Louder Than the Voices

I have to say, this has been a very roller coaster"ish" week. Thankfully, there have been lots more ups than downs. I am going to share something only a handful of people know and those of you who follow me on facebook are going to be a little shocked that I haven't shared it there. 4 years ago last May, I was in Springfield. I had went to a gym on the edge of town and on my way back to my hotel, I stopped at a Starbucks. Two cars ahead of me in line was a Chrysler Sebring hardtop convertible. I had never seen one before, but fell in love. After some research, I found out that the Sebring was being replaced by the Chrysler 200, but there was still a hardtop convertible. I wanted one. I started looking for a different car a year ago. I had decided to replace my van with a Ford Edge. I wasn't excited, but I needed a vehicle, and here was one. Then I started realizing that for the same money, I could get a Chrysler 200 Convertible. I have been searching for one since m...

Good morning everyone! Happy Thanksgiving week! For me, it is supposed to be Happy Vacation week as well. I have officially decided that will start tomorrow. Mainly because I wanted to be caught up at work before Thanksgiving and I am probably around 5-6 hours from it. So, that is where my afternoon plans lie. This morning, I will help a friend celebrate the life of her dad. It has hung in the back of my mind that 37 years ago, this coming week, I lost my own dad. 37 years ago Monday. It seems like forever. There used to be times you would think, "It seems like yesterday, but it seems like forever", too much has happened, no way for it to feel like yesterday again. I know there were times in the years just after my dad died that I so wanted to make that be the reason for any failures or shortcomings. I have one customer who calls me on a yearly basis; he is 5 years older than me and blames his entire situation on the fact that his dad died when he was 9. It is hard ...

Last Saturday morning, I pretty well thought I knew what today's blog was about. I was wrong. After the events of last Sunday morning in Texas, I still hadn't changed my mind. I did shutter at the fact that the little Texas town being described was so much like Newton, or Greenup, or Hidalgo, where I attend church every Sunday. I remember back to the day our church was burned to the ground. I was in 6th grade. The person who did it was mentally ill. He spent the rest of his life institutionalized for the crime, but for mental illness as well. And oddly enough, nobody thought of outlawing matches. I understand nobody was hurt in the fire. I also know that the doors blew off the church with such force, they were across the street at the neighbors house. Had anyone been around, or that house closer, someone could have very easily been hurt.  I just feel like there should be more emphasis placed on the mental health issue, and we need to take care of people. Desperate pe...

So, last Saturday morning, not even an hour after finishing my blog post, my whole day changed. I was getting ready for a great day away with friends and was hurrying to get ready. It had turned a bit cooler and I wanted a sweater that was stored downstairs. I started be-bopping down the stairs like I normally do and my foot came out from under me. I fell for what felt like forever; and the more I think about it, the more I realized, I was sitting where my feet were, so I really didn't fall down the stairs. I hit my head in the process though and the gash I had was deep. There was no way around the fact that my plans just changed. I was crushed. This didn't get lost on me though, I knew there was a lesson in it, there were many lessons in it.  Of course, as soon as I told what happened, I was met with several comments, those that know me the best wanted to know if it would slow me down, or maybe knock some sense into me. Well, as far as going down the stairs, I will have to ...