WAS I REALLY GONE SO LONG?

One day, almost 3  years ago,  I just disapeared from here!  I didnt mean to do that.  I recently had my first look at my blog in all that time and I cant believe I just abandoned it like that. I actually like my little blog.  I was just beginning to even get a few people who would read occasionally and then I deserted them too!

One thing that happened was: BARRACUDA.  That would be the content filtering network of choice by the I.T. staff at work.  It didnt matter that I only worked on my blog during my lunch hour.(ok--and maybe a slow time here and there)   It was now a FORBIDDEN website.  Seeing as how there was just no free time going on in my house after work to pay attention to my blog, it just came to a halt.

Later, I even got rid of my internet access at home.  I know---can you believe it?  But, I'd developed a little addiction to Family Feud on Facebook and decided that if I had time for Facebook, but not time for my quiet time with God and Bible study, then I had to do whatever it took to stay away from Facebook.  We were already blocked from it at work.....BARRACUDA...


And guess what?  It really wasnt that bad.  I have actually survived and thrived without internet access at home.   I get e-mail notifications if someone posts on my FB wall or tags me in a comment or picture.  Sometimes that can cause a little bit of urgency to get on FB.  I will want to reply to the message or see what kind of picture someone has posted of me without my knowledge!  People are "liking" it and commenting on it and I dont even know what it is.   I will feel this need to get to a computer with internet access that is  not blocked from all the fun stuff.   But, soon--that feeling goes away.  I realize the world wont come to an end if I cant immediately (or even at all) post my feelings on a matter or my response that I'm sure everyone would have thought was so clever and witty.  And--so what if everyone in the world has seen a picture of me and I didnt get a chance to see if I would approve of it.  If it made me look too fat,  wrinkly, etc-----it was probably a perfect likeness of me!


So, anyway-- something brought me back to my little blog.  And it so comfortable here.  At first I didnt feel like I could write here anymore.  How would I begin?  What could I say?  Can a person who is not a writer get writer's block anyway?? : )    So, I decided to just jump in and start typing.  And guess what?  It was super easy to just start rambling mindlessly once again!   I hope I will get to stay for awhile.

Skywatch Friday- Boulder Lake- Idaho

Boulder Lake near McCall, Idaho. I took this while on a hike in July of 2007

View More Skywatch Friday Photos from other bloggers HERE

Skywatch Friday- The Road to Agdash

This is a photo my brother took while we were in the car on our way to Agdash, Azerbaijan while on a trip in March of 2009.

We Had Beautiful Clear Gulf Water........

And thank goodness for that! Can you imagine being out swimming and not being able to notice one of these critters until they were right there on ya??!!!

And how about this thing.................

We stayed clear of the water for awhile. After all, it's their home! Later though, they cleared out and , yes--we did jump on in!

I'm at the beach!

My cousin and I drove the 3-1/2 hours down to Destin this afternoon to meet the family at the beach. They've been here all week. Some people had to work though.

We got here just in time to see the sun setting.

We saw this tree while walking to the beach. Which came first? The fence or the tree??

Well, I don't usually write about current events, but I will have to make an exception and write about the events that unfolded today as I watched a home made helium balloon soar through the air while thinking that a small child was on board.

As soon as a co-worker told me the story, and we started watching video clips online, I prayed and then sent out an urgent prayer request e-mail that this little boy would be ok. I guess not only being a parent, but also being a grandmother to a small boy, just caused me to have major empathy pain for this boy's parents. It was a horrible feeling to think of being totally helpless and unable to reach a small child in need. And that is when I knew I needed to pray.

I prayed that this obviously mischievous boy was oblivious to what was going on. Or that he was having the time of his life on the joyride. Of course- If he had a dad like mine, it would be the last thing he'd enjoy in a very long time! ; ) But, I would rather think he was having fun and not panicking and crying.

Then, I thought--no--even better--------I pray that the boy is not even in the balloon. I hope that this little guy accidentally set this balloon adrift and then knew he was in some DEEP TROUBLE, and decided to go hide somewhere. And then, as things got even worse, he was even more afraid to come out. And, in the end, that is exactly what happened. Praise the Lord for this ending.

I guess I was able to relate to this last scenario. Maybe we all can in some way. I was telling my "hiding from trouble, when I was a kid" story to a cousin today and she thought I should share it. But, the story I like best is one about my brother.

When he was about 3 years old, I was with him and my mom in Kmart, when all of a sudden my mom realizes that he was not standing beside her. She called for him and he didn't answer. We looked around--no Jimmy (he had not yet become J.T.). So, pretty soon the whole store is looking for Jimmy. We are pretty panicked by this time. Yes, even I was getting a bit concerned for the safety of my little brother. Finally, with an ever so slight quiver in her strong-sounding voice, and not wanting the worst to be true, my mom yells something that I think went like this , "Jimmy you tell me where you are right now or you are going to be in big trouble!"

And, then as he comes popping out of a rack of clothes very close by, that we had passed many times in our search, he announces to everyone in a sweet little voice , "Here me!"

Yes--He had decided to have fun and hide in a rack of clothes. But, as he realized that everyone in the store was looking for him, and he was going to be in trouble, he decided he would just keep on hanging out in the rack of clothes to prolong any punishment coming his way.

I don't even remember if he got punished. I'm not even sure I got punished when the whole neighborhood was looking for me that time and I was hiding under the car. At least we didn't shut down flights at an international airport or have a Blackhawk helicopter in the air at a cost of $4600.00 an hour to fly. Then again--we might have got our backsides worn out.

Well, anyway-----I guess we all have our stories of trying to hide from our punishment. And I guess sometimes we have to face the music, and sometimes we are pardoned. I'm very thankful for answered prayers for a happy outcome today!

I have neglected my blog lately. But I have been devoting time to some things that I needed to be doing. I had been using my lunch hour at work for "blog time", but we are no longer allowed to access blogs from work anymore.

But I have taken care of a lot of things and hopefully can manage my time to get in here and write again. I have missed it very much.

In the meantime-------today I found out that I am the featured guest host on Skywatch Friday! I didnt even know till someone left me a comment about it! I am honored!! There are truly beautiful and amazing pictures that people post as a part of Skywatch Friday, so it is truly an honor to be allowed to have my picture among them!