Wednesday, August 26, 2009

A boy and a dog


Not sure which one is going to catch the frisbee...

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Mommy world blogging

Mommy world blogging…. Almost all the blogs I read are by moms who most write about mommy things. I know there must be more to the blog world. I’m not a mom and I have a blog. At first, I wondered if blogging simply appeals more to mothers, especially those who don’t dress their children up and parade them around on stage, but still want to brag and be proud. Then I thought, perhaps it’s only that the first one sucked me into a bubble of mommy blogs that keeps expanding. Of course the blogs aren’t specifically about parenting, it’s just that I can’t relate to about 75% of the things I read… the dinners, husbands, and hard to handle kid days. I love looking in on their lives and seeing happy, smiling kids. I like finding nuggets of wisdom to tuck away for someday if I should have a family and be a mom. But some days it not where I want to be. There are times I want to look in on someone who is at a similar place in life as me and know that they are finding their way here on earth.

So today I set out to find a blog or to that I might relate to and enjoy. (don’t worry moms…. I’ll still read your blogs too) First I checked out a couple blogs written about being single. Nothing too exciting there so far. Although I loved the title of one called This Fish Needs a Bicycle. Then I realized that I didn’t want to read about the stories of most single woman; drama , manipulation, booty calls. I was over that in college. Then, I looked into blogs by Christian singles. I didn’t find much and the couple I checked out were a little dry. Next I found some poetry and Christian media blogs. These were either outdated, boring or simply no longer existent.

I’m not giving up. I know somewhere on the world wide web there is a blog for me to fall in love with. When I find it, it will lead me to a whole other world of non-mommy blogging.

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment. In the meantime, it’s the moms and I!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

The best compliment

...I know.... I've been silent for some time... No reason really. Just when life gets in rut mode there isn't much to say that hasn't been said a million times already.

This weekend was a step outside the ordinary. It started bright and early... 7 am early on Friday morning when I woke up, ate a piece of banana and a caffeine pill and headed out for a run - a 7 mile run. Usually I don't run in the morning, but I knew I needed to get this run out of the way for the weekend. It was cool and quiet. Birds chirping all along the path, a squirrel and a bunny. It was kinda Snow White-ish. At least that's the thought I had while running.

After that it was off to the zoo with my friends K and G. I hadn't been to the zoo in several years and we couldn't have had a better day. I didn't take any photos but my friends have promised to share theirs and when I get them I will post them and tell all about our day then.

What I really wanted to talk about was my time at a family gathering tonight. I don't spend a lot of time with my mom's side of the family. Most likely because my mom never really felt like she was part of the family, neither did my sister and I. Even now as an adult it's sometimes hard to find my place. They are all great people and I know they enjoy seeing me. It's hard to explain without going into a lot of background detail. Bottom line is that they really don't know me and I've not really given them much of an opportunity to. The reason for tonight's party was Judy and her husband Han were in Michigan visiting from Texas where they live. It was Han's first time here ever. Judy isn't really related to me at all, but I was always fond of her, even as a child. She just has this sweet southern drawl and light in her face that's so endearing.

Usually for these events I show up, eat and figure out a way to make an early exit. Tonight that was the plan. I had driven myself so I could leave when I wanted and I was pretty tired to begin with so I didn't think I'd be staying much past 8:30. Right about the time I was getting ready to make my exit, the kids had started playing guitar hero and we thought Judy was down there about to play. That was worth staying to see, so I went downstairs and more time passed. By this time my mom had already left. I went upstairs to make my exit again and started talking. Somehow I ended up offering to bring in my guitar and play the song I wrote. It was just Ruth, Gail and Judy. No big deal. Of course they wanted everyone to come hear, so everyone piled into the living room. I was pretty nervous and I could feel that my face was all red. I wasn't nervous about playing or singing really. More so that they would enjoy it and understand it since it was a worship song to God and not the rock stuff on the video game.

And so I sang the song. The first verse was a little rough tonally, but then I felt myself settle into the song and just enjoyed the moment. That this pseudo-family was all focused on me and getting a rare glimpse into my soul. The song ended with one final strummed chords. There was a second of silence and then Nikki (my cousin's 9 year old) said, "That was way better than Guitar Hero!"

Nothing else mattered after that.