Wednesday Wonders

I graduated from CR training today, and my wonder is if I will ever harden up to the sad, heartbreaking stories I hear every claim I take.

How can I keep myself guarded and allow myself to be me? Where is that balance?

My Little One

I am totally twitterpated by my mini! I have a final design and *drumroll* here it is! And I'm totally singing the song "Little One" (Cole Porter, stylings of Bing Crosby) as I think about motoring around in it! *happy sigh*






I know, I know, I had the dark blue, the piano top, and the brown/tan one, but after pricing the custom roof job for piano keys, that one was out. After seeing the dark blue, that was out, and after seeing the tan- which changes in different lights & it looked like some sort of split pea soup, that one was out too. I scrapped all designs and started new, and this is the beauty I came up with!

The only thing that will be different on mine are the racing stripes- the online generator didn't have the option, but I saw it on one so I know it can be done, I'm only having the pinstripes on either side of the racing stripe, not the thick ones down the middle. (the original design is like 3 stripes- pinstripe, thick stripe, pinstripe)

My baby should be ordered sometime in February or March, depending on whether or not I go to Italy.

I'm sooo excited!!!

The Day The Music Was Resurected

Because the music definately hasn't died here!



For years I have avoided much of the artistic expression, singing, painting, drawing, playing piano, or guitar... it has a lot to do with how I use these talents to express emotion, and no matter how hard I try I haven't been able to find inspiration without opening old, and very deep wounds... until this weekend!

How funny- a few short days later, short days crammed with a lot of content, and I don't really remember what I was going to say next. (blog was started 07/20/09) I'm pretty sure it had to do with hauling my keyboard up to JoAnn & Brett's and jammin', and probably something to do with the ukulele inspiration and digging out of the old guitar at my parents' house...

Either way, I am inspired to make music! I miss music! Right now, I'm jonesin' for someone to harmonize with me...

(Amidst all the emotional and spiritual turmoil, xref my inspirational blog)

Music heals me. It always has.

Let the healing begin.

Wednesday Wonders

Somehow it's almost midnight, so this is going to be a quickie....

I wonder when I stopped living my life for God and started living it for me, with the "Common Good" as a guide. When did God become a doorprize?

This is really deep, and I'm trying to pull out the roots on this. Stay tuned!

http://myinspirationalstories.blogspot.com/

Wednesday Wonders

A day late.... I wonder how Dana knew I was begging her to stop by in my sleeping stupor!

Yesterday I left work early, stomach heaving. Puke-or-pass out migraine pain. It sucked. Sinus migraine. Had to pull over a few times because my head kept lolling to one side, eyes wouldn't stay opened. It sucked. When I pulled into my parking space I slept in my car, trying not to throw up again. I made it inside and remembered that I was out of my 24 hr lactaid stuff. I whimpered, because I wasn't leaving the house again. I passed out in my recliner, stirring every now and then, thinking, "I could text Dana- but looking at my phone would make me sick again... I could call Dana- but then the sound of her phone ringing would hurt my head... I wish Dana would just stop by..." and drifted back to sleep.

About 3 hours later, there's an abrupt knock on my door. At first I thought it was my phone, as my ringtone is knocking. I said to myself, very groggily, "Maybe it's Dana?" and realized if I moved I'd probably throw up again. Trying to ignore it, I cuddled back under the blankets into the recliner, but the knocking wouldn't stop. I got up, answered the door, AND THERE WAS DANA!!! She'd grabbed the wrong key and was locked out, walked home from the gym, and then to my house from her house!

I told her it was her sub-concious listening to my sub-concious. Yay! for the honorary twinage powers we share.

I ♥ Camping! Wanna Go?

I have COMPLETE senioritis right now, and as I'm sitting here in training, counting down the 10.5 days we have left, my mind is wandering...

My family used to go camping all the time, at least 2-3 times a summer, all over the Olympic Penninsula and Eastern Washington. Today's stormy gray clouds remind me of July weekends spent on the coast, and I almost have to laugh out loud.

My friend Kristen would usually come with us, and another family would as well- their mom and my mom would pack up somewhere between 5-7 kids between the two families and we would head out for 3/4/5 days. We would head down to various destinations on the Oregon-Washington Coastline, and have a blast! From super soaker fights in life jackets as "bullet proof vests" to roller blading our tent across camp grounds so we wouldn't have to take it down and set it up again, good times were had by all. Kristen and I did that, and so much more! Rollerblading and biking down hills usually led to one or all of us tumbling to a stop, be it gravel that got stuck in a blade wheel (I hated it when that happened, too many times I had to pick gravel out of my hands) or sand that stopped my mom's high school 10 speed bike, we laughed our way through summer year after year.

I really miss camping. And 2 years ago reconnected with Kristen. If only our schedules permitted us to pick up and take off for 4-5 days! (I might have to call her, see if she'd be game for maybe a 3 day weekend...) *grin*

And don't get me started on the smarts-and-stupidities of camping at Moses Lake!!! We had about 10 families or so, from church that would take over the Moses Lake Public Campgrounds (aka Moses Lake Pubic Campgrounds) and man did we have GOOD TIMES! You know that schmirnoff comercial with the tarp and sprinklers down the hill? Been there, done that, no alcohol involved. We'd put a rubber raft at the bottom... then needed two, just incase we slid in-and-out of the first one. We would drag people behind the boat, usually with kneeboards, skis, skurfers, and tubes, but sometimes we'd try to be like the adults and go barefooting... which usually resulted in the girls laughing at the guys losing their shorts behind the boat. And volleyball games at the Dunes, where we'd set up the net in knee-deep water... or the fun island that Mom and Lori would take a picture of margaritas and get lost on the lake, floating and soaking up the sun!

Anyone want to go camping, anytime in the near future? I know A LOT of GREAT places, and promise not to let you ride a 10 speed with road tires into sand!!! *wince* (Sorry K!) If it wasn't such a sick society we live in, I would pick up Friday afternoon and head out, not come back until Sunday night, but as a single woman, it's not the safest or smartest idea to go camping alone. So, until I can find someone to tag along with me, I will just dream... living in my memories, counting down the days until training is done.

Proud to be an American

As I'm watching 4th of July celebrations across the US, I'm getting choked up watching Boston & DC's displays. Not because the fireworks are so grand, but because of all the soldiers in their military uniforms, because of the national monuments illuminated in the explosions with patriotic marches being played, because of everything that Independence Day really stands for.

It's one of those times I don't really and truely love living in the Seattle area. I fear that there would be riots and protests if our military members showed up in uniform down there at Gas Works Park... I could be wrong, I wasn't there, but the TV cameras didn't show a single person in uniform in Seattle tonight, and I can't say that I'd blame a soldier in town tonight. And what gets me is that we- as Americans- have a right to protest because our own went to war, they died for that freedom! While we are all entitled to agree or disagree, and verbalize and demonstrate what we agree and disagree with, remember that the only reason we are able to do so is because somebody faught for us, died for us.

So please- enjoy these photos from Boston's 2008 celebration, and thank a soldier when you see them.

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I just had my palm read at Kent Station by a random older gentleman. He got almost everything right, down to what type of allergies I have, the 2 times I'd fallen in deep love and had my heart broken, and pretty much my whole life... except numbers. He said I was really good with numbers. He also wrote poetry- on the spot poetry. Asked me for a word, I said "idunno" and shrugged... he proceded to make up a poem on the spot! It started "I asked her to dance, she said 'idunno'. I walked away and asked her again, she said yes..." and it went on about how she cautiously opened up, finally let him in to her life, her heart... if that doesn't hit home, "idunno" what does!

The funny thing is, I thought he was an obnoxious old man. When I walked into the little shop he was leaving and said "Be good to yourselves, ladies, just not in public," and chuckled.

Just goes to show that just when I think I can read people, they surprise me!

As I got home, pulled into the parking lot, two gals were playing near my car. One of them is hearing impared, and she usually sits in the window and sort of yells a distorted "HI!!!" to everyone. Her little sister came right up and asked if I could take them swimming at KM. I tried to explain that their parents might not want them to go somewhere with strangers. Unfortunately the little sis translated "strangers" to "bad people" so then I had to try to finger spell my way out of that one!!! :-P KT's going to help me learn some basic conversational ASL, and I'm going to make flashcards. I'll probably ask the gal at work to help me out too.

This is a big week! I'm one step closer to getting my Italian-dual citizenship, I was selected to go to the SSA bilingual conference in Seattle for two days in August, I'm taking claims at work, one of my claimants died before I could tell her she was approved, I had my palm read for the first time ever, and am planning to learn another language!

I feel like my heart is going to explode, in a good way- so filled with blessings and agape love, that's the best way I have to explain it. Maybe I'm more aware of it because of the claims I'm taking, maybe I'm more aware of it because I've started dabbling on the piano again, maybe it's just time for God to start stirring in my soul... I think this time I'm ready for it.

Wednesday Wonders

I can't believe it's already Wednesday!

There are a lot of topics running around in my head, actually I envision them as more "flying" like the keys in the first Harry Potter movie. Thanks to my friends for the blog topic suggestions: Tattoos, food, dance, love... for my wonder today, I'm going to go with the ink.

I wonder if/when I will get any tattoos... I want a treble clef on the inside of my left wrist, a bass clef on the inside of my right wrist, St Cecilia's cross between my shoulder blades or on my neck, and a rosary on my ankle that trails down the top of my foot just a bit. I'll post pictures when I get my laptop back, which is at my parents' house. If/when I get one/or more I will probably have Painless Peter do it, since he's the lindy scene's resident tattoo artist.

My only reserve- and I mean ONLY reserve- is that I would have to cover the ink on my wrists while I'm at work. I really want the treble/bass clef, as music is such a HUGE part of my life, but I'm not sure how professional it would look, especially if I apply to get into the management/ leadership program. What's the purpos of getting a tattoo if you have to hide it? Maybe I could compromise, get the treble clef on my left wrist and then get a kick-ass watch to wear, one of those really cool ones with the wider band? Idunno... I'll have to brainstorm a bit more, play around with the idea.

So now the question is which one to get first? My guess is the treble clef. It's in the least painful spot, since the back and the foot have skin-on-bone.

Okay- back to work... going over wages and substantial gainful activity for beneficiaries, and then I'll be taking a teleclaim or two. Fun times!

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next Wednesday, if not before!