The 2008 NaNoWriMo Kick-Off Event was yesterday and it went beautifully! I was so happy with every single part of it. The space we reserved was more than ideal! We want to use the space for our TGIO party at the end of November. We kicked it off at the Havens Community Center which is right next door to the Chocolate Bar on Alabama. It has at least 4 separate sections plus a little kitchen area and bathrooms. It has tables and chairs, couches and is centrally located. I absolutely LOVE it! However, the perfectness of the space aside, the kick-off itself went really well. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many wonderful new participants and there are so many others, the old crew, who are just dear to my heart that I see far too rarely.
For the Swag Bags this year, Chris made an awesome CD of writing music which includes such songs as Every Day I Write the Book by Elvis Costello, Writer's Minor Holiday by Calexico, My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors, by Moxy Friivous, Paperback Writer, by The Beatles and several others. I hope everyone loves the music. We also made door hangers and put in bouncy balls and candy and stickers. We got powerstrips for the Area Liaisons which they seemed to enjoy. It was a lot of fun.
Afterwards, a group of us went for pizza at Star which maintains a status as one of the highlights of my weekend. It's been forever since I've had a chance to eat Star Pizza and it was fun to talk with everyone I hadn't seen in ages. I got some excellent ideas to include in my book in November.
This morning Chris, Colin and I went to play disc golf but it was really hot and we didn't make it through all 18 holes. It was fun none-the-less. Then I met Soluna and PataLeBon at Coffee Oasis for a Got Plot? Brainstorming Session. This was originally scheduled to be at Chelsea Coffee House but they were closed so we re-grouped at C.O. I have to say that the best ideas for my novel there actually came from Colin who was on a roll and giving everyone creative writing ideas. Then we went to pick up Chelsea from Brian's and she was happy cuz she had gone shopping and had her eyebrows done for picture day tomorrow. So that was awesome.
In other news, I've been back at work for exactly 2 weeks and it's really like a roller coaster. Rumors abound about the impending layoff which has been announced to happen right after the election for political reasons. Everyone there is looking for a job and I've spoken to people who have mentioned by title some of the exact same positions I'm looking at. That's a little scary. I had an interview at UH last Thursday and they said I should hear from them by Monday - tomorrow. I hope it's good news! Please keep your fingers crossed for me. I would like to get off the island anyway. I think it's toxic. The trees and bushes are brown and dead from the salt water and sludge that flooded everything. The first week we were back everyone got sick. It was pretty awful.
I got to speak to a class of kids at Westside High School about NaNoWriMo which was a lot of fun. I handed out stickers and heard some plot ideas that sounded really promising. These kids sounded like they really could do it. I also got the grand tour of Westside from the teacher - Chris's brother Rob - and this school actually has an Outback Steakhouse in it for their Hotel & Restaurant Management classes! The kids can eat cocanut shrimp for lunch every day if they want to!
Also, Rob and Noelle are new parents-to-be expecting the newest little MacGregor in May! So Congratulations Rob & Noelle! I should be crocheting blankets but I have documentation to finish, a novel to write, a region to wrangle, a new job to find, and that's just the extras - I still have my family and a strewn-apart job to go to on the ghost-town island as part of my daily chores.
That's about it for an update. Oh we're gonna early vote. We saw a voting line at the library yesterday that wrapped around the building in two lines! I can't even imagine what November 4th will look like! I hope Chelsea's voter's registration card comes soon.
Much Love ~
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
A Blog Post
So we got the word that we may be returning to work on Monday. I have cognitive dissonance regarding this news. On the one hand I'm like, Thank God! and on the other I'm groaning and saying '5 more minutes mom.' I've been off of work now since September 10th but I've been working from home, setting up the clinics and assisting where I can. It's been getting tougher though so today I drove out to the island with a fellow worker to turn on our computers so we could access them from home. Here are some pix of the island. However, at this point I'm really truly wishing I had taken more photos of the campus! I don't know why I didn't. I guess I was too focused at that point on getting to my office and getting off the island. They wouldn't let us in until after 1pm for "Look and Leave" and I was meant to pick the kids up from school around 2:30. Guards met us in the lobby of my building where there were supplies stacked up everywhere. We had to sign in and (thankfully) 1 elevator was working - otherwise it would have been a 16 flight climb. There was no air conditioning and being there for only half an hour was miserable. My plant was almost dead. :( I watered both my plants and if the one comes back I decided to name her Crispy. The main thing is that I unbagged and turned on my computer and now I can access it from home. However, when I got home there was the announcement that we may return to work on Monday. I don't see how! There's a tent propped up for food services and sanitation issues. We'll see. They're meant to post a list of buildings that are still uninhabitable by tomorrow so I still don't yet know.
In other news, Sarah Palin continues to amuse me. I think she's so hilarious. The scary part is that some people actually like her and hope she becomes VP. I can't wait for tomorrow's debate. I just feel like this race has become so much richer with fodder for hilarity with her around. I mean really? c'mon! She couldn't name a single newspaper she has ever read so she said she reads "all of them." That is so funny! She also couldn't name a policy of McCains where he went against his party, or a policy of McCain's, or a Supreme Court case other than Roe v. Wade. Katie Couric has been slaughtering her in interviews and she keeps coming back for more. Doesn't she know people are laughing at her? Its too funny.
I'm so happy that my 18 year old just registered to vote! YAY!!! One more vote for Obama. It makes me proud. I just want to put her voter's registration card on the fridge under a magnet!
NaNoWriMo is in the active planning stages for the Houston area. We secured a location for our kick-off event for the low low cost of $20.00! Now we need to get goodie bags together and I would love to have a fund raiser but am lacking in ideas. I do, however, have an idea for my novel this year. I'm really excited about it actually. If I wasn't so busy with writing documentation and working from home I would do some snowflaking but that will have to wait till mid October. Oh! and I'm getting a brand new computer! Yay! mid October I'm picking out a new MacBook or MacBook Pro for my noveling adventure this year.
So that's about it for me.
LOVE
In other news, Sarah Palin continues to amuse me. I think she's so hilarious. The scary part is that some people actually like her and hope she becomes VP. I can't wait for tomorrow's debate. I just feel like this race has become so much richer with fodder for hilarity with her around. I mean really? c'mon! She couldn't name a single newspaper she has ever read so she said she reads "all of them." That is so funny! She also couldn't name a policy of McCains where he went against his party, or a policy of McCain's, or a Supreme Court case other than Roe v. Wade. Katie Couric has been slaughtering her in interviews and she keeps coming back for more. Doesn't she know people are laughing at her? Its too funny.
I'm so happy that my 18 year old just registered to vote! YAY!!! One more vote for Obama. It makes me proud. I just want to put her voter's registration card on the fridge under a magnet!
NaNoWriMo is in the active planning stages for the Houston area. We secured a location for our kick-off event for the low low cost of $20.00! Now we need to get goodie bags together and I would love to have a fund raiser but am lacking in ideas. I do, however, have an idea for my novel this year. I'm really excited about it actually. If I wasn't so busy with writing documentation and working from home I would do some snowflaking but that will have to wait till mid October. Oh! and I'm getting a brand new computer! Yay! mid October I'm picking out a new MacBook or MacBook Pro for my noveling adventure this year.
So that's about it for me.
LOVE
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Hurricane Ike
Well Houston is still in the recovery process from the disaster that hit our shores this past weekend but all told, we made it through with very little inconvenience. Others were not so lucky. I know a guy from work who had chest deep water in his house; another, my boss in fact, who lost his house in Kemah and everything in it. We drove down Nasa Rd 1 and saw several boats crashed on streets. We saw businesses along the marina floating under water. Debris is everywhere and there is no gas to be found. I have really spotty phone service and have been most successful with text messages to and from people. But several people have no power still and they're saying it could be weeks. As you know I work on Galveston Island and cannot return to work for an indefinite period of time. I am hoping that that really means not till Monday but we'll see. The kids are out of school for the remainder of this week also. But that's good because we'll need their help in cleaning up the yards of both the rent house and Chris's house. Both houses survived the storm with no damage. Chris lost several large branches on his big oaks in the front of the house and we have a lot of limb debris to clean up. However, on the bright side we won't need to buy firewood for a couple of years. We don't do a lot of fires... Neither of the houses took on water so there is no flood damage. The rent house lost two sections of fence, the top of one of the palm trees in the back and a rather large branch from one of the trees out back. Our neighbor lent us a limb trimmer that helped us to strip it down to a trunk but the trunk will need to be hacked into pieces with a chain saw and we don't know anyone with a chain saw yet. We're gonna share the cost of a new fence with the other neighbor but for now cannot let the dogs outside into the back yard without supervision. Also, we've added a third dog to our number, Remi, Chris's old dog.
Chris, Chelsea, and I evacuated to Chris's parents' house in Spring, far north of Houston. The trip there was a breeze! I couldn't believe it because I sat in Rita-Evacuation traffic for about 8 hours and expected this trip to be just as bad. In fact, on Thursday morning, first thing I did was get my gas tank filled and have an oil change, which was due anyway, but I assumed I would be sitting in traffic all the way north. Not so. We got there in about 45 minutes. No traffic on the roads. The news was super-sensationalizing the traffic situation. Peter & Frances have 3 extra bedrooms - one for Chelsea, one for Colin, and one for Chris and I with a bathroom attached - all upstairs. We were actually quite comfortable. We brought all our food and had also gone grocery shopping before going there so we ate well the whole time. Thursday night Chris grilled turkey burgers on the Foreman Grill because we still had power. Delicious! Friday we got dunkin donuts for breakfast and Frances and I made 3 quiches - ham & cheese, bacon and spinach -for breakfasts. We never ran out of quiche. That day I made a shrimp risotto and then the storm blew in. We were watching it on the news more than anything else.
Here's me in front of a downed tree on Peter & Frances' street.
It was raining and windy when I went to bed and still raining and still windy when I woke up on Saturday morning but for the most part, I slept right through it. I feel like I missed something. Chris and I took a walk Saturday morning in the rain and took pictures of the destruction. I've never seen so many downed trees. Huge trees just fallen over. We didn't have power, of course.
Here's a picture of Chris on Ronny's old street standing in front of another downed tree.
Saturday was really surreal and I've lost most of the day but we mostly just sat there in shock from so much destruction and loss of the ability to plug in. It's the little things you don't think of when you lose power - like you can still grill things outdoors but if you trim veggies into the sink the disposal won't work. We had a candle light dinner that night of grilled chicken, roasted corn on the cob and roasted new potatoes. Delicious! Oh and we invented the "barbeque" directions for the package of pilsbury iced cinnamon rolls. Dessert turned out nicely too. We played cards by candle light. Chris and I took a walk through his neighborhood in the eerie darkness of no power for miles. It was actually a perfect view of the full moon and quite lovely.
Sunday Chris and I attempted to venture out into the world to see our house and obtain ice and Peter and Frances went to church. The more successful trip was Peter's & Frances'. Chris and I found police blockades on the freeway and floods in the road where we could have taken another way. So rather than using up our precious gasoline reserve we decided to focus on getting ice but quickly learned that everyone else in the city was also on that mission and there was none to be had. The only businesses we saw open were a McDonalds with a line of cars wrapped around the block; a Home Depot; and a gas station with another huge line. However, Peter & Frances found their church to have power so they charged up their cell phones, and found a friend who had power and lent them their generator as well as 20 gallons of gas to run the generator! So we really only went about 30 hours or so without power. That day we ran the refridgerator, fans, lights and appliances as needed. It was also so beautiful and cool as the front had come in. Chris and I finished a jigsaw puzzle that Chelsea and Frances had started. We had a great day and ate grilled turkey burgers that night. Monday Chris and I again drove out south and that time made it all the way home. We had power at the rent house! Yay!!! In fact, our little subdivision is the only section of this area that happens to have power and in fact, never lost power. Some of our neighbors stayed here to ride out the storm and let us know that the worst thing was tree damage. We were very lucky!
We drove back to Peter & Frances's place and prepared one last meal - turkey chili made on a camp stove on the front porch. Then we packed up our stuff and left. They are doing fine with the generator but still have no power. We slept in our own beds last night and tonight it's so cool out that we haven't been running the AC anyway. Today we took a trip to the grocery store to replenish our supplies and it was weird. There was nothing refridgerated at all. The shelves were bare - no milk, cheese, eggs, butter, meat, salads, frozen foods, etc. They had certain isles blocked off. It will be another 48 hours before they will be able to sell perishables. Thus, we bought a basket-full of things we could use for the next few days for 4 people in the hopes that we'll be able to buy milk and meat, etc. in a few days. We're doing fine though. We can cook vegetarian meals no problem! Also, Peter & Frances bought us a gallon of milk on the north side before we left so we have most of that and we had 2 tubes of turkey meat left over, one of which we ate tonight. We also have plenty of beer and there's no working so we've been partaking.
Not all the damage was caused by Hurricane Ike, as you can see from this picture The Kool-Aid Man visited the apartment complex next to the one I used to live in.
Oh Yeah!
In other circumstances it would be so awesome to have this much time off of work. But I like to plan these things. We can't really go anywhere because there's not much gas and we need to reserve what we have for making it to grocery stores or what-have-you. We can't go play disc golf or anything like that. We can't go out at night because we're on curfew from 9PM - 6AM.
Here's a picture of a boat crashed up on Nasa Rd 1. We wanted to get pictures of Kemah but the roads are still blocked and those on the east side of Hwy 146 are not allowed to return to their homes yet.
We do have two yards to clear of brush and we got one mostly done today. Tomorrow we'll go to Chris's house and clear that away. That one will be a lot more work. I already have a blister on my left thumb from raking brush. We also have a huge pile of limbs in front of the house. Tomorrow they're meant to resume trash pick up but they won't take the hurricane debris. I have to say again how lucky we are to be here with power, running water, food supplies, a working fridge, plenty of ice, the internet etc. We've been looking at pictures of the damage especially on Crystal Beach and are shocked and awed at how awful it is. Kahlich did some research and found out that every beach house we've ever stayed in as a group (the April Beach house group) is GONE. We may not even do a beach house next year because there will hardly be any beach houses to be had on Bolivar any more.
So that's it for my update, how the hurricane affected me, the evacuation, the aftermath. Let's hope for a speedy recovery for the rest of the affected.
LOVE
Chris, Chelsea, and I evacuated to Chris's parents' house in Spring, far north of Houston. The trip there was a breeze! I couldn't believe it because I sat in Rita-Evacuation traffic for about 8 hours and expected this trip to be just as bad. In fact, on Thursday morning, first thing I did was get my gas tank filled and have an oil change, which was due anyway, but I assumed I would be sitting in traffic all the way north. Not so. We got there in about 45 minutes. No traffic on the roads. The news was super-sensationalizing the traffic situation. Peter & Frances have 3 extra bedrooms - one for Chelsea, one for Colin, and one for Chris and I with a bathroom attached - all upstairs. We were actually quite comfortable. We brought all our food and had also gone grocery shopping before going there so we ate well the whole time. Thursday night Chris grilled turkey burgers on the Foreman Grill because we still had power. Delicious! Friday we got dunkin donuts for breakfast and Frances and I made 3 quiches - ham & cheese, bacon and spinach -for breakfasts. We never ran out of quiche. That day I made a shrimp risotto and then the storm blew in. We were watching it on the news more than anything else.
Here's me in front of a downed tree on Peter & Frances' street.
It was raining and windy when I went to bed and still raining and still windy when I woke up on Saturday morning but for the most part, I slept right through it. I feel like I missed something. Chris and I took a walk Saturday morning in the rain and took pictures of the destruction. I've never seen so many downed trees. Huge trees just fallen over. We didn't have power, of course.
Here's a picture of Chris on Ronny's old street standing in front of another downed tree.Saturday was really surreal and I've lost most of the day but we mostly just sat there in shock from so much destruction and loss of the ability to plug in. It's the little things you don't think of when you lose power - like you can still grill things outdoors but if you trim veggies into the sink the disposal won't work. We had a candle light dinner that night of grilled chicken, roasted corn on the cob and roasted new potatoes. Delicious! Oh and we invented the "barbeque" directions for the package of pilsbury iced cinnamon rolls. Dessert turned out nicely too. We played cards by candle light. Chris and I took a walk through his neighborhood in the eerie darkness of no power for miles. It was actually a perfect view of the full moon and quite lovely.
Sunday Chris and I attempted to venture out into the world to see our house and obtain ice and Peter and Frances went to church. The more successful trip was Peter's & Frances'. Chris and I found police blockades on the freeway and floods in the road where we could have taken another way. So rather than using up our precious gasoline reserve we decided to focus on getting ice but quickly learned that everyone else in the city was also on that mission and there was none to be had. The only businesses we saw open were a McDonalds with a line of cars wrapped around the block; a Home Depot; and a gas station with another huge line. However, Peter & Frances found their church to have power so they charged up their cell phones, and found a friend who had power and lent them their generator as well as 20 gallons of gas to run the generator! So we really only went about 30 hours or so without power. That day we ran the refridgerator, fans, lights and appliances as needed. It was also so beautiful and cool as the front had come in. Chris and I finished a jigsaw puzzle that Chelsea and Frances had started. We had a great day and ate grilled turkey burgers that night. Monday Chris and I again drove out south and that time made it all the way home. We had power at the rent house! Yay!!! In fact, our little subdivision is the only section of this area that happens to have power and in fact, never lost power. Some of our neighbors stayed here to ride out the storm and let us know that the worst thing was tree damage. We were very lucky!
We drove back to Peter & Frances's place and prepared one last meal - turkey chili made on a camp stove on the front porch. Then we packed up our stuff and left. They are doing fine with the generator but still have no power. We slept in our own beds last night and tonight it's so cool out that we haven't been running the AC anyway. Today we took a trip to the grocery store to replenish our supplies and it was weird. There was nothing refridgerated at all. The shelves were bare - no milk, cheese, eggs, butter, meat, salads, frozen foods, etc. They had certain isles blocked off. It will be another 48 hours before they will be able to sell perishables. Thus, we bought a basket-full of things we could use for the next few days for 4 people in the hopes that we'll be able to buy milk and meat, etc. in a few days. We're doing fine though. We can cook vegetarian meals no problem! Also, Peter & Frances bought us a gallon of milk on the north side before we left so we have most of that and we had 2 tubes of turkey meat left over, one of which we ate tonight. We also have plenty of beer and there's no working so we've been partaking.
Not all the damage was caused by Hurricane Ike, as you can see from this picture The Kool-Aid Man visited the apartment complex next to the one I used to live in.
Oh Yeah!
In other circumstances it would be so awesome to have this much time off of work. But I like to plan these things. We can't really go anywhere because there's not much gas and we need to reserve what we have for making it to grocery stores or what-have-you. We can't go play disc golf or anything like that. We can't go out at night because we're on curfew from 9PM - 6AM.
Here's a picture of a boat crashed up on Nasa Rd 1. We wanted to get pictures of Kemah but the roads are still blocked and those on the east side of Hwy 146 are not allowed to return to their homes yet.
We do have two yards to clear of brush and we got one mostly done today. Tomorrow we'll go to Chris's house and clear that away. That one will be a lot more work. I already have a blister on my left thumb from raking brush. We also have a huge pile of limbs in front of the house. Tomorrow they're meant to resume trash pick up but they won't take the hurricane debris. I have to say again how lucky we are to be here with power, running water, food supplies, a working fridge, plenty of ice, the internet etc. We've been looking at pictures of the damage especially on Crystal Beach and are shocked and awed at how awful it is. Kahlich did some research and found out that every beach house we've ever stayed in as a group (the April Beach house group) is GONE. We may not even do a beach house next year because there will hardly be any beach houses to be had on Bolivar any more.
So that's it for my update, how the hurricane affected me, the evacuation, the aftermath. Let's hope for a speedy recovery for the rest of the affected.
LOVE
Monday, September 8, 2008
It's been...... 1 month since I posted last; 2 days since the pix were shot
the title is a tip of the hat to Bare naked Ladies "One Week" song. In case you didn't get that.
So it really has been a month since my last post. All sorts of happenings are going on.
We took a trip to ride down the Guadelupe river with some friends. Chelsea was with us so it was really super fun. Chris and I took the bottle of left over sangria from the 4th of July party that had been frozen in our freezer all this time with us. As it melted into a slushy we just passed the gallon jug around and all had some. It was delicious! and Potent! During the river trip the skies decided to pour on us but it did not effect our spirits and we continued on even when we were the ONLY group left on the river. The whole trip was a complete blast. I fell out of my tube at one point going down the chute but only scraped up my knees. Otherwise, it was a completely awesome trip.
What else? School started. Chelsea is a Junior in High School and Colin is in 3rd grade. He thinks his teacher is cute which is terribly cute! I took a day off to hang out with Chelsea and take her shopping for school clothes and it happened to be tax free weekend so we got some deals but I was happy that we had finished with our shopping early in the day to avoid the crowds. We both got new school year hair-cuts too - I got about 4 inches cut off of my hair and Chelsea just got a cute trim. It was an awesome day.
Julie had her baby! Here's a link to her Picasa album. Her baby boy is named Caleb and he was born on August 30th. We saw him only hours after he was born and even got to witness his first bath ever. He was 8lbs 3ozs. We dont' expect to see much of Matt and Julie now that they have the baby but we're hoping to get to visit soon. Maybe if the hurricane (Ike) continues in it's path towards us we'll swing by on our way to Chris's parents' house since they both live in the north.
We watch Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC on a live feed from the BAND headquarters in our area. BAND is the Bay Area New Democrats and they have become a HUGE force during this election. I've never seen so many Democrats in the state of Texas. My dream is to turn Texas into a Blue State during election time. Can you imagine how powerful a statement that would be? Amazing! Chelsea just turned 18 so she can vote now. She has a lot of mixed feelings about it. For one, shes in school and SO many kids at this school have parents who are voting for McCain. Which I can see since we live in a fairly affluent part of Texas which has a lot of Republicans and Conservatives. But I asked Chelsea to take a Political Compass Test - she took this one and this one and both times turned up as one of those god-forsaken liberals! Thank goodness!!!! Anyway, so if the issues she truly believes in had come out that she really was all for McCain I wouldn't have minded really. I just would have thought well at least she's discussing how she feels about the issues and that's how she feels, ah well. But I really am happy that her views sort of mirror the values I've tried to impress upon her. It was a great exercise.
This past weekend I went on a date w/ Chris to beach. He was just coming in from a conference in Denver and it was TIME for us to have some fun. I've been in a really bad mood/state lately so it was great to go OUT with Chris again since it's been a while, and have some fun. We drove out to East Beach on Saturday night when it was clear and beautiful. Our original plan was to star-gaze but Chris also brought his camera and tripod with him. We played around with light grafitti and HERE are the results of our labors. It was SO much fun that we didn't leave the beach until about 2 AM and didn't get home till about 3AM. Read the photo captions on these - it tells about our thought processes.
Next weekend is the Eichler family reunion and we're not going to be able to make it. It's possible that the hurricane will prevent the whole thing anyway but we've already made plans not to attend. There are just so many other things going on right now and gas prices are so expensive that we opted out.
NaNoWriMo is coming up and I've decided to ML for one more year. This year Chris is my Co-ML which is nice. He's going to be the tech guy. He did that last year too but this year he'll have access to the ML Area on NaNoWriMo. I have no idea what I'm going to write a novel about this year. Currently, I'm focused on securing a location for several of our events rather than what I'm going to write but I'm sure it will come to me.
I just found out tonight that Carmen and Kevin are coming to Houston for Christmas! I am SO excited! It's he best news ever. I haven't seen them in about a year. I hope they can stay here with us for a little while.
That's it for an update.
LOVE
So it really has been a month since my last post. All sorts of happenings are going on.
We took a trip to ride down the Guadelupe river with some friends. Chelsea was with us so it was really super fun. Chris and I took the bottle of left over sangria from the 4th of July party that had been frozen in our freezer all this time with us. As it melted into a slushy we just passed the gallon jug around and all had some. It was delicious! and Potent! During the river trip the skies decided to pour on us but it did not effect our spirits and we continued on even when we were the ONLY group left on the river. The whole trip was a complete blast. I fell out of my tube at one point going down the chute but only scraped up my knees. Otherwise, it was a completely awesome trip.
What else? School started. Chelsea is a Junior in High School and Colin is in 3rd grade. He thinks his teacher is cute which is terribly cute! I took a day off to hang out with Chelsea and take her shopping for school clothes and it happened to be tax free weekend so we got some deals but I was happy that we had finished with our shopping early in the day to avoid the crowds. We both got new school year hair-cuts too - I got about 4 inches cut off of my hair and Chelsea just got a cute trim. It was an awesome day.
Julie had her baby! Here's a link to her Picasa album. Her baby boy is named Caleb and he was born on August 30th. We saw him only hours after he was born and even got to witness his first bath ever. He was 8lbs 3ozs. We dont' expect to see much of Matt and Julie now that they have the baby but we're hoping to get to visit soon. Maybe if the hurricane (Ike) continues in it's path towards us we'll swing by on our way to Chris's parents' house since they both live in the north.
We watch Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC on a live feed from the BAND headquarters in our area. BAND is the Bay Area New Democrats and they have become a HUGE force during this election. I've never seen so many Democrats in the state of Texas. My dream is to turn Texas into a Blue State during election time. Can you imagine how powerful a statement that would be? Amazing! Chelsea just turned 18 so she can vote now. She has a lot of mixed feelings about it. For one, shes in school and SO many kids at this school have parents who are voting for McCain. Which I can see since we live in a fairly affluent part of Texas which has a lot of Republicans and Conservatives. But I asked Chelsea to take a Political Compass Test - she took this one and this one and both times turned up as one of those god-forsaken liberals! Thank goodness!!!! Anyway, so if the issues she truly believes in had come out that she really was all for McCain I wouldn't have minded really. I just would have thought well at least she's discussing how she feels about the issues and that's how she feels, ah well. But I really am happy that her views sort of mirror the values I've tried to impress upon her. It was a great exercise.
This past weekend I went on a date w/ Chris to beach. He was just coming in from a conference in Denver and it was TIME for us to have some fun. I've been in a really bad mood/state lately so it was great to go OUT with Chris again since it's been a while, and have some fun. We drove out to East Beach on Saturday night when it was clear and beautiful. Our original plan was to star-gaze but Chris also brought his camera and tripod with him. We played around with light grafitti and HERE are the results of our labors. It was SO much fun that we didn't leave the beach until about 2 AM and didn't get home till about 3AM. Read the photo captions on these - it tells about our thought processes.
Next weekend is the Eichler family reunion and we're not going to be able to make it. It's possible that the hurricane will prevent the whole thing anyway but we've already made plans not to attend. There are just so many other things going on right now and gas prices are so expensive that we opted out.
NaNoWriMo is coming up and I've decided to ML for one more year. This year Chris is my Co-ML which is nice. He's going to be the tech guy. He did that last year too but this year he'll have access to the ML Area on NaNoWriMo. I have no idea what I'm going to write a novel about this year. Currently, I'm focused on securing a location for several of our events rather than what I'm going to write but I'm sure it will come to me.
I just found out tonight that Carmen and Kevin are coming to Houston for Christmas! I am SO excited! It's he best news ever. I haven't seen them in about a year. I hope they can stay here with us for a little while.
That's it for an update.
LOVE
Monday, August 11, 2008
Mother of an Adult Babydoll
Today is the 18th birthday of my only daughter, my only child for all intents and purposes. It's so strange to think of Chelsea as an adult because to me she seems like such a child. She still argues with an 8 year old, doesn't drive, is in high school, can't spell to save her life poor child, and, in general, still needs me in so many ways. But in reality Chelsea is a very smart, vibrant, and thinking young woman who often makes surprisingly mature decisions for herself. She's an excellent problem solver, thinks things through, can see options and follow them through in her head to their logical conclusions before acting, is a voracious reader and an excellent writer. She has her whole future ahead of her.
Some of my thinking that Chelsea still needs me is, obviously, my own need to be needed. I think I'll feel empty or useless once Chelsea stops needing me for so many things. To a large extent, being a single mom has been my whole life and purpose for almost half of my entire life and more than half of the part of my life that I can remember. For the last EIGHTEEN YEARS it's really been all about Chelsea. So many choices about where we live and the type of job I've always had are a direct result of being a single mom, needing to stay within a certain school district, or carrying insurance on my child. Now, for the record, none of that is changing because Chelsea is still in school and I'll carry insurance on her for as long as I legally can. However, as we cross this milestone into legal adulthood I feel a little bit of the need for that slipping past.
The reasons my daughter has needed me in the past won't really apply much longer and the truth is that she'll need me in other ways. Ways I hope to be able to handle with the same finesse and success as I handled having a baby or a school aged child or a teenager. You grow as a parent along with the child you raise. I have such strong desires for Chelsea's future success in what ever ways she chooses to measure her success. I want her to be happy and finish high school and college, I want her to be happy in love and successful in business enterprises and long term friendships. I want her to keep in touch with me as she makes her way in life and I want us to be best friends always.
Last night Chris and I were talking about having a baby. There are positives and negatives to weigh about the whole idea so it was an inconclusive discussion. But this issue has been at the forefront of my mind for a while now. It's impossible not to think of it with so many pregnant people around us. Chris's sister, Penny is pregnant right now and she's a year older than I am and doing fine. She, along with Chris's whole family, was over on Saturday for Chelsea's birthday and we got to play with little William - her 1 year old son. He is simply precious and you can't help but smile and want to keep that feeling of having a little baby when around one.
So coupling the baby handling and siege of pregnant women we know right now with the fact that my daughter is now "grown" I can't tell if my desire to have another baby is situational or stems from an innate truth.
I think Chris and I would make pretty awesome parents and that a child between the two of us would be a beautiful human. Together we could raise a smart, liberal, free spirited, thinking individual child and be rewarded of our parenting skills every day in the little ways that having a child is rewarding. At the same time, I think that, without having more children, Chris and I have a perfect sort of rhythm to our lives with parenting his son who is with us only 60% of the time. The 40% of the time it's just Chelsea at home we can live like free adults and the other 60% we get to be awesome parents and provide enriching experiences for Colin and Chelsea alike. In another 10 years we could be empty nesters in our late 40s and be able to travel and write and enjoy retirement. (I can retire from the State of Texas at the age of 52 with full benefits.) Both scenarios have so much potential! It's quite fortunate that I don't have to make such a decision right now at all because I wouldn't be able to tell which part of my heart desires which potential more.
Speaking of babies, Dawn & Jim were chosen by another birthmother for adoptive parents several months ago and the birthmother, Sarah, had the baby on July 21st so James now has a baby sister named Bailey. Dawn is on maternity leave now.
So, after all my wailing over to bare or not to bare children, the impossible what if's and limitless possibilities, here is what you've really been trying to get to: PICTURES of Chelsea's 18th Birthday Weekend. I am a lucky and happy woman with this life right now, right here.
Gotta end with LOVE
Some of my thinking that Chelsea still needs me is, obviously, my own need to be needed. I think I'll feel empty or useless once Chelsea stops needing me for so many things. To a large extent, being a single mom has been my whole life and purpose for almost half of my entire life and more than half of the part of my life that I can remember. For the last EIGHTEEN YEARS it's really been all about Chelsea. So many choices about where we live and the type of job I've always had are a direct result of being a single mom, needing to stay within a certain school district, or carrying insurance on my child. Now, for the record, none of that is changing because Chelsea is still in school and I'll carry insurance on her for as long as I legally can. However, as we cross this milestone into legal adulthood I feel a little bit of the need for that slipping past.
The reasons my daughter has needed me in the past won't really apply much longer and the truth is that she'll need me in other ways. Ways I hope to be able to handle with the same finesse and success as I handled having a baby or a school aged child or a teenager. You grow as a parent along with the child you raise. I have such strong desires for Chelsea's future success in what ever ways she chooses to measure her success. I want her to be happy and finish high school and college, I want her to be happy in love and successful in business enterprises and long term friendships. I want her to keep in touch with me as she makes her way in life and I want us to be best friends always.
Last night Chris and I were talking about having a baby. There are positives and negatives to weigh about the whole idea so it was an inconclusive discussion. But this issue has been at the forefront of my mind for a while now. It's impossible not to think of it with so many pregnant people around us. Chris's sister, Penny is pregnant right now and she's a year older than I am and doing fine. She, along with Chris's whole family, was over on Saturday for Chelsea's birthday and we got to play with little William - her 1 year old son. He is simply precious and you can't help but smile and want to keep that feeling of having a little baby when around one.So coupling the baby handling and siege of pregnant women we know right now with the fact that my daughter is now "grown" I can't tell if my desire to have another baby is situational or stems from an innate truth.
I think Chris and I would make pretty awesome parents and that a child between the two of us would be a beautiful human. Together we could raise a smart, liberal, free spirited, thinking individual child and be rewarded of our parenting skills every day in the little ways that having a child is rewarding. At the same time, I think that, without having more children, Chris and I have a perfect sort of rhythm to our lives with parenting his son who is with us only 60% of the time. The 40% of the time it's just Chelsea at home we can live like free adults and the other 60% we get to be awesome parents and provide enriching experiences for Colin and Chelsea alike. In another 10 years we could be empty nesters in our late 40s and be able to travel and write and enjoy retirement. (I can retire from the State of Texas at the age of 52 with full benefits.) Both scenarios have so much potential! It's quite fortunate that I don't have to make such a decision right now at all because I wouldn't be able to tell which part of my heart desires which potential more.
Speaking of babies, Dawn & Jim were chosen by another birthmother for adoptive parents several months ago and the birthmother, Sarah, had the baby on July 21st so James now has a baby sister named Bailey. Dawn is on maternity leave now.
So, after all my wailing over to bare or not to bare children, the impossible what if's and limitless possibilities, here is what you've really been trying to get to: PICTURES of Chelsea's 18th Birthday Weekend. I am a lucky and happy woman with this life right now, right here.
Gotta end with LOVE
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
A Brief Update
Long time no post...
So that weird thing going on at work - well a major administrative shake up - our director stepped down or was asked to step down - we've heard conflicting reports - either way, he's no longer the director and the chairman put himself into place as interim but told everyone he would be relying on the assistant director for everything administrative. This is the woman who, for whatever bizarre reason, hates me. Two days after she re-assumed her power-trip she told me to stop making decisions for the division, that I was not in charge, that I was not qualified for my job, that I was not a manager, and to stop making trouble for her because they have 'plans' in place. That was on Friday, June 27th. Today I started my new job. For her information, I'm actually overqualified for my job. I was sick of it. I took this problem to the chairman's office and he happened to be trying to decide what to do for a new director in another division who wasn't happy with his administrator. He asked me if I was interested in a transfer. I was. He set up an interview the following Monday. It was relief at first sight! The Director was impressed with me, I was impressed with him. It was decided but I couldn't announce to my staff that I was leaving until they were all gathered together and people were on vacation. So the announcement was made on Tuesday (yesterday) and then I moved my stuff. Today was my first day of the new job. I have been on information overload all day - meeting new people, unpacking my boxes, walking all over the place, familiarizing myself with a new group of people, a new place to park, etc. It's been a little stressful the last couple of weeks but I'm managing. I couldn't be more pleased actually. I talked with a friend from my old division this evening who said that everyone thinks I was moved out of there without any choice in the matter. I hope that's not the legacy that is left behind but, honestly, I couldn't care less what they think. I feel sorry for the whole division with that woman running it. She bases her decisions from her insecurities and personal grudges and is unfortunately socially inept. And that's all I'm going to say on the matter.
Our 4th of July barbecue was a smashing success! Everyone who came enjoyed the hell out of it. All were impressed with the new place. It's almost as if it's not "new" anymore to me but the 4th was the first time most people were here. We never did go swimming, play disc golf, or leave to watch the fireworks over Clear Lake. That was mainly because, early into the party, when we were meant to be swimming or playing disc golf in the back yard, cooking and food prep was underway and by the time it was 9pm for fireworks the only person sober enough to drive us to the lake was Julie - and only because she is pregnant.
Preparations continue for Julie's baby shower which is going to be on the 26th of July. The party planners - 4 of us - are all planning to wear something polka dotted and I have nothing polka dotted to wear. They are all much more into this than I am. I haven't been one much for baby showers in the last 5 years or so. I think in 2003 when my office threw a baby shower for me while I was pregnant with James was the one that did me in. They meant well. It wasn't their fault. It was so nice of everyone to throw me a baby shower and I hadn't exactly advertised that I had made an adoption plan. A few key people knew and they said they informed the shower-thrower who assured them all the gifts would be of the "new mommy" variety - belly cream and scented candles. Well who doesn't like scented candles? I thought I had the strength. All the gifts were not for me, I got bibs and rattles, onesies and cards. It was the cards with their sentiments on the arrivals of babies that eventually caused me to run from the room throwing up and crying in hysterics. Not a good scene for work. Since then I've attended only a very few other baby showers - let's see - there was the one Dawn invited me to that same year for her in honor of my birthson - also not fun, also left early and quickly - tires screeching, Dawn wondering if I still planned to go through with it all. Then there was the one where a work friend was having a baby with her boyfriend who was actually going to help parent the kid to whom I gave the baby blanket that I had crocheted for James while pregnant with him that, when it came down to it, I didn't want to give it to him after all - they were getting enough from me. Then there was Cori's - same situation but this time I had no gift. I had attempted to crochet another baby blanket but didn't finish it in time for the shower and couldn't bring myself to buy something after all that effort. So, in a way, I'm sort of too jilted to enjoy baby showers a whole lot. The wonderful thing about Cori's was that there were mimosas to be had and that helped a hell of a lot. I know I have a lot of issues of bitterness towards this whole issue but unfortunately I don't give a damn. Anyway, so I have to attend and help to host this baby shower in about a week and a half and I haven't shopped for a gift and I don't have anything with polka dots. And perhaps this post is already too honest and I should sleep on it before publishing for the world to read but I have to go on to say that although I like Julie very much and am excited for her and Matt that they'll get to be parents and she seems like a very nice woman, I really honestly don't know her all that well. I don't talk to her on the phone or hang out with her outside of Chris's group of friends. I know she's a great cook, prefers alcohol over beer, is really pretty, was an Aggie, used to blog, met Chris on the internet, likes to travel, enjoys the beach, is in a Bunko group. I don't know why I agreed to help with the baby shower. I was being friendly and excited for her happy news. I need to find that again. And maybe I should just frikin call Julie myself. Maybe we're not great friends because I'm not trying. Maybe I'll make it through the baby shower without having a break down this time. Maybe I'll take Chelsea with me.
It's late. I have to be at work bright and early for my new job tomorrow. My staff from the old place is throwing me a goodbye breakfast at 8:15 tomorrow. They were shocked to see me leave so quickly and said they need closure. I'm sure it will be very nice and I really appreciate all of them.
I'm just under a lot of stress this week. It's probably not the best time to publicly discuss my feelings about baby showers and Julie. I have to say that I honestly really do like Julie a lot and I wish I knew her better. I wish I knew her well enough to know what was the perfect thing that she would just love to get for her baby shower. So all my bitterness probably stems from feeling inadequately prepared. What do you give a brand new mom-to-be? What does she not have that would be that special thing? I'll have to investigate and find out.
Love.
So that weird thing going on at work - well a major administrative shake up - our director stepped down or was asked to step down - we've heard conflicting reports - either way, he's no longer the director and the chairman put himself into place as interim but told everyone he would be relying on the assistant director for everything administrative. This is the woman who, for whatever bizarre reason, hates me. Two days after she re-assumed her power-trip she told me to stop making decisions for the division, that I was not in charge, that I was not qualified for my job, that I was not a manager, and to stop making trouble for her because they have 'plans' in place. That was on Friday, June 27th. Today I started my new job. For her information, I'm actually overqualified for my job. I was sick of it. I took this problem to the chairman's office and he happened to be trying to decide what to do for a new director in another division who wasn't happy with his administrator. He asked me if I was interested in a transfer. I was. He set up an interview the following Monday. It was relief at first sight! The Director was impressed with me, I was impressed with him. It was decided but I couldn't announce to my staff that I was leaving until they were all gathered together and people were on vacation. So the announcement was made on Tuesday (yesterday) and then I moved my stuff. Today was my first day of the new job. I have been on information overload all day - meeting new people, unpacking my boxes, walking all over the place, familiarizing myself with a new group of people, a new place to park, etc. It's been a little stressful the last couple of weeks but I'm managing. I couldn't be more pleased actually. I talked with a friend from my old division this evening who said that everyone thinks I was moved out of there without any choice in the matter. I hope that's not the legacy that is left behind but, honestly, I couldn't care less what they think. I feel sorry for the whole division with that woman running it. She bases her decisions from her insecurities and personal grudges and is unfortunately socially inept. And that's all I'm going to say on the matter.
Our 4th of July barbecue was a smashing success! Everyone who came enjoyed the hell out of it. All were impressed with the new place. It's almost as if it's not "new" anymore to me but the 4th was the first time most people were here. We never did go swimming, play disc golf, or leave to watch the fireworks over Clear Lake. That was mainly because, early into the party, when we were meant to be swimming or playing disc golf in the back yard, cooking and food prep was underway and by the time it was 9pm for fireworks the only person sober enough to drive us to the lake was Julie - and only because she is pregnant.
Preparations continue for Julie's baby shower which is going to be on the 26th of July. The party planners - 4 of us - are all planning to wear something polka dotted and I have nothing polka dotted to wear. They are all much more into this than I am. I haven't been one much for baby showers in the last 5 years or so. I think in 2003 when my office threw a baby shower for me while I was pregnant with James was the one that did me in. They meant well. It wasn't their fault. It was so nice of everyone to throw me a baby shower and I hadn't exactly advertised that I had made an adoption plan. A few key people knew and they said they informed the shower-thrower who assured them all the gifts would be of the "new mommy" variety - belly cream and scented candles. Well who doesn't like scented candles? I thought I had the strength. All the gifts were not for me, I got bibs and rattles, onesies and cards. It was the cards with their sentiments on the arrivals of babies that eventually caused me to run from the room throwing up and crying in hysterics. Not a good scene for work. Since then I've attended only a very few other baby showers - let's see - there was the one Dawn invited me to that same year for her in honor of my birthson - also not fun, also left early and quickly - tires screeching, Dawn wondering if I still planned to go through with it all. Then there was the one where a work friend was having a baby with her boyfriend who was actually going to help parent the kid to whom I gave the baby blanket that I had crocheted for James while pregnant with him that, when it came down to it, I didn't want to give it to him after all - they were getting enough from me. Then there was Cori's - same situation but this time I had no gift. I had attempted to crochet another baby blanket but didn't finish it in time for the shower and couldn't bring myself to buy something after all that effort. So, in a way, I'm sort of too jilted to enjoy baby showers a whole lot. The wonderful thing about Cori's was that there were mimosas to be had and that helped a hell of a lot. I know I have a lot of issues of bitterness towards this whole issue but unfortunately I don't give a damn. Anyway, so I have to attend and help to host this baby shower in about a week and a half and I haven't shopped for a gift and I don't have anything with polka dots. And perhaps this post is already too honest and I should sleep on it before publishing for the world to read but I have to go on to say that although I like Julie very much and am excited for her and Matt that they'll get to be parents and she seems like a very nice woman, I really honestly don't know her all that well. I don't talk to her on the phone or hang out with her outside of Chris's group of friends. I know she's a great cook, prefers alcohol over beer, is really pretty, was an Aggie, used to blog, met Chris on the internet, likes to travel, enjoys the beach, is in a Bunko group. I don't know why I agreed to help with the baby shower. I was being friendly and excited for her happy news. I need to find that again. And maybe I should just frikin call Julie myself. Maybe we're not great friends because I'm not trying. Maybe I'll make it through the baby shower without having a break down this time. Maybe I'll take Chelsea with me.
It's late. I have to be at work bright and early for my new job tomorrow. My staff from the old place is throwing me a goodbye breakfast at 8:15 tomorrow. They were shocked to see me leave so quickly and said they need closure. I'm sure it will be very nice and I really appreciate all of them.
I'm just under a lot of stress this week. It's probably not the best time to publicly discuss my feelings about baby showers and Julie. I have to say that I honestly really do like Julie a lot and I wish I knew her better. I wish I knew her well enough to know what was the perfect thing that she would just love to get for her baby shower. So all my bitterness probably stems from feeling inadequately prepared. What do you give a brand new mom-to-be? What does she not have that would be that special thing? I'll have to investigate and find out.
Love.
Friday, June 27, 2008
The Meta Post
I have to say, I enjoy blogging. I feel like I have to have something interesting to write in order to post and I can't really go on an on about all the people in my life the way you can in a private journal. I also have some taboos regarding writing about my intimate life and things that go on at work - which is always a big no no. But these are certainly things one might have read in a bedside journal of mine from the far past. My journal was where I bitched about life's problems and talked through my fears of inadequacy at being a mother, or the latest hot gossip at work that you can't tell anyone, or any number of strange private thoughts that flit to the surface when your pen is scratching across a tablet on your knees. That's where blogging draws the line. For me it has a filter and a grammar check. I know there are blogs all over the world where people spill their guts and most private secrets - but those people usually live to regret that decision. I have a teenage daughter who may read this and a boyfriend who subscribes to it and a job and a family and, well, generally, an appearance to keep up.
Besides the content there's also the part about how it gets me writing. I wish I had more time to blog but really I wish I had more time to write. I like organizing my thoughts into coherent sentences and deciding on whether or not to include a visual to help with what I'm describing. I like drafting and structuring what I'm trying to convey.
And of course, beyond the content and the structure, conveyance begs the question of "to whom?" So there is the 'reader.' The fact that your words are virtually published for the world at large. I post my theses to the door. My press release on life, gone to print, as it were. I've learned that you can keep in touch with people via blogging. If I read someone's blog I get an idea of what's going on with them, what they are working on, if anything. Not a lot of posting means either nothing is going on; or so much is going on that I can't write now and the reader will find out all about it later, maybe, if that's what I decide to write about. There's the third option that what ever is going on is of the taboo ilk.
[whisper]shhhhh non-postable.[/whisper]
So, yes. Keeping in touch via blogging. Once I was fortunate enough to participate in a survey Google sent out and I thought, Oh Perfect! I LOVE that they asked ME what I think because I'm Google's biggest fan! I couldn't wait to get through the seven pages or so of yes/no check boxes and drop down menus to the text box so I could really sing their praises. However, I remember one of the questions that was asked was something like:
I keep in touch with the majority of my circle of contacts by (number the following in order of 1=most often used and 6=least)
_ telephone
_ in person conversation
_ e-mail
_ chat
_ blogging
_ post service
Now, earlier they had asked the surveyed to define their circle of contacts in terms of how many people they communicated with in a given week including people at work, people at home, people you only know over the internet, etc. So I had to come up with a number and then offer a percentage breakdown of what category the contacts fell into. So anyway that made it an interesting question because of the work people. There are people I work with who I communicate with every given week who I have never even met but I e-mail back and forth to them because they are my contact for that particular thing. So I had to choose e-mail as the most frequently used method of communication. But at the time I took the survey I chose blogging as the least used and even privately snorted that "who 'keeps in touch with their friends' by BLOGGING? That's such a one-sided conversation." But I get it now. I understand that you can keep up with people by reading their blog. I subscribe to my friends' and family's blogs (if they keep them and I know about it) and if I'm posting about my life on my blog and you want to know what's going on, well, it's kind of your responsibility to read up on my life if I'm publishing it for all the world to read. Conversely, I really enjoy reading my friends' blogs to keep in touch with them. It resembles asynchronous learning, or the theory of Piaget's regarding the ability to learn when the learner actively seeks the knowledge rather than passively accepting whatever is being taught. It places the onus of responsibility on me to read the blogs of my circle. So I accept that responsibility and in turn publish my own for you.
So read on..
LOVE
Besides the content there's also the part about how it gets me writing. I wish I had more time to blog but really I wish I had more time to write. I like organizing my thoughts into coherent sentences and deciding on whether or not to include a visual to help with what I'm describing. I like drafting and structuring what I'm trying to convey.
And of course, beyond the content and the structure, conveyance begs the question of "to whom?" So there is the 'reader.' The fact that your words are virtually published for the world at large. I post my theses to the door. My press release on life, gone to print, as it were. I've learned that you can keep in touch with people via blogging. If I read someone's blog I get an idea of what's going on with them, what they are working on, if anything. Not a lot of posting means either nothing is going on; or so much is going on that I can't write now and the reader will find out all about it later, maybe, if that's what I decide to write about. There's the third option that what ever is going on is of the taboo ilk.
[whisper]shhhhh non-postable.[/whisper]
So, yes. Keeping in touch via blogging. Once I was fortunate enough to participate in a survey Google sent out and I thought, Oh Perfect! I LOVE that they asked ME what I think because I'm Google's biggest fan! I couldn't wait to get through the seven pages or so of yes/no check boxes and drop down menus to the text box so I could really sing their praises. However, I remember one of the questions that was asked was something like:
I keep in touch with the majority of my circle of contacts by (number the following in order of 1=most often used and 6=least)
_ telephone
_ in person conversation
_ e-mail
_ chat
_ blogging
_ post service
Now, earlier they had asked the surveyed to define their circle of contacts in terms of how many people they communicated with in a given week including people at work, people at home, people you only know over the internet, etc. So I had to come up with a number and then offer a percentage breakdown of what category the contacts fell into. So anyway that made it an interesting question because of the work people. There are people I work with who I communicate with every given week who I have never even met but I e-mail back and forth to them because they are my contact for that particular thing. So I had to choose e-mail as the most frequently used method of communication. But at the time I took the survey I chose blogging as the least used and even privately snorted that "who 'keeps in touch with their friends' by BLOGGING? That's such a one-sided conversation." But I get it now. I understand that you can keep up with people by reading their blog. I subscribe to my friends' and family's blogs (if they keep them and I know about it) and if I'm posting about my life on my blog and you want to know what's going on, well, it's kind of your responsibility to read up on my life if I'm publishing it for all the world to read. Conversely, I really enjoy reading my friends' blogs to keep in touch with them. It resembles asynchronous learning, or the theory of Piaget's regarding the ability to learn when the learner actively seeks the knowledge rather than passively accepting whatever is being taught. It places the onus of responsibility on me to read the blogs of my circle. So I accept that responsibility and in turn publish my own for you.
So read on..
LOVE
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