My Top 10 Songs Tonight

This will change by tomorrow - but I love these songs tonight...

In no particular order - well, actually in order of my finding them on my itunes...

I will follow you into the Dark - Death Cab by Cutie
Strong Enough - Sheryl Crow
Goodbye my Lover - James Blunt
Honesty - Tom Lips
If I was Jesus - Toby Keith
Love of my Life - Queen
Throw me a Rope - KT Tunstall
Beth - Kiss
Yummy - Gwen Stefani
If You Could Read my Mind - Gordon Lightfoot
Blind - The Grapes of Wrath

Okay - that is 11... but that is a better number then 10 anyway.

By the way, if you win the CBC contest where Mark Messier comes to your house, you have to invite me... please please pretty please!!!!

Another Glimpse?

We have been blessed with three boys - two through birth - Haaken & Liam, and one who came to live with us when he was 15 - Greg. I love them all and hope the best for them.

I know each of them have weaknesses, but they all have so much potential. I want them to be successful and happy in life. I want them to have positive relationships with others and especially to find that special relationship with a woman who will help them through life (but not until they are 30). I want them to find that thing in life that will give them purpose and meaning. I want them to love God and to see them in Heaven.

In short - I feel about all of them the same way I am sure most parents feel about their children.

However, the reality of life is that not everyone else feels the same way about my kids as I do. Not everyone treats them like I feel they should be treated. Sometimes people make assumptions about who they are - what their potential is - or what their value is - in a way that is less then what I expect.

Sometimes people do or say things that hurt them - and that hurts me - greatly!

And it is very difficult to be friendly to others when they have hurt one of my kids. It is hard to treat people with respect when they see my kids in less of a light then I see them - or when someone treats one of them not as well as another. Because - not only to I love them - but they are a reflection of me and my choices for them.

I think that is also a natural reaction for most parents.

When I really think about all of that - it kind of starts to make sense that God has trouble when we show partiality for or discrimination against some his children - His creation. Whereas my love and my view of my children is imperfect (I lose my temper and patience and make many mistakes) - His is perfect. He sees the potential in each of us and loves us - including those of us who might be considered obnoxious, difficult to live with, dirty, smelly, etc.. People I might tend to look down upon; people I might tend to hold up: They are all God's kids.

He loves us all. equally. period.

Wives' Duties (I couldn't resist)

Three men were sitting together bragging about how they had given their new wives duties.

Terry had married a woman from America, and bragged that he had told his wife she was going to do all the dishes and house cleaning that needed to be done at their house. He said that it took a couple days but on the third day he came home to a clean house and the dishes were all washed and put away.

Jimmie had married a woman from Australia. He bragged that he had given his wife orders that she was to do all the house cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. He told them that the first day he didn't see any results, but the next day it was better. By the third day, his house was clean, the dishes were done, and he had a huge dinner on the table.

The third man had married a Canadian girl. He boasted that he told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day most of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye. Enough to fix himself a
bite to eat, load the dishwasher, and call a landscaper.

New Web Site for Songs

Well, I am trying out a website to post songs as I record them on Garageband.

If you check out the following link, you should be able to hear my first attempt.

http://web.mac.com/ericabailey

We'll see how this goes.

Tired...

Well, after week of traveling back and forth between Kenora and Toronto, I feel tired.

The first trip was exhausting. Both directions were delayed for several hours (like 4 or 5) much of which was spent cramped into a small airline seat, sitting on the tarmac. Ug! The second trip was much better. We were on time the entire way and I splurged on valet parking with a car wash, vacuum and shampoo - so when I got back my car didn't smell like sour milk and orange juice anymore. That was nice.

But now I am just tired. I know there is a pile of paperwork at the office I need to deal with - and there is a pile of disorganization at my own house that I don't want to deal with - and a pile parenting that needs to be done to encourage my kids to pick up their garbage, do their school work, actually go to school, etc... It just seems that, after being away for a week, every aspect of my life is falling apart.

But I feel too tired today to do any of it. And I feel very alone in all of it. Or perhaps overwhelmed.