Lost Reference

In honor of Sawyer and Kate...."Love is a Mixed Tape." Nice work!

Mini-Vacation

I've decided that three days away from work just isn't enough to be considered a real vacation. It's more like a mini-vacation. Not near enough time off work.

My mini-vacation was wonderful. It was our 13th Annual Ladies Retreat for church, and we had a blast. It was one of the best ever. Our theme this year was F.R.O.G. (fully relying on God), and most of us are about sick to death of frogs. There were frogs EVERYWHERE. However, we did manage to have a wonderful time with a musical lily pad game. I was near tears with laughter. And, believe it or not, God even loves cheaters. :-)

We were at Camp Rilea again this year between Seaside & Astoria. They have an excellent facility, and they are most hospitable to our group. Major shout outs! I managed to do a ton of shopping and didn't step foot on the beach...not once. I'm okay with that. We had wonderful weather on Thursday, Friday and Sunday...and only had to put up with the normal Oregon rain on Saturday. Not too bad.

I managed to do a mile run on Friday night around the base, and that was interesting...to say the least. We ran literally head-first into troops conducting night maneuvers and marching...cadence-filled marching, and all. Nice.

I'm sorry to admit that I hardly took any pictures. And, I haven't even uploaded those that I did take.

All-in-all it was a very fun trip, and I wish I were still there.

This is how you know I need a vacation!

Me: "You're acting weird today."

Brian: "Yeah. Can't I act weird sometimes? ....and can be you be a little more spec..."

Me (interrupting): "Kinda needy. You know like a cat when they need attention. You're like go away, go away, and the cat just keeps coming back for more. Like that."

Brian: "Yeah... I put up with that multiple times a day from Smacky."

Me: "STOP SMACKY-ING ME, BRIAN!"

The List

I was taking a peek at M4W postings on Craigslist today...just poking around, when I happened upon an idea that sparked my interest.

This man was stating how he'd taken some time to get to know himself, and what he wants in a relationship. He also talked about how he would rather just let things flow in terms of getting to know someone. In explaining this concept, he mentioned that some people tend to "force things to fit" when two people may not really make a good fit. I imagined he was referring to many different aspects of his life, as I tend to imagine people fitting into my world much in the same way when I'm dating.

I think I'm one of those people he was talking about. Instead of sticking to the grocery list, so to speak, I throw things in the cart that don't belong. I end up spending way too much money, and getting many, many more "calories" than I bargained for.

Today's advice, if you choose to accept: Make a list, and stick to it!

Now, if I can just take my own advice....

Quote of the Day

Here's a great quote...

"Hope is the feeling you have that the feeling you have isn't permanent." – Jean Kerr

Dreaming in Dimes

As I walked along the sidewalk of a very busy Portland street today, I was much enjoying Sean Nelson sing Flagpole Sitta in my ear. I was bee-bopping along, and spotted a dime on the ground. A fleeting thought, as I passed the dime, questioning myself as to why I hadn't stopped to pick it up. After a little more thought, I wasn't really sure if I normally would have bothered to stop and swoop it up or not. However, on this particular day I was on a schedule. I had a plan, and I didn't figure a dime was worth my time.

While still listening to the same catchy tune by Harvey Danger and continuing my walk, I passed yet another dime. Now, this was a little odd. Some time ago, it was shoes I happened upon in my daily walk. But, not today. Today, it was dimes. What does this mean? It has to mean something, right?

I began wondering if it had something to do with the number 10. Does it mean there's power in numbers? Will something happen in 10 days? What was I doing 10 days ago? Is life only worth a dime? I remember dime store candy... Should I smoke a dime bag? What's the correlation between dimes and nickels, anyway? Does this mean something in terms of my walking?

And then, I began really searching the ground after this...for more dimes? Possibly. Or, for something else that could clue me into what this all means.

I didn't see anymore dimes along my route; however, I did see more numbers. I saw an empty package that read Lucky 7's. Not sure what the package contained, originally. I saw many more cigarette butts than I wanted to bother counting. I saw one golf tee in the bark dust in front of a lovely duplex. What does all this mean? Numbers? Is it really the number 7 that I should concentrate on? Or, could it be the difference between 10 and 7? Is there some significance in the number 3 for me today? I couldn't think of anything. Still can't.

I had a great walk, at any rate. And, I still feel like I'm walking around in a dream. Will someone please wake me?

Get Back in the Race

I signed up to do the 11th Annual Running with the Wolves 5k yesterday. Brian's going to make sure I get to this race - he's driving. Yay!

I'm excited, and have been working at getting back up to speed with walking/jogging within the last week. I'm nearly where I was before that sad day in February when I stopped taking care of myself for a short period of time. I'm glad that's behind me. No matter what happens in my life, I much prefer to take care of myself...it just feels better.

Thanks to a couple of special friends who continue to encourage me, on nearly a daily basis, to get back in the race...