Donna’s Blog

and for….

that makes me feel much better than i did yesterday.

Looks like i’m on the mend so i can still go to….

Mark Hall is the “front man” of the group.  Basically, when you hear the voice of Casting Crowns, it’s Mark Hall.  And although I haven’t checked their liner notes lately….i think most of the songs are written and co-written by Mark Hall.  So it sure seemed like a Casting Crowns concert last night!

Mark shared the stories about some of the songs he’d written.  Why is it always so much more powerful to listen to a song after understanding the circumstances that breathed life into it? 

And why does the song take on so much more meaning when you are watching the writer sing it with the passion that he sang it when he first wrote it?

I have loved their music from the first time I heard it….but now I’m a lifelong fan.

…..the piles of laundry that seem to add up in just a few days. 

And, then I discovered that the US Figure Skating Championship was on….

 the couples and …..
the ladies.

So I spent the afternoon watching the short program (which was actually live on Thursday evening) and then watching the live performances at 8:00.

I popped open my laptop and my buddy in J’ville saw I was on line so we did a little chatting and then he asked if I wanted to video chat so i could hear some music he was working on.  I agreed to it since i did manage to take a shower today and i was presentable….minus the lipstick! 

It is still so amazing to me that I can hear him sing and play piano almost as if i am sitting next to him!  I took the laptop over to my piano to see what kind of reception he would get and he said he could hear me plainly!  I’m going to send him a new lyric I wrote this week to see if he can help me with some melody.  I sang through the new song a little bit, just to give him an idea of how i’d like it to go.  But I am definitely open to some suggestions!

….i didn’t blog yesterday because i was in a bad mood.  i try not to blog on bad mood days.  trust me, it wouldn’t be good reading.

….my favorite moment of the day is pouring that first cup of coffee.

….my friend took her son to a college yesterday that is interested in recruiting him to play football.  college football….how do these kids grow up so fast?

….i’m not “ocd”, but i just had to go back and correct my “….” before each sentence because i saw that i wasn’t using the same number of them and it was bugging me. 

….i wore gloves to work….it’s that cold today

….my girls are not big sports fanatics, but they’ve recently discovered “ultimate frisbee” (i think that’s what it’s called) and they love it.  we went to the middle school track last night so i could run and they could play frisbee.

….August Rush is in the Dollar Theatre.  We’ll probably go see it another ten times!

I didn’t expect it on Monday because the post office was closed.  When Fed Ex pulled up to the office, i wondered if maybe, just maybe they shipped it Fed Ex.  But no, it was a package for one of my bosses.  Then DSL made a delivery and i got my hopes up again.  But no, no package for me.

I was so sure when the UPS guy came on Tuesday that he would have my bottle of Davies Gate shampoo…instead, it was two boxes of supplies from Quill.

Yesterday afternoon I decided i needed to find out what was going on.  I reviewed my email from DG and saw that they had given me a UPS tracking number.  So I entered the tracking number and found out my package had been delivered somewhere in Colorado.  How was that?

I called UPS to see if maybe i had the wrong tracking number and they said i would need to contact the company.  So I called DG in California to see where my bottle of shampoo was at and why someone in Colorado was probably in the shower right now enjoying that tingling sensation.

I dialed the number and the recording came on that said:  ”All representatives are assisting other customers.  You are currently second in line and the estimated hold time is two minutes.”

I decided I could wait two minutes.  The jazz music began to play and in about 30 seconds I heard, “Thank you for your patience.  You are currently second in line and the estimated hold time is three minutes.”

Hummmm….so the person already being assisted must be long winded.  That’s fine, I can wait three minutes.

Then the voice:  “Thank you for your patience.  You are currently second in line and the estimated hold time is four minutes.”

Really?  The longer you hold, the longer your wait?

And this is how it went on.  “…..estimated hold time is five minutes…..six minutes……seven minutes.”  It went all the way to twelve minutes.  

Then the nice voice came on the line and said i was currently “first in line and someone would be with me shortly.”  Okay, so now they aren’t busy assisting anyone at all; why don’t they pick up the phone? This was making me a little nervous about being able to track my package successfully.

I waited another two minutes before a real, live person actually answered the phone.  After investigating the tracking number, she told me my shampoo was just where it should be…on the  UPS truck heading to Valdosta, Georgia.  She quoted a tracking number to me that was different from the once i received in my email.  O.k. fine.  I can deal with that as long as my shampoo is really on the way.

So today is the good ole’ annual trip to the doctor.

Or maybe at least some free time for thinking about writing!  I feel like I haven’t had any quiet time in forever.  When i did have some free time during the holidays I would totally just chill out.  But now it’s time to get back in the writing groove.  Still……i’m feeling like I need some inspiration before I can do that.  And this sure looks like a serene place to find some solitude!

Now I know the classes I’ve been to say that writers can’t just sit around waiting for inspiration, they have to just start writing.  So maybe I should just do that….get my pencil out and start writing.  Just get the hard part over….you know, the starting.

It’s much easier to wait on “something”……that inspirational spot to write, that book that is going to provide me with the perfect song idea, or finding just the right melodic hook on the piano that inspires the next great lyric!  

So if you haven’t figured it out by now, you’ve joined me on my “once every three months pep talk.”  I have to remind myself that I CAN follow my heart and write.  I have to remember that what God began, He wants to complete in me.  And I have to remember that other writers face the same struggles day in and day out.  And those writers just KEEP writing and I can too.

I have to stop looking at the blank page and start seeing all the songs that are around me, just waiting to be written.

I let Patches out in the back yard this morning.  Then I let Bandit out in the front yard.  It is colder in the front yard.

I took a picture last night to email to a lady in Oregan who is going to be promoting the retreat.  I still can’t believe I’m going to Oregan.

My shampoo should be here any day.

My friend couldn’t find her glasses at work yesterday.  Her co-worker pointed out that they were still on her face! (and NO…that story isn’t about me!!)

If I eat out at Red Lobster, I will eat the Walt’s Favorite Fried Shrimp every time.

My favorite sound is the coffee brewing.

I read someone’s blog yesterday who occasionally lists quotes he’s heard during the week.  He lists the quotes, but doesn’t tell you what they were about.  It was interesting to read through them; made me want to start listening (and remembering) to more of what is being said around me.  So since I’ve only had a day to work on that, here’s something from yesterday: