A New Blog

Okay, since I've been so quiet here because I don't want to write about certain things online I have decided to make a wordpress blog. I haven't done anything but write one post and import this blog. Here's the link though...new blog. Hopefully I'll start writing again soon; I may use password protected posts occasionally but there's an entry about that there. I'll try to write more in the near future!

Meme and Some Catch-Up

In catching up on blog reading I discovered that I’ve been tagged by Karen. I actually haven’t been tagged to do this one yet so here goes! I’ll look through my iTunes library and see what I’ve been listening to lately while at work…

Here are the rules; List 7 songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre. Whether or not they have words or even if they are any good but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now! Post these instructions in your blog along with with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening to.

1. “Porcelain” by Better Than Ezra
2. “Here It Goes Again” by Ok Go
3. “Other Side of the World” by KT Tunstall
4. “Divine Thing” by Soup Dragons
5. “Two Princes” by Spin Doctors
6. “We Live” by Superchick
7. “Jupiter Crash” by The Cure

Anyway I was woefully behind on that one since she tagged me awhile back. My blog reading has been sporadic lately!

I learned last week that absentee ballots can be dropped off at any polling location. I registered permanent absentee a couple elections ago but this time I didn’t mail my ballot soon enough to get to the registrar of voters’ office in time. I also gave blood for the first time on election day, crossing the seventh item off of my 101 things list.

Last week at choir practice I auditioned for a solo. Auditions were the week before but I was sick with a horrible head cold. Three other people had auditioned for the solo already so the director is going to have us sing it as a duet, alternating performances (there are three performances total). I figured it would be too late since I wasn’t there so it was a pleasant surprise to get to sing it after all! I’ve been listening to the CD at work all day (with my office door closed; it’s a little early for Christmas music) and it’s becoming familiar. I can’t wait for the concert weekend; it’s a great cantata.

I have been diligently working on Noah’s Sub, at Luke’s insistence. It’s really coming along. I finished the sky last night and just have a few animals on deck to backstitch (the lions, camels, and ram) and the bottom right corner (octopus and jellyfish). I think I really will finish it this year.

Ten Years?!

So my ten year high school reunion was this past weekend. I still can't believe it's been that long sometimes. Other times it seems like a lifetime ago. Gosh what an interesting experience *that* was. I went by myself and was a little nervous about that but it ended up being great. I met up with several old friends, some there with their significant others and some there solo. I had some wine and the food was good and it was in general a positive experience. There was one odd moment that stood out as an amusing story worth sharing…

I was chatting with some friends and this guy came up to me. I knew who he was when we were in high school but I don’t know that we ever exchanged a word with one another as we were in very different circles. Anyway he came up to me and said “I always wanted to ask you out when we were in high school but I was shy”. Yeah, right. So I politely asked him what he was up to these days. He replied that he was still in the town where we attended high school and “working the system” ie, he’d been on unemployment for the last three years, but that he had a lucrative side business as a drug dealer. I replied that I am in San Diego, an engineer, and that I have a five year old, am on the PTA, and sing in the choir at church. I guess I thought that would deter him but alas it didn’t. I did politely extricate myself from that conversation as quickly as possible without seeming too rude. Another person mentioned during dinner that one of our classmates had a huge crush on me throughout all of high school and I was floored. The person in question was a friend of mine and I never had any clue that this was the case. He didn’t attend the reunion, however, and I haven’t spoken with him in probably eight years as we lost touch at some point during college. I was extremely surprised, though; I didn’t think I was that clueless in high school but maybe I was after all.

It was really interesting to see how much (or little) people can change in ten years. There were several people there who looked no different from our high school days and there were others who were dramatically different. I had a fabulous time catching up with old friends but really shouldn’t have stayed up until 2am doing so. Sunday I met up with a handful of friends for lunch before heading back home.

Well, I started writing this entry earlier in the week but haven’t had much spare time to finish it up. It’s Thursday now and I’ve come down with my first head cold of the season and a fairly bad one. I guess I’ll be skipping choir tonight and hoping to get some sleep. Trick-or-treating was fun on Tuesday. Luke was a pirate. We went with two of his friends, one of whom was another pirate and the other was a builder (NOT Bob the builder, as he adamantly pointed out throughout the evening). I’d post pictures but I just don’t have the motivation to pull them off my camera. Another day, perhaps.

Wierdness

I haven’t had a lot to say (at least not that I’m willing to say in such a public forum) lately but something strange happened yesterday that hasn’t happened in awhile. It started at lunchtime; the vision in my left eye became strange. It was almost as if I’d been staring at the sun and everything was bright and distorted, but only in my left eye. It passed within 5-10 minutes. Within a half hour my left hand went numb, starting with my pinky finger and traveling across my hand, up to my elbow, and then to my mouth and nose. Within about 20-30 minutes it passed and I felt essentially normal except for a slight headache. This happened for the first time 3.5 years ago while I was on vacation to Death Valley and then again maybe 1 to 1.5 years ago while I was home on a weekend. I can’t find a common factor between the three times except it was dry and hot. I’ve called my doctor and have an appointment for Friday morning and have been instructed to go to urgent care if it happens again before then. It’s been suggested to me that it’s stress or a type of migraine. Since numbness and vision problems are also associated with MS (I had some time to search online while on hold with the doctor) I’m hoping it’s just stress or a migraine. Like there isn’t enough going on in my life right now, honestly.

I do have something fun to look forward to, however. My ten year high school reunion is on Saturday. I have a pretty dress and a place to stay and am looking forward to it. I still need to find shoes and a small purse and make an appointment to get my nails done on Friday. I’ve only stayed in touch with a few people from my class and I’m curious to see what everyone else has been doing since graduation.

As far as stitching is concerned I have still been focusing on Noah’s Sub. It is moving along rapidly and I think I will actually finish it this year. I also pulled a Christmas ornament back out that was over half done; I think I’ll try to finish it soon also. Of course while I was working on it last night I got a beading needle stuck in my finger (eye end with floss…). It was extremely unpleasant; it wouldn’t come out initially and I panicked a little but eventually managed to remove it.

On another note entirely I’m thinking about auditioning for a solo in the Christmas program at church. I wasn’t planning to but last night I was practicing for a three-part song and one of the ladies with whom I’m singing said I should and she is the choir director for the local middle school. I figure it can’t hurt; maybe it would even be fun. I don’t think I’ve ever sung a solo. I don’t know that I’d even get one of them but I think I’ll try for it.

Well that’s about it here. I ended having a headache last night after all. I slept really well and feel a lot better today. I’m still going to see the doctor on Friday but I’m relieved to feel a little better today at least.

School Fundraiser...

Now that Luke is in the public school system we're seeing the whole "school fundraiser" thing. Oh goody. Anyway, I've been slacking; it ends Friday and I think we've sold one item? If you're interested in helping out here's the URL: linky. His Student ID is WE5962. I'm not looking forward to another however many years there are of this...

Just Some Thoughts

I haven’t really known what to write lately so I just haven’t been posting. I’ve written probably three blog entries and then deleted them. Maybe this one will stick…

I had an interesting afternoon yesterday. I took Luke to the park down the street to ride his bike and play on the playground. He saw a friend from school, an adorable little girl, and so they played together for awhile while her older sister played in a softball game nearby. I had a long talk with the girl’s mother while they played. I have said before that I think God allows us to put ourselves into unpleasant situations because we need to grow or learn something or appreciate something that we wouldn’t otherwise. Yesterday I began to wonder if maybe, in addition to that, things happen in our lives just so that we can say one thing to one person and have a chance to make a difference in their lives.

I’m talking about my childhood and my parents and the perspective that I have from those experiences. This woman I met yesterday has two kids and an alcoholic husband who is often out of work, they’re barely scraping by, etc, and she’s at the end of her rope. She said how he had been sober for five days so far “this time” and that she wants out but it’s so hard with the kids, bills, etc. Even with what’s going on in my life I would never want to encourage someone to get a divorce but I did share my experience as a child growing up in a similar family and how my mom stayed “for the kids” for so many years and the harm it did. I don’t know what she’ll do with her situation, and I tried not to say what she should do either way because it’s not my place to say, but she seemed to really need to talk about it with someone who understood a little bit. I know that it was helpful for me because it made me see in a small way how trapped my mom must have felt and why it was so hard to her to finally leave my dad. I harbored a lot of resentment towards her for years because I felt she should have divorced him long before she did but she stayed “for the kids”. Anyway the other mom and I exchanged numbers and plan to get the kids together to play again soon.

There have been so many times recently where I see someone who seems to have it together or have such a perfect life and it turns out that they have their own problems too, different but not necessarily better. It cautions me to not be envious of other people who may have the life that I think I want; there is usually more to a person than what they allow others to see.

I have thought so much recently about the effect that decisions have, both on the person making a decision and other people around them. Some decisions can have immediate consequences and others may not be apparent for years. This decision that I have made, while I believe it is the right decision for me, causes me great pain to see its effect elsewhere. I don’t want to cause pain for anyone else but I want to be happy. Christine said something in a comment to a previous post that, with this very short time we have on this earth, it’s important to do what makes us happy. I believe that she is right, and I know what that means in my life, but it doesn’t make it easy.

Lots of Different Things

For the next few months I’m going to try to focus my blog on stitching, Luke, and not a lot of personal stuff. Most of you who know me know by now that I filed for divorce. That’s all I’m going to say about it here for now; I’m going to try to keep as much of it out of my blog as possible. I imagine I’ll do any venting, crying, etc over the phone so if I have your phone number, well, you’ve been warned. ;)

I have made a blog for my 101 things in 1001 days though I still haven’t linked to it yet. I am going to be the PTA chair in charge of student support/community concerns so that takes care of item 89. 3 down, 98 to go…

Lately I’ve had the urge to stitch small things. Since I went through something of a slump recently I decided that whatever gets me stitching is fine right now. I am trying to focus on Noah’s Sub and finally finish it this year but I’ve been rotating in small pieces also. The other night I started Just Nan’s “Once in a Blue Moon” class kit. I haven’t worked on it much but it’s pretty small so it shouldn’t take long. Luke is always so excited when I pull out Noah’s Sub, though, so I’ve been trying to work on it as much as I can tolerate.

At back to school night I signed up to help in Luke’s classroom for a half hour each Monday. They break the class into three groups and rotate through “centers” Monday through Wednesday. I have the “art center” on Mondays. I am really enjoying my time in the classroom and it sure does make me look forward to Mondays, which is a new thing to me.

I discovered another bit of evidence that I truly do live in the midst of retirement communities. I am acutely aware of this anytime I’m out driving or at the grocery store, of course. I recently discovered, though, that the Longs down the street from my house has magnifiers on cords throughout the OTC medication aisles. I actually think it’s a good idea it was just amusing when I first noticed it.

Luke has decided to be a pirate for Halloween this year. So has his friend, Aidan. We trick-or-treated with them last year and it looks like that’s the plan again for this year.

Well that’s all I’ve got for today. My blogging may be spotty again for awhile but I’ll try to post as much as I can.