Call me! OOOOoooOO, call me, call me any, any time

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . October 4, 2009 . 3:32PM

Those of you that have been around forever, and some of you know you have and I love every single little inch of your being for it, remember that I had a number on here for a while that you could call and leave me a voicemail if you wanted to do so. I could never find a good spot for it on the site so I took it down.

I know.

I’m neurotic.

I’m very, very picky about how the site looks, which was especially important while doing the site redesign. Luckily, I had an angel for a designer, bless her sweet little heart.

My friend Natalie called me the other day and reminded me of how much I missed her voice when my eyes welled up after talking to her. Sometimes, it’s nice to hear a voice. I get your comments and I love all of them.

Except for the porn spammers who keep sending me things that make me question what kind of illegal drugs they are taking. Quit sending me that stuff.

Anyway, if you would like to call and leave me a message, please do. In fact, I’m begging you, leave me a message! Unless you are in prison. Then send me a comment. Or if you are the kind of person who does bad things to animals. Then you should probably read other blogs.

I have unlimited messages and I will listen to them over and over and over like a crazy cat lady.

You can call me on your phone at (615) 807-0376 or click on this button and you can use the microphone on your computer (if you have one) to leave me a message. If you have long distance charges, they may apply, but if you go through your computer, it’s free.

This isn’t my cell phone number, so I won’t ever answer, no matter how often you call it. But I’ll get your message and cherish it, I promise. Unless you leave crazy messages. Don’t do that. I won’t like it.

Are you having a good weekend? I hope so. Mine has been a rollercoaster, but the rain is softly falling outside and part of me is honestly considering going out in it to sit on the swing in my backyard and soak it in. Do you ever just want to do that?

The leaves are turning red, and the rain falls and the wind blows and I’m out there with it.

Edit: My friend, Neil, called and left me a message as Barack Obama that is HYSTERICAL. He asked me to post it because it was an awful lot of work. I don’t ever post things without permission. Have a listen:

Emotions vs. Logic

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . September 21, 2009 . 10:06AM

When the people we love are in trouble, we react quickly and emotionally. We don’t always step back and assess the situation with a calm head. There isn’t always time to do so. I’ve watched Intervention and some of the other shows that highlight families in crisis, and the general first reaction that people have when their loved one objects to help is to bow down to tears and cave. It’s one of the reasons that people usually have some kind of objective facilitator who helps with those kind of things and keeps everyone on track.

When AJ had his Kentucky incident, I didn’t think. I smacked Leon to get his attention and then I ran. I haven’t ran in years, but I ran to him. I couldn’t help him or make him better, but he needed me and I needed to be with him.

When the people we love are in trouble, we react quickly and emotionally.

Recently, I was watching footage of the Dallas motorcade with JFK and Jackie and I reacted to it rather strongly. Warning: Graphic language coming.

I’ve probably watched the grainy footage from Dallas 100 times in my 30 years. I’ve noticed many things about it and have looked at it from various mental angles. However, this particular time, when I watched it, what kept coming back to me was that Jackie reacted quickly and instinctively to keep Jack safe. I have no idea what the state of their marriage was. By all accounts, it was not the most functional, but whose is? However, she recovers from shock quickly and scrambles to the back of a moving car to grab pieces of his brain matter and then pulls him down to keep him safe.

Brain matter isn’t like a finger or a toe. You can’t sew it back on. Once Jack was hit and it was exposed, it was gone. He was gone.

When the people we love are in trouble, we react quickly and emotionally.

It wasn’t rational to scramble across a moving vehicle when bullets were flying around her, but love motivates people to do things they wouldn’t otherwise do. It gives us strength to do things that we don’t know we can.

I’m in awe of its power. Always and completely.

Mindfulness

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . August 8, 2009 . 10:47PM

My Saturday night consisted of Taco Bell and Mario Kart with the boys a la internet Wii connection. A.J. is still down and out with strep throat, so going to see a movie, which intrigued all 3 of us, was quite simply out of the question. As we were playing, I was lamenting that I feel the need to make changes with my blog. This happens every 2 weeks or so because, even though it’s growth is HUGE, I want it to be the best that I can make it. The best that my readers can expect.

Neil’s comment was, “then you need to write more in real time.”

Real time? But, but, but….I’m a crockpot.

I like to stew over my thoughts. Make them tender and juicy and my posts long and thought out. Every morsel tasting as delicious as the last and perfect for the leftover thoughts that they might cause. It may not be the best blog you’ve ever read, but it’s comprised of the best posts I could’ve written at the time. Real time feels like microwaved pot pies.

However, I can still have my crockpot stews. And sometimes microwaved food tastes delicious.

My friend Bill, who often comments here as “BS,” was in on this conversation and made the point that his best ideas often come when he least expects them. I agreed in that I told him that I often tell my clients to keep a notepad and pen by their bed so they don’t have to get up to write things down that come to them in the middle of the night. I do this, especially with blog ideas, and it’s fantastically helpful.

Bill commented wryly that his best ideas come in the shower. That’s often the case and he lamented that he needed waterproof paper and a pen. I laughed and encouraged shower crayons, which can be wiped off.

It makes sense to me that our best ideas come at the 2 times of day that we tend to be most relaxed (in the shower and right before bed time). Our mind finally quiets enough for us to focus and just be. So, even if you are an adult, get out the shower crayons, get out the notepad and pen, and spend some time with your thoughts.

They might surprise you.

P.S. Is this real enough for you, Neil? I wrote it within an hour.