A "G-Rated Journal" That Even My Mother Can Read (because she does!)
Effervescence is a state of mind. It's about choosing to bring sunshine to the day.
Every person I meet matters.
If it's written down, I know it (If it's not written down, I don't know it)
If it's color-coded, I understand it (If it's not color-coded, I don't understand it)
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Daddy-do and me, 2010
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Gracious, Time Flies
Gracious, Time Flies - June? I haven't written since June? *buries head in hands* Sorry about that, my loyal readers!
July Notes - First, the bits I wrote in a draft journal entry, back in July... my attempt to catch up after only being away for a month.
* * * * *
Not Dead Yet - Kristin, my best friend from college, and I still phone each other every now and then just to say "Not Dead Yet" into one another's voice mail. We have the kind of friendship that easily picks up where we last left off, although sometimes we let so much time go by that we forget where we last left off.
So, these stories below are my way of saying, "Hi, I'm Not Dead Yet" to all of you, too.
Job and Civic Duty - Work has been going well, and I was fortunate enough to receive a small pay increase and the benefit of some overtime. The overtime approval was *really* quite helpful, since I was also out of the office for Jury Duty for almost a week. Just meeting some deadlines has required working at least one of my regularly scheduled Friday's off.
Jury Duty was an interesting experience. I served on a "3-day" trial for criminal charges, and I ended up serving as the Foreperson. It was bizarre, trying to reign people in as they went on *wild* tangents in deliberation. But oddly, all my years in leadership in various clubs definitely gave me training for moderating and focusing our conversations. We returned guilty verdicts, and the clerk tells me that sentencing is on the calendar for tomorrow. Participation was odd, but definitely worth my time. I would serve on a jury anytime, and would serve as foreperson anytime.
Dating Simplicity I've Enjoyed - One benefit to dating: There's all that new energy in a relationship when you continue finding simple things to do together. We've had simple meals cooked at his place. We've wandered to a local live music-in-the-park and enjoyed burritos from a restaurant food booth. I helped shop for and cook Father's Day breakfast.
July Fourth - July Fourth weekend was a 5-day event for me (heaven!), and so we not only enjoyed relaxing together, but traveling to a couple of parties. He fit in seamlessly with my family, and found my Grandad an amazing storyteller and conversationalist. I even think his son had fun hanging out with my nieces, or conversely I should thank the girls for being such good hostesses to a 13-yr-old boy guest. I also finally met his friend who does fireworks and safety programs for a living, and enjoyed some fantastic home shows (as well as just watching all the fireworks being shot off in an unincorporated city). The "show" was cut short a bit, but we had fun. (And my mind, some of my spinning has the memory of fireworks twisted into those woolen fibers.)
Old Fort MacArthur - We also went down to San Pedro for the Old Fort MacArthur days. The event includes historical re-enactors from many different periods or military history, and we just facinating. Another benefit of social time? Lots of hand-spinning completed lately. So nice.
SCA Events I've Enjoyed - I've also been to a few events with my history club, the SCA, although some would say far fewer events than usual. Carreg Wen Anniversary was a nice day spent in Lompoc, and enjoyed in the company of my friends Dayle and Morgana. We had one of our twice-annual meetings for the Pelican's council, and welcomed several new members to their first meetings with us.
Personal Activities - And besides dating activities or SCA events, I've also done several things lately just for me. I'm thoroughly enjoying my bellydance class, and really want to take two classes per week. The workout alone is invigorating. I added a drumming class, and am learning proper middle eastern (doumbek) technique for the first time.
Stir the Embers - I attended the debut of a workshop help by some friends of mine, called "Stir the Embers." My understanding is that their business goal is to host workshops to teach women self-defence, personal growth, and "warrior spirits" to be able to tackle goals and fears and obstacles. The course turned out to be more about self-defense than I was expecting, but I still enjoyed the experience. I gave me a chance to be more aware of those awkward social situations when I feel helpless at someone just being "too creepy, too affectionate" but isn't actually an attacker. There's no reason why I should either ignore the behavior nor go to far and escalate the response. There are simple ways I can be assertive about my personal space and what level of affection I'm comfortable with at anytime. Just because I'm naturally someone who hugs friends and enjoys friendly proximity, does NOT mean that I have to put up with someone just pushing the boundaries of friendly affection "a little bit." If it's too much, I don't have to put up with it. An interesting observation that I was able to apply to my own experiences. Reassuring.
Enjoy Nature, Slow Down - One more personal activity: Just paying attention to nature. I've altered my drive to work over the past couple of months, since I've been dating, and I'm driving through some breath-takingly beautiful foothills... that is, if you pay attention to them. Just skimming through my twitter remarks for the past six weeks, I've been commenting on sunrises and sunsets, the moon, and a host of other sights on my drives. I'd say that's been a healthy addition to my life: Paying attention to how pretty it is around here.
Car of Awesum - Oh, and my car crossed the 466,000 mile mark early in July, 468,000 when I wasn't looking.... and now, an edited remard in September, the odometer flipped past 474,000+ before it stopped working. That's the 2nd time my odometer has quit on me, which means my car has more miles than are being tracked, but only by about 2000-5000+ extra miles. Not much, right?
* * * * *
And now my September 30 remarks
Why I Haven't Written Much - I could blame my lack of writing on my media shift toward short updates on Facebook or Twitter (both of which I use, by the way). Or I could reference a very busy summer and a wonderful life. Mostly I'll just say, "Oops! Sorry!" and see what I can do to remedy the situation. I do miss you all, my journal-reading friends and family!
Dating continues to be a major joy in my life. It's still just a friendship that began 6-years ago that has simply blossomed in unexpectedly nice ways, no pressure, no long-term plans, just enjoying the moment. But it's been a full five months of very nice moments.
Sep Birthday - I also turned 42 this month, and had a marvelous birthday celebration. Flowers were delivered to me at work, breakfast in bed, a day playing mini-golf, a BBQ at my sister's, an evening with Jeff and Adrienne (and Benji), all spent with my sweetie and his son. An EXCELLENT day, and a fantastic way to usher in being the "Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything."
GWW - Another big project: I've been part of the staff getting ready for the Great Western War, working with a team of people on the website, the land allocation, and the publicity. I will be out on site helping with setup and then enjoying the activities of the week. I'm certain to have stories and photos afterwareds.
Dance and Drum - After 15 years on hiatus, I'm still involved with ATS (American Tribal Style) belly dance. I met many of the troupe members over Memorial Day weekend, and have been enrolled in various dance classes and drumming classes. I now have ATS costuming to work on, dance to practice, and drumming to practice. I'm loving it, and I'm loving my new friends with Twisted Gypsy.
The New CD for our Band - And if you missed my announcements somewhere along the way, my band's 3rd CD is out. I made my first video for YouTube with one of our music tracks, and there will be others. You can check out the website for Forever Twelve, watch the video, order the CDs from us, or from iTunes, or from CDBaby.com, or check out our MySpace, or our Facebook ...
That's it for today. I hope you all are doing well.
* * * * *
Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Diana, for meeting me for a wonderful lunch yesterday. I've missed you, dear. I'm thankful for you.
July Notes - First, the bits I wrote in a draft journal entry, back in July... my attempt to catch up after only being away for a month.
* * * * *
Not Dead Yet - Kristin, my best friend from college, and I still phone each other every now and then just to say "Not Dead Yet" into one another's voice mail. We have the kind of friendship that easily picks up where we last left off, although sometimes we let so much time go by that we forget where we last left off.
So, these stories below are my way of saying, "Hi, I'm Not Dead Yet" to all of you, too.
Job and Civic Duty - Work has been going well, and I was fortunate enough to receive a small pay increase and the benefit of some overtime. The overtime approval was *really* quite helpful, since I was also out of the office for Jury Duty for almost a week. Just meeting some deadlines has required working at least one of my regularly scheduled Friday's off.
Jury Duty was an interesting experience. I served on a "3-day" trial for criminal charges, and I ended up serving as the Foreperson. It was bizarre, trying to reign people in as they went on *wild* tangents in deliberation. But oddly, all my years in leadership in various clubs definitely gave me training for moderating and focusing our conversations. We returned guilty verdicts, and the clerk tells me that sentencing is on the calendar for tomorrow. Participation was odd, but definitely worth my time. I would serve on a jury anytime, and would serve as foreperson anytime.
Dating Simplicity I've Enjoyed - One benefit to dating: There's all that new energy in a relationship when you continue finding simple things to do together. We've had simple meals cooked at his place. We've wandered to a local live music-in-the-park and enjoyed burritos from a restaurant food booth. I helped shop for and cook Father's Day breakfast.
July Fourth - July Fourth weekend was a 5-day event for me (heaven!), and so we not only enjoyed relaxing together, but traveling to a couple of parties. He fit in seamlessly with my family, and found my Grandad an amazing storyteller and conversationalist. I even think his son had fun hanging out with my nieces, or conversely I should thank the girls for being such good hostesses to a 13-yr-old boy guest. I also finally met his friend who does fireworks and safety programs for a living, and enjoyed some fantastic home shows (as well as just watching all the fireworks being shot off in an unincorporated city). The "show" was cut short a bit, but we had fun. (And my mind, some of my spinning has the memory of fireworks twisted into those woolen fibers.)
Old Fort MacArthur - We also went down to San Pedro for the Old Fort MacArthur days. The event includes historical re-enactors from many different periods or military history, and we just facinating. Another benefit of social time? Lots of hand-spinning completed lately. So nice.
SCA Events I've Enjoyed - I've also been to a few events with my history club, the SCA, although some would say far fewer events than usual. Carreg Wen Anniversary was a nice day spent in Lompoc, and enjoyed in the company of my friends Dayle and Morgana. We had one of our twice-annual meetings for the Pelican's council, and welcomed several new members to their first meetings with us.
Personal Activities - And besides dating activities or SCA events, I've also done several things lately just for me. I'm thoroughly enjoying my bellydance class, and really want to take two classes per week. The workout alone is invigorating. I added a drumming class, and am learning proper middle eastern (doumbek) technique for the first time.
Stir the Embers - I attended the debut of a workshop help by some friends of mine, called "Stir the Embers." My understanding is that their business goal is to host workshops to teach women self-defence, personal growth, and "warrior spirits" to be able to tackle goals and fears and obstacles. The course turned out to be more about self-defense than I was expecting, but I still enjoyed the experience. I gave me a chance to be more aware of those awkward social situations when I feel helpless at someone just being "too creepy, too affectionate" but isn't actually an attacker. There's no reason why I should either ignore the behavior nor go to far and escalate the response. There are simple ways I can be assertive about my personal space and what level of affection I'm comfortable with at anytime. Just because I'm naturally someone who hugs friends and enjoys friendly proximity, does NOT mean that I have to put up with someone just pushing the boundaries of friendly affection "a little bit." If it's too much, I don't have to put up with it. An interesting observation that I was able to apply to my own experiences. Reassuring.
Enjoy Nature, Slow Down - One more personal activity: Just paying attention to nature. I've altered my drive to work over the past couple of months, since I've been dating, and I'm driving through some breath-takingly beautiful foothills... that is, if you pay attention to them. Just skimming through my twitter remarks for the past six weeks, I've been commenting on sunrises and sunsets, the moon, and a host of other sights on my drives. I'd say that's been a healthy addition to my life: Paying attention to how pretty it is around here.
Car of Awesum - Oh, and my car crossed the 466,000 mile mark early in July, 468,000 when I wasn't looking.... and now, an edited remard in September, the odometer flipped past 474,000+ before it stopped working. That's the 2nd time my odometer has quit on me, which means my car has more miles than are being tracked, but only by about 2000-5000+ extra miles. Not much, right?
* * * * *
And now my September 30 remarks
Why I Haven't Written Much - I could blame my lack of writing on my media shift toward short updates on Facebook or Twitter (both of which I use, by the way). Or I could reference a very busy summer and a wonderful life. Mostly I'll just say, "Oops! Sorry!" and see what I can do to remedy the situation. I do miss you all, my journal-reading friends and family!
Dating continues to be a major joy in my life. It's still just a friendship that began 6-years ago that has simply blossomed in unexpectedly nice ways, no pressure, no long-term plans, just enjoying the moment. But it's been a full five months of very nice moments.
Sep Birthday - I also turned 42 this month, and had a marvelous birthday celebration. Flowers were delivered to me at work, breakfast in bed, a day playing mini-golf, a BBQ at my sister's, an evening with Jeff and Adrienne (and Benji), all spent with my sweetie and his son. An EXCELLENT day, and a fantastic way to usher in being the "Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything."
GWW - Another big project: I've been part of the staff getting ready for the Great Western War, working with a team of people on the website, the land allocation, and the publicity. I will be out on site helping with setup and then enjoying the activities of the week. I'm certain to have stories and photos afterwareds.
Dance and Drum - After 15 years on hiatus, I'm still involved with ATS (American Tribal Style) belly dance. I met many of the troupe members over Memorial Day weekend, and have been enrolled in various dance classes and drumming classes. I now have ATS costuming to work on, dance to practice, and drumming to practice. I'm loving it, and I'm loving my new friends with Twisted Gypsy.
The New CD for our Band - And if you missed my announcements somewhere along the way, my band's 3rd CD is out. I made my first video for YouTube with one of our music tracks, and there will be others. You can check out the website for Forever Twelve, watch the video, order the CDs from us, or from iTunes, or from CDBaby.com, or check out our MySpace, or our Facebook ...
That's it for today. I hope you all are doing well.
* * * * *
Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Diana, for meeting me for a wonderful lunch yesterday. I've missed you, dear. I'm thankful for you.
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