It's official!

I have moved. You can now find my happy blog home at www.courtneywalsh.typepad.com (I tried to insert this as a link and it wouldn't work.)

I hope you'll come visit me there! Oh, and don't forget to say hi!! :)

pretty mundane stuff...

Well, there they are. The bangs. In all their glory. I've started pinning them back. ha. And though I have noticed a lot of people on tv have bangs... they maybe are just not for me. I don't know. Maybe when they get a little bit longer.

Today is a big cleaning day for me. I had some assignments to finish up yesterday, so I didn't get as much done as I wanted - which I hate. I hate that feeling of un-productivity. I know that's not a word, but you know what I mean.

Tomorrow night, Sophia is in a half time dance at the high school. It's Elementary School Night so the high school cheerleaders put together this dance with the little kids. It's really cute, but dang, it's LONG... and a LOT to learn in two practices (each only an hour long). Coming from a theatre background, I guess maybe rehearsal is just a little more important to me, but I don't know. They'll have fun, though, and that's really more important.

Other than that, I am just hanging out and loving being un-busy for awhile. We're getting ready to re-do Ethan's room. This is his bedding. He is SO excited. My dad made his bed and it's finally going to be ready this weekend! I got that big red airplane too, to hang from the ceiling. I'd like to find one more like that, only smaller. (The yellow one was sold out.) I've been stockpiling airplane stuff for months. :)

I can't wait to do it because Ethan is so excited about it.

Back to cleaning! :) Have a great day!

September 11th...

...is officially over. For this year anyway. I've stayed away from the television for the most part. I'm not one who really enjoys crying. I did manage to catch a brief memorial video and instantly started crying at that.

I know we can all remember where we were when we heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center. I was still working, and able to bring Sophia with me just a couple of the days each week. She wasn't even six months old yet. I walked into my office, and in the outer office, everyone was gathered around the television. I got there just in time to see the second plane crash into the second tower.

I felt instantly numb.

I know we all did. How does something like that happen? Is there really that much hate in the world that this kind of thing seems justified?

I don't want to write a big long *thing* about it, but even now - five years later, I am blown away.

Tomorrow is a big day for me. I am finishing up a big project and will finally be putting it to bed tomorrow. And then... I will clean my house.

Which is dreadful.

I wonder if there exists on earth a person who actually enjoys cleaning? I could use some lessons on learning to love the mundane. :)

Happy Tuesday.

feels like summer.

I heard from one of the teachers at Sophia's school we're in for a cold front, but you wouldn't think so based on the weather yesterday. We've been having some strange things happen around here involving weird little creatures. I don't mean Sophia. I'm just posting her picture here because that's like the only real smiling picture I could get and it's not even a good photo. Tips for getting your stubborn five year old to cooperate?? lol - (The best tip is probably just 'leave her alone' but I don't know if that's going to work!!) :) Anyway, got her to sit for maybe three seconds and snapped this one. I'm playing with all the manual settings - just really wanting to learn how to understand the technical side of things. Next week, I'll start reading "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. I've heard that will help! :)



Okay, so randomly, last night, while the kids were playing outside, we found this guy hanging out by the swings. I thought frogs only hung out by water, but the little dude was right there on the dirt... no water in site. Of course Adam played Jeff Corwin and caught him just to let him go. The kids thought he was pretty cool.











Especially Ethan, who was trying to pet him. Obviously he learned very quickly it's kind of hard to 'pet' a frog. :)














Then, a few nights ago, we came home and found this guy hanging out on the front step. It was the craziest looking caterpillar I'd ever seen - with these fuzzy black hairs sticking up - I thought Ethan would smoosh the poor thing, but thankfully, he managed to survive the curious fingers. I did some checking and this caterpillar will eventually become the banded tussock moth. How cool is that thing??

Now, the odd thing is that in addition to these two funky creatures, we've got a few not so cool things going on as well. For instance. This week, we had a mouse invade our basement. We live in a bi-level home, so our basement is partially exposed and also our main living area. Knowing there had been a mouse spotted was NOT fun for me. We also have, in our yard, the entire cricket population for Northern Illinois. I'm not kidding. These tiny little crickets bounding around all over the place...

I'm fine as long as they stay in the yard.

But they didn't. They must've sent the mama and the dad inside to case the joint because I killed two of the largest crickets I have ever seen.

I'm wondering what is with all the weird little creatures. Is it a sign? Is it symbolic? Should I be afraid? Reminds me of the dang plagues. Or is there just a really weird infestation of odd creepy crawlies? Needless to say, the Orkin man will be getting a call from me. And soon.

Anyway... it's Saturday and I am working. (can't you tell??)

:) I hope you're out doing something FUN!

focus on the positive. :)

I am afraid to even post anything because I've been so miserable the past few days. Pretty sure it would come across no matter what I try to say. Pink Eye is something I should be used to, but I can't think of many other things that affect me this way. Having to wear glasses (I had to buy new ones) really bothers me - just having something on my face - it's annoying, like a constant annoyance. My father in law just had laser surgery done, and I have to tell you, if I was rich, I would be all over that!

So let's try and focus on POSITIVE things... I need to get in a better mood! :)

• I was pretty excited because last week I had my first digital page picked up last week, which is super cool. I am loving playing with digital, but definitely have a lot - a LOT to learn! So, I'm working on that.
• Sophia likes school. (THIS IS HUGE). Today they have their first "Skittle Party" which means they get to eat popcorn and skittles and watch a cartoon. So happy she's liking it.
• Ethan is adjusting to her being gone. Also a plus.
• Next week, I am going to switch to Typepad. I don't know if I will get the new blog up and running right away, but I am going to try. I think we might start really plugging our church website and Adam's blog, so if I like Typepad, he might have to switch too. I don't know... I just need something a bit less technical. And I want to post more photos and stuff, so...
• I heard the best quote the other night while watching Dirty Jobs with Adam. Yeah. He's HOOKED on that show and I was procrastinating... Anyway... it's this:

"Success is often missed because it shows up in overalls looking a a lot like work."

Isn't that a great quote? I thought it was. :) Anyway... I need to go start my day!

Hope yours is a good one!!

Pink Eye.

I've got it.

Again.

I woke up this morning to an eye sealed shut. And a pair of glasses that is at least 5 years old.

I just want to go back to bed.

UGH. I don't have time to be contagious!!!

natural disaster.

I guess I sort of knew it was only a matter of time before natural disaster hit the area where I lived. Three years ago, we had a HUGE storm that took up all the trees in our neighborhood and left us without power for five days, but we were completely fine - thank GOD.

Again, His hand was on us as last night two tornadoes passed through town about seven miles from our house - and RIGHT by the church. There was also severe flooding and many people had to be evacuated from their vehicles. My niece's car stopped in the middle of the street, which may have been a blessing because when she got out of the car, people in a nearby restaurant called for her to come inside - there was a tornado only blocks from where they were.

As far as I know, no one was hurt - which is a miracle in itself, but it's got me thinking a lot. With all the hurricanes and tsunamis and earthquakes - I knew tornadoes would be crazy too. That's the main threat here in Illinois, but of course, I try not to worry about what's out of my control. Still, it's really scary to think how nature has sort of gone haywire. I wonder if it's something we've done - like with global warming - or if God's grace is starting to wear thin - or if it's always been this way and I didn't notice.

Lately, when I've been scraping plates into the sink to shovel uneaten food down the garbage disposal, I feel like - I don't know, it occurs to me that in many places in the world, our scraps would be someone else's best meal ever. I think about that movie "Cinderella Man" when Russell Crowe gives his daughter his food because he "had a dream he ate a big steak" and he was full. I wonder how we would fare in those kinds of conditions?

I pray for our country. I pray that we stop ignoring God - as a culture, we really do. As a society, the things God places importance on are at the bottom of our list. And we are a country that was founded on God's Word. For religious freedom.

Lately I've felt convicted about something. I am strong in my beliefs. I have very solid opinions about a lot of things. But when those things are controversial, I keep my mouth shut. I don't want to upset anyone. I don't want anyone to dislike me. But if I can't stand when it matters - why stand at all?

Just rambling, really. It's cold here. And rainy. I have my big sweater on. Closing in on a big deadline but feeling the pressure mount. Afraid I am not superwoman.

Will only finish with HIS help.

I thank Him for his help.