Thanks for Tagging Me!

Hey, I want to give a shout out to Jasmine at Between the Rinse and Spin Cycle for tagging me. Really, this is great, because I've been comming up empty on things to write about.

Now for the game: I pick 5 occupations out of the list below and post my answers. Then I tag 3 other people to post their answers on their blog.

The "questions": If I could be a scientist...If I could be a farmer...If I could be a musician...If I could be a doctor...If I could be a painter...If I could be a gardener...If I could be a missionary...If I could be a chef...If I could be an architect...If I could be a linguist...If I could be a psychologist...If I could be a librarian...If I could be an athlete...If I could be a lawyer...If I could be an inn-keeper...If I could be a professor...If I could be a writer...If I could be a llama-rider...If I could be a bonnie pirate...If I could be an astronaut...If I could be a world famous blogger...If I could be a justice on any one court in the world...If I could be married to any current famous political figure...

1. If I could be an inn-keeper I'd own an inn right on the beach somewhere along the central coast of California. My inn would be very comfortable and cozy, but probably on the sparse side decor-wise. The beds would be ultra-comfy, and it would be great to have fireplaces in every room. Guests would not be required to do group activities, but if they wanted to they could come down to a large family room and play games like Cranium and Pictionary with me and others. There would be bikes available for people to ride through the neighborhood, and I'd love for my guests to have access to a good tennis court somewhere nearby. I would hire a great chef to cook for everyone too.

2. If I could be a musician I'd love to be able to play the piano. I don't play any instuments and it would be great to be able to sit down to a piano and play nice music.

3. If I could be a professor I'd teach people the art of teaching. Patience, love of the subject matter and the love of watching others learn are such gifts to a student. Did I mention patience? (I'm no expert on this. . . .unless teaching kids how to swim counts.)

4. If I could be a writer I'd write something that would make someone laugh, cry, contemplate life, and be something they would want to read over and over again.

5. If I could be a chef I'd make wonderful meals for my family that require a small number of ingredients and not alot of time to prepare.

Can you tell I ran out of steam here at the end?? I'm pretty tired today. A storm came through last night that woke me up and I had a hard time getting back to sleep. Can it please stop raining in California? And the wind, lets stop that too, it's making my son's allergies crazy.

Surfing the Blogsphere

Were you aware of the "next blog" tab at the top of this page? I learned about this from another blogger (in fact the only one on my 'links' list). I go from blog to blog enjoying the creativity, candid thoughts and clever titles, finding myself thinking "oh, I wish my blog were this cool." Although, some are sad and deeply reflective. A few are bold and in your face with colorful language. Others are downright scary.
Here is my list of ideas I get from other blogs:

Begin a post with the phrase "I want to give a shout out to . . . . "

Cool quotes in the sidebar

Include the phrase "white noise" in my blog title

Actually link IN my posts. (yes, I'm still learning)

Make a deep and meaningful reference to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Talk about my favorite diva . . . (what?)

That's all I've got so far. Tune in next time to see if I've incorporated any of the changes, or added to my list.

A Mess

That is what my house is right now, and it never fails to amaze me how quickly it gets there. I'm not a complete-er. . (a word?) . . . I don't follow through. I get home from Target and put the bags on the counter, but don't put the items away. Then I scurry on to getting my son outdoors to play for a while before it's lunch-time. We look for lizards and dig in the dirt. He rides his toddler bike and now I'm on the phone making a car service appointment. I remember to bring the phone and calendar inside, but I leave them on the kitchen table. Now I'm on to making our lunches (leaving most of the fixin's on the counter) and we eat together. In the midst of that the UPS man comes to the door . .. the books I ordered have arrived. I immediately open the box and let my son "discover" what's inside. I put the books on the counter, but let him pull out the invoice, packing materials, & coupons. Ok, back to lunch ( box contents strewn all over the living room). Oh yeah, the dryer stopped so now I pull out the clothes and put them in the living room to be folded later. I forgot to mention, before we left for Target (we have no Wal-Mart) my son had been playing blocks in the hallway (?) so they still remain. Lunch is over and I let him "read" a Dora story on the internet while I scan my new books. Naptime! We clean-up the blocks and get son a fresh diaper. Sadly, instead of a few hours to read or whatever while he sleeps, I'll be picking up after myself. It's not always like this. . . .some days I'm much more conscientious. And on those days you'll get a much more interesting blog.

What is funny about this is my parenting belief of 'lead by example' . . . . I'm very big on modeling the right behavior and trusing that the kid will 'catch' it. Well, at this rate I won't have much to say when his room looks like a disaster area.

Was My Coffee Decaf This Morn?

I can't seem to shake the sleepies from my brain today. Usually this happens to me on overcast mornings (oddly known as June gloom) or cloudy days. However, the sun is out and it's a beautiful day . . so why do I keep yawning??

I'm still having issues with setting up the links I want on this page, but I've just decided that I'll keep making posts until I get it figured out. If I could link, I'd refer to two great posts by Barbara at Mommylife: one about the wonders of front loading, extra-large capacity washers (we're about to buy one!) , and the other on practicing the presence of God. I'm finding lately that my 'prayer closet' is my car, and as I drive from errand to errand I pray. Prayer for me meaning simply talking to God about my day, about whatever attitude I may be having and wondering why, and offering up prayers for those he brings to mind as I go up and down Ventura Blvd (the main SF Valley strip). I've also come accross a great new worship song . . . .although it's not a hynm or praise song, and it's not performed by a conetmporary Christian artist. Norah Jones' "Humble Me", and the chorus is simply "humble me, humble me, Lord,". I ponder how I become so full of myself and ask for forgiveness and the wisdom to see beyond me and live for HIm. Practicing the presence of God and praying for His eyes so I can see others and the situations they are in as He sees them. Once I do that it usually results in less criticism and more compassion. And isn't it so refreshing to recieve that from others too? You have a bad day, or do something you wish you had not, and instead of condemnation you receive grace; instead of disgust you get understanding; instead of the 10 things you must now do to fix the mess you are in you get a friend who listens and who "gets's it" and just lets you be yourself. And instead of getting all stressed out about what you didn't get right, you learn to laugh at yourself and rejoice that God's mercies are new every morning. Maybe it was my pastor, or a lecture by Beth Moore, who said our God is the God of second chances. And I'm so glad he is.

Looking Forward to Summer

Here's a list of the things I'm looking forward to this summer. (In no particular order).

1. Warmer weather

2. Casual get-togethers (usually bbq) with family and friends

3. Visiting family in San Diego and possibly taking our son to the zoo for the first time

4. Wearing flip-flops almost everyday

5. Attending a performance at the Hollywood Bowl. (my favorite one to date was last year's appearance by Nickel Creek - SO GOOD!)

6. Going to a Dodger game.

7. Picnics at the beach

8. The sun staying out later. (although, it also comes up earlier which can be tough when you have a child who rises with the sun.)

9. Family vacation

10. Less trafffic on the freeways.

My voice in cyberspace

Well, here it is. I have been sharing with a few (very few) close friends and family that I want to start a blog, and I'm here . . .. and now what? I will share with you the reaction of my youngest sister (I have two sisters younger than me) when I told her I wanted to have a blog. "Why? What do these things have to say that makes you want to read them?" Once I gave her what I thought was a pretty good explanation of the world of blogs and the enjoyment in reading them she again said, "why?". And now that I"m reading over what I've just written I must say her question may have some validity to it. I think I should also add my other sister was present during the conversation and didn't say anyting really but just started at me like, "ok, whatever".

I was introduced to the world of blogs my my husand right around the beginning of the year and thought they were somewhat interesting. Most of his bookmarked blogs were political/news blogs, and pretty interesting, but the whole thing really took off for me once I started linking to other blogs. I was especially intrigued by blogs of stay-at-home-moms (like me!) and I felt like a whole new world opened up to me. My goal is to share my journey. Along the way I'll hopefully improve my writing by leaps and bounds and ultimately discover my voice as I respond to God's calling. What's that quote . . .He doesn't call the equipped, but equips the called?? I sure am going to need some "equipping"! Much inspriation has come from other tremendously gifted bloggers and they are referenced somewhere here on this page. (I think? - I'm still getting used to this format -please be patient.) I hope I can do justice to their examples.
I guess the answer to my own question of "now what?" is: now the fun begins.