Sunday Stats

Again, can't say if my Stats suck on Sunday cause I really don't know. But here's my list of randomness for the week:

• Saturday I went skiing with Sheila. Met her at 8:30 and we went up to Mt. Rose and skied our fool hineys off. I'd texted Stoney on our way there, inviting him to join for the afternoon (not figuring he'd be up and ready any time soon). He arrived about11. Sheila and I had already done about six runs. The three of us did another four and Sheila left on account of her legs screaming at her. Stoney and I skied another three of four runs, my energy fading fast with each run. The final run I slid down a good way on my back, totally spent!
  
• On my way home I stopped at REI and checked out the garage sale. Didn't find anything I couldn't live without (but bought a thermous bottle anyway). I rented a pair of snowshoes for Mark ...
• A mile from home, waiting at a red light to turn left, a 14 yr old boy (TJ) got hit by a car. Right in front of me. The car that hit him was turning left, into the crosswalk where TJ had the WALK sign flashing and all. I checked.
• I just called TJ's mom Kim (got her number from the accident scene). He's feeling much better, has two fractures and a pulled ligament in his knee. The car was very low and his knee took the brunt of the impact. They see a specialist tomorrow and may have to go in and surgically remove bone chips that are loose in his knee. Mom Kim said she (they) appreciated the prayers, and I told her I would continue to be thinking of them all.
  
• Mark and I went snowshoeing and it didn't kill him. Not even a little bit. Far from the nightmare memories he has of snowshoeing as a kid. We were on a well packed trail and neither of us sank at all. It was a beautiful day, the lake was gorgeous with clouds laying low on the surface of the water. There was a Stellar Jay and possibly a Grey Jay hopping around the trees squawking at us.
• After snowshoeing, we stopped and had lunch and played some pool. Had my hiney handed to me. My game has really gone to the dogs since we don't have a table in the office any more.
  
• All in all, (except for poor TJ), it was a nice weekend.
  

Friday's Favorites

Since Friday is for listing my favorite things ... Facebook is my favorite social networking site ....

In the picture above we find Danny, Rick, Romy, Casey, Dawn and Kismet. I have to say, I've become addicted. Kinda slim on what to say, just go check it out. I'm Diana Keefe Adams (so all my old friends who knew me as Keefe can find me!)

While I'm at it though, here's some chili I made (the vegetarians loved it ... Mark thought it needed meat)

Would You?

MercyMe have put out a plea to help James Christopher Allums find a bone marrow donor. He has a disease called Fanconi Anemia…which basically means his body doesn't produce enough bone marrow.I've wanted to register for many years, and have asked several times at the blood center, how I get listed on the bone marrow donor list. It's always seemed complicated. I called the Vegas office several times and never got any information mailed to me.

One would think (I would think) that they'd make it EASY for people to be tested and added to the donor list. The test is a simple cheek swab…no needles, just a cheek swab! So I've gone to this website and read more information and have emailed to have the kit sent to me. I really hope that I get the kit.

If you mention in the email that you're being tested in honor of James Christopher Allumns, the test should/could be free (for 2 days they say, instead of $65) but I'd pay the $65 even if it weren't free. Make it easy for me! For as important as this is to me, I can't for the life of me tell anyone why I've not done it yet.
To use MercyMe's text

"To order your free testing kit, go HERE

Remember…it’s free for 2 more days. After that, it’s $65. Don’t let the money stop you from being tested if you don’t get to it in the next 2 days, but don’t miss out on this opportunity to bless and maybe even SAVE a life!!!!

Remember to specify that you are testing in honor of James Christopher Allums."

Per the DKMS website, "You will need to confirm that you understand your commitment and are eligible. And, you will need to provide your mailing address and telephone number."

I've been donating platelets for many years now (8? 9? at least nine ... maybe 10?) If not for James Christopher do it for you.

Friday's Favorite

Here's a quote I'm sure you've heard before:

Some people come into our lives and quickly go.
Others stay awhile, make footprints on our
hearts and we are never, ever the same.

and to this list I want to add the following people who have all touched my life. Some have come and gone, others are here still with me. I'm deliberately leaving family I was born with/into off the list, although they're remarkable) :

1. Mark
2. Chuck
3. Aunt Dottie (Alma Dorothy - who's name means nourishing soul and gift from God)
   
4. Sheila (Until Sheila, I didn't remember what it was to have a girlfriend)
   
5. Romy (who sent me a card with the coolest picture of her)
6. Victoria (aka Toria)
7. Risa Scranton (bestest friend for years, even after I left Albany)
   
8. Lynne McCoy (I wonder if I could restore this friendship?)
   
9. Rick (glad we've connected again)
   
10. Danny (Goof)
    
11. Stoney (many reasons)
    
12. Joseph (innumerable reasons)
13. Chicken Joe (happy to not have him a part of my life now, but he did shape me)_
    
14. Neil Nordmann (he spelt his name ei - he was my first best guy friend)
15. Casey Wimmer (after so many years since college, still a very dear friend)
    
16. Nancy J. Darnell (God made us friends, love made us sisters)
    
17. Diana Tanner aka Ditto
    
18. Marcia Ianacone (could contact her again)
    

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

and in writing this list, I got to Chuck and tears welled in my eyes. I am never the same. Each of these people, and so many countless others, who do count, shaped who I am.

Positive Post Tuesday

Thanks to Brody I'm on track for today's post.

My mom is visiting us for the holiday. She arrived after a full day drive on Sunday and a short drive yesterday morning. The weather is iffy for driving, we're getting SNOW!

My mom is wonderful. She knows what a messy person I am, organized in so many ways but a disorganized mess in so many others. We're getting a new kitchen at the end of January, so Mom's going to help me go through our cabinets and thin by HALF (that's my goal) all the stuff we have and don't need and/or use.

I posted a "Thank You" about my mom last month, so she gets double billing for Positive Post Tuesday.

Sunday Stuff

My week of randomness:

• My sister arrived on Tuesday for a week visit. Of sorts. Her husband had a conference at Squaw Valley for the week. Then they were going over to Chico to visit the Sierra Nevada Brewery. But the roads had chain requirements so they're here a day early.
• It SNOWED this weekend. Dusted. a little. More is better. Ski season is waiting.
• Got news this week about "big changes" ahead for my job. Good news is I didn't totally flip out and cry myself crazy. This is always a good thing. God Bless St John's Wort.
• Meant to donate platelets on Saturday, but had scheduled myself for whole blood not platelets (user error) so I rescheduled.
  
• We went out to lunch on Saturday with Sheila and Hilly ... last minute invited Danny to join us and he and his wife Stephani actually showed. Very exciting fun times. Steph connected me to the next point...
  
• Reconnected with an old climbing friend, Rick. Would make me quite happy to be able to post 'went climbing with Rick this weekend' type posts. Most happy indeed. We'll see.
• Climbed in the gym with Danny on Sunday, my finger joints are not happy with me. Aging. Such is life.
• Got the tree today - sister's husband and my nephew Hans (age 23) got it in the stand and put all the lights on - then my Alison actually helped Hans decorate it - and I helped. This is the first year in forever that it wasn't just me, which was rather nice.
• Was emailing a friend about a scrpiture that I didn't know the reference I'd said: He knew me before [I even was] but then another friend informed me of the scripture, and I was surprised how close I was: Jeremiah 1:5 "...I knew you, before you were born ... " Huh - I was pretty darned close.
  

Yeah, so that about wraps up my week in review.

Have You Given Back?

Makes a mother proud to hear:

"I like feeding people. Especially the homeless. It makes me feel good to hook them up with food." Josh



"I bought Buenos Noches Luna today. It was one of my favorites growing up so I gave it because some other little girl just has to have it." Alison

Friday's Favorite

Friday isn't over yet, so I can still post.
My favorite thing I did online this week was take the Jung Typology Test and then get my friends to take the test too.

I am an ESFJ Extroverted Sensitive Feeling Judging
Sheila INFJ Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging
Three of my bestest guy friends are all ISTJ Introverted Sensitive Thinking Judging
Another guy friend is an INTJ Introverted Sensitive Feeling Judging
Another girlfriend is an ENFJ

I found it very interesting (in a most cool way) that Mark, Joseph and Danny all share the same personality type, and Stoney is only slightly different from them. I think that shows consistency in my personality trait in being attracted (not like THAT) to the same kind of men. I wonder what Chuck was?

Sheila and I are opposite in the first two traits, and the same in the second two. My other friend, Jen is opposite from me in only one trait. (and I tested as an Extrovert ... see how that falls in line with my recent post about Paying Attention?)

Now I'm curious to know what my other friends are? Come on, find out and post your reply. Rachel? Jackie? Sarah? Kelley? um ... if I've not mentioned your name, it's cause I don't know you read me.

Paying Attention (again ... or is it still?)

I started this post and saved it as a draft back on Thanksgiving Day - if that's when Nov 27 was. I didn't publish it because I felt I was coming off whiny and negative, and that wasn't how I wanted to come across at all. So I saved it as a draft. But now, after a series of events, (three times a charm again) I am going to post it. I'm leaving all the original text as is and am going to put my new notes in a different color to differentiate them. Not that anyone cares about my thought process, but I need to keep them separate.

The original reason (reason #1 in my paying attention) I was going to post this was based on a reaction I had to my co-worker and friend Sarah's post. She was bummed and down on herself over a party she's trying to put together.

My friend Sarah is graduating from UNR on Saturday, December 6th, then she's got finals the next week. How crazy ridiculous is that, for the university to have graduation before finals? Totally ridiculous I say.

So here's the thing. Sarah is one of the kindest most gentle people I've met in life. I wrote about her for one of my Positive Post Tuesday posts. I didn't go on about all the nice things about her. Sarah doesn't realize how much like any of the rest of us she is. That's cause at age 24 (soon to be 25) she hasn't lived long enough to experience that other people are just as insecure and self conscious as her.

I know what it is to want to be the popular one.
I know what it is to want people to like me.
I know what it is to always feel 'second' best.

I can identify with Sarah, planning and organizing events has always been a very risky business for me. I've always considered myself shy, quiet and reserved. I don't expect people to actually want to come, so I don't plan anything.

Ok, so that's all I had originally said. Somehow I thought I'd said more. Maybe I deleted it.

And then, later on the weekend (this is #2 in the paying attention part of my story) I read a post on "Where's My Damned Answer," the first post I'd ever read on the blog in fact, that really hit home. The post was titled "100 Day Challenge: Family stories". I had (and still have for that matter) no idea what the 100 Day Challenge is even about, but I read Carol's post. And I commented. Here's my comment:

I actually started to blog about this myself over the holiday, but since it sounded so negative, I decided against it.

I grew up under the shadow of my older sister. She was always “the out going one, and the pretty one,” which by default left me to be the shy one and the ‘not pretty’ one.

At age 44, I’ve finally realized I’m pretty darned outgoing myself, and I don’t think a single one of my friends would ever describe me as shy. I’ve always had a hard time believing my husband for thinking I’m beautiful. That one still stands. I’m just me, and that’s good enough.

I read this morning in the book I’m studying 1 Corinthians 15:10 - But by the grace of God I am what I am …

[I'd forgotten about 1 Corinthians I am what I am.... guess that makes reading the blog #3, since the scripture was #2. but who's counting, are you?]

So I posted my comment. Then later in the week (which would have been #3, but since I forgot about the scripture, it makes this #4 ...) I told Sarah about my aborted blog post - telling her face to face how we're all insecure beings at our core. And I told her all the things about her that I've always admired and respected in her. I told her not to worry about those people who she is trying so hard to develop friendship with. I said "The people you are going to be friends with in life, are going to be those people who like you for who you are just the way you are."

Ok, so on to #4, which by now is really #5. Apparently I won the "100 day Challenge" drawing for having posted my comment. I had totally overlooked Carol's reminder Remember to post on this or Monday’s post to be eligible for this drawing next week. And thus, I realized I guess I'd better post my post. And thus, here it is. Long winded and all. [sorry, I really am trying to be less wordy]

How does this all wrap up? And what am I paying attention too? I dunno. How's that for an answer? I just had the same subject come up time and time again. Five times in fact, in the past week. So this is my take away:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Corinthians 15:10

I had to read it several times before the entire verse made sense to me. and his grace to me was not without effect means I noticed. It isn't in vain. I am aware of the truth that I am what I am, cause that's how I am made to be. I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me doesn't mean that I'm all that for being who I am, I am who I am because God is with me.

At least that's how it adds up to me.

Positive Post Tuesday

Today I'm writing about my mother-in-law. I've got two mothers-in-law actually. Lois is Chuck's mom, and over the past nearly nine years since he died, my love for her has done nothing but grow. I went over to her house Sunday night for a quick visit, and three and a half hours later I finally went home for bed.

This Sunday will be the ninth anniversary of Chuck's car accident. I've been doing pretty well with it. The Thursday before Thanksgiving was the anniversary of when he moved out of our home, and it didn't even dawn on me until after I'd gone to bed that night. I think it's weird how some years the anniversary doesn't upset me, other years it throws me for a loop. This year, I've been thrown for so many loops that this is just another one. I am extremely emotional all the time anyway, what's one more reason? At least this one's legit.

But anyway. Back to Lois. She was talking about a recent TIA (small stroke) she'd had, and how she's ready to go whenever the Good Lord takes her. She said she'd hate to have a major stroke and live impaired. Because I'm reading "The Purpose Driven Life," in a flash, a whole conversation went through my head. I used to work at an assisted living community, and many of my residents had had strokes, and were very impaired. But I realized there was a purpose for them surviving their strokes.

These people hadn't fulfilled their purpose in life. We all have many purposes, and one of theirs, in having survived a stroke, was that they allowed me to be caring and compassionate to them. God gave me that gift (and many other care givers) by allowing us to know and care for these incredible people.

I was never angry, or upset with God for taking Chuck. I thanked Him, for relieving Chuck of his pain and misery. That was the only purpose I knew or recognized. But now I have realized a greater purpose to losing Chuck. And in that brief flash of a moment (because the thoughts went through my head in far less time that it took to type them out or for you to read them) while talking with Lois, I realized one of the greater purposes of Chuck's death. His dieing allowed me to know his mom like I never did before. It allowed me to be there to comfort and love her like I never had before. And it brought me closer to God.

I'm still learning about God's purpose for my life, and how I can best live that life. But loving others, is the core. I've got that much down.

Positive Post Tuesday

What's the best gift you've ever received? My mom gave me the gift of knowing my Dad loves me. My parents divorced when I was five, my older sister Dawn was seven. In the years that followed, we saw our dad every couple of years. Just recently I was telling a friend that if I put my mind too it, I could probably count, on two hands, how many times I saw my dad before I turned 18.

When they divorced, Mom moved us back to Wyoming, across the country from Dad, who stayed in Maryland (I think?). We didn't see dad but for every couple of years because he remarried, and lived abroad. I really mean abroad because that's where Thailand and Italy (and Iran, and Pakistan, and the Philippines, and China) are. The other side of the world. Dad would come back to the States for business and we'd go spend a week with him, wherever his business was.

But every Christmas, every birthday, we had gifts from Dad. Dad called us. Dad wrote us letters and told us he loved us. I don't remember ever doubting that Dad loved us. Our mom never spoke poorly of him, never bad mouthed him. She worked a full time job and one, two, sometimes three part time jobs to pay the bills. But she never complained that Dad didn't send enough child support, or that he was late.

As adults we learned that Mom called Dad the week before our birthdays to remind him to call us on the actual day. Love him to pieces, but he doesn't remember dates. The year I turned 19, when Mom hadn't called to remind him, he forgot my birthday. I got a card from him exactly one month late. He thinks I was born in May. ... but all that's okay because I know he loves me. It doesn't matter that he doesn't remember the date I was born. He loves me.

So, my Positive Post is about my Mom. Because she was the catalyst that always told me my Dad loved me. And he does. Forty Four years running, I've never had any doubt.

Thanks Mom!

Life Journey

I have decided to start a new book, one shared with me a year ago. A year ago I wasn't ready to start this journey but I am now. A Purpose Driven Life is a 40 day journey of discovering what God has in store for me. I saw the book at Borders on Friday, and I thought it was time to pick it up again.

Last year I got through the first few chapters, and didn't follow it as suggested in the introduction. But as I said, I wasn't ready for it yet. Then this morning, after church, I felt I should get going. So I picked it up to begin at the beginning, rather than pick up where I'd left off.

I got as far as the introduction when it was explaining the layout and format of the book, and how at the end of each chapter there are points to ponder, questions to consider, and discussion topics. (or something like that, I'm writing this from recall, without the book in front of me). In this intro, it suggested reading the book and working through it with a partner. I called my sister, Dawn, and asked her if she'd go through it with me, which meant she'd have to find the Borders and buy a copy for herself.

If I start today, 40 days from now is December 25. I thought of Sarah and Kelley too, if they'd want to join me, but I chickened out on asking them. (so if you (they) read this and want to join, let me know, cause now you know I chickened out in asking.)

Dawn bought a copy and we're going to start reading today, and have discussion on the weekends. :-) I am excited about this new journey. So here's to the journey (should find/create an image), maybe I'll post little snippets and ah ha's ... or maybe I'll keep it between God, Dawn and myself. We shall see....

My Weekend

My weekends end up being kind of three day affairs because I typically come home from the office on Friday afternoon, so it ends up feeling like three days. It's funny Friday when I go to bed I keep thinking the next day is Sunday, but it's not.

Friday night Mark and I went to Smith's and bought some movies. We wanted to get "The Bucket List" but we didn't find it. So we ended up buying four other movies just cause they were there and I wanted to buy SOMETHING.

• Two Week Notice - I picked this chick flick cause that's what I was in the mood for. The Bucket List isn't so much a chick flick, but certainly a tear jerker. I have a lot to say about this movie, I quite enjoyed it.
  
• Star Trek Nemesis - Mark picked this one cause it was the last Star Trek movie
  
• Walk the Line - Have heard so much about it that but have never seen it. Alyssa and Gary watched it last night
  
• The Princess Bride - Mark has seen this and says I should
  

Then on Saturday, Alison and I had a girls day. We ate Zagol Ehiopian (mmmmmm good stuff!!!!) and went on a mission to find "The Bucket List." We found it at Tar-ghetto but I'd seen it $5.00 cheaper through Amazon, so I saved that cash and put it toward another four movies (Three of them were $5 each):

• Girl Interrupted - Alison had seen this and highly recommended it. We rounded out our girl day watching it together - powerful, deep, insightful... I recommend it
  
• The Terminal - This is one that I've thought sounded good but have never seen (like tens of hundreds others)
  
• There Will Be Blood - Alison recommended this one and I thought Mark would like it
  
• Must love Dogs - Sheila has recommended this one to me a couple of different times, and for five bucks, why not??

While watching the movie this afternoon I cracked open the handy dandy laptop and placed my order for "The Bucket List" which should arrive in time for next weekend. With our new library, and borrowed films from friends like Stoney and Joseph, just maybe Mark and I will catch up with movies??

And then there is Sunday ... and since it is Saturday night still, I can't tell what's going to happen except that at 10:00 I am meeting up with an old friend Kelley @ the starbucks (intentionally not capitalized thankyouverymuch) to catch up.

I'm anticipating watching movies in the afternoon. We have a lunch date, Alyssa is going to join us, and maybe Alison too. My heart is set on Bangkok Cuisine ... mmmm Pad Thai .. or or even better maybe, STEAK salad ...

Monday will be a short work day, show up at 8:30 to let Sarah in and give her the key. Pick up my boarding pass and then maybe lunch at India Kabob before my flight to Vegas. Jeeze, this entire post is about food.

Beer Bread

Last year when we went to Laramie I came home with a case of Bitch Creek Beer (from the Grand Teton Brewing Company) and I shared several bottles with my friends. I thought the name was funny. The beer itself was quite unpleasant to my palate. bleck.

This year, I bought a variety of beer from Snake River Brewing Co. and was much more satisfied. My favorite was the OB-1 (site is in FLASH so I can't link you to the details) and the most retched of this lot was the "Zonker Stout."

My mom gave me a bottle of "Bitch Creek Beer Bread" over a year ago. I decided to make it today. I didn't have the specific beer called for so I used the nasty Zonkers.

And the bread came out pretty tasty. Far tastier than the nasty beer. But it still leaves a strange feeling on the back of the roof of my mouth. At least it doesn't foam in my mouth, like the beer did. Uck.

Sunday Sunday

Just typing that title had an old song go through my head:

Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn't guarantee
That Monday evening you would still be here with me.

Monday Monday, can't trust that day,
Monday Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be
Oh Monday Monday, how could you leave and not take me.

Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time

Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn't guarantee
That Monday evening you would still be here with me.

Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time

Monday Monday, ...

If that's not random enough for a Sunday:

• Josh came over and made us Eggs Benedict for breakfast. At 1pm. Ok, so it was lunch, but it was breakfast cause I hadn't eaten yet.
• We looked through photos of his dad's youth. Alison and I had looked yesterday
• Alison is making tamale's ... Vegan tamales. She didn't believe the recipe that said "This is an all day project ..." and it truly is. She's wrapped more than a dozen and hasn't even made a dent in either the filling or the masa.
• I need a nap.

The end.

My Weekend In Bullets

Posts are always more fun with pictures, sbut I don't have any. Yet. They're on Joseph's camera. I borrowed this one from Stoney:


Here's the highlights of the weekend:

It started on Friday:

• Left work at noon
• Picked up Joseph - met Sheila in Carson City, leaving my car at a friend of Joseph's
• Drove to Pleasant Valley Campground just North of Bishop, CA
• Set up camp and helped Sheila make a MOST amazing meal
• Shrimp sauted in garlic, with fresh tomato and avocado, all served over linguine )
• Sat around the campfire until bedtime then crashed
  

Continued Saturday

• Rise and shine at 7am ... Huevos Rancheros for breakfast (potatoes, eggs, salsa, cheese)
• Off to Owens River Gorge to climb routes like this
• Climbed a total of six awesome routes with Joseph as our belay slave
  
• Pitstop wall
  
• I led Low Octane 9***
  
• I led it after her
• Warning Signs wall
• Sheila led Warning Laser Beam 8***
  
• I led it after her
  
• Sheila led Watch For Rocks 8***
  
• I led it after her
• I led Boating Prohibited 10a***
  
• Sheila after me
  
• AWESOME lunch of pita sandwiches
  
• We TR'd Batting Cage 10c*
• #5 for each
  
• I led Wonka 10a**
• Sheila TR'd Oompa Loompa 8**
• Mile and a half walk up the road back to the parking lot and the car
  
• TAILGATE party of beers and chips
• Keough Hot Springs S. of Bishop for a nice soak and shower
• Dinner at "Las Palmas" in Bishop
  
• Got gas and pulled away from the pump with the hose still in the car
• Back to camp for more campfire and BED
  

Wrapped up on Sunday:

• Rise and shine early at 7:00
• AWESOME breakfast burritos heated over the fire
• Broke camp and headed for Mammoth Lakes on a scouting mission
• Found a great climbing area pretty much IN Mammoth Lakes, we can go there with our husbands and climb half a day and hang with them the rest of the weekend.
• Drove through the June Lake Loop and found another great area to camp and paddle canoes with our husbands
• Back to Carson City for my car and back home (after dropping Joseph off)

TOTALLY AWESOME weekend!! Life is Good.

What Do You Do?

What do you do when you want to write about something, but you know the (be they ever so few) people that read your blog, and that inhibits what you write?


Do you write it anyway? And having asked that, I now worry that someone who I'm not even thinking of is going to think I'm writing about them and that they're inhibiting what I write. But if I were to write what I have on my mind, the one person who thinks "oh, she's talking about me" would realize "Oh, she's not talking about me at all, it is about ______." And that other person, who really would be the subject of the post, has no idea.

Sometimes I write stuff that I know someone else is going to read, and I'm completely okay with that, with their knowing what's going on in my crazy little head. Sometimes writing is a great way to communicate something that is difficult to talk about. But then there's stuff that's difficult to talk about because you've beat that horse to death enough already. Having beat the horse to death though, doesn't really make the subject dead. The issue is still out there, unresolved.

Ugh. Sometimes my thoughts are very confusing.

Weekend Brief ...

Yay! What a great weekend this has been. Yesterday I got to go rock climbing outside on real rock with my good friend Hans and Sheila!

Sheila and I have only been out three times this entire year. We took a weekend road trip to Owens River Gorge back in May (with Danny, Dave and David), then took a day trip to Indian Springs and then another weekend trip to Clark Canyon at the end of June.

The Clark Canyon trip was with our friend Joseph (who doesn't climb anymore because his knee hates life) but he goes for the fun of our company. My Alison and her friend Geoff joined us on that trip and we had a great time. But we haven't been out since then if you can believe that. (if you know me and my climbing, you'd know what a tragedy this is for me).

I've been so busy this summer going here there and everywhere other than climbing and have been looking forward to another trip to the Gorge with Sheila (and Joseph this time, Danny and Dave can't make it). Then climbing with Romy got me very excited about climbing again and I couldn't stand waiting for that next trip. So when on Thursday at the gym Hans suggested we go climb I leapt at the chance, and Sheila came too. YAY!

Climbing yesterday was with Hans, a friend that I haven't climbed with in over a year. It was really nice to catch up with him. After climbing, Hans had Mark and I over for dinner.

And then there has been today ... (in bullets?)

• Romy sent a link to pictures from our Tuolumne trip.
  
• Attended the 11am service of church and really enjoyed the sermon. After the service I went back to the "newcomers welcome" and met the associate pastor who runs a "Women of Excellence" bible study group out in my neighborhood. I am quite excited to start building my own community in faith.
  
• Then I went and met my friend Joseph. When he opened his door I announced "I need food, want to go with me?" So off we went for some delicious authentic mexican tacos at Beto's
• Off to Sierra Trading Post to buy something light yet warm for climbing in ...
  
• Off to REI to get a flashing red light for the back of my bike so I can ride to work without getting run off the road (at least they'll see me before they hit me right?)
  
• And now home to do some final organizing for NEXT WEEKEND where Joseph, Sheila and I will be heading back to the Gorge. YAY.
  

Life Carries On

Title to the song is I Grieve but Life Carries On should be a sub-title.

It was only one hour ago
It was all so different then
There's nothing yet has really sunk in
Looks like it always did
This flesh and bone
Is just the way that you were tied in
But there's no one home
I grieve...
for you
You leave...
Me
So hard to move on
Still loving what's gone
They say life carries on...
Carries on and on and on...
And on
The news that truly shocks
is the empty, empty page
While the final rattle rocks
Its empty, empty cage...
And I can't handle this
I grieve...
For you
You leave...
Me
Let it out and move on
Missing what's gone
They say life carries on...
They say life carries on and on...
And on
Life carries on in the people I meet
In every one that's out on the street
In all the dogs and cats
In the flies and rats
the rot and the rust
In the ashes and the dust
Life carries on and on and on...
And on
Life carries on and on and on...
Life carries on and on and on...
And on
Life carries on and on and on...
Just the car that we ride in
The home we reside in
The face that we hide in
The way we are tied in
And life carries on and on and on...
And on
Life carries on and on and on...
Did I dream this belief
Or did I believe this dream
Now I can find relief
I grieve...

Abundance Of Thanks

Today we are going to my Canadian girlfriends home for Thanksgiving. My initial question is still unanswered (because I'm an egotistical ignorant American?) about what do the Canadians give thanks?
But, I've decided that it really doesn't matter. I am taking this day, as all days should be, to give Thanks for all of the ABUNDANCE we have in our lives.

• I have Mark for my husband, who as my Alison reminded me recently loves me like no one else


• I have two beautiful children, Josh and Alison, both in their appearance and character


• I have both of my parents alive today


• I have Lois, my mother-in-law from my first marriage


• I have my in-laws, Ian and Brucie, from this marriage too, for which I am truly grateful.


• I have three beautiful daughters, Amber, Natalya and Alyssa, through Mark


• Albeit cluttered, dusty and not terribly clean, I have a warm house to shelter me from the coming cold weather


• I work for an incredible boss


• I have enough money to pay all my bills, and stash some away for vacations


• I have the cool car in the family

And the biggest, saved for last because it's greatest:

• I have GOD

There is so much more I could add, but this is my foundation.

I am making some vegan delightful Thanksgiving foods for Alison, because Sheila will have an over abundance of food for the rest of us.