These tornadoes that have ripped through Texas and Oklahoma this week are certainly a reminder to make sure that I live each day with intention. That I am intentionally engaged with the people close to me… that I work with… that I live with… and that I hang out with. I need to intentionally listen to what they have to say… and to intentionally tell them why I appreciate them in my life. We all know it is true, and it sounds so cliche, but my goodness, if this week doesn’t hammer home the fact that I am not guaranteed tomorrow… or another chance to make a difference for someone, or to tell someone I care, or to write a great blog post, or short story, or novel.
My good friends that come read what comes out of my brain and onto this web page… and you know who you are…. thank you for loving and supporting me… it means more to me than I think I can ever explain.
We had big thunderstorms last night and the power was out for a while, too. So no computer work last night…
I’m off to have a great day… 
My little great niece had a tee-ball game tonight… and what a wonderful hour of entertainment!
Cut some grass after the game… then some good supper… and then some DVR catch up… and now headed to bed so that I can have plenty of energy to make it through tomorrow…
Gloria is off to DC and will be performing at an Award Presentation for Carole King…so I will be trying to connect with the streaming of that event…!! From all accounts, The Standards PBS Concert from last week was everything that I had thought it would be…and I really, really would have enjoyed experiencing that with her and the other Conga Peeps… but I will be looking forward to the next one…
That’s about it… there is only so much to be written about a routine day.
Today was one of those days when it’s over, you just sit back and think about how fortunate it is to have such a wonderful and supportive family – a family that laughs a lot and enjoys each other. Sure… there us the occasional eye-roll and walk-away moments, but not very many of them. And hold Mom completely responsible for how good we have it!
The day was full of good worship, good food, good card games. Just all good. And the guys helped me … ok… they did more than help… they moved my big desk from Mom’s house to my new house. There wasn’t room for it where I was before, so I’m looking forward to having it back and using it for my place to focus on my studies and my internet business efforts.
The next two weeks will be short weeks at the office. I’m off Thursday and Friday for the wedding and the following week begins with Memorial Day. Double
Off to get some sleep so that I can be uber productive in my three days at the office this week…
Yesterday and today were both long days… so I am doubling up on my post tonight…
We had a great time at iHop and got to swing by Sammi and Stephen’s apartment. We were able to see first hand where that BIG table will be…and were astonished that it will indeed fit. We made it back to Oxford about 1:00 a.m. and promptly snoozed.
Aubrey
We relaxed a lot of the day. I spent a little time reading one of my grandmother’s papers from the 1970′s and it’s pretty cool to read it… and to think about her. Right now, I am sitting at the same desk where she likely wrote her rough draft by hand. I can feel the connection…I can see the old, black, rotary dial phone sitting on the left side of the desk…and can hear her voice in my head answering it…
Randy sent a new pic of Aubrey this morning, and we immediately jumped on Skype! Mom and I are making plans to go visit over July 4th weekend. We can’t get there soon enough… just look at that face…
We had a house full for burgers on the grill. Then cards. I didn’t win at cards. Maybe I will tomorrow.
So now that I have typed it out…it doesn’t seem like that much of a double up. The most important thing is that I’m still on track for posting. And I like how it feels to be consistent with it.
All this week has been staff appreciation week and there have been many activities that I have missed. The timing on two events coincided with something else so that I was not able to attend. So… it looks as if I will only be able to enjoy our picnic lunch on Friday….and then play some white elephant BINGO….look out ladies…. I’m going to clean up… clean UP I say….
I will be taking a book for my white elephant gift for admission. It is the book I selected last year…and read… and am now ready to restore it to its white elephant status. Something tells me that this one has been on the bingo circuit for quite some time.
Wedding Bands
Then the Denmarkian arrives middle evening into Memphis International… we will scoop him up… and not let him rest…. hopefully he will sleep a little on the plane because we are meeting the majority of Johnny’s family at iHop at some goofy hour… Then we will travel back to Oxford very late…and sleep for just a little bit before packing up to go to the farm.
Mom and I shopped tonight for new clothes. One week from tonight, we will be having our really, really big family / rehearsal dinner leading up to the wedding on Friday night….so wedding activities are starting to kick into high gear…. clothes, shoes, candles, transportation, gifts, etc…
In the boxes that Mom and I packed over the weekend at her house… that are now at my house… we packed three manuscripts by my grandmother. One is her official thesis she submitted in 1966 for her Master of Arts in the Department of English. The other two were submitted for classes in her Ph.D program. The first is a summary of initial research and the second is her actual prospectus. Having just completed my introductory Educational Research class, I easily recognized sections of her prospectus – Statement of Purpose, Significance of the Problem, Sources of Data, Limitations of the Study, etc.
Fanfee – Propectus – 1970s
I’ve never thought of myself as being much like my grandmother. However, we are very much alike in our scholarly thought processes about educational research. She completed a qualitative narrative as a historical document about the history of Blue Mountain College.
My research proposal just turned in as my final assignment also uses a qualitative narrative design that would explore the experiences of people who are earning professional incomes in fields directly tied to their college major. Taken one step further, these professionals must remember that they were clear about their career choice and declared major. I believe if we can get more kids engaged with the skills they already have, that they are very good at doing, and that they actually ENJOYING doing, the better shot they have at getting in the correct major to start with. If they are in the correct major, they are more engaged with their studies and are more likely to create a professional game plan before graduating, rather than simply “winging” it after college.
So…. the super cool thing here is that my grandmother and I had similar educational research techniques. She earned her PhD in her 70′s. I’m in my 40′s and about half way through my masters. If I’m not done with a Ph.D in my 50′s … it’s not going to get done.
…because the minutes are getting filled by activities… and time is passing quickly.
My Mom’s college roommate is here for a visit, which is always a grand time!! We have had a nice dinner tonight… and have just been relaxing around the house.
As a follow-up to my idea of posting a pic of my empty email inbox at the office… well… I couldn’t take one. It was not EMPTY when I left!!! There are about 5 emails left to be processed first thing in the morning. But 5 emails are not enough to keep me awake…
So that is the scoop, albeit short, for today….not necessarily great scoop… but scoop none-the-less.
After a mostly relaxing weekend, this week is off to a good start after a productive day at the office, and a long over due Skype chat with my barnyard buddies – the Dawg and the Chicken. No exciting photos to share. Maybe tomorrow I will take a pic of my empty email inbox at the end of the day.
The weather is wonderful. Some more of my friends were surprised today with comp tickets to see Gloria in concert Thursday night as she performs the songs on her new album for a PBS show that will air in August closer to the release date of the album. The show is at the New World Center. Click anywhere on this sentence to see pics of the place. In it’s largest configuration, the capacity is just over 750… so needless to say… I’m over the top excited for my friends to get to be a part of this intimate show… but I’ll admit I’m a smidge jealous, too.
OK…since I like to always include some kind of pic… this is my squirt of a great niece a few months ago… who came down the slide with some “energy”!!
Maybe this helps explains her high energy level….
For us… Mother’s Day started a few weeks ago when my brother brought a little push mower to the house… we had basically become co-conspirators to keep Mom from ever “pushing” and mower ever again. None of us trust her to keep it out of the ditches… but she promises to keep it close to the house, and just around the trees that need a closer cut than what the riding mowers can achieve. Time will tell on this one… but she was like a kid who just saw Santa Claus when Johnny pulled out that mower…
Outdoor Therapy – Tandem Lawn mowers.
so we all pitched in on the mower so that we can share being glad she has it… or share any regret for her having it….time…will….tell…
So we rode mowers today…. she took off in one direction and I took off in another…and then we came back to the same last patch that needed to be done… so we were riding in tandem for the 30 minutes or so… and that was fun…
Just SOME of Mom’s roses along a side of one of the houses.
I’ve completely enjoyed my day with Mom and hope that she enjoyed her time with me… just before we decided to hop on the mowers… we were looking at her tomato and squash plants that hopes will survive the varmints eating them… Lord knows we love us some bacon and and home-grown mater sandwiches… and while we were looking at those, we also admired the roses growing and blooming all over the side of one of the house… Mom ROCKS…. always has… always will…. just a fact of life….
Emotional Balance, Spiritual Balance | STyler | 
May 22, 2013 11:55 pm | 
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