Noticing ...

Recently I've found a few more blogs I enjoy reading, and it occurs to me that the more blogs I read, the fewer original thoughts it seems I have. So many people write things that I'm thinking or have thought in the past, things that sometimes I'm astonished that anyone else is weird enough to think.

Like the fact that I was sort of uncomfortable with halogen lightbulbs when they came out (and remain so), because they aren't shaped like a lightbulb. I was like, "What was wrong with the lightbulb shape? I get the new technology, but can't we keep the comforting, bulbous shape of the bulb? This isn't even a BULB. It's like a shape that a 12-year-old girl squiggles under her signature on a letter to a friend." Who else would publicly lament the changing shape of a lightbulb? Abraham.

And like the fact that forms are The Bane of my Existence. They pop up all the time ... at work, at the pediatrician's office, at the elementary school, at daycare, in the mail ... and I swear I feel like I fill out some of the same ones again, and again, and again, and again. If I typed the word AGAIN about a thousand more times, you might get the idea about how tedious I find this repetition. And why does this form about MY medical care require GRAYSON'S driver's license number? But I don't need to write a post that explains any of it eloquently, because Sarah already has.

Oh, and I can't forget about how I feel about suppertime. Even though our circumstances are a little different, Jenna nailed it with this one. Grayson's usually got supper ready or at least in the works before I get home, but I suppose I'm still waiting on the day when it seems less complicated ... the Entire Supper Experience, if you will ... when do you think that might happen? When they're 8, 6 and 3? When they're 12, 10 and 7? I have no clue.

Lastly, I've always made an effort to be kind to other people on elevators. I routinely ask people coming down the hall, "Are you going up?" so that they don't have to wait on the next car to arrive ... they can ride with me. Sometimes I ask, "What floor?" so that I can punch their button for them as they get on. And I have even been known to compliment someone's cute shoes (yesterday) or laptop bag (last week) just to be polite and to Acknowledge Their Existence in my Airspace. So this post of Jennifer's totally cracked me up, because so rarely do people speak to me first, if at all ... Elevator Etiquette is really a strange thing. I've been thinking about it for years.

I suppose the phenomenon of this like-mindedness is due partly to the fact that I'm drawn to bloggers who have the same sense of humor that I do and who are in the same phase of life. We enjoy the same TV shows and we tend to think of things in similar ways, and apparently, express ourselves in the written word similarly.

It's like all of a sudden having new friends to exchange ideas and have fun conversations with, except it's less give-and-take and more just-take.

But speaking of new friends, I've also been thinking lately about how strange it is to me that I have made some new friends in the last year. Not that I'm the type of person who is incapable of making friends, you know, but because I'm 36 and it's not like I've moved to a new city, changed churches or taken up a new activity. All of those things are the same. So it's funny to me that I'm sort of in the middle of making a few new friendships. How did THAT happen? I'm loving it.

So, about new blogs and new friends ... if you author or visit any blogs you think I'd like, send me an e-mail or leave them in the Comments. I can always make room for Just One More.