Wednesday, November 4, 2009
History Lesson
Let's see, what's happened on this day in history? In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected president. Exactly one year before that, the Iranian hostage crisis began. In 2008, Barak Obama was elected president, and author Michael Crichton died (no connection, I'm sure!) In 1922, the opening to King Tut's tomb was discovered.
AND, in 1958, my mother-in-law welcomed the birth of her third, and last, child, who happens to be my sweet husband.
AND, in 1958, my mother-in-law welcomed the birth of her third, and last, child, who happens to be my sweet husband.
Happy birthday, love of my life!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Fall
OK, here's the deal: I LOVE Fall. I do. I love it! There's something about the change of seasons that just slays me. Now, a heads-up: I live in northwest Louisiana, where it gets hot with a capital HHHHHHHH. Starting in about mid-April, the temperature here starts rising, and doesn't stop until about mid-September, IF we're lucky. We regularly see temps hovering around 95 - 100, with 100% percent humidity.
There's only one place I've been where it was truly worse than this.... well, 2 places. I lived twice in New Orleans during the late Summers and early Falls; it was miserable, to say the least - and the last time, I was 8 months pregnant!
The other place is Venezuela - yes, the country in South America. My whole family went there on a church mission trip. In July. Go figure. 100 degree weather, 100% humidity, all day, EVERY day! We would walk out of the HoJo's (seriously), start sweating, and didn't stop until we walked back into the hotel (which was thankfully air conditioned - and it had an indoor pool) So, miserably hot, yes. But a lot of good work was done, which is a post for another day.
BACK to the original topic - I LOVE Fall!!!! After suffering through a brutal summer (see above), we get a "cold snap," usually in the middle of September, if we're lucky. It's not so much the drop in temperature - think 88 degrees - as it is the drop in humidity. We go from an average of 100% to 80%. Trust me, if you lived here, that is major! Everyone breathes a little deeper, there's a little more spring in everyone's step, and we are happier.
Then there's the sky. When the temperature & humidity drop, the sky turns a shade of blue that defies description. There's a depth to the sky, a color of blue that is seen at no other time of the year. Don't trust me - go outside & look up! Then, this winter, look up (past the snow clouds if you're that lucky). The color in the winter is this pale, icy blue that makes you shiver. In the spring, it's still pale blue, but the color is obscured by the sound of birds singing and the sight of Easter eggs. In summer? Heat, humidity, and looking for rain clouds.
You'll have to excuse me now - I've got to go get ready to frolic in the season! And no, the sun's not still up, but the hot tub is open and the air is cool!!!! Go, enjoy and celebrate the season.
There's only one place I've been where it was truly worse than this.... well, 2 places. I lived twice in New Orleans during the late Summers and early Falls; it was miserable, to say the least - and the last time, I was 8 months pregnant!
The other place is Venezuela - yes, the country in South America. My whole family went there on a church mission trip. In July. Go figure. 100 degree weather, 100% humidity, all day, EVERY day! We would walk out of the HoJo's (seriously), start sweating, and didn't stop until we walked back into the hotel (which was thankfully air conditioned - and it had an indoor pool) So, miserably hot, yes. But a lot of good work was done, which is a post for another day.
BACK to the original topic - I LOVE Fall!!!! After suffering through a brutal summer (see above), we get a "cold snap," usually in the middle of September, if we're lucky. It's not so much the drop in temperature - think 88 degrees - as it is the drop in humidity. We go from an average of 100% to 80%. Trust me, if you lived here, that is major! Everyone breathes a little deeper, there's a little more spring in everyone's step, and we are happier.
Then there's the sky. When the temperature & humidity drop, the sky turns a shade of blue that defies description. There's a depth to the sky, a color of blue that is seen at no other time of the year. Don't trust me - go outside & look up! Then, this winter, look up (past the snow clouds if you're that lucky). The color in the winter is this pale, icy blue that makes you shiver. In the spring, it's still pale blue, but the color is obscured by the sound of birds singing and the sight of Easter eggs. In summer? Heat, humidity, and looking for rain clouds.
You'll have to excuse me now - I've got to go get ready to frolic in the season! And no, the sun's not still up, but the hot tub is open and the air is cool!!!! Go, enjoy and celebrate the season.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Blogging
Someone help me out here! Yes, I KNOW. It's been over a month since my last confession my last update/post. Forgive me. It's not for lack of things to say - every night my sweet husband & I sit in the hot tub & talk for at least an hour. Truthfully, I'm the one who has to be dragged back inside. My reason? It's simple: as long as I'm out there, the real world isn't. As soon as we go back in, hello world! and problems! and going to sleep! and (the worst part) waking up!
Waking up means going to work. While I love my job, I'd rather stay at home with the cats & dogs. You know - eating whatever & whenever I want, sleeping all day, or whatever. (I think I'm more of a cat than a dog) But I work outside the home. Then I come home, "relax," cook dinner (yes, every day), and then: HOT TUB!!! We never run out of things to say out there - what's up with this medium?
Please refer back to the opening sentence of this post. Why do you blog? Why do you read blogs? Right now, I'm up to 8 blogs that I "follow" - which to me means, the blogs I read EVERY day, even checking on the weekends in case Santa Claus came (although half of them never post on the weekends).
What is it about blogs that makes us want to read them? The "up close and personal" glimpse at someone's life? The feeling that they're more glamorous/rich/pretty/thin/exciting than we are? Let me know!
If you follow me (thanks, Kami!), just happen by, or sometimes check in (like to see if I'll EVER update), make a comment & tell me why you blog/read blogs. I'd love to get to know some of you better as people.
Waking up means going to work. While I love my job, I'd rather stay at home with the cats & dogs. You know - eating whatever & whenever I want, sleeping all day, or whatever. (I think I'm more of a cat than a dog) But I work outside the home. Then I come home, "relax," cook dinner (yes, every day), and then: HOT TUB!!! We never run out of things to say out there - what's up with this medium?
Please refer back to the opening sentence of this post. Why do you blog? Why do you read blogs? Right now, I'm up to 8 blogs that I "follow" - which to me means, the blogs I read EVERY day, even checking on the weekends in case Santa Claus came (although half of them never post on the weekends).
What is it about blogs that makes us want to read them? The "up close and personal" glimpse at someone's life? The feeling that they're more glamorous/rich/pretty/thin/exciting than we are? Let me know!
If you follow me (thanks, Kami!), just happen by, or sometimes check in (like to see if I'll EVER update), make a comment & tell me why you blog/read blogs. I'd love to get to know some of you better as people.
Friday, September 11, 2009
September 11, 2001
It was a Tuesday. How do we remember these things? I guess that when such serious trauma happens, we instinctively remember little details. Tuesday morning, at about 7:40, I was driving to work, just as I always do, listening to the local DJ team tell jokes & getting call-in jokes. It was a funny, joyful, NORMAL morning. Then one of the DJs broke in to say that a plane had crashed into one of the two World Trade Towers, and that this wasn't a joke. I'll never forget it, he then said, "I don't feel like telling jokes any more today, so we're going to stop now." Right then, I was pulling into my office's parking lot, so I scurrried inside, where one of the typists had a tiny television turned to CNN. I tried going to CNN's website, but my company had blocked access (not just for today - it had been ongoing)
We stood around a tiny TV watching the picture of a jet liner (at that time, they were thinking it was a commuter jet), when we saw the second jet crash into the second tower. Live. Completely not expecting it.
What do you say? What do you do? All I could think was, "I've got to get my kids," who were all in school. Instead, we were told, appropriately, to go about our jobs. So we tried. I went to an assigned school on the other side of town, where a much larger TV was set up in the principal's office. So we watched there, to learn about the jet which went into the Pentagon, and the one which crashed in Pennsylvania. It wasn't until the newscasters said that the theory was that the Pennsylvania jet (United Flight 93) was aiming at the Capital or at the White House that I lost it. What was happening in the world? I was no good at the school (I'm supposed to be COUNSELING, for Heaven's sake!), so I went back to my office.
You need to know this: I live in Louisiana, and my office is literally across the river from Barksdale Air Force Base. Maybe you've heard of it - it's the base that President Bush was evacuated to, when all this started that morning. It's where he made his speech that was broadcast around the world, and parts of which will probably play this morning. The speech that says, "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."
President Bush was in Florida, then was scrambled to Barksdale, which was the next best thing to being surrounded by Marines. This base is TOUGH. They're serious there. Bush made his epic speech, then took off for parts unknown. I'm sorry, but no matter what your political leanings, the Secret Service did their job that day. Air Force One played hide-and-seek VERY WELL.
I was standing in the parking lot of my office, watching, when Air Force One took off from Barksdale. There was no circling of the city, no fly-by; the jet LEFT. Oh, and it was accompanied by several fighter jets. That made it real.
Was I touched by all this? YES!!!! Duh! I live in the United States - we're the invincible good guys! My security was shaken to its core. I was ready to leave & create a commune - which wouldn't have worked - my kids like city life. Did I have any personal loss? No. I have a sister who was literally in the air on a business trip when it all started; the plane was grounded, & it took her 3 days to get back home to Virginia. I have military friends who lost personal friends at the Pentagon. That's the closest I came.
Except for this: I died a little on that day. I died a little every time I heard of yet another daddy who wasn't coming home that night; or another fireman who stayed behind & fell with the buildings; or a mom who was on a plane. You all know the stories. You were alive then. You have your own stories. Some of you have true, personal losses. I am sorry. None of you asked for this.
There's one thing I do want to say, & it's in keeping with (in)courage's theme of "Hope" this month. Anne Jackson posted this bit on 9-10, and it smote me with the truth of God:
"The hope that was given to me through the encouragement of others. Because once someone gets a gift like hope, it's now a responsibility to pass on.
To give it away. I can promise you this: if you don't need hope right now, there's someone around you that does. And if you are the one who needs hope today, please take mine.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is a God who is faithful to give you exactly what you need.
The grace.
The love.
The rest.
Whatever it is.
He'll provide it for you, when you can't take it anymore."
We stood around a tiny TV watching the picture of a jet liner (at that time, they were thinking it was a commuter jet), when we saw the second jet crash into the second tower. Live. Completely not expecting it.
What do you say? What do you do? All I could think was, "I've got to get my kids," who were all in school. Instead, we were told, appropriately, to go about our jobs. So we tried. I went to an assigned school on the other side of town, where a much larger TV was set up in the principal's office. So we watched there, to learn about the jet which went into the Pentagon, and the one which crashed in Pennsylvania. It wasn't until the newscasters said that the theory was that the Pennsylvania jet (United Flight 93) was aiming at the Capital or at the White House that I lost it. What was happening in the world? I was no good at the school (I'm supposed to be COUNSELING, for Heaven's sake!), so I went back to my office.
You need to know this: I live in Louisiana, and my office is literally across the river from Barksdale Air Force Base. Maybe you've heard of it - it's the base that President Bush was evacuated to, when all this started that morning. It's where he made his speech that was broadcast around the world, and parts of which will probably play this morning. The speech that says, "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."
President Bush was in Florida, then was scrambled to Barksdale, which was the next best thing to being surrounded by Marines. This base is TOUGH. They're serious there. Bush made his epic speech, then took off for parts unknown. I'm sorry, but no matter what your political leanings, the Secret Service did their job that day. Air Force One played hide-and-seek VERY WELL.
I was standing in the parking lot of my office, watching, when Air Force One took off from Barksdale. There was no circling of the city, no fly-by; the jet LEFT. Oh, and it was accompanied by several fighter jets. That made it real.
Was I touched by all this? YES!!!! Duh! I live in the United States - we're the invincible good guys! My security was shaken to its core. I was ready to leave & create a commune - which wouldn't have worked - my kids like city life. Did I have any personal loss? No. I have a sister who was literally in the air on a business trip when it all started; the plane was grounded, & it took her 3 days to get back home to Virginia. I have military friends who lost personal friends at the Pentagon. That's the closest I came.
Except for this: I died a little on that day. I died a little every time I heard of yet another daddy who wasn't coming home that night; or another fireman who stayed behind & fell with the buildings; or a mom who was on a plane. You all know the stories. You were alive then. You have your own stories. Some of you have true, personal losses. I am sorry. None of you asked for this.
There's one thing I do want to say, & it's in keeping with (in)courage's theme of "Hope" this month. Anne Jackson posted this bit on 9-10, and it smote me with the truth of God:
"The hope that was given to me through the encouragement of others. Because once someone gets a gift like hope, it's now a responsibility to pass on.
To give it away. I can promise you this: if you don't need hope right now, there's someone around you that does. And if you are the one who needs hope today, please take mine.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is a God who is faithful to give you exactly what you need.
The grace.
The love.
The rest.
Whatever it is.
He'll provide it for you, when you can't take it anymore."
Monday, August 31, 2009
Hope (in)courage
There's a little dangle-thingy attached to the ribbon in my day planner. The ribbon is there to keep my months separated. The dangle-thingy is there to keep my stress separated. What does it say? "Hope." Just that - hope. One of my all-time favorite Bible verses is Isaiah 40:31, which in the NIV reads, "but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
There's a lot going on in my life right now, & it's SO easy to give up & lose hope. The thing is, God never gives up on ME. He's always there, right beside me, loving me. Even when it's so dark that I can't see anything but the bad, He's there. He's holding me up. Loving me. Waiting on ME to see Him.
It's hard to remember that all the time. So I attached "Hope" to my planner, so that even when I'm in the pit, I'll see the dangle & remember to hope in the Lord.
What's your hope? Go to (in)courage and get some hope - they've got a lot to spare!
Monday, August 10, 2009
(in)courage
Hey, guys! There's a new website that I found from Angie Smith's blog that's all about encouragement. So, here's my attempt to talk about encouragement: what encourages me? Let's see.....
Knowing that other, Godly, women are praying for me totally encourages me. Just the thought that there's someone else out there lifting my need(s) up in prayer gives me the lift I need to keep going. Plus the knowledge that I'm not alone in my struggles doesn't hurt, either!
So, what encourages you? Go to (in)courage & read about courage and (in)couragement. It's a site by Christian women, designed to help us all. Later!
Knowing that other, Godly, women are praying for me totally encourages me. Just the thought that there's someone else out there lifting my need(s) up in prayer gives me the lift I need to keep going. Plus the knowledge that I'm not alone in my struggles doesn't hurt, either!
So, what encourages you? Go to (in)courage & read about courage and (in)couragement. It's a site by Christian women, designed to help us all. Later!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)