Long time no write!

Wow it has been an incredibly long time since I visited this blog. I’ve been honing other talents in my absence, spending a lot of time on crafts. Working on my sewing skills and doing a lot of painting.

Add a full time job, 3 little kids, 1 husband-child, and spending lots of time on PTA stuff and I just haven’t made the time to blog.

I miss it! Although I’m not convinced too many people care what I have to ramble about, but whatevs! (as my pre-teen daughter would say!)

So here I am – back and itching to share!

I’ve got some upcoming posts rants about accessories, volunteerism, drawsome fun applications, my quirky Pinterest obsession and dinner time mutinies – not necessarily in that order!

Stay tuned!

Meow: Out with the Cats!

I just signed on for Facebook a few months ago. My sister was on and really liked it and several co-workers so I decided to see what the fuss was all about.  I had abandoned my myspace page months before – just tired of the ‘fluff’.

When I signed on I requested several people that were very close to be friends and over the next few weeks, received lots of ‘friend’ requests from acquiantences – people I know through my kids, or who were in another grade at school, etc. Not ‘friends’ per se, but I accepted the requests in an effort to stay up on what was going on and how everyone was doing.

Facebook has been a great place to stay in closer contact with family members and close High School friends and a great way to forge a deeper bond with co-workers.

But it has also highlighted the reasons why I was not close ‘friends’ with some people in the first place. The apps people take (and then post to their wall) that I immediately Hide (I don’t care what your stripper name should be, thank you). The pictures people post (do they realize that pics loaded to facebook become the property of facebook to use as they wish?)

But the thing that jumps out most are the status updates. I’m not talking about most of them – I love reading what everyone is up to, comment a lot on other’s updates – especially back and forth talking kids and work and mutually favorite TV shows or websites. I’m talking about the updates that say things like: “The guy in front of me in line right now looks like he stepped out of the 80s. Someone tell him highwaters were never cool!”, or maybe one like this: “If I ever get a roll of fat around my middle, someone, please just put me out of my misery!”

cat·ty

adj. cat·ti·er, cat·ti·est
1. Subtly cruel or malicious; spiteful: a catty remark.
2. Catlike; stealthy.

Thesaurus:
Adj. 1. catty – marked by or arising from malice; “a catty remark”

bitchy, cattish, malicious – having the nature of or resulting from malice; “malicious gossip”; “took malicious pleasure in…watching me wince”- Rudyard Kipling

I usually just ignore the posts and move on, but have decided recently that I just need to remove this kind of crap from my life. None of the posts are from anyone I’m close to, which goes to show that there was a reason they aren’t a real friend.
 
So I’ve made the decision to unfriend.
 
I know – rude of me. I should be witnessing, right? Nope – can’t do it. They don’t really care and probably won’t even notice that I’ve unfriended them. I’m surrounding myself with those who will left me up, rather than tear me (and everyone else) down.
 
Meow!

What a Grand New Day!

I’m home from the Women of Faith Conference in Dallas. Three letters – W – O – W!!!

This is my third WOF conference to attend and couldn’t be more on target. The Porch Pals manage to make every one of the 16,000 women (and a handful of brave men) feel as if they are being spoken to directly!

Not only did the event re-ignite that fire (exactly what I needed), but I also got to meet some folks I have gotten to know on twitter. A message went out about a ‘Tweet-Up’ for those following WOF on Twitter – we gathered in a spot and looked at each other’s nametags and were humbled to meet those whose lives we’ve been sharing in! Truly an awesome group of people.

I know I’ve mentioned it before but Twitter has become a source of strength for me – I pop over and read updates throughout the day and the constant faith washes over me. I don’t see people griping about their day or making fun of people – I see updates that are uplifting and encouraging – I see wonderful men and women who use humor to uplift. Just reading a few tweets can turn my day around in an instant! I had been drifting a bit, but those 140 character updates have become an anchor and I’ll take this moment to say Thank You to those I follow and who have become important!

I was unsure about how to sum up the Women of Faith Conference – during the event I jotted down key phrases and thoughts that spoke to me, so in honor of Luci Swindoll and her love of lists, here is my WOF List:

* Let go and know that I am God! Let go of control, let go of fear

* If what you are doing isn’t working – STOP!!

* section 325, row T is the last row at AAC – seriously the LAST row!!

* Squat on a Stick means nothing – nada – zilch (Sheila Walsh)

* God said, “We’re in this together, until you kick the bucket, so go for it!” (Luci Swindoll)

* Even with all the bathrooms turned to women’s the lines are still looong!

* You delight my heart in a million ways! (Patsy Clarimont)

* Develop an attitude in the midst of trouble – God is on your side!

* It’s not possible to listen to Steven Curtis Chapman sing ‘Cinderella’ without bawling (blessings on that family)

* God takes the Good and takes the Bad and loves us anyway!!

More thoughts are still swirling through, but it may take a while to process (which will allow for another blog – YAY). Special thanks to my group from EE and our CEO for sponsoring and sending us at his expense. We truly appreciate the loving gesture!

Twitter, Baby Gates & Conspiracy Theories

Don’t know if you heard.

Twitter went down yesterday, some sort of hacker attack.

They say it’s back up – liars.

Also don’t know if you heard.

Baby gates are implements of torture.

I tripped over one this morning in a sleepy stupor, fell on my face.

On the bright side, I mangled the gate so badly it will never practice torture in our home again!

Lastly – don’t know if you heard.

When they ask you to fill out a detailed job profile for your role, don’t panic!

They have to fill those empty cubes in Dallas at some point and this way they know what to look for when interviewing.

Not paranoid – merely acknowledging the conspiracy theory is most likely the truth.

Isn’t that the way it usually is? Just saying.

I was lost but now I am found…

Wow it has been a long time since I blogged and I miss it! So much has happened over the last couple of months.

For starters I discovered Twitter! I am hopelessly addicted to peeking inside the window of people I admire (along with a few celebrities thrown in)!

I am following all of the ladies from Women of Faith – Mary Graham, Marilyn Meberg, Sheila Walsh, Tammy Trent, Lisa Welchel, Robin McGraw, Natalie Grant, Patsy Clairmont, and Mandisa – talk about inspiration! These ladies are as funny on twitter as they are onstage at WOF. Mary Graham has even responded back to a few of my posts – too cool! They are all consistently upbeat and see the positives in all situations. What a blessing! When I’m having a particularly rough day and am tempted to gripe about it I’ll read some of their posts and my attitude adjusts immediately. I also follow Michael Hyatt who has wonderful insights on writing and life.

I will admit to following a few celebrities – Ryan Seacrest, Miley Cyrus, Ashton & Demi – just couldn’t resist! My daughter thinks it is super-cool when I show her pics and posts of Miley Cyrus!

Haven’t been crocheting or knitting as much as I’d like. I’ve had some nerve toubles in my left arm with numbness and tingling which makes it annoying when I pick up my craft. I’ve got a few projects in the works though.

Finally our family has been turned upside-down. My dad switched to a new doctor and the doc just happens to require a chest x-ray of all new patients. A repeat test, ct scan and biopsy later and dad, at age 63, has been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. It’s in the lung and has metasticized to the liver, a rib bone and some lymph nodes already. He hasn’t felt sick at all so going for that first chemo treatment was difficult. He and mom have been married for 40 years and neither of them were ready for this. Between my sister and I, the six grandkids are ages 10, 9, 8, 5, 2 & 5 months and we’re doing everything we can to ensure they spend time with him now and make memories. That and trust in God is all we can do right now.

My daughter has spent the last week with her cousins at my sister’s house – she is SO not going to want to come home after hanging with the girls and having fun. But I sure miss her – she’s gotten so big and is fun to be around!

The summer seems to be speeding by at a record pace this year – T-Man starts kindergarten which will be interesting to say the least. I’ve got business trips to Dallas next week and the week after which will keep us all hopping at home and work to stay caught up. We’re also looking for a new church to attend that has lots of kids and children’s programs and a great music ministry. At our last church T-Man was the only boy his age and sometimes an active 4-yo is too much for the older folks who aren’t used to such hyperactivity. I’ll be the first to admit he’s a lot to handle – he’s loud and full of constant movement and hard to rein in, but he’s a little boy and that’s what they do and while I apologized at first it became clear that if we kept attending all I would be doing is worrying about him. It made worship stressful when that’s the LAST thing it should be. So after months of not attending church I am making it a mission to find our spot.

Looking forward to attending Women of Faith in August in Dallas. Our company’s founder sends the women from our company and a guest every year all expenses paid – I’ve missed the last two years due to circumstances, but refuse to miss this one!

So that’s the last couple of months in a nutshell. It’s going to be a momentous year I can tell – I plan on blogging if just for my own sanity!