Alright. I am gearing up and planning. Some important things, like planning piano lesson stuff, and some less important things… such as formulating a list of books I want or need to read. I should be practicing the piano, but my fingers haven’t been working lately, as evidenced by my destruction of offertory two weeks ago.
Two factors are stopping this from being a long blog. First of all, I just worked out, and think I pulled a muscle…. Or several muscles. Therefore, I am quite tired. The second thing is the fact that I heard a sermon this week on pride, and he brought out how elements of technology such as facebook and blogs do nothing but provide a platform for pride and self glorification. After that, I can’t write one of my weird narratives.
So I give you this. It’s what I needed to hear tonight as well.

His grace is enough for me.
In my weakness, His power is made complete.
When I find my strength is gone, He’s the rock I rest upon.
His grace is enough for me.
… So when trials overwhelm me, and I cannot carry on,
I know that when I’m weak, then He is strong.
His grace is enough for me.

I do beg your pardon for the amount of time elapsed since I last blogged. I really have very little in the way of excuses, except for one: the computer didn’t work. If the word “malware” means anything to you, I hope you understand and feel my pain. After multiple friends made efforts to help extract the dratted thing, a friend of a friend finally fixed it… Not only did he clear five viruses, he also reinstalled the system to be running at full capacity—something about 64 bit rather than the previous 32 bit. Anyway. When I went to blog the other day, I was shocked to find that Live Writer was no longer installed on the laptop…. Enter gaping mouth and vacant expression, followed by many attempts to track down and reinstall the binary file. After this, of course, come the windows popping up and saying things like “First, you must install this program” and “Do you have service pack 2 installed?” Somehow or another I managed all the application juggling, and, as you see, have retrieved Live Writer and am utilizing it to the best of my ability. It is entirely out of the question to consider going back to blogging within the browser again. Much too inconvenient. Too many times, I’ve finished several shining paragraphs of monologue, only to accidentally click some button and see the words “We’re sorry, something went wrong” appear.
Anyway. I am taking a short-ish sabbatical from the internet and blogging. By “short-ish”, what I mean is “hopefully two weeks.” If you need me, please call my cell phone.
*disclaimer* the sabbatical may last longer than two weeks. If that is so, then you may safely assume that I have done one or more of the following:
1. Moved into a cabin in the woods somewhere by myself. (this is the most hopeful scenario in my opinion)
2. Deleted my blog (this is the least likely)
3. Been kidnapped by pirates and held for ransom on a lonesome island. (perhaps unlikely… but very good novel research.)
4. Run out of creativity. (that’s one of the current issues)
5. Been too busy to make time. (less likely, but still an option)
See ya in two weeks. Maybe.

I am not attempting creativity. Nor am I endeavoring to provide entertainment. Neither of those have ever been my forte, so I am relinquishing all efforts to produce either. (And yes, I do recognize the grammatical and semantic problems in that sentence, but I have no intention of fixing it) This is one of my inordinately boring posts, in which I ramble, and as a rule make very little sense. Since this has been my consistent pattern, I simply can’t break from it.
I have just been introduced to the glories of google reader, and have quite mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I love how convenient it is. All the people I want to follow, right there at my fingertips. No extra typing, or anything… simply a click away. On the other hand, I hate that I am missing the beautiful blog templates, designs, and music that go with the blogs. They are gone on google reader’s format. It’s quite sad. Therefore, I am inspired to redo my blog, and that is what I am doing after I finish writing this one. I fully plan on revamping my music playlist with all kinds of wonderful rainy day songs. Yes, I realize that it might not be raining when I finish, but since it is Washington, the chances of it raining again soon, and thus re-validating my playlist, are very good.
Feet up, hair down, tea steeping, rain pouring, talking to friends…. I like this day. A lot.
I have something on my mind that will, doubtless, create enemies for me. Two words: Christmas music. Interesting thing about it, it’s supposed to be played at Christmas. Odd, I know. So then, the question remains… Why on EARTH must everyone play and sing it weeks before thanksgiving?? No, friends, I am not a hater, nor a scroogette… (Yes, I had someone call me that yesterday. It’s FALSE!)  I love listening to Christmas music, for days and days…. at CHRISTMAS. I am simply an advocate of keeping Christmas music special, and reserved for December. In fact, I fully intend on Christmas-ifying my blog on December 1. Hmm, which, I think is rachel’s birthday. Good thing I remembered… now I need to buy her a present.
However, despite my feelings about premature Christmas music, I can see that the joy of the holidays is on the way. In fact, one aspect of those joys just came in the mail… the Harney and Sons Christmas catalogue. Having been idly perusing it for the last hour (if poring over and reading every word can be considered ‘perusing’) I have come to the conclusion that bankruptcy will soon overtake me. And even worse, I’m looking forward to it. What better way to go, than to be thrilled to send my money to people who will send me brightly colored, creatively designed packages of liquid goodness and Christmas presents in return?
Speaking of bankruptcy… Last weekend found me tromping around ikea, along with the dear sweet niece and nephew, my favorite sister, my favorite sister-in-law, and my favorite sister-in-law’s sister. To put it simply, Rachel, Meghann, and Holly. Several Hoeglunds made an appearance as well, and I ended up spending much more money than I planned. Thank goodness for checkbooks. Friday night, we had a ‘girls evening’ of sorts. As you know, a girls evening absolutely must include chocolate chip mint ice cream, vanilla ice cream, and three varieties of sparkling cider, as well as copious amounts of peanut butter M+M’s. Needless to say, I did some serious working out on Saturday. Which of course, since I desperately need new boxing gloves, meant that my hands were sore and messed up on Sunday, and I destroyed my piano music. Lesson learned? Don’t work out, it’s not worth it.
Have a lovely evening, boys and girls. I mean, ladies and, and wots-its. (My deepest apologies if the Jeeves and Wooster reference is lost on you)

My groove has come back and snatched me! Either that or I am back to being stuck in a rut…. But who is concerned with pedantic obscurities anyway? I am in an oddly happy content mood, which, if I were to be honest, may be called caffeine-induced. Today is a conglomeration of random facts, so please bear with me…
Fact 1: Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha is wonderful. I have had three in the last two days, and highly recommend it to anyone who dares.  At first it’s a bit odd to the taste, because of the dash of salt… However, I am convinced that if you try it (and you must try more than one sip) you will be as hooked as I am. Even the smell of it makes me happy. On a side note, my jury is still out on this year’s starbucks Christmas cup. I am convinced that it is hard to beat the one I have pictured here… --------------------------->>>>>


Fact 2: Job chapter 38 is excellent. A group I meet with is going through a book called Questioning Evangelism, and the latest chapter mentioned that particular section of scripture. I am slightly ashamed to say that I waited until about 1/2 an hour ago to actually read it. Dozens of God’s mighty acts are brought up, and if you read it slowly and think about it, it’s quite powerful. It’s a series of questions addressed to Job, meant to display God’s omnipotence.

25 “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt,
26 to bring rain on a land where no man is,
on the desert in which there is no man,
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground sprout with grass?

34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts    
or given understanding to the mind?

Fact 3: I would be greatly indebted to anyone who knows how to get my pictures off my phone and on to my computer…..

Fact 4: Skype is fantastic. There is something fun about having a two year old say “Me see you emi!!” through a screen… then ask you to help him open his fruit snack. Through the computer. 

Fact 5: I am once again looking for a job. While yes, I do love not having one, I also need money. And a vehicle. And insurance. I would also appreciate prayer for a job that, naively, I would enjoy. In the minds of millions of americans, the word “job” conjures up images of drudgery and daily frustrations that come home with you. With stars in my eyes, I look to my future and vainly believe that I can find a job I enjoy. Ridiculous of me perhaps, but prayer would be appreciate nonetheless.

Fact 6: I started this particular blog a week ago. Shame is my companion as I post it this late, but I will nonetheless. I would have liked to add more, but as my reader base has significantly dwindled, almost as much as my creativity, I’ll post it now and hope for the best.

Have a lovely Wednesday, friends. Actually I’m not sure if today is Wednesday. If not, then enjoy whatever day you read this on.

Software. And its many hazards.

Once again, I find myself anxiously battling my computer. Well, not my computer. MY computer is always placid, docile, and overall endearing. Sometimes slow, but never stubborn and headstrong. So, technically, I am battling my mother’s computer. Even less fun. I am currently entangled in various software installations, most of which are not working. I would like to think that if I shake it or throw it very hard, it will immediately recognize me as boss, and stop this obstinate disagreeableness.
After trying multiple times to install Windows Live Messenger onto my poor abused, over used hard drive, I feel as if I am drowning in foreign terms, such as: .DLL files. Nvidia Network Access Manager. Malwares. Platform Manager. Clean Install. Plain Vanilla Version. BHOCITUS.DLL. Third Party Extensions.
I know what they all mean, but when I’ve seen them all so close together, it’s somewhat daunting.
Currently, I am experimenting with Windows Live Writer. We shall see if this blog post is really any easier to post, or any better looking than the other ones…
In the meantime, some pictures to experiment with…