Hurricane Wilma has come and gone, and here at home we're all safe. I'm counting my blessings. I hope all my other Orlando area bloggers and friends are doing well and hopefully haven't suffered any damage. Much of South Florida suffered damage. (CNN)

With the constant tornado watches and warnings, I ended up going to bed at noon today, took an hour nap, and was then back up and taking care of mine.

It was fun though, being up all night with my kids. To keep them from being worried of the storms effects, we played card games, watched some TV, and munched on brownies. Our late night-early morning movie was Finding Neverland, which is now among my favorite movies. My kids truly enjoyed it, particularly my son, who identified with the writing part. I hope he continues to be inspired. Just before they drifted off to sleep, we had some yummy hot cocoa. If you ask my kids, last night was one of the best. So, mission accomplished. ;o)

I did finish one painting yesterday, and I'm going to put the finishing touches on another one. Sad thing is I'm running out of pastels, so I'll have to do some shopping to replace the colors I'm short of soon. I'll need to shoot some pictures before I have these framed, so I hope to have something to show you this week.

All for now, I need to finish up a bio, and several pieces I'm writing. Since I'm handwriting these, I'll be doing this outside. The weather is beautiful now, and it's cold! Well, more like very cool and breezy! Feels like we went from Summer to Fall in 20 minutes. You couldn't tell there was a hurricane making its way through less than five hours ago.

Plus, I need to get the kids ready for tomorrow. Somehow, they are in holiday-mode. Wouldn't that be nice?

My son, BlogBoy, dove in and is now participating in Illustration Friday. I love that weekly meme, even tho I haven't participated online. I've done but a few sketches out of several words that triggered images, but I've kept them all in my journal. My son, however, got his hands all virtually-messy fiddling with Photoshop. I love to see him figure his way around the progam. I think it's great! So now, as soon as he's done with homework, he turns on the computer.

What is even better is that I get to see how his mind works, from a different perspective. We went over several previous words, and his imagination and imagery is so much fun, wonderful and brimming with humor! He gets an image in his mind so quickly and runs with it. So he tells me from now on he'll try to participate every week. Yes, I'm smiling.

Now here's a(nother) plug. My friend Debbie wanted to set up a little space of her own on the web, and now she's got it. I've finished set-up and design, and now she's ready to roll. She's also doing some exploring of her own, so why don't you veteran bloggers pay her a visit at Ethereal Muse.

While I don't entirely agree on the selections included in the following list, I do understand why John Scalzi thought they should make the list (in his book The Rough Guide to Sci Fi Movies). The book . Some I'd take off, and include serveral others which IMHO should have made the list.

Still, I thought I was way behind with my sci-fi flick viewing, but after reading thru the list, I haven't done to bad. ;o)

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!
Akira
Alien
Aliens
Alphaville
Back to the Future
Blade Runner
Brazil
Bride of Frankenstein
Brother From Another Planet
A Clockwork Orange
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Contact
The Damned
Destination Moon
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Delicatessen
Escape From New York
ET: The Extraterrestrial
Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (serial)
The Fly (1985 version)
Forbidden Planet
Ghost in the Shell
Gojira/Godzilla
The Incredibles
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version)
Jurassic Park
Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior
The Matrix
Metropolis
On the Beach
Planet of the Apes (1968 version)
Robocop
Sleeper
Solaris (1972 version)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
The Stepford Wives
Superman
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The Thing From Another World
Things to Come
Tron
12 Monkeys
28 Days Later
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (I think.)
2001: A Space Odyssey
La Voyage Dans la Lune
War of the Worlds (1953 version)

via Arethusa and Darth.

Sometimes, as parents, we don't get a chance to easily see the impression the days events make on our children. Maybe it just takes longer for them to deal through it. Perhaps they toss around the images and thoughts in their head, express them in conversations with you, or in the tears you manage to catch yourself sharing with them when you see glimpses of tragedy on TV.

I've always been a strong supporter in journal writing, and the healing that comes forth from such practice. There are times I don't understand why a person would feel reluctant to take pen to page, finding solace within the lines and scratches that spew from the deep well within our soul.

In the past, I've pressed my son in regards to the importance and benefits of writing, in the hopes that he will find it a safe haven, in the same way I do.

The boy arrives at the page, in his own time. This is something I must continue to learn.

Years ago, I gifted my son a journal, a private place he could arrive at and sort out his thoughts. He shares his writings with me when he feels moved to do so. Today was one of those days.

And today, he's sharing a page from his journal with you.

** Edited: It would be great if you shared your thoughts and comments on his poem with him. It would mean a lot to me, and a world to him.

My daughter explains to me the whole "woulda, coulda, shoulda" thing.

Metroblogging Lahore as seen on CNN's The Situation Room (transcript here) regarding the earthquake disaster, and how you can help. Also, Bilal posted a verse of trapped echoes.

Me, I'm doing a bit better, started eating again, and enjoyed good renewing sleep that was much needed. Can't wait to be strong enough to ride my bike again.

Thanks to those of you who have emailed me and left good vibes for me to get better. Every little bit helps. :o)

Ha! Tagged. And I only found out because I was commenting on someone's site, who had also been tagged; via Man About Town. Niiice!

1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same.

That's it.

I swear, that IS the fifth sentence of my 23 post, which in itself, was a very small one. Two years ago, and at around the same time. I was pondering web site changes, and my upcoming birthday. My month of renewal in many ways. Which came around again, just about a week ago. Pretty neat.

Like my friend Lori said... cycles. :o)

Now... who do I tag? Let's see if I can turn the excitement up a notch, or at least make it interesting. One To The Nth Power, Crankydragon's Scratches, Darthworld, Stalkers Not Allowed, Humanyms.

Back to my Stargate SG-1 Monday, an a nice, warm, soothing cup of tea.

I've been clearing my blogroll these past couple of days, visiting everyone in my blogroll. Dead links or blogs that haven't been updated in a few months I deleted, as well as some that I'd previously added which had caught my initial attention, but then, well, kinda lost it.

However, I now realize that some of what I thought were dead links was actually blogger acting up. So, if I had you in my blogroll, and now you notice you're not there, drop me a line or comment, and I'll take care of it quick.

How am I? Meh. Could be better. Actually, I'm in a lot of pain. My whole body aches, as my stomach. I haven't been able to eat anything since yesterday. And today I've suffered severe ear pain. Going to have that checked. *sigh*

Kids are doing fine, my daughter is going over her next song, and my son is contemplating a few new games, now that he is done with Halo 2.

Even though I feel like crap, I'm contemplating some web design and continued work on my painting. The simple thought of it makes me smile. :o)

My princess has gone and done what I have yet to even try. She's posted her first audioblog.

I'm too excited! I had the pleasure of listening to her practice, get in the zone, and them perform for you.

You, go listen at The Secret Garden.