I only have seven followers of my blog...and one of those people is on there two times, just under different names. That doesn't bother me, I don't do this for the world to read, mostly just for me. However, it has now come to my attention that I have some "creepers" out there...people who regularly read my blog, but aren't listed as followers. I know of at least 4...but one of them I really can't consider a creeper since I read her blog regularly and am not a follower on hers either. The other three however...you know who you are...creepers. :)
March 29, 2010
I raised my children to believe in God. I took them to church, Sunday School and confirmation. They know God exists and they do believe. However, as they have grown and aged they have started to form their own opinions on God. I cannot stop them, nor do I want to. They may profess that God does not exist because they cannot see Him or they may say that there is no heaven. But, deep down, they still believe and they still trust in God. I know that and they know that...whether or not they admit it openly is their choice.
I was eligible for a phone upgrade on our cell account so I decided to splurge and get a BlackBerry. I really shouldn't say splurge because the phone was free after my mail-in rebate, but I feel like I have really stepped up in technology with this phone...or actually hand-held computer. I can text, take photos, email, keep track of all my appointments (and Kayla's), surf the web and many more things that I probably have no idea of yet!
We had internet on the account for Brian's old phone (he had a fancy one with internet but wanted to exchange it for a simple one that just makes calls and texts...mostly because he wanted a smaller, lighter phone so when he had it in his pocket it would't pull his pants down!) and for an extra $5 a month we could change that to unlimited internet so I decided to go for it. I did some other plan changes like less minutes because no one actually uses the phone to talk...it is all texting (except for Dan of course)! So in the end we ended up paying less a month to add the BlackBerry with unlimited internet than we were paying before...gotta love that!
On the calendar on the phone I put in all the appointments and things I need to be reminded to do. For example...for several days Kayla's lunch account at school had been in the negative and I would think of it when I was at work, but of course forget to write a check when I was home. So I put a reminder in my phone and an alarm went off at 6:00 last night so today her account has money in it again! Everytime something comes up on the calendar an alarm "dings" at me 15 minutes before it is time so that I am reminded. Today is a crazy alarm day because Kayla gets out of school early, then she has an chiropractor appointment and band lesson and I have parent-teacher conferences tonight. So four times I am being reminded today!
I get my emails on the phone, I get my Facebook and Twitter updates on the phone and can make my own updates for Facebook and Twitter on the phone. I can send emails...in fact last night I put all my email addresses in the phone so I would be prepared!
I know it is silly to have so much reliance on a phone and silly to have so much fun with it. I also know I got along just fine without it...wasn't that many years ago I got along fine without a cell phone of any kind! But it is fun, and helpful...so I am loving it and it is all good! :)
About 13-14 years ago Kayla started to talk, to me anyway. Back then she was so shy she wouldn't even talk to her dad...other than to say "cracker please" whenever he was eating crackers. As she got older she got better, but was still shy. When she got into high school she was a lot less shy, but still didn't talk a lot to people other than her friends. Then, this year, she is the only Josephson at school. No more Brian or Becky to talk for her. She is no longer the shy little girl she once was! Yesterday, for example, she went to a show choir competition and happened to see a boy that she had sat next to at All-State band this year. She walked right up to him and started talking to him, reminding him where they had met first of course! That was so unlike Kayla just a few years ago! Even back when she was going to the Garton's after school with Brian and Becky, before I would get home from work, she would barely talk to Denine...and not at all to Jim. Now she talks to them like they are old friends, like she was never shy. She talks to anyone who talks to her and approaches people freely, she stands up in front of strangers and does speech, she does solos in band, you would never know she is the same little girl who hid her face everytime someone talked to her. I must admit, I never thought that day would come, but I am very proud of her!
She said "How do you want to spend the rest of your life?"
He said "Married to you"
Twenty-two years later, and counting, we are working on the rest of our lives.
The paperwork you have to fill out for college financial aid is insane! I filled out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) in January, that is 10 pages per kid. Then I had to fill out 3 pages for Brian to verify what I had told KU on the FAFSA. Of course that was followed by a letter from USD for Becky that I needed to do the same thing for her. Then yesterday I got a letter from KU that I needed to fill out 6 more pages for Brian to verify what I had verified! I swear these colleges would have more money for financial aid if they just put all their forms online and allowed them to be filled out that way...think of the money they could save in paper and postage!
Bunch of rambling...
1. This is the first day in WEEKS that the sun is shining. Plus it is warm outside and a lot of the snow in our yard has melted...yippee! On the way to work there is a stretch of road where the river runs under and beside it and holy smokes is it out of its banks! When I went to work this morning the water was about a foot below the road...on the way home tonight it was about 3 inches below the road! I am wondering how long before it is over the road and I have to find an alternate route to work.
2. Brian is home for spring break for a week. He is going stir-crazy! He is so used to having something constantly going on at KU that sitting at home is really boring. Today he has been helping Dan work outside since it was such a nice day and he will do the same tomorrow, but Friday and through the weekend it is supposed to be nasty so he will be bouncing off the walls again. It is funny...Becky was home last week for spring break and spent most of her time sitting around, messing on the computer, just being lazy. Brian can't sit still.
3. Albert City was on the front page of the Times 3 times today! Once for some people who videotaped people in their tanning salon as they got undressed. Once for a man that was killed in a farm accident. Once for a non-denominational minister in AC who married two men. Three times and not a good one in the bunch!
4. Becky has 7 weeks until she is done with college. Hard to believe it has already been a year of college for her!
5. We have a calendar on the fridge that is one of those erasable ones that you write on with a marker. When I filled it out for March I literally had something to write on every single day of the month! Between Kayla's school things, Dan's schedule for loading or unloading pigs, birthdays, anniversaries, doctor appointments, physical therapy appointments, and band lessons it is a busy month!
6. Thursday night is my favorite night of the week...simply because CSI is on! I don't really watch much in the evenings just because there is nothing good on, but I make sure supper is done and the dishes are washed by 8:00 on Thursday!
7. I just finished two really good books, one by Jackie Collins called "Poor Little Bitch Girl" and one by Jodi Picoult called "House Rules". I have read every single book both of these women have written...they are excellent authors.
8. I have to write this last thing as number 8 because otherwise I would end at 7 and I don't like odd numbers. :)
I decided it was time for a new look for my blog...what do you think? The only problem I have with it is that it tells the time I published things, not the date. I am going to work on figuring that one out later though. Now that my blog is "springy" do you think the weather will follow?
Dan has settled into a life of senility...actually it is more forgetfullness, but that is not as much fun to tease him about :) Yesterday he came home wearing a pair of black shoes. He took them off and changed clothes, then wanted to put them back on. Couldn't find them. The same thing happened with his cell phone...he had it when he came home but couldn't find it 20 minutes later. Today he couldn't find his reading glasses...which he had just last night before he went to bed. Our house isn't big enough to really lose things so apparently we have a ghost living amongst us. A ghost who likes to hide things...or maybe it is a gremlin! The phone did show up, but we have yet to find his shoes or reading glasses...what will he lose next?
Sitting home alone for 4 days gets old..fast! Daytime television is rotten, after awhile the computer gets boring and there is no one home during the day to talk to. So in order to entertain myself I took out a skein of yarn I found and started crocheting again. It has been years since I did that, so I had to look up on the internet to refresh my mind on how to do it. I have now started an afghan of multi colors...pink, blue, turquoise, yellow and green. One yarn is variegated all those colors and then the other yarns are one of each color. I am doing a ripple pattern, and it won't be very big...but big enough for a lap blanket. Becky emailed the other day that she is teaching herself to knit so that made me think I should start to crochet again. I am having fun with it, and when Becky comes home for spring break she is going to teach me