Randomness

I haven't blogged about anything significant in a while, and this post won't be that coherent as far as subject matter, but my thoughts are all over the spectrum today, and I really just want to get them out so that they're not cluttering my brain anymore!

It is a gorgeous spring day here in the desert. We have lots of cloud cover, a nice breeze, and temperatures in the high 60s. Heaven on earth.

I finally put my laptop back on my desk in the living room. What is the significance of this? Well, to be honest, I've been lazy for the past month or so. One night I commented to hubby that my laptop wasn't getting a strong signal to our wireless Internet connection in its location in the living room (which is my "office" - my desk overlooks the front yard). He told me to bring the laptop into the bedroom where the antenna thing was and the connection was strongest. Bingo! So, when I started getting ill and spending more time in bed, I was able to sit with the laptop on a bed-desk and blog and e-mail to my heart's content. Moving my laptop back into the living room is symbolic of my emergence from the cocoon - I'm finally feeling better. My voice has mostly returned, although I won't be singing for a while longer. The coughing has ceased for the most part, and I'm no longer dizzy.

I finalized the plans for my little getaway to Indy next month. My friend Tom has so generously offered me a place to stay, my friend Laura will take the kids to school, pick them up and keep them until Land Warrior gets off work, and I reserved my rental car last night. The one and only time I took a trip without the kids (and without hubby) was in January 2005 when I went to Vegas for 24 hours. My cousin Xenia lives there, and my sister JAX and I went up there for a shopping junket. Come to think of it, that trip was made possible because I had free plane tickets courtesy of my beauteous niece (JAX's daughter) Fly Girl, just like this time. Wow. She must really love me, huh? Anyway, this will be my first trip without family since my diagnosis in July 2005, and while I know hubby is a bit apprehensive of my being away, he's confident I know how to take care of myself. I talked to my close pal Lisa last night, and she's excited about my trip. She and I haven't had any significant "alone" time since we both became wives and mothers, so we're looking forward to a belated birthday celebration (her birthday is April 1st). Reminds me that my host, Tom, is celebrating his birthday on March 31st, so I can only assume we'll be celebrating as well.

I got word this past week that my nephew JMC is due to ship out to Iraq later this year. His BIL (I guess that would be my NIL!) is due to be shipped out to Afghanistan a month later. Sigh.

I had a dream last night that my Butler Bulldogs defeated the Florida Gators in their Sweet 16 hoops match today. One can dream, right? We'll see whether or not this comes to fruition. I'm hopeful, but not unrealistic.

My friend MA and her family are planning a move to Denver in the coming months. Sigh. This makes me sad. I live in such a transient community; most everyone here is from from somewhere else, and the average stay of the people who move here is somewhere between 2-4 years. MA and her family have been here for eons, like us, and the fact that they're moving on makes me wonder if we're here just because we're lazy or stubborn. Don't get me wrong, we like it here, but we're not "in love" with this city anymore. Every time Land Warrior gets laid off, we talk about whether or not to explore options elsewhere. To tell you the truth, though, the thought of moving anywhere back east makes us shudder, and since living in high altitude is not an option giving my condition, we can't move to fun places like Colorado. Seattle is too expensive, San Diego is out of the question financially as well, and the thought of all that rain in Portland makes me want to cry. So, here we sit in the desert, watching our friends leave one by one. When MA goes, I'll be very sad, but not inconsolable. It's just a fact of life. I still have other good friends here, some of whom are either natives (ye gads!) or have been here for a looong time like us.

My son is testing for another belt in tae kwon do on the 31st. The significance of this is that after he completes the test, he will officially be out of the "Little Dragons" program. The Little Dragons program is for kids 3-7 years of age and gives them the fundamentals of tae kwon do. After his testing, my son will be in the junior level program which can lead to a black belt if he so desires and applies himself. At first he was sad to leave the Little Dragons, but now he's really stoked. I have no doubt that if he wants to do it, he'll be a first degree black belt by the time he's in high school.

Morgen and Janna posted yesterday about commenting on readers' comments and how this could be handled. I've been ruminating over this myself for a while, admiring how Bond, Matt-Man, and Steve Novak seem to keep up running "conversations" in their comment sections. Often I visit their blogs several times a day and go back to read the comments, just to see what's being said. I have yet to figure out how to do this here, as I'm not sure if you all would ever go back and read old comments. Maybe I'll do what Sparky does and write a separate post where I address comments from the previous week.

I think I've rambled enough about so many subjects, and I thank you if you've stuck with me through this. Have a wonderful Thursday, and remember to hug your family and friends.

Live long and prosper. (Photo blatantly stolen from Daddy Forever, with full credit given.)