We'd Be Two-thirds There!

I walk to work most days, crossing a two-lane road that has become busier as the years have gone by. The housing boom in our area might be good for the economy, but it isn't so good for the traffic. And somehow it seems that the more cars there are, the faster they go.

Anyway, they did put a crosswalk in to help us be safe as we walk to work, but many days I say to myself, "I'm going to get killed here one day!"

This morning was no exception. As I reached the other side, I met Joyce who was coming my way.

Me: Joyce, one day one of us is going to get killed here.
Joyce: Yes, and then we'd be one-third the way to getting it fixed.
Me: What do you mean?
Joyce: They said after three pedestrian deaths, they would put in a stop light!
Me: Well, then, if we both get killed, we'd be two-thirds there!

Silence

I'm feeling just a little grumpy at the moment, so I probably shouldn't be writing at all. Sometimes I do this, then save my post as a draft and forget all about it.

This morning I sent out 30 letters. Last week it was 100+ emails. That's not really a big deal. I do it 3-4 times a year as part of my job. Most people do it it once a year at Christmas. But that process got me thinking about how often it happens to me that I attempt to communicate, and get no response.

It annoys me, but I should have learned by now to get over it. I suppose my mistake is thinking that people really should respond; and when they don't, I take it personally. I've concluded that while no one really dislikes me, they don't really have the motivation to respond, either. I'm important to them, just not that important!

Somehow it bothers me regardless of the form my communication takes--email, blog, forum, phone message, mail, in person.

I especially am annoyed when I send a gift to someone and receive no acknowledgment or thanks. I suppose the recipient either thinks (1) "she will understand that I don't have time or energy to respond," (2) "I'll get around to it soon," or (3) nothing.

I saw a bumper sticker once that I should take to heart: You'd worry less about what people think of you if you realized how seldom they do.

Everyone has their own life; I need to expect less. Then I won't get hurt.

(And of course, if you do communicate with me, THANK YOU! I APPRECIATE IT!!)

My Latest Gadget

I decided Gary could buy me a slide scanner for Christmas, so I went and bought one. I'll mention the fact that it was my Christmas present when all the kids ask him, "Did you buy mom a present??"

Like so many good missionaries, we have boxes and boxes of old slides. Many of them are worthless, but some are good photos and many others are great memories. My goal is to run them all through the "quick scan" on my new toy. There is a way to do a "slow scan" which pretty much assumes you have a degree in photograhy and graphic design. I think for my purposes, the quick and easy method will do.

So, I'll just have to post a few of my best memories for the Empty Nest as time goes by and I work through the boxes. I have it set up in such a way that I can do a few slides each day while I'm doing other things at the computer. The scans nicely land in my Picasa photo program where I can sort, label, and fix up, if I want to.

I plan to sell/rent/lend this machine to some other missionaries when I'm done with it.

These four photos are from our fist months in Dallas, in 1984. David was a baby, Rachel wasn't walking yet, and Andrew was a big Kindergartener.