It is very easy, I think,to make our own assumptions about people before we have had even one conversation with them. We, and when I say we I actually mean me, but I feel less guilty if I say we…We often base our opinion on what we see or something we have heard.

I watched Pride and Predjudice last night for the 3,237,342 time, and Elizabeth Bennett, who by the way would have been my best friend ever if I had been alive then, and I would have asked God to be alive then except they didn’t have modern plumbing…so back to Elizabeth. I am sure her first assumption of Darcy was that he would be a normal sort of man. But after watching his behavior in public for the first time, her opinion changed. Then reinforced after hearing Wickham’s outright lies. But as we all know, after actually talking with him, face to face, she discovered who he really was and how wrong she was.

I had this experience-ish twice lately. I met someone the other day. At first glance I made several assumptions, all of which were not true I discovered after talking with him for a while. The second experience was with someone I had already met but hadn’t really ever talked to. As it turned out, I realized she is a super teriffic gal and funny too.

So I have no idea why I even bring this up, but there you have it. I guess the moral of the story is…be thankful for modern plumbing…I know I am.

I love Deadliest Catch…whose with me?! Several of the deckhands on the show, live in Anacortes. Today Joe and I headed out to have lunch and run a few errands. On the way home we passed Edgar Hansen waving a sign for the Deadliest Catch car wash. It was to raise money for one of the deckhands who’s father went missing in January.

So the three of us, Joe, Olive Oyl (my car) and I, went through the wash. So many friends and family members sprayed and scrubbed and rinsed and dried. It was so great to see the families all smiling and laughing.

As I pulled the car around, Edgar climbed up on the hood and I snapped his picture. Joe was a bit embarrassed and I drove home with a clean car and a huge smile.

I spent some time thinking yesterday…I think thinking is good. Not thinking I think is not good most of the time. So while I was thinking I had a thought. I thought about the number of things that have happened recently that seem to defy logic. Several of these are very good things and a few are bad. I was thankful, very thankful for the good ones, and bewildered and a bit angry about the bad. Ok, maybe more than a bit. I am not just referring to my own life, but to the lives of others too. I can’t tell you their real names because they might get mad, so let’s just call them Betty, Veronica, MaryAnne, Ginger, and Elle May. oh yes, and me. We’ll call me agent99.

So agent99 was thinking about some of the current mysteries that were assigned by the Chief…and she has decided to quit trying to always be logical. She decided that illogical solutions could possibly be the more effective way to think. What do you think?

Stepping a little outside the box for a little pick me up today. I dare you not to smile! I think I wore the same outfit Jan had on.

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Weekends look much different at our house these days. This past weekend Joe was escorted by his Grandfather and a retired NFL player, who played for both the Miami Dolphins and the Seahawks, to the Seahawks new facility. With his VIP pass he was able to watch practice down on the field, he met some great guys and had a great time minus the rain. Joe even ended up with and injury on the sideline but I will let him tell that story himself…

Then it was off to Five Guys Burgers and Fries for dinner with said escorts. “It’s like being in New York” Joe said, even though he has never been to New York. The line was long and you yell your order from the line to the guy at the counter who then yells it to the cooks and then you sit and hope for no cheese or tomato.

So this weekend’s silver lining is…learning to hang on to the good times, Five Guy’s Burgers are huge, and be careful with that umbrella.

With all that is going on, you would think that I had a plethera of things to write about. (Now is when I would usually make a comment to homeschooling moms about using the word plethera as a vocabulary word. But it’s summer and school doesn’t start for a few weeks.)

Anywhoooo, I have not written anything in the last few days due to writer’s block. “Writer’s block is a condition, associated with writing in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand.”

So here are some suggestions I found online to overcome writer’s block.

1. Talk to a monkey - Explain what you’re really trying to say to a stuffed animal or card board cutout.
2. Take a walk - Get out of your writing brain for 10 minutes. Think about bunnies. Breathe.
3. Do one chore - Sweep the floor or take out the recycling. Try something lightly physical to remind you that you know how to do things.

4.Make a pointless rule - You can’t end sentences with words that begin with a vowel. Or you can’t have more than one word over eight letters in any paragraph.

So here is my plan for today. I am going to take a piece of cardboard, cut it into the shape of a bunny. Then I am going to talk to it for a while. After that I am going to try and sweep the floor with it, which I think is pretty pointless, but never say never. Then I will take it to the garage and put it in the recycle bin restricting myself to only 35 steps, repeating to myself that “I know how to do things!” I really think this will do the trick.

So hold on to your hats because tomorrow’s blog entry should be amazing.

I love dragonflies. I used to hate dragonflies. The End Just kidding. I used to think about dragonflies the way I thought about myself. My impression of them was that they had no real purpose, that they were ugly, they had no sense of direction and they were more of a bother to people than anything else. Wow…that was a big fat assumption on my part…and you know what they say about assumptions…they say that assumptions make…well, yeah. That’s what they say.

But today is a new day and I love dragonflies…I love them for many reasons.

Dragonflies feed on mosquitoes, and mosquitoes are bad. They rob you of your blood and carry disease. Each dragonfly consumes 50 or more mosquitoes per day. (wow, this is beginning to sound like a report I wrote in Mr. Hart’s class)

These precious insects also indicate good water quality as they only thrive in unpolluted water. That there is a metaphor for life I think.

They also have 360* vision…yes, I said 360*

Dragonflies represent maturity and depth of character, power and poise sayeth the purveyors of intellect. The Dragonfly accomplishes it’s objective with utmost simplicity, effectiveness and with 20x’s as much power in each of it’s wing strokes when compared with other insects. Bazinga! I say. Above all that, they do what they do with the elegance and grace of a veteran ballet dancer.

Finally, the dragonfly, to this day, is considered an agent of change.

Seeing these beautiful, graceful, purpose filled,amazing, talented insects now bring me joy. They remind me that I am loved and I have a purpose. I believe that God made the dragonfly just for me…not really, but maybe. So assuming that He did, I would like to share them with you. You’re welcome…even though I had nothing to do with it.

Dear faithful blog readers,

Thank you for your faithful faithfulness as you faithfully read my blog. Over the next 3 days I am not touching my keyboard. My fingers are going to be out of town. I would love to hear from you anyway. You see, my ears or is it my eyes…either way parts of me, especially my heart will still be with you!!

Happy hot weather.

Today I had to say goodbye to my sister. We had a good time together, playing games and going down memory lane. We shopped and went to dinner and had good talks. I am glad she came for her reunion and a trip to Lynden!

I also said goodbye to my Uncle Bill. It was so great to see him and thank him for all his help. He is an amazing helping Uncle. He is off to span the globe, and I hope to see him again soon.

But…I was able to say Hello to my Aunt. She is an amazing helping Aunt. She and mom should go on the road. Neither can hear the other and that makes for good comedy. I am looking forward to spending a few days with her.

In 3 days I will be saying Hello to my cousin and her daughter. These next few days are devoted to…well, I will let you know when we get back.

Today I said Hello and Goodbye to my Dr. After all, that is the polite thing to do. My appointment went well for the most part. Good blood work but we scheduled a scan for next month. Just a few questions we want to answer.

So it was a day full of Hey there’s and See ya’s. :) :( Each one chock full of meaning.

We are all humans right? We get up in the morning, use the loo, brush our teeth (hopefully) or at least use mouth wash…please? We bathe, get dressed and plan our day. “First I am going to do this, and then I will do this, and then after that I will go there, and then I have to have more coffee, and then I will…

We logically plan our day. Makes sense. It is essentially the way we look at everything…with brilliant logic if we do say so ourselves. Most of us reason that way as well…sorry, can’t include everyone in that category…we use the “transitive theory”. DEFINITION OF TRANSITIVE THEORY: In mathematics, a binary relation R over a set X is transitive if whenever an element a is related to an element b, and b is in turn related to an element c, then a is also related to c. Or for the mathematically impaired, of which I am the class president, A=B=C=A.

All that to say that I am continually learning that logic confines us into thinking only one way…and that things must happen logically or they are all wrong…and when things don’t happen the way we think they will, we stomp our feet, cry, yell, eat quarts of Ben and Jerry’s and snap at everyone who dares to speak to us during this catastrophic time in our lives. Can’t they see that things did not work out logically ? How can they NOT know your pain?! Geez!

So even though I don’t want to, I am beginning to learn that things can happen differently and STILL work out. I am seeing these strange yet amazing things happening in my life now almost every day.

I like logic..it’s clean and neat and predictable…but illogical can be surprising and fun and often a huge blessing in disguise.

I haven’t written in a few days because I have been oot of the country I am soo glad I brought my runners..because we have been oot and aboot a lot. Talk to you soon.

Hello eh? We are back from our great girls get-away. Three generations of women have recently arrived home from some footloose fun in Victoria,BC. The weather was spot on as they say. We did just what we wanted to do and it was simply delightful. How often do you get to do just what you want to do? I would say not very often. My guess would be a small-ish percent. So we all took our small-ish percents and squished them together into 3.5 days and had a brilliant time.

Included in that brilliant time was High Tea, castles, delicious meals, stunning views, British accents, shopping, soaking in the sun and atmosphere, walks by the bay, gifts for those we love, wax, wrong turns, right turns, makeovers, flowers, peanut butter and jelly, laughter…and the list goes on. The most beautiful thing about this trip is that nothing will ever take away the beautiful memory so we will be able to take this trip over and over and over again. That is a very happy making thought, and a cheerful heart is very good medicine.

Today’s subject is “small things”. Small things are often small. How is that for insight?! Pretty good after only one cup of coffee. But…small things can be big as well. Here is an example.

Once upon a time a very nice girl was eating a sandwich which she ordered on 9 grain bread because she read online about the health benefits of whole grains. One of the tiny healthy grains in her bread became lodged between her teeth. She tried to swish it out with mouthfuls of her iced green tea, but it wouldn’t budge. Finally she excused herself, went after it with some dental floss, which resulted in a broken tooth. This lead to a mandatory dental appointment and a new crown, costing this health conscious girl $800. Because of this expense she was unable to pay for her college classes where she was studying to become a teacher and change the lives of the children in her class, one of whom was little Billy, who was destined to become president, but because of the stupid grain in the 9 grain bread, is now bagging groceries at the Food Mart.

I have struggled with the small things lately. Somehow they weasel their way into your thoughts and change your whole frame of mind. This is not good. One of the biggest small thing that gets to me is when people misrepresent the truth. Those words find their way into my brain and then make their way to my belly where they tie my stomach in a knot.

So today I say loudly and with a relatively decent amount of confidence, “I WILL NOT LET THOSE LITTLE THINGS GET TO ME ANY LONGER. LIFE IS SIMPLY TOO SHORT AND IT JUST ISN’T GOING TO ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING” (loud cheering)

So my fellow blog readers, follow me to a land of freedom from small annoying things bothering you. Step with me into the land where only big things bother you and hopefully sooner rather than later we will step out of that land and into one where nothing bothers us because my dear readers…WE ARE LOVED! (giant cheering sounds including whistles)

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I am looking outside and it is raining. I don’t want it to rain today. Today and tomorrow are the only days left of summer and then school starts. I want these last two days to be warm and sunny and bright for my kids. This was my daughter’s last real “kid” summer. It wasn’t actually the summer we wanted, all things considered, but it was a summer of growth and healing.

I miss the summers of sprinklers and the excited squeals when the popsicle man was making his rounds…the kids exploring the pond for frogs and salamanders…dirty toes from running barefoot all day and seeing the expression on the kids faces when they finally came in as the sun was setting and they were full of that “good tired” feeling.

I am now watching the rain as it drips off the leaves of the tree just outside my window. It looks like the leaves are crying. I feel like crying too. Crying for what the kids are experiencing as they deal with a mom with cancer and a dad who has walked out. But from deep down, the thought rises that rain is good. Rain brings growth and health..rain allows us to appreciate more the sunny days that we do have. It revives areas that need growth, that have dried up from lack of attention.

I am now going to be thankful for “the rainy days”.

About two weeks ago I was very tired. I am tired a lot these days for lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of reasons. One of the biggies though is the chemotherapy pills. They are huge and pink and they cause chaos in me and on me.

On this day however, I was really really super duper tired. A few minutes after settling in for the evening to watch t.v. with my son, there was a knock at the door. Figuring it was one of his buddies, my son got up to answer it. Next thing I know he is hanging over the back of my chair whispering “Mom, there is a Schwan man here.” I whispered back “tell him I said no thank you.” “Mom, I can’t do that!” “Yes you can”…”No I can’t…”Yes you can”…”No I can’t”..ARGH! So I walked to the door and said hello. He was a very nice man…very grandfatherly…and we began to chat. He told me about Schwans and I wasn’t really focusing on what he said. I just began to think of how much he looked like Wilford Brimley.

I told him that I was really only cooking for one these days, that my husband was gone and due to my treatment my appetite was gone as well. Also my daughter was only eating BBQ shredded beef on a bun or crouton wraps with ranch dressing which I didn’t suppose was featured in their catalog. I realized that I had probably given him more information than he wanted and I thanked him for his time. But instead of saying goodbye, he asked me what I was being treated for.

I told him a little about the cancer and he began to tell me about his wife and what she was going through…how he was care taking for her and how he was supporting her through her treatment. It began turning into one of those moments where I wanted to invite him in for a cup of hot cocoa and a long visit where we talk about life and how illness has changed so many things. How our plans and dreams and perspectives have changed and we would promise to keep in touch and we would exchange addresses and send each other Christmas cards and the kids and I would send him an ornament every year, and he would send Schwan’s cookies for me and the kids… Oh my, I think I have watched too many Hallmark movies.

It didn’t get to that point, but we did talk for a few more minutes. By the end of the conversation we promised to pray for each other and for our families…and by the time Mr. Brimley stepped off the porch we were both in tears and grateful for our meeting. I never imagined that I would be crying happy tears on my front porch with the Schwan man.

So the next time the Schwan man knocks on the door…I recommend the key lime pie.

Wow, the summer has gone so fast and it’s already September. I love September. I love the word September and how it looks written on a page. Maybe that sounds a little creepy, but I am a word gal so that kind of stuff happens in my brain. I love it for other reasons too. The weather, the leaves, the fact that it’s my birthday (write that down)AND my sister’s birthday on the same day! We are 1 year apart to the day! I also like the song September by Earth, Wind and Fire. That was the first concert I ever went to. It represents good memories(darn good because I went with two older guys I had mad crushes on…Bazinga! How could that not be good.) Here is my September moment for you…enjoy…soooo wish I could dance like that!

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This morning I woke up at the end of my rope. That is not a fun place. Ok well maybe it would be fun if there were say a Lemon Meringue Pie at the end of my rope. Or a spa day. But alas, the end of the rope does not signify anything positive. It typically means that things are…well…not pleasant. And right now, things are not pleasant.

So what does someone like me do when I am at the end of my rope? Well, I take all the linens out of my linen closet and re-fold and re-fresh. It’s a woman thing I guess, because when your linens are re-folded and re-freshed then life seems somehow better. Sorry guys. But may I suggest pairing your socks? Or taking everything that has a hole in it out of your drawers? Ha Ha…see I am feeling better already. And here is a little added bonus. While you are folding and pairing and discarding, smile and be aware of all that you Do have.

P.S. One of the things I have, is a problem taking the dryer sheets out of the linens before I fold them. Gotta be more focused. I’m just sayin’…

I was sitting and thinking…actually I was drinking coffee and eating a cookie… I was thinking about everyone who reads my blog. I wish I could drink coffee and eat a cookie with each one of you and get to know you better. I would have the single shot Americano with room for milk and a molasses cookie and you would have a double tall pumpkin latte with? So here in lies the reason for today’s blog. Questions. I would, on occassion, like to ask you all a few questions…starting with the question above. I would love to know you all better. Today’s second question is…what is your favorite ice cream? Mine is Ben and Jerry’s Coconut Seven Layer Bar

Today I had a Pet CT Scan. The king of scans…the don’t eat after 7 the night before and make sure you don’t eat anything that tastes good for dinner scan. The blood sugar and IV and radioactive glucose injection scan. The now you sit perfectly still in a dark room for 45 minutes and then I will bring you gallons of barium to drink scan. Then when you are done with all that you get to lay perfectly still for another hour inside the tube scan.

Oh don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for the scan I just hate it. It gives the doctor so much information. No other procedure gives him more information than this.

Information is good. I am again hoping for good information. As soon as I know something I will post it. I am soooooooo tired right now that I can’t muster up anything else to say.

Oh, wait…yes I can…if you haven’t answered last blog’s questions then I still want to hear from you. OK, now I am offically done.