This is the great adventure...

...flying 2 kids across the country! It's still almost a month away but I'm already having dreams about everything that could go wrong. Here's the scoop, my sister and brother-in-law got jobs in CA. Naturally this means moving the whole family; beds, books and broomsticks. So how do 2 adults and 2 children under 10 go from Michigan to California?
Moving truck can hold belongings but doesn't come equipped with seating for 4 and sending one adult on the road by himself would cause major stress and sleepless nights for the whole family. The family budget can't afford to ship all the belongings while the family flies (current vehicles wouldn't make the trip) so what is the family to do?????
Enter the footloose and favorite Aunt who opened her mouth and suggested the adults drive out in the moving truck and then someone (probably her) could fly the girlies out after they are moved into their new house. So there it is! In less than a month I'm taking a 6 and a 9 year old to Detroit and flying off to San Jose. Now granted I've flown a few times before but never with children who are easily bored and one who has a tendency to get distracted and not stay close.
But this is one way to help my fellow man and the benefit of loving my family. The good news is that it will give me 2 extra weeks with my youngest nieces before they are no longer able to 'come over' to visit.
California here I come on an airplane wing and a prayer!

God sighting...

...just when I needed it. Okay here's the back story. I'm heading to Indiana for the weekend and I'm told there's suppose to be rain all the way :(
While traveling I'm listening to the audio book "Women Food and God". Something in the book got me thinking about my tendency to either try to earn love & acceptance by 'good behavior' (aka dieting/eating healthy) or to test the love by destructive behavior (aka bingeing) to prove I'm unworthy.
So I started praying aloud that God would remind me of how much He loved me (regardless of what i look like)and that I would recognize it when He did.
So there I was less than an hour from home, a steady drizzle has kept my wipers on slow delay when I realize its stopped and the sun is shining. "Hey God you gave me sunshine to travel in you sure answered prayer fast."
As I dig out my sunglasses my disc ends and I pop it out of the player to hear the song "Your love is amazing, steady and unchanging..." WOW
No rain the rest of the trip even though I saw a lot of puddles the sun kept shining right up until the last 30 minute and then it stayed dry and God gave my another sign of His love.

Change isn't happening as fast as I hoped...

...but that doesn't mean it isn't coming. During my vacation this month I traveled to Indiana and interviewed for a Library Director's job. I liked the library, I liked the staff, I even liked the area and I think they liked me but I still didn't get the job. I knew going into the interview that according to policy and circumstances I wouldn't be able to leave my current position until the end of July beginning of August and they needed someone ASAP. I think that was the main problem (but I guess it could be they didn't like the way I part my hair). For not being part of the job searching market it was actually a nice chance to get my feet wet and brush up on my interviewing skills. I kept telling myself that it didn't matter whether I got the job or not since I am currently employed and I'm just looking for an advancement in my career but let me tell you it didn't matter.
When I got the email saying they selected someone else I still cried a little and felt depressed. I took off for a day at the beach the very next day, and there is definitely some healing quality to watching and listening to water as it rolls onto the sand. (If I hadn't been so depressed maybe I would have done a better job with my sunscreen application and not burned so badly) Having my hopes crushed Being disappointed has never been easy for me so of course this littler foray of emotional plummeting resulted in not losing weight over the last 2 weeks after an initial drop of 6 pounds. I've got to find my mo-jo again and start being excited about the opportunities of life whether they are here in Lakeview or some other little town in the great USA.

Here are some pics from my lovely day at the beach in Ludington, MI

 Sand so clean it squeaked

 The Badgar

Following the Leader Statues

Change is in the air...

...and it's looking stormy. Life is going crazy lately as I'm having a midlife crisis at 40. I've started a new weight-loss regime, using Visalus Body by V, and I'm sending out resumes to pie in the sky job opportunities. The weight-loss has been a life long struggle and this is one more chapter in my efforts to not die before I'm 50. The job search is a half hearted attempt to prove to myself that I don't have to stay in a bad work environment out of fear of change.

Some changes I love, especially those that I initiate myself out of creative inspiration, other times change can bring our my anxiety disorder. Is there an easy way to accept or embrace change no matter what it is? Is it healthy to never question change? Are there things that should never change? (The Bible is of course exempt from change because the message never changes although delivery methods do)

I recently read an article about icons that use images that are archaic and unrecognizable by the newest generation. How much longer will it be before the connection between the 'save' icon and the the floppy disc are totally obsolete? Why does the phone icon look like the old rotary phone receiver when most cell phone users never used a rotary phone? How many Instagram users have used an actual Polaroid camera? What does a clipboard have to do with pasting data? Why does the microphone icon use an old fashion radio style mic? As you can see there are times for change but at the same time there is something to be said for nostalgia and vintage renewal.

So change for change sake may not always be the best choice but being afraid of change can also cause you to miss out on something exciting.

 

Picture for Picture Sake

Recent change at TDL, mural painted by Jeanne Merriman