Puma

I have a new kitty. His name is Puma, and he's amazing!!! He's fun and playful and loves sitting in my lap! He got fixed yesterday, and was a little groggy in the car, but he really had fun after the drugs wore off and the dogs decided to say hello. He was pretty much playing karate kitty, trying to swipe all of the dogs at once, like you see in the movies. It was pretty hilarious.

On a more serious note, I have a friend running in a marathon for charity, specifically for the Ronald McDonald House in the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. She's running on behalf of the child of a friend who died in the hospital after being born with severe physical problems. They've been working on this for about four weeks and have already raised more than $3,000. She's actually sitting here telling us about this fund raising process and the overwhelming support from around the country. It's an amazingly inspiring story. You can read more about Team Chloe on their Facebook group page. There's another article discussing their work and the progress of the movement that began about a month ago by text message, devised by two young women who know Chloe's mother. It's awesome. I'm asking everyone to donate if they can, and at least get interested in what these wonderful women are doing in memory of a beautiful little girl.

Obama and Education

Alright, so I visited Obama's education page and was reading through his ideas. In theory, it's a wonderful plan to streamline financial aid and reduce the application to just one form, remove the standardized test requirements, push pre-school, and make a serious effort to keep kids in school. The only huge issue I have is that he most likely won't get it done. Surprise surprise. I know there are promises made by each president to improve our education system, and none of those promises are ever completly fulfilled. I'll be honestly impressed and seriously might change my mind about the effectiveness of this guy if he gets this stuff done.

The other thing I was looking at is this new movement in Obama's governing plan that will force those between the ages of 18 to 25 to serve three months out of the year on a homeland training force, so to speak. It will focus on crisis response and the proper procedure for recovery from nuclear attack and (I assume) natural disasters. My big thing about that is I'm 21, and every summer, when I would be supposedly doing this service, I'm either taking classes or working in order to graduate from college. When I become a professional, I won't have time for at least a few years to go play with shovels for three months out of the year. I'm sorry, but this is not cool. I have one summer left before I hit the real world, and I'll be danged if I'm wasting it at some training camp that I didn't sign up for. It's forced volunteering, and it's crap.

These are going to be college kids digging ditches for community service. Now, I think I know where this is coming from. Obama has this plan to give free college tuition for at least 2/3 of the total if you perform 100 hours of community service (per year, I think), so perhaps he thinks that forcing young people to volunteer their time and effort will make them more worthy of the money he wants to give them.

I have no idea if what I just said makes sense, since I was listening to talk radio while writing it, but I think it might. Let me know.

O M G.

Ok, so the election results last night... Severely disappointing, to say the least. On an interesting note, my parents were invited (and actually WENT to) an election party last night. I couldn't sit and watch the results. I just checked the results online every now and again while watching Get Smart, which is a very cute movie. So much for Nobama. I guess we'll have to wait it out. I don't know about the man's safety, though. After those radicals planned to assassinate him the first time, I'm sure he'll be in greater danger as time passes. We shall see. We have to leave it all to God now. Our vote is done. I did vote, did not get Starbucks, did not get Ben & Jerry's, and did not get a sticker. Oh well. I did my part, and I think my voice was heard. Too bad not enough people agreed with me. Down we go. Anybody up for a rollercoaster ride?

Stop Spreading the Rumors Around...

I taught my first lesson today at the Woodlands High School! I talked about vocal health and breathing techniques, plus a few stress-relief techniques to relax the vocal muscles. It was a ton of fun, and the kids were great and really interested in the lesson. I teach again on Friday, and finally on Monday. I'll give a test to the students on Wednesday and finish the lessons. I'll actually be able to use these lessons as my unit for my teacher work sample, so that will be fantastic.

I despise those who begin rumors, but I have decided to rise above them and look objectively until they can no longer affect me. I really hope things don't change so drastically that I'm unhappy, but I think I'll be able to handle it. I knew this might happen, so I guess I was more prepared than I thought. To fill you all in, I've been hanging out and talking to JP at work. Some morning shift employees questioned another manager if anything was going on between us, and, when the manager questioned him about it, JP replied that there wasn't anything between us, which is absolutely true. We're friends. However, he called me over to talk to him at work and mentioned that things had been brought up (again, actually), so basically he can't talk to me or be around me excessively at work.

I've been thinking about the whole situation, and I can't figure out if he knows that he's been hanging around me more than anyone else, and I don't know if he thinks there is or was anything between us before, simply because of the wording he used. I'm still up in the air about this whole situation, but I'll just have to wait and see, as usual. Love, darlings.

Christmas...

I've had Christmas on the brain for the past few weeks. Between work putting up Christmas trees and ornaments and Miracle on 34th Street on TV, I'm already singing carols. Odd, isn't it, how time flies? I haven't started shopping yet, but I know what I'm getting every one of the people on my list. I'm already getting excited! And I'm beginning to believe in Santa Claus again...

Ike

Ok, so Ike wasn't really that bad as far as hurricanes go. Yeah, we got some wind and rain, and yeah, he turned the lights off, but we made it, and none of the trailer houses in Steve's neighborhood were damaged at all. Weak hurricane. By default.

The thing that sucks is that we have no power anywhere but campus, which is an incredibly boring place, we have a curfew from 8 PM to 6 AM to keep us from causing trouble, and I can't contact work to find out what's going on because nobody is answering the phone. Oh well. At least I have internet and some A/C to sleep in. Fyi, I heart my laptop.

Later, taters!

Random

Ok, so this will be a quick blog post. Class is about to start, and I'm sitting at a table with three pretty awesome girls, and I think I actually am going to enjoy my methods block! Woo! Class is starting, so I'm off. More later!

A Wonderful Thought

I found the following via the stumble button, and I thought it was wonderful.

Wannabe Hippie

A woman who feels desired is many things:
She is less likely to reach frustration with
you
or the children
or the cat
or the dog.
She is more likely to feel like an important part of
your life
and the home you share
and the children you created together.
She is more likely to look at her own body
and instead of feeling disgust at the way it has changed
since bringing your children into the world,
she is more likely to remember the feel of
your hands on her hips
or trailing down her spine
or the way that you pull her in
and fit her perfectly into the spaces of your own form.
A woman who feels desired
is so much easier to sit across the table from
as she is less likely to be judging
her own skin
her own curves
her own worth
her place in the bed that you share.
She is more likely to care for the body she has been given,
feed it good, whole foods
put it to frequent use in the garden
enjoy the pull of muscle
and increasing strength
as she carries ever-growing children
and becomes more confident with household repairs.
A woman who feels desired will rear children
who see their bodies as perfect works of art
that should be celebrated
respected
and capable of love.

It takes very little to make a woman feel desired.
It does not require
expensive jewelery
exotic flowers
pages of poems
romantic dates
or even dramatic words.
You can tell a woman you desire her
with nothing more than a look
a simple touch
a well placed word
and by listening to what she's saying
and then responding appropriately.

Without those simple things
even a strong woman may start to feel
less.
And less leads to
depression
self loathing
anger
frustration
bad parenting
and a marriage
that may not last the next five years.

So when your wife asks you,
"Do you find me sexy?"
the answer should never be
a long pause
followed by a apologetic
"I just love you."

Lie to me
if you have to,
but tell me "yes"
and then watch
as my confidence continues
to bloom
and my heart stays open
even when the world
is throwing us curve balls.
Because sometimes,
a woman needs to know she is desired
or she'll start to believe
it is no longer true.

What Next?

I've been thinking lately that I have no idea what comes next for me. I don't have a boyfriend for the first time in over a year and a half, and I miss that relationship for the sake of the relationship, but I know I did the right thing breaking up with him. I'm pretty sure he would be willing to take me back if I ever changed my mind, but I don't want him to be willing. I want him to move on. Somehow, though, I'm afraid that won't happen unless I'm completely out of the picture. I want him to be happy, and I don't want him to depend on me. I want to be free to do whatever I want, whenever I want, without having to answer to those unending questions. Maybe I'm to independent for my own good. I find myself wondering if I'll ever find a guy that makes me happy on every level. I want to be intellectually stimulated, I want to have interesting conversations and debates about things and not have to worry about people getting in a tizzy over my opinions. I want to be able to read a book and discuss it without having it assigned for a class. I want someone who will laugh when I'm completely goofy, let me be serious when I need to be, and understands that my moods vary in the extreme. I want to be able to talk for hours just to ramble through my thoughts and get them off my chest, and I want to be able to sit and not say a thing and feel absolutely comfortable. I want to be able to stay caught up on current events and cement in my mind the reasons I feel the way I feel about various political and economical issues. I want to be creative and make things up that will never happen but are fun to dream about. I want to have fun doing nothing, and have fun doing something with the same person. I want to find the one person I can talk to every day and not get tired of. I want to find a love that surpasses petty annoyances and bad habits and means enough to last a lifetime. I want someone who will lay down with me on a rainy day and just sleep, or hold me and talk. I want to be able to not live from one paycheck to the next, but have the freedom to be happy and not worry about every penny I spend. I want someone who can build amazing things with his hands and create both art and function in a project. I want a man who can change my oil, fix my engine, and then teach me how to do it myself. I want a man who respects my independence, but understands that I'm a fragile person who needs protection and love. I want to be cherished. I want to be THE Princess. I want to be happy in love. I want to plan a wedding. I want to have a family. I want to travel the world before I settle down. I want to live on the beach and breathe the salty air. I want to see the sunset from my private beach. I want to own an island where I can harvest my own coconuts. I want to not put on shoes for an entire week. I want to fall asleep to the sound of the ocean. I want to watch my children play in the sand with a big golden dog. I want to curl up in a hammock on a lazy summer afternoon and read away the light. I want to drive for days and see where I end up. I want to stay up all night eating pizza and watching movies without having to worry about what I have to do the next day. I want to not have homework. I want to direct a show. I want to cast a show for a high school theater where I will work and have fun and be happy and successful. I DON'T want to marry a teacher. I've never really met a male teacher that wasn't egotistical and selfish (usually coaches) or waaaay too feminine to handle me. I want someone. Someone who may or may not exist. I wonder if I've already met him and it just didn't cross my mind that we'd make a good couple. Or it crossed my mind but not his. Or it crossed both our minds, but everyone else shot us down before we could discover our happiness. I want to be free to love without worrying about everyone else's standards. I want to... I want to be free of the wants and have my dreams come true. I want to go back to bed. I have no idea where to go from here.

Movie Review!!!

Ok, for the record, Dark Knight was AMAZING!!! Heath Ledger was the best I've ever seen him, and I was incredibly impressed with the actors all around. The plot was decent, and the Joker was wonderfully deceptive. I liked the way the plot introduced another villain, too. It was rather long, but the action never stopped, so it wasn't too terribly drawn-out. We kept thinking, ok, it's almost over, thinking we'd been sitting in the theater for a long time, and then check our watches and realize we still had an hour left. All in all, an amazing movie, one that I will most likely own when it comes out on DVD, and a part for which Heath Ledger deserves an award. It saddens me that he will never again grace the big screen with his amazing talent. Have y'all seen it? What did you think? Let me know!

The Verdict

Steve and I broke up last night. And we're okay. We're still friends. In fact, we hung out almost all day today. I called in to work because I could barely see what I was doing, and we went and ate dinner, and just spent time hanging out and talking. It was a nice change from the pressure of being in a relationship, and I really think we'll stay close friends. I'm taking my dog, Rose to Courtney's when she moves in to her apartment, and I'm sure I'll be over there most of the time when she gets all settled in.

I have a new puppy, by the way. Her name is Rose, and she's a beagle and dachshund mix. She's super cute and very sweet, and Steve gave her to me for a belated birthday gift.

I don't really know what else to say. Classes start tomorrow. And I guess I'll figure out how my online class is going to go. I'll update with more when I have more to say. Love y'all.

Sharing

Saw this on Mark's blog, figured it was funny enough to share.

The Latest

So it's been a month or so since my last post, and I thought it might be time for an update.

I LOVE my Cracker Barrel job. It's a ton of fun, and I have a lot of friends who like me and how I work, so I have fun there.

I have recently begun listening to talk radio, thanks to my manager, who gave me his account information so I could listen online to the same stuff he listens to. We're always looking for interesting conversation topics for our coffee time chats, so I'm enjoying the interesting look into conservative talk radio. We're on the same page politically, so we don't argue, but have different perspectives, since I interact with a very liberal group of college peers, and he doesn't have any major outside influence on his opinions. It's made for some interesting conversation, and I relish the intelligent political discussion with someone who actually listens to my opinions as something credible and interesting, rather than uninformed and naive. We talk about other things, too. Everything from religion to military service, and from technological advances to funny stories of childhood adventures. So, Mart, JP, and I sit around between my clock-out time and Mart's clock-in time (he's night maintenance) with JP and talk about the world. I think I've learned as much from those two as I do in some of my classes.

The Special Olympics was an amazing experience, and I feel like the "something" I was missing by not being able to interact with intellectually disabled people is finally found again. I can't really explain why it was such a great experience, though the stories people pass through their emails about all of the athletes turning around to get someone who falls behind are true. There was a girl sitting on the track crying, and her opponents went back, got her up, and finished the race with her. There are so many incredible people who fall into the category of "intellectually disabled" and I was fortunate to meet a few. There was one particularly polite young man who impressed me with his consistent manners and friendly demeanor. He was very excited about being on the football team at his high school and was telling me as we were waiting for pasta in the cafeteria that he was changing from receiver to running back because he's not the best at catching the ball, but can run like the wind. He's the only "special ed" (his words) kid on the team, but he goes to half regular classes, half special ed classes. I didn't even get his name, but I enjoyed our conversation. Jeff basically asked me to be his girlfriend right before he threw in the shot put. With Steve sitting right beside me. It was really funny in a way, and very flattering. Katie gave me a huge hug as we were walking over to the awards tent just because. She was my first place winner for that round, too. Mary Claire and Whitney almost got into a fight because Whitney said "Wolves stink" and Mary Claire's team mascot was a wolf. They eventually got settled down again, but these two little tiny girls getting angry was almost laughable when I stood up next to them to calm them down. Thankfully the round was almost over, so nobody's throw was off because of their words. And then there was Colby, who has been a guest star on "Walker, Texas Ranger" and is a fantastic public speaker. He has Downs Syndrome, and his parents are two huge supporters of the Texas Special Olympics. There was a super cute kid named Juan whose teammates and coaches called him Buddha-Buddha. He had a Buddha face, though, really.

There was one athlete who was the only member of his team at the Games, and he was very sweet, but my encounter with him made me cry, and made me very thankful I am as outgoing and friendly as I am. I don't know his name, but I know his smile. I was handing out stickers from the TDCJ group to all of the athletes, and even had my picture taken by one of the guys. I had been through two stacks, and had just started my third, when I looked over beside our group--we were all interspersed throughout the athletes and police groups--and saw an athlete with his parents who had on a lovely wolf shirt, but no stickers. I walked up to him, having gotten comfortable with approaching athletes with stickers. I said, "You don't have any stickers! Would you like one?" He nodded, so I peeled a sticker off and asked him where he wanted me to put it. He pointed to his chest, where a badge would be, and I obliged. As I was walking away to look for more sticker-less athletes, his dad reached over with an indescribable look on his face and said, "Thanks." I was touched beyond belief, and honored that I could make his son's day by so simple an act. That's something I won't forget soon.

After my wonderful experience with the Special Olympics, Steve and I came back to Huntsville. I left Monday afternoon for San Antonio to see a friend who graduated last December. I enjoyed my drive, and the four hours there felt like three. The four hours back only felt like two, so I discovered a new love. An expensive one, but something I'll utilize when I can. I went to Sea World on Tuesday, too. I fed the dolphins, saw killer whales, dolphins, beluga whales, and huge Clydesdale horses, and rode several roller coasters. I had a ton of fun, and plan to make it an annual thing as long as my friend works there. I was delighted to learn that military personnel and their families get into the parks nation-wide for free on Saturdays. That warms my heart.

Now, it's back to work! The dorms open on Monday, and classes start on Tuesday. Here we go again! I have a pretty good break after the summer sessions end, so I'm hoping to save some money and have some fun, but we'll see how the cards unfold.

Hope everyone is doing well, and hope to hear from y'all soon!

P.S. I have a new wonderful friend in Rosemary, an older lady I work with who told me she prayed for me on my week off. I love her a lot, and really enjoy working with her. She's like a grandmother or aunt. My Cracker Barrel family is a great one, though, that's for sure. Love and hugs, everyone!

Thoughts

I woke up this morning with an eighties montage playing in my head. I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Thriller, Listen to Your Heart, Here I Go Again, I Just Died In Your Arms… And then I got on David Cook’s version of Always Be My Baby. That’s a great song.

Ok, question. If a guy is 36 and a girl is 21, is there too much of an age gap for it to work? Just curious. For the sake of argument, and to get an idea of where everybody stands.

I have come to a few conclusions. First, when toilet paper is on the spool and not free from the wall or holder, women use less toilet paper than when it is free from constraints. Second, when a woman pees standing up, she should have to raise the seat like a man in order to accommodate the rest of the population that does not stand up to pee. Random, I know.

I’m tired. I was up really late last night writing a twelve page paper, and I only got about four hours of sleep. I have to work tonight, and will hopefully get plenty of sleep before work tomorrow. I have rehearsal for a scene that goes up next week, I have to prepare my resume for my Speech for Teachers class, and I have to create a presentation for my Dramatic Theory and Criticism class. I have the weekend, so I’ll be fine. I’m excited about turning 21 on Sunday, and I have my portfolio due on Tuesday. All in all, I have several small things to take care of, and some time to do it, but things are winding down and I feel more lethargic every day.

*sigh* Back to class. More later.

Good Day

I have diagnosed myself with musical Tourettes syndrome. I randomly burst out into song based on some phrase or jingle I hear. It’s quite fun at work, and I have a good time. At both jobs, actually. I am now working an average of 25 hours per week as a hostess at Cracker Barrel. I feel rather accomplished being able to say that I have two jobs. I don’t really know why, but it does. Honest, I’ll get car pictures up when I can. I have to have time to wash it and make it all purdy and stuff. I don’t have class at all on Friday because all three of my classes are cancelled. I have to be at work at the costume shop at all because my boss will be out of town and the show should be finished by tomorrow evening. I have to be at Cracker Barrel at 5:30, so I need to get dressed and leave at 4:45ish. Fridays are always fun. My managers are already really impressed with me. Kevin, the general manager asked me at our 30 second meeting if I wanted to be a server since I help the servers all of the time, but I told him that I’m happy being a hostess. I just help out whenever I can to make things move quickly and efficiently and help out the servers who are overloaded. Things like taking drink orders and bussing tables. I really do enjoy my job. Today was a good day, too. I broke my nail this morning and made my finger bleed, but then I ran into a friend of mine and we had a really nice conversation about life and the things happening with us, so that made me happy. Then I found out that all three of my classes are cancelled on Friday, and I have no assignments due tomorrow, so I have some free time! Yay!

There’s this really cute manager at work who’s a lot of fun and makes my job a little nicer. He’s older, so not really datable even if I WERE single, but a nice guy.

Steve’s fine. He’s actually going to start a new position at his unit soon. It’ll be a night job, and I’ll miss late evenings with him, but he’ll enjoy it much more than he enjoys his job now. The animals are fine, and everything’s going exceptionally well.

It’s been a really great Wednesday. Odd, I know. My ear hurts a little bit, and my allergies are acting up, but things are all in all really great. Amen to answered prayers.

So...

Ok, Mark, I'll post car pictures ASAP. I got a job!!! I start at Cracker Barrel on Tuesdsay with training at 3 PM. I'm pretty excited, but wish I could get started. I'll update with pictures soon, but for now, it's bbq night at Steve's with friends. I love being able to relax. More later.

Dee dee de deee, dum dee dee dum...

So, I have news! I have a new car! It’s a white ’07 Chevy Cobalt, and it gets fantastic gas mileage and is really fun to drive! The car payment (we call it a car note in Texas, by the way) is about $200 a month, so it’s workable. Speaking of work, I don’t particularly care for job searching, though I’m pleasantly surprised with the expedient results. I put in applications on Tuesday of last week and got things moving that day at Cracker Barrel. The next day I was called by a Toyota dealership and went in for a pre-interview. Rene told me that I would get a call some time this week and could come in for a real interview with the manager, but they haven’t called yet. I called earlier today, but the manager never got back to me. Other than that, classes are busy, life is great, and I’m happy!