Friendship

Good day today. I haven't caught up on blogs in quite awhile and I've been blessed with a little extra time this evening. I even found a few new ones that are inspiring enough to add to my blogroll...soon. One step at a time, after all.

I moved to Medford about the same time as a friend of mine. Within a year or so. I've often posted about being bad at staying in touch, but my goodness, this woman lives within a single-digit number of miles of me. In the 6 years I've lived here I've seen her twice. Once at a mutual acquaintance's party and once at Costco.

Both times we've exchanged phone numbers and promises to "get together soon." Finally, this morning, we met at Starbucks. I left feeling so refreshed. She is one of those people that I feel instantly at ease with. Why have I waited so long to pick up this friendship again? Pray that I don't let it go.

Subject Line

Do you ever go to start an email and get the subject line and just freeze. I do it often. If I have a purpose other than just catching up or saying "hi" it is no problem. But if I just want to send an email to a friend and share something cool I am doomed to the subject line "hi."
From: myemail@hotmail
Subject: HI
or
Subject: hey
Sometimes I try to be creative and "fun" but I feel like I come off looking like a dork.
Subject: The red turtle flies at midnight.
Subject: The grass could be greener.
For now, I'm going to leave the subject line blank. I don't need the pressure.

My cell phone.

I want to throw my phone out the window. No I don't. It is my lifeline, but it connects me to the good AND the bad! I love it when my friends call, I HATE it when people who want money call. Can I have the phone learn to ignore and not even notify me when people I don't want to talk to call?

Clarity

I've had some bad days this week...definitly in the "bottom" 10. More on that later. For now, go right to Baby Reece's blog and read it. God is faithful even in th storm.

Product Plug

I know it is still 70 plus degrees out, but I know it is officially heading towards fall because the kids had colds and now I have a cold. Whoopie!

However, let me tell you about my latest discovery (and if y'all knew about this before and didn't tell me...shame on you). Puffs...plus lotion...PLUS VICKS! It's a little unnerving at first. You think "a tissue shouldn't smell like that!" But then you realize that in order to smell it, you had to breathe. And if you can breathe, you know it, it works!

Even better--you don't have to smear greasy stuff on yourself. Or maybe you like that. Who am I to judge?

***Melinda is not being paid for this endorsement because for some reason, 40 readers aren't enough for Puffs to fork over the big money***

Do Not Vote

The following is a letter to the editor of the Mail Tribune published on October 20, 2008. I thought it was quite apt.

Do Not Vote
Let me pass on a bad rumor to you. You probably hear this one each election season. It goes like this: Everyone should participate and vote in our elections. This rumor is repeated so often that many of us have come to believe it is true.
Good government flows from the combined wisdom and intelligence of informed voters. If you are reading this letter in the back page of the newspaper, you are probably one of these smart voters. Efforts to increase the raw number of voters actually harm the quality of our government. We should not encourage apathetic, ill-informed people to dilute our measured judgments.
Elected officials spend staggering amounts of money each year just to get the attention of voters who are too busy to watch debates, attend events, or read intelligent reporting. How many inane political ads have you seen so far this year? Candidates successfully pander to the shallow voter with odd tax schemes, catch-phrases, and personal stories. Casual voters prefer charismatic candidates who are like them. Instead, we should elect upstanding, experienced, and exceptional people.
Voting is not cool. The vote does not rock. Please do not vote. — Jason Spies, Medford

Oh the Places We Go

This was the fourth weekend in a row of being out of town for at least part of the weekend. We were in Portland for the Run Like Hell half-marathon. Next weekend, I GET TO STAY HOME! Jason is going on a retreat, but I'll be home.

I had been looking forward to this trip for awhile. The kids would stay in Eugene with my parents and it would just be Jason and me. Last year we had a great time together, so I really had my hopes up for the weekend. About a week ago, Jason wasn't sure if he would run. He has been running on an injury for awhile and it seemed to really be hurting him. Selfishly (because I wanted the weekend in Portland), I pushed him towards running and praise God, he did really well in the race despite the injury. We are also low on money (who isn't) but decided to go anyway. Cheap hotel, cheap food, free baby/dog-sitting = acceptable expense.

We drove up on Friday and were pleasantly surprised by the hotel. It was actually quite nice. Saturday morning we slept late, had breakfast and were on our way to go pick up the registration packet for Sunday's race and as Jason walked around the car to get in I heard "uh-oh." Our back corner window was smashed. Again, PRAISE GOD, we did not have anything of real value in the car but the violation of theft hits deep in one's soul. Our easy, relaxing morning became phone calls to insurance, glass repair, police, hotel managers and expedia people. From there we had to track down some way to cover the window (it won't be fixed until tomorrow). Our "morning" plans didn't start until afternoon so being a mental plan person, I felt off all day.

Everyone was as helpful as they could be. The hotel agreed to comp our room and even though insurance can't help with payment because it is under the deductable they were helpful in getting the repair set up. The event cast a shadow over my weekend. We continued our plans and had a nice time together. That afternoon we had agreed that Jason would nap/football at the hotel while I went to IKEA. I can spend hours at that store, but in my current state I could barely get through the short list of things I had come prepared to buy. I had a total meltdown in the warehouse section. I went back to my car to bawl in private for about an hour, then I went back to the hotel and crashed.

The bright spot of the weekend was taking Jason to Uptown Billiards. Stacie and I had been there on our trip to Portland in March and I couldn't wait to show it off to Jason. He enjoyed it as much as I had hoped he would. Sunday's race was great for Jason, but I never really was able to shake the shadow.

God knew all this would happen. He knew about the break-in. He knew that would send me over the emotional edge where I've been residing lately. I think He was trying to tell me not to go...but I blatantly ignored Him. I know I will pay more attention in the future. Everything has a spiritual aspect to it and when I ignore that, things tend to crumble around me. Remember, Melinda, Remember!