Journal entry 257--Father's day

Write about a memorable Father's Day with the man you love.

My best Father's Day has been since I was married. I was blessed to have found such a great man who is a great father to our children. He is everything that I wished for in a father. I always remind my children how fortunate they are and thankfully they know it. I love seeing them interact with their father and after seeing my husband's father, I know where he learned it. He was a great example to my husband and he is more of a father to me than my own was. It's been good for me to see that there are men out there who are loving fathers.

Journal entry 256--Tickets

Have you ever gotten a driving ticket? Describe what happened.

I got my first ticket when I was 17 years old for speeding. I thought it was okay to drive 75 in the fast lane of the freeway. Granted, this was back when the speed limit was 55 on the freeway.I tried to talk my way out of the ticket, a skill that would later work in weasling out of a ticket, but this time it didn't work. During that time, I was in college and taking a biology class. I was bringing home my dissection rat to study for a test. The poor cop was a bit grossed out seeing my flailed opened, pinned down rat lying on the passenger seat. Oh well.

Journal entry 255-Child

Describe yourself as a child.

I was a happy little kid up until my father left us. After that, my mother kind of shut down and my sister, brother and I had to grow up fast and parent ourselves. By age 8 or 9, I was still silly. I remember getting a hold of a tape recorder and saying random things in it like recording all the German words I knew, which weren't very many. I was also imitating some of the characters on the "Dukes of Hazard" television show. One time my brother and I decided to record our version of the Beatle's Number 9 song only ours was called "Take 10." It was fun to be silly because it took our minds of other things.

Journal entry 254--Morning

How do you get ready to start your day? Any tricks to being on time?

I'm great at running out the door, frantically yelling at my children to "hurry" and being late somewhere. I think I just try to do too much and then I run out of time. My 7 year old is teaching me how to not rush her by being very slow and getting angry with me when I tell her to hurry. Consequently this makes getting ready last longer and I get more frustrated. Since then, I've thought about what I'm expecting of her--to drop everything she's doing and run out the door. So to compromise, I now give her a 10 minute warning and show her what the clock will look like when it's time to go. This way she can finish up whatever she's doing and be ready to go when the time comes. It's a work in progress. I just need to be better prepared.

Journal entry 253--Travel

What do you think is the best part of traveling? Seeing new things or coming home?

I love to travel and see new things and meet new people. I love to see how other people and cultures live and act. However, if I'm with my family, I'm okay to stay a long time. I don't miss the busy life and deadlines and homework, etc. If I'm away from my children, I start missing them too much and can't really enjoy myself. The best trip we took as a family was a cruise. I didn't want to leave the boat!

Journal entry 252--Winning

How far would you go to win? Are there any actions that would be acceptable to you?

I love to win, especially when it's a game that I know I'm good at or in my mind, should win. However, I won't cheat to win. What's the point? You end up knowing you won under false pretenses and that it means nothing. When I play a game with my husband, it's all out war and each one of us tries to win. Usually when playing with my equally competitive 11 year old, I don't cut him any breaks but I do for my 7 year old (naturally). I hate when people cheat in games and don't follow the rules. My 11 year old is inheriting my competitive nature!

Journal entry 250--Your home

What do you love about where you live?

I love how my city has a small town feel to it. It's big enough that not everyone knows me and what's going on in my life but small enough to run into someone I know at Target, Costco or the farmer's market. The best part of where I live are the friends I have. We see them every Sunday at church and it's been a wonderful way to raise my family. We have a lot of wildlife at our house, although there are many times I don't like them eating my garden. It's just a great city and I love living here.

Journal entry 249--Forgiveness

Do you struggle with forgiving someone who has hurt you? Write about how you are trying to forgive that person.

I have struggled my entire life with forgiving my father for not being a father to me. What makes forgiving him even harder is that I don't really think I loved him or even liked him for that matter. I never really knew him and when I did catch up with him 30 years later, I found that he had very few redeeming values. I know I shouldn't judge him but it was wrong that he chose alcohol over his children, whether he could help it or not. I look at my 6 year old daughter and can't even imagine putting her through the same pain that I felt at the same age. I'm trying to forgive him but I still feel too much anger towards him.

Journal entry 248--Family Gatherings

What do you look forward to during family gatherings?


I love to get together with family and play games. We usually sit around a table and play different card games, board games and a certain dice game. It's fun to be able to talk to each other and laugh about our competitiveness. I also look foward to putting a puzzle together with my nieces and nephews. We always seem to get out a puzzle and frantically try to put it all together by dinner so we can use the dining room table.

Journal entry 247--Brothers

Write about an experience with your brother.

My brother is a genius. So growing up with an extremely smart brother lent itself to some interesting experiments. I was the hunchbacked Igor to my brother's Dr. Frankenstein either helping with various experiments or being the guinea pig. One time that comes to mind is when he made a generator that sent out small volts of electricity to whoever was holding the two attached metal poles. While I, Igor, held the metal poles, my brother would turn a crank which sent out the electricity. He usually stopped turning it a minute or so after I started yelling.

Journal entry 246--Helping

How can bad situations in your life give you more compassion towards others? Write about a time when this happened.


I've written before about how I didn't have the most ideal childhood and at times I feel sad about it, but I have learned a lot from it. I've been in many situations where I needed to understand how another person was feeling in order to help them. One that comes to mind is a young boy who had just lost his father. He was suppose to participate in a play but felt too alone and upset to be around others who didn't understand what he was experiencing. I was able to share with him how I felt when my mother died when I was young and knew what he was going through. He eventually agreed to be in the play and did a great job. He just needed to be understood and unless you've been through a similar experience, it's difficult. I wish my mother had not died but I am grateful that I had the opportunity to help this young man.

Journal entry 244--Impressions

Finish this sentence: "People usually view me as..."


I think people usually view me as shy or even stuck-up. I've had a lot of disappointments in my life and tend to put up a shield before getting to know someone. It's not that I don't want to meet the person, I just need time to get comfortable. Sometimes I also get tired of chit-chat and I'm a bit of a loner person. I don't think chatting with store clerks, etc because I just want to get out of there. I guess I need to work on this.

Journal entry 243--Creativity

Sorry I haven't been posting a lot, but I'm still recovering from shoulder surgery and sometimes it hurts to type on the computer.
When are you the most creative? Early morning or late at night? Why?

I am the most creative the minute my head hits the pillow. At a time when you're suppose to shut your mind down and relax, that's when my brain really starts churning. Many times I keep a note pad on my night stand to jot down ideas otherwise I will inevitably forget by morning. A few months ago, I was writing a play for my church and I must have turned my night light on at least 5 times to write down ideas. Sometimes I don't even bother turning on the light and I just write things down in the dark. I guess I think better at night because all the distractions of life are gone for the moment and I can actually hear myself think!

Journal entry 241--Mother

What about something you admire about your mother.

My mother was very artistic and creative. She was always doing some kind of craft when I was little and could sew anything. She also made the best wheat bread ever! Growing up, she sewed many of my church dresses which I loved because they were unique and unlike anyone else's. One time I was in a play and my mother made a bunch on animal masks for us. They were colorful and fun to use. I miss her creativity.

Journal entry 240--Movies

Have you ever walked out of a movie? If yes, what was the movie and why did you leave it?


I've walked out of a couple of movies and wish I had walked out of several more. My friend and I left a movie called "The Pick-up Artist" with Robert Downey Jr. I don't remember what the movie was about only that we left because it was so boring. There is another movie that I saw with a friend called, "Meet Joe Black." Basically we both thought the other one wanted to see the movie so we stayed only to find out later that we both wanted to leave. At that point the movie was half over so we stayed and just talked through the movie. Don't worry there was no one else in the theater.

Journal entry 239--Nails

Describe a silly thing you did as a child.

Aren't most of the things you do as a child silly? I remember painting my nails a very frosty shade of lilac and then turning cartwheels in my backyard. I must have painted at least 15 coats of polish on my nails. After each coat and before they were dry, I would run into the backyard and turn cartwheels a few times before heading back in for more polish. I thought my nails looked great and was amazed that they never got smudged. Looking back, I think I was delusional!

Journal entry 237--Your day

Describe your day today. Is it any different than your other days?

Today was not much different than most Thursdays. I went to the gym where I'm slowly getting back into exercise after my shoulder surgery and then headed over to Walgreens. There I bought a bunch of stuff for $.10! Yes, I'm addicted to using coupons. After I went home, I worked in my garden and continued to devise evil plots to destroy the rabbits that eat my garden and finally I went to my daughter's school where I teach music. Once that was over, I took my daughter to piano lessons and then picked up my two boys from middle school. Lastly I drove to Albertson's where I cleaned up on more great deals. I know this is all very boring but how was your day?

Journal entry 235--View

Describe a beautiful view.

I could stare at the ocean all day. I love it! To me, it is the most relaxing view to admire. I love watching the waves form, crest and then crash onto the shore. I'm always on the lookout for dolphins and sea lions either jumping through the water or peeking their noses out. Pelicans are also fun to watch as they dive straight down into the water for a snack. I love the sounds and view of the ocean.

Journal entry 233--Smile

Write ten things that make you smile.

1. My children and husband
2. My puppy
3. Getting checks in the mail
4. A great yard sale find
5. Winning a card game
6. Chocolate chip cookies
7. Stability
8. Marx Brother's or Mel Brooks movies
9. Watching my garden grow
10. A good book

Journal entry 232--Wind

What does the wind remind you of?

I always think about my bedroom when I was a child. My bed was up against the window, which had curtains. I loved to lie on my bed and let the wind gently blow the curtains outward. I loved the feel of the warm air and the smell of orange blossoms it brought with it. An orange tree was just outside my bedroom window. It was so relaxing to lie there and let the curtains fan my face. Now a days, unfortunately, the wind is too strong where I live to enjoy it!