Mental 2

The pilot was lame lol. And another good thing, IT WAS NOTHING LIKE MINE! Woo! :) My idea was much darker and focused more on the main character than the cases or the 'defiance of the system' (as this show is).

Mental

I'm watching TV for the first time in AGES and they just showed a commercial for a show on Fox called Mental. It's set in a psychiatric facility and it said that the craziest person in the facility is the person running it!

Why is this putting a grin on my face???? I was thinking about writing a script for something similar! DEAD SERIOUS. (Actually, not just THINKING about it. I actually wrote a little bit on it.) Where it's set in a psychiatric facility, it's kind of like a mixture of House and Bones in a way (in the sense that there's a team solving mysteries), and the person who's running it has psychiatric issues of his/her own (and he/she would use their issues to their advantage in solving the mysteries and connecting with the patients). In the case of my script, it was a woman, not a man.

Darn it. lol. xD But it's good to know that I have marketable ideas. ;)

Pictures of Anna

And two days ago Anna had the cutest ponytail. I also put her hair in a pony yesterday, but here are pics from two days ago. ;) Anna's bow was made by Chesapeake Ribbons! She finally has enough hair to wear it! :)

I am...

BLESSED.

Photo

Here's another random photo. This one is of me and Anna. I like how it turned out after being edited in PS3.

Comic Strip

I saw this on someone else's blog a while back ago and had a good laugh.

Memorial Day

I didn't know if I was going to write anything about Memorial Day, but then last night I watched a little piece on the news about suicide in the Army. Basically it talked about how so many soldiers were being simply medicated and then sent to the front lines again to fight, without any mental health help. They showed many families talking about their loved ones and it kind of got me thinking. I never really ever thought of my brother as being a hero at all. He died selfishly, not heroically. But then after watching that piece, I started to think of it from a psychological standpoint. Perhaps he was mentally ill and he was never properly helped. That would not have been his fault. I don't know if he ever sought help or ever let anyone know about his depression or suicidal tendencies, but no matter what, he was never helped properly. He was fiercely patriotic and he did go overseas. Fighting in wars is not pretty. It's terrible. It's horrific. It creates strain on your mind and body and soul. So today, I remember my brother.

Anna, 6 Days Old

These are dangerous photos of Anna (Dangerous because they remind me of how little and adorable she was at this age... she's still adorable, don't get me wrong, but she certainly isn't that little any more). These were taken when she was six days old while I was in the E.R. Her umbilical cord fell off somewhere between the wardrobe changes. I was so sad that I missed it. It was Anna's first FIRST. And I was in the E.R. :( But I'm glad to report that I've been there for every single FIRST since!















The woman in the pink shirt holding Anna is Grandma Teresa (Paul's Mom... also known as Mamma to Anna). The photographer is either Aunt Mary (also known as Auntma for her grandmotherly loving although she's technically Paul's aunt/Anna's great-aunt) or Paul's cousin Brittney.

Random Pic

Cape Lookout

Paul found Cape Lookout. Looks like a great campsite. Check it out. :D We both can't wait. This will be so wonderful!!!

Wow.

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

This scripture sure does hit the nail on the head, doesn't it? I can't tell you how many times I've been a servant of man before being a Servant of Christ. I don't know if it's something about being human, but it sure is easy to blend in... serve others... serve habits... serve obsessions... serve hedonistic pleasures... all before serving the very God who created those things to begin with. We just twist it. It's too easily done. It's too easily justified. It's too simple to say that today those pleasures will come first and God will come second... someday I will put him first... someday. Why not today? Why can't God come first today? I've blended in too long. I've lost my individuality in Christ. I've become just another face in the crowd. Let not another day pass away before I put You first in my world.

Cinderella

I liked this photo of Julie Andrews as Cinderella... date? 1957 I think... but isn't she pretty? I loved it. Click to enlarge.

Considerations...

We're considering a few things this summer:

1. Some sort of sports lessons for Anna. This is very important. Anna is extremely active. She usually out maneuvers boys who are twice her age. She as dragging around a three year old the other day on the playground, trying to get him to climb things, swing, take risks.... almost felt bad for the mother of the kid. Anna is fearless. She is a climber. She's also pretty strong for her age. We need a physical outlet for her. SERIOUSLY. I've looked around at nearby places.
a. Swim lessons at the YMCA will cost 84 dollars for about two months. We can apply for scholarship, but really what a mess that would be. Plus there are certain requirements as far as uniform go (specific swimwear, etc.) that would need to be considered, bought, researched...
b. Soccer lessons would be 100 dollars. This would be through the Sounders foundation (Seattle's soccer team). That would be pretty cool. It sounds quite interactive and fun, but a HUNDRED bucks to teach a two year old to kick a ball???
c. Gymnastics. This is seeming much more likely than the other options. It's fifty dollars for a 'session'. A session includes 10 lessons. We could easily get her a leotard at Walmart for very little money. She would get to climb and tumble to her heart's content. And the price is right.

Something else we've been considering: A FAMILY CAMPOUT. Just Paul, Anna, and me. Doesn't that sound nice? No computers, no fans, no internet, no television, no SpongeBob. Just US. We havet o book a place, though. Last year when we tried to find a place over our anniverary, we realized that we got married over FATHER'S DAY WEEKEND (not too smart of an idea looking back on it... should've gotten married in August!) and there are no places open without prior reservation. So hopefully that will work out. We haven't gotten a chance to do something like that EVER. Not once in our five years of marriage (five years June 19th!!!) have we been camping. And we certainly haven't done something like this with just the three of us. It sounds special and very, very relaxing. I'm going to go do a little research now. ;)

Hello Family

I recently invited a lot of family to read this blog. This has been kind of my own personal refuge for quite some time, so hopefully you don't think I'm too insane. I'm really rather tame. Mostly I just brag about Anna. She is, after all, the most beautiful little thing I've ever laid my eyes on. :)

I Swear...

I have no idea where she learns these things! She's crawling along the back of the couch and jumping on my legs. I keep telling her no. Just now she went on the back of the couch to do it again and I told her no. She said, "OK, Mama. One more." No, not one more! Where does she learn this? lol