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Just posting because ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) pdxpigglewiggle said to do so. Our power has been out for over a hour, and just came back on a little bit ago. Before that, I worked all morning and early afternoon on a website that I'm writing for. Can't wait till it goes "live!" While the power was out I cleaned the kitchen and made dinner (it's tuna night), so I wouldn't have to do it later. Now I'm off to take a shower before my sweetheart comes home. :o)
Have a great weekend!
LOL - just saw it, Sarah! The "Update Journal" button jumps when I go to click it, and then it says "Processing Whining," when it's getting ready to post. LOL!!! |
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Well, actually, flowers for me. *beaming*
My sweetheart came in from work, bearing a small bundle of wildflowers from our front yard. I was so out of it that when he came in I greeted him without looking, and then he showed me the flowers. So sweet! :o)
Not long after that I ended up sick in the bathroom. It's been on and off for a week now. Tonight was one of the worst. Michael ended up making a delicious soup for dinner, and I had some hot tea, and water, as well. I'm hoping I'll feel better so we can go to Dallas for the weekend to visit with Cortney and Jeremy, and their family. And if I feel better, I also hope that I'm well enough to enjoy the visit. I've been in a fog the last week, and haven't felt much like e-mailing or carrying on any conversations, or even writing much at all. What a rut.
We noticed tonight that the flowers Michael had picked, had closed. Outside, we realized that all of that particular flower-kind had closed as well. Not morning glories, but they resemble small daisies. What a surprise to see them go to sleep at night, and awaken in the morning. I should write something about them. *starts feeling a bit inspired*
Off to bed for now...my body is exhausted.Current Mood:  exhausted |
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Played around with my journal's formatting last night, and came up with some "Wicked" colors. I've never been into pink much before, but the combination of pink and green is a good representation of G(a)linda and Elphaba, and I like! :o)
Also found the "blurb" option, and added some song lyrics for now. I had fun experimenting with the HTML of blogspot (I'm learning lots about HTML for a website I'm creating) and the options of LJ. Fun fun fun!
Sorry for not updating more often...just don't really have much to say that would be of interest here on LJ. I've renovating my blogspot, and will probably start using that as my main blog, but will still post my entries at LJ and Xanga for my friends here. Thinking of going "friends-only" here, as well. We'll see.
Lots going on this week, so I'll post more when I can.
ETA: Oooh...like my new icon? Jo March, from Little Women. My alter-ego. (Anne of Green Gables is my other alter-ego.)
You know...I've been delving more and more into my writing career, and though I may not always have the most interesting things to share here, I may just try to update more often, even if it's merely a quote I want to share. I need to journal more. :o) |
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Michael and I are going to see "Les Miserables" tomorrow afternoon!!! Eek! Yay! Sooo excited! This is my favorite musical, and this will be the 4th time I've seen it. Hubby got us tickets for my birthday (which was in August), and it's finally HERE!!!
I'll update more soon! I've been writing A LOT lately, for pay (yay!) and so I haven't been blogging much lately, but I am learning to balance my priorities (keeping house, writing, etc.) and will get into the groove with all of this soon! :o)
Current Mood:  excited |
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Been meaning to post this little whimsical piece for a few days...
My husband was checking me out the other day! We were at Cici's Pizza on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 1st, and when I got up to get more food, he was checking me out! Ha! I think he got the idea from watching "Cheaper by the Dozen." We rented that last Friday night, and there's a scene in which Steve Martin's character, married for 20-something years, and having produced 12 children, gets "caught" checking out his wife's "tush." It was incredible to see that kind of devotion portrayed after so many years of marriage, AND so many children. And don't say "It's just a movie," because I know for a fact it happens in real life. My father-in-law always gets a "tush shot" of my mother-in-law on their Christmas morning videos. Ha! My husband has excellent qualities like that, he's inherited from his awesome parents.
So, Sunday night, after we got back from Cici's, he told me that he was checking me out. I just grinned from ear-to-ear. After 2 years of marriage and numerous things we've been through that could have made our marriage less-than-savory, we're still going strong!
I love it when something we've watched strikes a chord with my husband and me. I remember watching "Love, Actually" and my husband reaching for me as the end credits rolled. We danced to the various songs that played, good songs - a good soundtrack. We danced for so long, it seemed. We don't dance very often. Even at our wedding, our first "dance" was done mainly for photographs. Yet here, in this movie moment, my husband took the initiative and pulled me close to dance in his arms.
After we watched "A Walk to Remember," a favorite of mine, he pulled me close and kissed me as if the end of the world was just moments away, as though I was going to disappear. He kissed me with such passion, such thankfulness and gratefulness that we have the blessed opportunity to be together and love each other in such a phenomenal way. If you've seen the movie, you know why. I won't spoil it for you.
Just that same Sunday night (Feb. 1st), we flipped between "Extreme Home Makeover" and the Hallmark movie, "The Magic of Ordinary Days," featuring Keri Russell ("Felicity"), Mare Winningham, and Skeet Ulrich. When "Extreme Home Makeover" was over, we fully watched the last hour of "The Magic of Ordinary Days." It was a sweet film, as most Hallmark movies are. Nothing really deep, but just some fuzzy heart-warming stories. My husband was lying across the couch, his head resting in my lap, while we both watched the final moments of the movie. Something must have clicked in his sweet mind as he watched the couple embrace as the woman gave birth to their firstborn. He reached up and pulled my head down and whispered softly in my ear "I love you." Then he kissed me, full of love and emotion, awkwardness and devotion.
It's as if, in those moments, his love is his to express, without following my "I love you." He can let himself be moved to show his deep love, his thankfulness that we're able to experience such an incredible romance. We believe that perhaps one-in-a-million couples ever truly feel this way. Our love is a precious gift, and after everything we've experienced together, we know we're one-in-a-million. Most couples couldn't handle everything we've been through; many would have given up by now. We know that those circumstances have only made us and our love stronger, more grateful for every single moment we're together. One-in-a-million, for sure.
Current Mood:  loved |
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Well, Mike should be finished with Louisiana work trips for a while. The last trip he made was last Wednesday (2/2) morning (he went to work, and then drove straight to LA after work, because home was out of the way), and he returned on Friday evening (2/4). It kinda stunk because we had been planning to work a youth convention on the weekend, Friday night and Saturday all day, and we weren't able to. On his way driving back here, instead of being able to come straight home, he had to go back to the office to pick up some parts for a customer site he had to go to yesterday and today. So, he left LA around 8:30am, and instead of getting home around 3:30pm, he went to the office and got home around his normal time in the evening, 6pm. By then he was too tired, and the convention started at 7pm, but as volunteers we should have been there around 4pm or earlier. He was just so tired from all the overworking anyway, so we nixed the whole idea, and just decided on a "nothing weekend." We didn't even go grocery shopping Friday night like usual - he fell asleep not long after he got home!
HE BROUGHT ME PREZZIES!!! Well, presents. Which he now insists are my Valentine gifts, though I keep telling him that in that case, he should have saved them for V-day! Silly guy. He went to a clothing boutique (can you believe it? He went clothes shopping for me - how adorable can you get?) and bought me a lovely lime green short-sleeved sweater (love the lime!) and some overalls (they're actually really cute, not too dorky. He just thought they were cute, and that I'd look cute in them. After I got over making fun of myself, and took a look in the mirror...well, they're really cute. And I think I can pull them off). Yay for gifts!!! What a guy!
Saturday morning we were horsing around and watching cartoons in bed (the only day we get to sleep in late - like noon!), when the phone rang around 11am. It was our friend Amanda, who had just given birth the day before!!! She went into labor Friday morning, and the baby arrived Friday evening at 6pm. And here she was, feisty enough to be calling some friends on Saturday morning, inviting us to come to the hospital to see the baby! I don't think I'd be making phone calls less than 24 hours later! LOL! I wouldn't mind people coming to visit, or even making a few phone calls, but I do hope that anyone who calls me at that time will understand that I probably won't stay on the phone very long. I usually don't care for the phone anyway, and I have a small list of people who I will talk with for a great length of time.
So, that being said, we went and visited her and her hubby and the baby, a little boy. Very sweet. Amanda swore that she would be the last in our "group" to have a baby. See, my husband knew her, Lydia, and Leslie, all before we met. They all attended a Bible study group together. The girls all got married to other guys, and then I "married" into the group. The three other girls are a lot closer - they've been friends for years upon years, but they're really sweet, and we do spend time together sometimes, usually watching movies together as couples, or coffee get-togethers with the girls. But I'm not really into just the "girl thing" so that doesn't happen too often.
Anyway, Amanda worked daycare, so she always used to say that was birth control enough for her. And now, she's got a wee one. So, I guess Michael and I are the last! :o)
Well, other than that, I've been busy writing and reading a few books, mostly ABOUT writing. I've got:
The Creative Call: An Artist's Guide to the Way of the Spirit (not just for writers, but artists of every sort.)
I'd Rather Be Writing (Funny, funny, funny! And very helpful and on-target for writers.)
Bridget Jones' Diary (again - I never did finish it the first time.)
Anne of Green Gables (well, haven't started it yet, but will soon.)
And we're looking forward to seeing Les Miserables (the musical) in a few weeks! Yes!!! It'll be my 4th time seeing it on stage, and Michael's first. After that, I'm trying to convince him to take me to see Wicked when it starts touring - anywhere in the state! I can't get that music out of my head - I *love* Wicked! Now I need to get my hands on the book, as well! So, you have my recommendation. I've gotten a bunch of others hooked! Pick up the Wicked Original Cast Recording, and listen. Wonderful stuff!
Feb. 8th, 2005 @ 01:15 pm
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| » And he's off....AGAIN! |
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What a day! For those wondering why I was so quiet yesterday (no blogging), Michael came home yesterday - I was sooo glad to see him, hug him, kiss him, and all that good stuff. Gosh, I love him! Well, today I've been catching up on emails and journals, and had planned to make "Tuna Noodle Casserole" because pdxpigglewiggle made it sound so good! I also planned on chocolate chip cookies *from scratch*. Michael got home from work, and just when I was putting the tuna noodle casserole in the oven, his pager went off. Gee, and just when "American Idol" was getting fun! (Yes, we're actually hooked this season. I love Simon! Ha! And I recorded the last bit of it for him to watch at a later time.)
Good news - He got to eat dinner. He gave the Tuna Noodle Casserole a "Gooooooooooood" rating. Yes, that's what he said. "Gooooooooooood."
Bad news - He had to obey the pager.
When he got home yesterday, he didn't go to the office because by the time he got home, there really was no point in doing so. However, his co-worked called to remind him that it was his turn to have the company pager. He only gets it every so-many weeks, I think maybe 6 weeks or so. So, he made arrangements to pick it up locally, and really didn't think he'd end up having to go any major distance because 9 times out of ten, most issues are resolved over the phone. However, tonight as I was placing dinner in the oven, his pager went off, and he discovered it was the answering service, not just a customer asking for help. The answering service is where a customer in dire-need of help calls, and then the answering service pages my husband, who them returns the call. So, tonight he was needed. The annoying thing is that since his whole office has moved an hour away, he has to DRIVE down THERE to get any equipment he needs for the service all. This service call just happens to be on the complete opposite side of town. So, he's got to drive an hour to the office to get the equipment, and THEN drive an hour and 45 minutes the opposite way to get to this customer site. He estimates he won't even get to the site until 11pm (central time) - 3 hours from now!
Why is this so stupid? Well, the inconvenience would be easily remedied if his company would have an extra set of these tools & equipment at their headquarters office which is all of 10-15 minutes from us (where he used to work, until they moved his team to the office an hour away). If this were the case, then he (and his co-workers) would have a shorter, more efficient drive to the office to pick up their tools and then drive to the customer site. What makes this even worse is that they have a call answer time of 4 hours. This means that they have 4 hours to get to any customer site, from the time the call is answered. So, he's going to be there in 3 hours, hopefully. If the site was further away, like in Austin, this would be a major issue of efficiency. In the meantime, he says his team is trying to get the extra set of equipment to be stored here so that they don't have to do all this extra driving time, which is a complete waste of time.
He's also annoyed because he just got back yesterday from a week of constant work, and now tonight he is going out on another customer jaunt. All work and no play, I tell you. Of all the times for the pager to go off - usually he can talk & walk the customer through the problem; it's rare that he actually has to go somewhere, and especially in the middle of the night. He has NO idea when he'll be back, and he's still exhausted from his previous trip. Good thing for him, though, is that if he is gone for quite a while, and doesn't return to late tonight or early morning, he can go into the office late. Not that he actually gets a full night's sleep, but at least he isn't expected to go into the office if he doesn't get finished at this site until 5am. (It's happened before.)
So, I'm here tonight - feel free to IM me or whatnot. I'll be around for a while...oh, and the chocolate chip cookies are going to wait till Friday. It'll be a nice weekend treat. Did I mention, we really need to get away somewhere? Cruise ship...here we come!!!
Oh, and the cat knocked the phone in the bedroom down in back of the bed, and I can't reach it. When i tried to get it, my back made sure I was aware that it's still in pain. Good thing I have the second phone, from the kitchen. We made it to the chiropractor yesterday, which was a GOOD thing! Yay for an excellent chiropractor! He popped my back, my hip-area, and my neck. When he felt around my neck, I could feel the spots just as he adjusted that area. I could feel just when he'd found the problem areas, and it felt sooo good when they'd been adjusted. As I got up from the table he said "You needed that, girl!" He's such an awesome doctor - Michael and I like him very much. Now we need to remember to go once a month or so, instead of waiting months at a time!!!
I think the mood cat knows something I don't I think I'll make some tea or coffee. Perhaps journal a bit in my writer's daybook. :o)
Jan. 26th, 2005 @ 08:32 pm
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| » Good News!!! |
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Hooray! Michael called a little bit ago, and as far as he knows, he should be coming back tomorrow! He's going to try and get on a morning flight, and (Lord willing) he'll be back around the afternoon. Woo Hoo! He'll need to go back to the plant again in a month or two (not sure when exactly), to fix something else, but he pretty much knows what needs to be done next time, so hopefully it'll only be an overnight or 2-night trip. This 6-nighter wasn't at all expected! He was supposed to leave Wednesday night, and return Friday night.
"The best laid plans of mice and men..."
I haven't seen him since EARLY Wednesday morning (he left straight from the office after work to the airport), so I'm be VERY excited to see him again tomorrow. YIPPEE!!! So, we'll need to go grocery shopping a bit for random things (not much, but I ate most of the munchies in the last week, and he needs stuff for lunch for work, etc.), and I think I've decided on a nice home-cooked meal for my guy, since he's been eating out (mostly fast food) all week, and is looking forward to a yummy meal.
Meanwhile, I've got the house mostly straightened (I am SO excited about how I got the bedroom all fixed up last weekend when he was gone for 2 nights), and now I've been working on the last room in the house that's a mess - the computer room (which I am writing from). It's just a catch-all room. I've got my desk all cleared off, and am working on random junk around here. I cannot wait until we have shelves in the garage to put some of this stuff into storage!
Well, on that happy note, I'm off to see what else I can put away, and have a bite to eat. *grins*
(I just love the face on my "mood" cat - giddy cuteness! Bounce bounce bounce!)
Jan. 24th, 2005 @ 05:28 pm
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| » Cat Musings |
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Ha ha! I was just moving my cursor around my computer screen, and I realized that my cat was eyeing the arrow with great interest. His eyes were darting back and forth, so I started swirling it around, and his head was moving and following it all over the screen. I needed that laugh! Absolutely hilarious. My cat is a piece of work. LOL! :o)
And please continue to pray for the situation (about Mike) mentioned below. I'll update as I know more. Thanks!
Jan. 24th, 2005 @ 12:44 am
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| » All work and no play...I miss my boy |
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Argh!!! Keep praying for Mike. He just called me (finally! - later than he has been the last few days). They're STILL having issues with the system he was working on.
He said another guy flew out from Houston today to work with him at this plant in Louisiana, and now both of them have no clue what's going on. They worked all day, up until now (7pm central), and whatever it is is broken. So tomorrow they're calling the manufacturer of whatever the malfunctioning product is. Everything was working until he upgraded the system to their new requirements BUT they should have known this other part was out of place with the new system, and they should have had that updated before he upgraded. So, he's going to call his boss, and then call me back later.
I can only hope he might be returning to me tomorrow, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. *sigh* Please continue to pray and think good thoughts for him. He really appreciates it. And thank you all so much.
ETA at 11:44pm central:
I heard from him a little while ago, and he's not getting his hopes up for tomorrow, either. We're looking at *maybe* Tuesday...or later. I miss him. It's just really difficult. When he is finished for the day, he's too tired to really talk or chat, so we chit-chat a bit on IM, and then say "goodnight" on the phone, but it's frustrating the both of us, and I can feel the strain. Tonight when we talked, I was adamant about how I'd deal with the situation, and he thought I was getting angry, but I wasn't. I just expressed my frustration. We didn't expect he'd be gone this long. He doesn't have many changes of clothing, has had to do laundry, is tired of eating out, and living out of a hotel room. He's tired of sleeping alone in a bed without me, and tired of not feeling like talking much when we are even able to. If we'd known he was going to be gone for this length of time, both of us could have handled that. But this has thrown everything off kilter. It's difficult because we weren't expecting this to be such a long work situation, and it just keeps getting more lengthy. I just miss him. *sigh*
Well, this made me smile. Thanks readingmezzo!
Jan. 23rd, 2005 @ 07:37 pm
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