Meeting Friends, Wrecked Truck, Building Gone

Friday evening, February 28th, I drove to a mall in Durham to meet up with a couple friends. We've been meeting there once a year (usually March) for the past few years. It was nice spending time with them just sitting and talking. One of my friends (Stacey) lives in Maryland. Her daughter plays volleyball and usually has a tournament in Raleigh. Since she's a senior this year, this will be the last time they come down for that. My other friend (Susanne) lives in Graham. Our friend Stacy (from Eden) usually comes as well, but she was sick. Stacey's mom also usually comes (I really like her), but she had family stuff back in Maryland.

Anyway, we stayed till just before closing and then said our goodbyes. When I got to my exit here in Greensboro, I noticed the stop lights were out. Then I noticed there were no lights (other than emergency lights or whatever they're called) in the buildings in the area. I live about a mile and a half from the exit and the lights were out all the way to my neighborhood, which was also dark. They had been out for about 30 minutes by the time I got home and stayed out for about another 30 minutes before the power came back on. Apparently someone had hit a pole. It was starting to get a little bit chilly in the house in just that hour. I'm glad they were able to get the power back on before it got cold in the house.

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The next morning, Charlie called sometime after bringing Sean to work needing me to come get him. (He actually called Kelly after trying to call me. My ringer is always off. Kelly doesn't usually answer her phone, but thankfully she did this time.) He had been in an accident a few miles from our house. When we got there, we were surprised to see the front of his truck smashed in. Someone in a black SUV had run a red light and Charlie turned into him. The guy Charlie hit did a 360 and ended up partly on the curb/grass. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

 The vehicle in the background is not the one he hit.

As expected, the insurance company said it's totaled. They said they'll pay him what it's worth, which is less than what he owes on it. But Charlie got gap insurance when he bought the truck and that will cover the rest. Unfortunately, there won't be any money left to get a new truck. Some friends have said to contact an attorney and see if he can get more money to get a new truck. I don't know if Charlie will do that or not though. I hope he will.

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In my last entry, I mentioned my iPod dying. Well, it started working again after I finished that entry. I pressed the power button and it said something about the battery. I charged it and it's been working since. I'm not sure what happened to make it die before. I had it charging while I was listening to it. (Using the bluetooth speaker.) The only thing I can think of is maybe that little button on the outlet was out and so the outlet itself wasn't getting any power. So the charger wasn't actually charging. That's my guess anyway.

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There's this old building that Kelly and I love for some reason. There's nothing beautiful about it. We've just always thought it was cool. We both like apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic books/shows/movies and something about the state of the building and the land around it looks like something you'd see or read about in those kind of stories. Like something from The Walking Dead.

About the second or third week of February, I was going somewhere and as I came to where this building sits, it was gone. It's been torn down by whoever has purchased the land or maybe whoever already owned it. It made me kind of sad to see it gone practically without a trace. I still feel a little sad every time I pass that empty land, which is a couple times a week. *sigh*

Kelly took both of these pictures.

A couple days after seeing that it had been torn down, I looked it up and found out it had been built in the 1950s. I miss seeing it there, as silly as that may sound. I wonder what will be put in its place. I'm kind of expecting apartment buildings or maybe a restaurant (it's near the water park), but who knows?

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I took Sean and Ashley downtown yesterday to get their marriage license. Kelly and I waited in the car in a parking garage. (I couldn't find any parking on the street.) Just a few more weeks and they'll be getting married.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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Tidbits and Life Lessons

Sean is sick and will miss school today. Hopefully his sickness will be gone very soon. He's already missed too much school.

Kelly cleaned her room, including vacuuming, without being told. She then dusted the furniture in the living room and tried to straighten up my somewhat messy desk. Wonder what's got into her.

I thought she was sleeping good earlier tonight when I heard her quickly get out of her bed and practically run into the bathroom. She had lost a tooth. Gotta check my wallet and see if I have any money to leave under her pillow.

Every night when Kelly goes to bed, she plays a classical music CD or Irish instrumental CD. The rest of us need a fan to sleep. Kelly likes soothing music.

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I wrote this at Facebook:

"Before you think that you don't need someone in your life, maybe you should stop and think that they might need you in theirs."

Maybe you think they're too different or weird or that you don't have anything in common. Maybe their background isn't the same as yours. Maybe you think they're too rich or too poor or that they're not cool or hip enough or stylish enough. But give them a chance.

God often uses circumstances or people we didn't expect Him to use to bless us or to teach us or to meet a need that we have or to answer a prayer. He could be using this person to do that for you or using you to do these things for them.

How many times have we asked God to use us to be a testimony or blessing for others or to use us for His kingdom? It may be that God wants to meet someone else's need through you or meet your need through them. Don't brush them off. Don't ignore their desire to talk to you on the phone sometime or to go out to lunch or to come by their or your house to spend time together.

I'm not saying you have to hang out with every person who expresses an interest to do so. Just don't immediately decide that you're not going to have anything to do with someone just because they're different or not what you were expecting. Open your heart to God's will, seek His wisdom and you might be pleasantly surprised by what He does, how He does it and who He does it through.

Baby stuff and my sick son.

A friend of mine, Sheila, is expecting her third child, a boy. This will be her first son. Last night was her baby shower at Mimi's Cafe. She got some cute gifts for her baby boy (whose name may end up being Levi; the two girls are Hollie and Victoria) and we all enjoyed good food (I had the parmesan crusted chicken with spaghetti), good conversation and good cake.

Here's what I got for Sheila's baby:


I hadn't shopped for baby stuff in years and I was dying over all that cute stuff at Dillard's. I oohed and awwed over the little sleeper feet, the tiny baby shoes, the cute little baby jeans, the fuzzy coat with the ears on the hood.

It made my heart ache just a tiny bit for another baby of my own. But Charlie put an end to those dreams last year. And, really, I'm getting older (I'll be 37 in a few weeks) and soon both of my kids will be in double digits (Sean is almost 13 and Kelly will be 10 in a few weeks), so I reckon that part of my life would be over anyway even if Charlie hadn't gotten the ol' snip.

Anyway, my mom was watching my kids for me, so I left when I could (at about 8:50) to pick them up and come home.

I got the kids in bed soon after we got home and I crashed on the couch watching TV. I had felt tired, but I didn't realize I was that tired. I slept until about 1:00 AM, when Charlie texted me. (He's sick and has no voice.) I was really surprised as he's never up that late. Well, it wasn't as late where he is in Texas, but midnight is still late for him. We texted back and forth for a few minutes and then I got up, did a few things and then went to bed.

I let Sean stay home from school today because he didn't feel well and had a low fever. His fever has since gone up a little and he feels very nauseated. I need to get the grocery shopping done still and I'm hoping my brother can come stay with Sean while Kelly and I get groceries. Charlie, as I mentioned, is in Texas and can't watch him and Mom is working tomorrow.

We made a short trip to Food Lion today because we didn't have a few things that Sean needed and/or wanted - crackers, medicine, Cheerios and Sprite. The poor guy is sitting in the bathroom moaning, feeling like he's about to throw up. He's been doing that for quite awhile now. I hope he feels better soon.

Guests on Saturday

As has been typical for me the past several months, I didn't sleep well Friday night, only getting about 5 hours of sleep, off and on. We got a late start Saturday as a result, not getting out of the house until about 12:30. Partly because Kelly took her time getting dressed.

We got everything on the grocery list and I also bought a few things with the money I got for Christmas. (Something I wasn't expecting at all. It was a nice surprise.) I bought The Lovely Bones, Julie and Julia on Blu-Ray, a pair of slippers (which I really needed) and a controller charger for the PS3. No one's been able to play any games for a few months now because apparently the old charger quit working. I still have some money left, but I haven't decided yet what I'm going to buy with it. I might use some of it to take my kids out for pizza or something.

Anyway, I had wanted to get the stew started at 3:30 (all that slicing of the meat, and the peeling and slicing of the potatoes takes awhile; especially for a big pot of stew), but I didn't get started until after 4:00. Jonathan and Angelica arrived shortly before 6:00 and the stew was done not long after they arrived. I also made some rolls to go with the stew.

Isn't it funny how you can make something a hundred times, but feel nervous that it's not going to turn out well for guests? Thankfully the stew turned out fine and my guests commented many times on how much they loved it. My mom, who was also here, loved it too and had two bowls. :-)

Sean, as I believe I wrote before, has been on a board game kick lately and was driving us crazy wanting to play a game. He tried to teach Jonathan how to play chess, but Jonathan said his brain was a little too fried at that time to learn such a complicated game. lol Jonathan, Sean and I then played a game of Trivial Pursuit DVD Pop Culture. I won and Jonathan came in a close second. (He lacked one piece of pie.) Sean of course struggled, as most of the questions were about things that were before his time. He did manage to get one piece of pie though, with my help. Poor fella. But he had fun and that's all that matters.

Our guests left around 9:00 or so and I struggled to stay awake. All day I'd been getting my words mixed up ("ibuprayfen", "slunfower seeds", etc.) and I was moving a little slower than usual, even when trying to quickly get the stew together. I was just too tired to function at 100%.

I fell asleep on the couch twice, for 2-3 hours each time. When I woke up the second time, it was after 7:00 AM and I was still tired, so I went to bed thinking I'd sleep for just another couple hours. I ended up sleeping for about 11-12 hours total. I couldn't believe it. And even after all that sleep, I still fell asleep on the couch a couple times yesterday evening and last night, for an hour the first time and only briefly the second time.

I guess my body really needed the rest. But of course it meant not being able to sleep at all last night.

No plans for today. I had thought about going somewhere and doing something (not sure what), but we may just hang around the house today.

Hard to believe it's almost 2010. Wow. But then don't we say that about every new year? :-)


"For most of life, nothing wonderful happens. If you don't enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are that you're not going to be very happy. If someone bases his happiness or unhappiness on major events like a great new job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn't going to be happy much of the time. If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness." -- Andy Rooney