An absence

Serious lapse in blogging. Many reasons/excuses.

#1) Total mental block before the following melee. (I have no idea why...maybe just the forsight of the melee)

#2) Quick trip to Arizona. Jeremy's cousin got married. So, aside from the 10-11 hour travel time, we spent a solid 25 hours there.

#3) Vacation: 4 days in Palm Springs with Jeremy. I will quote myself, "If I relax any more, I may melt". (No offense to all you overworked and burned out people. I feel your pain. For the record, every once and a while I feel like I earned my dues) And, I just negated my melee excuse. Whoops. No craziness here, just plain 'ol brain drain.

#4) Second half of "said" vacation: After the 4 days, we spent 3 days in Las Vegas for a 7th grade boys' basketball tournament. To qoute Jeremy, "It's like herding cats." Beyond the exciting games, corraling 13 year old boys is a chore. So, not so much a vacation and now I relive the melee.

Needless to say, although there are many reasons for my absence, I am excited to chronicle a few funny things that have happened.

Right now, I am off to change laundry: Pack forArizona, unpack. Pack for summer camp. Pack for Palm Springs. Double pack for Vegas. (kids and adults) UNPACK it all=non-stop laundry.

A New Experience

I am watching Jonas with Grace. Jonas, as in the Jonas brothers television show on Nickelodeon. A few observations on this:

• I have always been a sucker for kids' t.v. I have been watching kids' shows for quite some time.
• But, this is NOT kids' t.v.
• I am now watching tween t.v.
• Tween t.v. is very creative and a bit provocative.
• Since it is on the tween/adult innuendo side, I have my work cut out for me.
• I am watching 3 brothers try to date one girl.
• My 11 year old is watching it with me which is why I have such a challenge. (actually, I am watching it with HER)
• We are WAY beyond Teletubbies.

Well, although I can only put my thoughts in bullet points, my daughter is thoroughly loving me watching television with her. So, I guess I will tackle this challenge of boys, girls, flirting and life as it comes.

With a lot of prayer, I am confident I can handle this new phase of life. Thankfully, she still likes some animated movies.

A Funny

After my mini-van was totalled, I began the task of searching for a new car. That was a slightly agonizing experience. First, buying a used vehicle was a HUGE priority. Cars are a worthless investment and we were determined to save. (FYI, I saved ALOT this time around) Then, you have to factor in needs, wants, style, function, color, specs, yadda yadda. Needless to say, I was anxious at times but, tempered by my confident husband. He was so sure we would find "just the right car". Well, he was right. After exploring all our options we finally settled on a car. (see previous post for the final decision)

During the car hunt my father-in law was very helpful with his vehicle suggestions. Here are two he came up with:

This is probably pretty good on the miles per gallon and has many color options. The obvious drawback would be seating capacity.

But, this is my personal favorite. He actually took the time to modify the car himself with the optional bumper.

Thanks for all your help and concern. And, although the accident was not my fault at all, I have really slowed down these days.

A Run

I ran along the beach today. 5 and a half miles. A little too far for this treadmill gal but, some law somewhere says that the distance you travel AWAY from your car is the distance you travel BACK to your car. I am not sure what I was thinking. Maybe the dilemma was in the lack of thinking.

A little background without going into too many details. The drama and decisions surrounding church life has been extraordinary lately. Way too many things to consider and alot on the line. Needless to say, I have been in countless meetings and discussions for lots 'o days. And, today started with meeting #1 at 7:30am.

So, by the time I set out to take my son to his sports training at 10:30, I was beat. Emotionally tanked. Mentally spent. I missed my usual spin class this morning so I was physically frustrated. As I headed out the door, I grabbed a bible study, a mindlesss fiction book and dressed for a run, just in case.

As I drove to my destination, the mindless read and possible nap in the car was winning the mental debate in my head. But, the moment I parked my car, getting outside suddenly sounded like a good idea. A quick walk now sounded like a good idea.

Well, the walk quickly became a run and I ran and ran and ran and ran and ran. And, as silly as it sounds, it was MY run.

When someone passed me, I kept MY pace. When I got tired, I kept MY pace. When I was weary and far away from my car, I kept MY pace.

As I ran, the methodical rhythmn of my shoes soothed my confused my mind. The meetings and decisions were on hold. And, the goal became the movement.

The rest of the day followed the moving along theme. A meeting or two more and a decision that altered my life. Altered for the good. Maybe I should run with abandon more often.