the emotional life of sølje

I have been getting quite a few hits regarding my entry about Blaine Larsen and his single “How do you get that lonely”. So many have been touched personally by suicide, and this song brings forth the emotions connected with that subject. The lyrics ask the questions that not many other songs have concerning suicide. I am sure many have been written, just offhand I can’t think of any singers that touch on this subject. Lyrics below.

On reading a site dedicated to a victim of suicide, I came across this quote that really says a lot: “To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world” (Author unknown).

Lyrics: “How Do You Get That Lonely”
Written by: Rory Lee Feek and Jamie Teachener
**Dedicated to Lance Emmitt***

It was just another story written on the second page
Underneath the Tiger’s football score
It said he was only eighteen, a boy about my age
They found him face down on the bedroom floor

There’ll be services on Friday at the Lawrence Funeral Home
Then out on Mooresville highway, they’ll lay him ‘neath a stone…

How do you get that lonely, how do you hurt that bad
To make you make the call, that havin’ no life at all
Is better than the life that you had
How do you feel so empty, you want to let it all go
How do you get that lonely… and nobody know

Did his girlfriend break up with him, did he buy or steal that gun?
Did he lose a fight with drugs or alcohol?
Did his Mom and Daddy forget to say ‘I love you son?’
Did no one see the writing on the wall?

I’m not blamin’ anybody, we all do the best we can
I know hindsight’s 20/20, but I still don’t understand…

How do you get that lonely, how do you hurt that bad
To make you make the call, that havin’ no life at all
Is better than the life that you had
How do you feel so empty, you want to let it all go
How do you get that lonely… and nobody know

It was just another story printed on the second page
Underneath the Tiger’s football score…

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Hold on to your roof top Frostys, because it’s finally happening this November!!! If you have read “Skipping Christmas” by John Grisham, then you will also be looking forward to the release of Christmas With The Kranks on November 24th in theaters! Starring Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, Erik Per Sullivan, Cheech Marin, Jake Busy and M. Emmet Walsh.

I have read the book, and listened to it on an audio book, and I hope they have kept it as close to the story as possible for the movie! I can’t wait to see it

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I guess you know what we did this weekend! We still have two pumpkins that haven’t been carved, and wont be. One will be made into pumpkin puree, the other is huge… a just for the novelty-of-having-a-huge-pumkpin pumpkin

Daniel wanted a happy and grumpy pumpkin, Kevin made a Tux the Penguin (of the Linux fame) pumpkin and Spongebob. I’m pretty impressed with how those two turned out. It seems like the last attempt at a funky pumpkin like those turned out bad. Kevin rigged up some Christmas lights to put inside and voila! I should have him put green lights inside… or a different color in each. That would be cool. And yes… Daniel is sticking his tongue out. Kids.

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ed. note: 12/27/2006 both sets have been sold! Thanks for the interest, I’ve received a lot of emails about them recently!
I am trying desparately to put money away for our Christmas trip… every little bit helps! Is anyone interested in a set of five never used (yes, I can verify that!) Camp Snoopy Peanuts glasses from McDonalds? $5 plus shipping will get you these glasses, just washed for the first time for the photo! They literally just came out of the old McDonald’s bags that they have been stored in since originally purchased. They came from my grandma and grandpa’s house when it sold and we had to move Grandma to an assisted living home.

If those don’t do it for you… how about these? I have four sets of four glasses… The Great Muppet Caper, also McDonald’s glasses. $10 will buy you all 16! Or, $5 for a set of 4 glasses. These glasses were together with the Snoopy glasses… also just hand washed for the first time since taking off the old McDonald’s bags that they were wrapped in. Perfect condition… great for kids… great for Muppet collectors…

Oh please… won’t somebody please please please support my skiing habit? I do accept PayPal contact me!

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I watched the documentary “Supersize Me” today. Wow. I have learned some things that I hadn’t known concerning the processing and additives in fast food, and it has really turned me off to wanting to eat it. I KNEW these things, but in actually facing it? Watching the documentary really puts it in perspective. So, a synapse you ask?

Morgan Spurlock is a 30something? year old man (I am sure his age was stated, can’t recall) who did his own personal experiment concerning fast food. He decided that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner he would eat nothing but McDonald’s. If McDonalds did not serve it, he did not eat it. He was under the statistic supervision of three different doctors, and a nutritionist. He started this experiment as a very healthy man, completely down the line. He had a perfect BMI, cholesterol, 11% body fat, you name it… he is it! To top it off, his girlfriend is a vegan chef who seems to know what it takes for obtaining the nutritional values needed.

For his test, he would only eat a supersized meal if asked, and he had to try every item on the menu at least once. When traveling, he made the effort to eat what was offered in the varying geographical areas. what was amazing, was that it was apparent that he was also becoming addicted (actually addicted!) and would display the physical symptoms of addiction. It wouldn’t surprise me, especially not knowing the additives in the foods.

Through the 30 days, he gained 24lbs, had a major loss of energy, his body fat content went up, his blood draws were showing scary numbers for all his liver, cholesterol (of course), and the heart palpitations he was having would be enough for me to stop the experiment.

I am forgetting much, but it is late and I am pretty beat. I have decided that although I haven’t been enjoying preparing home cooked meals much lately, that I am going to make the concerted effort to cook whole foods like I used to. I know we will feel better, I know that it is better.

One last note, the final bit on the documentary stated that it took Morgan longer than 30 days to lose the 24lbs. As an overweight person, I know I get disappointed when I think about how long it has taken me to lose 30lbs, but in reality, it will keep coming off–no matter how slow it is taking. I don’t want the health problems connected with being overweight.

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Kevin and I have been taking PRIDE classes this week as a step towards a foster care license. I keep forgetting what PRIDE stands for (Parent Resource something something something), I will admit, the first three hours of the 27hr requirement was extremely dry and it was enough to make me dread the next three days. But after lunch, we got into the meat of the issues, and I really am enjoying the topics. In fact, some of the things really have made me think about parenthood in general, and it’s made me look at childhood in fresh eyes once again. After a while, we get into the same daily grind and we forget to take the time to really get down to the heart and enjoy family.

Tonight I had great conversations with Daniel, and it was really fun! It nailed home the fact that I am meant to be a stay at home mom (as long as we can continue to scrimp and support it), because I have been finding that taking these classes makes me feel very rushed and I really feel I haven’t been able to focus on Daniel’s needs like I want. I hate feeling so frazzled, but I know it’s only temporary. And I know Daniel absolutely loves being able to stay at school for lunch and the afternoon class. But these year speed by way to fast, and I want to relish in my joy of parenthood.

Anyway, back to the PRIDE classes… they are making me feel more and more excited about adding a family member. But it makes me sad that in order for us to grow our family, another one has been broken. It feels bittersweet to feel excitement. I have faith that God will only give us what we can handle, and He will guide us through the next step in our journey.

Life is never dull at the Devin Household

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If you haven’t heard his voice yet, click on the image to the left and LISTEN!! Blaine Larsen has a voice that is older than his 18yrs, and the lyrics will appeal to a wide range of listeners. On his debut album “In My High School”, Blaine Larsen has written/co-written six of the ten songs. His music has already taken Seattle-area listeners by storm, and soon nationwide country music listeners will hear his single “How Do You Get That Lonely” very soon! “How Do You Get That Lonely” is a song dedicated to Lance Emmitt, who’s life ended too early. As I understand it, the song has been reworked a little bit for it’s release. I’ve heard both versions, and will say that both are exceptional.

The first song that KMPS listeners heard from Blaine Larsen, was “In My High School”. Even if you are way beyond the school walls, the song is a great one. Another one that has had a lot of play time in this area is “The Best Man”, which is for his dad. Awesome song! I really like the entire CD, there is humor in “Off To Join The World” and “Yessireebob” (love this one!), and I think my favorite song on the CD is “The Man He’ll Never Be”.

Blaine, congratulations on getting national airtime, and on signing with the new record label! You are on your way, and I will bet you won’t need to be saying “If Merle Would Sing My Song” much longer!
Lyrics to “How Do You Get That Lonely”

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This morning while driving Daniel to school, on the radio, KMPS was interviewing Sha (pronounced Shay) Nohr, who’s daughter is a friend of Laura Hatch, the 17 yr old who’s car had crashed into a ravine and survived 8 days before being found.

Sha was really wonderful to listen to. She had vivid dreams about finding Laura, and on Sunday, she and her daughter decided to go look for Laura because of the dreams. At one point on Sunday, they were going to stop because it was getting late, but they decided to look in one more area. Sha went down into the ravine that eventually led to Laura, and because of the brush, she couldn’t see anything. She did notice that branches were broken around her, but thought perhaps that was from one of the wind storms. Nothing really unusual. She was going to come back up the hill, but her daughter insisted and said, “keep going, keep going” which was what she was told in her dream. Had Sha not listened, she may have never continued on to find Laura.

The road that Laura’s car went off was a windy two lane road, and apparently the section that her car went off was the only partition that did not have a guard rail. Two passerby’s stopped while Sha and her daughter were searching, thinking they had been in an accident. It was at this time that Sha found the car, but did not feel she could go forward to the side of the vehicle, probably finding a body. One of the passerby’s came down, and saw that there was a body in the backseat. When Sha and the man were attempting to take the license plate off (to be identified by police), Laura made a moaning sound. She was conscious, and when Sha’s daughter came down to talk to Laura, Laura said to her that she couldn’t believe she brought her mom there. Obviously unclear as to the extent of what had happened to her! Laura was also saying how she needed to hurry because she was going to be late for curfew–she did not realize it had been 8 days.

This section may sound judgmental on my part, but I can’t understand how her family would state “We had already given her up and let her be dead in our hearts” (her mother, Jean Hatch). And also thinking that she was a runaway. I am also a bit peeved at the kids that were at the party that did not give the location after quite some time of where the party was (so that the search could be better traced at the beginning). I think that maybe I am reading into what the media has put into text, so I shouldn’t pass on judgment… but I could not give up my persistence if my child turned up missing. I know they put out a missing persons alert, so I am thinking that the context of the statement of thinking she was dead after a week may be misconstrued.

Brings about another point. Teenage drinking. I know it happens, and just because I never did it doesn’t mean that my friends did not while I was growing up. Kids don’t understand the enormous burden they are placing on themselves when they take that drink to fit in and be like everyone else. And on top of that, driving… that is very horrifying.

Parents, your kids are not perfect and straight-laced. Just get that out of your head. Know where your kids are going. there are even beacons you can have placed in a vehicle if you are that concerned (one of the security companies is now doing this to be able to get into the On Star market). Parenthood doesn’t end when you think your child is adult-like. You still need to know the basics: who, what, where, when.

I have a feeling that the Eastside group of kids at that party may be a little shaken up after this–I hope. I hope that if an event like that were to ever happen again, they would use at least use that one brain little brain cell that says to call home for a ride.

Laura Hatch, God was with you and saved you for a reason. Use your life, it’s time to earn it. My prayers to you.

And to Sha Nohr, unlike what that Southern Baptist preacher told you–that these visions are from the devil (when you told him that you had a visit from a grandmother), you have a gift, and I don’t believe that anyone from Laura Hatch’s family would disagree. If that was a vision from the devil, I don’t want to know that Southern Baptist’s “God”.

Laura Hatch story on King5

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Here is Daniel with a “Chinese Lantern Plant/Strawberry Ground Cherry” or Physalis alkekengii Pretty interesting plant, I will have to take a few pictures of the fruit of the plant. It is a paper-textured, thin lantern shape, and inside is a reddish seed that looks like a cherry. Seeds within. This plant is invasive, so it is suggested to keep it in a pot or in an area that is to be naturalized.

Read about the Chinese Lantern Plant here and take a look at some of the pictures. There is a neat one here . The lighting really makes the image come alive.

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