10/8/05

yes, it is me...sorry it has been so long...i will just say that life has been busy and crazy and that i am learning each day to give it all to God and trust Him...wherever that takes me...that is not easy to do...will hopefully update more soon...later

08/26/05

today our summer program ended on a good note...we had "water fun day", which basically is me with a garden hose and lots of kids with bottles or water guns and we all get soaked...it was very fun...also we wrapped andrew's truck with saran wrap and toilet paper...we made him a huge card which was a fire truck and it was about 6 feet long and each of us had drawn a dalmatian with a red fire hat and then put our names on them, and we sang "for he's a jolly good fellow" and we gave him a yearbook full of summer memories...it was a great day that i thought was going to be so bad...i was supposed to be off at 10 am but i stayed until about 4 pm...

so school starts this coming week, and i am excited to be getting back to teaching!!!...i might go to the fair tomorrow, then at 5 pm our church is having about 10 people get baptized in the columbia river (like my parents did a couple of years ago and i have considered doing)...the fair i mentioned is the "benton franklin fair and rodeo"- it is a 5 day event which draws a total of about 100,000 people...there are lots of animals, food, rodeo, food, exhibits, food, rides, and food...i went on wednesday for work and had a pretty good time, saw some animals, had a bbq pork sandwich, and rode on some rides...the tilt-a-whirl was not a very good one, i went on it twice, then the carousel, and the tornado, i wanted to go on the sizzler, the yo yo, and the ferris wheel, but wasn't able to...the flying bobs looked fun, i went on it a few years ago...i can't believe that i once went on the zipper...that was a long time ago and never again!...

i will update more later, except to mention that les and renee's baby miranda has to wait until she is six months old to have her open heart surgery...more later...

08/18/05

just an update...matt and kim's new baby sister miranda is having open heart surgery very soon, i think tomorrow, so i ask for prayers for her and the family...also i was saddened to hear this afternoon about the death of a woman i know...she apparently died in a car accident in portland...she is the mom of a hanford choir student and i got to know her this school year...life sometimes doesn't make sense...

08/13/05

a busy week it has been...i sound like yoda from star wars...actually, it has been an eventful and interesting week, so i will quickly update...

kim got home last sunday from camping at lake wallowa and immediately was ill with flu-like symptoms...konnor made her a doctor appointment on tuesday and we took her in after i got home from work...konnor cares so much for kim and is willing to do a lot for her, including this...i totally appreciate that...so now she is better, but for a couple of days she was very weak, needed to sleep but couldn't, congested, sore, throat and ears ached...i'm sure i am missing some of her symptoms...but she is better and back to her normal life of friends and movies and stuff...she has been babysitting for a family with three kids, and she seems to be doing that really well...last night an unexpected storm came up while she was babysitting so i called a couple of times to make sure she was okay...

matt got home last night from the family reunion in long beach, washington...and it was highly eventful, since the family grew by one person during the reunion (!)...yes, renee and les' baby was born on tuesday in astoria , oregon...apparently the hospital in ilwaco doesn't deliver babies, so they had to go to astoria...which is a very beautiful little town, if i may say so...so now my kids have a baby sister named miranda...so i do congratulate my former husband and his wife on their new addition...i spoke to les on the phone last night and congratulated him...it is kind of surreal that almost 20 years after he and i experienced the birth of our first child, and 17 years after our second child, he is experiencing the birth of his third child...yes, with someone else, but i think that it is meant to be this way, i have accepted it long ago, and i only hope for the best for their family...matt is currently sleeping on the couch, recovering from what was supposed to be a four-day reunion on the beach, turned into about 7 days of "new little sister being born"...

and as for me...well, work this week was busy and less stressful than last week...i got a small glass sliver in my heel last sunday while watching csi, and due to my problems with the doctor appointment/insurance company (which i will explain later), i still have this sliver in my heel and i am concerned that it will become infected, so i am slightly frustrated about that...at this moment i am working on a letter to the insurance company with which i will enclose copies of documentation that will prove that this isn't my fault!...again!...back to non-insurance issues...i am going to SILVERWOOD monday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...yes, obviously i am excited!...anyone who reads this and doesn't know about silverwood- it is a pretty cool theme park/amusement park/water park in northern idaho, by sandpoint, idaho, and it is very fun and i will be there monday supervising kids from my summer work place......so my work schedule is a little different this week...that is okay...i am scheduled off thursday (i never get weekdays off!) and i hope it is because technically this silverwood trip involves overtime...it is at least a 3 hour drive from the tri-cities to silverwood...we leave at about 7 am and return after midnight...last year it was really fun and i expect it to be even better this year...

i often wonder whether anyone actually reads this blog...i hope that it is an interesting, unusual, often bizarre, sometimes frustrated and frustrating look at the every day life of a person who is, i think, interesting, unusual, often bizarre, sometimes frustrated and frustrating...i still think my loyal follower in california is the only one who ever reads this (hi, sumo)...

well, matt has awoken and is walking toward me mumbling something un-understandable...so i will go now and relax and rest and catch up on laundry, dishes, and other important household stuff...hope it is a good day for all...later

8/05/05

sorry it's been so long since i updated, but i have been busy working and working, oh yeah, and also doing some work...angie has been on vacation so i have kind of been the "boss", so some added responsibility and stress, but it mostly suits my type-a personality fine...actually, i am not as "type-a" as i used to be, but still some remains...

i am tired since i just got home from work a few minutes ago, so i will hopefully update with a longer journal entry sometime this weekend...things have been going allright, kim is camping and will be home sunday, matt might go out of town for a family reunion on his dad's side in long beach, washington next week (lucky!), and i will stay home and work, but at least we have fun field trips, tuesday, swimming as usual, and wednesday, ice block sliding...it is so much fun, and i think i blogged about it when we went last year, so if you want to know about it, look in my archives during august or maybe july 2004 and i wrote about it there...

later...

07/20/05

lance is still up by 2:46, heading into a difficult day of riding tomorrow...

a busy, busy, busy day which was helped by our field trip to the bowling alley...i had forgotten how much fun bowling is!...the day was otherwise stressful and more stressful due to having to move all of our things back into the youth center...it hasn't really bothered me before, but today it was very irritating and frustrating and i will be glad when the summer program is over and school starts again!!!!!...

also we are not going ice block sliding this summer like we always do, so that is disappointing...

i am still praying about and trying to trust the Lord about this possibility of moving into a townhouse, so whatever happens there we will just deal with...

i haven't yet made a doctor appointment, nor have i made a veteranarian appointment for tigger...he needs some more of those "soft claws" applied, and he won't let me do them, so i will have to take him in...

so it's almost 5:00 and so i will end this and go watch the local news, then the nbc nightly news with brian williams, then the local news at 6, then probably read for an hour until a rerun of "frasier", then i will probably go to bed, since my alarm goes off at 4 am, then again at 4:30 am if i just can't get up at 4...

later...

7/19/05

a good day...lance leads by 2:46...it's looking good for his seventh tour de france...a busy, stressful, fairly okay day at work...the best part was swimming...i spend as much time underwater as possible...it's peaceful and quiet for those few seconds at a time that i am floating under water...swimming is a great stress reliever...

i am looking into us moving into a 3 bedroom townhouse here at our apartment complex...when i was married, we lived in a 3 bdrm townhouse here and i really loved it so much...downstairs has a living room, dining area, kitchen, washer/dryer area, half bath, patio, then upstairs there are 3 bedrooms, a vanity area, and a full bath...lots of storage area and i pray that if it is to be, that we can move into one, and if not, then we will stay here and just be thankful for what we have...

tomorrow we are going bowling, that should be fun...

i still can't wait for school to start...

i have a lot of paperwork to do for my health insurance and for my substitute teaching for the upcoming school year...i try to do as much as possible on my break at work, but i should be doing it now...i don't like the word "should", so i will say, i could be doing the paperwork now, but i am choosing not to...that's better...

i need to make a doctor's appointment, as i am feeling tired...i think i can diagnose myself...i already know that i have an underactive thyroid...also i have temporarily stopped walking 3-4 miles a day and i have swam only twice in the last two weeks, and it makes me more tired to do less...i don't know if that makes sense, but i do much better and feel so much better when i am active doing things that i like, such as walking, swimming, doing pilates...

that guy from law and order who is also a politician was just mentioned as a possible supreme court nominee possibility...fred dalton thompson, i think...

okay, i am through...until tomorrow...or later tonight...

07/14/05

seems fitting that a frenchman would win the stage of the tour de france on bastille day...

lance still has the yellow jersey...

i'm so unusually tired right now...will be going to bed as soon as i am done writing...after work matt and i played pool, then i was too tired to swim...

work was really good once again...still, i can't wait until school starts...

ok, i'm done until tomorrow...

later...

07/13/05

lance still leads...we're into the mountain stages, so this is where he shines...

a really fun and great work day...we have a medieval theme at the program where i work, and i went crazy with it...kids were making their coats of arms, hats with long flowing ribbons, shields, playing chess, stratego, or risk...i had typed their names in olde english and they used them on the coats of arms...also compiled a list of modern english common words and sayings alongside how it was said in olde english...imagine these youngsters greeting each other with "good morrow, my lady...how are thou?"...it was classic...also came up with the different ways to acknowledge kings and queens, barons and baronesses, dukes and duchesses, knights, etc...very fun and it really makes me miss teaching school!...can't wait for the school year to start!

we also had field day with water balloon fights, potato races, capture the flag...very fun day...

i'll write more later...

07/09/05

well, it is about 5:00 pm and i haven't left my apartment all day, and that is okay...matt will be back shortly and kim is having dinner at konnor's...i have been reading my blog entry archives, and i am so thankful to have this blog to capture so many memories that i seriously would not remember...the good and bad, exciting and boring, you know, life!...i was feeling somewhat depressed this morning, but i awoke at 5:00 and just sat and thought for a while, then at 6:00 my favorite radio show came on...it's called "weekends around the northwest" and it highlights various resorts, parks, hotels, etc. around mainly washington state, but also oregon, idaho, northern california, montana...i think i have mentioned this radio show in at least one previous blog...this morning the resort on the show was the "kahler glen resort" near lake wenatchee in washington...it sounds like a cool place to go for golf and skiing and hiking, etc... the website is www.kahlerglen.com or something like that...i don't know why i am so obsessed with travel shows and stuff...so i guess the rest of the night looks like this: the local news at 6:00, then nbc news at 6:30, then csi at 7:00, then who knows?...i think matt and brie (his girlfriend, who i will discuss more in a future entry) will be here and we will probably watch a movie or two...i have known brie for a few years and she has become very special to me...

so tomorrow i will go to church and what else?...i don't know...since i have to be to work monday at 6 am, i am in bed by 8 pm, so that means i have to do everything rather early...that is ok...i have been walking the almost 2 miles to and 2 miles from work each day, plus i walk to and from church almost the same distance...so 4 miles a day just getting to and from work..actually, the church i attend is directly across the street from my summer work place...i have hardly driven at all this summer...so the high gas prices haven't really affected me...

so my hands are hurting, and i don't know why....so i will stop now...

07/08/05

this has been a tough week...

what happened in london yesterday is disturbing and troubling and not really at all surprising to me..not that i expected it to happen in london, but i just expected it to happen somewhere...

i have been reading a lot about the situation in idaho with the young girl who was literally rescued from her abductor and wondering what has happened to her brother...the alleged killer of family members and friend has a blog on blogspot.com...i inadvertently went to it from a link on an msnbc.com story and i have gone back and read from different parts of it several times...i don't know what to think...i don't know how blog entries are monitored, obviously they are in some way...it feels so strange, that i wish i could go back in time and reach out to this person who possibly did such heinous crimes...at any time of day there are people contemplating horrendous crimes against people and maybe even using their blog to vent and rage...if only they could just stop there and not have to go any further with their violent fury...something needs to happen so that people can be safe to walk the streets or even just live in their homes!...things are much better, i'm sure...because of things like amber alert and the center for missing and exploited children, but it still happens...children are so vulnerable...i say this as a mom and a school teacher and a child care provider and mainly just as a fellow human being who just wishes that people could be safe...i need to stop because i don't seem to be expressing my opinion in a way that could actually do any good...so i'll stop...

later...

it's july, and that means only one thing: it's tour de france time! if you read my blog last summer, you know that i love the tour de france, so i am following yahoo:uk and ireland's information ...if you have cable tv, watch the tour on outdoor life network...i don't have cable, but will spend much time in the rec room of our apartments to watch it...

go, lance!

and happy 4th of july to all citizens of the usa!

6/27/05

just got home from work...a good day, basically, with some frustrating moments thrown in...we've a staff meeting tonight, so i am looking forward to that...will write more later...

6/25/05

life as we know it can and does change in the blink of an eye...won't go into details, but my son matt is hurting quite a lot right now and i just want to be here for him...it just shows me once again that the things and the relationships of this world cannot be our focus, because people always fail one another...it's just the way it is...and i am one of those humans of whom i speak...i just have to focus on the Lord and take these sorrows to Him and let Him work in our lives...i just want to put both of my kids in His hands and trust Him....it's hard, though, isn't it?

i spent the day working at "ye olde merrie greenwood renaissance faire" at howard amon park, and after church will work at it tomorrow...as a fundraiser for hanford high music, we sell tickets, take tickets, give stamps, take surveys, give out the "jester press" faire newspaper...it was fun, but very busy, very tiring, and of course, there weren't enough people to help in shifts, so i walked there this morning (a good 3 mile walk, but it was a beautiful morning walking mostly along the path along the columbia river) and worked from 8:30 am until about 5:00 pm...tomorrow i will go to church then walk there and i guess work from around 11:00 am until about 5:00 pm...i had never attended a renaissance faire before, it was enlightening and interesting...i like to experience new things in life, you know...

so tonight i will watch the local news, then nbc nightly news with john siegenthaler, then a repeat of csi, then i don't know...maybe a dvd...maybe i will read (finish harry potter and the goblet of fire maybe?)...or go to bed....maybe matt and i will play another game of chess with the pieces that are mariners and yankees players...no...i lost that game badly....i am not a good chess player, but i like the way it makes me think...

such sad news lately...those three boys in new jersey who accidentally died...i just pray for the families and friends...also the girl killed in florida in a shark attack...don't know what will happen in the situation with the young woman who is missing in aruba...how do families go on?...each day there are casualties of war in iraq and afghanistan...i know, i know, that death will end the earthly lives of each of us, but it's hard to handle...

later....

6/23/2005

i got home from work about one hour ago...matt and brie are on the couch and we have the movie "love actually" on...i have only seen it about 6 times...some of the characters i like, such as "colin frizzle" and colin firth's character and liam neeson's, i feel badly for emma thompson's character, and i don't like the alan richman or his secretary or colin firth's wife/girlfriend at the beginning...if you ever watch it, make sure to watch the entire movie, or none of it will make sense...saw "moulin rouge" for the first time the other day, and i really liked it...very unusual, but something kind of cool about it...so, work was good with the exception of one incident that isn't even worth going into...so i will be going to bed at 7:30 or so again, that is okay...great mariner game last night, they came back to beat the a's...kim and konnor did something so helpful last night, i can't even explain it, but i was truly surprised and shocked in a positive way...in some ways life is a really difficult struggle, but last night really showed me something...both of my kids have to deal with too many adult responsibility type of issues, and as much as i would like to shield them from most of these things until they absolutely have to deal with them, well, i can see that it gives them both a maturity and an intuitiveness to the needs of others that people their age don't always see...well, i will write again later...

6/20/2005

it's a hot day in the tri-cities...i think it is about 95...certainly not the hottest it has ever been at this time of year, but it's been mild for so long that it catches people off guard...yeah, i watched the weather reports and knew it was going to be hotter, but it just feels too warm for me, i prefer the mid-80's...i'm watching nbc nightly news, then the local news will be back on, then whatever...i'll probably go to sleep fairly early, since i am waking up at about 4:30 am to get to work on time...not complaining, i like that shift, and am thankful for my job...i'm tired, so i will quit for now...

it's about 10 am on saturday...i have been up since about 6 doing some cleaning and stuff...actually i was in bed until 7, listening to this cool radio show that i try to hear every weekend, called "weekends around the northwest"...it is all about resorts, bed and breakfasts, camps, ski areas, etc. in the pacific northwest ( mainly washington, oregon, western idaho, northern california too) and also updates festivals, shows, etc. that are happening each weekend...plus a movie critic discusses latest releases (today he highly recommended "batman begins" and "mr. and mrs. smith")...one of the festivals it mentioned is one at which i will be working next weekend...it is "ye old merrie greenwood faire" which is next saturday and sunday in howard amon park...i think that i am selling tickets as a hanford high school fundraiser...

speaking of hanford high...anyone who has read my archived blog entries knows that silverwood is one of my favorite places in the world!!!...it is such an awesome amusement park/water park...i went up there with hanford high/middle school students and had the best time!...we twice went on corkscrew (a very brief, very fun metal roller coaster with two 360's!), one time each on the huge wooden roller coasters, tremors and timber terror, twice on my favorite ride, tilt o'whirl ( it's fairly mild but goes really fast if you spin it just right1), went on the water rides called thunder canyon (very fun!) and the log flume (kind of boring), also i skipped the super round up (i've been on it at the fair, i think i got sick), then we went to boulder beach, which is the fun water park with the wave pool (i could spend all day in there), went on the tube slide (suprisingly scary!), floated around in the "river" on tubes...so fun...i hope to save up some money for later this summer to take me, matt, brie, and others, and kim and whoever she wants to bring...there will have to be a limit because of room in the cars, and also it is about $40 a ticket each and people will have to pay most, if not all, of their tickets...hope we can work this out because it ends up being such a fun day...

ok, so i don't really have plans except i have been invited to a lasagna dinner thing at konnor's house...i really like konnor and his family so i am pretty excited to go...it starts at 5:00 and i think i will walk there...i haven't spent too much time with kim lately, so this should be nice...

later...

early saturday morning

frustration...i just wrote a great blog entry, but my @%^$# internet disconnected before i published it, so dang...well, i won't go into a lot of detail, but things were kind of rough earlier, and i hope they get better...mainly, i just love my kids and want us to work things out...i want to continue to work to provide a home for them and support them and love them without undue pressure and unrealistic expectations, but with some healthy boundaries and limitations and some expectations that will help them become who they can be in life...and today we had some difficulties and miscommunications about this...i know it will get better...hey, thursday i went to the mariners-phillies game at safeco field!!!!!!!!!!!...ichiro was right in front of us, we were sitting in the front row next to right field!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...really really fun!!!...more about it later...take care, everyone in blogland!!!!!!!!!!!

it has been a long time since i wrote...march 27, to be exact...well, so much has happened, and i won't go into great detail...kim has been back living here since april 4...so matt, kim, and i have just been living together like there was never any time away from one another...sometimes i just stop and think about it and i am so thankful...also my grandma died yesterday, so that has been hard...she had alzheimer's which is an extremely cruel disease...friday is her funeral...i will write more later...hopefully i won't wait 2 more months until i next write...later

Christ the Lord is risen today...alleluia!

happy Easter to all...i am in my new apartment and am liking it very much...yesterday, kim had her first track meet and did great...i spent a few hours in the rain watching students from Hanford, Richland, Mead, Walla Walla, and Lewis and Clark High Schools compete...it was great to be back at a track meet...i guess i went to the Pasco Invite before, and i was on the track team in junior high for a while, but it was a great atmosphere...and we really need the rain, so no complaining here...i love rain, anyway...so i am getting ready for church and then meeting some family for dinner...matt comes home tonight!...he has been in lynden with his friend ryan and i pray that they are safe in driving home, especially over snoqualmie pass...can't wait to see him...oh, yeah, extreme makeover home edition is on tonight!...and march madness!...wow, there have been some awesome basketball games...lots of overtimes!...our new professional football team, Tri-City Fever, won last night...it looks like our Western Hockey League team, the Americans, will be leaving for Chilliwack, B.C...they have been here since 1988 and it will be sad to have them leave...oh, well, all the best to them if they do leave...bye for now

03/16/2005

happy birthday to me...yes, it has been a good start to my 43rd year...sorry it's been so long since my last blog entry...i have moved into a new apartment since i last wrote...been busy working too...will write more later, must get to sleep...i just haven't been online much lately, but i plan to update daily, no promises, though...later...

02/27/05

kim called me once since that blog and spoke with me for a couple of minutes, other than that it has been the same as it was over the past months...i will just continue to love her and "leave the door open" for a relationship, if that is what she seeks now, or ever...meanwhile, it looks like matt and i are moving once again, this time into a 2 bedroom apartment in the same complex...this looks to be a very good move...also we will probably we will going to the 3A high school basketball tournament this weekend since hanford high has made it to state...if it works out, i will drive up with matt and couple of friends to tacoma and stay thursday and friday nights and watch some high school basketball...i hope it happens, i am excited to go...back in 1979, my junior year, my high school's boys 4A basketball team, Pasco, played in the state championship game against our biggest rival, the crosstown Richland Bombers...it was my 17th birthday, and i attended the game with my sister and brother-in-law and my brother...it was great, unfortunately, we lost, but 2nd place in the whole state of washington is awesome!...so 25 years later, here am i going to my son's former school's state playoffs!...i'll let you know how it goes...

02/14/05

i may have just received the best valentine's day gift ever possible...there is hope for some kind of reconciliation with kim...i didn't teach today, was feeling overwhelmingly sad, missing her, and prayed and tried to cry but couldn't...so i was resting, then fell asleep and heard knocking at the front door...i didn't want to see anyone, and knew that matt had a key, so...then the phone rang...i thought that matt had misplaced his key, so i walked out to the front room and saw kim looking in the window...she sat and ate her subway sandwich (she loves the ones with bacon and mayo, although you could never tell from her trim athletic build) and we talked and i was honest without being pathetic...it was a wonderful conversation because it was simply a mom and daughter talking...she is going to be here the next few days...something may have happened at her grandparents' home...i don't know...i cried for joy when she left and i prayed that God would help me in this new chance that i have...i need to be realistic, too, and know what has happened and not forget that...but above all, i love kim, have never stopped loving her, no matter what, and that will be the way it was no matter what happens this time...i'd just like kim to know that wherever i am, there is always a place for her...i hope that we can have a real relationship, but i am not sure what that means...so, maybe this is a new day...a new start...we will see...

01/31/05

i am still trying to recover from this flu...i am so exhausted and congested, can't hear at all and have absolutely no energy...what am i going to do?...i am going to try and "work" a couple of hours at kids place this evening, but how responsible is this choice?...also, i still have a bad cough...it may not sound like it, but i am so much better than i was...i am just getting very frustrated to not be able to provide for my family...i need to go, it's too much to have to type all of these words...it wears me out...when will i be back to feeling some energy?

01/30/05

still trying to fully recover from the flu...i'm still very fatigued, congested, weak, and frustrated...i have been attempting to finish my taxes, so that's why i am online, needed some information from my school loan about how much interest i paid last year...i should be able to send off my tax form today or tomorrow...i missed the entire week of work last week...i am trying to determine my ability to teach this upcoming week...i am still so out of it, but so much better than i was...last week felt like a coma...the helpful part has been that i have slept like almost normal the last two days, and that has been a blessing...this, too, shall pass, right?...and i am still dealing with some sadness and frustration about the situation about kim...no more initials, okay...my daughter is named kim, and i miss her so much, it seems unbearable right now...i know that earlier in my blog i actually wrote out people's names, what does it matter if i actually say what people's names are?...maybe later i will regret this and go back and change them all back to initials, but for now, you will get names...by the way, my name is kelly...my son is matt...we are actual persons with names...i don't know if the flu is making me weird or weirder or what, but there you go...okay, back to bed...later...

01/28/05

i have had the flu...it was really bad...feeling much better today...hope all is well out in blogland...i will be back to writing again regularly soon, hopefully...take care and pray for the iraqi elections...

01/22/05

haven't written for a while...sorry...i am not going to write much on this tonight, either...i am obviously alive but have been quite down...not depressed, just saddened by life and in need of prayers, as we all are...many people in my life are experiencing especially hard times, so i quickly offer them up in prayer...my aunt l., whom i saw today, is in much pain and has so much responsibility...my mom and dad are in the middle of caring for the older generation and caring about the younger generation (namely, me, my bro and sis, etc.)...my daughter who continues to estrange herself from me...my son who has many choices to make...so many other people, like the soldiers around the world and in iraq especially as we await the elections...also those brave iraqi police officers who risk their lives to help ensure safe elections...

every day it just continues to be a hard world in which to live, but we do keep going, doing our best for His glory until our time here is up and we get to go to our reward or punishment...

it's not that easy, though, is it?..

01/15/05

just a quick note to say hi and that i have been extremely busy with work and also having fun, which i will write about later...hope this day is a great one for all...

01/09/05

had a great weekend with m. in seattle...will tell more later...we are home safely and that is what matters...

01/04/05

my return to teaching has been really great, more on that later...after work at kp, i was invited over to a.'s house for dinner and we had the best time talking and laughing and playing with her puppy...we also prayed together before i left...i just got home about ten minutes ago...we are watching "amazing race"...hey, all of you out in blogland should watch the seattle seahawks and the st. louis rams game on saturday afternoon- m. and i are driving up and going to the game!!!!...so if you are watching and you see a couple of crazy fans, that would be us!...it is going to be freezing cold, but we will have fun!...i have been to numerous major league baseball games, several NBA Seattle Sonic games, many WHL hockey games, a Seattle Sounders soccer game, and an NFL "strike" game with replacement players (fun! not), but this is my first NFL playoff game, so it should be fun...the weather may be very bad on the drive up, so those of you out there who pray, please say a prayer of safety for us, starting at about 6 am on saturday morning...

anyone out there seen "napoleon dynamite"?...yes, i have seen it 3 times and unfortunately for anyone in my life, i have memorized certain lines and tend to say those lines at random times...what is it about that movie that makes it so quotable?...my favorite characters are pedro and kip...

i'll write more later...

01/01/05

it is just another day, isn't it?...december 31, 2004 was one 24-hour period, and now january 1, 2005 is the next 24-hour period that follows, right?...i could be realistic and practical, but no...i choose to see this as a new start, a new beginning...i sit here at my computer and watch the mix of rain and snow fall from the sky...will 2005 start out like 2004 did exactly one year ago today, when inches and inches of snow fell until we were buried for the entire month under at least a foot of snow?...hmmm, is that why i bought all of that canned food at safeway yesterday?...i have candles, a lighter, batteries, what else will i need if the power goes out like it did several times last year?...

there is something peaceful about falling snow...i wish peace could fall onto people and places like snow does...some people would need an avalanche of peace to fall upon them...me included...

don't quite know where this blog entry is coming from...

i think m. and i will go out to mom and dad's and watch football bowl games...a strange year since neither washington state nor washington are in any bowl games because they were both poor teams this year...but once the bowl games are through, i can concentrate on college basketball and then baseball...once again i can bury myself in sports to take away the frustration and confusion about the difficult things that happen in this world...

sorry, i will not make promises that i know i won't keep, like "oh, this year i am going to _____ and _____, and not _____anymore!...really!"...yeah, right...

so monday it is back to teaching and i will be at the same elementary school in the same assignment for maybe 3 weeks...

so i'll end this entry with a prayer for myself, my son and my daughter, my family, my friends, my co-workers, anyone reading this blog, and basically anyone in the world...just do what you can to make the world a better, more peaceful, more interesting place...sounds trite and simple, but it can be very difficult to do this, especially when things aren't going well...

Lord, thank You for Your love...help me trust in You...help me always to seek You...use me whatever way You can to help others...Amen...