Link Love

You may notice a couple of new blogs on my list to the left...

- A long overdue link to Hale's De do do do, De da da da. I've been reading from the beginning and never put up a link. Sorry Hale! (Check out his "How to Be a NASCAR widower" for a good chuckle.)
- Next, a link to another Hale: Brian Hale's Hale-Yeah! If you go there right now, you can see some great pics from his recent beach trip. (I want to go!!!)
- And... (drum roll please)... Introducing Just an Average Girl... by Maya! Yes, that was a pig you just saw fly by your window!!! She finally gave into the pressure! I look forward to keeping up on this girl's busy life!

Also, a nice site I just found: ScrapVillage. I haven't explored the entire site, just the fonts. They have LOTS of fonts, intended for scrapbooking, but they're not all just handwriting-type of fonts. (Though there aren't many you'd want to use in a formal document!) And the best part--they're all free and easy to use!

Winners!

After my rant about not having a winner, I've received 2 correct answers!!! NerdDad and Scott both recognized the line from REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling". NerdDad also pointed out that I had already used this song. (He won that time, too.)

And the winner is...

...no one again! All right guys... Is everyone tired of this game? Is it too difficult? Are you bored? Are you still there??? Hello? Is this thing on???

Ta Da!

Hey look! I took some time today to make some changes around here. What do you think? I'm basically done. I may add a new title block. Otherwise, I'll just fix stuff. Please let me know what you think!

New Pic

If you haven't already noticed, I've got a new picture for my profile. I'd been wanting to update it because I've had a new hairstyle for a while, but, as you can see, my new hair is still not in the picture. But that's okay because I really like this picture. I had the idea for the photo and explained it to Brad and we had a little photo shoot yesterday. We work well together that way: Brad loves to take pictures and play with all his fancy camera stuff and I love to have my picture taken! Here's another good one...

I actually feel very guilty changing my picture only because I promised I would change my whole layout a LONG time ago and never did. At this point, I've kind of abandoned the whole idea I had (good thing this is With Reckless Abandon!) but I'll do something different sometime!

80's Mystery Song Lyric

I think you'll get this one!

And even as I wander I'm keeping you in sight

What song is it from? Email the title and artist to me. I'll post the answer and winner(s) later!

Blast From the Past

I have officially lived in Fresno for about 10 years. (Unofficially for 4 years before that, too.) I've lived in four neighborhoods, attended three churches, had two employers, went to one school, and been involved in several other random groups. That's enough involvement to get to know quite a few people. But I rarely run into people I know. Let me correct myself: I rarely run into people I used to know. (I run into people from my neighborhood and my church quite often!) But the last few days have been different. It started with a baby shower. A guy I used to work with and his wife just had their first baby. (Congrats Ramiro and Yvonne!) I hadn't talked to or seen either of them for about three years but a mutual friend got us in touch again. They invited me to a baby shower on Saturday where I got to see the new baby, his parents I hadn't seen for years, and even one of the new mom's friends I'd met many times but also hadn't seen for three years. Wow! I realize that's not exactly "running into" somebody but the next ones are. Tuesday, the kids and I picked up my husband from work and went to McDonald's for lunch. We're standing in line when I notice a man get in line behind us--it's another guy I used to work with (Marky T as we used to fondly refer to him) that I haven't seen for probably about four years. Then last night we went to Costco. Yes, on Valentine's Day. I figured there would be less people and I was right. What I didn't realize was that we would run into the Truitt family with whom we used to go to church. We hadn't seen them for at least three and a half years. It's funny because I used to try to avoid running into people I knew. If I saw someone in a store I would look the other way and pretend to be carefully selecting parsnips or whatever might be nearby. Not to be mean or rude but to protect us both from the awkward conversation that I knew would ensue. But now, well, now I live for awkward conversation! I'm the one to get the other person's attention. (Actually the Truitts got my attention before I saw them--They live for awkward conversation, too.) I actually enjoy running into people now. I really don't know what changed, but I like it better this way! I no longer have to purchase unnecessary root vegetables!

When Will I Learn?

We live near a Walgreen's. We go there a lot. It's a great destination for our walks/tricycle rides. If you ever see a red tricycle sitting outside a north Fresno Walgreen's, you'll know we're inside. The past few weeks--I guess it would be more accurate to say since Christmas--Walgreen's has had their Valentine's Day stuff out. Every time we walk in, my son has pointed out Lightning McQueen on the front of this particular card as we pass the card aisle. So I thought it would be special if I bought the card for him. So what do I do? Wait until the day before Valentine's Day! And what do I find at my friendly Walgreen's? First, a line with about 20 people. Second, a mangled half-stocked display of Valentine's cards--with Lightning McQueen no where to be seen. What was I thinking? My husband and I gave up trying to go out to dinner on Valentine's Day early in our newlywed years because we hated waiting an hour and half for a table. One year I waited in line at See's Candies for close to an hour on February 13. And now this. Fortunately, my son has no expectation of anything so he won't be disappointed, but I know how excited he would have been to get that card!!!

No Winner?

No one got the song lyric this week! Was it too difficult? It was from Phil Collins' "Don't Lose My Number". So no winners this week--I'll try to make the next one easier!

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Here's this week's lyric:

They came at night leaving fear behind
Shadows were on the ground

Email your answer here. And remember, everyone with the right answer wins!!!

My Reading List Revisited

Last January I posted a list of the books I read in 2005 and the ones I hoped to read in 2006. For my own benefit, I wanted to look at that list again and see how I did. You can come along too.

On my books to read list:
Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
A Mom After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George
Bruchko by Bruce Olson
Birthright: Christian Do You Know Who You Are by David C. Needham
The Chronicles of Narnia (7 books) by C. S. Lewis

I did read the Douglas Adams books (those were a re-read) and I also read Bruchko. I got about halfway into the Elizabeth George book and stalled. I need to pick that one up again--it was pretty good stuff. I didn't even touch Birthright. I didn't read through the Narnia series, but I did get out the first book and started reading it a few pages at a time with my son.

Although I didn't get through my list, I did read a few others not on the list, several as assignments for the School of Women's Ministries. I read Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership: The Paradox of Personal Dysfunction by Gary L. McIntosh and Samuel D.Sr. Rima, which was a pretty good book. I read a short (auto)biography of Fanny Crosby called This Is My Story This Is My Song. I also read the classic Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan for the first time ever. Another book I stalled halfway through is Revolution in World Missions by K. P. Yohannan, a great, eye-opening read that I need to pick up and finish and that I also highly recommend. Those are all that I can recall at this moment.

I'm really impressed with myself because I have always disliked reading books and, therefore, read as little as I could get away with in school. That meant I spent my twenties reading hardly anything. But maybe I'll make up for it in my thirties! I don't have a list I'm working off of this year, but so far I've already read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick M. Lencioni. Maybe now it's time to pick up those unfinished ones!

Excuses

I'm not abandoning this blog. Or its reader(s). I just thought I should say that. This last week has been really crazy. I got the flu and was pretty miserable for a few days there. Then my normally easy-to-handle son lost his mind. Well, that's what it seems like some of the time: He's started throwing tantrums again. It's been quite a while since he's done that and he's really improved his tantrum skills in that time. So the last week has been very physically and emotionally draining. Anyway, all of that left very little time and energy (though plenty of content) for blogging. So hopefully, I'll get to blog a little here and there this week. And if you think of me when you're praying, please pray for my family during this stressful time. Thanks!

And the winner is...

*** I realize I am REALLY late posting this! Sorry! ***

Congrats to Jackie for recognizing this line from Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me". I've decided to start listing everyone who gets the right answer, not just the first one, because, well, because I can! So although Jackie was first, April is also a winner! I also have to give an honorable mention to my sister Cheri who knew the song title and guessed unrelentlessly until she figured out the artist! There's no shame in guessing!

Look for another 80's song contest on Friday! And I promise I'll try to try to post the answer sooner!!!