You Betcha! I'm surprised myself that I have kept to something that long.
As of today I've been blogging for three years. It's kind of sweet to think that I began blogging on Valentines Day, until you read my first post. About my grandfather and porn. The next post was a declaration that I was going to lose weight. Yeah, that did not really happen, but maybe this is the year?! Doubt it, but it would be nice.
I have blogged about silly things and serious things. I've been open about my health, partly in an effort to document for myself and my family, but also as a way to connect with others out there that share in my struggles. I tried not to, but I have blogged about politics and work, too. I really had fun looking at pictures from the 30 years that I've been around, too!
When I look back and see that I've only written 310 posts in three years (or about one every three days) and there are people that write 310 in a year it makes me think that I'm lazy. But in reality, I need to add all of my posts on Abby's Blog, on the PC(USA) Blog and I should probably count my Flickr page. I'm not lazy, I'm actually pretty much all over the web. Yikes!
I have met some really great people through blogging. Some of them I just know through the web, some I have met in real life, and some live so close that it's a shame that I haven't met up with them. Some day, maybe. I have had some interesting conversations all over the place, and even started some trouble from time to time.
So, three years into it I'm still feeling good about my little space on the web. I wish that I had more traffic, and I guess I would if I wrote about more than just my boring little life. I'm having fun, meeting people, and have found my voice a bit more in the world.
Showing posts with label Thankfulness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thankfulness. Show all posts
February 14, 2009
January 30, 2009
Thankfulness from January
I remembered to do this for November but missed December. I'm thinking that it would be good to look back at the things I was thankful for in January, even if only to continue this a a healthy practice.
I'm thankful that...
I'm thankful that...
- though sickness was a theme, we're all relatively healthy and comfortable
- we're growing stronger as a family for a miriad of reasons
- that we got to spend a snow day and a long weekend together
- for all of the ways that Abby continues to amaze me
- that a decision has been made about our future home ownership, and that things can begin to unfold for us here
- Lost is back, and so is Scrubs!
- Anny and I are learning how to take control of what we can, and let go of what we can't
- the Sanctuary renovation project at church is moving along - I have heard that insulation is up!
- I've connected with old friends, and met new ones
January 22, 2009
The Inauguration - A Different View
There are wonderful accounts and reflections about the historic Inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday. There are literally millions of people that are more eloquent than I am. Here are my observations as a resident of the suburbs of DC, as well as a person of faith.
On Our Experience:
We decided not to go into the city in the middle of last week because of a cold that both Abby and I are fighting. Instead, we had some friends over to celebrate together. Abby had friends to play with, and we got to share the experience in community. Overall, a great day.
I found the speech overwhelming and inspiring, both at the same time. I'm excited to see change happen at the national level, but am curious to see how it unfolds.
I do have a minor qualm with the way that the whole service went. I am a person of faith, but am very pluaralistic in my beliefs. I was uncomfortable with the Lord's Prayer being recited during the service. Many of our Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and non-believing friends and neighbors do not know such a recitation, and that is not going to help mend fences. I know that Christians are a majority, but we need to continue to work toward being truly open. I don't think that the service did that.
On Local Travel and Logistics:
There were road closures and metro station confusion all day long (and for days in advance), but it appears that things went off with nothing but praise.
I know that the Metro system stopped collecting fares at some point during the day, which probably helped the whole day go more smoothly since we had so many people who do not know the system. It will be intersting to see if they go to the Feds and ask for reimbursement, or if they really take one for the team.
It was a great weekend to play the Liscence Plate Game. I swear to you that we saw at least 25 different states and territories represented on vehicles on the road.
I have friends who made the trek down. They said that it was totally worth it, but would only do it again if they know the President personally. You can read Natalie's account HERE.
Our local NBC channel picked the wrong week to unveil their new website and slogan: For Locals Only. Umm, this was not the week to be for locals only - this was a time to be from not-here.
All in all - I'm grateful to have watched, even if it was through the TV. I'm hopeful for what lies ahead for me as an individual, but moreso what lies ahead for us as a people together. I'm prayerful for all in power as they ramp up to work on the jobs they have been hired to do.
On Our Experience:
We decided not to go into the city in the middle of last week because of a cold that both Abby and I are fighting. Instead, we had some friends over to celebrate together. Abby had friends to play with, and we got to share the experience in community. Overall, a great day.
I found the speech overwhelming and inspiring, both at the same time. I'm excited to see change happen at the national level, but am curious to see how it unfolds.
I do have a minor qualm with the way that the whole service went. I am a person of faith, but am very pluaralistic in my beliefs. I was uncomfortable with the Lord's Prayer being recited during the service. Many of our Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and non-believing friends and neighbors do not know such a recitation, and that is not going to help mend fences. I know that Christians are a majority, but we need to continue to work toward being truly open. I don't think that the service did that.
On Local Travel and Logistics:
There were road closures and metro station confusion all day long (and for days in advance), but it appears that things went off with nothing but praise.
I know that the Metro system stopped collecting fares at some point during the day, which probably helped the whole day go more smoothly since we had so many people who do not know the system. It will be intersting to see if they go to the Feds and ask for reimbursement, or if they really take one for the team.
It was a great weekend to play the Liscence Plate Game. I swear to you that we saw at least 25 different states and territories represented on vehicles on the road.
I have friends who made the trek down. They said that it was totally worth it, but would only do it again if they know the President personally. You can read Natalie's account HERE.
Our local NBC channel picked the wrong week to unveil their new website and slogan: For Locals Only. Umm, this was not the week to be for locals only - this was a time to be from not-here.
All in all - I'm grateful to have watched, even if it was through the TV. I'm hopeful for what lies ahead for me as an individual, but moreso what lies ahead for us as a people together. I'm prayerful for all in power as they ramp up to work on the jobs they have been hired to do.
January 07, 2009
And We're Back!
I guess I should start with Christmas and will blog later about other subjects...
This Christmas I took off almost a full two weeks from work between holidays, vacation and sick days I only had to work for about a half of a day in the middle. Turns out that putting in that half day was good for my coming back to the office yesterday because I could hit the ground running just a little bit.
We spent the first week visiting with Paul and Sarahlynn and their girls in St Louis. Aside from plane delays on the Baltimore side of both flights, it was a wonderful time away. The extra two hour delay on our way out was certainly not the best way to start a trip, but Abby was a great sport. I took her over to the B gate at BWI and we found some children headed out to Orlando to play with. They danced, jumped and chased each other for so long that Anny texted "everything okay?"
Since we only get the cousins together every six months or so, for now, it always makes me just a little bit nervous about how they will react to each other. Turns out, once again, that there is nothing to cause concern! We arrived so late Saturday that the cousins (two girls, one 23 months, one five years) were long asleep, so the first re-meeting would wait for the morning. Since we were on east coast time, and they are an hour behind us, we were up first. As everyone began to wake up, it was like a wonderful reunion for all three of them!
Abby had used the word "mine" two times the weekend before, but perfected it while we were there! Anny and I keep comparing the three of them to the seagulls in Finding Nemo:
It really was adorable when it comes right down to it.
It was great to spend time with Anny's family, even though our time was short.
The week of New Year's we were home. We were sure to figure out something out of the house during the day, and got to catch up with friends during the week too. We took Abby to the play areas at two malls (Columbia - A+ and Tysons Corner - B+) as well as the massive fish tank at our local Bass Pro Shop. She was amused and happy to have us around, I think.
Now we have all settled back into work and school and are getting the routine of life back down. I would say that Abby does really well at that, too. I know that she does better than I do, after all!
More blogging to come later this week - not sure which topic will fire me up, but lots of things are simmering!
This Christmas I took off almost a full two weeks from work between holidays, vacation and sick days I only had to work for about a half of a day in the middle. Turns out that putting in that half day was good for my coming back to the office yesterday because I could hit the ground running just a little bit.
We spent the first week visiting with Paul and Sarahlynn and their girls in St Louis. Aside from plane delays on the Baltimore side of both flights, it was a wonderful time away. The extra two hour delay on our way out was certainly not the best way to start a trip, but Abby was a great sport. I took her over to the B gate at BWI and we found some children headed out to Orlando to play with. They danced, jumped and chased each other for so long that Anny texted "everything okay?"
Since we only get the cousins together every six months or so, for now, it always makes me just a little bit nervous about how they will react to each other. Turns out, once again, that there is nothing to cause concern! We arrived so late Saturday that the cousins (two girls, one 23 months, one five years) were long asleep, so the first re-meeting would wait for the morning. Since we were on east coast time, and they are an hour behind us, we were up first. As everyone began to wake up, it was like a wonderful reunion for all three of them!
Abby had used the word "mine" two times the weekend before, but perfected it while we were there! Anny and I keep comparing the three of them to the seagulls in Finding Nemo:
It really was adorable when it comes right down to it.
It was great to spend time with Anny's family, even though our time was short.
The week of New Year's we were home. We were sure to figure out something out of the house during the day, and got to catch up with friends during the week too. We took Abby to the play areas at two malls (Columbia - A+ and Tysons Corner - B+) as well as the massive fish tank at our local Bass Pro Shop. She was amused and happy to have us around, I think.
Now we have all settled back into work and school and are getting the routine of life back down. I would say that Abby does really well at that, too. I know that she does better than I do, after all!
More blogging to come later this week - not sure which topic will fire me up, but lots of things are simmering!
November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
There are many many things to be thankful for this November, and the list below is only a sample.
I'm thankful that....
...we have a warm place to live and enough money to keep it warm
...I have a wonderful family, both the ones that live inside this house and outside of it
...I have wonderful and supportive friends as close as next door and as far away as the other side of the globe
...Anny got her National Board Certification last week. It's a great relief that the waiting is over.
...we will get to spend a little time with a lot of family today
...in less than a month we will be visiting with even more family in St Louis
...Abby is a wonderful child in every way
...I have friends that I've met through the net and keep up with
...for as much as I look for something to complain about, life is good
What are you thankful for today?
I'm thankful that....
...we have a warm place to live and enough money to keep it warm
...I have a wonderful family, both the ones that live inside this house and outside of it
...I have wonderful and supportive friends as close as next door and as far away as the other side of the globe
...Anny got her National Board Certification last week. It's a great relief that the waiting is over.
...we will get to spend a little time with a lot of family today
...in less than a month we will be visiting with even more family in St Louis
...Abby is a wonderful child in every way
...I have friends that I've met through the net and keep up with
...for as much as I look for something to complain about, life is good
What are you thankful for today?
October 14, 2008
How to Ruin an Awesome Day
We went to the zoo Saturday with a family from our church. It was awesome to spend some time with them outside of the normalcy that is the church nursery. They're cool folks, but the last time we tried to meet up with them there was a little chaos and we just never connected.
Only I can come up with two, yes two, ways to completely ruin this day.
1 - it seems that there was a marathon in Baltimore. We typically go into the city through 295, which brings us in by two of the coolest stadiums in the state of Maryland. The aquarium is only a few blocks to the right of this way into the city, so it's easy in that respect too.
Because of the marathon, though, the cut off one of the north-south streets, pushing a city's worth of traffic north with no real options for getting to the middle easily. We spent 90 minutes sitting in the car just plodding along. Unbelievable. We finally found a way south and went in another way - with absolutely no delay. Argh. Two hours late is not the way to start awesomeness.
That could only be topped by one thing - burning our house down. Okay, the thought of burning our house down. About halfway through our drive home we were talking about what to have for dinner and it occured to me that I hadn't turned off the stove, so I hoped beyond hope that Anny had. She had not. I was making hard-boiled eggs for our salads this week, and luckily had left the heat down, or we really would have been homeless.
We threw away the pot. There were four eggs - each in a different state. One was in tact, but empty. One was completely crushed and empty. One was half full. The fourth, though, was fun:
On the right of the picture is the egg shell, on the left is the fully cooked yolk. It seems that it hopped out of the pot and shot it's yolk through the flames, still in tact.
We're really lucky. I spent about 25 minutes getting smoke out of the house with open windows and fans, while the girls got gas and dinner. On Sunday when we got home from church it's was stinky again, but open windows took care of that.
Other than that, Saturday was wonderful. :o)
Only I can come up with two, yes two, ways to completely ruin this day.
1 - it seems that there was a marathon in Baltimore. We typically go into the city through 295, which brings us in by two of the coolest stadiums in the state of Maryland. The aquarium is only a few blocks to the right of this way into the city, so it's easy in that respect too.
Because of the marathon, though, the cut off one of the north-south streets, pushing a city's worth of traffic north with no real options for getting to the middle easily. We spent 90 minutes sitting in the car just plodding along. Unbelievable. We finally found a way south and went in another way - with absolutely no delay. Argh. Two hours late is not the way to start awesomeness.
That could only be topped by one thing - burning our house down. Okay, the thought of burning our house down. About halfway through our drive home we were talking about what to have for dinner and it occured to me that I hadn't turned off the stove, so I hoped beyond hope that Anny had. She had not. I was making hard-boiled eggs for our salads this week, and luckily had left the heat down, or we really would have been homeless.
We threw away the pot. There were four eggs - each in a different state. One was in tact, but empty. One was completely crushed and empty. One was half full. The fourth, though, was fun:
We're really lucky. I spent about 25 minutes getting smoke out of the house with open windows and fans, while the girls got gas and dinner. On Sunday when we got home from church it's was stinky again, but open windows took care of that.
Other than that, Saturday was wonderful. :o)
July 31, 2008
Thankfulness in July
Taking a page from a pastor friend who is currently in the middle of a family-move from the DC area back to Georgia, I would like to begin sharing my "Thankfulness" moments for the past month. I intend to keep this up, as I believe it to be very important to not only gripe, but also to celebrate the good things going on in our lives.
So, my list of things from July that I am thankful for:
Time with family - we began with a trip to the beach for the 4th of July and got to spend some quality time with my side of the family.
Time with family 2 - Annys parents drove from Wyoming to visit us, and bring Abby her very own, custom built toy box. Our time with them was spent hanging out, but we also got to do some touristy things, and had some amazing crab mac-n-cheese!
Abby with her cousin Ellie.
A lot has happened this month. I'm thankful for all of it.
Feel free to post something similar. Like I've said in the past, I'm not the kind of person to "tag" other people. It was a very nice exercise for me to do for me.
So, my list of things from July that I am thankful for:
Time with family - we began with a trip to the beach for the 4th of July and got to spend some quality time with my side of the family.
Time with family 2 - Annys parents drove from Wyoming to visit us, and bring Abby her very own, custom built toy box. Our time with them was spent hanging out, but we also got to do some touristy things, and had some amazing crab mac-n-cheese!
Abby with her cousin Ellie.
Abby with her cousin Ada.
Abby's first concert - We went last weekend to see the Dangertones, a local blues band. We had not seen a live show in a very long time. They're a good show, especially at 4 in the afternoon!
A lot has happened this month. I'm thankful for all of it.
Feel free to post something similar. Like I've said in the past, I'm not the kind of person to "tag" other people. It was a very nice exercise for me to do for me.
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