Thoughts...

Is it bad that working makes me think of everything that's not work?  I mean, I don't spend nearly as much time thinking about things non-work-related as I do when I'm working.  Good thing I'm used to my mind working in 13 directions at once or I'd get nothing done.

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In my reading world, I'm picking at Jane Austen's Persuasion.  Lovely story about a girl who lets friends and family have far too much influence on her decision making when it comes to the love of her life and regrets it.  This makes me think about my decision making and how I let people in too much when I shouldn't have and shut them out when I shouldn't have.  As a Christian I should always ask God which way I should go more often than I do, but now that I've entered my 30s, I find myself doing this more than I did in the past.  Thank you, experience.  What or who influences you?

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My Google Reader list is starting to look positively gluttonous with blogs.  I will have to update my blog roll on this blog so you can see some of the cool blogs that are out there you may not have already been aware of.  The thing about the blogs I like -- design blogs, food blogs, travel blogs, craft blogs, photography blogs -- is that they are all in cahoots and let you know about each other's blogs, which give you more awesome reading and photographic material than you can possibly know what to do with.  The villains.  


Three to check out:

Birch + Bird Vintage Home Interiors

Posie Gets Cozy

Wayfare Magazine

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I'm getting a lot of inspiration and ideas lately.  Unfortunately I have no idea what to do with it.  Hmm...

See America First

Dreaming of vacations recently...  I can't imagine why.  For some reason the ad for Southwest Airlines keeps popping up in my brain while getting the kids cleaned up from dinner.

Or dealing with another mess from the last child refusing to be completely potty trained.

Or dealing with a major five year-old going to sixteen year-old attitude who apparently has been cursed with one of the absolutely most incompetent human beings on the planet for a mother.  You should hear her explain common household objects to me like I speak another language.  

Wanna get away?

YES! 

Now, that's good marketing.

All throughout my childhood and my single, pre-kid years, I dreamed of going places, seeing things, meeting people, much like George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, but without George's eventual massive community involvement and neighborhood impact.  But while I still hold dear my dreams of international travel within the next 50 years of my life, within the next 20 or so is most likely another story.  One mama toting four kids out of country?  Uh-uh.  Maybe when we're all grown up.  Or when they're grown up.  I make no promises for my own maturity.  

Family vacations are the new goal for the time being.  And what better place than our own backyard?  I'm getting excited about visiting parts of America I've never seen before, revisiting old favorites, and creating traditions in cool places close to home here in lovely Florida.  

And I'll be bringing the kids of course.

Probably...

I believe a lovely summer Charleston trip is in order very soon.  

Yay!

Are Those Crickets I Hear?

You know those times when you are going along, making plans, thinking life is getting super beautiful, and you think you have an idea of how things are going to go for a while, and you start to relax, all while getting excited about all the lovely things you're going to be able to accomplish in this new time of finally having life figured out a little bit and knowing you're going to be able to start making the most of it like you always knew you'd eventually do, and then something totally (well, almost totally) unforeseen happens that makes you have to change everything around and re-balance and re-juggle and re-pray for your sanity so that you can start figuring things out, or at least try in your usual futile-type fashion to figure things out, until you realize again for the 40 bazillionth time that you can't actually figure things out, and only God will be able to figure it all out because He's the only one who can see it all, and you wait and wait and wait for things to even out again while wondering how you can possibly have that waiting feeling since you also always feel a bit like you're running around with your hair on fire, but then you get these lovely God-given moments of peace and realization of gratitude for all that He's blessed you with all while letting your poor, starved baby blog eek out an existence without nourishment or love because you can't possibly imagine how you're ever going to get back to doing all those lovely things and plans that you were thinking about when you thought life was starting to balance out and get super beautiful?

Yeah... it's been kind of like that.

I knew you'd understand.

P.S.  Here is a picture snapped by my dad.  It's our friendly, neighborhood alligator.  Seriously.  This pond is in front of our house.  I'm kinda hoping he'll move out before he gets much bigger... or friendlier... 

Can I interest you in a larger pond much, much further away?