pensieve.me

Slow Fade

I'm a BIG Casting Crowns fan, never tiring of their first two CDs.  Their third was recently released, but although I haven't yet downloaded or bought it, based on what I've heard so far, I will. 

Slow Fade is a new take on a familiar children's song, preach-singing about the subtly of compromise. 

Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade

Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day

Oh be careful little eyes what see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Winner Wannabe and Winner I Was

1)  The girls at 5 Minutes are giving away a Dyson Pink "All Floors" vacuum.  Wouldn't this make house cleaning FUN?!

(okay, who am I kidding, but still, at the least it would have to make you smile every time you pulled it out of the closet :) ).

Don't feel like you have to enter...1,000+ people already have, so you probably don't stand a chance ;).  Crud, lol, neither do I!!!

2)  Lani over at The Wooden Porch had a little contest with the prize being some help sprucing up your blog, compliments of RS Designs. Well, I was the very lucky blogger who happened to win, and Revka has been helping me tweak a few things with Pensieve.  Revka has been a delight to work with and if you're looking for minor--or major--blog design, she would be more than happy to hear from you.  She's also working on a few other things for me, you'll have to stay tuned for that :). 

Thanks, Lani and Revka!  Because of the two of you, I've been doing one of my little happy dances :) (you know the one, Snoopy...nose in the air....)

HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED MY OWN BLOGGIVERSARY (and more)?!

A year ago, I remembered to celebrate.

Last night, I ran into someone I met a while back at the Youniquely Woman Conference.  In catching up with Kris, something prompted me to remember my blogging anniversary.  Funny, a year ago it was a big deal...this year, it didn't even cross my mind until after the fact.

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Guess what, though--KARMYN "remembered"!  Look what little surcie she sent me to commemorate this apparently forgettable most auspicious of occasions--my Second Blogiversary! although I'm sure she'd just say she sent it because she was tired of me begging:

Isn't it the cutest presentation you've ever seen?  It looks like an Aztec Egyptian.   Or a Veggie-Tale character. 

Somehow she knew to send me "mild".  I guess she knows in spite of all my saucy talk, I'm a powderpuff.  I can live with that.  It was reeeally unfortunate no one is home to taste test with me...let's have a go...

It sure looks pretty in my favorite chips and salsa bowl...and it certainly smells fresh and delicious (you'll have to install that plug-in in order to release the aroma)--but far be it for me to judge a book by its cover OR its librarian scent.

MMmmmm....perfectly spiced, not too chunky, slightly sweet...this ain't gonna make it til the end of the day!  THANK YOU, KARMYN!!!   

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IF YOU'RE STILL READING....just thought I'd postscript with a heartfelt thank you and apology of sorts.  I am extremely grateful for the comments you leave here and the emails I receive from y'all.  For a while now, although I've been skimming Bloglines daily, I haven't been able to comment back to you on your blogs (or even here, for that matter) like I'd like to.  I'll try to do better, but it seems like I've been "trying" for a while.  I understand the reciprocal nature of blogging (unless you're a rockin'-super-blogger ;) ), so for those of you willing to stick with me--give MUCH to me--when I'm giving little in return, I appreciate you...a lot.  "Thank" and "you" are two little words that convey the biggest of big--I hope you can hear the affections with which I say them :).  ~ Robin...the ever pensive PENSIEVE    

Mystery Man

Any ideas as to who I was with and what I was doing? 

~ His story has been told in a major motion picture (albeit inaccurately)
~ His is a message of redemption and importance (not a Christian message per se)
~ He stole the hearts of the 1,600 people who were there to see him

Tongue in cheek or legit?

Is this a joke? 

Give a man a website and he (thinks) can run for president now...what a sign of the times!  I wonder if he even knows the site exists.

Oh, well, at least he can dance...:)!

 

"Mom...you know what's REALLY sick?!"...

(buckle your seat belt, this is an actual conversation we had this morning...)

Me (knowing fully well I will regret asking):  "What, honey?"

S:  "You know the Coke machines in the lunchroom?  You gotta pass by them everyday to turn in your lunch tickets..."

Me:  "Yeah."  (Did someone say "Coke"???? :) )

S:  "It's really gross!  Gannon wiped a booger on the Dr. Pepper button and it's still there!"

Me (turning green):  "WHAT?!?!"

S:  "Yeah, he's not even at our school anymore, and it's STILL THERE!"

Me (incredulous it's still there):  "Well, a truly servant thing to do would be to get a rag and clean it..."

T, chiming in:  "Mom, it's not coming off, it's been there like THREE YEARS!"

Me (wondering if any ADULT knows about this, or instead--and surely more likely--has been blindly pressing a crusty-mucus- ickified Dr. Pepper button for years now):  "...a very WET rag...!"

T (with a classic conversation ender and why I HAD to blog this):  "But, Mom...it's a signature booger."

p.s.  And for anyone who read yesterday's post, no, this is NOT what I was hoping to "write well"....

Fun Blog Stuff

Have you ever had difficulty writing a post while you're hacking up a lung and your head feels like it's wedged in a vice with Tony Soprano doing the honors himself?  I've been writing something today, and it's so all over the place, there's not a chance I'm clicking "publish" instead of "draft" (you're welcome).  It's one of those things I want to write well, and right now?  Well...all I can think is "Ishtar" which is totally Min's fault.  She knows why and I know why, and sometimes it's just best to be on the outside of an inside joke, ya know (especially when it's not even funny to the insiders!  or was it Steve?  See?  My head is so jumbled it can't even remember who to hattip, and this is one where both of them would probably rather I didn't in the first place, anyway)?

Huh?

(That is SO a viable sentence and the parenthesis contain necessary explanation without interrupting the flow of thought...right?  RIGHT??)

Without further stream-of-consciousness thinking from me, here, my little kittens, is your ball of twine for the day.  Enjoy playing with it--let me know if you do! :)

                      

Flickr Name Generator

HT:  Shannon   

p.s.  ...and I can't talk like a pirate, no matter how hard I try :/ (ummm, not that I've actually tried...)   

Fun Monday, Schmun Monday

Here is this week's Fun Monday challenge as requested by Sayre:

Brush off your interview skills. Talk to everyone who lives in your house. I want to know what their, and your, favorite piece of art is in your home. Photographs do not count. If there was a fire in your home, everyone would grab photographs, but what is the non-photographic piece of art you would grab on your way out - and why? (Edit: These don't have to be paintings - these can be wall hangings, statues, lumps of clay by your child, anything that is artistic expression of some kind EXCEPT photographs.)

Well, since my head is still in a vice, my nose is a faucet, my chest feels like an elephant is sitting on it, I'm achier than Billy Ray Cyrus' 15-year-old breaky-heart, AND on top of all that, I'm getting a flippin' fever blister, I wasn't going to participate (if ever I NEEDED a Coke with crushed ice in a glass with a flex straw, it's NOW :/). 

Then, I saw this at Jenny's and I couldn't help but play with her new favorite toy. 

These expressions capture perfectly how I feel...and I'm pulling a Swampwitch and breaking the rules.  I figure this counts as fine art since it's hanging in a museum for goodness sakes.

Be sure to visit Sayre for a list of Fun Monday posts by people who actually did what she asked them to do :).

Randomries...

1)  I feel like crud (because I have "The Crud") and I'm in the bed reading my favorite Godblogs; not necessarily people who write about only "spiritual" things, but who live out the presence of Christ beautifully through their words, regardless of how many times they mention the name of Jesus.  I saw this Madeline L'Engle quote at Dirty Shame and thought it described what I mean: 

"Not long ago a college senior asked if she could talk to me about being a Christian writer. If she wanted to write Christian fiction, how was she to go about it?
I told her that if she is truly and deeply a Christian, what she writes is going to be Christian, whether she mentions Jesus or not. And if she is not, in the most profound sense, Christian, then what she writes is not going to be Christian, no matter how many times she invokes the name of the Lord." (Walking On Water: Reflections on Faith & Art, pp. 121-122)

2)  Whenever I'm sick, I crave Coca-Cola.  Not Diet Coke, no flavored derivatives, Coca.Cola....and don't even think about sneaking in a Pepsi in its place--my head-throbbing, feverish, phlegmmy self knows an impostor.

This sick-bed tradition is tied to my youth.  Perhaps it is simply a matter of not having so many choices back in the day...or, maybe, a soft drink was a real treat...whatever the case, I have fond memories of my mother or grandmother filling a glass with crushed ice--absolutely no plastic and never cubed!--and bringing it to my bedside or sofa, depending on where I was convalescing.   A flex straw was an added bonus, and although I'd drink it for a while that way, I usually ended up taking it out because homemade crushed ice was a treat, too.   I suppose my children have no appreciation for this because they can get instant crushed ice by pressing a button on the fridge...back then, you had to work for it.

No matter how bad I felt, this always made me feel better...I think it had less to do with the drink...and much more so the TLC and sympathy that accompanied it. 

Today, I wanted needed a Coke and was ever-so-thankful we actually had some on hand.  My response is very Pavlovian...I felt "better" (even though I didn't really feel better).  Somehow, just continuing this tradition ties me to my past (to my mother, grandmother) in a good way, and I suppose it lives on in a very real sense...

3)  I'm VERY thankful my children are old enough to entertain themselves; my husband is out of town for the afternoon, so it helps they know their way around the kitchen.  I trust them not play with matches or juggle knives.  When I walked downstairs to check on them, they had played a few games of Monopoly and baked an impressive batch of homemade oatmeal cookies...AND cleaned up the kitchen.  I had to smile--I'm rarely sick (thank God!), so when they see me, let's just say, looking like I was auditioning for "The Night of the Living Dead", they wanna make my life reeeal easy.   

Gosh, I remember not too terribly long ago when they were much younger and I had the misfortune of getting sick--those were days...months...YEARS of survival at times!   Whew...!

4)  Have you googled your first name followed by the word "needs" to see what you "need"?  Steve, Min and I are still having our little blogchat in Thriceville (we'll hit 400 comments soon!) and apparently they discovered a few things I need:

"Robin needs help going downhill."

"A normal-sized adult robin needs about 40 calories a day..."

"Robin needs a spanking." (no comment)

"Robin needs a hug..."

I thought they were joking (in spite of the fact I'm pretty sure I've done this before), but all their findings are there.  I found a few extras, too--

"Robin does not self-preserve....and needs complete assistance from others..."

"Robin needs a half-decent rogues gallery."

If you do this, why not tell me what YOU need in comments...better yet, pop over to the "Nice Thrice" post and leave your comment there (and while you're there, take time to read a bit...they're still so daggum funny to me, it's not even funny!)

huh?

I'm sick...I don't feel well...give me a break! 

At least I don't have parvo, mono, or anything else that ends in "o"  (poor Jenny!)

Western Adventure - the list goes on...

If it weren't for the travel, I'd love to travel.

If in life it is true that "it's not about the destination, it's about the journey", I'd say the converse is absolutely true for travel.  Getting there, wherever "there" may be, is little more than an annoying and time consuming means to an end.  I hear a chorus of "Amens!" from parents who've traveled with children.  Age doesn't seem to matter; whining may change shape and size as they grow older--the pitch may become less shrill, fewer tears may be shed--but does the License Plate game ever appease for very long?  And if you fly?  Well, I don't like having NO control  the thought of my body parts being flung over three different states flying, so I think I'll avoid talking about it altogether.

Anyways....in the case of our trip out West (predominately the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone), in spite of THE travel, it was worth it.  Seeing the amazing works of creation in person I've read about and observed in pictures since I was school age?  Had we lost our luggage, missed our connecting flight, had to sit next to someone on the plane who defied personal hygiene, it would've still been worth the "price" of admission. 

I've come away with a sense of urgency to tell others they MUST go!  It should be REQUIRED for every American citizen!  Our country is abundantly blessed with priceless natural treasures and it's worth the time...the effort...the expense of GETTING THERE!!  For those of you who live within a few hours?  Well, I hope you're taking advantage of it. 

What IS certain, I'm afraid, is my pictures don't begin to do it justice; then, again, even the BEST, most professional photography in the world doesn't convey the spectacular show you'll see if you'll just go there yourself. 

So....continuing the lighter side of our trip, here is a continuation of my favorite memories:

[7]  The family that sleeps together  swaps spit  prays  PLAYS together, stays together. 

Actually, forget the strike-through...we did all of the above.  More than once. 

There's not a germiphobe in our family; I guess our children are modeling what they've seen in me (and Tad).  Outside of begging bribing reminding them to wash their hands after using the bathroom, pretty much anything goes.  That's how we managed to pass around the same water bottle on hikes without batting an eyelash, how I used Rachel's toothbrush when we camped (at least I brushed, which is more than I can say for the boys :/) because I couldn't find mine, how Rachel TRIED to re-use the contact she had dropped on a NASTY, CAMPGROUND bathroom floor (that one grossed me out), and how I, after that night of camping, wore the same clothes AND make-up two days in a row.  Did I mention I brushed my teeth?

We shared a motel room most nights, we thanked God for the beautiful show everyday, we played a thousand hands of gin, and we even had a charades "tournament" (don't ask me why Stephen thought it was a competitive sport!).

Okay...#7 was long, so I think I'll close this post, start on another, and take a short course in Brevity 101.

Back with some more memories soon....!