Sleep

I'm tired. All week I have tried to go to bed early, but I don't fall asleep until almost midnight. Then when the alarm goes off at 6:30, I am mostly awake and I get up. Something is seriously wrong with this picture. Tomorrow I don't have to set an alarm, so I am going to try an experiment to see how long I can stay in bed. I would bet I'll be up by 7:50. The hardest part of making it that long is that I really want to take a nap... now!

Uh oh!

I was looking through my older blog posts... Holy horrendousness. I obviously wrote some of them when I was in a bad spot and did not proofread. For those of you who've read them, I sincerely apologize for some of the attrocious grammatical errors. It's hard to believe that all of the thoughts came from me. I've had many ups and downs in my last two years, and I didn't realize how much writing I really did about those things.

On to today...
I won a quilt! I thoroughly enjoy Bingo and not only do I get to play two Sunday's in a row(next weekend is Ham Bingo) I am already a winner. Thinking about some of the life highlights up to this point... I've come to the realization that I'm lucky. It's easy to say, and we hear it all the time, "I never win", but I can't say that. And I certainly cannot complain. I feel very lucky, for the opportunities life has given me and for the winnings I've been blessed with. Today, I won a quilt. It happens to have a deep purple backing, and I just happen to love purple right now. In February I went on a free vacation to Laughlin, Nevada--something I won after placing a bet on a Vikings game, and in college I won $300 in a drawing.

Life is good, no cause for complaints, and if you ever hear me say "I never win", slap me. Not only have I won'things', but God has granted me so many other blessings. Making a friend, getting to play an important or even minute role in someone else's happiness, those are prizes that we win from God often and don't truly appreciate. Thank you God! I appreciate them.

Commonality?

I am not an animal fan. I am not mean to them, but you could say I don't appreciate all that they have to offer.

My family has a dog. This dog isn't all bad. He is well trained: he stays away from me and knows not to cross the carpet line into my bedroom. I do get a kick out of him sometimes and have even petted him once or twice (we've had him for 3 years). I constantly remind him that we are not friends and he tends to get in my way a lot. Plus, his hair covers everything. I try not to look at the bottom of my feet when I wear black or brown socks.

What shocks me about this dog is how much he and I seem to have in common. He likes to lay around in odd positions on the floor, he loves pepperoni, and we have similar taste in craft items. Today, my sister was vacuuming around his area his bed and toys lay between a couch and loveseat that are back to back)( and found an object. She asked me if I was missing anything... when I looked at what she had, I was stunned. Toby (the dog) took my corner rounder. This object has no real use in the world other than to round the corners of pieces of paper. I love rounding corners, but the dog can't even use the thing. Last weekend, he took one of my favorite rubber stamps. Somehow, he got the rubber off the wood. The rubber was in perfect condition, the wood had some teeth marks. Perhaps he looks up to me and wants to be like me, or maybe he just likes to toy with my mind.

There seems to be very little logic behind his item choices. Shortly after we got him he chewed on a crochet hook, and tried to eat my favorite highlighter. The highlighter was a loss; I've used the crochet hook since. Then, this winter, he began playing with a ball of yarn.

I'm beginning to wonder if he's trying to get on my good side or just wants to be a crafter.

8 Months!

I haven't blogged in 8 months! That is terrible. Yet another example of the non-committal person in me. As I've said before, I should blog or journal everyday... I do nothing about this. What the heck is my problem.

Alas, I will consider this a new beginning. Well, at least until my next post (most likely 6 months from now).

My sister and I explored a new and exciting store today. Aldi, a grocery store chain, intrigued me. I heard about it on television and thought it would be interesting. That it was. Unlike most grocery stores we are used to with thousands of different products, this one has basic products and brand names we've never heard of, but the prices are great. That was the fun discovery of the day.

I continually become more and more aware of the effects maturing has on life, and how we are all so very similar. As a teacher, I've met many students. I can't wait to know some of them when they grow up. Growing up has such a profound effect on all aspects of life.

If this blogging thing is going to become a habit, I'll have to come up with a more interesting method. Perhaps a topic of the day. Tomorrow's topic will be cleaning. I made an unbelievably ambitious list of things to do. It will take me a couple of weeks, but I think I will feel better if I do everything on it.

Until then,
Chantelle

Reading... Writing... Acting...

I recently found out my blog is on some one's Google reader, which makes me think I should make it worth it and actually post something. Here we go!

For those of you who follow me, SURPRISE I am actually writing and I know I've said this before, but I fully intend to blog on a regular basis. Perhaps I am finally at that time in my life when I feel compelled to record the goings on of life. I have to face the music. My brain is going and I like to write. Why not use those as motivators.

In my normal random fashion, this is going to be superbly random.

Reading...

I am a member of a book club which meets once a month at my local library. Every month I get the book and go into the whole thing with the attitude that I am going to finish the book, read every page, every word, and have lots to say about it. Why is it that I always seem to catch myself 4 days before the meeting having read only a couple of pages. I have finished more books than not since I joined this club, but I still frustrate myself. Though I have made leaps and bounds in the positive direction of overcoming my procrastination habit, I can seem to break it. Is there medication for procrastination, because I don't believe in medicating much, but I would be seriously interested in that pill.
The book club met last night, and I have the new book. This time I even plan to take notes. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Writing...

I have never understood people who don't like to write. I like the actual physical act of writing. Whenever I have a new pen, I find myself writing nonsensical sentences and words just to use the pen. When is comes to writing I have to admit, there is some narcissism... BUT and that a huge BUT, I only like my handwriting about half of the time. I'm practicing. I want fun, pretty, and most of all, legible handwriting. I like typing too, but there is something about pen on paper that just makes me happy. I bought a new pen yesterday. I am a huge Sharpie fan and now they make pens that supposedly don't bleed through paper. I, of course, had to try them out. So far, so good.

Acting...

I am a community theatre director, which is pretty much the greatest job I've had. The latest show, Vaudeville's My Home, is my favorite directing gig so far. This is my sixth show as director and I've enjoyed every one immensely, but this one makes me laugh everyday. I need that, I needed this show right now. For everything there is a time and season, right.

I find myself more motivated to write or I should say blog when I'm feeling down. The same is true today. Though I am having what may be the greatest summer I've ever had, I feel like I am at that truly awkward place between birth and death. I don't have a niche... I'm floating. I should work on that.

In the spirit of keeping it random.... I got a new coffee maker yesterday. I had a 12-cup one, which was a total waste. I didn't make coffee often because you are supposed to make at least 4 cups at a time and I don't drink that much at a time so it felt like a waste. So, I bought a 5-cup coffee maker. I didn't get to use it this morning. But, I fully intend to use it tomorrow. I think my days are better when I have coffee... not that they are bad without, there's just something about starting the day with a caffeine and anti-oxidant burst that brightens things.

All for now.

Stuck... again.

Life seems to be a perpetual rut. It's not a bad rut... I don't mind it so much. I just wish I could make a decision.

There are too many viable, or perhaps good options. I need a job. Something with some benefits, more stable than subbing, but I'm not sure that a 8-4 type everyday schedule is really the right fit for me. I often wonder what I'm sticking around for... nothing great has happened... but at the same time, I have a pretty good small town life. I don't really have any reason to leave. I could say my reasons to stay are more plentiful, but I can't make up my mind.

I think I am waiting for God to show me what he wants for me... but I constantly question what that is, or if he is telling me and I am missing it.

Perhaps I will make a pro and con list, but even that involves too many decisions. Pros and cons of which option?! When am I going to be able to just decide something? I really wish I had a reason to make my decision with someone else... but I don't. I have other people to think about, but ultimately I have only myself to please and I have to rely on my own interpretation of God's plan to figure out where I am supposed to be.

Communication

It has been a long time. I must have had a good winter because I didn't see any reason to blog. Or perhaps, it was a bad winter because there was nothing blog worthy to share with the world. Either way, I'm back and again, as I've said so many times before, I am going to do this more often. I mean it this time:)

Today's Topic of choice: Internet communication, specifically Facebook

Facebook has taken over the world. Oprah featured guest tomorrow is Facebook's creator. If Oprah's talking about it, it must be a big deal. I can't help but feel like Facebook is losing some of it's coolness. It was cool when not everyone had it... but I find myself recruiting all my non-Facebooking acquaintances. As a person who doesn't like making phone calls it has been an incredible way to stay in contact with people who may have otherwise fluttered out of my life after high school or college graduations. Facebook has also served as a pathway to turning some otherwise strictly acquaintance relationships into friendships.

But, Facebook also creates a lot of gray area. I find myself struggling with the lines of who to add. I don't add many people unless he or she really is a friend, relative, or relatively close acquaintance. I am often stunned by the friend requests I receive. The surprise is often pleasant, but sometimes not so much. I am pleasantly surprised often by who wants to be my friend. I have been requested a couple of times by people I thought highly of and know, but I was not aware they even knew who I was. Usually if I know the person who is requesting that I add him or her as a friend, I confirm because I suppose if they want to be my Facebook friend, there isn't any harm in that. I am a substitute teacher and am constantly receiving friend requests from students. This concerns me more for their sakes than my own. I don't like to see inappropriate things... if some posts something that I deem inappropriate, generally bad language, I delete that person as a friend. I don't need that kind of stuff and I won't tolerate it. I struggle with who to accept and who not to. I also must be very aware of what I am posting. I lead a very "clean" life and have nothing to hide. But, I also must be aware that my friends can see all of my thoughts and writings on Facebook.

The new format is making it even easier to see what all of one's friend are doing and thinking as well as writing to each other. The new Facebook homepage looks and awful lot like a Twitter live feed page. It's fun, but even more apt to comment and being read.

I didn't have e-mail or Internet for that matter until about 8 years ago. Now, I can't imaging life without it. I'm sure I would live, but I wouldn't want to. Communication has truly been revolutionized.

Another thought I had recently... Postage keeps going up, which is at least partially blamed on the evolution of e-communication, but wouldn't costs then be able to stay at least relatively stable since fewer postal employees are needed and gas and other transportation costs should be less because of a decrease in mass of mail?