My dogs

What is it about these little creatures? I really love having a dog in my life (I have gone over the top this time, I have two). I can not remember a time when I didn't have one of these faithful companions by my side. (So I can blame my parents for this?) They have been there forever (at least my life's forever), and seen everything (we won't elaborate on this one).

Is this what happens to people who don't have kids? They get all weird about dogs? I have to say I kinda miss my kitty though.

They have even even taught me about my God, too. This is where you should started getting sacred. They love and obey, there is no judgment, they don't worry about where their next meal will come from, they don't worry about anything, they are always happy to see you (even if you have been gone for 14 hours or more) and they don't hold a grudge when you scold them.

They are made up of pure, unconditional love (and they are soft and furry too!) Sounds like my God to me (except I don't know abut the soft and furry part).

Goodbye Chrome!

I guess I just don't get to get it. Chrome is supposed to be the greatest browser out there these days. Well I say ummff!

One of the big deals is the speed. Sorry, I didn't see any improvement over my beloved FireFox.

Then there is the chrome Google Doodle. Yea, it's chrome! (cute for about a minute, then **yawn*)

Now let's talk about the features that it doesn't have. Did you know that you cannot get an RSS feed on Chrome like FireFox? I use this a lot to keep up with my friends blogs that I like to read. Once I figured out how to use RSS, I think it is a pretty cool feature.

Here is the most surprising thing about Chrome, this actually blew me away. First let's reiterate...Chrome is a product of Google (important information to consider when discovering the next Chrome fact). You know how when you download something on your browser you are asked if you want the "Google Toolbar"? And sometimes you just get it whether you want it or not. Well, Chrome's surprising fact is....it does not support the Google Toolbar! Uh?

One more strike against Chrome is that it doesn't play well with my new Vine at work. Now I realize this may not mean much to you, but you have to understand that the Vine is my adopted baby and it is near and dear to my heart.

I like my toolbar and my RSS feeds (and my Vine) that is three strikes...sorry Chrome, another day maybe.

Coffee, book, beautiful porch, morning, and free wifi outside!

Forgive me for posting about this again, but God is so good to us on vacation. This is my idea of a beautiful morning. I am sitting outside on a porch, surrounded by the cutest puppies, I have a book, coffee, about 66 degree weather, and am listening to birds singing and squirrels playing in the trees.

What else can be said but Thank You God!!

What a great day

Wow, what a great day. Why can't everyday be like this? Logic says because I would get bored with it all, and that is quite possibly the truth.

Upon arrival to our humble abode, a block from the ocean, one of the first things we discovered was that we have internet! Let me explain why this is a big deal.

We are staying at my 100 year old grandma's house (she no longer lives here, she moved in with my dad about 10 miles away a couple of years ago). It is actually about a 40 year old mobile home. If you know anything about mobile homes you know that we are looking at every room being paneled and old single pane storm windows. Four of us sleep on the biggest bed in the house which is a queen sized bed, which has to be at least 20 years old.

Having said all that, it has a big welcoming porch and did I mention that it is a block from the ocean...and it is free!!! I think I have come down here (and it is a 12 hour drive) at least once (usually more than once) every year since she has been here. For obvious reasons, grandma never had internet (I'm not sure if she even understands the concept yet). Every once in a while we could get on the wireless from the business on the other corner, and our oh so accommodating Time Warner offered wifi for for about $30 for the week (per person) which we never did partake in. (But we can tell you all the local coffee shops that offer free wifi.) So you can understand why getting free wifi was a very pleasant surprise!

We are still not sure why, but who is going to ask? Maybe because Hurricane Earl just left and it was a way to get tourists back (although how would they know until they arrived) for the holiday weekend. Maybe they had a change of heart??

Either way it brings me back to...what a great day! And don't even get me started on the food down here!!

And the Gracie story continues

We’ve all seen them, the old cowboy movies where the brave cowboy is going to “break” the wild horse. He has the horse in his corral (conveniently, we don’t see how he accomplished that part). He walks toward the horse to try to put a rope around its neck, and horse calmly walks in the other direction. The horse doesn’t try to outrun the cowboy he just plays this little annoying game of cat-and-mouse with the cowboy. Now that you have that picture, put Gracie in the role of the horse. This is exactly how she acts when we try to get her to come to us.

In the movies it takes four to six times of this back and forth game until the horse lets the cowboy (key note here is that ‘the horse lets the cowboy’) get near enough to accomplish the task he set out to do. And then, like all the magic in the movies, they are best buds to the end. The horse is forever faithful and loving to the cowboy. So much so that the horse is always saving the cowboy’s life and even makes him coffee in the morning! (Ok, maybe I made up the coffee part.)

All this to paint a picture of Gracie (a.k.a. Gracie the horse) and my relationship. The only problem is that I have not “broken” her yet. She still likes to play this little annoying game of cat-and-mouse with me.

From all this I will reiterate what I have stated in previous blogs….Gracie, you may have won this battle, but the war is still on! It is just sad that you cannot be off your leash until that time, as I know you want to play and run and chase Shelby like you do at home. Ahhh, maybe someday..

Last post last week?

Wow, what a slacker! I gotta get on the stick here. I was supposed to be using this as a tool to start journaling. Ummmm not doing so well.

So I think I am over the hump at work, now I get to focus on vacation. It is pretty bad when you are so immersed in your work that you don't realize that...hey...you leave on vacation next Friday!!!

I usually blog pretty well on vacation. Guess that is because I have more time to blog. On many levels I am looking forward to getting away to the "big water" (as we affectionately refer to the ocean as). Lots of time to just do nothing and blog. Ahhh, that is the life!

Well, my break is over now, guess I will get back to my painting (as a note, moving a refrigerator away from the wall is not a pretty sight....but you probably already knew that). Our new front door is scheduled for installation this Tuesday. Oh boy, a whole new look! Yes kitchen and dining room, you are going down!

Week Two is Over

The rampant wildfires have subsided, this week consisted of only huge cannonballs falling all around. I am actually looking forward to mere gunshots! (maybe next week?) We are still fighting, but we are winning the battle.

Stress...such a good thing to learn about. Most people think they can multitask, and that may be so, but how about managing everyone else's 'priority 1' problems? There were times this week when I felt I was inside an video game trying not to get killed and lose one of my lives while having things hurled at me from all directions.

Verifying problems, documenting them, prioritizing the list, assigning problems to the appropriate people to fix, finding work-a-rounds, calming frightened people all while the phone is ringing and the emails are flooding my in box in a non-stop fashion, this was what my job looked has like for the past two weeks. And any 'regular' work I had on my plate was definitely drowning/dying off in the process. (Ummm....could I be using this all as an excuse not to work on my performance review process?)

I feel that I am living, eating, sleeping, waking, talking, and breathing the Vine. I love that everyone I work with has the same desire as me to make this product the best ever, and I truly appreciate their passion. This is the best place to work, everyone has tons of grace for me as I negotiate my minefield.

The funny thing is when I can sit and reflect on the past two weeks I somehow feel exhilarated (how the heck does that happen? Is that what a day off will do for you?) It feels like I am really doing something worth while, and I really believe this will help further the Kingdom, and I am proud and honored to be a part of it. I can say that because I am writing this on my home computer, and not my work computer. I can, and do, leave my work at work (for the most part).

My prayer for next week is for just mere gunfire. I love my job and all the wonderful people I work with, and Ed for listening to all my ranting. God is sooooo good to me!