Hello, Blog

What, I still have a blog? Yeah, it seems like I've completely forgotten about it.

I haven't forgotten, just more didn't have anything good to say.

Well, that's not totally true. I often have fun and witty comments (witty sounds like a word my Mom would say). I simply have gotten into a habit of sharing those on facebook. (I swear that facebook is not supposed to be capitalized because it's not on their logo, but then the red line tells me it should be, but then I get frustrated when I do capitalize it and I can't win.)

I'm not even sure I'd have a lot of good to say now.

If you know us, you probably know this year hasn't been the greatest. In fact, when I think of our Christmas card for the year (jury's still out on whether or not we will do one) all I wonder is, "Do they make cards with crap on them?"

Turns out they do.

People would probably be offended at that card.

They are very, very gross. (So gross that I'm not going to show you a picture, but you can Google it yourself.)

But that's what I feel like this year has been like.

Just a bunch of garbage. One load after another...
(They do make Christmas cards with garbage trucks on them...)

Thankfully, I found Lamentations 3 the other day. It's where I'm reading in my Bible and because the truth was so important, I haven't moved on from it yet. I'll probably be reading Lamentations 3 for a long time.

Because I need a constant reminder, this is what will be on my entry chalkboard all season:

Running

"Let's just runaway."

I say this often.

I'm only about 10% serious.

But the 10% is strong.

I'd like to take little family away and just live here:

(No offense to family and friends reading this, we really would miss you and you are part of the reason we stay.)

How could anything go wrong in a place like that? I picture a simple life without any of the current realities that seem to weigh me down. (I know that's probably not true...)

Bosses would be kind and understanding. Mortgages would not lie on the ocean floor. I wouldn't have to work unless I wanted to. We would have chickens and fresh eggs each morning. The island life would heal all of my physical problems. (Like on LOST...) Life would be simple, sweet.

Peaceful.

Breezy.

Beautiful.

Happy.

Frustrations

On Friday I asked my students to do a quick write about what frustrates them. I chose this partly because I usually give them hypothetical or happy questions and thought, I should give them a chance to vent for a little bit. And a lot of times students can write more about what they dislike than what they are happy about. In an effort to take up some class time in my 5th period - a class which gives me a run for my money just about everyday - I wrote on the prompt and shared it with my class. Sometimes it helps them to see a good writing model.

I wrote about how people on cell phones in inappropriate places bother me - especially driving. Of course today I broke my "don't talk in a waiting room" rule today to talk to my mom about Grandma who's in the hospital. I wrote about how I hate when people ask and expect me to do things for them last minute. Yes, sometimes it can't be avoided, but many times some advanced planning on their part would have eased the urgency of their situation. Lastly, I wrote about how much I dislike it when people's actions and words don't match up. My 6th period class wanted some elaboration on that point. I explained to them about my old friend who I still try to keep in touch with and how whenever I do get a phone call from her it's filled with apologies about being such a bad friend, but her actions don't really tell me she's sorry because it will be another 4 months or so before I hear from her again.

And so now I'm thinking - as I do every few months - that maybe I should just completely give up on this friend. Stop calling and stop writing cards and stop hoping that she'll actually want to make time for me again. And I'm not exactly sure why I have so much trouble giving up on this one relationship. Perhaps it's because we've been through so much in the past or maybe because when we do get together I still really enjoy our time and how I can talk to this person in a way that I can with very few friends. Our relationship has been like this for literally the past 2 years and each time I start to think about how I should just give up and stop caring, then she finally decides to call.

I guess if nothing else, this should be a good reminder to take care of our friends and nourish the relationships we have. It's so easy to get caught up and busy and neglect the people who we care for the most, but I don't want to be that type of friend. We're all busy, but I want to choose to put off some less important things for the sake of spending time with good friends.

Any bets on if my friend actually calls me in the next week? I'm not counting on it, but it would be nice.