Just for fun | Sometimes I Write

Archive for the ‘Just for fun’ Category

So long Age 42, and thanks for all the fish!

Posted in Free to be me, Just for fun, Learning to Cope, tagged 42, birthday reflections on July 28, 2015| 1 Comment »

It’s the eve of my 43^rd birthday. Let’s pretend it’s Christmas in July – that’s the only other time I feel like I have to sit and reflect on a whole year all at once. And please, feel free to drop off presents under our evergreen tree in the front yard! 😉

As I was reading through my journal (aka my Facebook timeline) for the past year, the big highlights were mostly sad. I suffered some devastating losses of friends and family, a good friend went to prison for two years, my transgender cousin’s suicide made international news, a doctor friend was made famous by contracting Ebola, and my relationship with my mother came to a painful end. That last one was not on Facebook as it is still too raw.

Amidst such a long grieving period were many moments of victory, bravery, and beauty. We moved to a town we’ve wanted to live in for years. I taught my first drama class and not only did I love it, it was a huge success. I made two trips back to Wisconsin to visit my family and reconnected with two of my best friends from high school while I was there. I worked on my novel. I fed hundreds of people through the little food bank I run. We reinstated Niki Day and Benny Day into our family schedule. I went to lots of movies and read a lot of books. I nourished old friendships and formed several new ones. I began passionately pursuing my husband again.

In times of reflection, I can’t focus on the bad without the good. I made some really dumb mistakes this past year, but I’ve also had my moments of wisdom and clarity. I’m learning I’m better for both. Through a year of deep suffering, I’ve clung to my joy.

I know who I want to be, but better than that, I know who I am.

In his book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, English writer and humorist Douglas Adams said 42 is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. I’m still laughingly pondering that, but hoping for better questions and answers when I’m 43. Adams also said, “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I’ve ended up where I needed to be.”

Now THAT is the story of my year!

Read Full Post »

Days 9-18 on the 47 Day Photo Challenge Blog

Posted in Creativity, Just for fun, Photo Challenge, tagged photo challenge on March 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Catching you up on the photo challenge pics:

Day 9 “Architecture” – The Denver Central Public Library is a 540,000 square foot monstrosity of “public happiness.” Designed by world-renowned architect Michael Graves, the library opened its doors in 1995. The building is a work of art, but nothing compared to the beauty it houses. I took this photo on the top floor.

Day 10 “Sign” – They missed one. 😉

Day 11 “Stranger” – Taking pictures of strangers isn’t that strange for me. I was coming out of the movie theater and saw this girl standing against the wall reading my friend Kim’s book. I was so excited, I asked if I could take a picture to send to Kim. She was gracious enough to let me. Strangers don’t scare me, but I might scare them.

Day 12 “View from your window” – Greetings from inside the car wash.

Day 13 “Reflection” – See me twice? Try to look me in the eye.

Day 14 “Tree”

Day 15 “Vehicle” – Frontier Airlines flight into Kansas City, MO. My favorite transportation this week.

Day 16 “Animal” – This is a rescued sea turtle living at the Kansas City Sea Life Aquarium. You can’t see it in this photo, but he’s missing his front right flipper.

Day 17 “Itty Bitty” – How does anyone write in something so small? The second one is more my style.

Day 18 “Music” – Music moves me. I play several instruments poorly, but I play this one the best. She was a gift from my love. She spends way too much time in my closet these days.

Read Full Post »

The 47 Day Photo Challenge

Posted in Just for fun, Photo Challenge, Promoting Friends on February 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

My friend Don and I recently started another challenge. You can read all about it (and check out the great photos) on the blog I created for it: http://47dayphotochallenge.wordpress.com

It’s fun and creative, but I was most excited about practicing consistency, my lifelong pebble in my shoe. That’s why we call it a challenge. We have 30+ friends who’ve joined us so far. The majority of us are amateurs (me) using our smartphones and apps to capture our vision of the day’s subject. A few of us are using pretty sweet cameras and know a thing or two about lighting and composition. All of us are in it to have fun. At the end of each week, I’ll post my pics here too. You can click on each photo to enlarge it.

1-Love

2-Beverage

3-Something Blue

4-Looking Up

5-Workspace

6-Heart

7-Makes you laugh

8-Texture

Read Full Post »

30 Day Drawing Challenge Part 2: Day 14 – 19

Posted in Drawing Challenge, Just for fun on April 21, 2013| 5 Comments »

Day 14 – Worst Punishment

Ignore me. That is worse than screaming at me or hitting me. Seriously. She’s not armless, by the way. Her arms are crossed in front of her, you just can’t see them.

Day 15 – Favorite Fish

Finding Nemo was such a great movie! So many quotable lines, especially by my favorite character, Dory. How could I not love a fish that can read?

“Hey there, Mr Grumpy Gills. When life gets you down, do you wanna know what you’ve gotta do? Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming…”

Day 16 – A Major Accident/Pain in your life

Um…yeah…I wasn’t up to doing this one this week.

Day 17 – First Crush

I never went through the “boys are gross” stage, and I’ve had about a hundred crushes, but my first was Michael Hurda. He was the boy next door. Okay, more like a block away. I could see his house from our porch. He had dark brown hair and a big cheesy grin. We walked to our elementary school together all through first and second grade, and logged hundreds of miles circling the neighborhood on our bikes. He never treated me like a girl when we were kicking a ball around or playing tag, so of course I loved him. On a field trip to our teacher’s farm in first grade, he told my mom he loved me and was going to marry me someday. Then we moved away the next year and I didn’t see him again until a chance meeting in high school. He had moved to another city but was visiting our hometown and we ran into each other. We reconnected for a bit as friends, but lost touch again. Not to sound all stalkerish, but I know where he is. I found him on Facebook, but didn’t friend request him. I also found the biggest crush of my childhood, and we ARE friends on Facebook, but that’s not today’s challenge. 🙂

Day 18 – Outer Space

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

I can not hear the word “space” without the rest of the phrase running through my mind or slipping out of my mouth. Yes, I am a geek, and proud of it. In college, my best friend Kevin and I met weekly with several of our other geeky friends to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation in the parlor of McCloud Hall. I experience a brief wave of nostalgia, smell popcorn, and think of Kevin every time I watch an episode on Netflix. Yes, all seven seasons are available on instant watch. You’re welcome!

Day 19 – Favorite Holiday

July 29th. The best day of the year, and my very favorite holiday. My birthday. 😛

Check out the daily drawings of my friends taking the challenge:

Don Hillson
Zoe Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Notes From The Backseat
Niki Turner

Read Full Post »

30 Day Drawing Challenge – Days 8-13

Posted in Creativity, Drawing Challenge, Just for fun on April 13, 2013| 4 Comments »

Yes, I know I’m killing the mood on this whole drawing challenge. It’s tax week and I’ve been sick. Yuck. I spent a couple of hours today catching up.

Day 8 – Amusement Park

I’m not a fan of long lines, over-priced food, and sunburn. It reminds me of being a little kid and waiting in a line that seems to never end, only to spend 10 seconds scalding your backside on the metal slide before landing in a puddle. I’ve been missing my Draw Something matches with Don, so I drew this in that style, only allowing 30 seconds to draw the whole picture to get my point across. 🙂

Day 9 – Your “Spirit Animal”

Spirit animal? Like I believe in that stuff! If I were going to compare myself to any animal, it would be this one:

Day 10 – Hometown Memory

Grandad Bluff is the closest thing I had to a mountain when I was growing up. It’s a mesa that towers over LaCrosse, Wisconsin at a whopping 590 feet above the city, and 1183 feet above sea level. It was the backdrop to my childhood. I rode my bike all over the city, looking up and imagining what it would be like to be in real mountains. It’s where I went when I snuck out to watch fireworks on New Years Eve when I was 14. I “parked” there with a boyfriend. I took my out of town friends there on touristy trips, attended birthday and graduation parties there, and even climbed past the fence and sat on a rock (don’t tell my mom), dreaming about the day I would leave LaCrosse behind. Now I live in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains – my dream come true – and honor the place in my heart for Grandad Bluff, the mountain of my youth.

Day 11 – Last request if the world was ending

Easy. My last request will always be that EVERYONE will come to know how much they are loved by God, and choose to embrace His grace and mercy as the sons and daughters they are.