Just Another Day

Well, for all my sewing machine issues I managed to pull off the rest of my Christmas presents fairly well. I still had issues but they were operator errors. Definitely going to start all my presents early this year! Speaking of... Happy New Year! And that's about as far as my celebration is going tonight. Decided to stay at home and relax tonight, I have tomorrow off, short shift the next day, and the next day off. Not too shabby of a week or a start to the new year. So what are my resolutions this year? Truthfully my only real resolution is to lose 40 lbs by my birthday. I keep being wishy washy about it and I need to just suck it up and do it. I know I can, I'm just too lazy, but this year I'm not going to be. Otherwise, I want to finally finish the quilt I've been working on for about 3 years, and I want to try and start my craft blog and get on there at least once a week and here more than once a month ;) Along with my craft blog a friend and I are going to try and get into some craft fairs this year so that should help give me stuff to blog about lol :) For now I'm going to go enjoy my night, I'm thinking hot cocoa and a book may be in order :) Happy New Year :)

Well Then...

So I'm almost done all my Christmas making/wrapping/preparing whatnot, all I have left to do are sew a few things, and print off some pictures to finish two projects, wrap them and put the appropriate card with them and I'm done. I have to pick up the pictures at walmart so I'm heading there tomorrow on my way home, nothing I can do there today. So I thought I'd spend my night sewing so I only have 1 thing to do tomorrow. Ha. My sewing machine decided to wreak havoc on my project so it's currently in a time out (a.k.a. I don't have the energy to deal with it tonight/ I can't wait for Christmas to be over so I don't feel like I have things looming over my head). I might brave it again tonight, otherwise I might just go to my grandmothers house tomorrow and use hers. I think next year I'm going to start making my Christmas presents in oh...say January. I've definitely enjoyed making them, and I'd like to do it again next year but I need more time. These are the days I really want to just start working from home selling stuff I make but I seriously lack the motivation. Who knows, maybe next year I'll get involved in craft fairs and such and see where it takes me. For tonight I'm going to go have a fried balogna sandwich and threaten my sewing machine some more and see where that gets me.

Deja Vu

Do you ever have one of those days where it's going all wrong, you have several "I'm surrounded by idiots!" moments, and you just can't wait to get home and hide in your room? Well that was my day today. First thing at work today one of my fellow associates yelled at me for running my mouth about her, which I never do by the way, but every time she sees me she accuses me of doing just that and goes to management and "tells on me". Why she keeps doing it I have no idea because all my managers know I don't do it, but whatever floats her boat I guess. To give you a sampling of the customers I dealt with today here is one of the more intelligent conversations I held: I'm called to the registers to ring, I call up my first customer and there's a receipt on the counter, and she says to me before I even get my hands on it, "That's not my receipt, it's not mine." It was literally all I could do, this was towards the end of the day mind you so I was about done with people in general, to not reply, "No s***, Sherlock." We won't even get into my drive home. Needless to say I took the long way home so I could drive my frustrations out. Well during my long drive I was thinking about my day, and different witty comebacks I wish I could have said without getting fired, and all the other things in my life that are frustrating, because when doesn't a bad day at work make you think of all the horrible things in your life? Anyway, a thought popped into my head, it was a status I had written on facebook 3 years ago now, and while it didn't immediately make me all smiles it did help calm me down some. The gist of the status was that God has me in the palm of His hand and no matter what happens I'm safe and taken care of there. Nothing going on in the world will affect me unless He decides to let it to accomplish His perfect will, even if I don't know or understand what it is. Completely different circumstances today than when I wrote that 3 years ago, but it's still just as nice to know today that somebody (God) has his stuff together, knows what He's doing, and that no matter what's going on there is a purpose behind it and it'll all make sense and get better sooner or later. My goal for the rest of the week? Take deep breaths and smile and wave! The weekend is almost here and I have the whole thing off, I think I can last 2 more days :)

Pinterest Has Hit Again

Well I made supper tonight from a recipe I found on pinterest and it turned out quite delicious! It was taco chicken chili, it ended up a little spicier than I thought it would but that just means nobody else but me will eat it so now I have lunches for work for the week :) Another pinterest inspired project I'm working on is my bucket list. I'm combining a few things I've seen on there to do this project and I'm not done yet but I'm super excited to see it finished! I've already accomplished two things on my list and I'm hoping to make it three by next year! Off to keep working on it, I'll take pictures as I go and post them all when I'm done :) Later!

"It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas"

Well folks, Christmas has officially exploded in the spare bedroom. I can't believe it's only 10 days away! My brother came home a few days ago for about a month before he goes back to Japan for his last 10-11 months in the Navy. I can't wait for him to be home for good. My parents took us out to see the second installment of "The Hobbit" Friday night, it was amazing as I had suspected it would be. I'm working on listening to the book because I've forgotten a few parts of it and I want to be fully caught up by the time the last part comes out. Other than that my life has been completely taken over by work and Christmas presents. Work is work. That is all I will say at the moment. I decided to make all my Christmas presents this year. It saved me a LOT of money, but it's a whole lot more time consuming than I had thought it would be. Probably because I've been procrastinating, but that's besides the point. All this craftiness has made me debate starting a blog dedicated to crafting. I feel like it would be a lot of work, but I also feel like it could be a lot of fun. We'll see, if I do start one it will definitely be after the new year, and I'll have to get a better camera so that all my pictures won't be fuzzy. I love my iPod but the camera on it is NOT the best, and my camera on my phone is amazing but I don't have enough reception at home to get them off my phone and onto anything online. Christmas present anyone? ;) Well, I suppose I've taken enough of a break, I need to get back to making presents and doing laundry. Keep an eye out for a crafty blog from me in the next couple months! Until next time, stay warm and safe, wherever you may be :)

Excuse Me While I Rant for a Minute...

The school I went to, Bob Jones, really frustrates me. I started out there in 5th grade and went through about half of my Sophomore year of college. I LOVED it in elementary school, junior high school, and high school. And then I got into college and it was like an entirely different school. I couldn't stand it, there was so much hypocrisy and nobody really cared about you, I don't even know that the teachers and professors saw us as actual people. When you went to them for help they were always in a rush to get you out of their office and they treated you like you were stupid while you were in there. So I left. I moved back up to Maine, where I was born and where I feel the most at home. One of the reasons the school still frustrates me is they keep asking me for money. They have chapel every day, it's about 30 minutes of worshiping God, and they would have a couple graduates they would pray for each day. They would always send out a letter to them asking how they were doing and when they got the reply they would pray for them in chapel. I've been gone for a little over 4 years now, and do you think they've sent me a letter asking me how I'm doing? Not once. One of their many slogans is "B.J. Cares" with a little heart. Now, the way I left, I just stopped going to classes, left home without telling my parents, for that culture (Southern, Fundamental Christian) that was VERY unconventional. And VERY wrong, and it signals a heart problem. Not even all of that was enough for them to send me a letter to ask how I'm doing, not even asking me if I'm right with God. But they care, don't ya know. Instead of any concern on their part all they ever send me is requests for money. Remind me why I should send people money who care nothing about my well-being and walk with Christ? *silence* Exactly. The other reason they still frustrate me is hypocrisy. The former president of the university constantly told us to read the Bible for ourselves and come to our own conclusions and thoughts on it. The rules in place at the university were to govern a campus of thousands of people, and while they were based on Biblical principles the rules themselves were not straight out of the Bible. He CONSTANTLY told us that. And I believe he actually meant it. And everybody else on the campus would nod their heads and agree with him...provided you came to the same conclusion they had. Because that's the only right way to interpret the Bible. Don't ya know. The Bible only ever says (concerning drinking) "be not drunk with wine wherein it is excess", in other words don't get drunk. There are plenty more places where it says to "eat, drink, and be merry" etc. But according to just about everybody on that campus it's not Biblical to have a drop of alcohol in your body. And if you drink you have a heart problem and you're probably not even a Christian, and you're certainly not a good person. It's the same way with SO many things there, it's all black and white, grey areas do not exist. And it would be wonderful if life worked that way, but there are grey areas in life, and God provided answers for those things in the Bible too. What do you do when you see in the Bible that God says it's wrong for a man to sleep with a man, or a woman to sleep with a woman, and then a close family member turns out to be gay/lesbian? Do you condemn them to hell, do you make an exception case for that one person, do you just ignore it and pretend it/they don't exist? Just because WE think they're wrong, why does that give us an excuse to judge them and condemn them and try to forcibly change them? Why can't we just love them? I thought God gave us free will and a brain to use them? Again, "B.J. Cares" until you don't agree with them, and then...not so much. How much more effective will we be if we feel we need to change somebody if we are loving about it, if we show we care, than if we are judgemental and condemning? Nobody responds well to being treated that way, so why do we, Christians, Bob Jones, do it? We shouldn't, and that's all there is too it. I'm glad I left that school, and I hope and pray I never turn into that kind of Christian, that I will always love people for who they are even if I don't agree, and if I feel like I should try and change them, I only do it with love for them and their best interest in my heart.

Just a Day in the Life of Me

Can I first just say that I'm incredibly excited for tomorrow at 11:00 am? Because I am, it is the start of my week long vacation, the only one I've ever taken that's paid. It's a week long. That's a week's worth of sleeping and not wearing work clothes or sneakers and not being told two different things to do 50 times a day... and you get the picture. I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO WORK! And aside from picking up my check next Friday I'm not stepping foot in that building until my vacation's over. I may not even go into town. It's going to be a good week. Speaking of work, we had a pot luck today to raise money for the Dempsey Walk, and I was making stuff to bring in and I picked out a piece of sausage and ate it and then licked my fingers off. Except I forgot that I had just, as in seconds before, painted my nails. Do you know how hard it is to get nail polish off your teeth and lips without nail polish remover? It's difficult. Trust me. I've started couponing again, The Boy has set break times now so takes his own lunch and comes home for supper most nights so I actually have to have food around. I forgot how expensive that can be. There's something to be said for McDonald's dollar menu. Anyway, one of my friends gives me the coupons in the free newspapers that get thrown in her driveway because she doesn't use them and I also pick up the Sunday paper (I've really started doing this as an excuse to read the Sunday Comics ;) jk). This week alone I ended up with enough coupons for yogurt to last me a few months, which is nice because I like bringing them to work for breakfast, and they're usually on sale anyway. Almost Free yogurt here I come! All this talk of food is making me hungry so I'm going to sign off and go eat, but before I go just a thought. God is a very ironic being. I'm a Christian, I may not talk about it as much as others do, but I'm very firm in what I believe. However, since I've moved back up to Maine I've learned to be much more accepting and loving. I've learned that just because somebody is doing something I believe is wrong doesn't make them a horrible person, and even if they profess to be a Christian it doesn't mean they're lying. The school I went to was like that, very judgemental, if you did anything wrong your salvation was automatically in question, and being there so long you tend to get that mindset as well. I always thought that was silly while I was there but it took me moving up here to realize that without knowing it I'd picked that up a little myself. Today, I'm glad I've learned that lesson, to not be judgemental and to really love people, not just say you do and then show by your actions that you really don't, no matter what they do. There's going to be some tough times ahead for some people I know and I'm glad that I can stand back and not be caught up in it. FOOD! :) Later :)

Happenings

As promised, a picture of the cake I made for my parents July 4th party:

And now, pictures from the concert I went to last night. Halestorm opened, then 3 Doors Down and Daughtry played. There was almost a preshow thing by this group of, literally, kids. I think the drummer was 11 and the lead singer was 15, and they're just on tour with, you know, Daughtry. No biggie. Oh, and did I mention that they were actually really good, like, I see them making a name for themselves, even if I don't remember it ;) Oh, and for the record, I only took videos of Daughtry, so no pics, sorry.

If it would load faster than the speed of snails in molassas I'd post the video I took of Chris Daughtry and the lead singer of 3 Doors Down singing Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight", but sadly it won't load any faster than that, so I'll just tell you that it was amazing. As soon as I get done this post I'm going to see if they've actually recorded it, I have my doubts but it's worth a shot! And that's about all for tonight, going to go work on my story for a little bit and then head to bed. Later :)

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

It's been sooooo RAINY!!!!!!! I have nothing against rain, but when the sun finally shines again and I look at it suspiciously because I'm not quite sure what it is anymore...it's a little too much! So my computer had that "FBI virus" attack it, which is probably my first actual excuse for not getting on here for a while ;) I had to take it to the geek squad to fix it. Which is a story. Then again, when is anything to do with Best Buy not a story? Anyhow, needless to say I was a tad perturbed when this whole shebang started, so The Boy called up the geek squad for me. They told him they could tell me how to get it off via the phone (which looking back I should have just done) but I also had the option of bringing it in and having them do it, which in my mind made more sense than trying to have someone explain something technical to me and not actually being able to watch me to make sure I didn't mess up, and in bringing it in I would have a year of free service on it and 2 other computers for a year. The Boy's mom said she would split the cost with me so that her computer could get in on the deal, and I decided that where my computer is less than 2 years old this made more sense than risking frying it and having to get a new one (MUCHO more moola). I probs should have just got a new one. They told The Boy on the phone that I could just walk in and drop it off, it would take about 5 days for me to get it back, and everything would be hunky-dory. HA. I walked in to drop it off and the lady asked me what she could help me with and I told her and she said, "Oh...well...it looks like you don't have an appointment...so...we're not going to be able to help you today." Excuse me? Didn't matter that I was told to just drop it off, no no, I had to make an appointment. So I left. Because I had to get to work. After an emergency trip to Dunkin for a coolatta... but I had to get to work. So I made an appointment. And I dropped it off. This is where the only good part of my story takes place. The gentleman, yes gentleman, who helped me when I dropped it off was amazing. If I could have dealt with him the whole time I would be singing the praises of best buy. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't deal with him the whole time...anyway, he informed me that I also got free virus protection for a year for 3 computers total, and it would only take 2-3 days to get my computer back. Even better? He called the next day telling me everything was good, and he had updated everything for me since I was having trouble doing some of it myself. (Note: that was not because I'm technically challanged, but my computer would start the updates and then just stopped. And sometimes wouldn't even start them at all even though I did everything I was supposed to do. Again, I may have been better off with a new computer. Hindsight.) I called them back that day to make an appointment...their system was down so I'd have to go online and do it or call back another day. How exactly was I supposed to get online to make an appointment if my computer was with them? "Can I just borrow my computer to make an appointment to pick it up? Thanks." Yes, I have access to other computers, but they belong to other people, who happened to be using them for important things that I couldn't interrupt. So I called back another day. Evidently the geek squad closes at 6, and nobody else in Best Buy is bothered by an incessantly ringing telephone. So I just showed up, because the guy I dropped my computer off with said it was "recommended" to have an appt. to pick up a computer but not "required". And when I told the girl this when I walked up to the desk, she said "Yes, that's true, but you need an appointment." What part of "not required" means both yes and no? Especially when there were no appointments except 1 right then and a few people out back doing nothing. Apparently doing nothing takes about 15 minutes. THEN, the guy that was ringing me out asked if I had the receipt with my number on that matched the one on my computer, which I had forgotten, which did not make me happy, but he was like, well then I can't help you at all, bye. Thank you for pretending to be an ounce sorry for me. My friend that was with me gave him the death stare, I think she may have actually gone over the counter if he hadn't then said "Well I guess if you have your license I can get it for you." Your enthusiasm is overwhelming, sir. Please, stop. Finally got it back, good as new. Still hate Best Buy. Definitely not fond of the geek squad, except for that one guy... And now, off to start my recipe binder...probably won't get far tonight, but it'll at least be a start. Oh, and making a strawberry cake from scratch tomorrow night for July 4th party at my parents. If I remember to take them I'll post pics :) Later :)

Tiki Had a Moment...

So when I went to bed last night Tiki, my cat, had food and water. She finished that through the night so when I finally got out of bed this morning she was howling, yes howling, for more food like I hadn't fed her in days. She's only slightly dramatic. Anyway, I put food in her bowl, and then I picked up the water bottle I keep to refill her water bowl, and she immediately stuck her head in her bowl. So I said to her, "you have to wait for me to put the water in the bowl, smart one," to which she looked up at me like, "oh yeah, I knew that." (side note: I really do think that cat understands English fluently, it's almost creepy) After she moves her head I start pouring the water in and she sticks her head under the pouring water, backs up and shakes the water off and looks at me like, "what'd you do that for?" I just can't win with that cat.

Two Things

1) I am greatly amused by all the girls who offer to cook their significant others' a big fancy meal, yet when the significant other simply asks for a sandwich the girl gets all huffy. 2) I ate chili at 10:30 tonight and I didn't worry once about sleeping peacefully through the night. I love those little moments that remind me I am young. That is all. Night :)

What Have They Got That I Ain't Got? Courage!

I had an epiphany today. All those classes you have to take in college with all those projects that force you to mortify yourself in front of that guy you want to impress and where all your friends try to get you to crack up and you can't because you need that A to pass...the class itself doesn't matter. I think the whole point is to teach confidence. I had to talk to someone about something important tonight and I used a lot of things I learned in freshman speech to prepare myself, didn't use those points per say in talking to this person, but knowing I was prepared made me very confident and the talk went pretty smooth. And in my job, being in a position of leadership where I have to talk to people about stuff and I'm in charge of things and I have to make decisions and stand by them, confidence is a major plus. Just my profound thought for the day :)

Sometimes Life Just Gets You Down

Maybe it's just all this winteryness, but everything seems to be bumming me out lately. Even getting my evasive W2 from my previous job so I can finally work on my taxes did little to lighten my mood. 2 people in Tommy's family are dying, the cars need fixing, my stolen check situation is SLOWLY getting resolved, very slowly, I'm just ready for the whole situation to be over with, funerals, people being sued, people losing support they'd counted on, not seeing people you love because you're always going and naturally in the opposite direction, haven't heard from my brother in a while so I'm missing him, you get the picture. Blargh. And then out of nowhere, well actually the internet...I was looking up a song that I've been wanting to sing in choir and I was reading through the lyrics and part of one of the verses really hit me (mostly because of family dying) "Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay from His own fullness all He takes away." No matter what's going on, people dying, checks being stolen, etc. Jesus has a plan and is more than capable of giving back what, if not more, than what was taken. Still kinda bumming about life in general, but it's comforting to be reminded that Jesus has my back and has a plan :) Another bright spot in my day? 24 packs of fun dip were on sale for $1.50 ;)

New Year, Old Lessons...

My year has, so far, been uneventful. For me anyway. My mom had surgery, which she is recovering from well. Yea, that's about it. Uneventful. However, I did manage to be reminded of something already that I've known for a long time. If you have a problem with somebody the best way to handle it is to talk to that person directly. Don't let someone be the go-between, ALWAYS hear what is said directly from the person who said it. SOOOO many problems are diverted that way. That being said, goal for the new year: if I have a problem with someone not to get anyone else involved and to fix it with that person myself. Also, be down to my weight goal by my birthday! I've only got 20 pounds to go, I should be able to do it. And I suppose another goal should be to be more consistent with this blog lol :) And finish my quilt...and my friends blanket...and...well, we'll just stop there o.O