eudaemonic- (adj.) producing happiness and well-being

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

My day:

A is for agriculture, which I miss dearly!
B is for black, today's self-imposed dress code (with Stephen’s turquoise earrings!)
C is for cupcake awards, an accolade I made up to present to the week’s best reporter
D is for digital camera. I took the pictures for the initial story on a hospital shooting today!
E is for egg, of which I have a new fascination for (rivaling my button fetish)
F is for flu, which has claimed two in the office. (aaah!!)
G is for goat cheese on wassa crackers… yum.
H is for haunches, which I think is a funny word :o)
I is for inopportune timing. I got two really good story tips while hitting the shooting story pretty hard and couldn’t give a lot of time to them.
J is for jokes. I need some new ones for a chuckle.
K is for kind acts, which are my favorite.
L is for library, because I had to drive home at lunch to get a due item (Guys and Dolls!!)
M is for musicals, I love to sing their songs!
N is for New London, TX, my newest big story! (the plan is to interview Walter Cronkite)
O is for overseas trip, which I'm ready to start daydreaming about.
P is for perfect day, which I’d like to plan for a day this weekend!
Q is for the bucket o’ questions that I fill to the top.
R is for random music notes sung loud and out of key.
S is for the shooting story that hijacked my day.
T is for tryouts. cheerleader tryouts were this afternoon and I thought about my two favorite high schoolera all day.
U is for umbrella which has been banished… what a beautiful day!
V is for the vegetable soup I had for dinner. Homemade!
W is for water conservation, come on people!
X is for x-treme, I really really want to go backpacking in the mountains, woods or someplace pretty. YEAH, woo, YEAH!
Y is for yellow, the color of the blooming daffodils in the park.
Z is for zzzzzs. I worked a long day, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and am ready to rest my head

Friday, February 23, 2007

Well, another week... another dollar... another time sheet WAY over my 40 hours.

I work too much.

Oops.

But I kind of like it. Now, I don't like getting home so late I can't run, but I like writing. I especially like writing around 10 p.m. or so when the day is winding down,deadline for the next day's paper has passed and I can bask in the relative quietness of the scanner and copy editors musing over AP rules and such.

Tonight I worked on my story about Overton. Here's the just of it -Last year, four people died in seven months because they lost the battle between Lexus and Locomotive. When you go asking questions around a small town, you discover just how wary they are of outsiders.The city manager bailed on four of our appointments and then refused to return notepads full of messages. I finally got tough with him, and we talked. No pain, fella. It's okay.The police locked their lips too.

Sometimes I don't think I make for a very good reporter. I loooove to tell a story. I loooove to put words on paper.

But...Sometimes, I don't like the hounding part (expect when I do), the pushy part (except when I do), or the difficult research part (except when I do).

I'm just a study in dichotomy aren't I.

Oh well, if I don't understand myself, I can't expect anyone else to.:)

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Guess what?

I went out to eat with some co-workers tonight and ordered oysters topped with spinach and feta cheese, hold the hollandaise sauce. Mmmm, huh?

Well, they brought me the wrong thing, and then remembered they didn't have any more feta. "Oh well," I thought. I'll just get plain ole' plain ole' oysters on the half-shell. That'll still be good.

And they were, with horseradish sauce and everything.

When it was time to go, they said my oysters were ON THE HOUSE! Man, I love it when that happens!

Yeah, Woo, Yeah, Woo!!!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Someday, I think I'd like to live like this.

Do you think I could do it?

I have a friend who is questioning God. Man, the problem's a cinch to type out, but so frustratingly difficult to help. He has a Christian background... the bad kind, the kind that says you're never good enough. I mean, it's true. We aren't good enough for Christ. But the part that his past is missing... the part his heart is aching for (I can tell) is the grace part. The forgiveness part. Duh, we're not good enough. DUH! But Christ didn't die on the cross so his children could wallow in self-hatred... He died to set... us... FREE! Freedom, that's what Christ, the real Christ, wants to bring to my friend. Buddy boy's a thinker, that one, and relies a lot on science-like explanations. Christ does not fit any kind of theorem or thesis or temperature reading. He brings his love completely unearned... completely free, for all sorts of takers.

Life... that's what a life with Him brings. It's not always great but it's a real life that means something. (I'm not talking about Christian "morals," or outreach... but real meaning.)

When talking about Jesus, the main draw I hear for coming to Him is the simple choice between Heaven and Hell. Yep, that's real... but it doesn't kick in until you're dead. Right?

I think equal to the promise of eternity in Heaven (whoa doggie) is the promise of life. The Holy Spirit swoops into you. You have a plan. You have forgiveness. You have love. You have LIFE.

Life is a big deal. Philosophers try to define it. Singers sing about it. Therapists break it down. But, Christians, we live it... Yes (again) it's not perfect... but it's the one for us. Does that take trust? Yep. But is that another great part of life? I think so.

Monday, February 12, 2007

A few things:
1. Catch Phrase is an intensely entertaining game.

2. I am fueled by hugs.

3.The smell of a school bus, the inside of a school bus, really takes me back.

4. San Marcos is a lovely town with lovely (at least two, I'm sure of) people.

5. I'm slowly losing the ability to hold a non-awkward phone conversation.

6. Podcasts are my new favorite freebie.

balneology \bal-nee-AH-luh-jee\ noun : the science of the therapeutic use of baths

Isn't that a wonderful word?

Friday, February 09, 2007

I love tea.

yep yep

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Hello :O)

I watched Cinderella today. "Sing sweet nightingale." Oh, memories flood my mind! But you know, I had forgotten how odd the little mice were. They spoke so fast and so high... and with a very strange accent. Truthfully, watching it today, I didn't know what the little mice were saying. I don't remember not being able to understand the mice when I was little. Did Disney find some special pitch or vernacular that adults can't understand? They can do it with cell phone rings. Did Disney brainwash America's youth while Mom and Dad sat next to the kid on the couch? :O) Hopefully they brainwashed us to do something good :O) :O)

I love Disney movies, especially the (comparatively) old ones. No Nemo. No Cars. No Over the Hedge... BRING ON GORDY and ALADDIN!

Good times :O)

Thursday, February 01, 2007

I have discovered just how separated I have become from the outside world and how close I am getting to my immediate world.
Two reasons for this discovery-
One of my co-workers came over to my desk, I'm guessing to kill a little time. It was probably 7 or 7:30 and I asked him why he was still at work. He has three young children at home and I told him he should go tickle all of them :O). He said "good idea" and asked me what I did after work, speaking his imaginary guess of me coming home to a "puppy or something." I told him I go for a run, talk on the phone, cook dinner, read, watch TV or make crafts, but the main thing I did was talk on the phone. Where are the people in my day? There are people on my phone and no shortage of them to talk to, but where are the bodies that hold my hand when I'm sad and pat my back when I need encouragement and laugh until their cheeks hurt?

Well, it's starting to turn out that they're at work. I had a real conversation with one of the younger reporters today. A real, true, honest, genuine conversation about faith and love, two of my favorite topics :O). We shared our true selves. We spoke of the past, present and future. If we weren't at work, we probably would have hugged, it was that nice. Now it wasn't anything out of the ordinary if you have friends, but for me, it was very special to share what the Lord has taught me and what He is teaching me right now.
Eeek, I don't have anyone to share what the Lord is teaching me? That is bad news. I've gone to church and feel God through worship there, but honestly haven't put forth much effort in making friends. Although not a good thing to feel or judge, I get the vibe that if I were to hang out with them, I would feel pressured to act like I had it all together. And HA! I don't have it all together :O) But I'm learning everyday and am truthful about it. So, I'm still searching for a genuine community where I can share myself unabashedly and where hugs are free and where there's always time for coffee with a friend.

So, as I grow ever increasingly distant from present reality, I'm growing closer with the people at work. I realize that this is both a good and bad thing in idea, but, you know, it's hard to judge what it ranks as when you're actually living it.

Hindsight is 20/20, so I know the question will be answered someday... as soon as tomorrow :O)