i've been googled...

I feel kind of bad for not writing anything recently. I haven't been on my blog much because of the Writing Project (which doesn't even make sense) and I've been trying to catch up on commenting on that blog, reading Janet's blog (and all my other blogging brothas and sistas), and blessing, pressing, or addressing pieces on the NWP's E-Anthology.

But I just checked my blog and SOMEONE out there was trying to find me. That's awesome! :) (Wink if you know who you are!)

In the last couple of days, my blog visitor number has jumped up dramatically...I've been googled twice...and someone else came to my blog by searching for Kermit the Frog! Sweet. I don't have the answer to why there are so many songs about rainbows...but there is some semi-good reading in bits and pieces throughout the blog.

So today Grandma and I at at Ocean Zen (my first experience) and, yes, Cindy, the California rolls were pretty dang good. Grandma overloaded on wasabi, but we didn't have to resuscitate her or anything. I enjoyed, ????, hmmmm, something so good I forgot what it was. Chicken with fresh pineapple and mandarin oranges and jasmine rice. Scrumptious. Grandma, nearly cleaning her plate, had Shrimp Fettuccine.

After a stop at MSU, Caron's, Bass Pro, Sears, Penney's, a mall walk, and Barnes and Noble, we headed back to Sparta with a cup of Cinnamon Sunset tea...just in time to watch Wheel of Fortune.

the depth of life...or the shallowness therein...

Am I ever glad I'm not in the retail business. I took my dad shopping today and we spent five hours buying a total of three gifts and a two pound bag of pecans.

The traffic made us insane. Especially when we took our secret roads we always take...which weren't so secret today.

Tomorrow we're meeting for breakfast and finishing up the shopping. I'm mixed about the whole 'shopping' experience. Colin and I, and a few others, had a conversation about Internet shopping vs. person to person shopping. "Just think of all the life you miss out on when you don't "go" somewhere to shop," he tried to convince me. "You miss hearing the Christmas carols over the loud speakers, the rude cashiers, the squealing kids who are then threatened by their parent's with 'santa's watching you,' the festive decorations, the chilly air, the lack of parking," he added. "It's all good, Ms. Daugherty. You should never want to buy ALL of your gifts online."

I'm beginning to disagree.

Online shopping seems more and more appealing than competing with rude shoppers, unfriendly sales clerks, and crowded parking lots.

However, shopping with the masses offline does have it's benefits. Today I ran into three people I haven't seen in a while--proving there's always time in my life for good conversation, good friends, and a good cup of coffee in a cozy booth.