When I first began composing this post in my head I had every intention of writing:
Due to very sad/private family circumstances I will not be posting for quite awhile.
Yet every time I envisioned this as a ‘published’ post I just could not commit to walking away for an undetermined amount of time.
I need this place I call my website. It is where I am able to take all the pieces of the puzzle that make up the authentic me and explore piecing them all together. It is where I learn which pieces don’t fit anymore, which pieces are missing, which pieces need to be found again and which pieces fit so imperfectly perfect.
I need this place I call my website.
And so this post will be published as:
Due to sad/private family circumstances I may not be posting my thoughts as often as I have been. My thoughts will be going places where they will need the blessing of time and distance before committing them to cyberspace.
That’s what’s on my mind today.
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Hosted by Peggy @ The Simple Woman
Outside My Window…there is a birdbath that needs to be filled. Lately the afternoon showers have been keeping it full and fresh but it did not rain yesterday. I see five birds stopping by for breakfast but a Blue Jay just swooped in and claimed both feeders as his own.
I am thinking…I have to teach the equivalent of three classes in one class tonight. They were re-roofing our building on campus last week and the smell was just too overwhelming. Therefore I made an ‘academic/executive’ decision and let the class go home early. We will ‘pay the price’ this week but we will ‘git ‘er done’.
I am thankful for…Walgreen’s. They were running a ‘ten cent a print special’ this weekend for digital print orders over a hundred. I was able to get all my digital prints done to complete Miss Sam’s Age Twelve scrapbook album. I am considering going completely to digital scrapbooking for her Age Thirteen album and putting them on DVD slideshows. I am on the bottom end of that learning curve but it would fit nicely into my ‘wellness’ plan of learning something new every month.
From the kitchen…Nothing. We spent the day swimming yesterday with friends and made a ‘pit stop’ at Taco Bell after. Looks like leftover hamburger helper for supper tonight…this time with meat (grin).
I am wearing…my favorite pink robe. I get up between 5:30 and 6:30 every morning to let the dogs out. If I am not wearing my pajama pants, I throw on my robe until I get the dogs situated, get my coffee brewed, and decide to take a shower mid-day. I always keep my Mondays and Wednesdays uncomplicated because of my teaching schedule. I don’t get home until about 9:00 pm.
I am creating created…three cards from my Quilling class this weekend. By the second card I was beginning to feel as though it was rather tedious and and also very taxing on my neck and shoulders (which give me a fit due to an auto accident several years ago). I almost made the decision to not do the third card (which is the flower one). Yet, as you can see (by the picture below), I did complete it and am thankful that I did. By the time I completed this third card I was hooked. I already have a project ‘percolating’ that will include quilling, my photography, and perhaps a bit of scripture. Stay tuned.
I am going…to pick up Miss Sam’s book, The Animals of Farthing Wood, from Barnes and Nobles today. If she is not reading mangas, she is reading every book she can get her hands on which have animals that talk. If anyone has any recommendations I would love to hear from you! We have pretty much exhausted Redwall and Warriors.
I am reading…Janet Evanovich’s Lean Mean Thirteen. Stephanie Plum is one of my favorite characters. Not to mention Ranger (swoon). As always, I am never disappointed in this series and have been trying to find snippets of ‘down’ time to find out what happened to Dickie. Yet, I do it hesitantly because I always hate for her novels to come to an end.
I am hoping…that all my blogging friends are doing well and that y’all are having a great summer.
I am hearing…the sound of quiet out in the living room. Pretty much at this time in the morning the dogs want to play. However, last night Snickers decided she wanted to play at 2:00 in the morning…the first time in three weeks that she has not slept through the night. My guess is she is moving past her ’skittish’ stage and her true puppy personality is beginning to surface. After her 2:00 am rendezvous outside, she did not want to sleep in her crate. Since Mr. John’s and my bed is Marbles’ domain, I camped out in Miss Sam’s bed attempting to acclimate Snickers to sleeping there. It took Snickers about twenty minutes for her to wind back down but then we all fell asleep at about 3:00. So, I have not heard a peep out of any of them this morning (Miss Sam included).
Around the house…not much is going to get done because I am definitely going to take a nap this afternoon due to the puppy high jinxs that went on earlier this morning.
One of my favorite things…is that I am able to be home. We are dirt poor because of this decision but we are happy.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: scrapbooking, swimming, therapy, Miss Sam’s techno class, and hopefully I can move out of my comfort zone and call the lovely lady who has offered to teach Miss Sam to take care of her horse and eventually learn to ride him.
Here is picture thought I am sharing…
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But you must remember, you are a child of the Most High God. Just because something didn’t work out your way or somebody disappointed you, that does not change who you are.
If one dream dies, dream another dream.
If you get knocked down, get back up and go again.
When one door closes, God will always open up a bigger and better door.
Hold your head high, and be on the the lookout for the new thing that God wants to do in your life.
But don’t go off in the corner of life and start eating cheese and crackers.
~ Joel Osteen ~
From his book Your Best Life Now: Seven Steps to Living at Your Full Potential
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Every week I receive two or three emails from individuals who are living with or know someone who has mental health difficulties. Each story is unique. Each story is the same. Living with or knowing someone who has a mental health disorder is no easy task.
Many mental health disorders are chronic and result in a lifelong illness. It never goes away. However, with appropriate treatments (medication in conjunction with expert therapy) and the educated and informed support of family, friends, employers and co-workers it can be managed (as long as the individual with the mental health disorder commits and participates in his or her wellness plan).
Read more here.
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A precious moment…when one of my students shouted out in class Wednesday night, ‘This class rocks!’. I think it does (grin) but it is always satisfying when a student does.
I am grateful….for a husband that helps me make decisions. Miss Sam was scheduled for the second class in the three part ‘Techno-Pop’ class at one of the local libraries. She did not want to go (code for: I just don’t want to get up early). A thirty minute negotiation argument ensued and just when I was on the brink of giving in, I called my husband for his opinion. ‘She should go. She committed to this program. It is her responsibility to show up.’ That’s why this post is late in being ‘published’. Miss Sam went to the class and it was…in her words…’awesome’. (So is her Dad.)
I laugh…because that is what puppies make you do. I cannot express how much sunshine and joy this new addition to our family has brought into our daily lives. Even Marbles is beginning to fall for her charms.
I remember…how shy I was both as a child and well into my early thirties. I have to remind myself to be cautious in my discernment between what is important for Miss Sam in terms of socialization and what is not. It is important that she learn to step out of her comfort zone so as not to limit the experiences that her interests would engage her in. A great example is the battle that ensued about her going to the Techno-Pop class this morning and the positive results of me not giving in to her fears.
I love…that Miss Sam is comfortable talking with me about a friend that (because of information obtained via a Google search) feared that she had multiple personality disorder. I was able to give Sam an ‘unschooling’ lesson regarding the distinctions between what some consider ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ behavior and the steps necessary to make a clinical diagnosis such as ‘multiple personality disorder’. Now Miss Sam understands that her friend is just a teenager with mood swings (most likely caused by hormonal triggers).
I will celebrate…starting EMDR therapy yesterday.
A joyful picture from this week:
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As I went to bed last night lost in a sea of self doubt I thought for sure I would remain adrift for many more days.
I had made a decision last night, in a moment of sheer panic, to stop writing for Take Root and Write and Praising My Savior.
I emailed Noelle (the awesome woman behind the website Take Root and Write) the news last night before going to bed. I was going to email Amydeanne (the beautiful and generous heart behind the website Praising My Savior) this morning.
I turned on my computer this morning with the express purpose of sending Amydeanne the news of my decision. Before I hit ‘Write’ I clicked on my inbox and found a deeply encouraging note from Noelle and this recent comment on my post Do You Have An Approval Addiction that I wrote for PMS from Twinkle Mom:
Wow…I’m so floored by this
and it’s totally how I’ve been feeling this week
and going through this past few weeks..
Thank you so much for sharing this!
And God’s Thumbprints did not stop there. Rather than start on my morning post, I went over to Take Root and Write to see what new columns were posted overnight. I did not have to read long before this jumped off the computer screen and right into my boat that was anxiously adrift on the sea of self doubt:
We will live no better than we believe. Shannon Heiden
There are no words of my own that I can find to express how much I needed, not only the kind words from Noelle and Twinkle Mom, but also this post written by Shannon over at Take Root and Write.
I am not ‘just saying this’ because I write at these websites, I am saying this because I read what is written over at these websites…there are some awesome writers at Praising My Savior and Take Root and Write that will bless you daily and guide you and inspire you in all the areas of your life.
Take the time to go over to both sites and soak up the blessings!! I did today. And today I found what I so badly needed ~ a guiding light ~ to get my boat of self doubt safely to shore.
Thanks.
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From where I am sitting I can see the raindrops trickle down the leaves of my newly planted petunias. I see the Lizard family running for their home deep inside the foilage of last year’s Lantana plantings. I see the flash of lightning cut across the sky and hear the distant rumble of thunder as the sky grows dark again. We are entering the rainy season here in Florida. My favorite time of year.
What I Would Have Missed If Every Day Were Sunny
- Pleasant Memories. Sitting on the front porch snapping peas with my mother. It was raining and a grand storm was brewing off the North Carolina coast. As a child growing up in a turbulent household, I understood that there was little that could comfort my mother. Yet, when it rained, it was as though the storms inside her were somehow stilled for a moment in time.
- Quiet Time. As the clouds drift in and the rain begins I always find myself thanking God for time to stay inside. To read a good book, watch a good movie, or take a nap. It seems that when it is sunny, my To Do list reads like a travel itinerary. Sunny days weren’t meant to be wasted…but rainy days…those are like a permission slip from God that says…take today off and just listen to the rain.
- Beauty of a Tin Roof. If you have never fallen asleep under a tin roof during a rainstorm you must put this on your list of Things To Do on your next birthday. Although our current roof is not made of tin, sometimes when it rains I will stand by my stove and I can hear the pitter patter of the drops as it hits the metal air vent…call me crazy. The sound of rain on a tin roof always makes me want to take a nap.
- My Daughter’s Joyful Noise. Because of an extreme skin condition, my daughter was not able to run through sprinklers as a child. On her first run through she would come out the other side welting up with hives. Then we discovered nature’s alternative - rain. We would have ‘rain parties’. We would gather up her friends and they would play in the rain with cheerful yelps and hollers. It was a marvelous sight to see…even though the laundry room clean up was a bit taxing on those particular days…it was worth every wet and often muddy minute of it.
- Monsoon Season. For a brief time during my husband’s military career we called Arizona home. We arrived one dark and stormy night during what we later learned was ‘Monsoon Season’. We were driving in from the interstate onto the desert road that would lead us to our new, ‘temporary’ home when right before our eyes we saw a sight that I will never forget. It was dark, yet the lightning was so intense it lit up the entire sky and along that sky was the outline of the Huachuca Mountains. It was an incredible sight to see. A powerful display of God’s glory that no Disney tech can ever duplicate It would rain and storm for days on end, but it was a show that we never wanted to miss. Our home was at the foot of those mountains and we had a front row seat from which to enjoy the spectacular rainy season of Arizona called ‘Monsoon Season’.
Originally published May 30, 2006 in the original Whippoorwill Chronicles.
It’s rainy season again here in Central Florida. We went to bed last night with an ordinary backyard and woke up this morning with a carpet of these:
Thanks to Heather for inspiring me to look beyond the mushrooms as being a nuisance and grabbing my camera to capture their ‘hidden’ beauty.
There’s a 90% chance of rain all day today and into late evening. It’s a good day to dig into that stack of books I checked out of the library yesterday.
How about you? What do you love about rainy days?
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Hosted by Peggy @ The Simple Woman
Outside My Window…I am watching a woodpecker about an arm’s length from me eat breakfast from the feeders I FINALLY refilled. We go through about two bags of seed a week and (just like kids) they flock to our house ’cause we have the ‘good stuff’. I’d rather put the extra money into bird feed than my gas tank. Bird watching is a wonderful incentive to stay home and enjoy your backyard.
I am thinking…that many of you have asked about the math curriculum for Miss Sam. I went online to Saxon math and had her complete a placement test. Although Miss Sam was receiving A’s in math in public school (she was 7th grade when I pulled her out), she tested at the fourth grade level. I did not however choose Saxon math as her curriculum. No particular reason except that I absolutely love the LifePac Curriculum. I am one of those moms that believes learning is a 24/7 ‘activity’. So Sam’s summer ‘fun’ includes the LifePac curriculum for Math, Bible, History & Geography and Science. It sounds like a lot of work but that is the great thing about LifePac. The lessons are in small increments and the material is concise. So I am thinking, I need to finish this post and get her schedule together for today (grin).
I am thankful for…Noelle. She is the creator of the website Take Root and Write. Today is their Open and House and I hope that you all click over there (after you read and comment here of course ~ grin ~) and read all the welcome posts that are making their premier today.
From the kitchen…there was steak, baked potatoes and carrots last night. No, we did not win the lottery. The budget meals were just wearing a bit thin and we needed a delicious ‘meat and potatoes’ meal. It was so good we did not even need dessert, we just licked our plates instead.
I am wearing…my favorite robe. I finally did some laundry this weekend and was able to ditch the pajama pants and extra large t-shirt (v-neck only) and wriggle back into my decades old Kathy Ireland Target special robe.
I am creating…my first article for my column Managing Your Mental Health at Take Root and Write. Be sure to mark your calendars for August 11th when my article ‘What is Good Mental Health?’will be posted.
I am going…to implement part of my mental wellness plan by taking a Quilling class this weekend. I am very excited about learning something new.
I am reading…nothing. I just finished reading the last book in the series The Lakeside Chronicles. I really enjoyed this series. As I have stated before, I am so not a romance reader….but these books came at a time when I needed to be ’swept away’ and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
I am hoping…to get to the library today. Actually I should say ‘libraries’. On library day we get on the internet and check to see which libraries in our area have the books we ‘really, really’ want to read. We have four libraries in our area and as a rule, the books we want are never at just one. Therefore, our trip ‘to the library’ entails a route that includes four libraries and perhaps some errand running in between to save on ‘gas’.
I am hearing…Snickers whining in the living room. She is ‘calling’ me to come and play. She really has come around from her initial ’skittishness’. She is just awesome!!! ‘Scuse me a minute while I go play with my ‘kids’ Snickers and Marbles. They love to play fetch and tug ‘o’ war with their favorite toys. My teenage ‘kid’ is still sleeping and she doesn’t play with me much anymore (giggle).
Around the house…are daily chores to be done. I am generally motivated on Mondays to get the house in ’ship shape’ but by Tuesday, I’m done being the ‘perfect’ homemaker. It’s hard work being perfect and I much prefer being me. It has taken me years to be comfortable with the choice to sit on the front porch and read a good book and let the dishes ’soak’ for a day or two. Go me!!
One of my favorite things…is the reality show Big Brother!! Season ten just started last night and I am doing the happy dance!
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Going to the free movie (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium) with friends (the one who rescues Miss Sam during severe thunderstorms), counseling training session for the coming school year (still in the process of deciding whether or not I will continue counseling), taking Miss Sam to a great TechnoPop (learning to do computer animation and game development) class at the library, and of course….my return to EMDR therapy.
Here is picture thought I am sharing…
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