Christian Radio = Amazing

I just remembered something amazing! Monday I got in the car to go to work, and I'd lent my iPod to Joseph so I was listening to the radio. A commercial came on with people talking in really cheesy extra-loud children's-TV-show-type voices, so naturally I was intrigued.

It was a couple waiting at the bus stop for the shuttle to the airport. There wasn't a bench, so the man said he would run across the street to buy some lounge chairs. Then they realized they'd have nothing to do until the shuttle came, so the man said he'd buy a plasma TV. And they'd need snacks, so why didn't he get some while he was over there, and a refrigerator to keep them in?

It went on like this for a while. So then a guy who's waiting at the bus stop with them says, "Why are you buying all these things when you're just going to have to leave them at the bus stop?" Now this whole time, I'm waiting for the punch line, right? Because I have no idea what this is a commercial for, and little did I know that Sunday night when Mike had driven the car, he had been listening to the Christian radio station.

So then the voice-over comes: Jesus told us, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven..."

And I laughed the rest of the way to work.

How can someone with glasses that thick be so stupid?

So. This week has been way better for me than last weekend was! Mike's been working days, first of all, so I'm not by myself at night, and that is a plus. Also I started working on Monday, so now I'm not just sitting around all day. That helps.

The good news is, it turns out I really like my job. Hannah is adorable and I feel good when I'm watching kids, so yay. She is teething right now, which means she's a little bit of a whiny pants, but that's ok because she's cute, and also my left arm is going to be ridiculously buff from having to carry her while I'm doing everything (she freaks out if I put her down). Don't worry though, she'll be easier when she's not teething anymore. :)

One more downside: I have to listen to one of those crap naptime CDs while she takes her nap--you know, the ones where the woman with the drippy, sappy sounding voice sings "All the Pretty Little Horses" or "Rock-a-bye Baby" or something. (That link up there is actually the CD Hannah listens to; I was surprised, but it was the second option that came up when I searched for it.) Anyway. I'm just kidding, it's not the worst thing ever; some of the songs are actually kinda pretty, and it's definitely not the worst music I've ever had to listen to at a job (I believe Charlotte Russe is the winner in that category).

Well. What else is there to write about. I can't find a blog layout that I like enough to keep for more than a few weeks at a time... I'm using http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ because of how easy it is to switch the layouts (without losing my widgets), but all the options there are just so dramatic! A lot of them look like something I would have wanted to use when I was 15. So anyway, that is my explanation for the frequency of my layout-changes lately.

I am also struggling a little with finding things to read. I just finished an adolescent series by Philip Pullman which started out with a really fantastic first book, but then went downhill just a tad with each book that followed. I'm reading the second book in the Leven Thumps series, which is not that amazing but is something to occupy me. The problem is that I want something with a little more substance than these adolescent books, but I'm not really sure what to get into after The Poisonwood Bible, which was soo good and set a very high standard for whatever's next. There's always more Amy Tan, but it's not really calling to me at the moment... There's Ender's Game, which I checked out from the library but is also not super grabbing my attention (I'll still give it a shot though, as soon as I finish the Leven Thumps book that I'm on). I suppose I could do Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre, but I just read Pride & Prejudice around Christmas and I'm not sure I'm ready to head back into that genre yet.

So I guess we'll see what happens with that. If anyone has any suggestions, I wouldn't mind you sharing them. :)

I think that is all for now. Mike's at work until 6 tonight, so I think I am going to go do some grocery shopping and maybe make that Amish friendship bread my mom has been mushing around in a bag for the past ten days. (How exciting is my life?)

The end.

hahaha

Something funny from Sami's blog.


It's funny because it's true... :)

Bittersweet

So Mike started working this week. It's great, because we're finally making money again--and I'm starting on Monday, so then we'll be good to go. It's a good feeling, very... secure.

However. It turns out it's pretty lame to be by myself on Friday and Saturday night while Mike is working, which is what happened this weekend. It won't always be like that because he won't always be in training, but this weekend has been kinda gay.

The fact that I don't have a single friend here doesn't help, either. I've been spending a lot of time with my family, which is great--last night I babysat Alex, tonight I watched Columbo with my parents, last weekend Mike and I went out to dinner with Miki and Ed--but of course everyone's not always available, and sometimes it'd just be nice if I had a girlfriend or two to hang out with. I don't keep in touch with anyone from high school, and the one friend I would hang out with if she were here is down in College Station (a few hours away). So I'm kind of at a loss. There isn't even anyone in the ward that's my age, meaning I'm pretty limited until we move to wherever we'll be living.

Anyway. It hasn't been that bad, but I just thought I'd vent for a little bit. In other news, Columbo's pretty funny. Good times at the ranch.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Guys. I hate to sound prideful, but Mike is like... the most hilarious guy ever. That's pretty much all I have to say, but to supplement my comments I offer you the most recent post on his blog.

http://mikeshorten2.blogspot.com/2009/01/whistle-while-you-compute.html

Lame.

I think it's weird when my friends change their blog addresses, make them invite-only, and then don't invite me to them. Kind of lame. Whatever.

A little bigotry, anyone?

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=383118

What's going on in Israel right now is indicative to me of the approach of the Second Coming. According to my mom (because I didn't actually remember this myself), one of the prophecies concerns the house of Israel and how before the Second Coming, the entire world will have turned against them. It's pretty clear to me that this is the beginning of it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1106605/Synagogue
-set-ablaze-Anti-Semitic-assaults-soar-UK-following-Israels-
invasion-Gaza.html

Now I won't try to pretend I'm not biased. I know perfectly well that I am not objective in this area. But I just can't understand how people can be condemning Israel for what is going on right now. Hamas broke the cease-fire. Hamas initiated the attacks. Israel retaliated. Hamas says that they won't stop firing until Israel does. It doesn't make sense!

So here is my question: If you were Israel, would you stop first? What incentive do they possibly have? I mean, clearly Hamas is very trustworthy. Clearly no one should have any doubt that they will adhere to the cease-fire once Israel has initiated it. How could anyone expect this of them? Ugh. I just don't get it.

Anyway. The moral of the story, aka the reason for this post, was this: I just wanted to say how frustrating it is to me to see things like this in the news and know that they won't be getting any better. Anti-semitism is wrong and unfair and unChristlike, but rather than hoping people will stop being stupid, I just know that it will get worse from here. It's okay because in the end I know it will work out--the part I'm whining about is just that I'll have to watch it get expontentially worse before then.

taggity tag tag

stolen from Janeen... just because I felt like it.


1. Where is your phone? I think it's on the counter in the kitchen.
2. Where is your significant other? On the couch next to me!
3 .Your hair color? Brown
4. Your Mother? Um... Yes? I'm not sure what this question refers to, soo on the couch on the other side of me, and Mediterranean medley.
5. Your Father? On the couch next to my mom, and brown.
6. Your favorite thing? Being happy.
7. Your dream last night? Weird.
8. Your goal? Real happiness for me and everyone I love.
9. The room you're in? Living room.
10. Your hobby? Reading. Reading reading reading.
11. Your fear? Where do I start?
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Having kids. Geographically, I don't know. We'll get there when we get there.
13. Where were you last night? At home making/eating blintzes.
14. What you're not? Healthy.
15. One of your wish-list items? Money.
16. Where you grew up? Mesa and Wylie.
17. The last thing you ate? Either a chocolate coconut macaroon or a hazelnut wafer. I can't remember which.
18. What are you wearing? Sweatpants and the shirt I wore today.
19. Your TV? Off.
20. Your pet? Don't have one. :(
21. Your computer? On my lap.
22. Your mood? ...Neutral.
23. Missing someone? My friends and family in Utah.
24. Your car? Sleeping in the driveway.
25. Something you're not wearing? Earrings.
26. Favorite store? Barnes & Noble.
27. Your Summer? Birthdays.
28. Love someone? Lots.
29. Your favorite color? Green.
30. When was the last time you laughed? Probably a few minutes ago.
31. Last time you cried? Last night.
32.Something you crave? Peace.
33. Why you blog? Connections.

When It Rains It Pours

I have three pieces of evidence.

1. Cinemark called yesterday and offered Mike a job, and he accepted.

2. Last night, he saw he had a missed call but no voicemail, so he looked up the number and it was Fry's Electronics (which he'd applied at a week or so before). We haven't heard anything more about that one, but they did call.

3. Mike had an interview with the Scotts lawn company on Monday, December 22, and was told they would call him the next day for a second interview. They didn't. Almost a month later, on January 14 (today), they called. He said thanks but no thanks.

So there you have it. If you're having a discouraging job hunting experience and don't hear anything for a long time from anyone, don't let it get you down. Keep in mind that they'll all probably call you on the same day.

Worst. Test. Ever.

Colorwize Test Results ( Please print this page! )

Your favorite color has a '1' next to it ... Your least favorite has a '12' next to it.

Red 9
RedOrange 11
Orange 12
OrangeYellow 10
Yellow 2
YellowGreen 1
Green 8
BlueGreen 6
Blue 4
BlueViolet 3
Violet 5
VioletRed 7

These are the top 40 careers (of 298) that match your color signature.

1. ANIMAL SCIENCES ( ANIMAL BREEDING - DAIRY - POULTRY)82

2. MATHEMATICS EDUCATION88

3. FARM AND RANCH MANAGEMENT92

4. MEDICAL LABORATORY / TECHNOLOGY98

5. CORRECTION OFFICERS102

6. OCEANOGRAPHY - exploration and scientific study of the ocean.104

7. RELIGIOUS MUSIC106

8. FIRE PROTECTION / FIRE CONTROL AND SAFETY TECH.108

9. MICROBIOLOGY110

10. LAW ENFORCEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION110

11. EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY - AMBULANCE / PARAMEDIC110

12. HORTICULTURE / ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURE114

13. POSTAL CLERKS AND MAIL CARRIERS122

14. SCIENCE EDUCATION12215. VETERINARY ASSISTING124

16. ZOOLOGY132

17. VETERINARY MEDICINE (pre-veterinary medicine)134

18. BIOLOGY - The science of life and of living organisms.136

19. FISH - GAME - AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT142

20. BUSINESS DATA PROCESSING / COMPUTER OPERATION144

21. CHIROPRACTIC146

22. PARKS AND RECREATION146

23. LIBRARY SCIENCE AND LIBRARY ASSISTING154

24. ECOLOGY - The relationship between organisms and their environment.154

25. ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AND METEOROLOGY - study the atmosphere's physical characteristics156

26. GEOLOGY - scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the earth.158

27. COMPUTER AND PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT OPERATORS162

28. EARTH SCIENCE164

29. MATH / COMPUTER SCIENCE166

30. ASTRONOMY168

31. FORESTRY (pre-forestry) AND RELATED SCIENCES170

32. NATURAL RESOURCES ( air, water, soil ) MANAGEMENT174

33. BANKING AND FINANCE176

34. COMPUTER SCIENCE176

35. ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY178

36. STATISTICS180

37. WELDERS - CUTTERS AND WELDING MACHINE OPERATORS180

38. ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC AND COMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERS180

39. PHYSICAL THERAPY and therapeutic massage and reflexology180

40. APPLIED MATHEMATICS

Do you see the career choices it suggests for me??? They couldn't be more wrong, and I am being 100% literal when I say this. Couldn't be more wrong. If you asked me what the top 40 careers that I would never in 80 million years are, it would be this list almost exactly. I think the only one on here that I would actually enjoy is library sciences, and it's 23rd on the list.

The colors are pretty off too--about the only thing they got right is that orange is probably my least favorite color. Very helpful. (Not that I was taking this test looking for something helpful... but I guess that just goes to show.)

Mike Got a Job!!

We are sooooo relieved, I cannot even tell you. It's a manager position at the Cinemark in Rockwall, which is a very fancy place. They just called like fifteen minutes ago. It pays a little less than we thought it would, so Mike told them he'd get back to them, but then we talked and we decided it'd be good and he should take it, so he called them back already. The job has benefits, which is what makes us feel a little better about taking the mildly disappointing pay. Also the fact that the job I had set up fell through this past weekend, a week after I was already supposed to start, leaving us both with zero job.


I don't think I've said much about that job situation, so I might as well do it now. I was job hunting around the second week of December and I found a listing in Wylie for someone who needed their kids taken care of in the afternoon. I contacted the person and found out it was someone I actually knew, a woman who'd been one of my coworkers when I worked at the day care here a few years ago. She knew my sisters and me and seemed really excited to have me watch her kids. So for about a month now I've had this job set up. We talked every few days, working out details of pay and things like that, and planned for me to start on January 5 when her kids went back to school. Well, because of the move and having family here and everything, I was pretty busy that week and didn't get a chance to go meet her kids like I'd wanted to, so she got her daughter to watch the kids for that first week and told me we'd meet on Friday. On Thursday afternoon I emailed her, asking when and where and everything, and didn't get a response--which was weird, because every other time we'd emailed she always answered me within fifteen minutes at most. Friday morning I emailed her again (and I had no choice but to keep emailing her, because I didn't have her phone number--she had mine). Still nothing. Saturday and Sunday came and went and I heard nothing from her, so yesterday I sent her an email saying, essentially, thanks for nothing--just making sure that she knew I was applying for other jobs. SO. Really nice how that worked out, but oh well.


In the meantime, it is fantastic that Mike got this job, even though it's also mildly disappointing that he won't start until next Thursday--but hey, we're not going to complain. I've also got a couple nannying options open at the moment, and I'm looking around for other things as well. So that is the story on that, and now that you've all been caught up, I am going to go continue my book. (I'm almost done reading The Poisonwood Bible, and it is fabulous. If you haven't read it, I recommend it.)


The end!


Oh, P.S. We went to the Wylie Public Library today to get cards, and got a lovely surprise involving a $33 fine accrued by my brothers while I was away at school. In case anyone's interested, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is what I like to call a very expensive book. Wish me luck in finding it.

there's ice on the berries

(I started writing this at the beginning of this week but didn't post it until now.)

So Texas winter hasn't been too bad for us so far. It's 33 right now with freezing rain, but it's supposed to warm back up to 60 by Thursday, and it was 80+ last Saturday. This is especially nice compared with 3 degrees in Provo last night (at least that's what my email told me, since I haven't told it I'm not there anymore), so we're not complaining.

The holidays were pretty crazy with my whole family here, and I'd be lying if I said Mike wasn't a little bit overwhelmed by the (usually) good-natured chaos that always ensues when we're all together. However, Dafni and Brandon left for Nebraska yesterday morning and Benjamin and Joseph went back to school today, so things have quieted down significantly and I think Mike will now have some time to recover. :)

Lest you think I'm exaggerating, allow me to share some pictures of the funtivities from the last two weeks.

shirts

Hello 2009

As far as New Year's resolutions go, I've decided that they're usually pretty silly, and so this year I am only making one: to read over one hundred books. I don't think it will be very hard, and there's not much of a purpose to it except that it's something I'll enjoy doing, so perhaps it's not much of a resolution; but in any case I will enjoy it, so there it is. I'm already more than halfway through my third of the year... and you know, now that I think about it I wonder if I should make the goal a little higher. What do you think?