All that surrounds me

You can tell a lot about a person by what's littering their desk... the random junk that accumulates around the computer. Right now my surrounding computer desk says a lot about me.

$5 worth of quarters-- This signifies my inability to "grow up" and do my own laundry here at our new apartment complex. I had Job get me the coins with the best of intentions. And yet... three loads of laundry were waiting to be washed, and all I saw was a costly heap of clothes that could be washed and dried for FREE at my parents home. So, the quarters wait in their own disshevled heap to the left of my keyboard. One day... one day...

Empty glass of milk-- Loading up on calcium and protein so that it may benefit the little life growing inside of me.

A letter from Job's grandma-- She only lives half an hour away and we see her often. But when she isn't calling us or leaving messages on our machine, she sends us an occassional letter. She types them on her typewriter with shaky fingers, always including an apology for her medication-induced mispellings. Occasionally a comma or an apostrophe will be inserted by hand with a felt-tip pen-- the journalist in her is alive and well, despite her years. Although her way of showing love can often be stifling and overbearing, I'm slowly, slowly learning how to accept it. She's a sweet woman.

Birthing from Within-- A book I ordered through the university's Interlibrary Loan. I'm really enjoying it. My goal is to finish reading it by the end of the week.

My spiral bound notebook-- There's no order or sense to this notebook. It serves my many writing needs and whims. Grocery lists, food logs, mailing lists, weekly menu attempts, spiritual notes from church retreats and pastoral discussions, unfinished and forgotten confession lists. A few pages have served as a refuge for secrets and musings too personal for the blogosphere. And--oh yes!-- a few attempts at writing poetry and childrens' stories. I definetley have a "thing" for notebooks. The blank pages hold so much potential and record so many tidbits of life.

Various art supplies-- Buried beneath all of the above mentioned items lay some forgotten art supplies. Watercolor pads, sketchbooks, unopened blocks of paper, some scrapbook paper. They've been deserted for too long... I really need to open up again and create.

There's more to this mess; more peripheal clutter, just like my life. I'm glancing over at my husband's computer desk (yes, we have two... a perk of being married to a "tech enthusiast"). I observe what lies on his desk and how much this stuff says about him in this stage in his life.

Maybe I'm pushing it with the metaphor, though. Maybe I'm looking a little too deeply. Stop reading this for a moment and take a look at all of the things you've acquired around your computer "work space." If you're like me, you'll be startled by what this "junk" reveals about your life. Peace!