"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" - Adam Savage, Mythbuster.
Color me clueless or maybe that is my reality this year...Maybe it's because February is full of birthdays for me and this year there was no snow (GRRRRR!!!!!!) just sunny days warmer than normal and the credit card bills were lower because we did a cash only Christmas. I got wonderfull stash from a great Secret Stitcher - who is a lot better than I am. The only bad part of the month was work and seeing my friends hurting. Work I can change and it's my own laziness that has kept me from doing so. My friends - well that's not as easy - It's hard to see them in pain and I end up feeling guilty when I bounce around excited about life in the middle of everyone's S.A.D. bout (Seasonal Affective Disorder - DH has it for real but that's another story). Maybe my naivete comes from the serge of Finishing I try to do in February. Not only is it Finish it February but I have goals that I set in January that I'm going to keep, by golly. So, I spend less time on the Internet and I'm sure that some people see that as my pulling away (if they even notice at all) but I get stuff done and I keep the momentum and I pull my head up long enough to post a few questions and a happy dance or two. But it also keeps me from the angst that so many experience.
Take today's topic for example, I didn't even know about it until I started reading blogs today. And at least 3 of the participants are people I talk to hourly. Where was I today or yesterday when the topic was discussed? But then, that would mean that I'm not as popular as I think I am, and that would clash with my reality. So I'll choose to believe that they were aware of my ignorance and were trying to prolong the bliss that I've had this month. After all, today I turned 39 which is a great end to a productive month.
AND next year - we'll party all month long to celebrate my hitting 40!! Party at my place!!!
I'm at solo and ensemble competition with DD. Her accompanist had emergency surgery this morning so she was scrambling to find someone to play the piano part for Danse Macabre (we found an incredible pianist and she did really well). Anyway while she's off rehearsing with the pianist. I see a brass player trying to calm a violinist. Along with playing his solo, he's accompanying 8 (yes, EIGHT!!!) string players for their solos. He just couldn't tell the girls no. I'm sitting there stitching a paid project thinking there goes DD#1 in 5 more years. As I'm thinking on that and looking at all the girls in their long dresses and the young men in their tux's, in walks a drummer; sticks beating against his denimed leg, music under one arm, cell phone in the other, thrasher haircut with one strand of red matching his dirty sweatshirt. The first thought that came to mind is "and there goes DS#2 in 9 years."
DD played very well but probably won't be going to state, except with the orchestra.
Or they're just tired of my current attitude. It was strongly suggested that I take a mental health day on Friday.
So, on Friday, I'll be working with my husband on the remodel of the houses. At least I'll be out in the fresh air and who knows, if we finish quick, I may get some stitching or quilting time in.
"The Holy Ghost is a comforter and a guide. But it is also a cleansing agent. That is why service in the kingdom is so crucial to enduring. When we are called to serve, we can pray for the Holy Ghost to be our companion with assurance it will come. When we ask in faith, a change can come in our natures both for the welfare of our souls and to strengthen us for the tests we all must face."Henry Eyring from "True Friends," Ensign, May 2002, 28
I got the quote above in my email this morning and it just seemed very appropriate to cap off my weekend.Sometimes, it takes the absence of something for us to realize how much we need it.Our congregation switched from 11:30 to 9 am and I slept in for the past several Sundays because it just seemed so early.Yesterday I hauled my carcass out and made it to church.All day and into today, I feel revitalized, energized and refreshed.I had been taking the recharge that I get at church for granted.It took a couple weeks of missing it and wondering why I was so grumpy to realize the benefit that I get from those 3 hours a week.Even though I do daily devotion and meditation with my Savior, I find that I need the support of other believers to help add oil to my lamp.It’s nice to have a reminder of just how much I need it though.
1] Has there ever been a moment in your life that you wish could have LASTED forever? In other words, you would have frozen time at that very second in order to live that moment for eternity? Not that I can think of right now. 2] Have you ever finished in LAST place, whether during a race, a contest, a competition, an exam, or something else? Yes, practically every gym class. How did it make you feel? I knew I was a klutz before we started, why did the teacher feel the need to rub it in? When a situation like that occurs, do you usually maintain a positive attitude or feel like you have completely failed? Depends on if I thought I was good at it to begin with. 3] Who's the LAST person you talked with on the phone? subfinder system E-mailed? Yahoo group - close friends. Received an e-mail from? Ditto Hugged? DS#2 Went out to lunch with? DH Thought about? DH Made something for? working on quilt for DD Made plans with? Yahoo Group- Close Friends IMed? Dot 4] When's the LAST time that you did something nice just for yourself? Last night What was it? Tub with bubble bath, candles and good mystery book. How do you usually treat/reward yourself? SILK!!!! Preferably skeins and skeins. Do you take time out of each day to do something for yourself? Yes Do you buy yourself a birthday gift or Christmas gift each year? Yes, but I tell DH it's from him. 5] What do you think you'll be doing on the LAST day of this month (February 28)? Sitting in the office stitching while the printer prints reports thinking that this is a sucky way to spend my birthday. If you could choose a month and have it LAST forever (in other words, it would be July all the time from now on), which month would you choose and why? Have you ever read the story Christmas Every Day? Why would I do that to anyone?
Sorry, I haven't really been my happy go lucky self lately. I'm getting lots of quilting done, working on part 2 of Mini-Mystery H from Chatelaine, and spending most of my time at work putting out fires and getting blamed for stuff that people said I refused to do but they never put it on my schedule of jobs. I realize that I failed MindReading 101 in college and have also failed all the subsequent refresher courses. Please, people, that's why I have a board in the office with tasks listed on it.
"As you submit your wills to God, you are giving Him the only thing you can actually give Him that is really yours to give. Don't wait too long to find the altar or to begin to place the gift of your wills upon it!
No need to wait for a receipt; the Lord has His own special ways of acknowledging."
My church doesn't participate in Lent but to support my friends, save some money, and eat more healthy, our family is giving up fast food until Easter.
Does anyone else have a feeling of impending doom? The conviction that something is around the bend that is going to cause everything to blow up? There is nothing in particular and I've plugged all the possible leaks that I see in my life. I just have this sense of a large dread just out of the line of site.
Saturday at the chess tournament there were far more dads than moms present as the supervising adults.Now before we get into whether or not men are drawn more to chess than women (there were more boys competing than girls).I should add that the majority of the men I spoke with were divorced, this was their weekend, and this is what their child wanted to do.I had some interesting conversations during the tournament rounds.Of the 14 men that I spoke with, 3 admitted that the divorce was mainly their fault, 6 blamed it on spending too much time in the office to give her the things she said she wanted, and 3 others said that she was fooling around with someone else, 1 said she met someone on the internet and didn’t want him around and the last one said it was a mutual decision to benefit the kids.This last guy has full custody and no clue where his ex-wife is currently.Her parents aren’t speaking to him but her sister is playing up to him like nobody’s business and it really bothers him.Interestingly enough, he was the only one of the 14 that hadn’t remarried.He didn’t want to introduce a woman into his kid’s life that may not stick around; he said that he had 6 more years until he could start dating.He was the one there with his daughter (she’s in the 6th grade).One father told me that it’s really funny that the only time he gets to see his son is when there is a competition or lessons and his ex-wife wants to do something else.It’s one of the reasons that he’s signed his son up for chess, drums, and Karate. This way he’s guaranteed to see his son at least 3 times a week and even more during sports seasons (although he feels that little league football is a mess and has too much possibility for permanent injury).
I would like to add that although these dads all had computers with them, most of them weren’t working.One had a program where between rounds he would enter his son’s notation and they would analyze the game.Several were playing chessmaster X000 with the kids between rounds and many just sat there with the laptop and the kids were playing games on it between the rounds.Of the 6 who blamed their divorces on the office, they said that it taught them to appreciate every moment at home and they weren’t making that mistake again.It’s nice to know that they learned even if it was too late.By the way, of the 6 that spent their first marriage at the office, most of them felt that their ex-wives had a new guy picked out before she ever filed for divorce. Of them all, only the guy whose ex found her new love on the internet filed for divorce.I found that pretty interesting, I found all 14 of them a little sad and came away even more grateful for the incredible man that I married.
I had a bit of a finishing frenzy this weekend. So, there are new things in Finished in 2005 and in the Quilting albums.
By the way, there is a blog on chess tournaments coming. DS#1 got 15th place and DS#2 was lucky to sit at a board being the bottom ranked player in an odd numbered group.
Sorry for not writing much this week but between the 64 hour work week and trying to get used to the routine after vacation, I've been to tired to think.
It was fun being a baby boomer...till now. Some of the artists of the '60s are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers. They include: 1. Herman's Hermits Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Walker 2. The Bee Gees &nb sp; &nbs p; How Can You Mend a Broken Hip 3. Bobby Darin &n bsp; &nb sp; Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' a Flash 4. Ringo Starr &n bsp; &nb sp; I Get By With a Little Help From Depends 5. Roberta Flack &n bsp; The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face 6. Johnny Nash &nb sp; &nbs p; I Can't See Clearly Now 7. Paul Simon &n bsp; &nb sp; Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver 8. Commodores &nb sp; &nbs p; Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom 9. Marvin Gaye &nb sp; &nbs p; Heard it Through the Grape Nuts 10. Procol Harem &n bsp; A Whiter Shade of Hair 11. Leo Sayer &n bsp; &nb sp; You Make Me Feel Like Napping 12. The Temptations &n bsp; Papa's Got a Kidney Stone 13. Abba &nb sp; &nbs p; ; Denture Queen 14. Tony Orlando Knock 3 Times On The Ceiling If You Hear Me Fall 15. Helen Reddy &n bsp; &nb sp; I am Woman, Hear Me Snore 16. Willie Nelson & nbsp; On the Throne Again 17. Leslie Gore's & nbsp; It's My Procedure and I'll Cry if I Want To
