Monday, November 28, 2005
Friday, November 25, 2005
this week
Life is good.
No news on what is going to happen with trav’s job (other than he will still be furloughed in February…yep a 100% pay cut for good ol’ trav) so nothing new in that department…but somehow I am maintaining a positive outlook…here’s what I’ve been up to…
I spent this past week celebrating thanksgiving with trav’s family, which I always enjoy. And I managed to get everyone to take the enneagram test and discuss personality types for a while, along with countless other great topics…(I love my in-laws and I love having a job I can take with me wherever I go)
I’m on my way to see my family in Oklahoma for a last minute trip for the weekend. (why not, I say?) and I might be able to see my brother and sister-in-law, too!
I finally finished my logo and business cards for substance creative. (my design business, if you can call a one woman shop a business) and I’m in the process of working on my website and other “collateral”…hopefully I can finish soon.
I am VERY excited about the Christmas season in a climate that actually FEELS like Christmas…and I think I’ll be buying a tree for the first time…so it will be fun to decorate our apartment for Christmas!
No news on what is going to happen with trav’s job (other than he will still be furloughed in February…yep a 100% pay cut for good ol’ trav) so nothing new in that department…but somehow I am maintaining a positive outlook…here’s what I’ve been up to…
I spent this past week celebrating thanksgiving with trav’s family, which I always enjoy. And I managed to get everyone to take the enneagram test and discuss personality types for a while, along with countless other great topics…(I love my in-laws and I love having a job I can take with me wherever I go)
I’m on my way to see my family in Oklahoma for a last minute trip for the weekend. (why not, I say?) and I might be able to see my brother and sister-in-law, too!
I finally finished my logo and business cards for substance creative. (my design business, if you can call a one woman shop a business) and I’m in the process of working on my website and other “collateral”…hopefully I can finish soon.
I am VERY excited about the Christmas season in a climate that actually FEELS like Christmas…and I think I’ll be buying a tree for the first time…so it will be fun to decorate our apartment for Christmas!
Friday, November 11, 2005
church & buck the truck
i'm still in the middle of Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott and i just finished the chapter about taking her little boy to church. i started thinking about my childhood experiences at church...at least when i was around 4...here is what came to mind
i hated the song Jesus loves me because i thought it was childish!
my mom would roll my hair in the pink sponge rollers on saturday night so my hair would be curly in the morning and i loved it!
my dad would fix a big breakfast every sunday morning with eggs and bacon and biscuits, but i never ate the biscuits
i would get lifesavers to suck on during "big church" to keep me quiet and still
my mom wouldn't let me bring my doll into church because she thought i would play with it. but really i just wanted my doll to experience "big church"
i would always go by and say hi to my old sunday school teacher, Mrs. Tucker. wow, what an amazing lady.
and of course being 4 reminds me of my dear old friend Buck the Truck...I'm sure many of you who know me have heard this story...but for those who haven't, here it is.
My dad had an old green truck when i was little and we called him Buck the truck. my dad let me play in his truck bed and pretend drive him. so i used buck like my playhouse...and we were buds. but one day i thought that buck needed fuel. so, i looked around to find what i could use as "gas". I found a bunch of rocks. so, i put as many rocks as i could find in his tank...buck didn't drive as well after that. my dad took him to a mechanic to find out what was wrong with him...the mechanic finally figured out that there were rocks in his gas tank. my dad didn't have to wonder how they got there.
i hated the song Jesus loves me because i thought it was childish!
my mom would roll my hair in the pink sponge rollers on saturday night so my hair would be curly in the morning and i loved it!
my dad would fix a big breakfast every sunday morning with eggs and bacon and biscuits, but i never ate the biscuits
i would get lifesavers to suck on during "big church" to keep me quiet and still
my mom wouldn't let me bring my doll into church because she thought i would play with it. but really i just wanted my doll to experience "big church"
i would always go by and say hi to my old sunday school teacher, Mrs. Tucker. wow, what an amazing lady.
and of course being 4 reminds me of my dear old friend Buck the Truck...I'm sure many of you who know me have heard this story...but for those who haven't, here it is.
My dad had an old green truck when i was little and we called him Buck the truck. my dad let me play in his truck bed and pretend drive him. so i used buck like my playhouse...and we were buds. but one day i thought that buck needed fuel. so, i looked around to find what i could use as "gas". I found a bunch of rocks. so, i put as many rocks as i could find in his tank...buck didn't drive as well after that. my dad took him to a mechanic to find out what was wrong with him...the mechanic finally figured out that there were rocks in his gas tank. my dad didn't have to wonder how they got there.
Friday, November 04, 2005
hope remains...and it is finally november!
well, it looks like travis will be furloughed, we just don't know when. should he wait it out or find another job? who knows. things are pretty uncertain and we have no idea what the future holds. we hope to stay in minneapolis, but we don't know at this point.
but somehow in the midst of all this uncertainty, hope remains. not hope that things will get better or hope that we will stay in minneapolis. but a hope that we will get through this. that circumstances aren't everything. but i have to say my attitude sucked for a while. and it took me a while to get to the point that i could say this.
i'm in the middle of reading anne lamott's traveling mercies. she talks about grief and even though i don't think this is really "grieve" that i'm dealing with, i feel like i can look at this situation in the same light...
"...don't get me wrong; grief sucks; it really does. Unfortunately, though, avoiding it robs us of life, of the now, of a sense of living spirit. Mostly i have tried to avoid it by staying very busy, working too hard, trying to achieve as much as possible...But the bad news is that whatever you use to keep the pain at bay robs you of the flecks and nuggets of gold that feeling grief will give you. A fixation can keep you nicely defined and give you the illustion that your life has not fallen apart. But since your life may indeed have fallen apart, the illustion won't holdd up forever, and if you are lucky and brave, you will be willing to bear disillusion..."
i guess i feel that i have embraced where travis and i are at. i'm not going to deny it and pretend that everything is just fine and that everything will be just peachy. but at the same time, I'm not going to let this situation rob me of the present. i have done that way too many times in my life.
right now, i'm surrounded by a great group of people. i'm in a great city. and i'm going to enjoy that as long as i can. i have to say that the people of solomon's porch have been life to me. i love that community. and when i walk into church on sunday, i feel peace and it soothes my soul. but it is so much more than that, it is the relationships, the unique people that i meet and am getting to know. and i'm very thankful!
but somehow in the midst of all this uncertainty, hope remains. not hope that things will get better or hope that we will stay in minneapolis. but a hope that we will get through this. that circumstances aren't everything. but i have to say my attitude sucked for a while. and it took me a while to get to the point that i could say this.
i'm in the middle of reading anne lamott's traveling mercies. she talks about grief and even though i don't think this is really "grieve" that i'm dealing with, i feel like i can look at this situation in the same light...
"...don't get me wrong; grief sucks; it really does. Unfortunately, though, avoiding it robs us of life, of the now, of a sense of living spirit. Mostly i have tried to avoid it by staying very busy, working too hard, trying to achieve as much as possible...But the bad news is that whatever you use to keep the pain at bay robs you of the flecks and nuggets of gold that feeling grief will give you. A fixation can keep you nicely defined and give you the illustion that your life has not fallen apart. But since your life may indeed have fallen apart, the illustion won't holdd up forever, and if you are lucky and brave, you will be willing to bear disillusion..."
i guess i feel that i have embraced where travis and i are at. i'm not going to deny it and pretend that everything is just fine and that everything will be just peachy. but at the same time, I'm not going to let this situation rob me of the present. i have done that way too many times in my life.
right now, i'm surrounded by a great group of people. i'm in a great city. and i'm going to enjoy that as long as i can. i have to say that the people of solomon's porch have been life to me. i love that community. and when i walk into church on sunday, i feel peace and it soothes my soul. but it is so much more than that, it is the relationships, the unique people that i meet and am getting to know. and i'm very thankful!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
