Since I've picked this blogging thing back up, I've gone through the archives, re-reading old thoughts and writings just to relive some memories and, well, see where I've come from to get an idea of where I'm going...
Here's some of my favorite posts:
(Does it make me sound narcissistic that I'm posting a list of my favorite writings, with additional commentary? Gee, I must really love me...)
Faithfully- A glimpse into my love of Journey born out of my childhood. I really like the story-telling in this one.
Visibly Invisible - This was a song I wrote 8 years ago according to the timestamp. It's about I person I once knew. The events never happened, but the person exists. No, I don't hate her. She's one of those people (when I knew her anyway) who should of been more than they were - if that makes any sense. A great person really, who just brings everyone down.
Jesus on the Radio - Actually, it's about Judas. This was written long before I came to walk with Christ. Looking back through my blog now, I see little signs of His calling me, but me not listening yet. Still, Judas is just a very interesting character to me.
A Rebirth - This was me acknowledging God was calling me to walk with Him and the start of a shift in the blog theme at times.
I Shall Call the Pebble, "Dare..." - This is without a doubt the most read post on my blog. Probably about once a day, someone googles the lyrics, and this post comes up. Certainly got the most comments.
Searching for God Knows What - An interesting (to me, at least) essay on my problem with Catholicism growing up.
God Works In Many, Sometimes Funny, Ways - Just a funny story about how I really hate beans. I like the writing.
God Moment - One of my favorite memories. I hope this story isn't one of those, "You had to be there" stories.
Butterfly - Another God moment. This story comes from my mission trip to Gulfport after Hurricane Katrina. It reminds me to slow down and look for God.
Ok. That's enough. Reading through this was more difficult than I thought it would be. You know how you don't like to hear your recorded voice played back? How hearing the sound of your own voice is one of the most uncomfortable things you can hear, possibly more so than nails on the chalkboard? Yeah, that's the equivalent of what reading through some of this was for me. Reliving old wounds, seeing some of the same mistakes... Have I really changed?
Showing posts with label Blog stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog stuff. Show all posts
Monday, August 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Reflections on 2008
2008 started off to be a very promising year. In January, work looked up as I in line for a temporary promotion. The company was investing in a technology that would nearly automate the daily tag & bag process every TV station in the country goes through. I was brought in at the beginning stages to be the “Manager” of a new department that would be housed locally. It was to come with a higher salary. Basically, I was going to do all the leg work in setting up the process and procedures. Then, once the system was ready to go, part-time or entry level positions would maintain it. From there, I would go back to working my normal job at the new salary. Sadly, before the system was even ready for me to start working, engineering figured it was nearly impossible to implement due to the amount of RAM and processing power needed to run the entire (and I’m talking 30 or so stations networked across the country) system. So, by March or April that completely fell through.
Oh, and the company declared bankruptcy recently. Actually, I’m not too worried about that, layoff-wise. We are a hub for the entire company. And, we turn a decent profit. Plus, most of the debts are on the print side of things, and it’s most likely layoffs will come from that sector. Also, I’m probably one of the least expendable people in my department. But, really who knows? All I know is I’m not worried about it.
Theatre-wise, I did as much as I intended to do this year, which was pretty much nothing ‘cuz I needed a break. Well, nothing ON-stage. I worked on a few shows backstage for the money. And enjoyed every minute of it. Enjoyed it enough to put a little seed in the back of my head for a career change when I don’t have to have a stead income (ie: No kids; no responsibilities).
In fact, I realized that theatre was missing from my life, and in 2009, it will be theatre filled. First, I recently joined the board of directors for my local community theatre. That’s been quite interesting so far (and that’s quite the understatement). Now, I’ll be producing “Guilty Conscience” for CCP starting right at the beginning of the year. The show runs at the end of February and goes into March, but a lot of my work on it will be in January and February. Then, after that, I said I would work crew on “Ms. Saigon,” at Footlite Musicals for Noffke. That will take me into May. By then, we’ll be diving head first into “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” We’ve been working on that since March 2008 and it will be wonderful to actually cast the show and start rehearsals. After that, who knows. Hopefully, I’ll be able to work on “Frog and Toad” again in 2009. It’s just so much fun, and money to boot.
Then, the biggest news from 2008 – Tricia’s back surgery. It’s hard to believe that it’s taken up the last six months of our life. The bad pain started with an ER visit. Then a few Spine Dr. visits later, we knew she would need the surgery. That was in early September, and she’s hasn’t worked since Labor Day. That put a big strain on us financially. But, the good news is that we are at least floating and not dead in the water. In fact, she got the A-OK to return to work on January 5th. I hope that’s not too early nor too strenuous for her back, but I’d be lying if I said we didn’t need her paycheck. Thankfully, most of the surgery bills were covered by insurance, but we will be paying our chunk of the bill for the next year. She’s healing quite well, by the way. Most of her back pain is gone. And, she’s thrilled to be able to get out of the house and back to work. She doesn’t deal well with sitting at home with nothing to do.
A bright spot has been the evolution of my relationship with my son. The teenage years have been very frustrating. But, I think I learned the key to it all – Understanding his language and communicating correctly. I don’t mean talking all, “OMG BBQ BFF Jill,” like the kids do these days. I mean hearing what he’s saying, not just the words, but the meaning. For example, when I say, “What are you up to?” what he hears is, “What kind of trouble are you getting into now?” So, his reply is, “Nothing” because he isn’t doing anything to get into trouble. But, that’s not what I’m asking and I can plainly see that he’s doing “Something.” After all, doing mundane things is still something. So, I would get frustrated because we were speaking different languages. Now, I think we have a better understanding of where we’re both coming from and the yelling has decreased significantly. Of course, there is the occasional, “I need you to clean this to my standards not yours,” argument. Followed by the, “It might not be yours to pick up but, either A) you took it out and therefore need to place it where it belongs, or B) I’m trying to get this other thing done and we need your help in other areas (it’s called contributing to help the family, now get off the couch!),” argument. But, yesterday, he gave me a hug for my birthday and, you know, that’s all I ever really wanted.
Changing the subject drastically, you know, I just haven’t been able to connect with God much this year. It’s not like I’m losing faith. No, I just haven’t had time to talk with Him like I should, or reflect on how He’s blessed me in the past year. I do believe He’s been taking care of us. But, I have trouble noticing those “small miracles” in life. I do need put more focus on God in the new year.
I guess that’s one of the things I’ve been struggling with: Do we ever reach a point where we don’t have to run as hard to keep up with God? Where our day-to-day actions with and for God come more naturally… I’m getting tired of going to bed thinking, “Crap, I didn’t get a chance to read the Bible or really sit down with God for a spell.” I don’t know…
Anyway, here’s hoping for an outstanding 2009! It’s gotta be better than 2008. I mean, the bar is pretty low…
Also, I know I'm not blogging much anymore. I don't have much interest in this anymore. I'm not saying I'm closing the shop, but just don't expect it to be open all the time. When the passion strikes me, I'll tap the keys. But, I posted 20 times (including this post) this year. 20% of that were updates on Tricia's back that were emailed to people anyway. I don't know when the next post will be or if there will be a next post. If there's a way to easily archive all of this, I might end up taking it down. I really don't know. I'm typing whatever comes out of my fingers right now, so I might just be talking... Stay tuned... Or don't... Or do...
In the meantime, here's a picture of Nikita sleeping under the Christmas tree:
Oh, and the company declared bankruptcy recently. Actually, I’m not too worried about that, layoff-wise. We are a hub for the entire company. And, we turn a decent profit. Plus, most of the debts are on the print side of things, and it’s most likely layoffs will come from that sector. Also, I’m probably one of the least expendable people in my department. But, really who knows? All I know is I’m not worried about it.
Theatre-wise, I did as much as I intended to do this year, which was pretty much nothing ‘cuz I needed a break. Well, nothing ON-stage. I worked on a few shows backstage for the money. And enjoyed every minute of it. Enjoyed it enough to put a little seed in the back of my head for a career change when I don’t have to have a stead income (ie: No kids; no responsibilities).
In fact, I realized that theatre was missing from my life, and in 2009, it will be theatre filled. First, I recently joined the board of directors for my local community theatre. That’s been quite interesting so far (and that’s quite the understatement). Now, I’ll be producing “Guilty Conscience” for CCP starting right at the beginning of the year. The show runs at the end of February and goes into March, but a lot of my work on it will be in January and February. Then, after that, I said I would work crew on “Ms. Saigon,” at Footlite Musicals for Noffke. That will take me into May. By then, we’ll be diving head first into “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” We’ve been working on that since March 2008 and it will be wonderful to actually cast the show and start rehearsals. After that, who knows. Hopefully, I’ll be able to work on “Frog and Toad” again in 2009. It’s just so much fun, and money to boot.
Then, the biggest news from 2008 – Tricia’s back surgery. It’s hard to believe that it’s taken up the last six months of our life. The bad pain started with an ER visit. Then a few Spine Dr. visits later, we knew she would need the surgery. That was in early September, and she’s hasn’t worked since Labor Day. That put a big strain on us financially. But, the good news is that we are at least floating and not dead in the water. In fact, she got the A-OK to return to work on January 5th. I hope that’s not too early nor too strenuous for her back, but I’d be lying if I said we didn’t need her paycheck. Thankfully, most of the surgery bills were covered by insurance, but we will be paying our chunk of the bill for the next year. She’s healing quite well, by the way. Most of her back pain is gone. And, she’s thrilled to be able to get out of the house and back to work. She doesn’t deal well with sitting at home with nothing to do.
A bright spot has been the evolution of my relationship with my son. The teenage years have been very frustrating. But, I think I learned the key to it all – Understanding his language and communicating correctly. I don’t mean talking all, “OMG BBQ BFF Jill,” like the kids do these days. I mean hearing what he’s saying, not just the words, but the meaning. For example, when I say, “What are you up to?” what he hears is, “What kind of trouble are you getting into now?” So, his reply is, “Nothing” because he isn’t doing anything to get into trouble. But, that’s not what I’m asking and I can plainly see that he’s doing “Something.” After all, doing mundane things is still something. So, I would get frustrated because we were speaking different languages. Now, I think we have a better understanding of where we’re both coming from and the yelling has decreased significantly. Of course, there is the occasional, “I need you to clean this to my standards not yours,” argument. Followed by the, “It might not be yours to pick up but, either A) you took it out and therefore need to place it where it belongs, or B) I’m trying to get this other thing done and we need your help in other areas (it’s called contributing to help the family, now get off the couch!),” argument. But, yesterday, he gave me a hug for my birthday and, you know, that’s all I ever really wanted.
Changing the subject drastically, you know, I just haven’t been able to connect with God much this year. It’s not like I’m losing faith. No, I just haven’t had time to talk with Him like I should, or reflect on how He’s blessed me in the past year. I do believe He’s been taking care of us. But, I have trouble noticing those “small miracles” in life. I do need put more focus on God in the new year.
I guess that’s one of the things I’ve been struggling with: Do we ever reach a point where we don’t have to run as hard to keep up with God? Where our day-to-day actions with and for God come more naturally… I’m getting tired of going to bed thinking, “Crap, I didn’t get a chance to read the Bible or really sit down with God for a spell.” I don’t know…
Anyway, here’s hoping for an outstanding 2009! It’s gotta be better than 2008. I mean, the bar is pretty low…
Also, I know I'm not blogging much anymore. I don't have much interest in this anymore. I'm not saying I'm closing the shop, but just don't expect it to be open all the time. When the passion strikes me, I'll tap the keys. But, I posted 20 times (including this post) this year. 20% of that were updates on Tricia's back that were emailed to people anyway. I don't know when the next post will be or if there will be a next post. If there's a way to easily archive all of this, I might end up taking it down. I really don't know. I'm typing whatever comes out of my fingers right now, so I might just be talking... Stay tuned... Or don't... Or do...
In the meantime, here's a picture of Nikita sleeping under the Christmas tree:
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Pity Party
I'm having a pity party and you are invited. Please attend.
You know, I don't know if I'm getting tired of blogging or I just feel like I'm talking to myself or what. Some days, I feel like what's the point of keeping my thoughts out there. Other days, I remind myself why. Other days, that reason isn't enough.
Today, I am wondering if anyone would notice if I never posted here again. But, I think that's me just having a pity party. There's important work to be done here, right?
Why do I blog? I'm not a political ranter, though I do enjoy discussing political ideas. I don't wax poetic on the news of the day. And I really don't want this to be a blog that talks about every stupid detail of my day. Please do me a favor and shoot me if I am doing that.
So, what's the blog for? At this point, I honestly just hope that my thoughts on God, Jesus, faith, etc... well, i can only hope that it makes a difference to some one at their time of need.
I imagine some lost soul googling something and tripping they way to my blog only to read a post like this or this. And, that somehow that person's life is changed for the better - like showing my faith made a difference.
In fact, that's something I pray for. I ask God to give me the opportunity to show one person the next day what His love and mercy is. I don't mean I want the chance to browbeat a non-believer into believing. But, I do want to show that person God's kindness and maybe loosen a brick from the wall that's keeping them from God.
But, then I look at the archive list and see on average I've posted less than three times in the past eight months. Obviously, something ain't right. I'm not sure what it is. Is it me being lazy? Have I run out of things to say? Is it me seeing stats that say maybe 4 people visit this place a day (and I'm not 100% sure that it's not just me visiting)? Is my message turning people away? Am I *gasp* boring? You tell me.
In a previous post, I wrote:
You know, I don't know if I'm getting tired of blogging or I just feel like I'm talking to myself or what. Some days, I feel like what's the point of keeping my thoughts out there. Other days, I remind myself why. Other days, that reason isn't enough.
Today, I am wondering if anyone would notice if I never posted here again. But, I think that's me just having a pity party. There's important work to be done here, right?
Why do I blog? I'm not a political ranter, though I do enjoy discussing political ideas. I don't wax poetic on the news of the day. And I really don't want this to be a blog that talks about every stupid detail of my day. Please do me a favor and shoot me if I am doing that.
So, what's the blog for? At this point, I honestly just hope that my thoughts on God, Jesus, faith, etc... well, i can only hope that it makes a difference to some one at their time of need.
I imagine some lost soul googling something and tripping they way to my blog only to read a post like this or this. And, that somehow that person's life is changed for the better - like showing my faith made a difference.
In fact, that's something I pray for. I ask God to give me the opportunity to show one person the next day what His love and mercy is. I don't mean I want the chance to browbeat a non-believer into believing. But, I do want to show that person God's kindness and maybe loosen a brick from the wall that's keeping them from God.
But, then I look at the archive list and see on average I've posted less than three times in the past eight months. Obviously, something ain't right. I'm not sure what it is. Is it me being lazy? Have I run out of things to say? Is it me seeing stats that say maybe 4 people visit this place a day (and I'm not 100% sure that it's not just me visiting)? Is my message turning people away? Am I *gasp* boring? You tell me.
In a previous post, I wrote:
"Ecclesiastes 12:10 says, “The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.” When it comes to blogging, I can think of no better level to aspire to. When it comes to writing about Christ and God’s truth, I relentlessly pray God will help me find the right words and that they will be interpreted as true. That’s all I hope for this blog to be."I'm still down with that idea. I just don't seem to be following through. You tell me, am I?
Monday, February 05, 2007
Everything Blue
To celebrate the World Champion Indianapolis Colts, Everything Grey is now Everything Blue, at least temporarily.
I'm happy for Peyton. But I want sleep. After the game, I had to come into work and put together a "Congrats on winning the Super Bowl" spot. I've been up since 8 a. m. Sunday Morning. Going on 24 hours. Likely to be more. The VO guy didn't send my audio for another spot on Friday and that one was due at close of business Friday. So, I still have to edit that as soon as we do get his audio. That's all it needs - the audio. But, he's on Pacific time so the earliest I'll get the audio is NOON. I'm hoping my boss will get someone else to slap the audio on those spots so I can sleep today. Now, I'm waiting for the boss to come in... ZZZ zzz ZZZ zzz...
I'm sorry this post sucks... but give me a break... I'm literally falling asleeping typing this..........................
I'm happy for Peyton. But I want sleep. After the game, I had to come into work and put together a "Congrats on winning the Super Bowl" spot. I've been up since 8 a. m. Sunday Morning. Going on 24 hours. Likely to be more. The VO guy didn't send my audio for another spot on Friday and that one was due at close of business Friday. So, I still have to edit that as soon as we do get his audio. That's all it needs - the audio. But, he's on Pacific time so the earliest I'll get the audio is NOON. I'm hoping my boss will get someone else to slap the audio on those spots so I can sleep today. Now, I'm waiting for the boss to come in... ZZZ zzz ZZZ zzz...
I'm sorry this post sucks... but give me a break... I'm literally falling asleeping typing this..........................
Monday, November 06, 2006
Time for a change
Well, they say that change is good, right? Well, I gotta tell ya, I'm not happy with this one. My internet service is phasing out dialup connections. That means I need to get a new provider until we get a new computer and time warp into DSL and the 21st Centurt. That means all the lovely stuff that is hosted by my 'net provider - the gifs, etc that make... made... this place look pretty would be deleted. So, ML gets the chore of upgrading the website. It's time for that really. The code is old and I've been wanting to tweak some things. In the meantime, this blogger template (yack) will have to do... It's gonna take me some time to get used to...
Things that are gone that I hope to bring back in the future: stuff about me, any links to other places, all the previous comments (they are archieved somewhere but are unable to be used on blogger at this time) and well, pretty much anything that isn't from blogger... We'll have to see if I can play around with bloggers code when I get the time...
In the mean time, enjoy the words. That's why you come here anyway, right? Right???
Things that are gone that I hope to bring back in the future: stuff about me, any links to other places, all the previous comments (they are archieved somewhere but are unable to be used on blogger at this time) and well, pretty much anything that isn't from blogger... We'll have to see if I can play around with bloggers code when I get the time...
In the mean time, enjoy the words. That's why you come here anyway, right? Right???
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