Dear Wilson,

Dude so sorry! It's been 10 days since I've blogged and I am way overdue.

Attended 20 year reunion. What fun. Great to see all those old faces. Funny to see little kid faces in middle-aged bodies.

Off for a walk. Eating well and exercising needs to continue to be a top priority. Heard today that 1/3 of Americans are obese -- including children. I think my next career might just have to be in health. I know how hard it can be, but geez that's just a freaky stat.

More later.

Ooooh weee! Am I on a roll with keeping this blog up or what! I perused some of the other blogs out there and thankfully I don't submit details of what I've eaten and what time I did my business. Thanks, but no thanks! I did come across a new word I love "Blogstipation" ... need I say more? Writer's block is so passe.

Oh for gosh sakes I've already forgotten poor Wilson. Let me start again.

Dear Wilson,

I'll be back.

I am in a mooooood today. It's Saturday and I've borrowed a carpet cleaner and have done some carpets. John's been in the garage all day putting up his mom's old shelves. I'm restless and stressed about John's work situation, my work situation, etc. I know I should feel more settled and not let it get to me, but I feel what I feel! Sound like layoffs are happening next week. We think John will be okay, but the layoffs will be extensive.

We are going to friends for dinner tonight and that should be a fun relief to the tension around here. I know I bring much of it on myself and I'm just not sure how to relieve it. Writing here certainly helps. I'll keep my chin up and focus on an optimistic attitude.

Working on my resume more today -- I did see an interesting virtual instructor position that intrigued me. You teach 24 hours a week and often at odd late night/early morning times to accomodate the audience- I'm used to that! Problem is it's a consulting firm and I've heard those to be a serious killjoy in terms of corporate culture. John is right to just go for the opportunities and then turn things down if they are not the right fit. I think this week I will apply for that position as well as the computer trainer position. Could be nice to just teach end users and not highly technical folks.

Emi and I went and got her some art supplies for her Reflections project. The theme is My Favorite Place and she is painting a picture of her friends house. She is working hard on the grass! We scored on a huge art set for $25. She couldn't be happier with it!

Watched Cast Away last night and got to thinking about his friend Wilson the volleyball. People do need social networks. Isolation is not healthy for humans. I think that this blog is a bit like having a pal Wilson to just share the events of the day with. With that, I might have to start writing Dear Wilson at the top of each blog. Isn't Wilson really just my alter-ego? I really am simply writing to myself aren't I?

Wilson, if you were going to write a novel what would it be about? The thought I always have are the tragic turned beautiful like someone losing a loved one and out of that coming something even better than life could have turned if that had not happened. I also like th family dramas with the interesting, random characters.

Sorry, Wilson, being paged by my daughter -- back later.

Alrighty, so not so interested in the scrapped bikes for the needy today. Pretty melancholy yesterday, today just realizing that is life and sometimes life sucks! I love Dave Ramsey's discussions about Murphy. Murphy's Law is that if something can go wrong it will. Dave embellishes this with what you do in your life can create an invitation for Murphy to visit. Not that the needy children were inviting this to happen to them, but that there are things we can control to keep Murphy away -- or as Dave would say, create some Murphy repellent. That said, we are working on our Murphy Repellent (our emergency fund) as rainy days do happen and they are easier to handle if you've got an umbrella - for sure.

Worked on my resume today. That's a funny exercise. Would like to have a few more companies that I can teach for. Does that mean I need Microsoft Certification? Could be and it might be fun to study and achieve as I haven't done that in quite some time. I enjoy the classroom environment online or off and look forward to more opportunities to teach and learn.

Jack has been in the throngs of recorder practice for the 4th grade. Recorder Karate - each song achieved gets you another color string on your recorder. He passed purple belt today (Old MacDonald) and even with a few squeaky D's he passed. He's quite pleased with himself and is discovering the joy of pursuing something through the difficulties to the final glory. Isn't that what life is all about?

The painters left behid 2 sawhorses and some sort of long heavy metal plank. This has become a balance beam in the backyard and the kids have changed the swing to instead some sort of rope swing that you can launch from the sawhorse. Emi is very pleased with it and I had to come watch the show. Jack is more timid with those swingy things, but also can accomplisth the forward swing and return back to land on the sawhorse. Just love watching kids be kids. Emi's cheeks were bright with cold last night as they played on that thing before and then after dinner again.

Tonight we will have a little pizza and beer with Omie and Bobby. So nice to have them near. John and I get to escape to my high school reunion next weekend and they will stay over with the kids. Sure to be lots of blog material from that!!

Okay friends! Time to blog. What the heck is a blog you ask? It's like an online journal where anyone, anywhere can jot down their thoughts on just about anything free of charge for just about anyone to read.

This blog is my attempt to move from my paper journal to my computer (or I guess, blog). In part a diary for my children thru great-great-grandchildren to read one day and get to know me, in part for my sister to get a daily laugh on my views on things, and, of course, for my friends or anyone wanting to read what a 38 year old married mom has to say. Does blog stand for biographical log? I'm going to check wikipedia now ... hold on ... okay, blog is a contraction for "web log" -- I guess a wlog is too hard to say. I've now also heard of mlog "mobile log" and alog "audio log" -- I suppose allowing you to purge your insights into your cell phone and update your blog. Cool.

So what do I have to say? I'm going to start with this -- journaling. What is it about pouring your brain out on paper? Why, as I get older is it so important to purge in order to feel clear-headed? I think for many years my brain had a liver of sorts that flushed out the toxins. Now, it seems, to even think clearly, without distraction, for 10 minutes is a feat of great proportions. So, journaling, I suppose, is one way to just dump it out there and relieve the mind of it's over consumption (yes, that sounds a lot like my brain binges, but so be it. How can our brains not binge from all of the overstimulation of sights and sounds we take in every second!?)

I'd been kind of restless the last week or so -- PMS yes, but more than that, just a kind of floating from thing to thing, working some, playing some, but not totally here. And it came to me yesterday, that I hadn't written in my journal for about 10 days. Could it be that my mind just sort of ballooned out so far with stuff that I couldn't really anchor into anything? What would happen if I didn't journal for more than 10 days. Good gosh I hate to imagine. So, having journaled yesterday and blogged today I am sharp, sharp, sharp! Can't you tell?

That's all for now - maybe some more thoughts later. Tomorrow's topic might possibly be this headline in the Seattle Times today "Bikes for Needy Children Accidentally Scrapped" and the question - why do these things happen?