Category: Birthday

Strange Symptoms, Stranger Ideas

6/24/2014

I'm happy to report that my sinus infection is clearing up, and I've even managed to resist the red meat binge. One strange thing about getting sick isn't the obvious symptoms, but the strange symptoms that let you know without a shadow of a doubt that you're sick. It's the overwhelming desire for red meat that usually tips me off. Don't get me wrong - I love red meat - but when the entire rack at the grocery store starts to look really good, I know the bacteria is winning. Another is the desire to watch entire seasons of my favorite TV shows. Binging seems to be one of the strange symptoms I get when I'm sick.

One good thing about all of this rest is that I have an idea for my next writing project. You know the alien invasion that I'm always joking about on social media? Well, I saw Edge of Tomorrow over the weekend and thought heck, why not write my own version of the alien invasion? It's a big idea but heck, why not? So I'm going sci-fi next time, much to the relief of everybody getting jittery of my paranormal mysteries. I'll finish Obsidian first, but I can brainstorm and research this and be ready to go with it later this year, or early next year. We'll see how it goes.I love sci-fi, and the concept of writing a trilogy makes me very happy.

So did you hear that Queen Elizabeth II visited the set of Game of Thrones? Oh, how I wish she would have had her picture in the Iron Throne. That would have been awesome. But she respectfully declined. I bet that was a great visit.

And in closing, we're celebrating an "invisible birthday." 4 years ago today, Rick brought home an adorable green and yellow parakeet with a gift of song that lit up our lives. We thought we'd have 15 years with him; instead, we had three and a half. Life's like that, I guess, but we can still celebrate him today. So Happy Birthday, Oliver! We hope you're having a great birthday in Heaven. Here's a song that always inspired you to song.

That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

Another Snow Day?

2/12/2014

I'd like to open this blog to give a shout out on two special events: Happy birthday to Mom yesterday, and Happy 20th anniversary to Stephen and Nicole, my brother and sister-in-law, today! And what a way to spend these special days - holed up due to winter slush! Oh well, I hope you all have great days despite Snowmeiser's attack on the south!

So here we sit in the south, with our second winter weather day in two weeks. As you can probably tell from the news, we really aren't used to this. Down here, we're used to deep frying in the summer, not deep freezing in the winter. Our winters are usually mild, and we only get weather like this once every few years.

Oh well. Seems it's been a brutal winter everywhere. I think we can all agree on two things: we'll be thankful for spring, and the first person to complain about the heat this summer should be hit with Thor's hammer!

That being said, I suppose I'll take care of a few things around the house today, and maybe read. I'm taking a brief writing break - perhaps 2 weeks. I published Incursion last week and returned to Rearview Mirror and Nonstop to Nowhere to discover that I'm stuck on both of them! I have general ideas, but nothing specific is flowing. I didn't realize that I had been hitting the writing pretty hard since New Year's Day, and I probably do need a break. Having nightmares of demons and djinn chasing me around the church last night pretty much confirmed it. Yes, it's time for a time out. And so I shall. Right now, both stories need some brainstorming and some more research. In fact, the title to Nonstop to Nowhere may be changed. But I need to replenish the inspiration well before diving into these things, so I'm taking a brief break.

Don't worry; I'll keep the blog updated and post on social media. I may even crank out a flash fiction or short story piece. I just need to step back from these projects for a little while to regain my perspective and get going on them again. It's not unusual for this to happen in the middle of projects, and I'm not worried. I know I'll be back, maybe even sooner than I expect, and will get them done.

Everybody take care out there, and I hope you have a great week.

Bye!

Bye!

Another Year Bites the Dust

12/31/2013

And I say let it die. The more agonizing it's demise, the better. I know a lot of people had a magnificent year, and for them I'm happy, but for me it was a bag full of crap. I shall escort this year out with my foot, if necessary. Come midnight, it WILL leave.

But before that, let me pause to wish our male sun conure, Zacchaeus (Zack), a very happy birthday! Our little sunshine is 14 today! And before the obligatory "good Lord!" flies, conures can live up to 30 years. So this little ball of energy isn't even middle aged yet, and he doesn't feel (or act) a day over 2. Happy birthday, sunshine! We love you!

Of course, Zack's birthday is New Year's Eve, which is a day people typically think about the year past and resolve on how to do better next year. This is something I've been considering for a while. You know 2013 was a tough year for me if you've been following this blog, and yesterday's Facebook post that the anger and depression circling me has to go is probably no surprise to most of you. But the question remains, how did it get to be this way? And to discover that, I have to take a look in the mirror and consider two things: what did I do wrong to backslide, and what have I done right that I can build on?

I think the cause is simple: there was a lot of change in 2013, and I was overwhelmed by it. I just didn't realize it at the time. I had the attitude that "I've faced worse, so this is nothing," but that wasn't necessarily true. I wasn't honest with myself or with others. Honestly, I was as scared as everybody else by everything shifting around me. I put on a brave face, but perhaps, I should have sat down for a moment and considered that, no matter what I've seen and what I've experienced (whether better or worse), I really wasn't as boldly confident in facing things as I acted. In other words, I underestimated myself. So one lesson learned in 2013: you can slay the dragon, and still die from a wasp sting, so to speak. Facing down bit monsters and getting around huge mountains doesn't guarantee that you've got the smaller stuff whipped. In fact, you may still be reeling from those big battles so much that you don't have as much left in you to face them the way you faced things last time. So there was the pitfall. I was too confident and not honest with myself. lesson learned.

As for the anger and depression thing, well, with change around every corner it's natural to wonder "how's life going to punch me in the stomach today?" but I don't have to accept that. I don't have to be a victim of circumstance, or of other peoples' decisions. I need to get back to slowing down and really looking at things and situations to mine the opportunity out of it. I haven't done that, and because of it I've become fearful and my outlook on the future has been downcast. I don't want to be that way. So I need to get back on track, to thoughtfully act with wisdom and consideration instead of reacting, and I believe that will help my overall outlook. I know you can't help everything that happens to you. In fact, there's a great deal you have no control over. But you can take your time to evaluate things and consider the best course of action. I haven't been doing that, and I need to get back to it. I'm not going to allow life to kick me in the rear anymore. Everybody else has been doing what's best for them, and I have a right to do the same. And so I shall.

The anger thing has been resolving itself over the past few months. It's been a journey, and not flattering in places, but I do see now that all that's happened and all people have done has wound out for the best. Things take time to settle and once again, my frustration in the tidal wave of change caused me to slip in discernment here and there. I'm sorry for that and while it might be too late in some circumstances to make things better and to admit to gaining perspective, well, I can say here that I was too hasty in some of my words here and there and I do realize now that it was all for the best. I also realize that discernment is always the way of wisdom. So I brush myself off, get back up, and resolve to learn from those mistakes and to more thoughtfully consider words, actions, and reactions to questions or inquiries in the future. I tried, there were some places where I failed, so I have to face it, learn from it, and move on.

It seems that the key to a better 2014 (and beyond) is to:

Be honest with myself, and

Take time to prayerfully and thoughtfully consider all things, big and small.

Yes, I brought a great deal of this on, but that doesn't mean that I have to stay down. I underestimated myself, my reactions, and my emotions this year. I slipped, thinking that I had defeated bigger things and let smaller things undermine me. Lesson learned. I shall be more prayerful, diligent, and thoughtful from now on. And I don't have to wait for the fireworks to go off at midnight to start it, either. I can do it right now. I've come too far to fail now, and I need to renew my commitment to protecting and building on the blessings I've worked so hard for.

So all in all, that's my resolution for 2014: to do better. It might sound vague when you boil it all down to basics, but it covers a big journey through 2013 and what I hope to take forward from it. And no doubt, that journey will show when I start writing the sequel to Move in the next month or so. In fact, it's a large part of what's inspired me to go back to that story and do more with it. Stay tuned for progress on that one. I'm excited about that journey!

Happy New Year to you. Stay safe, and enjoy it.

Bye!

Paradigm Shifts

8/26/2013

On this, my 38th birthday, I find my self pondering the progress of the past year. I suppose this is a natural thing to do on a birthday. On first glance it could seem disappointing, as there are no "major" changes to report, but that's actually deceptive. There have been changes in the past year, but they've been more in the way of "shifts" instead of what could be clearly defined as "changed." I suppose this sounds somewhat elusive, so of course I'm going to explain.

The progress of the past year has actually been more in the way of building on things that have already been in motion. While it doesn't seem that much has changed - after all, life is progressing along very much the same today as it was a year ago - I can't say that I think about or feel the way that I did about life as I did one, two, or five years ago. In fact, as I ponder it, I notice that my paradigm has shifted quite a bit in the last 4 years. I suppose this is natural. My job changed and I finally broke into publication with my writing in 2010 - 2011, and while these things are "the norm" in my life right now, I see how incorporating those changes into my life has changed my view of life and the world. My basic morals haven't changed. That's not something that's likely to change. But the way you see the world around you and apply those morals can change, and I'm starting to see the evidence that it's happened. When you walk in faith long enough, you delve deeper into things, and that's certainly what's happened to me.

So how have I changed? For one, I'm seeing a whole new application of the concept of "reaping and sowing," as described in Galatians 6:7. You all know that this is one thing that my grandfather was a big believer in, and I took it to heart. But this verse applies to more than just relationships with other people and how you treat them - it also applies to progress and purpose in life. In fact, if you shift two more verses you'll read that "in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart." (Galatians 6:9) After several years of hard work to re-establish myself professionally in my current workplace and to get my writing established, I see the value of patience in all that we do. If life really is a series of ups and downs, reaping and sowing, then that has big implications for all of life. If we choose to only allow ourselves to be happy on the mountaintop, when we're reaping the rewards of our labors, then we're guaranteed to be miserable (or at least, withholding our own happiness) at least 50% of our life. Folks, that just isn't acceptable to me. That's not going to do it. Sure, there are some people that enjoy being miserable and whining and complaining to get attention, but that's not the way I choose.

I know from experience that there are blessings in every day because I've been through the major life changes when I looked back and realized that there were little blessings that I took for granted, and I was sorry for it. An example: before my writing was published, I used to do counted cross stitching and wrote short stories. Much to my surprise, I find that I have very little time for that now, between promoting my published works and creating new ones. I love my writing and pray daily that it will continue to grow and reach more people - in fact, I'm prayerfully striving to make a break into science fiction with Splinter this fall - but there are some days when I miss having the time to cross stitch, or to goof off on Writing.com with short story contests. I didn't realize how much time these things filled in my life until my writing grew to the point where I had to make decisions about what stayed and what went. I still stitch occasionally, but large projects are out now. And as for short stories, they take me longer to write, prepare, and complete than they once did. And ditto for the work move. I was glad to make it and still believe it was the best, but I didn't realize the little things I took for granted, like talking to a couple of my friends when things got slow, the great walking paths on the State House grounds, a covered parking spot or those outstanding subs for a great price on Tuesdays and Fridays. Yes, I've gained a lot through both changes. I wouldn't undo either of them or the world because I gained a lot more than I lost. But I did learn to not despise the small things, and to appreciate the small blessings that go with each day as well as the big things we work so hard to cultivate and grow in our lives.

Some people say this means to "enjoy the journey on the way to where you go," but I think there's a deeper meaning than that. A devotion I read recently said, "God doesn't want you to be happy. He wants you to do what's right." That really hit me and helped me to get a grasp on my own paradigm shift. I used to think that the point was about being happy, and I actually worried for a little while, wondering if I'd ever be happy like I was before. I see now that I won't, because happy is a side effect. The purpose of life is not to serve our feelings, but to do what we're supposed to be doing and work hard to do what's right for our purpose in life. If you are faithful in well doing and obedient to the spirit, there's a contentment to your life that nothing - situations, circumstances, or other people and their attitudes (because that really reflects on them more than anything else, but that's a pondering for another entry) - can affect. You can rest in knowing that you're doing all you can, and that allows you to enjoy the blessings of every day, large or small. And contentment is better than happiness. It's more stable, because you can still see the blessing in what you have even if a thousand aggravations are bleeding out of them. It's built on a firmer foundation that gives you the patience to hold out for the "bigger picture" even if you don't understand what the point is (as is often the case). It's built on a trust between you and the Lord and nobody else can put their hands on it. And that can give you the courage to do what's right, even in the face of ridicule, opposition, or doubt. Happiness is transient and comes and goes with circumstances. Contentment is faith in action.

No, the earth hasn't moved in the last year. Things look much the same today as they do every other day. But I know they aren't. I see how the work at the everyday levels is building to something new and better. I might not know what yet, but when it is revealed then I'll reap a reward in due season, and be glad I didn't lose heart.

That's all today. I hope you have a great week.

Bye!

Contrary to Popular Opinion

8/20/2013

First, I’d like to announce that tomorrow is my husband, Rick’s, birthday. Have a great day, Rick! The birds and I love you! We’re one happy flock!

And now on to the regularly scheduled entry:

I’m a radical non-conformist. That’s one thing about me that hasn’t changed in the 16 years since college graduation (or the 20 years from high school graduation). Ask anybody, and they’ll tell you that they don’t know what beat I march to, but it’s not any drum they can hear. Make the opinion a “popular” one, and I’m more likely to reject it – or at least put it under fierce scrutiny to see if it’s logical or makes sense. If there’s one thing I’ve always been proud of, it’s my authenticity. For example:

·        When I was buying a new car in 2006, I immediately dismissed the Toyota Camry as an option based on a commercial. It was store security store camera where the announcer said “attention shoppers, a Toyota Camry has it’s lights on in the parking
lot” and everybody left the store. They prided themselves on having the most popular car in America. And I said hell no, I don’t want to drive the same car that everybody else drives. I refused to even stop to look at a Toyota lot because of that stupid commercial.

·      Everybody loves San Francisco, and I’ll agree that it’s an intriguing place. I’d love to take Rick there someday. But frankly, it was too cold for my liking. 55 degrees in early September darn near sent me into shock. My sinuses didn’t care for it too much either, as I got the worse nosebleed I’ve ever had the day after I arrived. A lot of people tell me that’s their favorite place in the world. To each their own. It was interesting, but frankly it was a city that was a bit too crowded for me. I was more impressed with the nature, sunshine, and wide, open spaces of Arizona.

·       I don’t care for high heel shoes. At 5’1” I could wear stilts and still not fool anyone. It won’t help, so why bother with the sore legs and achy knees. No thanks. In fact, I refuse to wear shoes with more than a 2 inch heel. It’s a compromise (but not one I make often).

·        I refuse to color my hair (at this point in my life). People keep telling me I should get my hair highlighted, but I like my hair darker. I used to get natural highlights when I was in marching band in high school and college and I hated it. It might
have looked good to others, but it was dried out and frizzy, and I fought it and hated the color every day. Until I go grey, no color. And then, no blonde. I accept what the Lord gave me, so the rest of the world can darn well get over it.

·     I don’t own a flat iron. I don’t need one. My hair is straighter than pine straw. And it won’t hold a curl either, so I gave up on that too.

·        I don’t like the telephone. Frankly, I think it’s the most abused invention ever. People pick it up to ask stupid questions that they could answer themselves if they put their brain on it for 2 minutes. Or worse yet, to jabber about pointless things and waste inordinate amounts of time. Seriously, people use the telephone as a “surrogate brain.” Progress, my butt. That invention has kicked us down a couple of notches on the evolutionary scale. I pray computers and the Internet can pull us back up by the bootstraps before too much deterioration sets in.

·        I don’t think that print media will ever die. And believe it or not, it’s not because of the absurd “paper holdouts” that gripe about the evils of technology. Rather, there’s just too much already out there in the way of books, magazines and newspapers. The world can go more digital, but I don’t see a day where we’ll do away with all paper forever. Frankly, I think we’d already be there if that were a real trend. I believe digital print will take over a majority market share, and will certainly transition to the preferred method of print media. But no, books, magazines and newspapers won’t go away. They might go the way of cassette
tapes – rare, but not extinct.

·        Dogs might be man’s best friend, but this woman’s best friends have always been birds. I’ve never had a dog. It’s always been birds for me, because they’re more sociable, they’re happy, and they live longer. Much longer. Case in point: our oldest sun conure, Zack, is 13 years old, and he’s outlived 3 of my parents’ cats.

·        My laptop is pink. So is the mouse. And my phone case. And my work ID is on a lanyard with pink beads. Hey, everybody else has black, white or silver everything. There’s no question which stuff is mine!

I could go on for quite a while but I think one thing is already clear – I make up my own mind about what I like and appreciate in life. And if it’s contrary to popular opinion, so much the better. I don’t have a problem with being unique. In fact, I prefer it that way. How can you be authentic if you’re just like everybody else?

That’s all today. Take care and have a great rest of the week.

Bye!

What Day Is It?

8/14/2013

I'm a bit out of it. I've been in editing mode for about a week now - first, on revisions for Incursion and then I got back the edits for Splinter and I just finished my first run through with the editor on those. It's good work and I'm always glad to spruce up and clean up a manuscript, but the unfortunate side effect is that when you get immersed in the writing process at any stage, there's a hazard of getting, well, out of touch with the world. You miss things. For example, I've wandered around all day putting every date this week in stuff except August 14 on everything. I don't even know what day it is. And folks, I promise I haven't been drinking through this process - not in a few days at least!

Maybe a celebratory drink is in order today. I'm glad to have that done. I've also joined The Independent Author Network and they're working on my webpage now. I'll be sure to post it here once they're done. I put it off long enough. At first I thought it wasn't worth the $24.95 set up fee, but after I got into these edits for Splinter I thought, geeze, isn't it time? That's going to be my fourth major novel (not counting my 4 other novellas and shorter works I self-published). Obviously, I'm here to stay, and obviously, I like going the indie route. Why not? So I took it out of last quarter's royalities and off we go.

One unfortunate thing that threw me a bit behind was a cluster headache yesterday. I haven't had one of those in nearly 10 years! And frankly, I could go another 10 years without the next one and that would be a-o-kay with me! Those aren't pleasant. On the plus side, they pass quickly - usually in an hour or two. On the minus side, they hurt worse than a migrane, and you have to be careful for a day or two after it to make sure you don't over-exert yourself or it could come back. The Lord is with me, though, because it rained today and the weather cooled off about 20 degrees. Looks like the cool rain will stay a few days, so I'm hoping that eliminates the threat of a recurrence. I certainly hope so. We have friends coming to visit this weekend, and then next week starts what I call "the birthday bonanza." We have 3 birthdays in the family between August 20 and August 26 (Rick's is August 21 and mine is August 26). It's always a whirlwind time.

Well folks, I have to be frank and say that between book edits and work, I've had about enough of being on the computer. So I'm off. Take care, and I hope you have a great rest of the week. I promise I'll wear my watch with the date on it for the rest of the week so I'm not such a goof saying "what day is it?" any more this week. Nobody needs that.

Bye!

Big Week!

5/17/2013

Hi all, I hope you've had a good week. It's been quite a week for me - but a good one! So far this week, I've celebrated an anniversary, finished a draft of a writing project, and had my brain blown three times. Here's a rundown of the week:

1. Rick and I celebrated our 15th anniversary yesterday! Yep, that's a picture of us on the big day. It's hard to believe it's been that long, or that we're old enough to have been married that long! But we have, and we've come a long way even if we don't have kids. We've built a home, built careers, are building our personal endeavors (his website design and my writing), have our 3 birds, and are lucky that both of our families are still alive and nearby. It's been a great journey and we look forward to many more years. And as part of celebrating our anniversary ...

2. We saw Star Trek Into Darkness today. Wow. Completely unbelievable and definitely outdid the last movie. A must see. At the risk of being lambasted, I'll be bold enough to say it's better than Iron Man 3. I completely trust J.J. Abrams with Star Wars now. Mine = blow. I don't want to give anything away, but I'll give you this advice if you haven't seen it yet: see Star Trek II - The Wrath of Kahn if you haven't recently. Yea, there are "references." It's amazing how they can change the history of that franchise the way they did and things are the same, and yet not. It was beyond phenomenal. Go see it. On the big screen. Now.

3. I ask for your prayers. An opportunity has opened up to me, and I ask that you pray for the Lord to give me favor in achieving it. It would be a tremendous blessing for me and Rick. I can't say too much about it now, but if it works out then you'll hear all about it. It may be a while before we know, but hey, we can use all the prayer power we can get!

4. Time for my season finale roundup! The season finales of Arrow and Supernatural ran Wednesday night and again, mind = blow. They were amazing. Here's a short recap of my impression of each season:

Arrow - If you aren't watching this show, you should be. They hit the ground running and never let up. No dull character development episodes in this season - it's all action, and the combat scenes are amazing. Then again, Oliver Queen better be able to throw it down, because it takes a lot of guts to go against people with guns (especially one with the nickname "Deadshot") with a bow and arrow - yet he does, and holds his own impressively. For all of you that thought The Green Arrow was a "minor" DC Character, I can assure you that he can hold his own and proves it well through this series. The finale was no exception, and in fact had it's share of surprises that shouldn't have been surprises, but they signs that these "red herrings" were planted were very subtle. Kudos to the writers, producers, cast, crew, and everybody involved for making this a "must see" show in my home and many others every week. I'll even go so far as to say that I like Arrow better than I liked Smallville. Yea, it's that good.

Supernatural - I was glad to see the Winchesters get back to angels and demons this season. That whole thing with the leviathans and monsters just - wasn't as good. They're okay in bits and pieces throughout the season, but I didn't care for it as a central focus. Thankfully, they got back to basics this season and it was good to see. They definitely upped the ante with the demon tablet and the whole "closing the gates of hell" theme. Then an angel tablet pops up and that adds a dimension that has this show back to what it's meant to be. I did miss Bobby this season, but I think they forged on in his absence quite well, all things considered (and I thought Garth taking Bobby's place was weirdly appropriate. I wish we had seen more of that. He's goofy, but I think his character is a good balance to Sam and Dean's kicking a** and taking names approach - I mean, somebody needs to take the brainiac approach to the whole demon hunting thing, right? Anyway, well done and glad to see them getting back to basics, although that cliffhanger - wow! OMG. What a mess. Can't wait to see how they get out of THIS one.

So now it's all about summer reruns. Good for folks that need to for catching up. And I guess I have plenty to keep me busy because ...

5. I finished the rough draft of Incursion, my sci-fi novella-in-progress, Monday night. No joke, folks, I wrote 12 chapters plus a prologue and epilogue in 13 days. I accomplished this feat because I kept waking up in the middle of the night with ideas for it, and this progressed into insomnia. Yea, the fun of being a writer, especially one with a full time job. I wrote on lunch hours. I wrote at night. I wrote on weekends. And I got the draft done in record time because I do need to sleep occasionally. So this summer's project will be getting that novella shaped up and ready to self publish, hopefully this fall. I'll keep you updated on the progress.

6. We managed to get our satellite bill down and upgraded our Internet speed. Because we realized that we're online much more than we are behind the boob tube, so to speak, and how we spend our $$$ needs to reflect that.

7. I don't know now many of you are familiar with Disco the Parakeet, but he was on the Take Two segment on The Today Show this morning at 9 a.m. Go Disco! Bird to your mother! What an awesome keet. He's the same age as Ollie and we love him here. Look up Miss Jumpin Jude on You Tube for his videos. You'll love it. He's one great avian talent!

8. And finally, we're gearing up for a birthday here. Chloe's birthday will be Monday, May 20th! Actually, we celebrate it then because that's the date we "adopted" her (or as our bird friends like to say on Twitter, it's her "Gotcha Day"). She's 10, but it'll be three years since we adopted her. What a sweet little hen! We love you, Chloe! Hen power!

So it's been a busy week, but all in a good way. I'll take it. I hope you've had a great week as well. Happy Friday to you, and I hope you have a great weekend.

Bye!

Somebody Explain the "Age Freakout" Thing to Me

8/20/2012

And do it like I'm 2 years old, because I absolutely don't get it. That must be one train I missed.

So Rick's birthday is tomorrow and he isn't happy about turning 40. His mother's birthday is today, and she's none too happy about being 70. Seems to me a lot of people freak out about their age. I'll be the first to agree that getting a year older is pretty useless after you hit 21, but it continues to happen the same time every year. The only way to stop it is to die and, well, that's just not an acceptable alternative if you ask me.

I remember how puzzled people were when I turned 30 and didn't seem disturbed. "Sherri," they would say, "you're in your 30's now. Don't you think it's time to start making things happen?" Of course, it did seem my life was in a rut, but I knew what I was working toward and refused to get frustrated because I turned another decade and it didn't magically fall into place when I blew out the candles. And believe me, when I did buy a new car and we built a new home in the following 2 years, those same people were saying "whoa, what the hell are you doing?" Ah ha. So it was an age thing, eh?

I learned then people will yak at you about making things happen, but if you're happy with what you've got then they're just blowing hot air. And we put way too much emphasis on age in regard to these things. Why do you have to thus and such by a certain age? Says who? The last time I read the 10 Commandments they didn't say "thou shalt do 'x' by age 30, 'y' by age 40, 'z' by age 50 ..." Laugh it up because it sounds silly, but apparantly we have a whole lot of people living by self imposed commandments just like that.

The thing I don't get is why be bothered? I mean, you can't do anything about it. And frankly on those occasions when I do look back, I'm kind of amazed at the amount of people I've met, things I've learned, and experiences I've had. It's amazing to think of how much has crossed my path. Perhaps it's my temperament, but instead of looking back wistfully, I usually look back and say "wow, that was good and look at how far I've come! Who would have thought?" Or if it's bad I say "praise God I not only lived through that, but look at all I learned from it and what the Lord helped me make of it."

Frankly, I wouldn't go back. Why do it? Middle school was hell. High school was ok but there was way too much angst. College was great, but I was still dependent on my parents and had that "itch" to establish myself - I felt a bit immature. And my 20's were WAY too much of a learning curve. They were good, but like anyone starting out there were plenty of overly-emotional reactions and not good decisions along the way that lead to the wisdom I use now. My boss calls such things "historical knowledge." It might not sound flattering to those purturbed by the DOB on their drivers license, but I think it's an accurate term.

Why would you want to give up what you've learned? Why would you want to give up a lifetime of growth and achievement? Why would you want to give up the gifts the Lord has helped you work up to so you can go back to experiences of yesterday and struggles you've already overcome? I just don't get it. Sure, I'd like the body I had at 23 - but frankly, if it's be a size 4 again and have those awful struggles with my sinuses and allergies or be a size 8-10 and outgrown from alot of that struggle and agony to only battle my sinuses occasionally and not nearly as much as I used to, well, I'll take too much booty in the pants and fewer sick days, thank you very much.

Maybe it's because it seems that everywhere I go, I'm always the youngest person around. That has been an issue my whole life. Even now, I'm the youngest person on my staff and folks, I'll be 37 next Sunday. Maybe it's my temperament. I'm one of those types that has always felt that the best time of my life is the time I'm in (Dad thinks the same way). Or maybe I'm just thankful for what the Lord has given me and excited about where He's leading. Or all of the above. I don't know.

"Who you were, who you are, and who you will be, will always be with you." Q said that to Captain Picard in the series finale of Star Trek - The Next Generation. So it is, and so it will be as we march along, taking life one day at a time. The question is, do you view time as a companion or as a villian? The choice is yours.

That's all today. I wish my husband, Rick, a very happy birthday tomorrow. And don't worry, we won't do the "Lordy lordy, guess who's 40" thing either. In fact, he has my permission to ask anybody that says that if they're brain damaged because that's just unbelievably and totally unexcusably lame.

Take care all and have a great week.

Bye!

FICTION INCURSION! What's The Big Deal?

10/16/2011

Hi everybody, Sherri is taking it easy today, so I thought I'd drop by. My name is Kirsten Chalmers, from Blurry, and I'm here to set the record straight. I know there's a lot of talk about "things" between me and Danny. I think a lot of people misunderstand things - completely.

I'm not after Danny for a relationship or to "hook up." Please, just because I'm a cheerleader doesn't mean I'm shallow! Actually, I've been trying to establish a better peace between Danny and Rachel. This "truce" of theirs is barely a truce at all. In fact, it feels more like a silent war. Sure, they agreed not to talk - but do you realize what kind of situation that puts their mutual friends in? It forces us to take sides, and that's just not fair.

I tried to talk to Rachel about this all summer and got nowhere. Then she had her big 18th birthday party over Labor Day weekend. Yea, pretty much most of the senior and junior classes were invited - except Danny. That was SO majorly awkward, especially since those two were glued together all of last year! It was such a shock! When we asked and she said they came up with this "you leave me alone, I leave you alone" kind of "truce," most of us were floored. We just couldn't believe they would cut off each other that completely. Couldn't they at least act friendly? Rachel said no, that Danny shot that down and she was doing what he asked. She said she was willing to try to be friends, or at least civil, but he said no, he had his own friends and would keep to them.

So the day after the party, I saw Danny at the Pizza Parlor and decided to ask him about it myself. He said that yes, this not talking truce was his idea. He said he simply couldn't be friends with Rachel after their messy breakup. I didn't think it was that messy. It seemed like a clean break to me. They were together one day and apart the next - but whatever. He also said something about Rachel not being able to accept who he really was and his other friends, and he couldn't deal with her judging him all the time.

I get it - I really do. Rachel doesn't mean to be judgemental, but her life is black and white. She's such a good girl, and she's really smart - but she's in her own little perfect world sometimes and that can be a hard thing to break through. I know. I've been friends with her my whole life. She just can't handle the shades of grey. Heck, she can't even see them! But this whole thing between her and Danny is making things pretty tough for the rest of us, and that's not fair. It seems that they could budge, at least a little, for us. I spent all summer trying to get Rachel to do that. She claimed she tried and he wouldn't budge.Fine, so I decided to try working on him. I thought that maybe if I could get one of them to back down, then the other might be willing to establish more civil terms. Rachel seemed willing to budge if Danny would - so I'm trying to get him to do his part now.

So no, I'm not "after" him. All I'm trying to do is make our senior year less awkward. Don't we deserve that? These are supposed to be the best days of our lives! I'm just trying help - really!

Marielle, my friend on the cheerleading squad, said to let them both go and do my own thing. She said there's no way this can get any better and in fact, it's probably going to come to the point of a break sometime soon. I know it seems it would be easier to let the whole thing go and do my own thing - but I've been friends with Rachel, Sasha, and the gang my whole life. I can't just walk away from them. I'm not going to abandon all of my friends just because one of them had a messy breakup. Heck, that could happen to any of us! I just have a bad feeling that Marielle has a point, and I'm so afraid it might come to that. I hope it doesn't. I'd hate that. I can't imagine life without Rachel, Sasha, and Natalie in it.

God, why does life have to be so complicated? Why did Danny have to get so entrenched in our lives, then screw things up with Rachel? Why couldn't Rachel give Danny more of a chance to change? Why, why, why?

I don't know, but I'm going to do whatever it takes to make things better - for myself and for all of us.

That's all for today. Take care.

Author's note: We see exactly where this went for Kirsten from the sample Prologue on the front page. What happened? Find out in Blurry!

FICTION INCURSION! What's The Big Deal?

10/16/2011

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