Who am i?

Hope you weren't expecting some kind of existential entry. I just figured if this was going to be a somewhat public blog, new readers might want to catch up. ;)

I'm Malinda.


Creative, adventurous, lover of Jesus and people and beaches and stars and a whole bunch of other things. But you have a whole blog to learn about me, so i'll move on to more important details.

These are my parents.

They raised me in Ohio (with deep Kentucky roots!), and they still live back in the land of the corn. So does my sister, Claudia.
She's groovy, smart, funny- and a zillion other things. This girl has potential. So does Becca, my other sister. She lives in Seattle at the moment, doing her part to make the world a better place.

We all lived together, as families generally do, moving around Ohio as Dad pastored various small, farm-town churches. But the minute I graduated high school, i high-tailed it out of there- to stay with family in Kentucky.

Not quite the drastic change popular in the best stories, but it was a step in the right direction. After all, it was a town twice the size of what I was used to, with a new level of independence and the adventure of college life.


That college life taught me many lessons and introduced me to incredible people. However, it only took two years to outgrow that setting and look for a bigger school in a land of more opportunity....

God took me to Los Angeles!

I earned a Communications (with theatre emphasis!) degree from Azusa Pacific University, and moved in with my friend, Sophia.

Her family pretty much adopted me as their own, and i found a small, back-street church that also took me in.


The rest of the cast:



Jolie, the punk diva cat




Rosalie, Sophia's mom



















Crazy Cali grandma and grandpa

Mamaw and me





My friend Leah Ohio Grandma and Grandpa Lara, Soph, and Cans for Causes



Lots of challenges, friends, drama, joy, and even job opportunities later- i ended up here. Now I'm working at a group of radio stations as receptionist/listener services/office assistant/copywriter/anything else that needs done. I teach kids at church and help lead drama ministry. I host a weekend show at http://www.jjradio.com/ and assistant-produce a regular radio segment on an L.A. station featuring inspiring stories (http://www.fromtheheartradio.com/). I write, I dream, I create, I sing, I laugh, I love. And this is just the beginning.

life is full of crazy sadness

Never a dull moment, eh? I don't even know how to begin this entry.... I guess i can be less than creative and just give you a low-down on recent events.

- Soph's grandpa is in the hospital. He has cancer in his bladder. They did surgery this morning, and now we have to wait until Wednesday for results to know what's next. I'm actually off to the hospital in a just a little bit.

- Soph's grandpa on her dad's side passed away last night. We knew he was sick, but were surprised to get a call late last night to come to the hospital right away... we were there to see him take his last breath. Sophia's lost quite a few relatives this past year, and i know that doesn't ease her concern over her other grandpa now. And since this family has taken me in as one of their own... well, it's just really heartbreaking.

- We're supposed to go to a Clippers game tonight... there's a work event, and so i invited Soph, her mom and stepdad as a "thanks for letting me live at your house" kind of thing. We've been looking forward to it- all of us excited because it's our first professional basketball game- but i'm not sure that we're going due to all that's going on.

- On a more optimistic note, i had a job interview yesterday that looks promising. Should everything work out, i'll be a call center concierge at an upscale shopping/dining/living place just opening down the street from the radio station. It pays well, and it should open the doors for moving out soonly! Of course, it means i'll be working two jobs- about sixty hours a week- so i'll have pretty much no free time. I'm concerned about how it's going to affect church stuff, but i'm just praying for guidance and wisdom. I just want to do whatever it is God wants me to do.... and i'm just very unsure of what that is. Just when i think i've understood the plan, something happens that doesn't make sense. But i keep praying, trying.... it'll all work out, right?

I need to log off here and call my mom. They sent me a dvd of old home videos... they were cute and fun to watch. It was pretty much me and my sister Becca when we were little. Though she was really cute and loveable, and i was obnoxious and all over the place. I have a feeling (from watching and remembering some of it) that it was my natural borderline a.d.d-ness combined with the instructions to perform in front of the video camera... but i couldn't help but notice how many times i was scolded to stop doing something (ok, i MIGHT have been kicking Becca... but they told us to perform our song/dance with the Barbie and the Rockers tape, and she was just spinning in circles watching her new dress! And when they said, "You're not dancing around as much as you usually do", i was just trying to be obedient! hehehehe), but Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa all loved little stuffed-up Rebecca with her pretty dresses and tights. Anyway, it was interesting to match up memories with a more objective point of view. It confirmed that I'm not crazy or remembering things completely through a skewed perspective. But i see now that people were simply reacting to my obnoxiousness. Lesson learned? Love the difficult kids, dang it! They need to be loved, too! Thinking no one really likes them just encourges them to be more difficult!

i think i'm just a bit emotional, and this is becoming whiny. The last thing i want/you need is a whiny blog entry. It's about time for me to drive to the hospital anyway. Pray for this family, guys.... how much loss can anyone take?



P.S. If you're really nice to me (and if i can figure out how to upload the video from the dvd), I'll upload a couple snippets of my childhood. The one of Becca and the cat at Christmas is priceless. And I sing a pretty mean rendition of Barbie and the Rockers.

nine minutes and counting

I’m giving myself nine minutes to post a blog, before i get back to doing something productive and work-related. Not that i’m slacking today, but now that Lent is over, I am free to play games during phone time.... and i cannot let my love of Peggle interfere with my work performance.

Oh, who am I kidding. I talk on the phone and stuff envelopes for a living. That’s not performing, unless you ARE a trained monkey.

Ok, so i’m a bit bitter and cynical lately. *shrugs* It happens. The question is, do i use the bipolar excuse, or am I just being a jerk?

I meant to post the latest Clover Watch 2008 pic... but the photo of the pot in the trash can depressed me. That’s right, I killed ’em. I took them home over a weekend so they wouldn’t dry out... and they somehow dried out. I seriously have no clue how that happened, but it did. So all six of the remaining sprouts have bit the dust. And thus ends my most recent attempt at sustaining plant life.

So this weekend was Easter... church was disappointing, as i got corralled into the chaos that is our kid’s program. I was really looking forward to actually being in the church service, too. Next week I’m going to the Dream Center, a place where no one knows my name. Normally, i think this is a horrible way to approach church life. However, if less people treated it this way, maybe i wouldn’t have to occasionally escape to another church for guilt-free praise and worship?

Due to my time limit, i will refrain from stepping on these soapboxes:
1. Church life should truly be communal and alive.
2. We have lost reverance and the appreciation for the sacred.

I am currently seeking something sacred in my life.

delinquent

I thought for sure that after the play I'd have a big ol' long entry with pictures or something. Oops. Where has my drive for blogging gone?

I think i've just been worn out. The Easter play went so so well... the kids were phenomenal, we got some a new lighting system to use from here on out, and the way people pull together is fantastic. We had some glitches with the sound, but we have ideas on how to fix that. Always growing and improving! We will develop an incredible drama ministry in no time.

So i did take some time to catch up on sleep, but i'm still running at top speed. Newest project: operation new or second job. I've applied for lots of stuff (as usual), but no interview (as usual). Today i applied at a movie theatre near work. Yesterday it was Toys R Us. I wrote some spots this week, after months of writing drought. So that's been kind of fun.

Oh, and March Madness. I think i like basketball. I've liked watching the games (few and far between) i've seen on television. And now that i've filled out a bracket, it's just been interesting. So who knew? Mal the non-sports-fan likes basketball. I'm even going to a Clippers game next Saturday....

It's ten, which isn't technically late... but i have to leave the house at a quarter til seven in the morning to meet Lara at recycling by seven thirty. I get a shorter work day (depending on various factors), then i'm babysitting. So long (but good) day ahead!

Soph just brought me ice cream and jello. Yay sugar before bed. *shrugs* Sounds like a plan to me. I'll restart my diet (yet again) tomorrow.....

how this ended up being the best day ever

i was supposed to go to a taping of Ellen's show today. i had work off and everything. So when things didn't go as planned and i realized there was too much work to be done on the Easter play set, i was disappointed that i had to cancel plans for the show.

We were up until two this morning painting a backdrop and helping when a family situation came up. Thankfully, we were able to sleep in today... and that in itself was beautiful. I like sleep, but don't get to do it often enough (yet i sit here blogging knowing i have to be up in- four and a half hours?! Crap!!). Sophia ended up taking her grandpa to the doctor, so we couldn't start working on the second backdrop until they were back. This gave me enough time to finish a book i've been reading... and sleep some more. :)

We spent the day on Cali grandma and grandpa's back porch, painting the second backdrop. I have a picture, but i'm too tired and lazy to mess with uploading, so you'll have to wait. We hung out with cousins and grandma and grandpa. We listened to the Wicked soundtrack. We were OUTSIDE where it was warm and sunny. I got to hold the baby for a bit. There was no reason to rush anything or deal with crazyness.... it was a really good day. Of course, my birthday/seeing Wicked/etc is still technically the first on the "best day ever" list, but you get what i'm saying. ;)

i need to upload the latest clover pic as well.... maybe tomorrow... or next week when things are quieter. ;) You're not missing much, though. It's almost as though they stopped growing. Meanwhile, Doris Taylor was still losing leaves. A plant-knowledgable co-worker said she needs a heck of a lot more sunlight than random field trips to the window provide. So i had to say goodbye to Doris Taylor... my boss took her home to plant her among other thriving cacti..... sigh.

Which brings me to the question of the week. What is the plural of Jesus? Jesuses? Jesi? Anyone know?

Maybe i should take the direction of the blog as a hint that i need to get up in FOUR HOURS AND 24 MINUTES and i am nuts for even being online.