Rambling Out Loud

Today I ventured out of my seclusion.  Not far, actually...just around the corner to the Goodwill. The doctor says I can't lift anything heavier than a milk jug, but stresses how much I need to walk.  So I walked  around my apartment.  Sometimes I wrapped up the cord, strapped on the black bag containing my wound vac (sounds fun, huh?), and ventured outside a few steps.  Needless to say, my apartment walls are closing in on me.  In truth, they already have closed in on me and are crushing me into the dust. The longer I'm here, the more our clutter, etc is driving me crazy.  So what do I do?  Go to Goodwill to buy more clutter! Oh wait, I meant go to Goodwill so I could walk around and look at stuff. ;) Almost immediately, I broke something.  Yep, I'm a smooth one.  In my defense, I picked up the jar, and the lid flew off.  The tape wasn't on there securely, as it had been on all other jars.  Have you ever experienced ...

I'm not sure why, but I have a thing for the little guy with dreams of world domination.  Maybe I admire their spirit.  Perhaps I feel sorry for them.  Or maybe I secretly long for supreme power?  Could that be why I blog?  I feel the need for followers... I've loved Brain the longest.  He toils away each night, trying to take over the world.  His only companion is the lovable, yet clueless, Pinky.  If you never watched this cartoon, I'm sorry.  Your life is not complete.  Here is an example of his awesomeness. Epic.   Plankton was my next love.  While most people prefer the goofy singing sponge, give me the maniacal little guy with dreams of taking over!   http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn269/gerry_neutron/spongebob/plankton2.jpg A while back, I fell in love with Dr. Horrible.  Neil Patrick Harris plays the lovable mad scientist in love with Penny, a girl from the laundromat he's ...

            This time of year always gets me a little depressed.  I thought in the past it was because I was alone.  This year, I have a wonderful man and his two daughters to celebrate with (along with the already wonderful family God has blessed me with).  Still, I find myself getting a little sad.  I've come to the conclusion the holiday melancholy is more than just who I'm with.              I can't figure out what it is though.  I do find it sad that we are so commercialized.  I'm sick of retailers corrupting Christmas songs with attempts to lure shoppers to their stores.  I'm completely disgusted with Black Friday, and this year is worse than ever.  They now have stores opening at midnight on Thanksgiving!  People get killed in that rush to find the cheapest toy or laptop.  Is it really that important?  Let's ope...

Early Friday morning, Nov. 4, I received a call that my daddy had gone to be with Jesus. Obviously, my emotions have been going crazy.  I should have spent more time with him, I wish Alyssa had made those butterscotch cupcakes for him sooner, etc.  I guess no matter when it happened, we will always have those regrets. He called me Thursday night.  We chatted about how busy I've been, etc.  I told him I missed him and that we had to get together soon.  My last words to him were, "I love you."  At least I can feel peace about that. I will never again get to tease him about being old, fight with him about his psycho cat, watch sci-fi movies with him, get annoyed when he gets onto us about texting too much, or discuss traditional vs modern music in church. I will never again get to eat his homemade ice cream, gang up on him with my stepmom, or get a daddy hug. I know he's with Jesus.  I know his legs don't hurt anymore.  I know he's happy and ...

I know a seventh grade honor student.  She makes good grades, and up to now has never really been in trouble.  She has recently been studying to take her SAT as part of the Duke University Talent Search.  The other day, this child made a stupid mistake. She now has a $400 ticket, 3 days of suspension, a month in an alternative school (where they send the thugs), and she may get kicked out of her magnet program. If I heard that, I'd think, "Wow.  She must have done something awful."  Some of the things that come to mind are cussing out teachers, flipping over desks, drugs in the locker, etc.  Did this child do anything like that?  Nope. She wrote her name on a wall...with a washable marker. What ever happened to "let the punishment fit the crime"?  Yes, there should be a consequence.  Make her wash the wall and put her in detention!  If she makes a habit of it, increase the penalty.  Even real courts take a person's record in...

We couldn’t reach a debt agreement, so we raised the debt ceiling And we wonder why people are going bankrupt We watch as social security gets cut more and more And we wonder why younger people disrespect the elderly We take prayer out of school and make Christians into a joke And we wonder why kids are losing all morality Our television, movies and video games are getting more violent all the time And we wonder why our children are We can’t be bothered to get involved at our child’s school because we are too busy And we wonder why our kids don’t take school seriously We don’t have time to read to our children And we wonder why they don’t like books We see pollution, bullying, and homelessness, but we look away And we wonder why our children are apathetic. Maybe we should look in the mirror?

I was listening to the radio the other day, and they were talking about how people change when they get into a relationship.  The conversation was about where the line should be drawn.  If your partner gains 20 lbs do you drop them?  100 lbs? All agreed that if your significant other changes much you have every right to move on...the argument was that it's no longer the person you fell in love with... I think the whole conversation showed a completely wrong attitude about love...in fact, what they described isn't love at all. Everything in that little radio bit was selfish.  Their entire focus was on "me". In our culture, that's how love is viewed.   I think love should be a commitment to put another person's happiness above your own.  I'm not saying we should let ourselves go...in fact, if we love our partner we should try to stay healthy for them.  What I'm saying is that if our focus is selfless instead of selfish, wouldn't our relationsh...

I love Bay Area Park.  I think it's because it doesn't feel like Houston.  In fact, it's one place down here where I can go to escape traffic noise.  It has the feel of being off in the country, by a lake. This place helped me maintain my sanity last year.  I spent most of my lunch breaks there....thinking, praying, writing, taking pictures... It was my quiet place.  It still is.  There are times I go there just to get away.   Bay Area Park does disappoint me though!   These signs are posted everywhere: Damn.  I REALLY wanted to agitate an alligator...and introduce him to my five pound chihuahua... (By the way...being the Grammar Nazi I am, I must mention the incorrect word choice on the sign...if you see it too I love you!  I mean, really?  If the city pays for a sign you'd think they would have someone edit...) Here's the crazy part...I was there once and saw someone letting their two dog...

It's raining outside.  Ordinarily, I love this weather.  I like to lie on my bed, snuggled up in one of grandma's quilts, and watch the drops from my window.  I love listening to the rumble of thunder while reading a favorite book. I live for these days. They are my favorites.  Today it's just gray, cold and wet.  God has created a perfect setting for the way I'm feeling.   My teenager started off the morning by being difficult and making me late for work.  I had just about let that go when I received the call that my uncle had passed away.  Besides the worry for my aunt, I began to really think about death. I thought about when my mom and I found my stepfather on the couch, after the heart attack in his sleep.  I thought about the aging family members I have, and all their health problems.  I thought about my great-grandfather who was no longer in his right mind after a traumatizing assault, and who eventually ended his own life. ...

I wrote this a while back, but I think it's funny.  So I decided it needs to be on my blog!  Please take it with a grain of salt...I was being silly that day.  This is what happens when word nerds sit in drive-thru lines for long periods of time...  :) My intense frustration at my isolation Is leading me to devastation.  I need salvation in the form of adoration From a man who won't be an irritation.  I'd like to take a vacation in God's creation With a man who will stop my desolation.  I'll starve myself to emaciation to find a man in a high paying occupation That will kiss me in the precipitation.  The only problem with this approximation?  It will surely lead to fornication!

Another Sunday has come and gone...and I never made it to church...again.  Why do I have such a problem conforming?  Why can't I just make myself get up, go eat donuts, sing for exactly 20 minutes, listen to a sermon and then go to Luby's with the rest of the crowd?  Every week I say this one will be different.  I go to bed with the best intentions, and I even set my alarm.  I begin to head in to wake up my teenager...and then I stop.  I stay in my pajamas, grab something to eat, and get sidetracked.  Time seems to fly by...I look up and it's noon.  Poo.  I did it again.  So I firmly resolve that next week will be different, and the cycle begins again. I love Jesus.  I really do.  I love most of the people...the ones that talk to me anyway.  Is it that I'm looking for a perfect church?  After sitting here thinking about this a lot today, I have come to the conclusion it's not church I'm opposed to but the idea of ha...

I finally bit the bullet and started a blog! This is something I've wanted to do for a while, but the process is overwhelming. On the surface, you might think it's a rather simple process. Pick a blog site, name your blog, apply a template. Done. Anyone that knows me well at all will realize how much I struggle with making decisions. The tendency to over-analyze everything is a curse. (Note that the word "analyze" begins with "anal"...this is very appropriate) Dilemma number one: What site do I use? Being the lemming I am, I jumped off the cliff and followed my few blogging friends from Facebook. The name was my second dilemma. I thought of several overused sayings, awkward windows into my head, and titles suggested by friends. My math genius college friend does get props for his suggestion, "It's a Heatherful Life". Maybe down the road I will actually get good at this and use his creation. We shall see. Being a very visual pe...