Song Time Sunday

As I think of the things that I want to write about in the coming weeks, I bring you a prelude of posts to come:

I do so love finding artists that are virtually unknown by the general public. The problem with that is that they are usually not from here, so seeing them in concert can be difficult if not impossible. A couple of years ago I had a chance to see Missy Higgins in concert at a small venue here in Indianapolis, but I couldn't find someone to go with me, so I didn't go. I STILL kick myself about that and that is NOT a mistake I will make again!

Maybe if others here in "the states" know about this Aussie, she'll venture over here again.

Check her out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCLERYzJsYA

Lyrics to "Where I Stood"

I don't know what I've done

Or if I like what I've begun

But something told me to run

And honey, you know me

It's all, or none

There were sounds in my head

A little voice is whispering

That I should go, and this should end

But then I found myself listening

Cuz I don't know, who I am, who I am without you

All I know is that I should

And I don't know if I could stand, another hand upon you,

All I know is that I should

Cuz she will love you more than I could

She who dares to stand where I stood

See I thought love was black and white

if it was wrong, or it was right

But you aint leaving without a fight and I think I am just as torn inside

Cuz I don't know, who I am, who I am without you

All I know is that I should

And I don't know if I could stand, another hand upon you,

All I know is that I should

Cuz she will love you more than I could

She who dares to stand where I stood

And I wont be far from where you are if ever you should call

You meant more to me than anyone I ever loved at all

But you taught me how to trust myself

And so I say to you...

This is what I have to do

Cuz she will love you more than I could

She who dares to stand where I stood

She who dares to stand where I stood

You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone

I am not crazy.  Trust me.  I know that our pets are not kids.

But for me, Sasha is the closest I may get to having a child of my own (somewhat sad, I know).  When I got her a few years ago as a puppy, I made sure that I carved out time to spend bonding with her, training her and just making sure she was a great addition to my household.

One of the best things I feel like I ever did for her was to get her micro-chipped.  Yes, Marion County requires that you microchip your pets, but I did it for the peace of mind.  If she ever runs away or gets out, it may not keep her from getting injured, but if somebody is able to get a hold of her, it may help them make sure she gets back to me.

  

It's a REALLY tiny microchip (about the size of a grain of rice).  It's also a simple procedure that takes just a second for a qualified person to do.

So, if you're in central Indiana and want to have your pet microchipped, today only the Indianapolis Humane Society is offering low-cost microchipping from 10 AM to 2 PM.  For a minimum donation of just $7, your furry child can be microchipped!  If you can put a price on the love that comes from those wet nose-nuzzles, let's just say $7 is a STEAL, folks!

Hugs,
Heather

The Ultimate Blog Party

It's been a while since I shared any of my adventures in crossing things off of my list and that is simply a shame!  I've also been a bit remiss in blogging the last couple of months AND I keep promising to update you on several things about projects, my thoughts and feelings on a variety of subjects and ALL of the things that have been going on personally for me.

Well!  That's enough procrastinating for me!  As they say, if you want shade, when is the best time to plant a tree?  40 years ago!  When is the second best time?  TODAY!  So, I'm gonna give it a shot to blog every day this month (#4 on the list!) and share some of what's been going on with me this month!  There are several projects that I'm just DYING to show you!

So let's get this party started...literally!  The ladies over at 5 Minutes for Mom are throwing the Ultimate Blog Party (2011 edition!) and you're all invited!

I may not be a mom, but I'm really looking forward to visiting some new blogs and I can't wait to hear from you all.  You know I LOVE me some comments!  So head on over there and see what they've got going on!  And if you're visiting here for the first time, welcome!  I'm so happy to meet you.

Hugs,

Heather

Edit:

Apparently I have not done my little post here quite right.

I never introduced myself!  I can be so rude like that.  Please forgive.

My name is Heather and I have been blogging on since 2007.  My blog started as a way to document all of my wonderful adventures completing my first 101 in 1001 list.  For those of you who haven't heard of it, it's basically a bucket list with a deadline.  You make a list of 101 things that you want to do and you try to get them done in 1001 days.  That's about 2 years and 9 months for those of you who don't want to do the math!  That list ended in July of 2009 and now I'm on list #2!

I don't think the bags under my eyes are really that bad.  Hopefully I just needed some sleep!

I'm in my 30s, single, no kids and living the dream!  Well, maybe not, but I do try to get the most out of each day of my life because there have been too many times in my life that I didn't do something and then later thought, "What if?"  So I try to be honest and open with people and I make sure that the people around me know that I love them because everybody needs to know somebody cares.

I write rant about life in general and more specifically motorcycling (been riding my own since 2005!), my family and friends (names are changed to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent!), the cutest dog in the world (Sasha) and things that make me go "hmmm".

I hope you enjoy what you read because most of the time I love writing about it.  If you do, make sure you Follow me and if you leave a comment, I'll be over to your page lickety-split!

Lent Day 8: A new life for old t-shirts

I talked a little bit yesterday about how much more I've been able to get done around my house since I'm not spending my time playing video/online games.  Well, the trend of checking off items from my list continues!

A few months (egad!) I cleaned out my t-shirt drawer when I found it was difficult to put the clean ones away.  What's up with t-shirts?  I swear they multiply like rabbits!  Do a charity event - get a t-shirt!  Win a contest - get a t-shirt!  They are everywhere!  Anywooo...

I hardly ever actually wear t-shirts (long story starting when I was younger - a garment with writing on it displayed on the chest of a VERY self-conscious well-endowed teenage girl.  ugh!).  So I cleaned out my t-shirt drawer and got rid of quite a few of some of the ones that were torn or stained, etc.  The problem is that there were a few of them that I really liked because of what they said or where they came from.  What's a girl to do?  I know!  Make some t-shirt grocery bags!  Yay!  I didn't do a tutorial because there are TONS of them out there and really, it's such an easy thing.  With a little sewing knowledge, it can be done in just a few simple steps!

1)  Cut each of the sleeves off at the joining seam.
2)  Turn the shirt inside out and stitch the opening at the bottom together.
3)  Lay the shirt flat and use a bowl to trace a larger opening around the neck.
4)  Turn it right-side out and you're done!

(I took some crappy ok photos of them, but I'll have to add them later since I forgot to upload them.  Oops!)

I'm looking forward to even more sewing in the next few weeks.  I'll keep you posted on my progress and take some better pictures this time!

Lent Day 7: Newfound time!

The other day I told you that I had given up playing video/online games for Lent.  I was sure it would be a struggle for me to do because they are sort of habit for me.  If I want to relax, I play.  If I am feeling stressed, I play.  If I am bored, I play.  I definitely think it could be considered an addiction of sorts.

The first few days I think it was sort of like going through withdrawal.  After the initial sort of "what do I do now?" feeling, I got busy!  I have a huge Pottery Barn chalkboard in my kitchen covered with my To Do list.  It a list of just SOME of the things that I feel like I need to do/fix/clean around my house.  That list has been there for ages with little action taken on the items because of my "lack of time".  Well, guess what I found!  Loads and loads of time that I was simply wasting on video games!

I used to feel like I hardly any time in the evening after working a full time job all day.  That's not the case this week!  On Monday night, I organized some of my Ebay items (more to come on that later) so that I could list some more things in the coming days.

Tonight,  I FINALLY checked a big item off of my list!

I don't have a pantry.  In fact, I ENVY people who do.  Instead, I bought a couple of bookcases from Ikea and made my own makeshift pantry.  I'm not thrilled that they are open and don't have doors (I like to keep things tidy behind doors), but I am making do.  So, with all of my newfound time, I spent about an hour and cleaned out my cupboards, chucked out of date items, cleaned shelves and put everything back all neat and tidy ala "Sleeping With the Enemy".  (All of the labels have to face out).  It's not done yet, but at least I've made some progress!

Lent is 40 days long, so I'm looking forward to get some more things crossed off of that big chalkboard! 

Lent Day 6: Madison Monday

I have completely fallen down on my job of posting about my niece, Madison!  Luckily, a few weeks ago I was able to spend some quality time with the little munchkin while my brother and his wife were away.  She is such a cutie and so even-tempered most of the time!  Right now she is trying to get some teeth and over the weekend that I was there she was doing her darnedest to get some forward momentum and actually crawl.  A few days later my brother said she had finally succeeded and she hasn't stopped since then!

Beware!  Madison is on the move!!  Today:  crawling.  Tomorrow:  the world!!

I apologize about the quality of the video here, but it was taken with my cell phone and I'm working on finding a better video source so that I can post on here.  Until then, enjoy Madison's world internet premiere!



Lent Day 5: Do you know where your pew is?

I don't talk much about my faith or church life on here because 1) while this blog is about MANY thing, it isn't about that and 2) my faith life is a private thing between God and me.  I grew up in the church and went to a parochial (church) school until I went to college and in that time I witnessed a lot of people who claimed they were Christians on Sunday, but lived a life that professed otherwise the rest of the week.  So instead of speaking about it, I prefer to let my life be a witness to others about my faith.

.

...but that is not what I'm here to talk about today.  No, today I'm here to talk about where I sit in church.  Now that my seem like a mundane subject, but I don't think it is.

You see, growing up in the church my parents still attend, we ALWAYS sat in the same pew.  There was nothing special about that pew and there weren't assigned seats or anything, but I guess we, like many others, were creatures of habit.  To this day, as far as I know, my Mom stills sits there.  My dad never did, but that's another entry for a different subject on a different day.

Other "regulars" had their pews as well and you could always tell who was/wasn't at church simply by checking out "their" pew.

Then when I started dating Troy 7+ years ago and I started going to "his" church, we didn't always sit in the exact same pew, but at least in the same 5 foot radius of one particular area.  I never really said anything about it and didn't really have an issue with it at the time, but over the last few months while attending the church alone, I've noticed a few things.  First, that particular spot is under the balcony, so the sounds of the choir or congregation singing aren't great.  I'm also certain that the amazing pipe organ could be heard better from a different location.  It's also near the back of the church which makes seeing events like baptisms and soloists who are at the front more difficult to witness.

So, the last few weeks I've been "experimenting" with where I sit.  I've been trying to figure out which location suits me the best where I feel like I can be involved at the level I want to be involved and get the most out of my Sunday morning pew time.  I know this is going to sound odd, but at 30-something this is the first time I've actually asked MYSELF where I want to sit.  It seems such a simple thing on it's surface, but I think it speaks volumes to how, up until now, I've not been honoring myself, my needs or the needs of my soul.

As I go through the next week, I'm hoping to remember to honor myself and the needs of my soul and to try to find "my pew" in every situation.