Early A.M. Ramblings....

Drove to the gymnasium for Casey's game at 5:45 p.m., but there were two strange teams on the court warming up for the 6 p.m. game -- with Casey's gang nowhere in sight, so came home again. Don't know what happened; the schedule must have changed this week. Didn't want to wait around an hour to see if she was in the 7pm time spot...

Tonight at 7 I will be trying out to see if I can become a contestant on Jeopardy (unless I forget to logon and try out at the proper time)! There's an on-line test to take at that time for folks living on the west coast. I really enjoy Jeopardy and can usually do a pretty good job playing it. Some categories are beyond me by miles -- I'm not much into popular culture the past thirty years or the sciences, but even with those, many of the clue-driven answers are often so obvious that I can guess the correct questions based on those alone. It's worth a shot. I'd also be a good Wheel of Fortune contestant -- and maybe even a pretty decent ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER contestant... but that's dicier!

I have submitted my resume for a couple of freelance copywriting gigs in the area and am waiting to see if I get either or both of them. Just read another book on starting and running a copywriting business. It doesn't look like rocket science and I'd enjoy 95% of it (that's a very high percentage). It's just scary to think about doing! I would love it, though -- being my own boss, working from home... I'm disciplined enough to do that, and there are no distractions here. I bet I could do it. I just need to develop a client list, so have registered at Elance and Guru.com and at other freelance websites hoping to get a few gigs and some buzz about my abilities from new clients. If you hear of anyone needing web content or brochures, flyers, newsletters, or other copy-heavy projects, please keep me in mind. I'd be happy to quote a price after I hear the scope of the work...

I went to bed at 9 and slept like a log 'til about midnight or a little after.. awoke in prayer! I really did! I came awake praying for a number of concerns and people... That has happened a couple of times before. They weren't frantic or anxiety-driven prayers at all.... they were mostly thanksgiving and affection-based prayers for friends or family members going through an uphill struggle on some level. I'll menton a few of them so you can join me in prayer:

My sister Jackie lost one of her long-time friends this week: Bruce Lindoff, who she went to school with. Bill, Bruce's twin, was actually closer to Jackie, but Jackie always told me what a treasure both Lindoffs were to her when she was in school. So my heart and prayers went out to Jackie and to the Lindoff family. Bruce was in Hawaii having the time of his life with his wife -- snorkeling, playing golf -- when he just sat down in a chair (after snorkeling) and was gone. Even though sad, Jackie said, "What a way to go -- in Hawaii, in the midst of doing everything he loved -- and without a struggle." We should all be that fortunate when it's our turn to go -- but not at age 53! That's just too sad. Bruce and his wife have a son and a teenage daughter. Please keep the Lindoff family in your prayers.

I also prayed for my own situation, asking God to keep me strong and positive and to not allow Satan to mess with my feelings of self-worth during this period of unemployment. I also asked that He would keep me focused on attaining the kind of work He placed me here to do, using my pen (er, keyboard these days!) to persuade, encourage, guide and entertain people. My best suit and greatest passion has always been the written word. There's a place in this world for people like me, or God wouldn't have given us the drive to keep at this day-by-day since childhood the way He has...

What else? Wish there were more. I'd like to keep writing, but don't want to bore you, so will hush now until something else crosses my mind that seems worth sharing.

The one-year anniversary of the launch of this blog is right around the corner (February 23rd). Time sure flies when we're having fun! I hope these effforts are keeping you entertained and informed . Sure would love to hear your appraisal of how I'm doing "so far" and what else I can do to make our time together here even better! Let me know. That's how I grow!