Miscellany

This morning I forced myself out of bed when the alarm clock sounded.   I planned to get up and jog to start the day but felt like doing anything but jogging.  As I groggily walked to the dresser to get my stuff I argued with myself, telling myself I would feel great when I was done and just to keep moving.    I walked out into a cool, still-dark morning and when I rounded the two-story townhouse building where we live I looked up and saw a deep blue sky not yet faded by dawn, a bright white sliver of a crescent moon with a few twinkling, very bright stars nearby.  How beautiful!  I started off walking, turned on the iPod, started to jog and before you know it I realized I was right:  I felt great!

My middle daughter has been working hard this summer at a nearby grocery and saving just about every dollar toward a used car.  She should get her license this Friday, if she passes the driving test of course.  She has had her heart set on a Geo Tracker as her vehicle of choice and has been looking them up on the Internet, seeing them around town, etc.   When Kaitlin sets her sights or heart on something she has laser focus.  (If only I could get her to set her heart on a 4.0 GPA).  We told her to keep an open mind because it may not be a Tracker that God sends her way but an equally good, reliable other used car.  Well this weekend a church friend called to say one of his relatives is selling a 1997 Geo Tracker wit a soft top (convertible!) – only 70,000 miles, one owner and it’s going for $1200.  Kaitlin just has $1200 in her savings!  Continue reading

Day Two

lakesideWe woke to a beautiful, sunny day and once everyone got dressed and had some of Grandma’s eggs and sausage, we headed to the nearby lake to take a walk/jog.   I’m coveting this lake and the walking path right along the edge for several miles.  It was so pleasant to walk and jog along the twisting path underneath big shade trees, with the lake breeze blowing.  Ahhhh.

The girls and I went to Chili’s for lunch then Target and Barnes & Noble, before coming back to the house.  We all had yummy grilled chicken and pasta salad for dinner and then watched “The Knowing” with Nicholas Cage.  It’s a very interesting, albeit weird, movie.  I liked it – very thought provoking in parts.   Is our existence something that was planned or just a result of a string of amazingly coincidental cosmic accidents?   What would I do if I knew the end of my life was supposed to happen on a certain day in the near future?   Would that change the way I live?  Most definitely.  The truth is, we are all on the path to death (in our human bodies) and none of us know when.  The cliche of always living as if it were your last day kept coming to mind while we watched.  That’s actually not a bad idea!  The movie didn’t meet the “Mimi’s happy ending” preference, but I think it was worth watching.

It was fun to have a day when we could just do as we pleased.  That’s true vacation in my book – not a lot of plans, just time to “be”.  It’s actually been freeing to not have our phones or facebook.  I feel like we’re all present more in the time together and conversation here.  It’s peaceful.  It was a little crazy when the girls and I were out and we had no cell phone.  I thought, “What if we get turned around or lost?”  But then I realized I could go old school and use a pay phone or ask someone for directions.   You know, I existed happily before I had my cell phone, I just forgot what it was like.

I think it’s time to go sit somewhere and read.  Ahhhhh….