1 -> A few minutes ago the doorbell rang. I answered the door and a young woman was outside with a clipboard. I knew she was selling something. She began her rap, "Hi, I'm with the blah blah blah and we are learnign marketing blah blah blah..." I interrupted and asked, "What are you selling?" She said "Don't freak out when I show you the card, k?" She showed me the card. It was a subscription form for the Pasadena Star News.

I said "We already get that newspaper every morning." This created a brief eye in the verbal windstorm. She reached into her clipboard and pulled out another card. "How about this newspaper?", she said with a smuh look on her face. It was a subscription form for the LA Times. I said "We already get that newspaper every morning, too." "You get both?", she questioned. "Yep", I replied. Disbelieving me, she said, "Show me." I said "OK." and turned toward the side where the trash is and where the used newspapers go.

Seeing that I was not kidding, she gave up. "That's OK. I believe you." As she walked away, as I was shutting the door she said, "Go to church, Jesus loves love." I'm not sure why she said that. I don't think she recognized the Mezuzah on the door.

2 -> I'm overwhelmed. All of the sudden I am overwhelmed by the complexness of life. It happens to me every once in a while where they day to day things build up to the point in which I feel paralyzed. I don't know what set it off today, but at about 7:30 the combination of the emergency Walmart trip, the missing tree in the backyard, the laundry, the full dishwasher, and children crying over linens seemed to toss my normally calm view 90 degrees out of kilter.

I feel like one of those toy dipping birds. You know, the kind where the water is added to the bird one drop at a time while the bird stands upright. Finally at the addition of one final drop, the bird can no longer resist the urge to tipover and spill out all the water. Once the water is spilled out, the bird returns upright to catch more water.

Somehow the last little drop of water for added to my mix and I feel as if I'm tipping.