came back to the States the relationship became a long distance one as mom and dad returned to their southern home and Margeand Grant returned to one in the great white north. But there has never been a month that has gone by I don't think where a phone call was not exchanged between them. All my years growing up, I can remember anticipating the first major event of the holiday season, which was the
opening of what we referred to as "The Margie Package". Every year, Marge and Grant would get us a little gift, lots of candy, stuff from their state, a calendar for mom and dad, and Margie's famous "Nut Balls" (I think most people call them Mexican Wedding Cookies), and my mom did the same for their bunch. I remember a couple of times when they came to visit us. We met them for vacation in Ohio one year and went to Kings Island. Another year they came to visit us and we took them to Mule Day. Then we visited their home and I had my first plane ride. And one time they came down to visit us and we took them to the re-enactment of the battle of Franklin.
This is where I bonded with my Uncle Grant. I had just finished elementary school, was about to start Jr. High and I'm not sure what started it, but something had sparked and interested and obsession with me and the Civil War. I of course really had no interest in the war itself or the causes of it. I was completely caught up in the perceived romance of the era. Big fancy dresses,big fancy houses,unrequited love, oppressed women becoming spys and heroes , the inner struggles, that kind of thing. I read books about it. I watched documentaries. I visited historic landmarks repeatedly in the area anytime anyone would take me. Even became the (probably) the youngest member of the (my hometown) Historical Society. I tried my best to collect enough authentic garb to attend the Antheneum Girls School, but frankly it was far more than we could afford as were authentic costumes. I day dreamed about it. It really was an obsession. I think I might have even asked my mother if I could bind my feet at one point (which was a popular 1800's trend), but thankfully she said no. Well, it turned out that my Uncle Grant shared my interest in history. Hequietly toured the battlefield with the rest of the family but he came to my rescue as I was just about to purchase what I thought was an authentic piece of civil war history... a rusty pocket knife from a peddler at the field. He helped me recognize the piece as being more modern. I left disheartened but with my money. But following Christmas (which was just later that month), my Uncle Grant sent me a real piece of history. He sent me a real 1863 penny and a note. I still have it. It is a treasure. It made it even more of a treasure to me when my mother told me. "you hold on to that. Your Uncle Grant doesn't write notes to many people, I for one have never gotten a note from him, so the fact that he wrote you is very special."
At an awkward preteen age, I don't think that there is any more special of a gift to receive, than to hear "you are special" and have evidence to the fact. My Uncle Grant did that for me the year I graduated high school as well by sending me an ornament that he had picked out himself for me, with a handwritten note. I don't know what happened to the ornament. My guess is that it is with Mom's ornaments somewhere. But I have the box and the note. And every year when I get out the Christmas stuff I take that out and read it.
Grant suffered from Diabetes and smoking probably exacerbated the progression of the deterioration of his kidneys. He had been on dialysis for at least 6 years, as that was why they couldn't make it to my wedding. And though I'm not sure of how exactly he died, I'm told he had been in a coma since Monday. I don't know what his relationship with God was like. And I ask that you will send up a prayer for his wife and grown children, and dear friends that he leaves behind. And I hope that at some point in a letter or note that I wrote back that I made it obvious, but if I didn't let me say it here.
"Uncle Grant, you were special too."
As to the birthday in question....
Some of you have asked about the birthday garb in my Avatar and my mention of a birthday present earlier this week. I deeply appreciate that :).
Anyway, the birthday in question is my own and it will be occuring on Tuesday. But since I will be at work and then my in-laws on Tuesday, I knew there would be no time to change my avatar then, and since I had bit of time last night, I went ahead and changed it. They say there will be bagels at work on Monday to celebrate the January birthdays. I'm looking forward to that. I love a Panera bagel.
But again thank you very much for the wishes, they mean so much to me. :)
Anyway, the birthday in question is my own and it will be occuring on Tuesday. But since I will be at work and then my in-laws on Tuesday, I knew there would be no time to change my avatar then, and since I had bit of time last night, I went ahead and changed it. They say there will be bagels at work on Monday to celebrate the January birthdays. I'm looking forward to that. I love a Panera bagel.
But again thank you very much for the wishes, they mean so much to me. :)
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Dancing to my own drummer.
When I was little I wanted to be a dancer. Lots of little girls do. Dance has always been an instrument of suduction. An expression of fitness and beauty, of grace and dignity. It is in our natural instincts to be drawn to such an effective tool. Not to mention the endorfins it creates. When I was young I would imagine myself as a star on the stage performing. When I went through my Civil War phase in early middle school (remind me to tell you all about that sometime) I taught myself to waltz and boxstep with the image set in my mind that I would be ready when a soldier came to sweep me off my feet. Soon after that when I and started looking at Tigerbeat and such magazines I imagined myself as an exceptional back-up dancer of whom a member of my favorite boy band would take interest. In high school I wanted to be one of the girls on the field or the center of attention in the Senior musical.. or if nothing else the girl the boys wanted to dance with at the dance or prom. There was only one problem with all these fantasies. I have no rhythm, and no coordination.
My mother recognized this longing for dance and got me into the only dance lesson she could find that we could afford and would give me a taste of what dance lessons were really like. Our librarian who was a good acquaintence of my moms taught "Clogging". Oh yes, now there is an boy-attracting dance for you. I was only 9 or 10 when she got me into those lessons. And although I liked it, I just couldn't get the hang of it. I still remember the basic call that I had to practice over and over "double-toe, rock, step" but I have no idea even now what that means or what the moves were. As I mentioned before, I did succeed in teaching myself from movies and videos how to waltz and box step. I also learned social-circle dances from various re-enactment troops and at one time in Jr. High, a friend patiently taught me to do the "Roger Rabbit". And my mother taught me how to "Pony" and do the "Twist" around that same time. And in my freshman year of college I mastered the "Macarena" - embarrassing as that my be. But that is the extent of my dancing career. And I have accepted the fact that I am not a dancer. I dance in the privacy of my own home, occasionally with my husband when he is willing, often with the dog and almost never in public - unless just being silly. I've found many more activities that I find much more enjoyable. But I still I continue to try to learn to dance anyway. Why? Because I enjoy it.
Here's another fun fact about me. I hate aerobics.
This little bit of info does fit in right here and I'll tell you why. Because I've discovered that apparently there is a fine line between aerobics and dance. Or at least aerobics people would have you believe that. I took Aerobic Dance in college as one of my PE credits. I actually looked forward to that class. I had always wanted to take a "real" dance class. And that was the only dance class not requiring a pre-requisite available. And I know some will find this offensive but at the time I didn't consider Clogging a "real" dance. I have since changed my mind thanks to some dear friends who are cloggers. But that isn't the point. The point is that I thought I was going to get some instruction in some good-for-you, good-looking dance moves. You know, like you see back up dancers do.
Nope. Aerobic dance has nothing to do with dance. At least not in my opinion. From what I could tell the only similarities between it and dance is that you had to form a "routine" - or a combination of moves. They very rarely seem to flow with the music. Which to me is what dance is about. I hated every minute of that class except for the breif little bit where we used these nifty "slide-glide" gizmos, but I quickly learned that, that aggrivated my bad knee. So really, I didn't find much redeeming qualities in that class. I was, as in most cases of PE during my lifetime used as an example of what not to do. And I could never keep up or would accidently go the wrong way. It was ahumiliating humbling experience. That was 7 or 8 years ago. You'd think I would have learned from that. But no. Since then I've tried videos to learn to "belly-dance" my way to fitness. Which actually was fun, but very complicated. And most recently during these cold months when I'm unwilling to go outside to exercise, I've tried "Dance Your Way to Fitness" or some obsurd DVD title like that. And I have rediscovered. This isn't dance. It's just aerobics disguised as dance! There are parts of it I like, and it is better than no activity at all on the nights that I can't make it to Curves, but I hate the music, the smiley girls who appear to do everything effortlessly, and the voice of the instructor. So I've started doing it my own way. I stick my little ipod shuffle on. Hit the mute button. Follow the moves that I can do and do my own moves to the beat that I enjoy during the parts where I can't keep up or follow their lead. Like turns or those combinations of really fast moves that alternate feet. I'm still tryint to incorporate some of those moves... but really I just keep moving until they get back to something I can do. We'll see if I can keep from getting frustrated with it and quitting before the end of winter (which is what happened a couple of year ago with the belly-dance tape). I've also considered taking a "Shag" class out at a local hotel if I could find a friend to take it with me. But for now I will just do the few moves I do know... and just dance to my own drummer. In the immortal words of Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. "Dance, Dance, yeah."
My mother recognized this longing for dance and got me into the only dance lesson she could find that we could afford and would give me a taste of what dance lessons were really like. Our librarian who was a good acquaintence of my moms taught "Clogging". Oh yes, now there is an boy-attracting dance for you. I was only 9 or 10 when she got me into those lessons. And although I liked it, I just couldn't get the hang of it. I still remember the basic call that I had to practice over and over "double-toe, rock, step" but I have no idea even now what that means or what the moves were. As I mentioned before, I did succeed in teaching myself from movies and videos how to waltz and box step. I also learned social-circle dances from various re-enactment troops and at one time in Jr. High, a friend patiently taught me to do the "Roger Rabbit". And my mother taught me how to "Pony" and do the "Twist" around that same time. And in my freshman year of college I mastered the "Macarena" - embarrassing as that my be. But that is the extent of my dancing career. And I have accepted the fact that I am not a dancer. I dance in the privacy of my own home, occasionally with my husband when he is willing, often with the dog and almost never in public - unless just being silly. I've found many more activities that I find much more enjoyable. But I still I continue to try to learn to dance anyway. Why? Because I enjoy it.
Here's another fun fact about me. I hate aerobics.
This little bit of info does fit in right here and I'll tell you why. Because I've discovered that apparently there is a fine line between aerobics and dance. Or at least aerobics people would have you believe that. I took Aerobic Dance in college as one of my PE credits. I actually looked forward to that class. I had always wanted to take a "real" dance class. And that was the only dance class not requiring a pre-requisite available. And I know some will find this offensive but at the time I didn't consider Clogging a "real" dance. I have since changed my mind thanks to some dear friends who are cloggers. But that isn't the point. The point is that I thought I was going to get some instruction in some good-for-you, good-looking dance moves. You know, like you see back up dancers do.
Nope. Aerobic dance has nothing to do with dance. At least not in my opinion. From what I could tell the only similarities between it and dance is that you had to form a "routine" - or a combination of moves. They very rarely seem to flow with the music. Which to me is what dance is about. I hated every minute of that class except for the breif little bit where we used these nifty "slide-glide" gizmos, but I quickly learned that, that aggrivated my bad knee. So really, I didn't find much redeeming qualities in that class. I was, as in most cases of PE during my lifetime used as an example of what not to do. And I could never keep up or would accidently go the wrong way. It was a
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Losing the Battle of the Hair
I'm quite happy with the hair on my head. Sure I have moments when I want to pull it out or shave it off. It has a tendency to go fro and scarecrow on me every now and again but overall I'm happy with it. In the past I've been known as such wonderful nicknames as "fuzzhead" or "frizz". I've had the hugenormous bangs and even really big hair, but I pretty much have that under control now. No, where I am losing the battle with hair is not on my body. It is on the floor and other surfaces of our house.
I'm beginning to think that J and myself shed an unusually larege amount. And between that and the dog, we just can't keep the hair at bay. I can sweep it or mop it up turn around and it's all right back. Or rather more has taken it's place. Perhaps we are related to cousin it.
You know how some people can't stand the sound of nails on a chalkboard (okay so I'm no exception to this but I digress...) well I can't stand the feeling of hair on my hands. It's a sensory issue, I suppose. Particularly wet hair. This is the reason I don't like using mooses that you have to rub in with your hands. Because they make my hair stick to my hands. I can handle shampoos and conditioners because you are standing in the shower and the water will rinse the hair right off. But boy do I hate cleaning it out of the shower afterward and the sink! Why does our hair act like magnets and just stick to the sink? And then I'll find hair in some odd place like on top of a shelf that is taller than all of us and I wonder "how did it get there?" but I know the answer to that... it's air.
In short. I hate sticky hair and I have lost my battle with it. If you see me in person some day and I am covered in unfoliculed hair - just know I tried my best, but the battle was just too great.
I'm beginning to think that J and myself shed an unusually larege amount. And between that and the dog, we just can't keep the hair at bay. I can sweep it or mop it up turn around and it's all right back. Or rather more has taken it's place. Perhaps we are related to cousin it.
You know how some people can't stand the sound of nails on a chalkboard (okay so I'm no exception to this but I digress...) well I can't stand the feeling of hair on my hands. It's a sensory issue, I suppose. Particularly wet hair. This is the reason I don't like using mooses that you have to rub in with your hands. Because they make my hair stick to my hands. I can handle shampoos and conditioners because you are standing in the shower and the water will rinse the hair right off. But boy do I hate cleaning it out of the shower afterward and the sink! Why does our hair act like magnets and just stick to the sink? And then I'll find hair in some odd place like on top of a shelf that is taller than all of us and I wonder "how did it get there?" but I know the answer to that... it's air.
In short. I hate sticky hair and I have lost my battle with it. If you see me in person some day and I am covered in unfoliculed hair - just know I tried my best, but the battle was just too great.
Random bits
- Is it sad that I like the new automatic paper towel dispenser at work because when no one is looking i can pretend that I'm doing Jedi mind tricks to get it to give me paper towels?
- Never park under a lamppost. Lamppost = lots of bird doo
- I designed a van today. It was not my best work. But without longer to think about it and more resources and knowledge of how to design a van it was the best I could come up with.
- My friend in Wisconsin sent me a cheese hat as an early birthday present. It made me very happy.
- I wish our 1099s would come in so that we can get our taxes done and I can get the tax stuff off my desk.
- Never park under a lamppost. Lamppost = lots of bird doo
- I designed a van today. It was not my best work. But without longer to think about it and more resources and knowledge of how to design a van it was the best I could come up with.
- My friend in Wisconsin sent me a cheese hat as an early birthday present. It made me very happy.
- I wish our 1099s would come in so that we can get our taxes done and I can get the tax stuff off my desk.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
One little note from church that I wanted to share, that kind of settled my heart a bit and I hope it may do the same for you.
It was on family and parenting. Quoted from our pastor:
"The Bible has a lot to say about parenting, but strangely it has very few examples of it being done well. In fact there are some pretty messed up families in there. Murder, rape, adultery, drunkeness all can be found in the families of the Bible"
Take what you may away from that. I took it as comfort that I don't have to worry so much about doing things right. I can just rest in the fact that as long as I'm relying on God, he'll take care of things should he ever choose to bless us in that manner, and that no one should really feel shame for having a family that isn't June and Ward Cleaver. Of coures, if you are really interested in the full context of it, you can listen to it by sometime next week here the sermon title was "Desperate Households- Money, sex and kids, oh my." and it's part of a study in Colossians.
I just thought I'd share.
It was on family and parenting. Quoted from our pastor:
"The Bible has a lot to say about parenting, but strangely it has very few examples of it being done well. In fact there are some pretty messed up families in there. Murder, rape, adultery, drunkeness all can be found in the families of the Bible"
Take what you may away from that. I took it as comfort that I don't have to worry so much about doing things right. I can just rest in the fact that as long as I'm relying on God, he'll take care of things should he ever choose to bless us in that manner, and that no one should really feel shame for having a family that isn't June and Ward Cleaver. Of coures, if you are really interested in the full context of it, you can listen to it by sometime next week here the sermon title was "Desperate Households- Money, sex and kids, oh my." and it's part of a study in Colossians.
I just thought I'd share.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Lesson so far this weekend.
- Never ever forget to stir the cabbage. It makes a very very stinky mess that is black and icky and hard to get out of the pan.
Words, Words, Words and Pictures
I wrote down this topic over a week ago. Knowing that I had stuff I wanted to say. But I'm afraid as time has slipped away from me without time to write it all down, a lot of what it was I was going to write about has disappeared. By the way, you will probably notice lots of typos and disconnected thoughts in here from now on. I've decided to stop beating myself up about not having intellegent stuff to post. I will no longer fall victim to my control-oriented nature, throw caution to the wind and introduce two new things to this blog. First is "stream of consciousness blogging" in other words, I'm not going to sort it all out and try to compose it anymore, I'm just going to write straight from my head. So be warned it may never make sense to anyone but me. You will even probably see words that don't actually exist because that is just how I talk and how I talk to myself in my head. Secondly I will be introducing "Random Ponderment" posts and they will probably involve bullets like....
- these
- not like the kind used in guns
I think the subject that I wrote down to write about, and that I was trying to remember had something to do with Shakespeare and my love for the play Hamlet. In that work I do believe Shakespeare was a genius. There is such wonderful wordplay in it. Such deep thought. And since I got the Mel Gibson movie version for Christmas and we watched it last week, I'm pretty sure it had something to do with that.
There's a line in it where Polonius asks Hamlet, what he is reading and Hamlet answers "Words, Words, Words" and if I was giving awards I would give one to Mel Gibson for best delivery ever of that line. I've heard other actors deliver it differently and it just didn't have the same effect on me as that did, but to me that has stood out in my head for yeeeaaaarrs. I first saw that movie at the theater with my sister and her fiance - they've been married 14 years now that should give you an idea of how many years it has been. That movie instigated an interest in Shakespeare, and since then I have read a great number and even performed in a few of his plays. That movie developed conversations that lead to relationships that led to me being molded as a person. And you know why? It's all about "words, words, words". I've discovered that words must be one of my dearest passions. I've recently discovered while pulling together ads for our company to enter into competitions that it really isn't the design work that I feel proud of. What I feel proud of are my words. The ads that I've had a hand in the copy-writing* I love illustrating but I love writing ad copy just as much. I love to play with words. And this realization made a lot of things in my life make sense. It made sense that Proverbs and Psalms are two of my favorite and most comforting books of the Bible to me, and why I enjoy the parables so much. And why I enjoy talking and writing letters, and why I get my feelings hurt if I'm not spoken to or mentioned. It makes sense why lack of feed back brings me down, but even mediocre compliments make me very happy. Words have great power to me. And I guess to all of us in one way or another. And if words are so powerful to me then it makes sense to me why it bothers me not to post or that when I post to post incoherently with bad grammer. But I'm going to put that asside, as I mentioned before and because there is something even more powerful and I'll get to that here in a minute. And as I continue thinking about this I'm realizing words are far too big of a topic for this blog post. I could go on for hours. So lets move on to my other passion..
Pictures. Not just drawing pictures, though I enjoy that emensely. No, I enjoy photographs as well. OH! Wait! I remember one of the other reasons I was writing about words. It was the Christmas letters! I love Christmas cards and Christmas letters! Why? Because they have words, they tell stories. Usually ones I haven't heard before. I just wish my house was big enough that I had enough room to store all of them away for years and years. I already do that with pictures, I can't start with letters too or I will need a whole room soley devoted to them. I have this theory though that if I kept all my letters as I keep all my pictures and kept them together, that I would have a perfect biographies of friends and relatives for later generations to see and oggle over. But alas the need for space in our tiny 900 sq fter out weighs the want to preserve the history of the individuals of the human race. I know their stories and tell them with the pictures as much as I can. I don't scapbook... I just picture book. I'm only 29 and with no kids but yet I have 6 gigantic photo albums with pictures and stories in them that I can't bear to part with. I can't imagine how much it will grow when/if we have children. I have pictures of friends from the time I met them to present with photos of their children as they've grown from infants to pre-teens. I hold onto them because who they are and their stories mean so much to me. I know in my little heart of hearts that my children aren't going to care who these people are. They may have a passing curiosity but more than likely they will never have opportunity to meet many of these people in person and this treasure of mine will be less valuable to them. But I care, and I bet their families care. So maybe just maybe someone will want them someday. I love being able to look at time passing through my fingertips. And I keep some letters here and there just to give samples of the people in my album's "voice". I love looking back and seeing how far we've come. How much can happen in such short amounts of time. How things thought impossible become possible. That was another moment with words I was going to write about. I cleaned out our bookshelves the other day and found our "pre-marital counseling book" I hadn't cracked the thing open since the class I don't think. But there were all our little exercises inside. We had fun looking back, and seeing what we've done and what we haven't done. What our expectations were then and what our reality was and is. I was suprised to find that we had met pretty much all of our "long-term (3-5 year)" goals.
Words and pictures must be important to other people too or else movies wouldn't be so popular. I pondered for a moment if words and pictures could perhaps be the answer to life, universe and everything. Of course many know that answer is actually 42** but then I thought that it can't be the answer because the blind and deaf still have led enjoyable lives. But then again they still have some form of communications. So maybe it isn't so much words but rather communication. Which God makes a point of telling us is important all through the Bible... so perhaps communication is the key to life the universe and everything and therefore I should communicate more and one way of doing that is blogging. Thus the creation of "Stream of Consciousness blogging" of which this, I'm sure is a shining example and "Random ponderments" which I'm sure you will more as we go through the year. So here's hoping to make more posts. Probably shorter posts, but communication none-the-less. Just lots more words, words, words and a few pictures here and there.
* Copy-writing as in the writing of copy or text for the ad, not to be confused with copyrighting as in getting that little "c" in a circle to go on everything.
**Reference to Douglas Adams' book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy some will recognize it, both others might not. So I put a footnote.
- these
- not like the kind used in guns
I think the subject that I wrote down to write about, and that I was trying to remember had something to do with Shakespeare and my love for the play Hamlet. In that work I do believe Shakespeare was a genius. There is such wonderful wordplay in it. Such deep thought. And since I got the Mel Gibson movie version for Christmas and we watched it last week, I'm pretty sure it had something to do with that.
There's a line in it where Polonius asks Hamlet, what he is reading and Hamlet answers "Words, Words, Words" and if I was giving awards I would give one to Mel Gibson for best delivery ever of that line. I've heard other actors deliver it differently and it just didn't have the same effect on me as that did, but to me that has stood out in my head for yeeeaaaarrs. I first saw that movie at the theater with my sister and her fiance - they've been married 14 years now that should give you an idea of how many years it has been. That movie instigated an interest in Shakespeare, and since then I have read a great number and even performed in a few of his plays. That movie developed conversations that lead to relationships that led to me being molded as a person. And you know why? It's all about "words, words, words". I've discovered that words must be one of my dearest passions. I've recently discovered while pulling together ads for our company to enter into competitions that it really isn't the design work that I feel proud of. What I feel proud of are my words. The ads that I've had a hand in the copy-writing* I love illustrating but I love writing ad copy just as much. I love to play with words. And this realization made a lot of things in my life make sense. It made sense that Proverbs and Psalms are two of my favorite and most comforting books of the Bible to me, and why I enjoy the parables so much. And why I enjoy talking and writing letters, and why I get my feelings hurt if I'm not spoken to or mentioned. It makes sense why lack of feed back brings me down, but even mediocre compliments make me very happy. Words have great power to me. And I guess to all of us in one way or another. And if words are so powerful to me then it makes sense to me why it bothers me not to post or that when I post to post incoherently with bad grammer. But I'm going to put that asside, as I mentioned before and because there is something even more powerful and I'll get to that here in a minute. And as I continue thinking about this I'm realizing words are far too big of a topic for this blog post. I could go on for hours. So lets move on to my other passion..
Pictures. Not just drawing pictures, though I enjoy that emensely. No, I enjoy photographs as well. OH! Wait! I remember one of the other reasons I was writing about words. It was the Christmas letters! I love Christmas cards and Christmas letters! Why? Because they have words, they tell stories. Usually ones I haven't heard before. I just wish my house was big enough that I had enough room to store all of them away for years and years. I already do that with pictures, I can't start with letters too or I will need a whole room soley devoted to them. I have this theory though that if I kept all my letters as I keep all my pictures and kept them together, that I would have a perfect biographies of friends and relatives for later generations to see and oggle over. But alas the need for space in our tiny 900 sq fter out weighs the want to preserve the history of the individuals of the human race. I know their stories and tell them with the pictures as much as I can. I don't scapbook... I just picture book. I'm only 29 and with no kids but yet I have 6 gigantic photo albums with pictures and stories in them that I can't bear to part with. I can't imagine how much it will grow when/if we have children. I have pictures of friends from the time I met them to present with photos of their children as they've grown from infants to pre-teens. I hold onto them because who they are and their stories mean so much to me. I know in my little heart of hearts that my children aren't going to care who these people are. They may have a passing curiosity but more than likely they will never have opportunity to meet many of these people in person and this treasure of mine will be less valuable to them. But I care, and I bet their families care. So maybe just maybe someone will want them someday. I love being able to look at time passing through my fingertips. And I keep some letters here and there just to give samples of the people in my album's "voice". I love looking back and seeing how far we've come. How much can happen in such short amounts of time. How things thought impossible become possible. That was another moment with words I was going to write about. I cleaned out our bookshelves the other day and found our "pre-marital counseling book" I hadn't cracked the thing open since the class I don't think. But there were all our little exercises inside. We had fun looking back, and seeing what we've done and what we haven't done. What our expectations were then and what our reality was and is. I was suprised to find that we had met pretty much all of our "long-term (3-5 year)" goals.
Words and pictures must be important to other people too or else movies wouldn't be so popular. I pondered for a moment if words and pictures could perhaps be the answer to life, universe and everything. Of course many know that answer is actually 42** but then I thought that it can't be the answer because the blind and deaf still have led enjoyable lives. But then again they still have some form of communications. So maybe it isn't so much words but rather communication. Which God makes a point of telling us is important all through the Bible... so perhaps communication is the key to life the universe and everything and therefore I should communicate more and one way of doing that is blogging. Thus the creation of "Stream of Consciousness blogging" of which this, I'm sure is a shining example and "Random ponderments" which I'm sure you will more as we go through the year. So here's hoping to make more posts. Probably shorter posts, but communication none-the-less. Just lots more words, words, words and a few pictures here and there.
* Copy-writing as in the writing of copy or text for the ad, not to be confused with copyrighting as in getting that little "c" in a circle to go on everything.
**Reference to Douglas Adams' book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy some will recognize it, both others might not. So I put a footnote.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
clarification
I fear my last post was read/taken wrong. I'm not saying that one shouldn't blog frequently. In fact, I enjoy that most of the people I read do blog frequently. It was more of an expression at my dismay that I can't seem to manage it. I got stuff to say, darn it! And by the time I'm able to compose it an order that makes sense its all old news. That's happening a lot with a few areas of life right now. I just feel like I'm falling behind. Thing like this come in waves in my business. It's either feast or famine as they say. When it's feast - like now, you wonder at how to get it all done, and when it's famine, you wonder whether you will survive the drought.
It is 10 pm and I must go vacuum now.
It is 10 pm and I must go vacuum now.
playing catchup
How in the world do so many of you blog so often? I've been reading all morning. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed it. It's like having a lot of letters in the mail. But I've got two blog posts in draft right now that I can't find time to finish, so I sit in awe at your time-management skills.
So in lue of those getting finished real soon (it is terribly busy at work and at home right now) I'm going to answer the questionaire that Farmwife TAGed me for.
When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? Geez, I've really broke out this month.
How much cash do you have on you? $0 I very rarely keep cash because I spend it too easily, I'm a lot more careful with cards.
What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? Lore
Do you label yourself? Oh all the time, I really enjoy my label maker.
Bright or Dark Room? BRIGHT!!!! unless developing my own pictures, then I'll use a dark room.
Why is there always a missing question? If I ask "how do you know the question is missing?" that adds the missing question back and therefore nullifies the first question doesn't it?
What does your watch look like? my watch looks a whole lot like a cell phone, because I don't use a watch, I use my cell to tell time.
What were you doing at midnight last night? Just getting to sleep.
Where is your nearest 7-11? I have no idea
What’s a word that you say a lot? "Anyway" and "No problem"
Who told you he/she loved you last? J
Last furry thing you touched? Sasha
How many rolls of film do you need developed? Haven't used real film in about 4 years. I'm all digital anymore.
Favorite age you have been so far? I really enjoyed 17, but 28 wasn't too bad.
Your worst enemy? my mouth
What is your current desktop picture?I don't change it often enough, so there is still a picture of the interstate with fall leaves. At home there is my desktop dog.
What was the last thing you said to someone? no kidding
The last song you listened to? Copperhead Road (I can't remember who sang that though)
What time of day were you born? 10:30 AM
What do you do when vending machines steal your money? Shake them, or if I have more money try to get the next item to bump the first and there by get two items. Last resort is get Garry (my co-worker to come down and shake it for me - he has a knack.
Do you consider yourself kind? most of the time
What’s your life motto? I have lots of them, "Never put off til tomorrow what you can do today", "love one another", "everyone leads a life of quiet desperation", "you should not stop playing because you grow old because you grow old if you stop playing"... and I could go on.
Name three things you have on you at all times. glasses, rings, socks
Can you change the oil on a car? no.
When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? This weekend to A and one to the little girl I'm doing a Flat Stanley for.
So in lue of those getting finished real soon (it is terribly busy at work and at home right now) I'm going to answer the questionaire that Farmwife TAGed me for.
When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? Geez, I've really broke out this month.
How much cash do you have on you? $0 I very rarely keep cash because I spend it too easily, I'm a lot more careful with cards.
What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? Lore
Do you label yourself? Oh all the time, I really enjoy my label maker.
Bright or Dark Room? BRIGHT!!!! unless developing my own pictures, then I'll use a dark room.
Why is there always a missing question? If I ask "how do you know the question is missing?" that adds the missing question back and therefore nullifies the first question doesn't it?
What does your watch look like? my watch looks a whole lot like a cell phone, because I don't use a watch, I use my cell to tell time.
What were you doing at midnight last night? Just getting to sleep.
Where is your nearest 7-11? I have no idea
What’s a word that you say a lot? "Anyway" and "No problem"
Who told you he/she loved you last? J
Last furry thing you touched? Sasha
How many rolls of film do you need developed? Haven't used real film in about 4 years. I'm all digital anymore.
Favorite age you have been so far? I really enjoyed 17, but 28 wasn't too bad.
Your worst enemy? my mouth
What is your current desktop picture?I don't change it often enough, so there is still a picture of the interstate with fall leaves. At home there is my desktop dog.
What was the last thing you said to someone? no kidding
The last song you listened to? Copperhead Road (I can't remember who sang that though)
What time of day were you born? 10:30 AM
What do you do when vending machines steal your money? Shake them, or if I have more money try to get the next item to bump the first and there by get two items. Last resort is get Garry (my co-worker to come down and shake it for me - he has a knack.
Do you consider yourself kind? most of the time
What’s your life motto? I have lots of them, "Never put off til tomorrow what you can do today", "love one another", "everyone leads a life of quiet desperation", "you should not stop playing because you grow old because you grow old if you stop playing"... and I could go on.
Name three things you have on you at all times. glasses, rings, socks
Can you change the oil on a car? no.
When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? This weekend to A and one to the little girl I'm doing a Flat Stanley for.
Friday, January 05, 2007
St. Francis and Little David
First off before I forget, this image if for Cate. It is what I was trying to post in my reply to one of her posts, but wouldn't post. So here you are.
Now on to the story- I was inspired by Art's wonderful tale of the Tallyman in church the other day to write about two special little people in my life. My neices. My sister has two little girls. They are as different as daylight and dark, but are yet - so my sister tells me- both a lot like me. This worries me for having children of my own. If my sister's kids are both a lot like me.... will my children be a lot like her? Will I have a little book worm whom I can't convince to go outside? Will my children correct my grammer and always have a better come-back as my sister always did? Will they demand the front seat as their "birthrite?Perhaps someday we'll find out. If they are, that won't be a bad thing. My sister has always kind of balanced me out. We didn't live in the house together very well, because our personalities both tend to jockey for "lead dog" position. But ever since she married and moved out we've been the best of friends. But that isn't what this post is about so back to the stories at hand.
Her oldest girl is 9. She's the wiz kid, but struggles in school due to some learning disablities. I've named her something here before... but I can't remember what it is so I'm going to redub her "St. Francis". As in St. Francis of Assisi. I've never known a child so devoted to animals. She won't let you kill anything. Not bugs. Not snakes. Not spiders. She loves each and every one of God's creatures and she loves them passionately. She even loves the unlovable creatures. Some little children when they go to meet their baby sibling for the first time, take a baby doll or a teddy bear to the hospital. Not St. Francis. She cradled a plastic alligator wrapped in a baby blanket. And she loves them with great knowledge. She knew more scientific names of dinosaurs and what a trilobite was at age 5 than I did after taking Paleo-geography classes in college. The first year we did Christmas at the cabin in Gatlinburg she was 5. I can remember her looking up at me and saying "Oh look aunt Zann - Shale. Do you know how Shale is made?" and proceeded to tell me. She's a fascinating little person with an imagination and memory that doesn't quit. She loves telling stories and jokes. She loves pretending. And has no fear of people, she'll talk to anyone. I can totally see her following her aunt and father's footsteps into the community theater someday. She has no fear of getting dirty and would live outside if someone would let her. She also likes to lead. I witnessed this once at a library function my sister invited me along to. The poor librarian ended up interupting my neice at one point and said "St. Francis, are you the librarian? Then will you please let me run the party?" Geez I love that kid. She makes me
My sister's youngest, who is 5, I will dub "David" as in David of the Bible. Because she dances for the Lord. She is our little ballerina and little girly-girl. There are no other colors worthwhile besides pink and purple in her opinion. She is all about crafts, drawing and painting. She loves to decorate. She's a very observant child. If you do anything different with your home she notices and comments on it. She's a director too, much like her mother. If you play Barbies with her, she has already written out your role in her head and will tell you. "No, you are doing it wrong, you are suppose to say..." and "now, your doll does this". She's a bit of a clown to. She will act silly if she thinks it will make you laugh. The reason I'm even writing about these two here in my journal is because Art's story reminded me of "David". Christmas before this past one, we were all together and getting ready to read the Christmas story from the Bible as is tradition in our family for the night before opening gifts. We had had a big day and were trying to settle down for the night to. We told the girls to come around the fire that we were going to read a story. St. Francis settled right down (comes with age you know) but the over-tired "David" asks "What story?"
"One from the Bible" my dad says.
"Awwww, not the Bible" my neice complains and slumps over to her seat.
I remember feeling that way about it when I was little too. Big words that you don't understand, concepts that you don't quite relate to yet, and worse yet it was one that had no pictures. We all related. That's why it was funny to us. That and the fact my sister said "I promise, Daddy, I'm not raising heathens." But it was apparent a few moments later when we started singing carols that, "David's" woship style is not in reading (especially since she didn't know how yet that year) it was instead in dance. She performed an impromptu interpretive dance to Silent Night. The following April, when I came down to visit, I went to church with my sis and parents. In the pew during the hymns - there my neice was again, doing interpretive dance to the hymns between her mom and me. It was adorable. My sister took no notice. I nudged her and pointed. She leaned over and whispered "she does it ever Sunday, we've given up trying to stop her" and why would they. She's not out in the aisle or being disruptive or anything. The little girl is just dancing for her Lord. And I say, let her dance. :) If they made it in children's sizes I would get her this. :)
I also say we should hook her up with Art's little one. He could sing "Come Mister Tally Man" and she could do interpretive dance to it :).
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
I think I'm going to follow the crowd today. I've enjoyed reading everyone else's New Year's Year in Review posts and thought I would try that myself. Afterall half the time I forget to blog here so there are some things you all may not have known about. And so yeah.. I cheated. I went back through my "That other Place" journal to fill it in. But it's nice to have a "highlights" review of what all happened.
January - Saw Narnia and loved it. J (otherwise known as DH) got the TV of his dreams, turned 28 (did you know my birthday is said to be the sadest day of the year by scientists? it's true.
February -Dad had a cancer scare but all was okay, Met a friend from online from Wisconsin in Nashville, went to the Addy's where neither of us won anything really, Started reading Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett, painted the living room
March - Sasha earned her Canine Good Citizenship, the heat/air died at work we froze, had the driveway paved, illustrated "If You Give A Mom A Mop" in collaboration with Farmwife, Got hit from behind very hard by a woman who wasn't paying attention and had no insurance
April- Had porch built, weather turned warm and we smothered at work, the pitbull next door escaped, finished the coloring book for Inkling, godson got Rocky Mnt. Spotted Fever, invaded by ants
May- Celebrated 4th anniversary, discovered podcasts, participated in the Arthritis Walk with Sasha, won the TPA award, went momentarily fashion crazy, found my doppleganger in the newspaper
June - got charged for a guard rail from a wreck 3 years previous, went to gawk at PETA people, TAG reunion
July- Won my first ever prize from an online contest- as Superman action figure, went to Dollywood with Sis and her fam.
Aug-bought new desks for office, had new roof put on, A finds out she's PG
Sept.- 10 year reunion that I didn't go to, Intimate Issues Conference, Vacation to Dragon*Con and finally finished reading Wyrd Sisters (see February)
Oct.- J turned 31, sasha attacked a possum, sister and her crew came to visit, Christmas ads started
Nov.- Went to Indiana, the sashacam came back online, Thankgiving with In-laws, girls night with old high-school buddies, Farmwife finds out she's PG (I think it was Nov?)
Dec.-Christmas with my family, got my 5 year service award at work, Christmas with Jay's family.
It has been an interesting year. I've set a lot of goals for the next year (and further too) that you can view here
Here's wishing all a happy and prosperous 2007.
January - Saw Narnia and loved it. J (otherwise known as DH) got the TV of his dreams, turned 28 (did you know my birthday is said to be the sadest day of the year by scientists? it's true.
February -Dad had a cancer scare but all was okay, Met a friend from online from Wisconsin in Nashville, went to the Addy's where neither of us won anything really, Started reading Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett, painted the living room
March - Sasha earned her Canine Good Citizenship, the heat/air died at work we froze, had the driveway paved, illustrated "If You Give A Mom A Mop" in collaboration with Farmwife, Got hit from behind very hard by a woman who wasn't paying attention and had no insurance
April- Had porch built, weather turned warm and we smothered at work, the pitbull next door escaped, finished the coloring book for Inkling, godson got Rocky Mnt. Spotted Fever, invaded by ants
May- Celebrated 4th anniversary, discovered podcasts, participated in the Arthritis Walk with Sasha, won the TPA award, went momentarily fashion crazy, found my doppleganger in the newspaper
June - got charged for a guard rail from a wreck 3 years previous, went to gawk at PETA people, TAG reunion
July- Won my first ever prize from an online contest- as Superman action figure, went to Dollywood with Sis and her fam.
Aug-bought new desks for office, had new roof put on, A finds out she's PG
Sept.- 10 year reunion that I didn't go to, Intimate Issues Conference, Vacation to Dragon*Con and finally finished reading Wyrd Sisters (see February)
Oct.- J turned 31, sasha attacked a possum, sister and her crew came to visit, Christmas ads started
Nov.- Went to Indiana, the sashacam came back online, Thankgiving with In-laws, girls night with old high-school buddies, Farmwife finds out she's PG (I think it was Nov?)
Dec.-Christmas with my family, got my 5 year service award at work, Christmas with Jay's family.
It has been an interesting year. I've set a lot of goals for the next year (and further too) that you can view here
Here's wishing all a happy and prosperous 2007.
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