We watched a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode the other night where Geordi LaForge and another crew member have an accident and become “out of phase” with normal space. They are there on the ship trying to interact, but can’t be seen or heard by the rest of the crew.

I’ve been like that lately.

Don’t get me wrong. I can be seen and heard. My kids can attest to that! But I just feel a little out of sync with the rest of the world these days. Maybe it’s because I know winter’s coming. (Fall’s my favorite time of year – I just wished it lasted longer than a week.) Short days and long nights. . .They drive me crazy! LOL! Are you all saving this blog to your Favorites now so you can read the ramblings of a maniac through the winter? For your information, I don’t literally mean I go crazy, just a little loopy!!

Whatever the reason, for the past week or so, it seems like every thing I say and do is misunderstood, ignored, or taken for granted. Have you ever had times like that? After awhile you just stop trying to explain, because you figure why bother. One good thing, though. I find myself talking to God more, because I’m pretty sure He’s listening and understanding. I may be out of His will sometimes, but I’m never “out of phase” with my Heavenly Father. And one more good thing, (I promise I’m not just trying to end this on a positive note because I remembered that it’s a public blog and I don’t need to get all of you down in the dumps, too.) here’s a great chance to use my favorite phrase — This, too, shall pass.

Of course, if I’m really trapped in a true Star Trek-ish “out of phase” state, then it won’t matter because no one will see this entry anyway.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW??

The church youth (and their parents) are going horseback riding Saturday. Please start praying for me now.

I LOVE horses. As long as I don’t have to get close to them. I’ve tried trail rides before. You know how it goes – “Oh, Chris, the horse you’re on is incredibly gentle. No worries. She’s practically an old nag. You won’t have any trouble out of her . . . WHOA! WHOA! CHRIS! Pull back on the reins! Not so hard! Oh, no, can you believe how that horse is bucking? Somebody cut them off at the pass!”

Yep. Got to love those trail rides. I’m counting the minutes until Saturday.

One time years ago, I got off my horse (with help) and sat in the woods until the group came back through, then I walked along behind them back to the stables. Kevin and the girls want me to go so we can all be together "as a family.” Funny to me, the only time they play that card is when it’s something I’m scared to do. We’ve hiked to the top of a mountain as a family, ridden scary carnival rides as a family, and gone on trail rides as a family, but we have NEVER EVER embroidered quilt squares as a family. I’m thinking that could be fun.

Giddyup.

Ok, if you tuned in because I mentioned the possibility of beginning a beautiful blog journey today, then read no further. Even though it’s not eleven o’clock at night (see My first blog entry for details), and I have no excuse, I’m pretty sure today’s offering will be more of the same.

At one-thirty this morning, I was googling the word E-mail. Yes, I know what you’re thinking — Ah, the glamorous life of a writer.

Not long ago, an editor shared a rule of thumb concerning capitalization of the word I've always written as "email." I thought it was cool information, but didn’t write it down. Since it’s normally considered bad form to try and get info from an editor in the wee hours of the morning, and I wanted to send a proposal before falling into bed, I turned to my favorite search engine. Here’s what I finally figured out. . .(I can see all the writers opening a document so they can make a note of this and everyone else zoning out.)

E-mail (yes, it has a dash) is capitalized when it’s used as a noun. But when it’s used as a verb, as in “Don’t e-mail us, we’ll e-mail you” the “e” is lowercase. I went through my manuscript and synopsis and changed all my “email” nouns to E-mail and my “email” verbs to e-mail, then sent my proposal winging its way through cyber space. For about twenty seconds, I felt a strong sense of satisfaction. Then I read the next Google entry. It said that the lowercase, dash-less word “email” is fast taking the place of the versions I noted above.

Hmm. . .from now on, I’m making up my own rules. Google when used as a noun or an adjective is capitalized. But when used as a verb – “I’m just going to google it and see if I can drive myself crazy with conflicting opinions.”—it’s lowercase. That’s my capitalization rule for the day. Use it at your own risk.

Wow! My first blog entry. :) I wonder if there's a record for how many times a blogger has typed words and then deleted them. If so, look out. I'm pretty sure I'm serious competition!

I'm thinking I should have started this post long before the 11 o'clock sillies set in, instead of a measly 20 minutes away from that fateful hour. If you've never heard of the aforementioned sillies, then my husband has some funny stories for you. Well, they're funny to me anyway. . .especially if it's after eleven.

As you may have realized from the website, I'm a writer. Tomorrow I'll think of something profound to write and get us started on a beautiful blog journey together. Or I'll be stumped again and ramble a bit. Tune in and find out which. :)

Note to self: Start blogging in the morning instead of at night.