This Momentous Day

((from Dean Koontz "From the Corner of His Eye"))

Not one day in anyone's life is an uneventful day, no day without profound meaning, no matter how dull and boring it might seem, no matter whether you are a seamstress or a queen, a shoeshine boy or a movie star, a renowned philosopher or a Down's-syndrome child. Because in every day of your life, there are opportunities to perform little kindnesses for others, both by conscious acts of will and unconscious example.

Each smallest act of kindness - even in just words of hope when they are needed, the remembrance of a birthday, a compliment that engenders a smile - reverberates across great distances and spans of time, affecting lives unknown to the one whose generous spirit was the source of this good echo, because kindness is passed on and grows each time it's passed, until a simple courtesy becomes an act of selfless courage years later and far away.

Likewise, each small meanness, each thoughtless expression of hatred, each envious and bitter act, regardless of how petty, can inspire others, and is therefore seed that ultimately produces evil fruit, poisoning people whom you have never met and never will.

All human lives are so profoundly and intricately entwined - those dead, those living, those generations yet to come - that the fate of all is the fate of each, and the hope of humanity rests in every heart and in every pair of hands.

Therefore, after every failure, we are obliged to strive again for success, and when faced with the end of one thing, we must build something new and better in the ashes, just as from pain and grief, we must weave hope, for each of us is a thread critical to the strength - to the very survival - of the human tapestry.

Every hour in every life contains such often-unrecognized potential to affect the world that the great days for which we, in our dissatisfaction, so often yearn are already with us; all great days and thrilling possibilities are combined always in THIS MOMENTOUS DAY.

Current River 2008

well we made it. back safe and sound...well mostly. a few of us picked up a bump or bruise or two but nothing requiring medical attention, thank goodness. and ALL of us had a blast! The group friday was smallest - 8 of us canoeing, but it was a pretty fun day. poor brandy and kit dumped 9 times!!! sorin and i managed 3 though i think kit caused one on purpose. all in good fun.

Friday we canoed from akers to pulltite. saturday 22 of us did 10 miles from pulltite to round spring. and the 14 of us that canoe sunday had a very relaxing day canoeing from cedar grove to akers. i am not sure which was my favorite.

we took SOOO many pictures, and i would love to post them but i jsut dont think there is enough space here. LOL i managed about 200 pictures on just my camera. and i am waiting on pictures from 4 other people.

Above is me and my coworker, Brandy. and to the left is my boyfriend, Chad! isnt he cute!!!

That is ALL! :) at least for now. just know that the trip was a blast!

down memory lane....

Here are the rules:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. You might be surprised about what random things people remember about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you! (Provided I haven't already done so...)Now, get to joggin' down memory lane!

in anticipation

i'm counting the days...almost counting the hours!! my friends and i are heading to MO this weekend for our annual canoe trip and i just cant wait!!! it's almost always fun (there was this one year.....). this year it's gonna be a blast cuz i said so! we will leave midday thursday and canoe friday, saturday and sunday for a little over 30 miles total on the upper Current River. i just picked up a little food to take with me. and i'm gonna make hungarian goulash in my dutch oven one night, and sweet dutch apple pie another night. and dave is bringing his corn boiler so we will have sweet corn on the cob (i'll have to cut mine off due to the braces in my mouth).

did i tell you i really cant wait?

i've probably spent too much money on a weekend camping/canoeing trip. but who knows if i'll get another vacation this year. chad is gonna be busy and broke with his new house this fall. but it's all good, cuz this trip is gonna be FUN.

on second thought

so, i just went back and checked previous posts...which arent many. and someone reading my blogs probably thinks i'm just one grumpy, grouchy, pissy lady and i really am not. soooo

SOMETHING POSITIVE - my sisters kidnapped me this weekend!!! donna, revette and my mom and i went to michigan city and played in lake michigan and had a good old time. it really was a lot of fun, for such a short trip. they called to harrass me saturday morning and ended up driving out of their way to pick me up so i could go with (thanks, Chad). we drove up there, played on a few beaches, ate some food and just had fun with each other. the waves saturday were pretty dang big (one beach actually closed because of dangerous rip-tides). sunday, vette and i swam a little again, but the waves were boring and there were too many people. i was VERY tired when i got home, but it was a great weekend!!! my sisters are awesome. and my mom is too!!!

ugh

ok, i do NOT want to play volleyball today. it is 94 with a heat index of 111 right now. and it's not gonna be much better at 6:00. i'm not at all happy. and it's tournament night. ugh. what is dave thinking? i'm gonna die.

today

first of all the computer i am using is a piece of S@%#....my bro in law has way too much CRAP loaded on it, so you cant do anything, and then the screen doesnt fit in the window so you cant see anything on the right side. i'm pretty dang pissy about that.

but the point of this blog today is...1 year ago my daddy was called home. i came home to see my mommy last night. and we were sitting around with my sisters kids. little girl brought over a picture book with dad and mom on the cover and started talking about grandpa.... this is grandpa. i miss grandpa. do you miss grandpa. grandma misses grandpa. so dang cute i really couldnt decide if i wanted to laugh or cry. so i chuckled a little bit with tears in my eyes. just too dang cute in a sad way.

todays been pretty good. sis said mom had a bad day yesterday, but she seems ok so far. we will go to the cemetery soon. i cant believe it's been a year already.

up to now

rambling......

father's day turned out hard. i was worrying about my mom all day long but i felt just fine otherwise, til i hear chad talking to his daddy and WHAM! gushing flow of tears from no where. i miss him and it really makes me sad that someday, when chad gets brave, my daddy wont be there to walk me down the aisle. the last time i talked to my dad was at a friends wedding (their one year anniversary was yesterday) and i was crying then too.

volleyball last night was HORRIBLE. 0-4. holy crap that sucked. i dont usually let games get to me, but i KNOW we are better than we played last night.

been helping chad out with house stuff. poor guy. it's been a month since letter of intent was signed, but he still has no contract, so he cant put any of his decisions in stone yet. SOOOO many things to decide on too....flooring, cabinets, paint, light fixtures, appliances. seems like we look at one thing and realize, oh! look at that, 5 more things to decide on. it makes me feel good that he wants my input so much. :o)

work is SLOOOOW. thus - i'm here!

my canoe trip looks to be a little smaller than last year, though we are still approaching 20 canoers. i'm not quite as excited about it this year for some reason. but i do remember years past (most at least) SOOOO much fun. so i'm hopeful.

i get to babysit tomorrow night. riley (noel's little girl) is soooo gorgeous. her daddy will be playing volleyball, while mommy works, so "aunt" tuesday gets to enjoy the little girl.

i'm also going home to see my mommy tomorrow night i think. i just gotta find an alternate route. dang flooding back home. mom doesnt know i'm coming...shhhh....

so, you're just about caught up with me.... if i think of something, i'll be back.

well hellooo

here i am...joining the blogging world.