Being Churchy

O.k. I'm not what you'd call an overly zealous Christian. I do relish my journey into the Catholic Church, and if it comes up in conversation, I'll mention it. I wear either a crucifix or a saint necklace and try to live as exemplary as I can, but I don't throw it out there, nor do I try to convert anyone. But I have found my Church home and I enjoy it.
Last night I had another IM conversation and I posted about it in my other blog, but thought it would be interesting to share here as well.

I tend to stay on my computer throughout most evenings. Sure, sometimes I do other things like the dishes, perhaps some homework, or watching a little t.v. But I stay connected online checking email, reading other blogs, and I stay signed in to yahoo messenger. I've noticed lately that I haven't had as many random strangers trying to chat with me since I changed my profile to read 'single, not looking.' It's not that I'm not interested in a relationship, it's just I'm not trusting of meeting people online these days. I still pray that God has a plan for someone special to come into my life, and I'm trying to be patient in regard to that. Oh, yeah, I was making a point.
Tonight I had yet another random message, but did respond since he did have a profile (part of my rules for chatting). And we went through the typical cheesy conversation stuff... "where are you from?" around here "Do you have pictures?" Yes "Well, you're cute!" Thanks "What do you do for fun?" Ride rollercoasters. "Cool, anything else?" blog, watch t.v., go to church, crochet, go out to eat, movies, read, puzzles.... And for some strange reason, that ended the conversation. I'm thinking it was the statement about going to Church. Seems to scare some people off these days.

So no big deal on losing that conversation, but it makes me think about how people tend to be judgmental. I admit I've been quite guilty of that myself. I don't talk to people that are openly sexual online because I find it offensive. So I guess if my church-going is offensive, then that's o.k. But I have online friends of all sorts. I don't have friends simply because they share my beliefs. If that were the case, I'd be in short supply. But I cherish friends because of our differences and though I won't try to necessarily "win people to Christ", I will try to live by example and pray for them. Although you won't see a lot of "Churchy" stuff in this blog, it is a part of who I am right now. I'm still not going to talk to people that ask me if I want to see naked pictures of themselves, but I will try not to be judgmental about it. It is simply a choice. Not that the person who stopped the conversation was being judgmental, but since a conversation had started, it might have been polite to say that they weren't interested in pursuing further conversation. But oh well. Just my thoughts right now.

The Joy of Plumbing

I have a sewer line that is mostly fixed!! I say mostly because the part that is actually in the ally was not replaced (because we didn't have "real" plumbers do the work) but my wonderful brother came and finished the work today. As I type, Josh and David are in the back yard filling up the hole that has been there since oh, around July or so. For the past few months I've basically had a trench in my yard where the stuff that flows from the pipes in the house has been travelling along to the ally. Not a pretty sight, but it wasn't as bad as the overflow that was in the yard for the previous year. Yes, for at least a year, if not more. Basically I had a sewage swamp in the yard. So I'm going to hope and pray that the sewer line issue is resolved. I don't know what I'd do without my brother. He fixed my heating last year and the sewer this year. He's good to have around when I can acutally get a hold of him. I take back the bad thoughts I had about him when he didn't return my calls.
On the downside, my dogs got out today. Which isn't tragic as they were all found, except for the fact that Mollie is in heat. I really, really hope that she didn't get herself knocked up in the hopefully short time she was out. Perhaps a prayer to St. Francis of Assisi is due.

A Blustery Day

We got our first snow today. And I was one of those crazy people that went out in it. It was pretty heavy for a while, but by the time I headed home it was mostly windy without much moisture. I went shopping today. Mervyn's in Amarillo is closing so I picked up a few items there. I admit that I bought myself a few items today and although I probably should feel guilty; I'm not going to. I was overjoyed to find a new Marvin ornament. It was a "Duck Dodgers" one with Marvin flying a space ship with Daffy behind him with Christmas lights. It's a Hallmark ornament and the great thing is that I got it 30% off at Mervyn's. That was the highlight of my day! Now I'm sitting in my Marvin p.j.'s and waiting for dinner to be finished. I almost have my house clean and am mostly caught up on laundry. I started moving stuff out of the extra bedroom and into the shelves in the garage, but haven't finished yet. I'll work on that this week. I want to get that room set up as a craft room. I have some things I want to work on as Christmas presents and need the space to do it without distraction. I haven't put up my tree yet. I'm trying to figure out where to put it this year as the place I had it last year isn't available... since I have a rather large computer desk in that spot right now.
I didn't do any school work that I had planned on during this break. Oh well. I have a general idea of the things I'll be teaching at the end of the week. The first half of this week will be listening to persuasive speeches. That should be interesting. We have a variety of topics from legalizing drugs, to same sex marriages, and smoking bans. I won't be in school on Friday or it might be a half day for me. We have a speech tournament this weekend and the next. So I'm staying busy as usual.

Home Again, Home Again

Jiggity Jig. O.k. so I'm not really doing a jig, but it feels good to be home again. I always enjoy spending time with my family in ABQ, but the drive just makes it a long trip. Thanksgiving was nice. We went to Golden Corral and pigged out. I'm sure I probably gained the "seasonal seven" pounds. Guess I'll have to do something to get rid of it. I'm thinking of trying to do my dance workout class again after the first of the year. Not sure if I can handle it, but I think I should try.
My aunt is so nice. We went shopping on Friday (yes, idiots we are) and she bought me underwear (since my dog has been eating mine), a new purse, a pair of slippers and a cheese ball (don't ask). She always fills up my tank with gas and also told me that Steve (her husband) wanted to pay for Josh's piano lessons. So now we've got to find him a teacher.
I watched The Incredibles for the the first time and it was a cute movie. I saw my sister's new house. It's pretty nice, but still needs some work. She has a pool in the back yard which will be good to have in the summer. I'm amazed that my sister (the wild one) has settled down with a husband and a house. Things change I guess.
There's really not a lot more to tell about the holiday. It was nice, but like I said, it's good to be home.

Please explain

Why I have the opportunity to sleep late today and I am up at 7:30 a.m.? Oh well, guess that means I can get some work done. You might want to sit down for this. Really. You will be shocked. O.k. I have been cleaning out the garage. I know - you're amazed. But yesterday was such a pretty day and warm enough and I had extra time and I thought that I really needed to be able to park my car in there, so I started cleaning it out. (yeah, it's a run-on, so sue me.) Josh asked me yesterday if we could get donuts this morning, and I can't say no of course, so I guess I'll head over to the Donut Stop and get breakfast soon.
I am heading to Albuquerque for Thanksgiving today. That means I won't be around much for blogging purposes, not that I've been all that active lately. But just so you know. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Stuff yourselves and don't feel guilty.

Dinner and a Movie

Well, Josh and I had our date last night. This whole weekend seemed to fly by so quickly. It's a very good thing that it's a short week. After he finished his last performance of the musical, I picked him up so he could wash his make-up off. Because I'm I nice mom that wouldn't force him to be too embarassed. We headed to Olive Garden for our annual birthday dinner (even though it was ten days ago). My dad, Carol Ann and her daughter also joined us. (And dad paid, wooo hooo.) I had what I always have. (chicken fetuccine alfredo) No surprise there. But it was quite yummy. After dinner we went to see Harry Potter. I am a bit mixed on my feelings about the movie. I won't give any spoilers, but I felt that although they did a good job in general of recreating the challenges, the movie felt rushed. That's probably because they had to take an 800+ page book and put it into a movie that is only 157 minutes. Yes, that's a pretty lengthy movie in general, but it's not enough to really get the whole story. I figured they'd have to shorten the beginning quidditch match, but so much more was missing. Voldemort, however, was really quite well done. I also thought they did a good job with the emotional aspect of the movie. Sure, it's darker, but that's the way the story is. But they still kept a good deal of humor in it.
Bottom line. Do go see the movie. You must. But if you're one of those weird people out there that hasn't read the books yet, you are really missing out. So go get the books and read them. Right now. I mean it. You think they're just kids books, but that is so not true. So what are you sitting around reading my blog for? Get to Barnes and Noble.

So what's your web routine?

I have this routine I go through on the web each day. Usually when I get up in the morning, I will check email, my site meter stats and if I have time I briefly read a few of my regular blogs. Usually, though, I do most of my reading when I get home from school. Once again, I check my sitemeter stats. (I'm addicted and it keeps me writing if I know people are reading.) And then I check my regular blogs. If I have a lot of time at home, I do this throughout the evening. I'm always happy when a blog I read has been updated. Even if it's mundane, daily stuff, I still enjoy looking into the lives of people that for the most part I don't even know personally. Sure I know Patrick, and my friend Bret, but the others are strangers, but they don't really feel like strangers. I feel that they are my friends. I love to hear about Grumpy's hikes, the Piggly Wiggly updates and his life in general. I want to hear how Summer is doing and often want to just go and give her a big long hug as she bears so much. Patrick, Tiffany, Susan and I usually end up posting the same quizzes and memes and I learn neat things about them. I still owe Prison Pete a personal letter, but I still read his blog and find him to be very real. And then there's the others that I don't often correspond with, but try to keep up with their lives none-the-less. Some that I read, I have never corresponded with, but enjoy their writing so much I have to check them out daily.
I also check out a Catholic forum, Found Magazine's new daily item, and try to read Dear Abby. I also read my son's blog from time to time, but I don't let him know that I know about it... if you know what I mean.
I try to post at least every other day, but I know oftentimes it's that simple, mundane stuff. But usually that's what life is all about. So if I bore you, my apologies, but sometimes good to not have exciting things happening or profound thoughts. (Not that I have many of those.)
I usually turn on my Yahoo Instant Messenger, but I rarely talk on it any more it seems. Actually I've had some conversations with my ex-husband lately which has been kind of nice. I've missed his friendship. Once in a while my friend John sends me a message.. especially when he's out of town on business and has nothing else to do. Marty's sister-in-law and I chat from time to time and we've become good friends. But that's about it. I haven't even been getting all those weirdos sending me messages lately either. (Not that I complaining in the least)
So that's my web routine. Sometimes I vary it by doing some shopping, checking out ebay or just general searching for whatever I'm curious about at the time. Do you have a routine that you find yourself following?

Moving Right Along

The busy week doesn't seem to be ending, but it's really a good thing (other than the state of my house at the moment). Yesterday I had RCIA class, tonight was choir practice for 2 1/2 hours. I really love singing in the choir, but I know I'm still not very good at it. But I do love rejoicing and learning the music. Our dedication of the Church this weekend will really be very special.
Tomorrow I'll be going to see Josh in the school musical. It will be really great to see him perform in another medium beside playing an instrument. I am so very proud of how talented he is. Oh! To brag a little bit, he made 7th chair in symphonic band and he's one of only two freshmen that made it.
Saturday is the dedication. Sunday is church. Josh and I also are planning to go see Harry Potter and then to dinner to celebrate our birthdays.
Luckily next week is a very short week of school... a day and a half. Because the HISD staff met the goal for the United Way, the superintendent is allowing us to only go a half day on Tuesday. Way cool.
So things are moving right along. Richard has been IM'ng me lately and it's been fun chatting with him. He said he really appreciated the nice things I said about him on here and that it made his day. I am glad.
Well, it's past my bed time and I have to trudge through another day of school tomorrow.

For my exes (though not all live in Texas)

I don't know if this stems from forgiveness, moving on or simply the fact that I've grown up. Perhaps it's a little of all three, but I wanted to write a post about some men that were special in my life once upon a time.

My ex-husband, Richard

I know I've given him a bad rep on here and have been less than kind in some of my posts about him. I don't deny that there were many issues in our marriage and he had some qualities that weren't admirable in my book, but I'm not going to dwell on such things. Because they no longer matter. Instead I will tell you some nice things about him.
He is a very talented man. He can act, write, and is a natural show-off. It was because of him I got an interest in theatre and had some great times with a tiny local theatre group. I was attracted to him in the beginning because he told me about how he had placed at state competition in duet acting. I was impressed. He has also written a screen play that I hope he is able to sell some day. On our first date he did a magic trick for me and I have since played the part as a magician's assistant. He also had a brief stint as a hypnotist and I would travel with him to shows and run his sound. I really miss those times traveling and helping him. Something that will remain special with me are all the trips we took together. Although we weren't always doing well relationship-wise, we could have a great time when we would travel. I miss having a rollercoaster buddy. I know that if I told him I needed someone to ride the rides with me, he'd be there in a heartbeat. In our short five years, we traveled to a number of places and always seemed to have a good time.
He was also a romantic. I realized probably too late just how romantic he was. He sent me flowers numerous times and as I was going through stuff when moving last year, I found the many cards he had given me. I know he loved me very much and I feel bad that I couldn't reciprocate the feeling. It's not that I didn't love him. I did very much in the beginning, but as problems grew, I fell out of love although I still cared for him. It's why I held on so long.
But we did have some very special moments that I will always cherish.
Richard is also a very smart man. I owe a lot of my computer knowledge to him. He is truly a whiz when it came to learning things on the computer.
I loved the fact that he would play scrabble with me despite receiving a constant ass-kicking. He always opened doors for me and I learned to appreciate that. He opened my mind in many ways and helped me believe in myself when I wasn't sure if I could accomplish things. He let me improve his wardrobe which desperately needed help.
We talked online last night and it was good to hear from him. I miss conversations with him. I'm glad we've been able to remain friends and have put our past behind us. I can still cherish the special memories, but I'm no longer dwelling on the negative. He was a very good friend to me when I had to deal with the break-up with Marty. It was kind of weird crying on my ex-husband's shoulder about the break up but I appreciated the fact that he took time to be there for me.
We have both moved on with our lives and there is not a desire on either part to rekindle anything, but we will always remain friends and I am glad. I wish the best for him and hope he finds happiness in all that he does.

Marty

I know I've probably talked about him enough on this blog, but grant me one more post. (or two or three) Again, I don't intend to cover anything negative, but want to share about what a great man he is and the impact he had on me.
As my regular readers know, he was my high school sweetheart that looked me up almost two years ago via classmates.com and we developed a relationship for about nine months. Marty is a very generous and kind man. He spared no expense for me when it came to coming to visit. I know he emptied his pocketbook many times just to be able to spend time with me and that meant the world to me. It was tough dealing with 1500 miles, but somehow we made it work for a while.
Marty made me feel very special. I felt great love from him and it was because of him I realized that I deserved to be loved. Being in a relationship with him helped me gain back a lot of my self-esteem.
I found Marty to be very physically attractive and there was some wonderful physical chemistry between us. Something I admittedly miss very much. And he smelled WONDERFUL. That's something I can't forget about him.. how good he smelled. Ooops... getting a little hot and bothered... pardon me.
Marty was a terrific father to his precious girls. He was a very loving man and a good friend. He's the type of man that would do anything for somebody he loved. Not only did I fall in love with him, but his family as well.
I miss the many conversations we had via IM and on the phone. We always seemed to find something to talk about. He was a kid at heart and had a great attitude about most things in life. He was always fun to be around and he sacrificed a lot for me.
It is because of him (indirectly) that I took the steps in returning to God and found my home in the Catholic church. For that I am ever so grateful. He gave me so many things that I can't even describe here, but I appreciate so much having the time that I did have with him. And yes, I still miss him from time to time. I cannot deny that. But I do know how things are and I accept the fact that God had different plans for us. But I will always care for him and I pray that finds happiness and joy always. He is still my friend and I still love him as my friend.

And I'll leave this post with just those two for now. I still owe Patrick a post since he wrote a very kind one about me once. But will hold that for another time.

Like I need another pet....