Dedicated...

by MaryAnn Carroll

to blogging.  As on many group blogs, each of the authors at LMAJ have certain days to post.  Today was Kelli's day.  Last night I got a phone call from Indianna at approx. 7:45.  Seeing that it was out of state, I answered the phone in the gruff voice that friends often give me a hard time about.  When I first looked at the caller ID, I saw that is was long distance and looked at the INDIA part of Indianna and think it triggered my recent issues with Dell technical support!  Okay, so that's a stretch, but my first reaction was annoyance.

So out came the "are you mad?" voice that, while at work, and walking across my classroom to answer the phone, I have to remember to change when I pick it up to say, "hello!"  Instead of my natural

"HELLO!,"

I work on the sweeter side of me that is more inviting to a friendly conversation, with a controlled, kind toned

"hello."

The crazy part of that too, is that I'm rarely mad and even when I am, I don't stay that way too long.  I think it is usually my hurried, distracted personality that comes through.  I guess you are never too old to work on change.  I'll continue my, so far, 10 year journey of trying to change that! ;o)

The kind voice on the other end said, "Mary Ann?"

To which, I, of course said, "yes!" 

And, to my surprise it was Kelli Pope calling......worried because her computer broke down and she wouldn't be able to post today.  She even went as far as calling her niece (I think she said) to tracking down my phone number since she didn't have a working computer to look it up on.

That is only the 2nd time that I've actually spoken with a friend that I've met through the internet in person (other than my husband who I met through match.com 6 years ago ;o).  I have to, once again, give technology some credit since the internet has made our world a much smaller place with opportunities that are endless. 

With all the said, and with all of Kelli's effort and dedication to the blog, I thought that I would do a little dedication back at her.....  I think everyone will enjoy seeing some of Kelli's most recent work and agree that she is a natural.

Enjoy...

Thanks Kelli!... and I'm saying that ever so sweetly ;o)