Blogging Hiatus

I want to apologize in advance that I will be out of the blogosphere starting Wednesday for a full week. That is, unless I manage to find internet access at a music festival in NH or at the CM Showcase in MN. We shall see...

As for an update around here, I am currently sitting in my living room watching my dog play with a yogurt cup. I should probably take it away from her, seeing how she is now actually eating the plastic. The other things I need to do are: pack for 2 separate events that I am going to one right after the other, pay bills for the next week since we'll be gone, do lots of laundry so that we can pack, prepare for Monday night youth group, and lots of other stuff that I'm not thinking of. I guess I should go and start perhaps getting ready for all the fun!

Funniest Thing Ever

Today I saw one of the funniest things ever. Perhaps it won't be funny to you, but it was to me. Scott and I decided to head down to the coast today due to it being beautiful, sunny, and one of the only days that we have had or will have together in a while. So we went to Acadia National Park and decided to go to a place we hadn't been - at least not together. We went to Seawall down in Southwest Harbor. It was BEAUTIFUL! It was the perfect spot - not too many people, plenty of rocks to explore and sit on, and tons of ocean to see and listen to. I could stay there for hours.

Anyway, back to the funny thing. We, of course, had our dog Mia with us. She's a cutie and always loves to go on road trips. This morning when we said, "You wanna go for a ride", she began running around the house like crazy, then banging into the back door window, indicating that yes, in fact, she did want to go for ride. So once down at Seawall we had lunch while sitting on the rocks. They were so beautifully smoothed by years of the pounding ocean. After lunch, we walked over to a section of rocks that juts out into the ocean, and the waves come crashing down onto them. Mia always loves playing in water (although she's learned the difference between fresh and salt water), so she began exploring and checking out the tidal pools. A few moments later, a huge wave came crashing down in front of her. This is the funny part - she ran away like she was scared! She usually plays and makes splashes of her own, but this time she had no control over the splashes. She began running out onto the rocks, only to retreat when the waves would come. Then she began barking loudly at the waves, as if to scare them away. Scott and I could not control our laughter! It was just hilarious!

To try and remember this moment, I gave Scott the camera and asked him to take a few photos of Mia and I near the water. Mia didn't really like this idea - she thought that going up with Scott to higher ground looked better. But I got her to stay with me for a few shots. Here's one where you can actually tell that she is trying to get away from the water!

The My Space Debate Vol. 2

Well, because there was so much to-do about my space a while back, I decided to go ahead and get my own my space site. I figured that would be the best way to determine whether this is a good or bad thing, or just something that is based on how you use it. And, to my surprise, I've learned how addicting it can be. Uh-oh. I discovered, for example, about 5 or 6 friends that I went to high school with, and about 5 or 6 that I was friends with in college. And I know there's more out there! It's actually fun and makes me feel very reminiscent of the "good old days" in high school and college. It's also neat to see where all those people are at in life - married, kids, careers, etc., and how people have or have not changed.

So, as for the good, bad, or neutral issue on my space... I've yet to decide. Although I'm leaning towards the neutral option - I think it's really about how it is used. My Space offers people a chance to connect with new friends or old. It offers a place to express your views and share your thoughts. The danger is in the fact that there are SO MANY people on my space, and there is absolutely no way to know who someone is unless you know them in REAL life (i.e. not just cyber-life). I've yet to have any strange people try and become my friend... but my husband already did and I can see how an insecure, lonely teen could easily be lured into a very bad thing.

Well I guess you could say I'm doing an "invesitigative study" on the issue by becoming a My Space member. While doing so, I'm having fun reconnecting with people. At the same time, I'm recognizing how easily one could spend hours upon hours without even reazling it!

A Day Away

On Tuesday I took a day for myself. It's not often that I do this, and I just felt the need to get away. There are times that I just want to drive, and drive, and drive. So, on Tuesday, I did that. I took Mia with me, but Scott couldn't go because of speaking at Fairhaven this week. We drove down to the coast, to little towns and inlets and stuff. Finally we arrived at our desired location - Blue Hill Falls. It's a set of reversing falls that change with the tides. When we arrived, there were some people kayaking through the falls. We went down to one side of the beach and it started to rain. Shortly after, it stopped raining and the sun came out. I was so thankful, because I was able to find a nice spot to sit, let Mia run around exploring, while I sat, read, and prayed. It was nourishing to my soul and my body. Just sitting in the sun, watching the waves and listening to the ocean sounds. One of the best places on earth to be...

Here's a few shots of the beauty of the day.

This one is funny because Mia is rubbing her head on the barnacles on the rocks. She really liked the smell or the feeling perhaps? What a goofball.


My feet as I was sitting next to the ocean.


Mia sitting beautifully next to the ocean.

Our Latest Adventures

Last Monday Scott and I went and hiked a mountain and explored the wonderful coast of Maine. It was a great time because I love both the mountains and the coast. I could sit for hours just listening to the ocean. We enjoyed the sunny, clear day and the crisp ocean air. Here aresome fun shots of our adventures.

Priorities

How does one determine which priorities are the most important? How does one decide where to spend her time or energy? It seems that every day there are new, more pressing things that must be done, yet still only one me to do them. It seems that there are many people with many expectations and many needs. Yet only one me to handle all that.

It's an ongoing struggle, I know, for most of us. Yet somehow these days it just seems more real than ever. I want to be spending so much time doing each important thing in my life. I want to be the best wife I can be and truly meet my husband's needs. I want to be available for our youth group girls and really focus on them. I want to be a good social worker and supervisor at the group home and help others learn and grow. I want to reach out to new people who want to take care of their photos and share their memories and stories with others. I want to be working in my garden and stopping all the weeds from coming up. I want to jump on my bike and ride away...

Well, there's a piece of me right now.

Discrimination Against Small Feet

I told my friends this story this morning at church and they asked if I had blogged about it yet. Well, here it is. So I went to a local sporting goods store recently and found a pair of the cutest Teva sandals. I just loved them and tried on a pair. They were close to my size, but not quite. See I have small feet (size 6 in women's), and the shoes were a 7. So I looked over the entire rack, only to be disappointed. Then I went to the counter to request a size 6. The clerk told me they don't carry size 6 in the store normally. I found this odd, and mentioned that it sounds like discrimination against small feet. The guy said whenever they carry size 6 or 6 and 1/2, they always sell out so quickly. Which again made me wonder why they don't normally carry those sizes: more sales = more money, right?

Anyway, I was forced to wander away from shopping locally (after searching several other local stores for those exact sandals, only to find the wrong sizes and colors) to shopping online. And after much searching, I found what I was looking for on Amazon.com (click to see the sandals). I ended up getting 2 pair and receiving free shipping.

So tough luck to the local stores who decided that small feet don't deserve the same treatment of cute shoes!