I had many ambitious plans for today, and ended up getting through about half of my list. Two doctor's apts (I'll spare you squicky details, but everything's fine) took longer than I thought, and I ended up almost finishing my book in the waiting rooms, So naturally I had to go to Starbucks to finish it before I came home. Plus it was after 3 and I'd had no coffee yet! Or food for that matter. So, Starbucks, grocery store and by the time I got home, I might as well have been at Ork.

Did manage to get four loads of laundry done, as well as going though my dresser and closet and ruthlessly getting rid of anything I've not worn all summer.





Ronon Bear supervises The Great Clothing Purge



All packed up! 5 bags.

I had wanted to clean and bake cookies, but by now was after 8. So cookies will be baked tomorrow, and as for cleaning.... I'll negotiate with the dust bunnies to hide when my company arrives on Sat! Or perhaps TehJerry will feel a compulsion to clean tomorrow. That's a better plan.

I did however make a healthy dinner.



Now to shower and decide which book I will start next.

Birthdays and such

Today is my 39th birthday. For real. For the first time!
And so, you get picspam :)



Pressies before



And there was cake. Apparently I am 12...



Michael Phelps broke the record on my birthday!



Pressies after



Bonus pic: a butterfly on mom's butterfly bush

There were the best, but more piccies are here

Time

Time.

There's never enough of it to do everything that I want. And work too. But I have to work in order to have the money to do the things that I want to do, so quitting my job to have more time is not an option. Perhaps when I'm a best selling novelist - sometime in the 30th century...

Everyone has seen the movie "Groundhog Day", in which a man gets stuck in a time loop- playing out the same day over and over again. Pretty much every scifi show worth its salt has an episode with a similar theme - Star Trek, X-Files, Stargate.

My favorite (though XF's 'Mulder in the wet pajamas' runs a close second) is the Stargate version. Several loops of the same day have passed for Jack when Daniel tells him he has a unique opportunity, He can do whatever he wants for as long as he wants, with no consequences, because everything will go back to the way it was when the loops begins again. Except for him. Jack takes advantage of this. He learns pottery, perfects his golf shot (through the Stargate), teaches Teal'c to juggle, rides his bike through the SGC, and resigns so he can finally kiss Sam. *g*

What would you do if you were stuck in a time loop? With unlimited time on my hands, I'd become that best selling novelist, champion tin whistle player and step dancer, win a triathlon, hike the whole world (though travel might be a logistical problem if I'm stuck in the same day. Hmm.) Memorize the Bible in several translation. Heck, learn Greek and Hebrew and translate my own. Sew my own complete wardrobe, catch up on all the tv shows I've not seen, and read all the books on my wish list and then some.

Maybe that's what heaven will be like - stuck in the same perfect day forever, with unlimited things to do.

Progress, or lack thereof...

I just got back from vacation. Technically I'm still on vacation, as I don't go back to work until tomorrow, and I am writing this at the beach. Today is the perfect beach day - the air is warm, the sky is blue, and the water not too rough. Also I found a log to put my blanket over so I have something to lean on while I read and write.

I love the beach. Really love it. Perhaps too much. And there's no other place that I'd rather be in the summer. Which is probably why I did not have as good a time on my vacation as I could have.

Don't get me wrong, i had a blast. Traveling in Europe with some very good friends, what could be better? But my cranky self focus kept rearing its ugly head and showing me what I'm still really like inside. If things weren't perfect for my wants and schedule - too much food, too little food, too little exercise, too little caffeine at the right time, and I got, well let's just say it - bitchy.

Just when I think I'm doing great, remove me from my comfort zone, and blam. I can't beat my selfishness into submission, the Holy Spirit has to do that, and it's just not happening according to my schedule. Which just proves the whole point again of how far I have to go. It's not about my schedule, at all.

Part of the blessing of the single life is to be able to do pretty much whatever you want whenever you want. Which makes it difficult, however when thrust into a group 24/7, to learn to accommodate others.

I think one of the things I need to work on when traveling with others is finding ways to carve out more quiet time for myself... any suggestions?

Thanks for listening to my ramblings, and if anyone would like to see my vacation pictures, they are here.

The internet monk today has a good post on Bible translations. Anyone who's been in a Bible study with me knows that although I have many Bibles, for reading I adore the Message.

In other news, I'm off to Hungary for ten days :) As soon as I finish breakfast.

So I added a blogroll. Looks a bit... overwhelming. Wonder if I can make it smaller?

In other news I finally finished transcribing the last meeting I was responsible for at old church. It was pretty painful, and while listening to the meeting I worked on my application for membership at new church. Both have been sent away, which was the goal to get all finished and done before my trip.

Also spent 45 minutes driving around trying to find a verizon store, unsuccessfully. Came home and checked the net, found there was a store in one of the shopping centers I drove past, and I didn't see it. So will go back tomorrow. According to the site, I'm due for a free phone and it looks like one of the free ones can have global activated. w00t!

Wow it's been exactly a month since I updated last! How did that happen? So let's see, what has happened in the past month?

1. Exercise: tho not at the level I was toward the end of the triathlon training, I'm trying to keep up with fitness, getting in a least one bike, one run, and one swim per week. Also taking an open water swim workshop Sunday, which should be fun.

2. Church: Took the plunge and the membership seminar at my new church last Saturday. Now I need to fill out the application. It has essay questions, so might take awhile. I hope to have it finished and submitted before I leave for Hungary. Also registered for a conference hosted by Renovare in October. Richard Foster and Lauren Winner will both be there, so I am very excited! even tho it means I'm going back to Texas...

3. VACATION!: My friend from Kansas City, Kansas City arrives on the 5th, and we leave for Hungary on the 8th. Much cheese will be consumed. And perhaps other things.

4. Sewing: My brother made me a board that fits over my bed for cutting and pinning fabric, and fits just between my storage chest and closet. The other day I finally got the machine out again, and I made a napkin! The material is a bit thick, so the margins are as well, but it might look a little better once washed and ironed. Now I need to make a second one so my bro and I have one each, so as to dispense with paper napkins. Which leads me to-

5. Greenness: Alas my patient area keeps expanding so I am driving more not less. Fortunately my new car gets good mileage. I'm pretty good with remembering a commuter cup for getting coffee, but my main challenge is remembering to get the tote bags out of the back of the car *before* going into the grocery store. Remembering when I am at the checkout is fairly useless. Have been trying to use the AC as little as possible, unless it's *really* hot.

6. No clothes shopping: Still not really feeling it, and interestingly enough when I do think about new clothes, it's usually athletic gear I'm thinking of. Also strange, you'd think I'd have more time on my hands with no shopping? Dunno where it goes...

7. Writing: Had my first "workshopping" at my writer's group, which went really well. I still need to finish my first draft, but am starting to plan the second draft in my head.

Ok I think that's enough for now. I'll leave you with a quote from CS Lewis:

"Humility is not thinking less of one's self, but thinking of one's self less."

Talk amongst yourselves ;)