SquidRoad

That's it, I have to dump

I haven't blogged in a long time. Partly because I really don't have the time to write as much as I used to. Or maybe I just don't make the time. But it's also because, the more I keep things pent up, the more they build up. The more they build up, the more 'cavities' my heart has.

It's high time I get some (re)fillings. For me, those come from doing brain/mind/heart dumps. And since my brain can't keep up with my preferred journaling method of pen-and-paper, blogging it is. I guess it doesn't have to be public, exactly, but I don't mind sharing my opinion, either. (Ask anyone who knows me.)

Things I've learned since my last post:

• I love Twitter. I went kicking and screaming into it after my brother hounded me for a year to start using it. But on a typical day, it is my best and only way to blog. Better than nothing. In 140 characters or less, I can kind of express thoughts I like to learn from, ideas I agree/disagree with. Usually agree with.
• I'm becoming a bit of a feminist. Or maybe it's just that middle-age amplifies gender differences like there's no tomorrow. Hormones really do wonders for distilling life into two distinct camps--for you or against you. My tolerance for GOB networks is approaching zero...fast. Need to find creative solutions for dealing with this. Seriously.
• Family is becoming more important to me, but harder to access. I miss my mom and nieces/nephews, not to mention my brothers.
• Tennis is my mental life preserver. My competitiveness has gone up (surprise), as has the quality of my game. But how long, really, can I keep this up before the body just says, "No way, José!"
• Let's see...learning to lean more, not less, on my intuition and perceptiveness. Not a boast, just a realization that reading people and picking up vibes from situations is a quality rather than burden. Same goes for (I thought, over-)connecting the dots w/everything, finding patterns and relationships between everything. I thought this stuff made me weird and have lived most of my life thinking these all were liabilities rather than strengths.
• 20 years married is quite the achievement, in our book! Good times.

Also since the last post (as always), God has been good. Revealing so much through people and situations. Teaching me a lot about myself, building my self-awareness, you could say. Showing me blind spots. That's always fun. In all seriousness, there are just some times in your life when God allows you to grow up a little bit more. And that's a good thing.

Tonight the whole world changed

The headlines prove it out. Tonight, the first African American in American history was elected president.

While I don't agree with what I understand to be Barack Obama's ideals, as vague as they are, I have wildly mixed emotions. There is a profound sense of relief that at last we have broken the glass ceiling for minorities. I mean, really: people like me must be asking everywhere: Will someone finally notice us? Will someone finally care what we think?

What an historic election: Out of the 5 major players in this affair (Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin, John McCain), 60% of them were minorities. Now that's more like it. ¡Eso sí que es!

Still, I voted for what I believe is one of the greatest American ideals--people stepping up to help each other. And especially, the Church stepping up to be what it is called to be. Now, we may have to work harder to meet that challenge, but I truly hope not.

Let's pray for peace and for unity. That this event of epic proportion will mean real, deep, meaningful change and that those of us disappointed with its outcome will quickly turn to the hope it means for the world and believe in that.

Now we'll tell our children, "I remember where I was when Barack Obama was elected President."

dissonance

dissonance
Originally uploaded by zeissizm

This image does something for me...evokes some pretty strong emotion, though I can't pinpoint what it is. Can't tell whether it stirs up loneliness or anxiety or peace or fear.

But one thing's for sure: for the subject, there's a long way to go on this wet, dark road.

You can't care too much

Or you'll never get anywhere. I am finally coming to terms--walking my own talk, really--that you can't care about what you do so much that you sell your soul, that you lose yourself and become something you're not. Or, worse yet, keep from becoming all you can be. I've officially entered a season of re-evaluation--of where I am today and where I'm going. And I'm not going to wait around for anything anymore, hoping my potential gets noticed where I'm at. It's time to sell it.

I love the letter "J"

Jesus.
Jehovah.
Janitors.
Co-workers.
Teammates.
List makers.
Get-it-done types.

I love Js. Where would the world be without them?

Today I'm especially thankful, because here I am w/my eyelids dropping on this post like there's no tomorrow. I can hardly type, even, because I'm so near REM w/my eyes wide open.

And still, my hubby and his friend Chris are working. I just wanted to do a little reading/studying before I went to bed, but they're still at it...and it's nearly 12:30am!

We thought we'd be farther along by the time Chris arrived Thursday AM, but alas, life got the best of us, and we're more thankful than ever that he is here now. Thing is, he's a finisher. Mikey and I--we're mostly starters. Mike is a much better finisher than but Chris, well, he's better than both of us put together! He doesn't stop till he can't go anymore. Us...we stop when we're tired.

Maybe Chris doesn't need sleep. Maybe he's superhuman! Tomorrow, I will check.

It'll be our little secret

horsetail (sssssshhhhhh)
Originally uploaded by amorcitos

I've got this thing about gardens now.

First, I've never in my life had a thing for gardens. But now that we've grown up to be homeowners and we have this blank slate to work from, I can't stop looking at water and bog plants.

Why water plants? you ask. If there's anything we lack in the lower elevations of Colorado, it's water. But water gardens/bogs are actually a resource-conserving way to a low-maintenance garden.

My idea is a simple garden w/some Asian influence (guess you can call it Zen-like), so rocks play a large part. We have to take the cheap route for now, because the Mexican Beach Pebble is a little pricey (that sounds Asian, doesn't it?). Probably a top layer of it is all we need.

Our house a long horizontal footprint, and its blond brick facade makes for a nice blank slate for a garden. I just am not a huge frilly-flower person, so it's gonna be simple and mostly green w/a few punches of color here and there.

The two windows at the near end will basically flank the targeted horsetail, a water "weed" that we fully understand can take over the neighborhood. But if managed well it can be a beautiful screen against an otherwise plain backdrop.

I'll post a pic soon of what this area looks like now. We recently added Egyptian papyrus, and it's taking off like crazy.

Suck it up. It's time to write

OK, it's been far too long since I've written here, so it's time to get back into the swing of things and express myself like there's no tomorrow.

Well, something like that.

Trouble is, most days haven't been a "good day" to start. And then tells you something re: how rusty I am at blogging. That's what it's all about--expressing yourself, good or bad. Just keep it consistent. If anyone gives a rip about what you write about, they'll follow. If not, well it makes a good diary in any case.

So we're nearing the end our kitchen project, and by "end" I mean we're within 8 weeks (I think...I hope...I pray) of having a kitchen we can cook in and move our food back into. Not sure we'll be able to sit in it till, oh, Christmas. Those things just take that long.

Here's the kitchen just 2 weekends ago. See that corner at the left end of the photo? That's going to be our seating area...a cozy little banquette where folks can come to hang out and eat, drink and...well, just hang. Ahhh...I can't wait.

And here's what it looks like now. Actually, it's a little better since most of the mudding is done. But we hope to have painted it all by the time we leave next week on vacation.

There will be more photos, oh yes. There will be more, probably on my Flickr stream...which I also need to update. Hmmmph.

Tired and cranky

After a 4-day week when it seems an entire 7 were crammed in, I'm pretty pooped today.

And now I'm in an airport terminal with screaming children everywhere. Can't blame them though. If it were within adult decorum to scream right now, I'd probably do it too. Our flight keeps getting delayed, and it's grating on the natives. I'd post a photo but I'm afraid someone in security would nail me.

Lots of military troops leaving for the field today, too. It was actually quite difficult watching their kids and wives wave very tearful goodbyes as troops stripped down for security checks (along w/all the rest of us, of course. It was one happy nudist party.)

I need to get it together before getting into town to take care of my mom. I'm not well rested, and I'll still need to drive from Indy to South Bend this evening. Hopefully there'll be no further delays and the back end of the trip will stay on schedule.

Ok, I'm done whining. For now anyway.

Backsplash done right?

Plan A1 - kitchen
Originally uploaded by jmcminn

I'm doing more backsplash research, mostly because I don't know how we're going to extend the fine, sleek look of our AnnSacks tile (see last post) to another part of the room. If we don't do this, our backsplash "feature"--which is, at the moment, only on the cooktop wall--may look lonely from a design standpoint.

What to do...

A-ha! Found it--our backsplash

Backsplash
Originally uploaded by craigt_from_atl

Can't believe I found a real, live kitchen whose layout resembles ours! The only difference--oh snap!--is that in our kitchen there won't be cabinets flanking the range hood. So sad...