has had a hard day's night

I think I am going to leave that status up for another day. The snow is finally over and that means that I get to take a bit of a break. This first real snow of the season wasn't too terrible, if I do say so myself. It was a good one to really get my feet wet (literally and physically). Not only did it snow a lot over about a day and a half we also had a plow go down. That was the BEST part. I say that will all the sarcasm my heart can muster (which as you know is quite a bit). The picture to the left shows the exact moment that I knew we wouldn't be plowing any more that night . . . or was it morning? I don't really remember - my days and times are a bit fuzzy right now. All is well, and actually it was an easy week. All I know is I love going in over night. I don't think I would love it everyday, but there is something about 3 am that has a peace about it.

Oh, and the picture to the right is from when we went sledding Tuesday night. It was snowing huge flakes and it was coming down hard and fast. It was awesome. I got a new sled for Christmas and Tuesday was it's maiden voyage. It is the best sled I have ever owned. It is huge, first of all, and second it is super fast and you don't really feel the bumps (like the curbs).

Oh, and my status from before was: Shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. So in honor of that - HEEEEEERRRRREEEEE's Harvey:

is the tax man

no, i will not update you on the statuses you missed - because i am in just that sort of mood. my weekend and monday were full. not full in the case of, "wow, i have a lot going on and i just can't catch a break." but full in the fact that there were a lot of things going on mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and yes - some physically. in the interest of time i am going to do a "stream of consciousness" stolen from my friend John.

• while friday was suppose to be spent at a big brothers/big sisters lock in it was not. for reasons unexplainable other than the ever changing mind of a teenager i spent the evening at home . . . well not at home after all. i couldn't figure out why that teenage mind had been changed until the events of the day and night unraveled and then it made perfect sense. am i being ambiguous? yes, of course i am. friday night is not really my story to tell, only that i am glad to have been in the right place at the right time, and am humbled every day how God chooses to work in my life.
• up early on saturday to go work at the Harris home. what a great time to work side by side with friends and take some time to get to know everyone a bit better.
• i am getting closer and closer to the summer which means a lot of things. one it is going to be hotter than a cat on a hot tin roof, and two i am getting closer to family camp. more on that to come, but in short is is a trip that my mom and i are taking to help give some families a much needed break and time to re-connect on deeper levels. i can't wait.
• more and more i am finding that it is easy to give my heart away. not necessarily in the romantic love department, but in relationships in general. while i have guarded my heart for about 30 years, this gradual giving that has been going on has made a huge impact on me.
• i am crying a lot more now, and not really because i am sad (random tidbit)
• i started my taxes this weekend - and yes i am totally frustrated. due to changes in my life over the past year and some change my taxes have been a confusing mess. this was compounded this year again and now i fear that i will not be able to do my taxes on my own this year. i have always found a sense of pride in doing my taxes since i was 16, and now i am seeing that i need to be humble enough to ask for some much needed help.
• i am learning that to be a christian really means to become like Jesus and show him to others. not to be afraid to admit your problems or hang ups. Kevin likes to say that - aa is where you go and admit you are bad and you get better. church is a place you go and pretend you are good and get worse. anyway, i heard christianity encapsulated so well last week Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Now don't read that as you have to be all those things at once. Look at them as steps. First learn to be humble. then as you grasp the humble part you will gradually learn to be gentle. and so on until, in the end, you are looking more and more like Jesus.
• i am finding that i have a lot of thoughts, but i never really finish them. i get a good start and then they just fizzle. i don't know if it is lack of thought, or that there is too much thought.
• i am gaining a different perspective on my job. not a good or bad perspective - just different.
• and to conclude i have The Beatles and their cartoon of Taxman:

Want's To Leave A Legacy

My friend Ben just got back from Haiti. I was really excited for this trip because they were taking him to shoot video footage of the area and what it was like there. I wanted to learn more. Not because I'm ready to pack my bags for Haiti - but I could . . . I don't know, you know me, I won't. I just like to hear and see places I have never been in hopes that one will strike a chord and maybe I will know what is next for me. I think I know, but it has been a long waiting game with that one. Anyway, Ben posted a video of something that happened on their first day there - and this my friend is what it means to leave a legacy. It doesn't have to be big things that make a mark, it can be in the small things too. I encourage you to take some time and watch - turn up your speakers a bit.

http://todaysawesomeness.blogspot.com/2009/01/day-205-video.html

More Obama

I alluded yesterday that I had some photos of the inauguration - and I do. They are taken from my couch. Seeing the crowd just made me cringe inside - I can take crowds in small doses, I think this would have been overkill though. I also saw this video on a blog I visit every-so-often. I thought it was funny. I love it that one of the places that promotes the liberal view the most (all be it in a hilarious way) did this. I guess they are equal opportunity jokers.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Changefest '09 - Obama's Inaugural Speech

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Katie is a lumber jack and she's OK!

The post/status today comes from . . . . Monty Python. You are correct. And yes, I will put you up to date. The statuses you missed were:

• Heard you on the wireless back in fifty two (Video Killed the Radio Star)
• Katie is takin' out the papers and the trash (as in yak-ity-yak, don't talk back)

I have heard it said that no news is good news and that is exactly what all this non-updating has been. I refused to talk about how cold it was (one more time) so there really wasn't a lot to report. BUT TODAY. Oh my today is glorious. Close to 60 and it was amazing. Tomorrow it is back down into the 40's but I can totally handle that. I have been trimming trees for the past few days (hence the lumber jack reference) and it has been a ton of fun. Yesterday I was climbing a tree to trim it and that is always a bonus. My last few nights have been full of reading and of course the inauguration. I may post pictures later (yes I did, I took pictures of the TV), but I am just too lazy to download any photos today. I didn't take pictures of the screen because I think Obama is the answer to all of our political, personal, emotional, health, war, problems - I took pictures because I want to remember the day that an African American took office. Did I vote for him? You will never know - I'm so elusive about this vote, can you even stand it? Vote for him or not - he is my President now and I stand with him, and stand with others who see this as a turning point in history that, as he said, 60 years ago his father couldn't even be served in a restaurant, and now he is taking the oath of office.

was just in the middle of a dream, she was kissin' Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream

I was by a stream . . . of water coming out of a big blue tank . . . but no one was with me . . . and I was awake. I kind of wish I had been dreaming, this had to have been one of the longest days in a long time. It took over and hour to drain each tank, and about another hour (a little less depending) to fill it back up. "Why?" you ask. Well in case of an emergency - of course! Worst part is I didn't get finished today. I still have one that hasn't completely drained, ergo, it needs to be filled tomorrow.

wants to be a paperback writer

Ben asked me to be a guest blogger (well he asked all his readers, and I volunteered and then he agreed) so today was my day - hence the status update. Anyway, I just posted that which has to be one of the most sappy posts I think I have ever written. I'm just going to leave it at that.

Just so we are up to date (because it matters in the space time continuum that we find ourselves trapped in) other status updates that I have not shared include:

• can't live on bologna sandwiches (as in the "hidden song" from Down Here that says, "Rock stars need money, they can't live on bologna sandwiches. Rock stars need money and it comes from you, and you, and you, and you . . . and you.")
• wonders if she had a hammer, would she hammer in the morning

My life has been pretty devoid of any news besides the weather and how cold it has been, so I have chosen not to talk about it. It is cold, I need to get over it. Back to the blogging thing I have an observation. Of my blog I think I may have 5 readers that regularly visit the site, or have me on a blog reader roll, or something. I may be generous by saying 5. Some may stumble upon it, say "oh that is nice that she has a blog" and never come back. I'm good with that. I'm good with all that. I think I may have had 3 good posts over the life of this blog, my personal favorite being one where I said that Darth Vader was my hero. Ben, on the other hand has many, many more readers. One, because he knows so many people, and two he is a hilarious writer. Blogging is one of those things that becomes kind of a community of people. He has 5 guest bloggers while he is out of town, and in turn those people get some traffic that they may not have originally had. He had another friend of mine write one yesterday. John did a great job, and because of that and my little link here he may get a bit more traffic. There are much larger blogs - say Dooce, that gets hundreds of thousands of people visiting every day (I think that is a conservative estimate), that have friends with the same number of visitors daily - and they guest blog for one another, and it just grows into something bigger and bigger. I think blogs mimic what happens in life. I have a friend, and then I meet their friends, and in the end it just grows bigger and bigger into our realms of influence. Well, that growth of influence is going on right now in my living room, and I have neglected it long enough. I had some things I needed to do (i.e. Ben's blog) and now that is done - so I am off to interact with the living.

Katie is like a heat wave . . . burning in my heart

What a day! I spent it huddled inside. I was out for about 20 minutes, but that is about all I could do. Other than that I would go out in short bursts of maybe 3 minutes each. The temperature gage on my truck read 0 when I went into work and 13 when I came home. Not going to be much better tomorrow. I have a few things still to do inside, and so I think that is where I will stay.

whatever you're doing inside of me, it feels like chaos but somehow there's peace

Wow, it is really cold outside. Tomorrow? Even colder. The day started off pretty fair, I think we were close to 38. It was good until about 10:43 and the wind kicked up and immediately the temperature started dropping, and all the leaves I was trying to pick up were blown about. I saved all my inside work for tomorrow in hopes to stay warm. I will be a frozen architect by about 8:15 while I ride on the Gator for the morning rituals . . . but hopefully the rest of the day will be spent in the balmy 59 degree shop.

is taking a quick break from songs to ask if anyone has an old ATT phone I can buy or have

It is just as it says. For awhile now we have been joking about the "strobe light function" my phone has. The screen blinks on and off. Now it is more of a "blank screen function". It is on for about 3 seconds then there is just a blank stare. There are a lot of options for a gal like me needing a phone - but many of them are expensive, some are out of the question, and others are just plain a headache. I don't really want to re up my plan for 2 year, but I might have to . . . unless you have an old ATT phone that will take a SIM card.

Katie made the sign of a teaspoon, he made the sign of a wave

Well here is my version of the weekend update:

1. Wall washing. Need I really say more about that. I had a great time washing walls and just thinking about the home and the people for whom I was washing the walls.

2. dAN's concert. What was once to be at Cicero's was moved to The Elvis Room at Blueberry Hill. What a great place to have a concert. It looked and smelled like a locker room - but it was awesome. I'm not sure if it is totally Kosher, but I took a few video's and took a few pictures. For music see his MySpace Page: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=76103867. If you get a chance to see him - just do it and don't ask questions. Anyway, a few pictures. My roommate Gina was one of the singers - so that was exciting to me to hear her belt it out with dAN.






3. I got to see some friends of mine that I hadn't been able to see in awhile. It was an incredible time playing a little Wii, and opening my last Christmas present of 2008 Christmas. Probably one of my favorite gifts - a sled. For those of you who don't know, I LOVE to sled and I hope for snow daily . . . even in July.

Katie was dancin' and singin' and movin' to the groovin'

Today was another full day. I don't have the time to go into it all right now - my bed is gently calling my name. I did get some of the pictures from dAN's concert touched up a bit and you can see them on the sidebar there on the right. He sure did play that funky music white boy. I will probably do a whole weekend wrap up tomorrow when I have more time to sit and think and write about it.

I was asked today (and yesterday) about some books that I have been reading - mostly concerning Carie (red in one afternoon) and The Grapes Of Wrath (still wading through it). Maybe I will have those insights later on in the week as well.

Off to bed, after folding laundry and sitting on my sled praying for some good snow.

Is Forever Young

No not Forever Young by Rod Stewart . . . although I might have a post about being sexy sooner or later. Anyway, it was a reference to this song:



Nice hair! The outfits were great as well. If you look for some of their other songs: Big In Japan is a must see - mostly for the video itself. It seems a little like The Wall for a bit of it, but then gets more into the regular 80's stuff we have all come to expect and love from that era. I especially love that he looks menacing and yet is inviting them to be forever young - "Look kids, you can look crazy just like me!"

Well, I had a big day today, not the least of which was going to see dAN Hartke in concert at Blueberry Hill. One of my roommates sang with him today as well. Pictures to come tomorrow. For now it is off to walk the dog one last time and try to finish The Grapes Of Wrath - it is taking me forever.

To Her Alma Mater, O...S...U

I don't really know why I chose this lyric today - maybe because of the football game that was totally lost by OU last night. I didn't watch the game, I was sleeping. I did see the first two touchdowns of the game (one each team).

I don't really have anything to say today. Maybe that is why I don't blog much - I rarely have anything to say. I see blogs that have purpose: they are informational about crafts, they have a theme, they are for profit, or they speak about certain topics that are important to them. My blog has no real purpose other than outlet. Well that is how it started. I don't know that I really need this outlet anymore. I mean, look at the web address - where is my couch. When I started this I needed a couch to sit on and talk about what was going on in my head that I couldn't get out. Many times . . . most of the time, my thought are a jumbled mess in my brain. I think at one point I compared it to a highway at rush hour. My Ginny once told my Dad, "Butch, you think too much." Well I got that from him. I think a lot. I don't know that my thoughts are ever really profound or anything, I just think and analyse things . . . sometimes for hours. So in an effort to empty out some of those thoughts I wrote here for anyone and everyone to read. Funny, now that I am working a manual labor job, I don't really get traffic jams like I use to. Sure I went to counseling for real, and that helped a TON. But nothing has really done it for me like this job. Maybe it is the lack of real responsibility. My main responsibility is to show up when I am suppose to and work my tail off the time I'm there. Not hard. Well I work hard, but you know what I mean. I think the working unclogs the jam. So all that to say, do I need this outlet? I keep it because it is here - that is really the only reason.

says, one and one and one is three.

Well today was totally different that yesterday - in the fact that there was nothing picture worthy today. We did hang the swings this afternoon, and maybe I should have taken a photo of that.

Anyway, today's lyric comes from a Beatles song: Come Together. Ben talked about mash ups today on his blog - and come to find out that is what I was going to talk about today. Today's lyric is also a part of one of my favorite DJ Earworm mash up: Together As One. He has been doing these for awhile now and has them available for download on his site . . . for free. I haven't been back to his site in many months, and when I visited this afternoon he had released a plethora of new music! Very exciting!



Sorry if this post seems a little disjointed - maybe it is just how I write. But today I am trying to multi-task while writing. Downloading the new DJ Earworm stuff, writing the blog, going to get links to incorporate to the blog, and listening to pieces of the songs I am downloading.

Anyway the songs in the video are:
U2 - One
Beatles -Come Together
Diana Ross - Someday We’ll be Together
Mariah Carey - We Belong Together

Is Young, Heartache to Heartache She Stands. No Promises, No Demands.

A pretty chill day for me, not much to report. Should be noted that the status updates are song lyrics or titles (hmmm, bet you didn't figure that one out), but that they are not necessarily pertinent to my day. I try to make it fit my day, but that takes way too much brain power and I would rather spend my lunch break reading than trying to find a song lyric that matches my day. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose - it is like gamble chocolates. If you don't know about gamble chocolates, go watch some Jim Gaffigan and I am sure you will come across that joke (I think it might be mixed in with holidays or maybe his Halloween bit).

OK, so I lied there is A LOT to report tonight:

1. Finished the fixing and painting of my three benches/porch swings. I have one more tweak job to do on one of the swings, but it will be a piece of cake.
2. I was inches away from grabbing my camera today to take it to work. I keep telling myself that I should because that will prompt me to take more pictures. One of my goals for 2009 is "more pictures", hence my Flickr account. Well I didn't take it, and about 10 things happened today that I wanted pictures of, and that was just at work. Log splitting, and appliance demolition just to name two things that would have been great to have photos of. Especially if someone had taken a photo of me doing some demo - because I was told that I reminded them of Sigourney Weaver in Aliens. I always did want to shave my head.
3. And, saving the best for last, we went to see Isaac tonight. He is only the cutest baby ever! I just wanted to sit on the couch and watch him, and watch his parents interact with him. It was incredible.

So anyway, as you can see my song lyric really has nothing to do with my day - but it was a fun day. Doesn't look like it will be as fun tomorrow. Doing some transplanting and not getting to go see a color-coordinated-blue-steel baby.

wears her sunglasses at night

so, technically it was morning - but it was still dark. spent the early morning putting out a bit of salt. have to tell you, it wasn't a lot of ice but it was EVERYWHERE. I haven't heard that many wrecks reported on the radio in a long time. people just weren't paying attention to what they were doing. you can't go 70 on ice, no matter how thin the film is, it is still ice.

spent the rest of the day painting - wooo doggy! i think this afternoon calls for a little art work, a long shower, a bit of reading, and a heating pad for my back. oh, and a tub of lotion for my completely cracked hands - that potassium chloride really sucks out all that moisture.

is just dust in the wind

all i can really say about that status is that i feel like i am just being blown around. that sounds really dramatic, but i don't know how else to say it exactly. i follow directions from many different people - that is all i am saying - it isn't dramatic. so therefore i am dust in the wind going where? i'm not sure. also, still in the beginnings of the grapes of wrath, so there is a lot of talk about dust and dirt, and (in the last chapter i just read) Jesus and sin.

one of the reasons i feel like dust - when did i become a painter? last i recall i was a landscape architect parading around as a landscape contractor. but by the looks of my shoes, the work i did today, and the work i have been doing for the last 3 weeks - i'm a painter now?

oh and thanks to ben for pointing out my grammatical errors on my last post. due to the fact that i generally like to leave stuff alone to keep people on their toes - it will stay as is. and go check out his site, he usually (ok always) has something awesome to talk about - and click on some of his adds. while you are at it - click on one of mine.

stepped into a church she passed along the way

another facebook status, but dropping the morgan. i think i like that better, without the morgan.


well i did step into a church today, but i didn't just randomly pass it - it's where i go, its what i do. i'm not typically a knee prayer though, maybe i should start. we got a new music pastor today, we voted this afternoon. well they voted and i watched. they strike me as a wonderful family, and a great addition to the team and our church body. i think the fact that they are coming is great. we have been in need for about two years - the search started in january of 2007. i do feel sad for them though - moving away from such close connections they have to come to a place so new and different. let's face it st. louis is different.


i have been doing a lot of reading and a bit of writing over the last couple of day. emphasis on a bit when it comes to the writing part. i am in the middle of carrie right now, by stephen king. it is very interesting. i like the way king describes things and the way he weaves a story - "its a gift my friend, don't hid that in a bushel basket" (jim gaffigan). i just keep thinking about high school and how hard it was, is, and can be for people. my favorite part about the book is the way the word popular is spelled with a capitol "p", like it is a proper name. i think in high school i would say our popular group had a capitol "p" as well. though in my mind there was popular and then there was the even better - "high" popular. i was in neither group. i had many friends - some of them even in the popular and "high" popular groups, but i wasn't a capitol p. anyway, after that i will finish reading the grapes of wrath by steinbeck. i started it last night and have already been captured by the way he describes dust. DUST, there i said it. the man knows how to make you feel the dust.

Morgan Is Climbing Up On Solsbury Hill

Let's see, what to talk about today? How about death? Now everyone is comfortable, right?

Honestly, this isn't going to be a heavy entry even due to the topic. None of them really have been lately anyway. But the reasoning behind the idea of death is the fact that my old dog Rags is getting put to sleep today - in about an hour. I'm not terribly upset at this point, I know that it won't really hit me until I go home again and he isn't around. The same thing happened with my cat a few years back. I'm more upset for my mom and the fact that she is doing this alone. Has always done this alone with no backup.

We called Rags "The Old Man" because that is exactly how he acted. Like one of those grouchy old men that sit on their porch and yell at the kids who are playing stick ball on the street. The same old man who yells at the paper boy for throwing his paper in the bushes, or yells at a door to door sales man just for looking at his house. That "Old Man." The thing is most of those old men have a soft spot . . . somewhere. Many days it takes a long time to find Rags' soft spot, but its there.

Anyway, Solsbury Hill. Whenever I hear this song I think of The Shining. I know you are asking yourself, "why in the world would a song like that remind her of The Shining?" Well I will tell you, or actually I will show you. I'm sure I have posted this here before, but it bears repeating - because it IS AWESOME! The soundtrack makes all the difference.

Morgan Wants Her MTV

Yep, another Facebook status report. Are you seeing a pattern yet?

Up, breakfasted, showered, and dressed before Noon! A vacation record I think. Spent the day yesterday deep cleaning and re-arranging my room. A task that should have only taken 2 hours that I managed to stretch out for about 7. Overall I am pleased with the floor space being all in one spot instead of chopped up all around the room. Makes getting around in there a lot easier. I was going to paint, but at the last minute decided that it was fine how it was . . . for now.

I am now at the half way mark on my year hiatus of TV and movies. So far so good. I find though that anytime the TV is on in the house and someone is watching I will stop for a few minutes and watch ANYTHING. I have also noticed I can't take it for very long. About a week ago I had to watch the weather for work. I had to turn the TV down really low because all the visuals, noise, and blameless consumerism of the commercials had me a little shell shocked. I guess my plan of watching the new Batman right out of the box might be a bad idea considering a little weather is a bit much for all of my senses. I wonder if it will be like introducing an animal back into the wild?

Anyway - enjoy the day and this video:

Morgan Partied Like It Was 1999

That was the status update I had this morning on Facebook - so I thought I would carry it over to here. Explanation - 1999 I rang in the New Year by watching movies. While I did not duplicate that aspect of 1999, I duplicated the act of sitting around and not doing much of significance: reading, playing with my dog and a camera, and you can't forget the incredible experience of finger print animals.

Goodbye 2008, half of your year was terrible, half was great (in that order). Of course I don't blame that on you 2008, I blame that on my age seeing as how the even numbered ages are not all that stellar, and are usually pretty difficult.

(see more pictures at my new Flicker account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarcasticandsingle/)