I went ahead and got my own website. It’s still in the construction phase, and like Michigan roads will probably always be, so I’m not waiting to announce it. I moved my blog over there so you’ll need to update your bookmarks and bloglines!! Here is the new address:
Go there now!
I’ve been blogging since 10/24/03!
http://mindyrichmond.home.comcast.net/~mindyrichmond/blog.html
It’s interesting to go back and read what I was doing ages ago. There is some fun stuff in there including the news about my third nerve palsy, and an adorable picture of John Cusack.
(I know, I’ve been blogging a lot lately. Yes, it’s slow at work. Once it’s time for month end billing again you’ll have plenty of time to catch up reading my posts. Because I know you were concerned.)
The Silver Bells in the City parade is tomorrow! I haven’t made it every year but I love it when I do. Just something about all the lights and music and the chill in the air makes me feel like a kid again. I checked the parade route and it goes right by our office building. I plan on picking Luke up and then coming back to park in our parking lot behind the building. We’ll be smack dab in the middle of the action, but can retreat for warmth and potty breaks if need be. I’ve already talked to a couple friends who are going to be down here for it and I hope to meet up with them. If you’re not one of them but you want to join me, let me know!
I totally forgot to put deodorant on today. I think I’ll be okay.
I was telling my father-in-law yesterday about how I “played” volleyball my senior year of high school. They let me practice with them and wear the uniform at games. I sat on the bench and cheered everybody on. I think I still have the shirt (I was #1). I was not much of a volleyball player but I was a happy, smiley little sprout so I was great for team morale.
Today I was complaining to a co-worker about having to work in the suite down the hall while everyone else has already moved to the new space. I told him I didn’t feel like part of the team. He reassured me that I was part of the team, but that I was just one of the bench players. Nice 
Such is my life - on some level I have always felt like the bench player. Everybody loves me, I’m always welcome, but I am really just watching from the sidelines because I don’t quite fit in to the game. I don’t know where this comes from and it’s probably not all that true (if it is, don’t tell me) but I’m going to blame it on being the middle child. Yup, it all goes back to that. I’m sure of it.
I watched an outstanding movie last night: “The Girl In The Cafe“. I thought it was going to be a simple love story but it was so much more. Simply put, it’s a story about two broken people trying to make a difference. I’m not great at movie reviews so I won’t attempt that, but I will give this movie two thumbs up and a big toe. I will warn you, there was one entirely unnecessary scene with brief nudity but it could easily be fast forwarded through. In another scene the f-word was used, but it was not used flippantly so it didn’t bother me.
The weird coincidence (or not so much) is that last night I watched that movie and it was about world poverty and this morning I read this post in my bloglines about the same subject. Now this coincidence may just be the affects of some media campaign but does that mean I should tune it out like I do with all the other information I am bombarded with? I can’t end world poverty. I can’t even make a significant dent in it, but the message I heard last night was that we can’t use that as an excuse to just give up. We must not compromise or become complacent on matters of life and death.
I don’t know what I can do. To be honest, I’m a little overwhelmed with the figures. More than 1.5 billion living on less than $1 a day? I spend $0.73 on coffee every day. That’s pocket change to me, and yet there are billions whose lives depend on that. Billions. I can’t even comprehend that. What’s even harder to comprehend is the six million children dying each year before their fifth birthday. I can’t imagine the pain of not being able to feed your own child. Luke cries if he has to wait thirty seconds for his dinner. It would break my heart to hear him cry from hunger, knowing I had nothing to offer. How do you explain to a six month old that there is no food? How do you explain that to a four year old, knowing she may not make it to five?
I don’t know what I can do. I would like to think that this knowledge will stay with me and change my perspective and cause me to make changes in the way I live that will make a difference. The sad truth is that I will probably forget all about this by Christmas, but let’s pray that I do not.
I always feel better after talking to him. How do I forget him so easily? I’ve been asking that question for years and have yet to find the answer. The best I can come up with is that I’m human. Of course he knows that I’m human and he has plenty of grace to make up for it. I just hate that I keep taking advantage of that. But I guess his grace covers that too.
You know when you meet up with an old friend you haven’t seen in awhile, and you chat like no time has passed, grinning from ear to ear the entire time? That’s what it’s like with God, only 38,000 times better. It’s coming home again, only you didn’t know you were homesick. You were so used to your present state you didn’t realize it. For example, I didn’t know I had been sleeping poorly until I got pregnant and realized what good sleep felt like. You could also use the boiling frog parable. It’s all the same concept. When we let our guards down or stop paying attention, we reach a dangerous state of complacency.
I can’t say my complacency has really reached a point of danger, but I have been sensing a nagging, a tug at my heart as if there is something missing. Or someone, rather. I have this amazing family, amazing friends, and yet there is still this space that is left open, reserved only for my creator.
Maybe subconsciously I want to become distant from God, so that when I come back to him I appreciate him that much more. Maybe secretly I like that euphoric rush that comes with reconnecting, and as a result have adopted a martyr mentality. I say every time that I don’t want to go back to that lonely place but somehow I always do. Whatever the reason, I am just thankful that God continues to woo me back to him.
“Slow down. Hold still.
It’s not as if it’s a matter of will.
Someone’s circling. Someone’s moving
a little lower than the angels.
This voice calling me to you:
it’s just barely coming through.
Still, I clearly hear my name.
I’ve been fingering the flame
like tomorrow’s martyr.
It gets harder to believe.All I need is everything.
Inside, outside, feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.”~”All I Need Is Everything” by Over the Rhine
I do, I love my family. I could not have asked for better than what I have. I had dinner with my mom, brother, and sister and I drove home tonight feeling completely fulfilled. I had forgotten how much I love spending time with them. We don’t get the four of us together like that often enough. We talked about silly things and serious things and we laughed out loud. It was wonderful. Then to be coming home to a husband I am madly in love with and a son that has given me more joy than I ever could have imagined… I am just stupid with gratitude right now. I am super duper blessed.
If you ever get tired of me talking about my darling son, here are some other topics I could talk about:
I was walking to my car after work yesterday and some ladies complimented me on my coat. That made me happy because it’s a new coat and I’m really excited about it. Vicki helped me find it. It’s long and puffy and warm and it has pockets for stuff like my phone, sunglasses, and iPod. I love pockets.
I heard a radio commercial recently for a well-known pain reliever. They advertise it being good for all kinds of things, like if you walk into a table it’s good for that. Really? Who takes medicine for stuff like that? I think for most of us when that happens we quickly spew our favorite four letter words and move on.
I drive by a certain fast food restaurant on a regular basis and for the past two weeks they have been advertising on their neon sign their new “chicken sandwhich”. Just look at it for a moment, you’ll figure it out.
I heard someone talking about the president of Georgia (yes it’s a country too) on the radio and his name totally sounds like a made up name. Mikheil Saakashvili. Try saying it. It’s fun, I promise.
