perspective

one of my clients just happily said in passing,

"Anytime you wake up in the morning and you can walk, it's a good morning."

in spite of many things, i really am glad i'm working here right now.



in the spirit of said gladness + holiday time i thought of making a list of things i'm glad about but really at the moment i'm more interested in making a resolution list because i'm in the mood for a good laugh so here goes:

Melinda's 2007 Resolutions (author reserves the right to amend)

1. actually take care of my car
2. utilize my gym more than once a month
3. stop being crazy
4. improve my work ethic, at least at work
5. find work?
6. stop freaking out every time someone gets engaged/married
7. find a way to live in Spain without actually leaving the States
8. write articles for publications that actually pay
9. find a way to take dance lessons again
10. really learn to trust in/lean on/listen to the Lord
11. get a loop station and become the next Zoe Keating
12. be a much better friend
13. learn the constellations
14. go to Raven Rock at least once
15. own and appreciate the fact that i'm an emotional person
16. visit my aunt in New York for Thanksgiving
17. play outside a whole lot more
18. learn my cello craft more thoroughly
19. build and learn to play the hammer dulcimer
20. visit Portland
21. stop pretending I don't care about having "someone special"
22. save $
23. finally decide on a tattoo design
24. learn how to be truly honest
25. finish a song i'm proud of
26. volunteer more
27. quit doing brainless things like absent-mindedly poking my thumb into a blade to prove it's dull
28. paint
29. live somewhere that is not in the middle of nowhere
30. stop thinking of myself as a child instead of a woman
31. get "Christmas Shoes" banned from the radio
32. acquire the art of tact
33. go on a road trip to somewhere that is not the beach
34. write more letters
35. visit the mountains
36. finally fix up my bike and see about changing "that one great bike ride memory from 10 years ago" to something a bit more current
37. steadily decrease my need for chocolate, cereal, facebook and desserts and computers in general
38. stop buying more home decor than actually fits in my space
39. figure out what my book's about
40. trip it to DC to see my lovely :)
41. learn how to get the most out of my camera
42. somehow finally stage that late afternoon field+cello photo shoot i've seen in my brain for 2 years


yeah, ima do all of it

morning thoughts

some random excerpts :)

• Ironically my "devotional reading," as they say, was about being consistently in the Word, basically...A piece of what i read in Daily Light (which might sound cheesy, but has actually been quite amazing to me) was Isaiah 26:8-9, and that's just it, "we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you." 'Tis true...But also, as a note said, "only through God's power can we fight the resistance of our flesh to Him"...dang it, dang it. The word "devotions" is at once misleading and humbling, since I am devoted only in principle and not in practice. I stupidly seem to not avail myself of that power often enough. Probably why one of my favorite hymns is

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford
I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby
Temptations lose their pow'r when Thou art nigh
I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

• I saw a Scholastic Book Fair truck on my way to work = nostalgia = feeling "old." Then remembering last night's convo w/ the RM (roommate or rebecca michelle, take your pick, i just now realized that, hah) of how weird it is that "all" our friends are married (not really, technically) and how we feel like goofy little kids...=feeling old and juvenile. Because that makes a lot of sense.
• Btw, amen, rm, for the latest post! I love that we have the same life themes :)

And lastly and completely randomly because that's my style, I hope this baby makes your...[well, maybe not day, but] hour, as much as it did mine! (And if it makes your day, then so much the better)