Maggie on Maggie: Giggling Gems #5

This is a note I wrote.  I guess I never sent it, which is a shame since it's definitely a literary masterpiece.  My mother says you can tell who a person is going to be by their kindergarten report card.  That may be true, but you can also tell who they're going to be by the notes they wrote when they were 13.

Keep in mind that all the punctuation in this is actually made up of little tiny 'x's.  All periods and bottoms of exclamation points, but oddly enough not the tops of commas...

(Captain's Log, Stardate) Thurs. March 26, 1998
*Sam*
     Hi! How R u doin'? I'm fine. (*scribble* <--a really stupid drawing I scratched out.)  You still like Mr. C & Mr. A?  I still like my buddie.  (Isn't that a doll for boys from the '80's?  Also, relationships have clearly never been my strong suit.) 
     Ya know what I think is really funny?  This.  Hukd oon fonix werkd phor mee.  It's funny.  (Trust me, it is.)
     Do you ever notice that when I write notes they have absolutely no point & say absolutely nothing.  (World, meet the precursor to my blog.)  Most people write notes that make sense, but not me.  (Can you sense the pride I take in that?)  That's why I don't write notes often.  I only write them when I'm doing nothing, won't get in trouble, or really board.  Usually, it's #3.  I hope that doesn't insult you.  I didn't mean for it to be offensive.  (I'm just saying that I can only find the time to write you the notes that are so clearly the staple of our friendship when there's nothing else to do and I'm completely bored out of my mind.  How could you possibly take umbridge with that?)
     When you come over tonight, my sister's friend will be there, I think.  It'll either be Brittany or LeLani, (if that's how you spell it) Emily just calls her Lani.
     You know what.  I don't usually write notes this long.  I can still find things to say.  Wow!!  I think this is a record!  Don't you feel special.  (I mean, come on, you should.  After all, I'm deigning to grace you with my presence in written word.  That alone should make you give me your lunch money.)  If this is getting to wierd, just scratch out the parts that you don't like & pretend I never wrote them & you never read them. (I've always been a problem solver.) This note is getting way to long.  G/G.  CUL8R.  W/B.  IDKWJD.  (I think this is supposed to be "IDKWJWD" as in "I don't know what Jesus would do", but it's open for interpretation.)

P.S. If you wonder what any of this means, ask me.  I won't mind.  (As stated earlier, it means I'm bored out of my gourd, but go ahead and ask.  After all, your asking will kill a few more minutes.)

Seriously.  How could this be written by someone other than me?  A little unintentionally offensive, a lot clueless, a dash of goofy, and with more than a touch of crazy.

Unexpected Blessings

We are SO blessed!  There are so many people in the ICU in such terrible shape.  We sit, nearly giddy with hopeful anticipation about what kind of change this will bring to our lives, with their somber families and all I can think about is how blessed we are.

One man and his wife were hit by a semi.  He walked away with airbag and seatbelt wounds, but she's in critical condition, waiting to be stable enough to have surgery on her spine -- surgery to try and keep her from being paralized.

There's an Amish family whose brother was walking and was run down by a sleeping driver.  They come by the dozens to sit and wait for news.  I don't know exactly how severe his wounds are.  People call from all over the country for them to find out what's going on.

Another family is here with a stroke victim.  They're watching brain waves, hoping he'll make it.

I don't know why we are so lucky.  I don't know what God has planned for us.  I just don't know.  In the words of my sister, "We have everything under control.  Wait...what am I saying?  We don't have anything under control.  God has everything under control."

I'm so thankful.

Psalm 104

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
    he stretches out the heavens like a tent
    and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
    and rides on the wings of the wind.
He makes winds his messengers,
    flames of fire his servants.

He set the earth on its foundations;
    it can never be moved.
You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
But at your rebuke the waters fled,
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
they flowed over the mountains,
    they went down into the valleys,
    to the place you assigned for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross;
    never again will they cover the earth.

He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
    it flows between the mountains.
They give water to all the beasts of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
    they sing among the branches.
He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
    the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
He makes grass grow for the cattle,
    and plants for people to cultivate—
    bringing forth food from the earth:
wine that gladdens human hearts,
    oil to make their faces shine,
    and bread that sustains their hearts.
The trees of the Lord are well watered,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
There the birds make their nests;
    the stork has its home in the junipers.
The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
    the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.

He made the moon to mark the seasons,
    and the sun knows when to go down.
You bring darkness, it becomes night,
    and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
The lions roar for their prey
    and seek their food from God.
The sun rises, and they steal away;
    they return and lie down in their dens.
Then people go out to their work,
    to their labor until evening.

How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small.
There the ships go to and fro,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

All creatures look to you
    to give them their food at the proper time.
When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.
When you hide your face,
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.
When you send your Spirit,
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works —
he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    as I rejoice in the Lord.
But may sinners vanish from the earth
    and the wicked be no more.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Praise the Lord.

Giggling Gems #4

This one is definitely from junior high...

*Maggie*
Band is really boreing don't you think so? (Yes, I often feel the need to drill holes during band...)  Sometimes it can be fun but most of the time it's boreing.  (Pretty soon we'll make it all the way to China.)  We better win our basketball game tonight or Coach Clines will kick our butts.  She was in a bad mood yesterday in practice.  She made me and Helen McFlarfen run extra stairs for some stupid thing.  I don't know about Helen's but the reason she made me run stairs was stupid.  Do you like playing the clarinet? (Not really.)  It seems hard to remember what fingering goes with what notes.  (Not really.)  Do you still like you know who?  (Not really.  Gosh it feels good to get that off my chest.)  I like three people.  (In my head this is very Marsha Brady.)  Well gotta end this letter sometime.

Your friend,
Samantha

Birthday at the Lake

A couple of weekends ago I spent a weekend at a friend's houseboat in celebration of his girlfriend's birthday.  I just downloaded the pictures.  We had a good time being generally silly and trying not to lose at cards.  Most of the photos I took were at dusk so they're not great quality, but you'll get the idea.

Trying out the panoramic feature on water -- not too shabby.

This is what happens when you say, "Come on now, everybody, get together for a picture!"

This is what happens when you frown and say, "Come on. Now. Everybody get together for a picture."

What can I say, I'm a fan of symmetry.

Morning on the lake.

Weirdo.