~upon what we like to do for fun~

     Yesterday at school, "the 22" and I shared things in conversation as to what we liked to do for fun.  Not to my surprise, I had a nice little mixture going there sitting in front of me made up of tree climbers, LEGO builders, readers and drawers, kids who liked to play with their friends and those who like to spend time with their pets.  And then there was this kid who was the last one to tell the others, a short girl wearing glasses who said she loved writing in a diary.  An online diary.  A thing that they nowadays  refer to as a "blog".  The kids looked at her with strange expressions on their faces, not really understanding what she was talking about.  Some day soon I will write a story just for them.  Perhaps it shall help them to better understand.

     As it turns out I have grown to love blogging, figuring the time spent writing out my thoughts beats doing a lot of other things that are not near as beneficial for me.  Time spent writing is pretty much time well spent.  Usually my blog posts take about an hour to write, give or take a minute or two.  I write what is in my heart and on my mind, then go back to edit my work for all the many mistakes I make (more than I care to admit to) and then hit the "publish" button for better or worse.  Sometimes an hour or two later, I will be rereading one that I have just completed and posted online and find a dreadful error or two and find myself cringing as I read what I have actually typed.  

     Like Sunday for example, when I was talking about Norm Horn's journey thus far and remarked that he was entering the state of Indiana, "the land of Lincoln".  Panic came upon me and I thought "How in the world did I write THAT?"  Talk about confusion.  I couldn't get to the computer editing program fast enough to take care of that little problem.  It wasn't as if I had used the wrong kind of "through" or anything. I'd completely displaced/misplaced/replaced an entire state's worth of its citizenry.  So to those good folks who normally call themselves the state of Illinois, I really do know that Honest Abe is yours for the ages.  I just type too fast.

     Speaking of fast, it seems that is the operative word for life these days as the time refuses to slow down.  Not for a minute.  Not for anyone.  School moves on a rapid pace and those dear 22 little ones are on my mind a lot, even when I come home at night.  I have very little time, in the whole scheme of things, to accomplish that which is set before me.  I pray to make the difference that is needed for them in this part of their world.  As I sit here this morning at home and drink cup of coffee #2, the clock on the microwave tells me that in 3 hours exactly we will be back together again.  Praying that we all have a good day together as we continue to find the "just right" mix of activities and lessons that will bring us to the achievement of our goals ahead.  It's kind of an "on your mark, get set, and GO!" kind of moment each and every day.

     And the ultimate kind of "fast life" will be arriving here for me exactly 2 months from yesterday.  October 26th will mark the passing of my 58th trip around the sun and at exactly 10:32 in the a.m. the spaceship  leaves for the start of my 59th year.  It seems so strange to me to realize that I am now going to be the same age as my father was when he passed away.  And just for the record Daddy, I no longer look at you as an old guy.  You were so young.  

     It seems like the proverbial "yesterday" that I turned 49 and the very thought of being a half-century old kind of unnerved me for a bit.  I shook that off pretty quickly, deciding that it really wouldn't be as bad as everyone proclaimed it to be.  It's only a number, right?  And so, I entered my "50's" and although there were some good and bad times in the past 9 years, all in all I survived and came through them just fine.  One of the things that I did to kind of ease my transition into those early years was to develop a list of 50 things to do before I reached the age of 50.  It ended up being a precursor to the idea of having an ongoing bucket list of things to do, a practice I've been employing since then.  I loved it and as I looked back upon it just the other day, I've done nearly all of those things on the list.  Some of them have been done numerous times.  So I figure what the heck?  I think it's time for a new list only this time as I celebrate nearing the age of 60, I'm going to have to compile a list of 10 more things to add to 50.  Sounds like fun and something I should do.  As a matter of fact, I already have several things in mind.  I'm going to continue to develop my list of things and when I blog on my birthday later on in the fall, I'll let you know what I came up with. 

     The time has come to get the computer turned off and be ready for starting the day.  Somewhere up the line, 22 little children are still fast asleep in their beds.  Soon their mommas and daddies or grandmas and grandpas will tell them it's time to arise and head out the door themselves for the starting of another school day.  I am anxious to be with them again :)  We have already lost our "first tooth" and already had our first disagreement.  We worked it out with not much ado.  I like that about the world of little people.  The solving of problems with both parties involved shaking hands, forgiving one another and going on.  Geesch, if only the grownups  of planet Earth knew how to do the same :)

the day I learned to hold a snake for the first time without screaming~
Thanks to my good friend Kyle down in Oklahoma City :)
Summertime of 2012
I wouldn't call it "fun" but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was.
They just kinda feel like a garden hose that is sound asleep, in case you were wondering.