I sit here nervously awaiting the news. Will Bilbo ever run again? Will I ever hear the sweet and slightly aggravating sound of him stalling out? What will become of him? I know it is Sunday but my ox, or rather my car, is in the ditch. And by "in the ditch" I mean, torn apart in the barn and needs to be put back together so I can go to work. He has been torn apart and put back together so many times. His insides lying all over the floor on display for all to see.


He's had so much work and yet, I get in and turn the key. The big moment is here, I can finally hear the sound my ears have longed to hear for almost 3 weeks. I turn the key and, "EEEEERRRRRRR" that is most definitely NOT the sound I wanted to hear. He has several new gaskets, a new head gasket, fan, radiator, spark plugs, wires, cruise cable fixed, (Yes! I once again have cruise. It makes the incredible journey much easier.) flushed and refilled coolant, oil change and "eeeerrrr". WHAT?!? So, here we go again, taking him apart and fixing the timing. I have worked on him.


My dad has worked on him.



My uncle has worked on him.

I have even sat there, enjoying my popsicle and offering silent moral support.



Yet, he still does not run. How long? How long must I wait until I can once again feel the rev of first gear under my foot. Oh, I pray all goes well.

This is Brittany, she's had a very unlucky day.

It all started about 10am when she was in her car driving along and listening to music. All of a sudden the music got quieter! What happened? Brittany used to have 6 speakers in her car, since all 3 on the dirvers side blew she now has 3. It was a very sad moment. However, not to be detered she turned up the music kept on going and hoped the day would not get any worse. It did.

That afternoon Brittany put 2 eggs in the microwave to boil. Before she knew what was happening, BANG!! the microwave blew up. She now has no microwave and eggs all over the kitchen. It's a very smelly kitchen. The microwave now sits out by the trash can waiting to be taken to the microwave retirement dump.

That evening Brittany made the mistake of deciding to get behind the wheel...again. Now, Brittany had a relatively dent and scratch free car and desired to keep it that way so as she was backing out of the driveway she watched the house on her passenger side very closely to make sure she did not hit it. While concentrating on not hitting the house on her passenger side Brittany forgot all about the fence on her drivers side...

Brittany backed into the fence.

The fence faired better than her car.

Later that same week Brittany decided to do laundry, (this is a good thing). Now, Brittany is from the country and there's nothing she loves better than crisp line dried clothes. Ok there are things she loves more but crisp line dried clothes is near the top of the list. Anyway, she decided that she would hang her clothes out on the fire escape (and hillbillify the place) to dry them. An hour later she found herself frantically climbing down the fire escape and running all over her own back yard as well as Dr. Farmers to retrieve her clothes that had flown off the fire escape.

After she climbed back up the fire escape she noticed a shirt, her favorite shirt, in the top of a tree the cable guy ( I think he was cable) was quickly coerced into pulling his ladder out of the front yard, into the back yard and climbing up the tree to retrieve the shirt. He was a very nice and helpful man.

Brittany no longer parks in the driveway. She now parks on the street and she has decided that the dryer is almost as nice as line dried clothes.

Contry life; City Life

I sit in the barn waiting impatiently for Taylor to get the lawn mower out. The Explorer is parked right outside the door and we both know chances are good I'd hit it, so he drives the lawn mower out. He jumps off, I fly on and down the road I go! Legally I'm illegal but that's only a small issue. I'm speeding, as fast as a lawn mower can speed, down an alley now and feel no concern for something as trifle as the law. Besides that, the popo's know me around here and will simply escort me back home. I look down at my gast tank and realize my ride needs to come to an end soon, I head back. Upon returning I find my step brother, Bethany and Torie in the pool. They yell for me to come in, I have no desire to do so. It's 65 degrees outside and the water's freezing. I look at the lake across the street and wonder if that water's any warmer...my guess is no. I slowly walk into the house, I realize that I miss this. A lot. I miss the slow paced days that you fill with nothingness. There's no rush like there is in the city. Here, somehow everything always gets done. You find ways to entertain yourself. Horseback riding, quadding or when the quad is broke lawn mowering, cray fishing, swimming, reading, hide and go seek in the dark, taking a jaunt up to the ice cream shop, getting lost in the woods or just getting lost period which I seem to do quite a bit. I miss all of this. I miss the boredom of summer, when it's close to the end and you're just ready for a change. I miss making jam, picking row after row of beans and peas and canning anything and everything that will can. Picking bushel after bushel of apples and getting homemade applie pies, applesauce, dried apples anything apple you can think of. I miss the frigid cold of winter, making snowmen, snowball fights and building forts...that you don't get stuck in. It seems like in the city there's always some thing that has to be done. Everything is urgent. Here, it's not so. Life just rolls along at a nice slow, sometimes too slow pace. It's a different life style up here. Their idea of excitement is when the news guy gets a hair cut. At times I love this other times I hate it. I guess there's no perfect place, you have to make the best of where you are and what you have. You have to learn to enjoy the present and not long for something 500 miles away. The city's not so bad, sure it's crowded and polluted and the cops don't know you on a first name basis but it still has a lot to offer. It helps you to become more aware, well rounded. You can still have fun it's just a different kind of fun. You can't always be where you most desire to be, so you have to learn to be content where you're at.





Well, that's my rambling for the day. I'm gonna go ride the lawn mower now.

One of God's great gifts to man kind.

Life Lesson #381

Someone once told me, "Brittany, you have to let them (them being a single person) go. It's like trying to hold on to a bar of soap in the shower, the harder you squeeze and try to hold on the faster they slip away." To this I replied, "Nuh-huh, you just dig in your nails and then you can hold it and it can't slip away." I think life is like this, you can't stop time, you cna't hang on to it forever. You can't pick the scene you like like best and stop your life there and keep it like that forever. You can try, but the harder you try the more it will feel like you are losing control and the faster it will slip away, and in the end you'll have been so concerned with hanging on to the scene that you'll have missed part of the play. Although at the time I did not agree with the person who told me the cheesy soap thing, I do now. I had to let them go and looking back it was best for all parties involved. You can't hang on to people forever. You can dig your nails into the soap and hold it for a little longer but eventually it still slips away. Only difference is that now it is scarred and has cuts in it and you've tried that much harder and still not been able to hold it. You can try to "dig in" and do all in your power to keep life right where you want it and to hang on to people but in the end, if they're not meant to stay for life or it's not God's will that they become a life-long friend, they will still slip away. And if you've tried to hold on they will slip away with a little more hurt and scarring. I found this awhile back and I like it so here it is:

A Reason, A Season Or A Lifetime
People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do for each person.
When someone is in your life for a reason, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a god-send, and they are! They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on your part, or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, your desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered, and now it is time to move on.
When people come into your life for a season, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.
Lifetime relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
Regardless of whether the people in your life are here for a reason, a season or a lifetime, show them that you love them!

Guilt-the state of having committed an offense; remorse caused by feeling responsible for some offense.

One of the worst feelings in the world. Then comes the question, "why?" and the sick feeling in the pit of your very being and the intense desire to go back in time or possibly to disappear into thin air.

Fear-be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event;an emotion experienced in anticipation of so me specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight); be uneasy or apprehensive about

After guilt comes the fear. The fear of being caught, the fear of what comes next, the fear of what could have happened. There's a horrible mixture of guilt and fear, the sick feeling just got worse.

Confession-an admission of misdeeds or faults

The guilt and knowledge of your wrong doing wins out. The sick feeling becomes to strong to bear. You confess. The sick feeling lessens but is replaced with something else.

Anticipate-expect: regard something as probable or likely

Wait-remaining inactive in one place while expecting something

Pray-address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer; "pray to the Lord" beg: call upon in supplication; entreat;

You wait and pray. Wondering the whole time what is going to happen. Now you're not so sure if telling was the right thing to do.

Discussion-an act or instance of discussing; consideration or examination by argument, comment, etc., esp. to explore solutions; informal debate

Finally the discussion. The waiting is now over, you now know what lies ahead, whether it's a punishment or being absolved the end is in sight!

End-termination; conclusion: an outcome or result


Just somehtign I wrote awhile ago and found. It made me laugh because Iw as writing this while in the waiting phase and my outlook on the whole deal and life in general was pretty bleak. I obviously made it through and even came out with some entertainment...this. Anyway, Life is better now. :-)

It's all in the perspective

A couple days ago I was talking to a friend about this last semester. I said to her, "All in one semester I broke my arm and was in a cast for two months, got sick three times, quit one job, started a new job, got in three accidents, totaled one car, got strep throat, got three ear infections, got campused twice and got silly putty stuck in my hair!" She replied with, "Here's a thought, in one semester God helped you learn to rely on Him and others, have patience for two months, healed you three times, provided the right job, spared your life three times, provided a car, gave you the grace to deal with a small campus and made you stronger." It's all in how you look at it. I was looking at all the bad cards I'd been dealt most of them a direct result of my own actions, she was looking at all the awesome results that had come. That's how it is in life. You have two choices, you can dwell on the bad cards, circumstances, you've been dealt or you can look at all the good that has come your way and all the good that will result from these circumstances. It's not always easy to find the good, sometimes you really have to look, but it's always there. It's all in the perspective. People get down and out when something bad comes their way. When really all they need to do is quit focusing on the bad and instead look up and find not only the good but also a God who is right there watching them and taking care of them. Even when things look impossible God still has control and He still know what is best. Is your glass half empty or half full? It's all in the perspective.