So I'm guessing that LiveJournal didn't finish all their scheduled maintenance a day or so ago, as I read above me that there is another blackout scheduled later today now.

By the way, I immediately amused that LiveJournal's auto-spelling correction doesn't find "LiveJournal" to be a word. Hehehe.

I have been so, so, so busy. Gosh, I swear that "busy" just doesn't even feel like it can cover it. I've been here and there, running all the time. I'm so behind on so many things, and I've even now returned to regular day planners. Even though I had 900 other things I should have done today, I spent my first "break day" off in a long while combing through my email and correspondence, answering many, many folks on things that should've been done days/weeks ago. I also filed tons of paperwork, as well as shredded two tons more. I'm catching up, and I feel better about facing the rest of the impending holiday schedule at this point.

I've gotten a few invitations recently that are super-exciting, but I need to wait to share the news. In addition, I'm sitting on the cusp of something HUGE, but again, I can't share just yet. These things have been consuming lots of my time, but they are wonderful, positive things.

Sometimes it's hard to get back to my usual day-to-day ramblings, and I miss that. I feel like everything I really need to post lately is a big thing. Even moreso, I feel that my journal has turned a bit more inward than before. For years, this journal has been about me, but even moreso about my family and my boys. Recently, it's been almost entirely about me, and there are so many, many things about the boys I want to share. However, those are always the things which involve tons of not-yet processed pictures, so then those posts go on the back burners. Still, I suppose it stands to reason that, as the boys become older and more independent, I am finding a life of my own in those "free" hours, right? And that new life is what is being chronicled here now.

Still on me, I went to the OB/GYN this week for the follow-up from last week's urology visit. I have no more answers, just lots more things to watch at this point. Hopefully, we'll know more after the bladder biopsy this coming Thursday. My friends are kindly nagging me, making sure I get the surgery scheduled in a timely fashion, but... there are so many cookies to make before Christmas! I promise, though, it will be done soonly.

I'm going to get my North Dakota driver's license tomorrow. Philip and I went on Wednesday, but I didn't think to take a certified copy of my birth certificate with me, so I need to go back. Mine expires on Saturday, but I did learn that I have a full year's grace period before I would need to take another written/driving test for a new license. Still, I want to get it taken care of tomorrow, so that's my plan.

Happy Birthday to my LiveJournal! *throws confetti*

My LJ is now fully eight years old. I can't even believe it. My goodness, so much has happened and changed in that length of time. When I think of all the stories in here, I become nostalgic and misty-eyed.

When I started this journal, my boys looked like this:



This entry was from the 25th (three more days), but it mentions the playing outside in the yard that is pictured above. It also mentions my meeting Heather! It's insane sometimes to remember that there was a time she wasn't part of my life - it feels like she's always been around.

In addition, I noticed that I mentioned decorating for Halloween in that entry. Too funny, since I just did that yesterday! Here's a picture from that year's trip to the pumpkin patch:



For those that have been around for years and years, Jack has almost completely "grown up" on LiveJournal. He was just 13.5 months old when I began writing, and A.J. was just over 4 years old. Now, however, the years have flown by, and the boys looked like this just yesterday:

You know what is important to me? Writing in my LiveJournal. It's cathartic and healing, nostalgic and nurturing. I feel better after each update, and I miss the days when I don't make time for journaling. After almost eight years, it's become second nature to me. In fact, I was a paper journaler and letter-writer long before LJ, and I think that getting things "out" is essential for my well-being.

I've been thinking about this for a few days. I've been so busy since summer vacation hit, and things have gotten more crazy as I begin to prepare for visitors and vacations. At the end of each day, I consider writing an entry, but instead, I fall exhausted into bed or I play a few mindless games online before crashing into my pillow.

But what is it that I will miss, years from now? I hardly believe that I will wish I had played more online games of MahJonng or Minesweeper. I will not long for the days of blog-hopping to look for pretty pictures or recipes. No, it's the loss of my journaling I will mourn, the untold stories of our lives. The tidbits and snippets, mementos and musings. I will wish that I had taken the time to write more details of the life we lived. It's a great resource to have, to look back on, and I can't number the times I've used it to recall certain details.

I miss the LJ community that has drifted elsewhere online, and I've been at fault in that as well. But this is where my heart is, and it's home to me.

I write the best entries in my head after I lay down to sleep. They're clever and witty, long and detailed. If there were awards for blogging, they'd be on the bestsellers list!

Sadly, I never remember them the next day. The handiest thing I can dream up would be a mind-to-journal application. Who's with me? :-)

I just checked my "Messages" here on the site, and I've got a bunch of missed comments and actual messages. I don't know why they're not being sent to me right now. Also, I have checked around in a few journals and found that some of you have replied to me in your own posts, but I didn't know that either.

I'm sorry if we're having a conversation and I'm not aware of it! I beg amnesty. *bats eyes*

Also, dottey and kechara? !!! Yes, OMG, let's find a way to get together! I just "found" your comment (argh, AGAIN), and I would love to meet up! I figure it's best to post it here, rather than to rely on you getting your comments, either. Email me if you want to have a better convo. ;-)

I have... *checks* ... 970 comments that I need to reply to in my own journal. That's "nevermind"-ing all those that need responding else where all over the LJ world.

Just in my.own.journal.

*waves white flag*

I'm so busy lately, and I keep meaning to update, but then have no time to do so. As a result, here are some bullets of the going-ons in my life as of late:

• Runza was burglarized on Friday, the 26th. No one was at the store at the time (it as early morning - about 6am), so we were all safe.


• But it's an "inside job," as someone used a key and also was able to open the safe to empty the contents (and said safe has a pretty complex code).


• This is causing me GREAT unease. I clearly don't know someone as well as I thought I did - whether it is one of us four current staff with such access (including myself), or one of the two staff who left in the last couple months (both of whom I consider to be friends).


• The fingerprint dust from the detectives all over the office caused me to have several freak-outs. Too much of a trigger from the other robberies. *sigh*


• Because of the burglary, we have been piecing the store back together in the past week. I have worked a lot of hours. A LOT. And this past week contained the "end of month" stuff for my monthly bookkeeping role anyway. It has been a really heavy week.


• Next week looks to be about the same for the first three days. The four of us are also now required to travel to Lincoln, to the Runza National office, to be interviewed individually by a theft committee.


• We're still waiting to hear the final word on taking polygraphs. We were told originally that we would need to, we all agreed to do so, and then they decided, "No, not just yet. Let's do the committee meetings first."


• I received a lovely, super-duper surprise from mostcurious! She knitted me my very own, PoA-style Slytherin scarf! I don't have pics to share yet, though. :-/


• I got my hair cut on Friday night after work. I told the gal to do what she wanted, and it is VERY different! Again, no pics yet.


• The boys' school pictures came in, and they are both good. A.J.'s pic is PHENOMENAL, in fact. I was very pleased, and I've been working on getting them mailed out.


• I took family portraits for a friend visiting from Florida on very short notice, and she LOVES them. I'm very happy, and you can see those HERE, if you're interested. I still need to burn her a CD of the images and mail it to her...


• Today is my little godson's birthday! Only he's not so little anymore - he's now TWO! Happy Birthday, Douglas!


• It is OCTOBER already. How did that happen?! Seriously, Jack will have been 7 for two months already next week, and A.J.'s been 10 almost as long. That is insane! My little (not so much!) guys haven't yet decided on costumes for this year, though we keep looking...


• I still need to get Halloween decorations up. Jack has been begging to put them up this year (I didn't decorate last year at all, as October was a difficult time), and I was just too darn busy this week. I'm hoping to get to it before...


• bigbrain61 comes to visit on Wednesday! Dude, I'm so stoked! I've known him online for about 5.5 years now, and we'll finally get to meet in person! He'll be here from Wednesday evening to early Friday afternoon - I can't wait!


• Speaking of online friends, I passed my 6th LiveJournal anniversary on 09/22. Can you believe that? Craziness! Thanks to all of you who've made this such a great place for so many, many years. *hug*


• Aaaaannnnnd, in BIGGER news, Philip and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on 9/12. We marked the occasion by renewing our vows, and a handful of very close friends celebrated with us at our church. There were tears, of course, but for the first time in about a year, they were really HAPPY tears! Heather took a few pics for me, but I don't have them up yet, either...


• Also in the works, Philip and I are headed to Colorado in January for a ski trip! We will be gone for five days, and it will be only the second time we've ever been alone in our entire marriage (the first was for one night last December while we were in West Virginia). We've already paid our deposits, and we're really looking forward to it. Philip will be skiing and snowboarding, and I plan to veg out in the beautiful scenery with my camera, some tatting, and good hot cocoas. We'll spend our evenings in the condo with another couple, making homemade meals and chatting and playing games - I'm so excited!

I'm sure there's so much more I need to update about, but I've got to get moving and push some more laundry through. I've got leaves to rake in the backyard, laundry to put away, dinner to fix, and a mandatory full-staff employee meeting tonight to attend as well. Go, go, go - that's me!

Wow. Since I last looked, there are a TON of new LiveJournal V-Gifts. And some of them are so frickin' cute! Go here to see all of 'em.

I also think it's neat that they've organized the gifts into categories, and that they now offer all of the gifts all year long. Who says you only want to send a leprechaun to a pal in March? Pffft!

if LiveJournal is ever going to send me my comments again? This is freakin' ridiculous.

Alright. Who wrote the longest entry on your flist today? Was it me?

Sorry 'bout that, but I get very word-y sometimes. Especially when I am trying to get the details in. At least I put most of it behind a cut, right?

For the record, the Ministry supports brevity. "Stick it to da Man!" - that's what I say, and why I write like I do.

*grins*