Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!
Just a quick note to tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving!! Hope you have a great one!
Applying for a Contributing Writer job
I’ve just applied for two Contributing Writer jobs. I’d enjoy both of them, but one in particular is about games. Not the World of Warcraft games (which is not my cup of tea), but the games on myspace and Facebook (which I got very addicted to, and only recently decided not to play anymore…LOL). But it’s something that’s fun and interactive, and something I feel that I can write about with expertise and have fun with. As with nearly all writing jobs, it seems almost too good to be true… get paid for writing? and getting paid for writing about something that I actually have a lot of fun doing? … oh, this is heaven!… 
So, cross your fingers for me, or pray for me, if you’re so inclined. I’m desperately wanting to get back to work (as in actually earning an income) and this would be step one to combine that with something that I LOVE doing. So prayers, good wishes, karmic thoughts, or whatever is your cup of tea, would really be appreciated right now!
But it also gave me an idea, and made me wonder how many people out there would be interested in hints, tips and tricks from someone playing Mafia Wars, Vampire Wars, Castle Age, etc. Raise your hand… ermmm… leave me a comment, that is… if you’re interested. Maybe I’ll devote a few days to that…
For my mom: Don’t Think of Her as Gone Away
Don’t think of her as gone away-
Her journey’s just begun,
Life holds so many facets-
This earth is only one.
Just think of her as resting from
The sorrows and the tears,
In a place of warmth and comfort
Where there are no days, no years.
Think how she must be wishing
That we could know today,
How nothing but our sadness
Can really pass away.
And think of her as living
In the hearts of those she touched…
For nothing loved is ever lost-
And she was loved so much.
E. Brenneman
This is beginning to look like a poetry blog, but please bare with me… My grandmother, my Nanny, passed away tonight. Two years ago, she had to have surgery, and after things were very touch and go for a while… During that time, my mother found this poem. She emailed it to me, hoping that it wouldn’t be needed for many years, but wanting to have it for when it was needed. I thought it was beautiful then, and although it was needed too early (IMHO), it did my heart good to read it tonight… I know that she is with my aunt (her youngest daughter who passed at the tender age of 36 in 1998), my cousin (her grandaughter who passed just 4 months ago at the age of 31), as well as her own parents, sister and other family members, and I know she is free from all pain. Of course that doesn’t make me wish she wasn’t here with us still… But I suppose that’s my selfishness. I will miss her terribly, as I still do my aunt (tanta, German for aunt), and as I do my cousin, and grandparents, and other family members that have gone before her. So, thank you mom for giving this gift into my safekeeping and giving me a slightly lightened heart for this evening. Thank you E. Brenneman for putting into words the faith that we need to work through our grief. And thank YOU for taking the time to read this post in remembrance of my Nanny…
Lay Down Your Burden by Colleen Crangle
Lay down your burden
Lay it all down
Pass the glass between you
Drink it up
Place the Light before you
Come through the door
The dragon doesn’t live here anymore
Sing with the choirs that surround you
Dance to the music in your soul
Look into the eyes that really see you
Place all that you have into that bowl
O lay down your burden
Lay it all down
Pass the glass between you
Drink it up
Place the Light before you
Come through the door
The dragon doesn’t live here anymore
Although my faith has faltered some this year, and to me, this poem is about faith, it still resonates deeply with me. I think it’s the part about singing with the choir and dancing to the music in your soul. I’ve only just started the book, but I’ve flipped back time and again to read the poem, so I thought I would share. Hope you’ve enjoyed it. Let me know what you think…
Twins in pre-k
I’m waiting on the pre-k bus to arrive, anxious to see my just-turned-five-year-olds. They’ve been excited about going to school this last week. When we’ve picked them up the last few days, they are tripping over their words, each trying to be the one to tell us about their day. I still wonder sometimes if it wouldn’t have been better to homeschool them, but the worry lessens each day… I can always make that choice later if it will be better for them. For now, I’ll enjoy seeing how thrilled they are meeting other kids their age, learning from a teacher, and going to the big kids school…
Doing homework, but easily distracted… so, updates
Got C2 enrolled in school today here in Victoria. As this is potentially a temporary situation, I didn’t push too hard for homeschooling. Already wondering if I should have, but if he does choose to go back to mom’s after the school year’s over, I will feel much more confident in the decision to have him in public school. So, we’ll see…
By the same token, we decided to enroll the twins in Pre-K at the elementary school, too. After being home for 6 months, and possibly being home a while more, I think it’s a great idea. It’s just 3 hours each day, and it gets them back into a structured environment. At the same time, I’ve got a bit of separation anxiety. These are my babies… do I really want them in school almost a year before they HAVE to go? 
OK, back to geography and the history of Somalia. I love being back in school… I really do. But some of these textbooks put me to sleep!!! I think I’ll do better when some of the classes that I will be teaching are in my schedule! Can’t wait to take Astronomy and Oceanography. But for now, it’s Social Sciences and after this, it’s Humanity… then we’ll see what else can be pulled into this semester.
Til next time…
Another Robert Frost… Fire and Ice
Here’s a short one… this one always resonates with me, too. Robert Frosts’s Fire and Ice:
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Sourcing silver rings
We are starting a new venture… But need to find a source for silver rings. It’s a specific type of ring. Silver rectangular signet ring blanks. Hubby is going to carve the rings, personalized, hand crafted, very reasonable rates. We have everything else we need, but need a wholesale source for the blanks. Googling turns up nothing as yet… Hoping maybe someone will see this and know a wholesale source!! Thanks for looking and leave a comment with any ideas you may have… Thanks!!
Will post pics soon.
Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
OK, so don’t laugh… but I actually first heard this poem on the 1980’s movie The Outsiders (still one of my all-time favorites). I memorized it through that movie…
So I saw a few people read The Road Not Taken the other day, and thought I would provide another one here today…
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
It’s a beautiful thing… the emotion this poem brings to my heart every time I read it, every time I recite it. My heart gets caught in my throat, it’s hard to speak… it somehow evokes dawn, new beginnings, and loss at the same time. It reminds me of the love I have for my aunt and my cousin (both lost in their 30’s… way too young). It’s bittersweet. But it’s there… it brings something out in me…
What does it mean to you?
Update – family stuff
I spent some time recently with my husband with no children around. I don’t think I’ll be letting it go that long in between again. I’ve finally learned that if I want this time with him, I will have to plan it and execute my plans myself… he’ll just be along for the ride…LOL. I love my husband, and he is so incredibly good at many things… planning is not one of them. Fortunately, planning fun stuff is something I am good at… 
So I’ll just have to take the reigns, so to speak, in this aspect, and make sure that we have time to recharge. With so many children, sometimes it’s been put on the back burner way to long.
Our youngest (the twin boys) are five today. What an age! They think they are SO BIG now… it’s adorable! Can’t wait to start school, and one of them insisted today that Daddy needed to take his training wheels off, “cause I’m FIVE now, and I don’t need ‘em anymore”. So Daddy raised & re-positioned them (not quite ready to remove them completely).
I may have already warned you, but just to be on the safe side, I’ll warn you again… my posts may be fewer and farther between for the duration of November. NaNoWriMo will hopefully be taking up much of my free time.
