A Potpourri of Ponderings..... aka "A Bunch of Stuff"

Most days when I write a blog post I begin with my title.  It sets the mood and the tone.  It keeps me focused.  It shines a little light on what I think is important at the moment I open my page and begin to type.

Today is not one of those days.  I am feeling a little bit like a plate of spaghetti - all over the place.  My thoughts are twisting and turning, circling around and back again.  This could be scary or fun, in depth and shallow, funny and sad, or a combination of all the above.  Who knows!

What am I thinking right now?  That I LOVE football!!  Really, I do.  I tell my hubby all the time that he is a lucky man.  I not only love football, I will watch it with him all weekend long and any weeknight it's on too.  In fact, the game is on now (Go Giants!) and he's asleep while I am watching the game.  Not only do I love to watch football, I'm all about football food.  The weekend college games sees me making what we have come to call our "football buffet" on Saturdays.  I spend the morning cooking like crazy and then I put out a huge array of food so the kids, hubby and I can nosh to our hearts content for the remainder of the day.  Hubby and I are on the sofa cheering, yelling, jumping up and down, high fives, fist pumps, booing (sometimes) and trying not to spill any of our food while we enjoy our game.  The kids rush into the kitchen, fix a plate, eat quickly and rush back to their rooms in hopes we don't see them and encourage/force them into this weekend ritual. 

On the 17th, we had tons of fun with college football.  Our college (The University of North Alabama) played in Dallas at Cowboy Stadium!  We met other friends from UNA and went to the game, taking along our youngest son Patrick, who now understands the game a little bit better and says "it's not so bad".  Gee, thanks.  :)  Our team won!  We jumped, yelled, screamed, cheered, etc.  It was a BLAST!!!  After the game, we all headed to an awesome BBQ place across the street for some dinner and talk.  Somewhere there is a picture....but honestly, I'm not in the mood to find it.  Sorry.

While chatting with said friends, the ever popular Facebook discussion came up.  One of them has admitted to "never getting on" while the other hops on "about once a quarter". However, the both blasted me for talking about coffee so much?  Ummmmm.....hello?  I know I share my love of coffee and the frequency I drink it with everyone, but it's MY status update and if that's what I do all day every day, then isn't it okay that I put it out there for the world to see?  Am I overthinking this?  Am I taking it too personally?  So many questions, so few answers.  So what if I drink coffee and tell everyone about it?  If you don't like it, don't read my status updates! Rant over.  I think.

I miss my son.  You know, the one who left home to join the military recently.  He called us this weekend.  It was a short call, but it was such a good phone call.  His voice sounded so strong and clear and....almost happy.  We can really tell he's making that mental shift in his thinking and he's truly becoming a military man.  I am so proud of him.  So very proud.  It hurts to think that he's never going to live at home again -that he now has a life separate from us.  But, isn't that the one of the goals we strive for as parents?  To raise our children to become independent and go out into the world to live their own lives?  There are others, but this is the one I'm bothered by/with most at the moment.  I struggle with it at times.  But, I know this is what is right and good.  I am okay.  He is okay.  I will forever be his Mom and he will always be my son whom I love very much. 

Why are normal everyday activities so much louder at night after everyone but you has gone to bed.  I just fixed my coffee pot for tomorrow so the ever present elixer of life will be ready and waiting when I stumble out of bed in the morning.  Grinding the beans was incredibly loud.  I was afraid it would wake the neighbors!  Never mind opening and closing cabinet doors and the refrigerator.  Oh my.  How noises are magnified when the house is quiet.  Have you noticed this too?  Or is my house the only one that seems to echo and magnify the tiniest noises?

So, onto a deeper topic.  I'm still in search of a church.  Hubby had the day off due to a power outage at his place of employment.  This gave us time alone together where we could actually have a real conversation without the kids interrupting (something they should be past considering their ages) and time to talk about serious matters.  One of them being we aren't sure we are at the right church yet. We were able to identify things we want in a church and attitudes we want to find there. We will keep looking.  I know the right one is here, waiting for us.  Waiting to fill our needs and waiting for us to fill a need there with our talents and time.  To whom much is given, much is required.

Oh my goodness.  I had about 3 more paragraphs typed.  They were thoughtful, insightful, witty....all the things one longs to accomplish when writing a blog.  And, somehow, by the wrong keystroke of brush of the touch pad, POOF! They are gone.  *sigh*  I will never be able to reclaim them as they were.  Any attempt will be a mere shadow of the originals.  Thus I shall not try.

Or maybe I will in an abbreviated way.  And, as I go along, I will hit the SAVE NOW button and not depend on the page automatically doing it for me as it usually does.  *sigh*

So, I was saying how very much I am looking forward to my upcoming trip to Dallas with my friend Debra, lately from Virginia Beach and currently residing in Kansas.  We moved within weeks of each other.  It's going to be awesome to see a good friend again to shop, talk, shop, eat, shop, drink coffee, shop, talk more, shop, sleep, shop, let her go for a 10 mile run while I read/writing/sleep/whatever!, shop more....and did I mention, we are going to SHOP????  All four DFW area Anthropologie stores.  Oh yes.  I've been drooling over their merchandise from afar (via the internet) and am going to the stores.  Trust me, the countdown has begun.  :)

Mean girls aren't just in high school.  They are everywhere.  Or possibly they are simply self absorbed and/or unaware of their actions toward a newcomer. Today I felt alone in a room full of other women.  I don't know why they excluded me.  I do know how I felt afterwards.  It wasn't good.  However, I will survive, overcome and flourish despite this season.  It's one I've experienced before and will no doubt experience again.  My darling hubby reminded me that these times help me to grow and become a better person....one who has compassion on others in similar situations.  Love my hubby and his wise words.  :)

Coffee.  Yes.  A pot at home.  A Venti at Starbucks.  A cup at Bible study.  All of them good in their own ways.  My Gevalia coffee pot is prepped and ready to begin brewing at 0545.  I anticipate the enticing aroma wafting thru the house and waking me, gently, with a smile.  Ahhhhh....the delight of cradling the cup in my hands and inhaling as the steam rises toward my face.  Savoring the first sip.  Smiling.  Then, waking my family and getting another day started correctly.  Coffee is a wonderful gift.

So, tell me, what did you think of the title?  I didn't name it until just before I typed this line.  Seriously!