Friday, February 25, 2005

Wendy

When I receive a compliment, it gives me a warm inner glow. Ever notice how spending time with some people give you that warm inner glow. Yesterday at lunch I was blessed to of had that feeling, when I had lunch with my friend Wendy. We went to Heartworks and had carrotdogs. Sometimes just a touch on the hand or a smile can brighten someone's day. And Wendy definitely has that touch. It's funny I wrote about optimism and pessimism in my journal the other day, she is surely an optimist. She is one of those people that words and smiles can lift you spirits. She is definitely a child of the light, because she shines so brightly. It sure lifts my spirit! It's a happy day!  I'll add a picture later.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Weekend Assignment #12

Weekend Assignment #12: Great Events

Weekend Assignment #12: Thanks to time travel and invisibility, you can be on the spot for any important event of the last 100 years (1905 onward). Which important historical event do you choose? As a twist, if you actually were at an important historical event, you can't pick that one. Why? Because you were there already. What, you want to be there twice? Think of the paradox!

Extra Credit: Think of a piece of now-dated slang that should be brought back into circulation. Make it reasonably clean slang, please.

 

Well i'm a genealogist, so I'd probably want to go back  in time as far back as I could go, but with all my grandparents being babies.  So let's see I'd pick Dec. 25, 1915.  In one day I'd visit four families.  All these families lived in close proximity, with the exception of one family.  My paternal grandparents, Papa and Mema, their parents probably only lived 30 miles away from each other.  I would have loved to have seen my Papa as a baby.  My mema would have been a very special time, because she was a twin, and I would be able to see these two special babies and with their mother on Christmas.  Her mom died when she was only 4 years old, and I've always wanted to see a picture of this woman.  She's been a mystery to me to this day.  Then on my maternal side, I picture my Pepa with his family, this little blue eyed baby, Autumn's eyes are just like his, so I can see this beautiful little baby with blue eyes.  Then my Nana and her family.  I picture a little one, with red hair and fair skin.  This would be a special time and I'd love to see where I came from almost a 100 years ago.  Back in the year my grandparents were born on Christmas.

 

Extra credit coming later

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Don't Worry Be Happy

A lot of people don't know that I majored in Psychology in college. I've always loved Psychology, just the workings of the mind. I think I majored in it because I was trying to figure myself out. I was thinking today about the "Good Book", the Bible, it isn't a psychology textbook, but sure gives us the wisest counsel for experiencing happiness that I can think of. It assures us that "a merry heart does good" like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bone." I watched another "Extreme Makeover, Home Edition", on Sunday night. There was a little kid that wanted to grow up and be a cardiologist, heart doctor. You could just see this kids heart was big, I think he will do it too. I wonder how many heart doctors have heard that scripture in Proverbs. A healthy outlook helps the heart. I believe that! There have been many different kinds of people in my life, optimist and some pessimist, that may be spelled wrong, that's ok, I don't really want to know how to spell that word anyway. As they say "Milk does the body good", so does Optimism. Faith, isn't it the same thing, or something close anyway. When we can look beyond our present difficulty and put our trust in His goodness it cannot help but make us feel joyful. People have always told me I always smile and am a pretty cheerful fellow. I do smile a lot. I always have. Even when maybe I'm not really the happiest. I still try and smile. I do admit to my feelings more now at least to myself and to those around me. Where am I going with this entry, I feel like the energizer bunny, I keep going, and going and going. O.K. the truth, I'm feeling a little anxious today, and I remember a poem I read, I don't really remember it to quote, but it was about bringing all your anxieties, all your cares and bringing them to the mercy seat and leaving them there, maybe it was a song, I can't remember, because I'm humming as I'm writing this. Never a burden, he cannot bear, never a friend like JESUS. So I guess my entry is just saying. "Don't worry, be Happy"

Virginia and Scott

A while back I wrote about my old roomate Ginni http://journals.aol.com/deveil/CelebrationofMyExhistance/entries/1326 and a picture I had drawn of her as a child.  Well she's living in Nevada now with Scott, and are engaged.  Her eyes have a happy look now when she sends me pictures.  I wish her all the happiness in the world.  Last year at this time we were living in Ponte Vedra Beach, running on the beach every other day, getting ready for the Gate River Run together.  She didn't get to actually run it on the day, but she sure helped me get ready for it.  I think that's one thing I miss the most about her, was our runs on the beach and all we talked about. 

Sunday, February 20, 2005

Day of Rest

Well today was my rest day, I slept late.  Mike has had the flu or some upper respiratory thing going on, so he's been sick most of the week, since Tuesday, he's finally starting to feel better after going to the doctor on Friday.  I took Abby on a walk and on a photo shoot!  For my ABC challenge, which so far I've enjoyed.  James came by before he went to work.  I took a short run and washed the car, nothing exciting.  Then I took Mike and Abby down to the river to watch the sunset, Mike's been reading "The Purpose Driven Life" and I got one of him by the tree sitting with Abby reading.  We came home and made a pizza.  It's been a very quiet relaxing weekend.

Saturday, February 19, 2005

When Pets Attack!

 

 

Weekend Assignment #48: When Pets Attack! 

Dust off the pets, here's this week's Weekend Assignment:

Weekend Assignment #48: Recount an amusing tale of a pet attacking someone or something. By "amusing," I mean that a) no one was seriously injured, least of all the pet (pet humiliation is okay), b) you laughed about it at the time, or sometime shortly thereafter. You know: Funny! Okay, then.

My mom's mother, my Nana, had many animals, cats, dog, birds, and chickens, she called them all her pets, and I loved them all.  On the way out there mama told me Nana had got a new animal, I was shocked when she told me it was a turkey.  I was all excited when I got there, I'd never seen a turkey before.  We got there but the turkey was nowhere to be found, but inside the house I would hear every once in a while a gobble, gobble, gobble.  I'd look out the windows and the door but to no avail, no turkey.  Finally I decided I was going to find that turkey, so I walked outside, and the time I walked off the front porch, from the sky, or really from on top of the house, the turkey comes across my neck attacking me, I was probably only 7 or 8 at the time, but I took off screaming with a turkey attached to my neck, finally I managed to get him off, and I ran screaming the whole way to the front door, crying and screaming I made it in to everyone laughing at me.  For the next few months this turkey lived on top of the house, or far as I know he did, because everytime I went to Nana's he was always waiting on top of the house to chase me to the car when I left, and ready to attack when I got there, then November came and Thanksgiving, and from that day forward no more mean Turkey.  I know this wasn't really a pet, but this is what came to mind.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Make a Joyful Noise

I've heard about this book "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran, almost every week for the last few weeks, my sister, reading entries on other's journals, and looking through the internet, I was first drawn to his artwork on a website. Well I guess it's high time I get the book and read, because sometimes you know your supposed to read something, but your just holding off, guess that's what I've been doing. I went on another one of my breathtaking runs last night which was beautiful as the other day. I'm starting to look forward to my runs each day, which is good, because when I first started back I was dreading them each day. Mike's been a little under the weather or not really feeling himself. Hope he gets to feeling better soon. I started thinking of another thing while I run, I havn't got me one of those new mini ipods yet, but I am, so lately with all the beauty surrounding me, I start singing, sometimes loud, sometimes to myself. It's funny, I'm not sure what comes over me, I've done this since I was young, I remember my Papa laughing at me because when I used to mow their grass on Saturdays, he'd always say he could hear me singing over the lawnmower, and that lawnmower was loud. The songs I know by heart are songs I learned in church when I was little, so here I am singing praises as I run, I feel good too, it may not sound that good to a passerby, but I think someone up there likes it. Sometimes when I draw, sometimes when I write, sometimes when I run, sometimes when I sing, this feeling comes over me, those goosebump feelings intermingled with something, gratitude I guess. When I'm sad sometimes I try and sing to myself in my head too, sometimes it cheers me up. I remember this song I sang as a special to my whole 4th, 5th, and 6th grade class, called "Make a Joyful Noise". I loved singing when I was young, I think I had a pretty good voice but when my voice changed, I didn't sound as good. I did better with groups, I did sing in college in the "Show Choir", and sang at the Crystal Pistol in Six Flags in Atlanta, Ga, where when I bent down on one knee to sing my part, my pants split, but that's another story and another entry.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

A Beautiful Run

Yesterday on my way to go work out, I changed my mind because of the weather conditions, it was beautiful out.  I ran over three bridges, and let me tell you when I hit that last bridge as the sun was going down over the river I just had to take a second to just let it soak in how beautiful it was.  I wanted the camera.  But like  so many times when I'm running I didn't have it.    My first couple of miles are always hard but after I get past 2 they seem to be very enjoyable runs.  I finally made it back, and Mike had cooked a pot roast, and his mom came over and we had a nice dinner.  It was a nice day! 

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Things kids say and think

A year or so ago Sherry was telling me about taking Autumn to the pet store around Easter, and for some reason, they had taken all the baby rabbits and put them in a place with a pregnant pot belly pig, later that night, Sherry said Autumns' prayer went something like this. God bless, Mommy and Daddy, Nana, Rere, Duck, that's me, Dena, Andy, and God bless that poor ole big fat pig. After her prayer which was very serious, Sherry asked her did she know why the pig was so fat, and Autumn looked up at her and said "Yes, because she was having baby rabbits!" It's funny the things we think when we are a child, I wish I knew or remembered some of my prayers when I was little, I still remember a few. Like when a car would go by and cast a shadow in my room, I thought that caused bad dreams, so each time I would see a shadow of a car, I would so "please God don't let me have no bad dreams", by the time I had fallen asleep, I think I must have been up to 100, please don't let me have no bad dreams. Some things though which seem so great were exactly like I thought. I remember saying God thank you for that beautiful day we had and the way the wind made me feel happy, or how pretty the sky was today and all the colors of the crayons that I saw. We thought of Him as the owner and creator of everything. But now as an adult, I'm wondering today how would He describe Himself? I've always wanted to know that I think even as a little boy, I would say in my prayers, God just come down in a cloud and tell me it's really you, or a bubble, or a talking fish. I know now He doesn't come down in a cloud or a bubble, or even a talking fish, but He has revealed Himself to us in His word and in our Hearts. Listen really hard and you can hear him. I havn't been so quiet lately, and I havn't been listening as much as I could I know. But still sometimes in the night before I fall asleep I feel myself still as a little boy saying "make yourself real to me", tell me what I'm supposed to do, I'm listening. Maybe I hear sometimes but I just can't really hear, I'm just saying that I can. I do know that He is much more than the owner and creator of everything like I used to when I was young though.   He's much much more!

Monday, February 14, 2005

Happy Valentine's Day

Well it's Valentines day and what better thing to write on than Love. Just that word means something so great! What comes to my mind? Many things. Songs, Family, Mike, and most of all the greatest love of all. The love Jesus gave to all of us. Sacrificial Love.  What does it mean to lay down our lives for Christ or our friends? I think of the one thing that Jesus asked of us. This was his commandment. First he said, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you". Then He described the fullest extent of such love: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" Now I ask myself how much I love? Jesus died willingly for us and we should be willing to die for Him and our friends. He also added, "You are My friends if you do whatever I comand you". He didn't say we're His friends only if we die for Him. We are His friends if we obey Him. In God's eyes, obeying Him as a living sacraifice is the way we lay down our life for Him. Just the same we may not have to die for our friends, but there are other ways to make sacrafices for them. There is a show I watch every week with Mike it's called "Extreme Makeover, Home Edition". They lay down a plan to help a needy family, they make provisions and help them in such a big and meaningful way. I think this show is one of the greatest shows on t.v. now that show's what it's all about. Such sacrafices, even if they are great or small can be powerful way to lay down our lives for our friends-if we sacrafice willingly and in the spirit of that love burning inside each of us. Happy Valentine's Day everyone! To all the hearts of J-land, and everyone else on the planet!

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Weekend Assignment #47

Weekend Assignment #47: Teenage Crushes

Time to swoon for this week's Weekend Assignment:

Weekend Assignment #47: Reveal Your Teenage Celebrity Crush! Oh, come on. We all had one. Share yours, and tell us why that particularly celebrity tripped your teenage trigger.

Extra Credit: Tell us: Do you still have a little teeny bit of a crush on that celebrity? Yes? No? Maybe so?

Here's mine:  Olivia Newton John, I think it was the movie Grease when I first started loving her.  Something about her, not sure how to explain it.  Every year I would get her new albumn for Christmas.  I wasn't so crazy about the "Physical" albumn, but she was my celebrity idol most of my teenage years.  I used to get out my sister's teenbeat magazine's and find her address and write her, but I never got a response back. there was however one person I wrote that did respond but I was more like 11 or 12,  It was 1977, and I wrote a letter to Debbie Boone, I remember I was in the 6th grade.  I was crazy about her too, and loved the song "You light Up My Life", I don't remember what all I wrote, but she actually wrote me a letter back in her stationary, it wasn't one of those fake kind of letters.  She sent me this beautiful picture of her and autographed it, I had it framed and hung on my wall for a couple of years.  I also met Loretta Lynn and shook her hand, and got her autograph also.  I thought she was a beautiful woman too.  Still do.  Extra credit!Have you seen Olivia lately, she's still as beautiful as she was when I was a teenager, so yep!

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Baby Ethan

I'm going to print this one up and frame it for a birthday present for Dena.  I thought it was just perfect!  I think this is what he was thinking too.  Actually when I took it I didn't realize he had just finished "drinking from the tree".  Dena said a few minutes earlier and you would have got a really good shot!  Don't worry Dena I wouldn't put that shot in there even if I did take a picture of that.  It does make me think of something though.   I remember my Papa thinking it was the most beautiful thing in the world to see.  Which honestly I think so too.   Has anyone ever written in the journal's about breast feeding, I'll have to do a search on that one.  I remember my mom telling me when she breast fed Sherry and Dena that one was chocalate and the other was regular milk.  By the time she had Lance, I figured out she had been pulling one over on me.  Well it's a beautiful Saturday morning here in Jacksonville.  I need to go out and enjoy it.  Time for my 6 mile run, I'm supposed to start going up to 8 this week, but I think I may wait till next week.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Honey! Honey

Have you ever sat writing an entry, pouring your heart out into it, and then got ready to click the add after an hour of the words just flowing. Then you go to look at your entry and there stands the last entry you had written the day before, and all those wonderful thoughts you had were gone. Well I'm going to try this again, it happened to me yesterday for the first time. I was so frustrated that I couldn't get out what I had already said or that it wouldn't capture the feeling, so now I'm writing on my Microsoft word and I'll transfer it over later, so at least it might be saved. Yesterday I had a thought that started with something Mike had asked me, he's always asking me trivia. The question, "What food never spoils even if you leave it out?" I didn't have to think long because my Nana's father harvested bee's for their "HONEY". Yep Honey never spoils. You know how wordplay works honey made me think of something else, and yesterday I just went from thought to thought, so maybe I was supposed to lose that entry, since now I've had more time to think about it. Well the honey made me think of a couple of childhood things. I have asthma, havn't had an attack in years though but as a child it was terrible. I used to eat the beeswax as my cure, old ancient cures from great grandmother that was passed down. I also started thinking of one of my passions as a kid, Bugs, yes I was the Jr. Entomologist from the 5th grade to the 7th grade, bugs were my life, I couldn't get enough, I studied them, I caught them, I read about them, and I put them under microscopes so I could see them even better. Well the honey made me think of a specific ant, the "Honey ants" they survive in difficult times by depending on certain memebers of their group know as "honey pots". They take in so much nectar that they swell up until they resemble little round berries, hardly able to move. When food and water become scarce, these ants act as a "social stomach" and sustain the entire colony by dispensing what they have stored in their own bodies. Pretty amazing stuff huh? Well after thinking about that I started thinking of the messanger of God, how they must fill their heart and mind with their truths. Only as they are faithful in applying their truths to their own life can they honestly give it nourishing encouragement to others. I think of all those social stomach's that helped me in some way or another. I am thankful for those people. I want to be like thosepeople, I want a social stomach like these people. I know with this comes a lot. I know as believers by digesting our truths and allowing the Spirit of God to make them part of our lives. Then when we are filled we can speak effectively to others who are in need of spiritual food. There are times I want to share, but don't know how, or worry that the words won't come out right, I can write them, but it's really hard to make them come out of my mouth. Although I have had a few people that I feel I have been able to share with, and I'm thankful for that. All this food makes me think of another thing as a child. My mom used to keep this little clay loaf of Bread on top of the fridge, it was the bread of life, sticking out of it were little cards we would read each day, it would have something to be thankful for, and would usually have a scripture on it. I miss that excitement I used to get every day as a child as I was about to pick a little card and read something to be excited about, but hey maybe I havn't lost it, no I havn't lost it that's for sure. No matter what! I still have the bread of life. "JESUS!"

Tuesday, February 8, 2005

Thanks To You both

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Have you ever thought about what it would be like if the two people who met and fell in love, hadn't met.  Well thank goodness my parents did meet.  I don't remember seeing them kiss a lot growing up, I never even got the feeling that they were madly in love, but there was something about the time they spent in Turkey together that made me feel diffrent, when they talked about there time there, I saw something light up in their eyes, was it their love for each other that I was seeing, or was it their love for the adventure they were on in another country.  Whateve it was I'm very thankful for it, because without it, there would be seven lives that wouldn't be here on this great big blue planet.  My dad was in the Airforce and was stationed in Istanbul, Turkey.  I loved listening to their stories as a boy, of their adventure in another land.  Thanks you two.  I love you both very much!

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Saturday, February 5, 2005

My Saturday

What a beautiful day it was.  I spotted Autumn and Eli over peaking in the neibor's yard, and thought to myself what are they doing, so on furher inspection, I see they are peaking in and playing with a little dog.  Cute little fellow.  Today was filled with child's play.  Young at heart, running free, no cares in the world.  We played outside a good bit, although it was jacket weather, but I loved it.  Finger painting was fun, but I ended up doing most of it, and had more paint on me I think than they did,  I shouldn't have put our blanket out by the slides and playhouse, they had more fun on those than they did fingerpainting.  Mark came in tonight, and grilled up some wonderful chicken, sausage, and steaks, and Sherry made some wonderful garlic potatoes and a salad.  Everyone was here, now everyone is nestled in bed.  As you see from the last two pictures.  Eli was getting sleepy finally with his Teddy, and Amanda, Autumn's mom was reading her a goodnight story.  So it's quiet now, like I love and here I am at my journal doing my favorite thing.  Sometimes I feel like I'm really missing out on something woderful for myself.  I'm not saying it's not going to happen for me.  But I sure love being with my niece and nephews.  My heart is with them.

Home in Georgia

I've left all the festivities of Jacksonville and the Super Bowl for the quiet life back home in Georgia.  Friday I took off and spent the day on the farm, My Papa and Mema's farm, with the boys and Dena, Mama picked up Autumn and came over also.  We played outside with an airplane I brought Eli, and took Autumn out on the pond on our big yacht, lol.  I told her it was Mema's boat, and in one of the picture's you can see her looking up in the heaven's saying Mema we are on your boat.  As you can see everyone has grown.  I went and saw my dad and worked on his computer.  Then Eli came back with Autumn and me and spent the night with my other sister Sherry and I.  We had a good night and caught up on everything, and of course talking about the wedding.  I took Autumn and Eli out earlier, we fingerpainted.  And did some shrinky dinks, lol.  Now I need a nap.

Thursday, February 3, 2005

First Night of Fireworks for the Super Bowl

After a full belly at Mo's, I decided I wanted Mike and I to go down and watch the first night of the fireworks, so I told him and off we went.  We parked down by the Times Union building, and walked the walkway they had built over the river and down towards the Jacksonville Landing and the Main Street Bridge, which has just newly been painted electric blue.  It had been a while since I've seen fireworks, like July 4th two years ago, but these were the most impressive I've ever seen in my life.  I may not have captured it by digital but I got a few good shots, and some on video.  Looks like the brige is on fire in some, in one picture it's completely engulfed in smoke.  It was fun.

Guillemot

I've got in the habit of looking at these websites everyday that talks about different birds, sort of a bird of the day. I love birds, I think I've always wanted to be one, I love my dreams when I fly in them. The bird today was a arctic sea bird called a Guillemot, they live on rocky coastal cliffs, where thousands of them come together in small areas. Because of the crowded conditions, the females lay their eggs side by side in a long row. It's incredible that a mother bird can identify the eggs that belong to her. Studies show that even when one is moved some distance away, she finds it and carries it back to its original location. After reading this couldn't helpe but think of our Father in heaven, and how intimiately acquainted He is with each of us, His children. He is aware of every thought, emotion, and decision we make. From morning to night He gives personal attention to our daily affairs. It's as amazing as these little birds who know their eggs. It's pretty great to be so well loved and well known. Sometimes in this world I feel so small, but I guess if you really think about it we're never lost in a crowd. It's superbowl weekend coming up. We are probably going to go watch the fireworks tonight, if the weather permits, it's been raining for days it feels like, it's finally warming up some again.