<img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

JJ, I can't tell more about him right now, because like you I can't catch my breath.

I will say he is WONDERFUL, and I am meeting him halfway tomorrow.

And he actually said to me (he calls three times a day atleast) "why don't you let me worry about the money".

He's bald as a bowling ball, and looks like Bruce Willis, and talks like someone from my past...like when I was a kid and hung out with the nice, funny, wholesome and NORMAL guys.

I wish I were poetic, I'd tell you some things about the way I feel inside, but instead I'll just post the lyrics -

Peter Gabriel

Accepting all I’ve done and said
I want to stand and stare again
Til there’s nothing left out, oh
It remains there in your eyes
Whatever comes and goes
I will hear your silent call
I will touch this tender wall
Til I know I’m home again
Ooh

In your eyes (in your eyes)
In your eyes (in your eyes)
In your eyes (in your eyes)
In your eyes

Love I get so lost, sometimes
Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
When I want to run away
I drive off in my car
But whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are

And all my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway (in your eyes) to a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution (in your eyes) of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
The heat I see in your eyes

In your eyes
In your eyes

Love, I don’t like to see so much pain
So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive

And all my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway (in your eyes) to a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution (in your eyes) of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
The heat I see in your eyes

In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes

Accepting all I’ve done and said
I want to stand and stare again
Til there’s nothing left out, oh
It remains there in your eyes
Whatever comes and goes
Oh it’s in your eyes

In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes

I want to stand and stare again
Oh, it’s in your eyes.

I'm sorry I forgot to say hi to everyone else.

Hi!!!!!

J,
Thanks for checking in, I was wondering.

Plans yet?

C'm on, we are dying to know what's happening.


Weaver,
It's so good to see you happy.

SLH,
Lets talk about that bitterness one of these days. It can be erased over time, I would so like to see it blow away in the wind. Your family is so beautiful, and life can be so good.

How about YOUR weekend?


Binder,
No man is an island. You got friends.


Gray,
Wish you were coming too. Have a good weekend, and you can just say no.

Time's gone. W waiting for date. Her turn, lets see what she's come up with.


SS

I called the owner toward the end of the work day. She'd booked someone else, which was fine with me.

J, weaver, good good.

GC

I' glad you got out of it Gray.

I was just making a Creed CD for myself and downloaded this song "Faceless Man", and OMG I just love this song.

2long if you are around listen to this song sometime, you'll like it.

I just want to say that I am so very happy and it has so much to do with what I have come to know as being reality, and I don't want to sound too cheesy, but I am so in love with life now... and I know without a shadow of a doubt it is because I finally found the road home. I mean I finally found what it means to look at the world through the eyes of God, with innocence and love...complete and without guilt, fear or blame.

And it's like nothing I can explain, and it has little to do with DW (new guy) or Paige being home...or anything else other than the fact that I finally get it.

Okay 2long, you listening guy?

CREED LYRICS

"Faceless Man"

I spent a day by the river
It was quiet and the wind stood still
I spent some time with nature
To remind me of all that's real
It's funny how silence speaks sometimes when you're alone
And remember that you feel
I said it's funny how silence speaks sometimes when you're alone
And remember that you feel
Again I stand, Lord I stand,
against the Faceless Man
Again I stand, Lord I stand,
against the Faceless Man

Now I saw a face on the water
It looked humble but willing to fight
I saw the will of a warrior
His yoke is easy and His burden is light

He looked me right in the eyes
Direct and concise to remind me
To always do what's right
He looked me right in the eyes
Direct and concise to remind me
To always do what's right

Again I stand. Lord I stand,
against the Faceless Man
Again I stand. Lord, God I stand,
against the Faceless Man

'Cause if the face inside can't see the light
I know I'll have to walk alone
And if I walk alone to the other side
I know I might not make it home

Again I stand, Lord I stand,
against the Faceless Man
Again I stand, Lord I stand,
against the Faceless Man

Next time I see this face
I'll say I choose to live for always
So won't you come inside And never go away
Next time I see this face
I'll say I choose to live for always
So won't you come inside And never go away

Again I stand, Lord I stand,
against the Faceless Man
Again I stand, Lord I stand,
against the Faceless Man
Again I stand, Lord I stand,
against the Faceless Man

I called the owner toward the end of the work day. She'd booked someone else, which was fine with me.

Now GC -- what will you be doing that time, instead, hmmmm? Not all raking I hope!

Weaver, you sound so happy. It makes my heart sing.

I love that Peter Gabriel song; always have.

[color:"red"] I want to touch the light
The heat
I see in your eyes [/color]

SS, hope you have a great evening and weekend. Can't wait for that update!

My weekend was mentioned in a post above. Taking DD10 to a seminar on Saturday and hopefully spending some time with my boy Sunday afternoon. A lot of inconsequentials in between.

Any good reading you can recommend on my bitterness / resentment problem? I've bent my back to the shape of it for so long I am afraid to stand up. And I'm the last person I once would have imagined to feel this way.

JJ, still so happy for you. How is your DD? Any new pics?

Binder, thinking of you and hoping you are well.


slh

Thank you SLH. I need to get off this ole computer, but saw you on and wanted to say "hey" first.

I envy you all your skills SLH, you are so very talented, and I hope you know that. It is such a wonderful thing to be as creative and talented as you are. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I musta missed you, Weaver -- just got back on -- but wanted to say thank you, girl.

You's knows I love you.


slh

Pictures. Sure, I've got a few to upload. I'll just do that now..... okay. Let's see here.

There this one of DD and me in the maze at Burger King (HoFS is the photographer):

Trapped at Burger King

And there's this one of DD wearing my work shoes:

Work Shoes

And here's a picture of roses that HoFS sent me at my birthday:

Roses

I love In Your Eyes, and I actually posted the lyrics to the song about an hour before reading them here. (I posted them over on the SYMC Sanctuary board, not on MB.)

Ahh, SS, plans.

We have lots of plans, actually.

Next weekend HoFS comes to visit me. We'll go to services on Friday evening and then spend the rest of the weekend hiding from the world.

Thanksgiving I go to his place. Cornish game hens are on the menu.

In December, he comes to my part of the world and we go to the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concert.

We'll try to see each other for New Year's as well, and then in January. No specific plans for those yet. Penny (Cerri) is planning a party in February and we're going to try to make it to that.

I have a sense that might not be the plans you meant. And at the same time, well, it's a lot of plans to have made! It's a real challenge, figuring out how to spend time together when you're three hours and $158 away from each other by plane, or 6 1/2 hours and quite a few dollars away from each other by car.

If you read over on SYMC, you also know that P asked us some really tough questions on the interview thread and then also suggested that we think about handfasting on another thread. We both twitch about stuff like that. Approach with caution... there are many complex nuances and currents in our world.

I still aspire to have a marriage like yours, though, SS. Penny says that a stepfamily is as different from a first marriage as male is from female, and I'm sure she's right. I don't have any good role models for fantastic stepfamilies, though, so I'm still rooting for a marriage and family like yours.

And that, in a nutshell, is my world. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Handfasting -- you mean the Celtic version? How do you feel about that, J?

It sounds wildly romantic, twitching and such aside. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for sharing your pics, J. Your daughter is growing so quickly! You can really see the difference from last summer. She is becoming so beautiful.

And what is it with kids & their parents' shoes? My kids would try to break their necks wearing my heels and their fathers' work boots, LOL. My 3 & 5 year olds still drag my shoes everywhere. In fact, I need to locate a complete set here now before church and I am still sitting here typing so I had better run!

Love to you all,

slh

How do I feel about it? Hum.

I'm not sure, actually. There are two competing feelings. One is the "golly, I am SO in love with him!" feeling. The other is the "oh my god what is HAPPENING here???" feeling.

And now that I'm reading about handfasting on a few sites, err, well, gee. A lot of it sounds an awful lot like a marriage.

'Scuse me while I run screaming into the night for a little while now.

Ahem.

Eek.

This weekend Jayne and the Giraffe picked up a lost dog on the street. A tiny, elderly poodle. We took care of him for two days. He slept at the foot of my bed. He sleeps flat on his back!

Detective work over the weekend was not successful. Finally today everything came together. The dog is 14. The owner is very pleased.

GC

I like Jayne and Giraffe already! What a lovely outcome to a good deed.

Aaaaawww. You're right, Faithful. They sound like such neat people.

GC, I've often wondered if you'd enjoy a dog. Would you have time for one?

J, for all purposes, I think that handfasting is akin to marriage in every way. . . except that after that year period, neither parties are obligated to stay. Hmmmm. . . still hiding in the forest, are you? <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

FF, I found a bunch of pics on my computer today that made me think of you. Have you ever considered hippotherapy for DD? I was truly amazed at the flexability and improvement in concentration that some of our kids had after a few sessions of riding.

(Those pics are from about 8 years ago -- sorry for the lousy quality.)

I'm not prying or being nosy, am I? Please tell me if so! Love you.

slh

I thought I'd post one of fishies I breed for you all to scoff at -- but you'd be surprised what one of these can go for when you breed them just right. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

HalfMoon Betta

And another, not mine but like a few I have:

Crowntail Betta

While sharing these totally boring snippets from my life, I'm really trying to avoid being too productive today. . . can you tell? <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />


slh

SLH, those fish are gorgeous! Yes, we have considered hippo therapy for W but right now time is a consideration for me. Still want to work it in somehow though.

SLH, I wanted to get a dog last summer. Got to know a breeder. Took one of her dogs for the weekend once, and wanted to keep it. But I was having enough trouble taking care of myself and figured I wouldn't be much good.

I called the breeder and told her to let the people who were next on the list have the dog. She said she was relieved. She'd have given the pup to me. But she'd talked about me with her counselor (!), who recommended against it, told her "That guy probably couldn't take care of a hamster right now."

I'll think about it again when Jayne moves out. I don't expect him to stay a real long time, 'cause he and his girl are probably getting hitched.

Tonight I made my return to the swimming pool. Took the summer off so I'd have more time to work on the house. Did better than expected tonight.

I'm closing on the house next week. My closer left a message today saying sparrow will have to be at the closing. Haw! Fat chance.

Heard from car4love the other day. She was real sad. Tinman bugs her all the time about trivial things related to the kids. Makes constant demands, constantly fiddles with the schedule, brings my ex with him when he drops off the children. And nag, nag, nag. He seems to think being an a-hole makes him strong. Poor blind boy.

Miss car4love sure is tired of being their villain.

Well, gotta hit it. It's a little boring without that ancient poodle around, but man it smells better.

GC

Yes, we have considered hippo therapy for W but right now time is a consideration for me. Still want to work it in somehow though.

FF, does your local program offer weekends and evenings? We used to offer it every day at every time but Sundays. Plus, siblings could also ride, which many enjoyed.

I sure miss it. There aren't any hippo programs for miles and miles of here. The last one we had near here decided it would be more financially feasible to turn the riding program into a convention center parking lot. Argh.

Dyed my hair last night. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> French Roast, which is basically a rich dark chocolate brown with auburn tints to it . . something to usher in the fall. I like it a lot. That dark, dark color it used to be was getting old (see above pics to FF, bottom right). Too dark and somber, not vibrant enough. Now it glows.

Gray, what kind of doggie were you thinking of getting? I'm kinda surprised the breeder said what she did. Many times, caring for something else is what we need to drag us out of the doldrums. Not always, but most times.

Having said that, though, I've found that's not always the case for me.

slh

Hiding in the forest has taken on a whole new meaning in the last 48 hours; all my SYMC threads have been moved to an undisclosed location for undisclosed reasons until such time as we can determine what to do about an undisclosed situation.

See?

*sigh*

Ouch.

Eeeooow.


What's going on, J?