and the laptop stayed in its case all weekend...

**Here is the aforementioned post**

I have been lax in my blogging of late. So, I will now let the world in on what's new in my life:

Um...

Hmm.

Yeah, can't really think of much.

Pretty much all that has been going on here lately is snow and work. It's too cold to go out and do anything... Wind chill advisories are not my idea of a good time. The other day as I was filling up my gas tank, I honestly thought my face was going to completely freeze off, leaving just a wisp of the beauty that used to be.... And such a tragedy that would be.

I finally got a library card for the McH Public Library - w00t! And I learned something... Libraries in Illinois are pathetic. At least that one is. Seriously, with some new carpet and a couple coats of paint, maybe some new shelving, that place could be transformed. Right now it reminds me of a room I grew up knowing every so fondly of as *the Mission Barrel*. Although maybe a little more out of date. Um, yeah. Now, I realize that I shouldn't base every public library in the state of Illinois on the one that I've managed to step foot in, but honestly, it has left me jaded. And after discussing the antiquated, pathetic excuse for a wonderful public service to the children and adults of our community with my partner-in-crime (ahem, coworker), it sounds like there isn't anything much better around. Maybe a little newer, but his take on the situation is that libraries just aren't very important to the local governments in this area.

Quite interesting, and rather ironic, since I work for a company that deals directly and primarily with public libraries. Now my interest is piqued... I'm interested in visiting other libraries in the area, just to see what they are like. I don't think they can be any worse than what I've seen.... Seriously, I wouldn't want to take any children to the library I visited; I'd be too worried they'd pick up hepatitis or some other isolated, communicable disease of a plague-like nature.

The transition to a completely new area continues....

That said, I picked up a myriad of books. Everything from Freakonomics, yet another Ted Dekker book, Jim Cramer's Mad Money, some Janet Evanovich chicklet, and a few more (like maybe 5 or 6). So far, I've read 2 this weekend and started finishing a 3rd, which I had actually started reading over the Christmas holiday - Map of Bones, yet another Catholic-esque mystery involving yet another ancient secret faction that's lasted throughout the centuries only to suddenly and misguidedly decide to wreak havoc on the world. It also has some scientific twists, a little far-fetched in my mind (but what do I know?!) and mostly over my head (you can only completely understand this if you could fully grasp my lack of intellectual ability for the subject of science). My mental capacity for the intricacies of m-state metals is apparently less than null. But for the most part, Rollins still manages to tell a decent story.

I have made two lists of late. The first is a list of all the things I would like to do in the next year or so, while I'm still in the area (because as I've learned in the last 12 months, my life can change in an instant). Maybe I'll post this later for your enjoyment. It includes all sorts of random things, a restaurant or two I'd like to visit, parks and historic places and random city-things that are of interest to me. So if anyone wants to do something in a random in the city some weekend, I have a whole list of things to do!

The second list is of all the books I would like to read in the near future. This list will be ever-changing, I'm sure. If anyone has any ideas for any other books I should read, please let me know! A few authors from my current list: jen lancaster, james patterson (thanks, Jess!), laurie notaro, diane sutterfield (I think I stole this from Corella) :), jesse stuart, janet evanovich (how i write), kate mosse. That's about 1/2 of my list.

So that's a few pieces of my life of late. If you need me, I'll probably just have my nose stuck in a book...

OO RAH

This is not the post I started writing last night. I wrote the beginning of a post last night, and then my computer miraculously shut off. I was going to finish it tonight, but considering the entire thing was mostly pointless, and the thing I am going to be posting tonight is anything BUT, you'll have to come back later if you really care to read about the lastest random happenings in my life.

This post is about the lastest happenings in someone else's life.

But first let me ask you, what do you say in a phone conversation that you know will be the last you'll have with the other individual for at a minimum several (i.e. seven) months? How do you say goodbye, and express all the feelings in your heart and mind, especially without making it harder for said individual?

JR called me tonight. He's shipping out tomorrow. To Iraq. For several months, possibly 7.

I'll miss him. We've had some crazy times together... Maybe I'm just choosing to forget, but somehow this time seems a little harder than the last time he shipped out. Even though I've been hundreds of miles away and haven't seen him for months... He's a great friend.

So I ask you... if you think about it, if you happen to run across this blog in the middle of your busy day, offer up a prayer for him. For his safety, for his loneliness... And for his wife, too. Barely a year they've been married... I covet your prayers for them, and I'm sure they would as well.


Marine JR


JR & his beautiful wife




We miss you!!