don't you need a new pair of shoes?

hope everyone has had a nice saturday. it's been a lazy one around here. so i've been able to participate in one of my favorite pastimes... surfing the web and reading blogs. boy, the cyber world is sure a big place.

one of the reasons i enjoy perusing the internet so much is the things i come across. things i never knew or would never think of knowing. for instance, i came across two very unique types of shoes today and the third pair about a year ago.

these are vibram's fivefinger shoe. i looked a little bit further into this interesting design and found that most people had high praise for the shoe. here's a quote from one user:

"fivefingers enhances your natural barefoot walking motion as they provide contact to the ground, gently spreads your toes to strengthen foot muscles, increase range of motion, and improves general foot health. they also stimulate muscles in your feet and lower legs for greater balance, agility and strength and also helps straighten your spine, improve your posture, which may reduce or prevent lower back pain."

the more i read about these shoes, the more i wanted to buy them just to try them out. if i do, i'll definitely blog about them.

the second pair of shoes i came across was actually just a picture. at first, i just chuckled and passed it by. but after deciding i was going to include them in this post, i looked into it a little bit more. and lo and behold, it ends up being a fraud. no one really knows if it's a hoax or a work of art. they are pretty neat to look at.

and then the third pair of shoes was something i came across last summer. they're called topless sandals. and as you can tell form the picture, they are indeed... topless.





i wasn't sure these were real when i first came across the web site. but after doing my research and the fact that the web site is still there, i conclude that they are legitimate. they even have an instructional video now. i'm sure that helps explain how these strange sandals work.

i just thought all of these were pretty interesting and would pass on my cyber findings to all of you. just in case you were looking for a new pair of shoes ;D

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link of the day:
http://www.virtualparks.org/main.html

he's home

jake returned this afternoon from his backpacking trip and he didn't even stink that bad =]

he had a great trip and he really enjoyed himself. i'm sure he'll be talking about this for weeks. i've enjoyed hearing about it so far.

so i guess all my worrying during the week was for not. actually, i didn't worry all that much because i'm not a worrier. but i did miss him a lot and whenever i thought about him, i wondered how he was feeling (he thought he had a cold when he left) and how his feet were doing (he bought his hiking boots 2 days before he hit the trail). i hated to think of him being miserable for one reason or another.

i guess this was a good trial run for me for when he goes off to college, which will be in a little over a year from now. he's planning to go out of state and i won't have the close contact with him like i have with dani. she and i talked just about every day during her first year in college. i'm sure there will be many times that a whole week, or more, will go by and i won't hear from jake, just like this week. i guess i'll just have to get used to that, as hard as it may be. or who knows, he may surprise me and want to talk more often than i'm thinking.

it's sure nice having jake home. i really did miss his presence in the house. i'll try to remember that when he's driving me crazy ;D

p.s. he took some great pictures. the one above is a good example of how spectacular some of the views he encountered were.

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link of the day:
http://www.memoryalmostfull.com/youtellme/

truth in love

in the book i'm reading, the author made the statement that she knew an acquaintance really loved her, and others, because this person was always honest with her and always spoke what was on her mind.

i've been thinking a lot about this. it's not the point of; because you love someone, you will always speak the truth. what confuses me is whether someone knows you love them because of what you say to them.

whether it's been with adults or teens, there have been so many times i've wanted to say what was on my mind or to give my honest opinion, but something keeps me from doing that. i guess that something is fear. fear of how they would react or fear of being rejected. fear of losing the opportunity to speak another truth to them somewhere down the road. there's probably even more fears that i haven't even thought of.

even if i said whatever it is i wanted to say - out of love, i can't be sure it would be received that way, can i?. doesn't it depend on the receiver of such information? doesn't it depend on what's going on with them? whether they were "ready" to hear what i have to say? if they weren't "ready" to hear the truth, would they still know i said it out of love? i honestly don't know. and this post probably doesn't make much sense, because i can't make sense of it in my head.

i try to rely on the Holy Spirit to tell me if and when i should say something. i'm thinking that's still the best way. there's still been times when i've said something i've wished i could take back. i am far from perfect. but if my desire is to do God's will and show His love to others, then i will have to trust that He will tell me when to open my mouth... and when to keep it closed.

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link of the day:
http://www.mentosintern.com/