The Clock is Ticking

Okay, I'm ready, I think I can actually pull 10 together this morning. It's been a nice out for a few days, it's been quiet in my world for a few days. Both of those are good things.


1. Good friends. You know, those make the world go round sometimes. Particularly, this week, I feel I must point out M. She knows who she is.


2. Catching up with old friends. A good friend from years ago popped back into my life last week. It was nice to sit and catch up with him over the weekend. I hope for many more chances like that.


3. Dads who call just when you need them. Daddy never calls just to shoot the breeze or check on things. We're very close, but I think most of the news he hears about me comes second hand from Madre. Last week, he called just when I needed a daddy. There's no way he could've known, but he did anyway.


4. Commercials that make me giggle. Like the Happy Cows from California. Even when I'm down, those will make me smile like you wouldn't believe. (BTW, I can't make these work in IE7, but they do in Firefox.)

5. Not being able to focus for a week. I'm self-diagnosed A.D.D. Seriously. I don't have that hyperactive bit, but yeah. I can't focus to save my life sometimes. A lot, okay most of the time that's a huge issue at home and at work. The last week, sure it's taken longer to get things done, but I've also got to do some interesting reading and worked up some neat ideas and turns of phrase that made it into my writer's notebook.

6. It feels so odd to put this one down, but...paying attention to the elections this year. I've gotten to have some meaningful conversations with some people, including my dad. He and I made a deal to never discuss politics, because I am historically more socially liberal than he is. And, because being more liberal than some members of my family got me blacklisted once, by his father. We didn't ever want that to become an issue between us. And so, because we're both stubborn, it seemed best to never discuss those things. But, this year, we're right on with each other.

7. Cool weather. Let's me pull out my long sleeve T's and sweaters, and toe socks!

8. Our campus is testing again this week. As much as I hate it for my students, because they really get worn out by all this testing, I like the quiet.

9. Curling up with a good book under a blanket. I don't even mind so much that I'm waking up at 4 a.m. when I get to do that.

10. My insomnia. I'm actually thankful for that. Regardless of all the negatives, I love that I get to lie in bed and think, and pray, and daydream. And read sometimes. The best part is that it's in the quiet. I've even bundled up and gone to sit under the stars in the middle of the night. Even in a smallish town like I live in, there's never really any quietness to town, unless a hurricane's just come through and the whole town is without power. But at 2 a.m. under the stars, I can almost pretend the noise away.

For more blessing and thankfulness, visit Mrs. Brownstone at XBox Wife.

I went to see "Nights in Rodanthe" yesterday. I'd completely forgotten that it was based on Nicholas Sparks's book of the same name. Had I remembered, I would also have gone to Wal-Mart to pick up a box of tissues prior to the movie. Yes, ladies, it will make you cry. Big boo-hoo tears, too.

Duh, it's a Sparks movie. *wink*

Anyway, at one point, Adrienne (Diane Lane) and Paul (Richard Gere) are looking this driftwood box that she'd made years before. The local lore says that you build this box and put things that are most important to you in your life. They get around to the idea that these things are the things that save you. And he asks her, "What saves you?"

(Now that I think about it, I may have misunderstood what he said, but the point is still the same.)

What saves you?

The obvious answer here, for someone like me, is Christ. Right? And no, I don't mean to belittle the idea that my faith in Christ is what drives me and fills me. Because it absolutely does.

But, that's not all. I think where I'm going with this is that what saves me, what really really does it for me in ways that I can name, is where I see Christ in my world everyday. Only, I don't think I've ever said it that way before.

What saves me? In no particular order, other than this is how I can best put words to it.

Music. Music is such a huge part of my world. I don't know how to function in silence. Power outtages? Thank God for my iPod. You know the old question, if you had to lose one of your five senses, which one would you choose? Sight. No question. I can get by not seeing the people and places that I love. I could live without seeing the beauty around me. But I couldn't bear the thought of not hearing music, or the birds, or the voices of my loved ones. Not a one. I guess, really, what I mean is sound, more than music. But, when all else is silent, I plug into my music and escape.

My family. For all the times I've wanted to scream at them (and I know that makes me no different than anyone else.), I know that in the end, I'd be lost without them. Moms and daughters are supposed to clash a bit, I really do believe that. (And I fear families in which that doesn't happen.) Brothers and sisters aren't supposed to be perfect angels together when growing up (again with the fear). And Daddies are supposed to risk it all for their little girls when they're being stupid. And you know what, that's how my family is. I don't know how we got here, because I'm certain the dynamic that the 4 of us have is nothing like how my parents grew up in their childhood homes. And sometimes, I wish we could go back to our little foursome in the house across town.

The WonderDog. I know this is probably silly-sounding to an outsider. But, I got WD during a time in my life that was dark. I was very low, I was alone in that way that only the isolated feel. I'd wanted to get a dog when I first moved out of my parents' house, but decided to wait until I finished my grad school, so that I would be home to be with a dog. I finished my graduate work in August. In October, someone at work said his dog was going to have an unplanned litter puppies at the end of the month, half yorkie/half schnauzer. (Imagine, WD's parents were papered pure breds. Oh the horror! Oh the shame!) I told him to keep me in mind, I might want one of the pups. Turns out WD was the runt, and the only boy in the litter. He's also the cutest one in the whole bunch. He healed my wounded heart and mind. Four years later, he's my favorite little buddy.

So...what saves you?

I just came across this on Mrs. Brownstone's blog.


It's just a beautiful performance piece. Do enjoy it, and have a blessed day!