Crisis of blogging confidence....

OK, so I am beginning to question whether there is really any reason to keep coming back here and posting every day...to add cool links that I like and other content...to share what is going on in life in my part of the world. I have always maintained that the main reason that I blog is for me...and I have been more than OK with that since 2003, when I created my first blog here at Blogspot/Blogger to talk about the school levy in the district that I was working in at the time. Through the last several years of blogging, it has been responsible for the birth (and most likely death) of a friendship that I came to cherish very much and the loss of a job that I thought I would be in until I retired.

That is not to say that there has not been a great deal to be thankful for that has resulted from blogging...I have learned a TON...about the internet and how it works, and how to use it to your advantage, and about people...what motivates them...both positive and negative....

I know that there is a core group of folks that regularly visits here...I watch the traffic every day and smile to see that you return. I try to create content that amuses and engages you, as well as entries that reflect for you what is important to me and my peeps....if you like what you read or something pisses you off, make a comment...one thing I do know after years of doing this is that every blogger reaches a limit where the rationalization of "I really write for myself" doesn't ring true for even THEM anymore...I guess what I am saying is that I think I may have reached that point...some input would be welcome...everyone likes to be encouraged from time to time...but no worries...this is probably nothing more than a temporary malaise...the down time that bloggers are bound to experience eventually....putting out the thought processes here, for those of you who care enough to read...

till later, much love to you....

v

"In loneliness, in sickness, in confusion.....

...the mere knowledge of friendship makes it possible to endure, even if the friend is powerless to help. It is enough that they exist. Friendship is not diminished by distance or time, by imprisonment or war, by suffering or silence. It is in these things that it roots most deeply. It is from these things that it flowers."

This is for the people that mean the most to me, whether near or far...I think of you often and with love.....

v

And the winner is....(drum roll please...)

The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps from Rosemont Illinois....after a few days away, the young one and I did our annual summer duty and attended the DCI All Star Revue at the University of Toledo Glass Bowl on Saturday night. The young one absolutely hates it that I take a million photos (not really...but several hundred...and video clips too), but after the event is over and we take a look at the photos that are the best ones, he is pretty happy that I do. I have a pretty good camera, and as a rule follow the "battery" (drumline) when the corps are on the field, so I usually collect a great bunch of photos of percussionists of each group that performs. The unfortunate part is that sometimes I do miss other things on the field, but that is not very often, and honestly the percussionists are what interest me most anyway (hmmm...wonder why?)

Today, I have my last day off from work and the young one and I will be heading back to UT for "Rocket Launch", orientation and registration for incoming freshmen and transfer students. We will spend most of the day there, talking to folks and getting things ready for his first quarter at UT in the fall...should be interesting and informative (that is the point, I think) and it will be nice to spend the time with the young one. If I take photos while on campus (that may be pushing the young one a little too much!) I will post them for you...there are also a few more drum corps photos that I really like that I would like to share, so I may be back to post them later as well....

Till then (whenever that will be) much love to you....

v

Getting ready to travel

As unreliable a proposition as my Blackberry has become recently, even in my regular service area, I'm gonna give blogging from it a shot as I head off for a few days. Not doiing anything spectacular, but will post a llittle some thing here and some photos on Face.book as long as service will allow. Hopefully I will come back rested and a little tan......low expectations set, especially after the horror show of March

Will see what happens when I get there.....if you don't hear from me here this week, you will know the service sucked and I will back on Saturday for All-star Revue at UT with the young one

Till later, much love to you

V
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Sent from Vicki Timman's BlackBerry Wireless Device

So nice to have this to fall back on when I have nothing I really want to say.....

The Apathetic Online Journal Entry Generator



With kudos to Lore Sjöberg (The Slumbering Lungfish - Dybbuk Hostel and All-Night Boulangerie) at The Brunching Shuttlecocks here is my blog entry for today...if you are a blogger and a little on the light side for content, check out the link above for a fill piece until you get your game back on....luv ya, mean it, 'bye! v

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So it goes...

My life's been completely unremarkable these days. Today was a loss, but such is life. I've just been staying at home doing nothing.

Current Mood: jejune

Graduation - June 10, 2007

The young one graduated from high school today in a ceremony punctuated by a speech from the Salutatorian which glorified going for what you desire at all costs, and the address from the Valedictorian, which made a reference to "coming out of the closet". One of the assistant principals was recovering from an injury to her leg and was sporting an ACE bandage from ankle to knee, the super gave a nod of acknowledgment as he walked by to mount the stairs to the stage, and one of our school board members gave a very emotionally charged speech riddled with song lyrics and encouraging the graduates to live and experience life.

The young one was fortunate enough to sit in close proximity to his Sara and next to the Teague twins, two of his best friends at NV. The redundancy of cameras we had in our group (the firstborn and his Ann and myself) assured that we pretty much covered every possible battery failure and focus problem. Not all the media has been viewed yet, and the most important images are forever ingrained in my memory...my young one has graduated high school...heads off to college, to really start building for the rest of his life...I am so proud...and sad..and humble...such a wonderful child....such a talented young man...

Till later, much love to you,

v

Late Post - Rootsters Raft 10 Mile Creek in Sylvania

Root Rafting Update

The outstanding individuals who are featured in the photo above did indeed pursue their rafting adventure down the famous (in Sylvania) 10 Mile Creek as far as their rafts would allow. They passed under the bridge at Harroun Road and headed toward the Sylvania Country Club on the east side of Rt 23, and by all accounts were received with wry humour and without any suspicion of malicious intent. Once through the country club grounds (pretty much the golf course), they headed on into the back yards of the pricey properties of Corey Road. At that point the raft of one of our heroes sprung an unrecoverable leak and a second exhibited signs of taking on water so the trip was cut short.

Unfortunately for our hail and hearty men, they realized too late that noone had had the presence of mind to include a cellular phone or other communications device in their sparse provisions and once they clamoured through mud and tall grasses to the clearing, they were incommunicado, and disoriented, not sure exactly where they had arrived AT. They began to walk, rafts in tow and wet and muddied from their adventures, through the very affluent area. They happened upon a man working in his yard and bade him direct them to the nearest large roadway so they could begin to get their bearings. The man directed them vaguely toward Sylvania Avenue and Corey Road and that is the direction they headed. On the way, they noted a pizza delivery person retreating from a recent drop off at a home and asked HIM for directions and the favour of using his mobile phone to make a call to a companion of one of the rafters, who had agreed to retrieve them at the end of their trek. The pizza man was less than thrilled with being accosted by these strange individuals, and was even very much less inclined to hand his cell phone over to them outright. He dialed the agreed upon number, handed the phone to the rafter so he could talk to his companion for a few mere moments to indicate where they would perform their rendezvous, and off they walked again to travel to the agreed upon location. Once arriving at their spot to wait, they actually became acquainted with a family who was recreating in their yard with their children, who were very interested in their quest and talked to them for quite a while until their ride arrived. Interestingly enough, observed on their fence as the motley crew was departing was the sign “NO TRESPASSING”….and these were the NICE people!

Anyway, it is much cooler to hear the story from the guys who did the rafting, but this is the summary for you, in case you were wondering….hope you enjoyed visualizing their trip…it was very fun to watch!

Much love to you….

v

My Best friend's Daughter's wedding....

Through the last month or so, if you asked him how things were going, he would reply in his offhand sort of way something about wedding bills, wedding plans. Ask him how he felt about walking his daughter down the aisle, and "giving her away"; he would cavalierly comment that she was an adult and the soon-to-be husband was a long time boyfriend, so there was nothing new for him to be concerned about. He made it all sound so mundane...but I know him well and know better than that.

Today, under a perfect blue summer sky, with family and friends there to share it with him, his little girl got married....his baby..the apple of his eye...the only totally perfect female in the world, became the wife of some man who walked into her life and won her love. In the long walk from the Manor House to the gazebo in the shade of the tall oaks, I can only guess at the swirl of emotion in his heart...her passage into her adult life, the closure of a little part of his...taking on a new role in her life...still daddy, and always special...someday, "grandpa" to her babies with her new husband...

I was there only as a casual observer...a member of the public in a public place who "happened upon" this very personal and private event. All my love is with him and his family on this day....even at a distance, I felt joy at their joy...and pride and love for him, on this special day in HIS life as well as hers.

That's all for now....much love to you, on this day of love's celebration....

v

Natural selection in golf...

Pardon me....

While I yawn...so tired the last week or so, I barely make it to 8 PM before I pass out like a bear going into hibernation. Even with the recent heat in Ohio, I have been so drawn to my pillow that I have drifted off quite a few times without even making an effort at a meal, or even seeing the kids when they get home from work.

I have heard that stress will manifest in all kinds of ways, and perhaps that is what this is...I really am NOT usually such a slug...lots of things going on with the young one and school coming up in the fall, the new office and all the stuff that keeps coming up that needs fixed since the move...the death of a friendship that I treasured a great deal...I know...buck up...I suppose I will...but for now, I cope with my tiredness, and now, adding to the fun, a new symptom, periodic hives...whoohoo! Some people really know how to have a good time, eh?

Anyway...till later...much love to you...
v

Exactly what I was thinking, Drew!

Check out more from Drew at Where Are The Dogs Humping.com

Recognition and rehearsals begin...

May 30 was the last day for seniors at NV and yesterday was the "Senior Assembly" at the high school. The assembly is basically held so that the underclassmen and parents have the opportunity to learn of the accomplishments of the senior class and some very prominent scholarships are officially awarded to their recipients at this time.

Today, the young one will go to the Stranahan/ Masonic complex in South Toledo, transported by city school busses (legal issues require it) to rehearse for the actual ceremony to take place on June 10. I will not be able to be there to take photos (I'm sure that breaks the young one's heart!) so the next photos regarding graduation will be taken at the actual event. Keep the young one in your goods thoughts...he is participating in a rite of passage that we all have experienced, and having all the angst that goes with that...the end of one part of life, and transition into a new one...thankfully he has good friends and his Sara to share this experience with...it should be a good one...

Till later, much love to you...

v