Under Construction

Is it my imagination or does it seem that everywhere you look there is some type of construction going on?  Roads, bridges, housing developments, strip shopping centers (goodness knows, we don't have enough of those)...it can be very annoying and inconvenient at times.  I wish I could tell you that you won't find any of that here but that would be a lie, and I try not to lie to anyone (except perhaps, to myself, and I'm working on that, too).  My blog is currently under construction, as you may have noticed (I hope you have noticed, otherwise, what's the point?).  I am a novice where blogging is concerned, and I am also getting used to a new computer, so my skills with both are in a process of development.  Some things I am learning are by trial and error, some are by attending One On One sessions at my local Apple Store.  I haven't received much instruction about all things blog at The Apple Store, we're pretty much at MAC 101 right now (possibly forever), so where my blog is concerned it is mostly trial and error and checking out other blogs.  I have expanded my personal profile, adding text and a photograph, so please check it out.  The text will probably stay the same (I may add an interest, a movie, or a book from time to time), but the photograph will change periodically.  (By the way, I took that photograph of the lily myself with my cell phone camera, I can't believe how well it turned out...I am not an accomplished photographer!  I was at Longwood Gardens with my friend, Lynn, earlier this summer and I took so many photographs I filled my phone memory, so there are more to come.)  Beneath my blog's title, Thinking Out Loud, I have added a description, the raison d'etre of my blog, if you will.  Please take a moment to scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page.  I have added another element of text, entitled: SCRIPTURE OF THE MOMENT.  It will change periodically.  I am not organized enough to commit to change it everyday or every week (or month, let's be real here), so "MOMENT" is just vague enough to let you know it will change at some point, just keep checking.  I may or may not allude to it in a post, it depends on how I feel at the moment.  Maybe by now you have noticed that I am not really the type of person who is, shall we say, skilled at planning.  I am not, as I have previously stated, a terribly organized person.  I am not a list-maker or administrative-type.  Don't get me wrong, I have nothing but appreciation and admiration for people like that...my mother is a planner and a list-maker and I have some friends who are truly gifted organizers and administrators, but I am more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of gal.  I can manage a certain amount of organization at work (as a teacher it is a necessity), but it seems to dissipate as the work day draws to a close.  In my home life, the amount of organization I can muster is inconsistent at best.  In the summer, forget about it, I am completely undisciplined.  This brings me to the area most in need of reconstruction and development: me.  I want to be at least a little more disciplined, but I find it incredibly overwhelming.  I am not a good steward of my time.  I procrastinate horribly.  This past spring I went to a writer's conference (Delaware Christian Writers Conference) for the very first time.  I loved it!  I plan to go next spring (in fact, I did plan ahead for this, I have already paid for it!).  My goals for this summer were to write every day, do research, and begin to market myself.  Have I done this?  Well, um, ah, let me see, how can I put this?  In a word, NO!  I did start this blog, so I am writing something, albeit inconsistently.  I did write another letter story for the children's book I hope to finish-and-someday-get-published-before-I-die.  I only have 15 to go to finish the alphabet (which I think I started in the 90's) :-P.  All this to say that I am, like so much around me, a work in progress.  While it can be annoying and inconvenient at times, it is necessary and hopefully (by God's infinite grace and mercy), a sign of positive growth (unlike strip shopping centers).