Fingerprint Friday: Nurses, Friends And Horses

By MAD21

My family had a pretty rough week last week. Our youngest had to have a medical procedure that left her feeling pretty traumatized. This week I have at least three 'fingerprints' I want to write about. The first is Nurse Erin who worked so hard with us through the night, she not only kept things going, she was so sweet with my daughter. The second are my dear Twitter friends who stayed up to chat with me when I could get away for a few minutes. The third was a few days later. A long-awaited family ride at the farm my oldest daughter takes riding lessons.

We had gone on a family ride in the spring which coincidentally was the same day as my youngest's birthday. So that was our big gift to her. She's been asking for months to go again. I was so thankful of the timing for the fall ride. It fell on the exact weekend we really needed it to. It gave us something to look forward to. I was a little nervous, though. The weather had been really rainy and gray for days (and weeks it seemed). But on the day of the ride, it was a perfect, note PERFECT fall day. Beautiful sunshine. Upper 60s. (And the bees left us alone!)

After such a stressful week full of tears and pain, it made my heart sing to see the absolute joy on my youngest's face as we rode our horses and ponies through the fields and forests. It was yet another experience that shows me how much God loves us. And how he is always right were we need him to be.

Fellow blogger Beki at Pampering You has a really great weekly post she does every Friday called "Fingerprint Friday." We are to look around and see where we can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Anywhere? Go find out where Beki saw God this week, and be sure to check out the other bloggers who linked their stories as well.

YOB: #17. Try To Get Something Published

By Lara

The Obvious Item

I am a writer. It's my job. I write technical manuals for the United States Army. However, I also like to write for fun. I would love to write books for children at some point (and get them published). I have a couple of drafts in the works. You know how it goes.

When I was in the eighth grade, I was co-editor of the Wissahickon Middle School 1992-93 yearbook. I wrote articles for my high school newspaper as well as the prestigious Harford Owl. I had a couple of poems published in the Harford County Community College Literary Magazine. I think it was called "The Feather and Talon." The magazine... not the poem. I have a blog. It's mostly friends-locked these days. You know. Things get complicated.

Other than that, I have never officially had one of my stories published. I think this was the root of "Try to Get Something Published" item on the Year of the Birthday list.

So... When my friend Ginny asked me to contribute to her website content, I thought it might be a good opportunity for Beth and I to work on a publication project together. BOOM. That's what you're reading right now. Thanks for being a part of this...

What is the Smart Grid?

By Alan

If you aren't really sure what it means to have a Smart Grid, then you aren't alone. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting with several hundred of the nation's electricity industry and government leaders at Gridweek 2009, and each attendee had their own take on what the phrase "Smart Grid" meant. I'm of the opinion that it should end up like an organic system. However, most seem to agree on a few common ingredients about the Smart Grid.

Smart Meters - The AMI (Advanced Metering Initiative) is aimed at replacing the millions of old manual/mechanical power and gas meters with digital meters that can not only report total consumption over a month (just like your power billing cycle), but could also report, minute-by-minute, the current usage of the household or company back to the utility, plus a bunch of other measurements like voltage, power frequency (remember how important that is), even outside temperature. Depending on the manufacturer and the controlling utility, the meter might also be able to receive information from the utility about current and near-future prices, and even curtailment signals for "Demand Response."

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One Word At A Time: Community

By MAD21

Community is defined as "a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists."

We are all parts of different communities: Work; school; the gym where we work out; play groups; hobbie groups; church. I think God created the concept because it is so vital to our growth as individuals.  There are probably countless studies that support the importance of being included in groups if you want to live happier lives. But I don't think it's only about us all finding our place, being accepted and loved and 'living happily ever after." Though the world would have us believe that. I believe community is more important than that. Community is living beyond ourselves. Looking outside of our own needs sometimes to see what others may need and putting them first. God created us to need each other. In his own words he says that it was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18).

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Life Is Funny: That Was Totally Wicked!

By MAD21

We were on our way to church yesterday and our girls were doing their usual chatting in the backseat. I have no idea what they were talking about, I admit I wasn't paying much attention. That is until I heard these words come out of my youngest.... "That was totally wicked!" I whipped my head around and asked, "What did you say?" In case I hadn't heard her correctly. Being 3.5 she still gets her words mixed up. I thought maybe she had said something else that just sounded like that.

My youngest started giggling, as did my oldest. She again said, "That was totally wicked!" This time with more feeling. I started laughing and asked, "where did you hear those words?" Then I got, "Moooom, Incredibles. I love The Incredibles." I should have known. This is one of our family's favorite movies and we had just watched it again last Friday. We love that little neighbor boy. Funny how someone who is only seen 2-3 times can have one of the best lines in the movie. I think there is a life lesson in there somewhere.

My friend and fellow blogger Wendy at Weight..What? has a fun carnival at her blog called "Life is Funny." Every Monday we talk about something in life that we find funny. Be sure to go visit her blog to read her post along with links to other blogs who are participating.