Think

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events.... Terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem ( Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you startsending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it... No one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.



My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

To Be or Not to Be

I have been trying to decide if I would rather be busy or bored. I spent all of my summer working and that was pretty much it. When fall came I decided to be more proactive about my social life, but now I am wondering if I am in over my head. My schedule right now after work is insane.

Monday: 4:00-6:00 Rehearsal at This is the Place State Park
7:00 Family Home Evening
Tuesday:4:30-6:00 Piano practice and making dinner
6:30-8:30 Rehearsal at University of Utah
9:00-10:30 Rehearsal
Wednesday: 4:00-5:30 Lesson prep for work
5:30-6:30 make and eat dinner
7:00-9:00 Rehearsal at Westminister College
Thursday: 4:00-6:00 Rehearsal at This is the Place State Park
6:00-7:00 Organ practice

Friday is a blessed day. I am done with work at 2:00 and I get to come home and take a nap. Naps may not be a permanent thing, but since I have now been sick for 24 days it has become a ritual. I wish Saturdays were relaxing, but at my new residence I am usually doing something that my roommate can't do. Like climbing on the roof to clean out the rain gutters. This week it was pruning the vines that were growing through the fence onto the driveway. I also raked all the leaves off the roof. (Don't ask me why it was required, I just do as I'm told)

So, the ultimate question is: To be or not to be busy? I don't know. Ask me again after the Christmas performances for the three choirs are over. Did I mention that I sometimes have more than one performance for more than one choir on the same day?

Awesome Pumpkins

I know it's past Halloween, but these are some pretty awesome pumpkins! Had to share.

Death By Choking [comedy]

Happy Halloween!

The Voca People

Very cool concept!

Resigned to Reality

Sometimes people aren't always smart. Say for example, me. So I lost my phone Saturday and couldn't figure out where it was since I hadn't really gone anywhere. Luckily at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday/Monday I sat bolt upright in bed because I realized it might be on the front lawn. I jumped out of bed and went to look and indeed there was my phone, sitting on the front lawn. Chilled, a little damp, but otherwise intact. Now here comes the stupid part. I also went out to my car to retrieve something from the front seat. Things get fuzzy here but I was almost positive that I locked the car before going back in to go to sleep. Whilst getting into my car the next morning to go to work I noticed that everything that had once been in my center console was now strewn across the driver's seat. The door was (still?) locked so I unlocked it and realized that someone had indeed rifled through my car. My change drawer, which I never open, was still wide open and all the coins in my cup holder were gone. It suddenly dawned on me that the day before since I was wearing a skirt that did not have pockets, that I had unintentionally left my wallet IN MY CAR. Yep, that's right the thief took my wallet which happened to include a large portion of money, my driver's license and a couple other valuable things. It also occured to me only today that my entire CD collection is also missing. Sixteen years of gathering what I consider to be a very fine music collection is now gonzo. 536 of some of my most precious possessions just disappeared. Honestly I should be the most upset about the money because I will never get it back. But strangely enough I have been the most devastated by the loss of my CD's. I have resigned myself to the fact that not only am I now broke for the next 18 days, but I will have to start all over again, building a collection ver near and dear to my heart. Some of those CD's were signed by the band members! Dang it.

Dating Do's and Don'ts (For Men)

Some of the Do's:

• Do open doors and pull out chairs for me.
• Do ask me about the temperature in the car.
• Do make it clear that the outing is a date. A phrase such as "It's a date" while planning works quite effectively.
• Do warn me about proper attire. I don't mind if you keep our activity a surprise but give me advance warning if I will need a rain poncho or hiking boots.
• Do let me know if you are going to be late. A text is usually sufficient.
• Do include me in the planning. It can be fun to take turns. But make it clear if you intend to pay or not.

And the Don'ts:

• Don't be offended if I don't wait for you to open my door. It's possible that I have been single for a while and have become accustomed to doing things on my own. It does not mean I don't want you to.
  
• Don't try to be sneaky. When I tell you that I have played the piano for 22 years, it's pretty obvious that you are trying to find out how old I am when you ask at what age I started. Just ask me.
  
• Don't assume after one date that I know what time you will be coming for the next date.
  
• DO NOT wait until the afternoon of the date to confirm that you do in fact have a date. Especially when you had not discussed specific times or activities beforehand.
• DO NOT rely on text messaging to arrange a date. Call me old fashioned but I would rather that you call me. After we have established exclusivity, texting can be fine.
• DO NOT take me home to meet your parents on a first date. So scary!
• Don't shake my hand at the end of a date. Ask if a hug is appropriate I am usually happy to oblige.

Just a few tips. Here's to hoping you don't need them!

Hazards of the Mall

I have spent more time in malls lately than I usually do doing some essential shopping with a close friend who is preparing for a wedding and I thought I would point out some mall oddities.

Malls should be a standard layout. The University Mall in Provo is HUGE and I had never been before. Instead of a standard T or H shape this mall is some kind of shape I don't even know what I would have to get an aerial view to figure it out. I was on my own for a while and got confused to where I was, partly because there was a Pretzelmaker at every turn. I only figured out where I was by looking at the employees.

Kiosks in the mall. Sigh. I don't mind the ones where the people sit at their little booths and wait for a patron to browse before they pounce and tell you about their product. However, there are the few that pray on the lone shopper. This time it was the exotic facial and hand lotion kiosk that got me. As I was walking past a woman stepped in front of me and started her spiel and I immediately told her no. As I started to walk past she tried to goad me into conversation by claiming that I wouldn't talk to her because of her accent. I didn't justify myself, knowing that she just wanted me to stop long enough to engage her in conversation. On the other side of the mall I ran into an identical kiosk run this time by attractive foreign men. This time I caved. This good looking stranger with an accent was a charmer! I let him do his pitch while he caressed my hands and promoted the benefits of what essentially is exotic sugar. Then of course I felt guilty and told him I had no money, I also promised to walk back this way before his shift is over and maybe bring some money. Did I go back? Of course not, in fact my final destination would have taken me past him again so instead I left the mall and walked all the way on the outside of this monstrosity to my destination simply to avoid him. Sad right?

I have an inherently guilty conscience whether it is deserved or not. I was helping a friend shop for wedding bands for her betrothed and of course we visited more than one jewelry store. At the mall we went to there are 5 jewelers all within view of each other. We traversed from place to place where each pampered us with free water, jewelry cleaning and various promises of the best value. My problem came when we would go from one to another within full view of the salespeople who were just vying for our business. My guilt came from visiting the competitor and knowing that the other salespeople could see me doing it. Luckily my friend is not so guilt ridden, and merely dragged me behind her with a roll of the eyes.

Letter to the Principal

Dear Mr. C,

Welcome to our school. I hope you enjoy it here. Can you make it so that we get seconds at lunch?


Your friend,

Andrew

P.S. I like food.

New Music Discoveries

I have been on a girl music kick and found some new music artists that I have become a fan of because of my new roommate. Check them out!

Barlowgirl
Charlotte Martin
Emiliana Torrini
Britt Nicole
Natalie Grant
Kari Jobe
Laura Marling
Jaymay
Anuhea
Kate Earl
Hope Partlow

and Regina Spektor's new album!

The Pros and Cons of My Summer Job

The Pros

• Coooking everyday was fun!
• Planning a new menu every week let me be creative
• Trying new recipes on unsuspecting victims was wickedly entertaining.
• Sneaking vegetables into things that you wouldn't think amused me greatly.
• People asking for seconds or thirds. The best compliment ever!
• Being offered jobs in other kitchens, also an excellent compliment.
• Having a giant kitchen and industrial appliances makes for much easier cooking.
  

The Cons

• Getting up early is not my favorite. 5 a.m. is not a time I am accustomed to seeing
• Cooking for large amounts of people means that you will NEVER EVER satisfy everyone.
• Picky eaters. Ugh, I had enough issues catering to people with special diets. Gluten free, no red food dye, dairy allergies and etc. But when you want me to make you a grilled cheese sandwich for EVERY meal simply because you only eat apples, cheese and peanut butter? Annoying!
• People using my kitchen and not picking up after themselves. Every Monday I ended up spending at least half of my morning cleaning up messes left from people who used the kitchen over the weekend.
• Adults who refused to read. Several times I would buy something for a specific recipe and then leave clear instructions on said food product asking for it to be left alone. I would even put the date and meal that I intended to use it for, only to find that someone used it anyway.
• My culinary adventures did not always pan out. Don't get me wrong the food was always edible, but it sucks to put something out for people to eat that you know could be better.
  

Any Chance to Brag....

Got to see my cute niece and nephew last month and decided to put up some of the pics from their visit. I hope it's not another 18 months before I get to see them!

Health Care Problem Solved!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love The Daily Show with Jon Stewart?

Hillcrest High School Class of 1999!

Life is complicated. We start thinking we know where we will end up but often find ourselves surprised by the twist and turns of the path before us. I have been pondering this lately with the impending arrival of my 10 year high school reunion next month. My first thoughts were, "10 years? Seriously? Where did the time go?" There are regrets especially when I realized that I have not kept in contact with a single person from that time of my life. Initially my reason for not keeping in contact was that I have ended up such a completely different person than I was, but guess what, so has everybody else! (In theory of course, 10 years should have something to show for itself right?) I don't think I truly knew who I was as a person until well into my twenties. Here are some realizations that I will need to remember next month.

Yes, the majority of the people I will be hoping to see are married and have children. I am not married and have no children. However, I am satisfied with my life right now. Do I want to be single for the rest of my life? No. But I value the experiences and lessons I have learned from this time of my life. Everything that I have learned in the last 10 years have made me, in my opinion, a better person. Those lessons and experiences would probably not have been the same had I been married.

I do not have a glamorous job. Some of the people from my graduating class are well known TV personalities, staffers for Presidents, engineers for Cirque du Soleil, musicians and lawyers. I don't have a job like that. But I do have the great opportunity of teaching children with special needs. It took me a while to find my niche, but from all the things that I have done, I have come to the realization that I enjoy and succeed the most when I have a job that allows me to help others.

My accomplishments over the last 10 years may not impress most, but here are some things I can be proud of:

• I have an awesome music collection. My Cd's are housed in 5 different cases of over 200+ and are separated into categories for easier navigation. I also have a spreadsheet that allows you to search by artist, genre, or year.
• I have become a pretty decent cook. I may not cook for many other than myself most of the time, but through one of my jobs I have become innovative and can not only make my own chocolate dessert syrup but also a pretty darn good meatloaf.
• I know a lot of seemingly useless and random facts, mostly about life from the 1930's, 40's and 50's. This comes from working with Alzheimer's and dementia patients for 4 years.
• I made a difference in finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Not necessarily a measurable one, but for 15+ years I volunteered at their main Utah fundraiser and spent 4 of those years on their fund raising board, the last two as the Rest Stop Chair.
• I have written music. Mostly religious in nature, I am finally letting some people see it.

So. for my 10 year reunion I say, bring it on! Sure some of the old insecurities will arise, but I will just have to remember this list. Hillcrest High School class of 1999 classmates, see you in a little less than a month!

Six Days and Counting

I am super excited because in six days I will get to see my niece and nephew!! I have not seen them except in pictures and on Skype since Christmas 2007. It is hard that they live so far away. I wish I could go visit all the time. Aubree and Garrett have gotten so big and I just can't wait to see them!!





Oh, and I guess it's probably time to see my sister and brother-in-law too. ;)

Buffy vs. Edward

My sister pointed me to this link and I think it's pretty hysterical. I only hope that the next movie follows the pattern of the Harry Potter's in that they have gotten better the more they do. Twilight was..... eh. Could have been better.

The Bug List

Here is where the ranting comes in a little bit. Just a few of the things that are bugging me lately.

1. Neighbors who let their dogs poop on my lawn and don't clean it up. This led to a very nasty barefoot incident that I would rather not recount. I don't mind that our yard has become the common neighborhood property, we don't use it so someone should, just clean up after your dogs!
   
2. People I work with who blame their messes on rental groups. I know for a FACT that last Sunday night when a rental group left that my kitchen was pristine. I stopped in to take some meat out of the freezer for Monday morning. Monday morning when I got there at 6 a.m. the kitchen was a disaster!!! I was seriously ticked. Especially when the staff tried to blame it on the rental group.
   
3. A certain member of staff who is always telling me what I am doing wrong. Believe me when it's something obvious like food, I know when I mess something up. You don't need to come in the kitchen and tell me what I should have done.
4. Thursdays. I am not fond of Thursdays at the moment. It is the day when I get my food order for the next week in, which in and of itself is not a problem except that it is also the day that the campers have sack lunches. Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. I have to make 120 or more sack lunches AND put away a literal ton of perishable food. NOT FUN my friends.
5. The CD drive on my laptop. For some reason it has decided to stop burning discs. At work I live by music mixes made on my laptop. It still plays Cd's and DVD's but just doesn't feel like burning anything anymore. Bummer.
6. The ads for that new car the Cube. Not only does the car look weird to me, but that new song by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs grates on my ears.
7. Excruciating pain. It really should go without saying right? But I have some weird shooting pain in my hip that is possibly from a pinched nerve since X-Rays have shown nothing. The problem is that I would love to take the muscle relaxants that were prescribed for me, but they adversely react with a medication that I have to take on a daily basis.
   
8. People with whom I share space that talk loudly on the phone until 3 or 4 in the morning and also insist on turning on and off their light during that time ensuring that I have a difficult time getting to sleep when I have to get up at 5 a.m.
9. Hot weather. You would think that after 28 years of living in a desert state that at some point I would adjust to high temperatures. Luckily this summer has been relatively cool. However now that the temperatures are on the rise I have the issue of also working in a kitchen where I am often running a convection oven, a conventional oven, a griddle and an industrial stove top. Sometimes all at once. Oh and did I mention gas powered? Needless to say it gets hot.
10. Good TV shows that get canceled. I have probably said something about this before but after investing myself in Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, and a few other shows they have been canceled.
    

Favorite Quotes

Intelligent people sometimes say very profound things. Sometimes profound statements come from unexpected sources.

"My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated nd more intelligent than college professors."
- Maya Angelou

"We come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly."
- Angelina Jolie

"A day without laughter is a day wasted."
- Charlie Chaplin

"Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops."
- Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace

"I've been on so many blind dates, I should get a free dog."
- Wendy Liebman

"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter."
- James Earl Jones

"Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands-- and then eat just one of the pieces."
- Judith Viorst

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."
- Aldous Huxley

Happy Independence Day! Let's Go to Canada!!

I was listening to NPR today and heard something interesting. For some reason Homeland Security felt the need to send out an alert to Fourth of July travelers to remind them to bring their passports when traveling to Canada, Mexico and the Carribean. Hooray! I cannot think of a better way to celebrate the independence of the United States from Great Britian than to travel..... to another country.

Ahh, Summer!

Image via Wikipedia

One of my favorite things about summer is the roadside stands selling fresh produce. Where else can you buy 4 pounds of premium local cherries for only $12? And 4 ears of salt and pepper corn for only $1?! This summer has been different too because of instead of the typical sweltering heat from which there is no escape, there was been a pleasant mix of rain and cooler weather. Usually by this point of June in Utah we have hit the 100 degree mark multiple times. I don't think we have even hit 90 yet! So in honor of summer I dedicate this song. Click below.

Matt Costa- Sunshine

I Blame Rachmaninoff

In 2003 I started working in nursing homes and began the interesting and arduous task of learning everything I could about the daily life of someone who grew up in the 30's, 40's and 50's. I acquired all kinds of useless facts and became very familiar with the music from those eras. Earlier this year I changed careers and began working with children. This presented a unique challenge because all of the music I had been using was from their great-grandparents time and the only children type music I knew was too young for 10-12 year olds. The other standards I have included mostly classical music which kids are definitely not too keen on.

I began to search around for music these kids could relate to, but mostly they talk to me about which rapper did what. I'm pretty sure that sheet music for rap music is not available, nor would I know how to play it. Not to mention that 9 times out of 10 the lyrics would not be appropriate at an elementary school.

The point of this is that music to me is life. No matter what I do I find some way to incorporate it into my daily life. I don't work well without it and only like silence when it relates to enjoying nature. Eleven years ago while I was still taking piano lessons I learned a hard lesson. Having small hands often impedes. I was at school one day and suddenly couldn't feel my left hand. The lack of sensation gradually spread up my arm all the way to my elbow. I was terrified!! I was having to use my right hand to pick my left up and move it. Turns out the previous eleven years of playing the piano had finally taken their toll and I had acquired carpal tunnel.

Carpal tunnel is an extremely frustrating thing to deal with. You know your hand(s) are there and can even most of the time move them around but can't feel them. It is a strange and sometimes scary sensation. At the time of the onset of my carpal tunnel I was working on a difficult piece written by Rachmaninoff that clearly had been written by someone with much larger hands than I. My sometimes overzealous practicing for perfection became a disadvantage. Anyone who has had carpal tunnel can tell you that the strange pain and loss of feeling is inconvenient at best and alarming at worst.

As the years have gone on I have not had problems with my carpal tunnel and in fact the symptoms had completely disappeared. The main reason was because I have not been practicing the piano for at least 2 hours a day. It has been a nice reprieve not to worry about it. As I started my summer hiatus job cooking I found my carpal tunnel symptoms returning with full force. All the repetitious chopping and stirring and squeezing of sink sprayers has sometimes left me with debilitating pain. One of the most frustrating things is that I am also beginning to lose the strength in my wrists and fingers. Things like lifting a pan or plate, or twisting a lid become a chore. I am counting down the weeks until my summer job is done and I can go back to teaching which does not aggravate my carpal tunnel. In the end I still blame Rachmaninoff. Blast him and his man hands.

Self-confessed Geek

Image via Wikipedia

I am a self-confessed geek. I love Star Trek and just about anything sci-fi or action based. My family has a tradition of seeing movies like that at midnight on opening night. I have seen so many movies at midnight that I couldn't even name them all. A few of the most memorable include X-Files, X-Men 2, Quantum of Solace, and most recently Transformers 2. The great thing about midnight showings of movies is that you are guaranteed that anyone willing to do that REALLY wants to see the movie. Sitting in audience of true fans is exhilirating. It is the one time that applause and out loud cheering at a movie are encouraged. Undoubtedly you will also find people dressed up as characters from the movie or at least wearing a related T-shirt. The only downside is that you have to be careful who you go with. If you go with a true fanatic the time after the movie will undoubtedly be spent in pointless debate about the logicality of some plot point or another. I had that experience when I went to Star Trek in May. I don't go to movies because I expect people or things to have rational explanations. That's what real life is for right? So what if someone uses a car to take down a helicopter. It isn't a practical or probable situation but it looks totally awesome!! So instead of going into a movie and expecting the world I go in expecting to be entertained and hopefully to see some really awesome explosions and hopefully laugh a little bit. By the way, Transformers totally rocked!!!

Favorite Things

Some of my favorite things lately:

• Naps after being at work at 6 a.m.
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. So funny!
  
• Hulu!! Love that I can watch my shows whenever I want and from more than one network.
• Summer movie season. Going to see the midnight showing of Transformers 2 tonight!
• Seeing friends. I have been too focused on work lately and it was great to see some friends last night that I hadn't seen in a while.
• Nature. I love working up Emigration canyon, it is so peaceful.
• Liquid bandages. It allows me to still get my work done without worrying about getting a band-aid wet.
• Good advice. Someone I really respect gave me some advice last night and it has been said to me before but it is easier to follow through when it's someone you admire.
• Medium rare burgers. So delicious!
  

Republican Oppression

Things I Have Learned From Cooking for Massive Amounts of People

Image via Wikipedia

Cooking for 100+ plus people a day has taught me some things that I thought I should share.

1. Small children don't like biscuits and gravy. Don't know why.
2. Vegetarians irritate me. I already have to adjust my menu weekly based on random food restrictions like red and yellow food dye allergies, or gluten allergies. If I put out 5 dishes and only one of them has meat, why do you then demand that I basically take the salad, which you have already eaten and put it on a piece of bread so you can have a sandwich.
3. You will never please everyone. Shocking, I know.
4. You must give people instructions on how much food is appropriate for one person, if you don't, people take liberties and you run out of food.
5. In reference to #5, karma is a killer. One of the staff members was serving himself food and blatantly ignored my sign that said 2 pieces of bacon and piled on 8 pieces. WHILE I WAS STANDING THERE! Not too long after that the staff member in general spilled a very large mop bucket full of water on himself. Karma!!
6. Kitchen accidents are inevitable. I have had one mishap a week so far.

• Week one- singed arm hair while barbequeing.
• Week two- singed hair net and possibly some hair
• Week three- sliced my left thumb while trying to slice tomatoes
• Week four- burned myself on the convection oven
• Week five- julienned my own thumb on a slicer while julienning carrots. The same thumb from week three, resulting in an overlap of wounds.

So hooray for food. I have also found myself unable to eat anything that I have prepared. It's a little weird. It's not that the food is bad, I only make things that I think are good, but I have found myself cringing at the thought of eating food I have prepared even at home.

Surprises All Around!

This has been a week for surprises. First surprise came on Sunday when I received a phone call that I was not expecting. It was a good surprise though and perhaps more on the context and contents of that call later.

Second, I got a text last week from someone at my summer job stating that they had quit and good luck to me. This lead to my promotion to head cook.

Third, I was extremely worried about starting my new job this week as head cook at a camp for people with disabilities. Mostly because I AM NOT a morning person and I needed to be at work sometime between 5 and 6 a.m. depending on the day. And surprise! I have actually been able to make it there. I have been seriously exhausted especially because my days have ended up being 12 hours, but I can do it apparently!

Fourth, my phone decided that it had put me through enough misery after randomly deciding to vibrate on it's own without provocation for the last few months. My phone decided it would no longer charge which becomes problematic when the battery runs out. Luckily my sister has allowed me the use of her phone so I just switched SIM cards with her but also lost all my phone numbers.

Lastly, on a different note, I am a believer in things happening for a reason. Whether it's losing your job which leads you to another opportunity or a chance meeting with someone that reconnects you after years, I think that even bad things can be beneficial to life's experiences. They are not always pleasant at the time but it happens. Sometimes we lose touch with people because of life's twists and turns, or an argument or some kind of misunderstanding. However, the last surprise came because for some reason I have lost a dear friend. There was no argument, no gradual losing touch. I have seen this person and they have acted like we have never met. At the time that I met this person I felt an instant connection and have learned a lot from them. They helped me solidify some things in my life and realize that I don't have to hide who I am, even if people don't necessarily agree or understand, including my family and friends. I have no clue why I am being treated like a leper, and as much as it hurts, if this is the end of the friendship then there is nothing I can do about it. You cannot force someone to talk to you or acknowledge your presence. So if this is the end then I say to that friend, goodbye and farewell, your friendship will be missed. Thank you for everything you taught me.

Things That Make Me Go Hmmmmm?

1. 10 year olds with cell phones. Is it really necessary?
2. Vending machines so old that they don't take dollars and you have to open a door on the front and turn the knob for the soda you want.
3. The sudden and inexplicable loss of a friend.
4. Refrigerators with a light switch. Shouldn't the light just turn on when you open the door?
5. Irresponsible people who quit their jobs by leaving a note and don't even finish the day which means that 92 disabled people don't have lunch.
6. My agreeing to a job that requires me to be AT work at 5 a.m. What was I thinking?
7. Adults who forget how to drive when picking up their children from school.
8. Teachers that have a reputation for being hard to work for and still haven't changed 16 years later.
9. Double standards. Like a friend who rarely calls me back and often flakes out on plans with me but then acts like the one time I don't call them back is the end of the world.
10. My grandmother wanting me to come over to her house so she can show me her "stash" so that when she dies no one will throw it away. Stash? Should I be worried?

Evolution of a Blog

I began this blog almost two years ago because I thought I had no one to vent to. It evolved from "Rantings of a Semi-Sane Woman" because I realized that there was a lot of negativity in my life and that I didn't want to live that way. I then changed the name to "All You Need Is Love." I was hoping to promote peace and tolerance for ALL people whether you agree with their political or religious ideology or not. As I have become content with my life's current state I have decided to make a return to the original purpose. Sort of. Sometimes it is important be able to comment on the strange and sometimes upsetting things that happen to us in life, but I have learned to take joy in the journey so I am now making a small change and have rearranged my original title and now dub this blog "Semi-Rantings of a Sane Woman"

Life's Twists and Turns

I went from blogging on a semi-regular basis to nothing! A lot of things have happened over the last few months. I keep waiting, unsuccessfully, for some stability and normality. I have been through two new roommates, conflicts with the existing roommates and the normal ups and downs of being a single adult. I never would have thought that at the age of 28 I would still be trying to figure everything out. I guess I have the basics down. I know who I am as a person. I am not likely to suddenly decide to be a vegan or decide to only speak Klingon. As far as dating goes is it ever easy? If it is, I am still waiting for that to happen. But overall I don't have much to complain about. I am relatively healthy, I have employment and a roof over my head. Though I seem to have lost contact with a friend or two lately, I have people who support me, including my family.

Working with these kids in Special Ed make me realize how lucky I was to have a stable home life. Most of the kids don't have physical disabilities or even severe learning disabilities, they have just been the victims of unhealthy home lives that has stunted their academic growth. So even though my life has had unexpected twists and turns, I live each day hoping that in some way I can take what I have learned and help someone else.

From the Mouth of Babes

After a recent bout of unemployment I managed to find a job that I am enjoying quite a bit. I have become a para-educator at an elementary school near my home. A school coincidentally that I went to during my formative years. I have learned a lot about kids that I didn't know before. First is that everything for them is black and white. It's either right or it isn't. Trying to explain abstract concepts can be very difficult, especially in special education. Second is that they don't hold grudges. One day I spent 45 minutes straight in a power struggle with a fourth grader. I was exhausted at the end of that. I figured the kid would be mad at me at least for the rest of the day, especially since I won. Yet only 10 minutes later this same kid would only let me help him do something, no one else!

One of the interesting things is that kids don't always have a filter on what they say or do. Now that I have been at the school for a couple of months and the kids in my class have gotten to know me I can usually count on a couple of things being the same. At least once a week I can be assured that "Freddy" will tell me that I am getting too old and that I better get married soon. At least once a week I will be told that I am a mean teacher. I will continue to be told by one child or another that if I already know the answer to something that I should just do it for them. Following which I try to explain again that I don't give them things to do because I don't know how to do it, it's so that THEY can learn to do it for themselves. I can count on being asked if I ever am not drinking something. (I have a tendency to get dehydrated so I always have a water bottle and occasionally a Diet Coke in my hand)But one of the best parts is that at least once a week I see the light of understanding appear in a kid's eyes and I know that I have helped them learn something new. And the very very best part is getting hugs from kids who want to make sure I will be there the next day even after what has seemed like a never-ending power struggle all day. It makes me want to have kids of my own, even on the worst days!

Star Trek rules!!

Curses!

More laptop trouble. But finally fixed again. At least for the moment.

Attacked by Technology!

I have not posted for quite a while now and it deserves an explanation. Just after Thanksgiving my laptop decided to quit on me. And since that was where I did all my blogging from I had to take a forced leave of absence. I also have been under attack from other inanimate objects. There was an unfortunate incident involving me and ice that resulted in a graceful faceplant while wearing a skirt and heels. Which also resulted in my phone deciding to randomly vibrate constantly with no prompting from a phone call or text message. On another note I finally finished paying off my car! Which of course means that immediately my car has started to fall to pieces. I have decided that technology hates me. I have resigned myself to riding out the electrical storm. Gradually I am repairing everything and I finally have my laptop back. So, more entries to come later!