Friday Fragments

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It has been quite a while since I participated in Friday Fragments, but here it is. Friday. And I have fragments to share. Feel free to follow the linked picture above to join in as well

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 - My laptop is still on the fritz. It's looking like we'll be getting a new one, but that's not really in the budget right now, so I don't know when. I am very thankful for the Kindle Jason surprised me with a couple of month's ago. But I do miss having a laptop.

 - Work is confusing right now. As you might have guessed by this post, there have been some frustrations. But I also keep hearing little bits & pieces that give me hope that they're planning more for me in the future. I keep hearing phrases like:

"our vision for you"
"deeper level work"
"handover of administrative tasks"
"increase your technical knowledge"

So it's a combination of encouraging & frustrating, and much of it is vague, with few details. Which increases the frustration at times.

- Buddy is getting older. And showing his age. When it was still Winter, he got cold much more easily than in previous years, and consequently spent many more nights indoors than in the past. He also moves much more slowly, and stiffens with (probable) arthritis on chilly nights. Big Dog has become Old Dog.

- Jena is growing like a weed, both in physical growth and maturity. It's amazing to see her advance as she gets older.

- Jason's new business is doing really well. I think he's a bit frustrated that it's not growing faster, but I'm super-proud of everything he's accomplished.

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I guess that's all for now. As always, thanks for checking in!

About Me (a meme)

1) What were you doing 10 years ago?
Working as a medical receptionist for a dermatologist, sending resumes out like crazy. Loved the work, the patients, and my co-workers, but the office manager was just awful and I had finally had enough.

Single. Living with my parents.

Still in pain daily from my accident.

2) What are five things on your to-do list?
Well, this is rather boring.

- buy new toilet brush
- affix mirror decoration in bathroom
- wash dishes
- clean kitty litter
- empty trash

3) What are five snacks you enjoy?
- peanut butter & apples (even better when you're finishing the ones your daughter left behind)
- popsicles
- Kettle Chips
seriously racking my brain here... I try hard not to snack...
- Grippo's Barbecue Chips
- peanut M&Ms

4) Name some things you would do if you were a millionaire.

Give it away!

Seriously, one of Jason's fears is if we were ever wealthy I'd give too much away, LOL.

Pay off bills, obviously.

And travel. We love to travel, and our travel bucket list is quite long.

5) Name some places you have lived.
Ohio
Kentucky

6) Name some bad habits that you have
I'm a bad procrastinator.

And the past few (like 10 or so) years I've constantly & consistently late. Drives Jason nuts. I think psychologically something must've happened, because I used to always be the early one. Not anymore. Someone come analyze me, LOL.

7) Name some jobs you have had
dishwasher
library associate
medical receptionist
bedding associate
accounts receivable clerk

the list could go on.... I guess when you count part-time and short-term, I've had a lot of jobs...

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this post inspired by this post

Speaking Life

A few years ago I attended a women's conference where I was introduced to the idea of "speaking life". Even though I was not yet a parent, the speaker's revelation about choosing to speak life instead of death in regards to her children had me intrigued. The idea that there is power in our words and we should be intentional about the words we speak because they themselves have authority in our lives.

Because we were at a church conference, I was especially intrigued because despite growing up in a Christian home, this was a new concept to me, one I hadn't heard before.

And so I searched the Bible, but came up with no direct ties. There are no verses (that I have found) that specifically use the words "speak life" or "speak death" or anything thereof.

What I did find was quite a few references to the concept:

"A fool's mouth is his destruction..."  -- Proverbs 18:7a

"Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee."  -- Proverbs 4:24

"There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health."  -- Proverbs 12:18

and the most direct reference:

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue:..." -- Proverbs 18:21a

There are more than that, but you get the idea.

And so, while I don't profess to be 100% successful at taming every word that leaves my mouth, I have made a conscious effort to only speak life with regards to my child.

Is she perfect? No, of course not. None of us are.
But do I choose to dwell on the good, on the positive, on what she can do, instead of what she can't, on what she excels at instead of what she struggles with? Absolutely.

It's not always easy, especially during some particularly frustrating, ahem, phases she's gone thru (you parents of small children know what I'm talking about), but I do it. I try. I work at it.

And yes, I absolutely believe that both she, and our family as a whole, will be better for it.

I strongly encourage everyone to focus on speaking life into, well... your life. Your loved ones, and yes, even yourself. I mean, it can't hurt, right?

As always, thanks for checking in!