To those who read my last article (especially those who commented), Thank you. When I first decided to sign up at JoeUser, it was because I wanted to participate in the threads I saw, the funny ones and the deep ones. I wanted contact with other human beings, even if it was just on the computer. I had closed myself off so completely that I wasn't feeling anything and I had a hard time communicating(considering I earned the nickname motormouth all the way back in Pre-K, not talking was a ...

I started out to write a post about this past week, and realized it's been two weeks since I posted, not one. So much has been going on that I just feel like I'm in a daze, like I'm a record being spun round and round on a turntable (who did that song back in the 80s?). Anyway, I'll try to make some sense, if that's possible. I really don't remember much about the week before last, so I'll have to start with last weekend. Last Friday night, I got home from work and we went out to the ...

This last week has been busy, but for the most part, absolutely wonderful. I have a job I really enjoy, not so much for the job itself, but for the people I work with. Earlier this week we had one of my co-workers and his new wife over for dinner and we had a really nice time. I'm still readjusting to being around other people after my hermetic life while hubby was in Korea. Yes, I know he came home a year ago, but I'm still adjusting. I've been working with the flutes (10 of them) at on...

I went for a walk this morning. Actually, I've been walking about an hour in the morning almost every day this week, and I'm hoping to make it a habit. But this morning was different. This morning I went out earlier. This morning it was dark. For those who read my last article ( Link ), you will understand why this was such a big thing for me. It was not easy, but I did it. And I took less time to walk the same distance I had been walking all week. Most of the time when I go walking...

I am officially 30 now. Have been since the week before last, and as the title states, it was on Friday the 13th. It's kind of funny, but even though I know there had to have been another one in between somewhere, the last birthday I remember falling on a Friday was when I turned 13. I tried to have friends over and camp out in a tent in the backyard, but they all chickened out. Too superstitious. Of course, it was also New York in April, and it was still pretty chilly, so I guess there...

On wings of steel he flew from me, My heart, my breath he stole And though I ache so bitterly, I know twas not his goal "Spartan, come back with your shield or on it", He asked me to say ere he left I felt silly and strange in the midst of the crowd, but stifling tears and laughter, met his request A fierce hug, a deep kiss I love you... Then he turned, And I watched him walk away He went because he loves me I know how much he cares He wanted to provide a home for us, And...

Well.......................I've been away for awhile. Away from JU anyway. And away from home alot, too. That's not really going to change any time soon, but I decided that since I hadn't posted anything in a month and a half, I ought to let people know I'm still alive. When last I wrote I spoke of the performance of Handel's Messiah and the weeks leading up to it. I may still fill in the blanks between then and now, but for now I'm not in a hurry to do it. Christmas is over, New Year's...

The past two weekends have been awesome. The weeks have been okay. Our Thanksgiving was not much, since SPC Nobody Special had to work. When he got home, we headed over to my boss' family's place in the country. His dad's a retired chopper pilot (2 tours in Vietnam), and when my boss was growing up, they always had soldiers over who didn't have anywhere to go or who didn't have time to go home. They hadn't done that in a long time, but they decided with all of the Guard and Reserve troop...

For those of you who have read my past articles, you know that last week I auditioned for a solo in our local performance of Handel's Messiah . Last night the director announced the soloists............................and I got it!!! I had auditioned for three different solo parts, and was actually picked for the most difficult one. I was surprised and very excited. Floating on cloud nine all the way home from rehearsal, and I would have been singing for hours if my hubby hadn't had to b...

It was a dark and foggy night as I drove home. The road was obscured by creeping tentacles of white cotton, stretched thin enough I could almost see through it, but not clearly. A blurred orb of light floated around a corner and towards me, silhouetting the form of a deer, pirouetting in confusion. I tap the brakes before the sight registers, my reflexes sharpened by adrenaline. As I slow, the deer bolts across and down the faintly glowing tunnel of the next street, another, smaller, shap...

I am an insightful person. I don't say this to brag, but rather as a preface to this article. I was always the person that kids (and then adults) came to when they needed someone to talk to, even if they wouldn't talk to me otherwise. I've heard alot of things. Between this experience and the gift I've been blessed with, I am very good at reading people. I see what people do, I hear what they say, and more than likely I can understand why, even if they don't realize it themselves. This ...

I said in my last post that I've felt in a daze lately, and it's true. Very true. There's so much going on, and yet I know that I am missing things. Opportunities are slipping through my fingers because I can't stop long enough to see what's right in front of me. Things that I could have done, that I could have said are surrounding me in a blinding fog, running together so completely that I can't see the individual thoughts to know what to do. Part of my confusion lies with my faith. Yo...

Searching for a way to understand my life recently, I sought to define myself.  I searched the internet and found numerous definitions for my name that are strangely accurate.   JOY  n.   Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness. The expression or manifestation of such  feeling. Something or someone that provides a source of happiness.           v.   to take ...