Tuesday, October 31, 2006

I want to want to

I want to want to blog. Do you know what I mean?

I've been unduly stressed lately; another hernia, an unsolved insurance issue, a run to the emergency room with my husband, the "uninsured brush-off", the pressing need to find a new job and I could go on and on.

I want to blog, but right now I can't see the forest for the trees. I try to keep an upbeat, energized blog and if I were to be writing now, I would just be spewing much un-needed stress onto y'all (I've moved far enough south to loosely use that term now)and not helping myself at all.

I will try to come back soon. I will try to visit soon. I know that taking off like this is costing me my readership, which pains me greatly - you'll never know how much - well, Geekwif will - but I digress. I want to keep my readership - in fact, soon I'll be posting some stuff you'll want to read as it is a lot of helpful home-running info. But for now, I just don't have the energy. I want to want to blog and I want to keep you all entertained, but it may be a couple more days before I'm ready. Enough to say that if you're one of my readers, please say hi and let me know you're still out there.

I promise to bounce back.

I always do.

God helping me, that is.

Maybe I just need to get my hair dyed again.


Here's some comments from this post:
Tracie said...
Don't worry about your readers! We will keep coming back!
No one expects you to be perky and upbeat everyday of your life--your blog is about you, and you are a real person with good times and bad times and hurts and struggles and we all understand that!
Give yourself some needed pampering and we will see you when you are in a "bloging space"....
Hi! I'm still out here! :)

JaneB (a silent reader...) said...
Hi! We all have these grey patches - don't worry, I'll keep checking back to see if you're blogging again yet, and will remember you in my prayers

Geekwif said...
No matter the color of your hair, you will always be The Blond Girl. Hey, maybe we could have a hair dying party at your place in a couple weeks! Now that would be fun!

kenju said...
I'm here, BG. By the way, your blog function is not to entertain us. If you don't feel like blogging, or if you do it it isn't upbeat, so what?! We will be here when you come back, no matter what. I hope you are feeling better soon.

princssis said...
Keep your chin up! Like you said, God is helping you through all this, even if it seems he's not. Remember "Footprints"? God is carrying you now. Keep trusting in Him and you'll see how.
Getting a refreshed hairdo always helps lift the spirits.
I'm here! I'm here!

lilone7 said...
Hang in there all will work out. And you know sometimes it is alright to write about stuff that is not upbeat. I know about the time constraints for blogging all to well. Hope things settle for you.

Susan said...
Hey....I'm here if you need me! :)

Suzy said...
Nah....skip the hair dye and take a few days off girl! It's what you need to do, and those of us loyal ones will still be here. Loyal and true....yup we will! =)

7:25 PM
Cori said...
Hang in there! I really miss having you right downstairs where we could go talk and walk. Hugs!!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Not 41!

As you know, it was my birthday a week or so ago and I said "this is where you all to tell me that I don't look 41". Paul challenged me to post of a picture of myself not looking 41. Well, I'm not sure how well I did, but here's the best I could get without a full-blown photoshoot or something:



So, if you think I look 41 (or, horrors, older!), then I guess I don't want to hear it. But if I look like a happy mom and at least still somewhere in my 30's, then you can feel free to boost my self-esteem. I guess this shouldn't matter so much to me - but that's what I get for marrying a man 7 years younger than me!

Speaking of marrying a man 7 years younger than me, yesterday was Champs and my eighth wedding anniversary. Looking back over 8 years, I can't get over how much the two of us have been through. We've suffered numerous family deaths, the loss of a baby, six moves (one out of state), too many job changes to count, 3 cornea transplants for John and something like 6 surgeries for me. Yeah, we've been through a lot, but we've also been through as much joy. Our little Sweet Girl and having each other have made all the mountains into small bumps in the path. I can't imagine going through this life with anyone other than my Champs! (yeah, this isn't a great picture of us, but it was our anniversary and it's all I have to offer right now.)



Finally, I got this one from Brony. The mission is to describe 5 weird things about myself. If you want to play along, consider yourself tagged! Here's my list:

1. I have double-jointed elbows. They pretty much freak people out when I demonstrate it.

2. I always count the clothes going into the washer. I never count them going into the dryer, only the washer. I don't know why.

3. I can't wink. My whole face scrunches up and Champs laughs his head off at me. It must be genetic; Sweet Girl has the same "scwink" (a scrunch and a wink) as I do.

4. I almost never cry for real life - I have to be extremely angry to cry. I mean, extremely unbelievably angry (for normal angry, I just get quiet). It's like a wall of safety for me. Instead, I totally cry for sappy movies. I think that's how I release all my pent up emotions.

5. I so NOT photogenic. Just look above - what you see are the best I could choose out of something like 15 tries. I look better in real life; photos usually aren't good at all. Thankfully, Sweet Girl doesn't take after me on that account; she takes great photos (I just don't post them 'cuz I think it's safest not to).

And here are some comments from this post:
utenzi said...
No way you're 41, BG. What kind of trick are you trying to pull here? Maybe 35...maybe.
It sure sounds like you and your family have been through a lot. I don't know why some of us have to go trough harder trials than others, but I guess you have the strength to prevail. I don't know if I could. I hope you have clear sailing from here on out, Blond Girl. Happy belated anniversary to you both!

Geekwif said...
a) SO not 41!
b) CUTE!! That is an adorable picture of the two of you! Happy anniversary!!
c) I've been meaning to do this meme for a while now, only the one I saw was 6 weird things. It's still sitting in my drafts, waiting to be completed and posted.

Paul said...
I know 29 when I see it!!!
Happy Anniversary.
Two good pics!!

HolyMama! said...
hi blond girl! and yeah, i mean GIRL! no where near 41 looking.
i've been afraid to come look for my literary meme tag.... but i'm going to scope it out now....
but BG! I'm not that SMART! Who said i was...?!

Suzy said...
Happy Anniversary and Birthday too! My birthday was a couple weeks ago, and...gasp....I turned 44! Ack!
I think you look awesome and your hubby and you look great together, too! =o)

Brony said...
Thanks so much. Sorry it took me so long to get here. I am working on yours now.
I have double-jointed thumbs, elbows and hips.
I can't whistle.
I think you're photogenic.

Susan said...
You are beautiful! :)

Heather said...
You look great. Happy Birthday. :-)

Thursday, October 5, 2006

Thirteen Things about Geekwif

Yes, I know I owe a real post and I will get there. I have been running all week. However, since I had to post my T13 and since she is so important to me, I thought I would tell everyone just a few things about why I am so glad that Geekwif is my best friend.

1. The way she makes me laugh - at myself, at life, at the good stuff and the hard stuff - Geekwif has a way of seeing the lighter side of anything.

2. She lets me get her hooked into my escapades. Take beading, scrapbooking, stamping... I got her hooked on those. In many cases, she has eclipsed me, but I still got her going.

3. She gets me hooked into her latest escapades - normally computer based. Geekwif discovered making tiles on the internet, and so she showed me. We both went nuts for a while. Just check out Tile Machine and do a search by artist. My stuff is all by Cathreeno and her's is all by Eight. It can be pretty addicting. Oh yeah, then there was the blog thing... yeup, she got me started on this... and on the T13...

4. Her loyalty. I have lost other friends when I ceased to be the "flavor of the day" or through petty arguments. Not Geekwif. We have weathered a couple of disagreements that might have made others walk away. However, she understands the value of a friend and has stood by. You could ask our friend, Little B - she and Geekwif have been close friends for something like 15 years now.

5. Her tenacity. Geekwif will not let the separation of a few miles change our friendship. Yes, it does mean we cannot go shopping together as often, but it does not change what her friends mean to her. See, Little B, who I just mentioned? Well, she moved to Tennessee 8 or 10 years ago. She and Geekwif are still very close, talking and e-mailing often and seeing each other anytime they are in the same town. I was extremely comforted by this when we were planning to move from MN to IL.

6. Her truthfulness. Geekwif is not an outspoken person and doesn't like to go to great lengths to make sure everyone knows her opinion. That said, she will speak the truth in love when it is needed. Case in point: The first couple of years of Sweet Girl's life, I was always morbidly afraid that she or Champs would die on me suddenly. It was on my mind constantly. Finally, Geekwif wrote me a note telling me that she hated to see me feeling the way that I did and observing that I watched E.R. consistently. She presented the possibility that watching families constantly dealing with the unexpected emergencies might be contributing to my anxiety. Then she left the ball in my court. I did decide to stop watching E.R. I still worry about my family, but the near constant barrage of worry has been greatly reduced, thanks to the wisdom of my friend.

7. We enjoy some of the same things - such as reading, shopping, beading...

8. We enjoy different things, but can share that joy. I am not much of a gardener; I seem to kill every plant I try to help. Geekwif, on the other hand, is a gardening fiend and loves to share her successes and ideas with me. She knows that I'll enjoy it for her sake, if not for my own.

9. Her view of God. When I need to talk about a particular issue, be it theological or spiritual and personal, she will hash it out with me. With Bible verses. And a love of the truth. We usually reach the same conclusion, but it is fun getting there. Also, no one I know has as much fun as we do planning our futures in Heaven... (tee hee)

10. She loves personality quizzes as much as I do! When we were younger, before the proliferation of on-line quizzes, we used to meet at my house of a Saturday morning and, over a brunch of eggs, cheese and avocado (yum!) do the latest quiz in "Glamour Magazine". We still remember the difference between a husband-husband and a boyfriend-husband.

11. Then there is the shared Longaberger obsession... we've been known to share bundled basket orders to save money. She used to be a consultant and I think I may have been her most consistent customer. I must have been; at last count, I've got something like 44 baskets around here... and don't even get me started on the pottery!

12. Geekwif is someone with whom I can share my fondest dreams and biggest hopes... and know they will be nurtured and held safe from the unwelcome scrutiny of gossip and jealousy.

13. We just click - it's our personalities, I think. Everyone has a certain personality type that works for them and our friendship bears this out. Geekwif has a personality that is actually a lot like my husband, Champs. And my personality is a lot like The Geek's (her husband). Sometimes we laugh about how much alike our marriages are, only flipped.

So there it is... 13 reasons why Geekwif is my friend (trust me, I could come up with more!) I pray she always will be my friend.


Here are some comments from this post:
Cheryl said...
You have an awesome friend! I hope I can find a friend like that :)

Geekwif said...
Okay, seriously, NOT worthy! But thanks so much for your sweet list nonetheless. It is true that we do share a love of many of the same things and the sharing is sometimes the best part. I mean, bead shopping – or any kind of shopping for that matter – is just not the same without you there!
(sniff sniff) I miss my friend! :(

Trish said...
Aww.. sweet. :)
And belated happy Birthday!

Faith said...
How awesome to have such a wonderful friend!!! You are both very blessed!!

Carmi said...
I feel inspired after reading this. You've written so poignantly about the power of friendship.